The air was full of the sound of a pencil scratching. Then a pause, the squeak of an eraser, a breath to blow away the bits of rubbers left behind on the page, and more scratching. The near silence was broken though, when the door flew open and banged against the wall, followed quickly by another slam and audible curse.

Matthew, who had just stumbled in from the freezing cold outside shook his head to rid the excess snow from his now damp curls. "Al. Alllllfred."

The bags of food rustled as he dropped them to the ground, shaking his arms and stomping his feet in an attempt to ward off the cold and remaining snow. Matthew removed his coat and boots before scooping up the groceries and shuffling to the kitchen.

"Al, I got food. Well, stuff for making food." He plopped them down on the counter. "Alfred are you even listening to me?"

"Hold on a sec Mattie."

Matthew huffed and began putting the groceries away, leaving out the hot chocolate powder and Oreo's.

"Did you get double stuff?" Alfred questioned as he slipped up behind Matthew, his sock clad feet hardly making a sound against the linoleum kitchen floor.

"Of course."

"Good." Arms slipped around his waist, and a face was nuzzled lazily into his neck. "I'm so tired."

"I know. Essay status? What part are you on?"

"I jussst finished up the part about radioactive decay. Which means I'm done." Alfred huffed tiredly. "Why do you always let me leave things till the last minute?"

"Because you doing your homework before the last minute surely means the end is near."

Alfred blew a raspberry into Matt's neck before unhooking himself from the blond and walking over to the thermostat.

"It's cold."

"It's winter."

"It's February." Alfred whined and cranked the dial as high as it would go. He wandered out of the kitchen leaving Matthew to roll his eyes and turn back to the hot chocolate making task at hand.

"Do you want cinnamon in your cocoa, Al?"

"Mrrrrg." An unintelligible rose from somewhere in the living room.

"I'm assuming that's a yes and adding whip cream too."

"Mmmm." The mumbled words were getting closer. Alfred wandered into the kitchen, complete with every blanket in the house, and curled up next to the stove.

"Al," Matthew sighed, "move away from the stove or the blankets are going to catch on fire. Again."

The pile of blankets shifted about five inches away from the stove. It mumbled something that Matthew didn't quite catch, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was "one time." Matthew shook his head and stirred the hot chocolate a bit before crouching down and poking the blanket mountain.

"C'mon, Alfred. Cocoa's done. Let's relocate to the living room so you're not sleeping on artificial ice and we can warm up together."

Alfred's head popped out from the blankets. "Can we watch a movie?"

"What movie?"

Alfred gave him a look, so bright and cheerful that Matthew knew immediately what he wanted to watch.

"Okay. Now scoot your touche to the living room."

Alfred complied with the smallest amount of grumbling as he crawled away. Matthew followed behind with the cups and set them down on the coffee table. The movie had been taped forever ago and remained in their recordings locked and loved. Matthew pressed play and peeled the blankets back to reveal a disgruntled Alfred. He sniffed and held his arms up. Matthew smiled and slipped into Alfred's blanket fortress.

It was the moments like these that he filed away. That he cherished the most. Always the little things he loved, the microscopic details, atom-tiny as Alfred would say. He loved the smell of the blankets. How the scent of Alfred, charcoal and himself managed to mingle together to create the scent that could only be described as home. How the rapidly cooling hot chocolate was sitting forgotten on the table, blasting plumes of warm chocolate scented steam into their warming apartment. How the voice of Vincent Freeman droned on in the backround,

'We shed 500 million cells a day.'

How a simple line from a simple movie he'd seen one million times before could bring a smile to his face. How the clock above the TV was always set to twenty minutes early. How the freckles sprinkled over Alfred's nose were visible up close. How Matthew could see his reflection in his glasses.

The things that made Matthew smile. Atom-tiny nonsensical details about atom-tiny nonsensical things.

Alfred sighed. Pushed his face into Matthew's chest and tightened the hold around his waist.

The clock struck 11:40.

"By the way. Happy Valentines day."

They fell asleep smiling.

-Cause the other one I was gonna post is half finished and dying with my other docs-

For my one true love! and Valentines date this year ;D

Atomish~ Hope you enjoy my crappy filler fanfiction for the time being until I get around to writing you your actual gift ;w;

You light up my world like no one else and always manage to bring a smile to my face. It's the atom-tiny things you do that I adore so much! I love you very much and hope you have a brilliant Valentines day :D (heartheartlovelovekisskiss)