Ice Cold Kisses

Mitchell was never a naturally warm person, known for his comforting skills or his ability to quieten a weeping woman. So when presented with a distraught Annie, all he could think of was to hold her as close to his body as he could, and kiss her head. The only actions he knew from experience might quell the flow of tears. But as he reached forward, and put his arm around, she turned, and their lips brushed.

It was never a cozy thing, being close to Annie. She was cold, and although she was pretty much solid, her skin gave more than a corporeal human's, her stuff was colder and more liquid. It almost felt like if you pushed too hard, your hands might go right through her. Fortunately, the boys were never that rough with her.

That first kiss was like kissing someone who'd just come in from the cold, but it was also softer, making it the most lovely almost-kiss Mitchell had had the pleasure to receive. It never left his mind, and he started to wonder what would happen if he could hold the rest of her close to him. Against him, with all her pliant ghost-ness, fragile and whispy and cold. Push the limits of their contact.

As his guilty conscience grew heavier over time, he felt more and more that opportunity slipping away from him. He'd never be able to keep getting away with his bloody past, He was nowhere near good enough for Annie. She needed to be protected from him, even if she was beyond physical pain.

And yet...

He let her fall in love with him. It was so selfish and thoughtless on his part, but he needed someone more than George to confide in, to be close to. And that night, when she said she'd wanted him...He'd fallen headfirst into those brown eyes of hers, so warm and alive, defying everything she had been through. She still loved with an open heart, still cared, still wanted to be righteous and loyal...

Her kisses stabbed like icicles into his heart, cooling the flame of guilt already burning. Kissing her was like placing his lips against a frozen pole, or a snowdrift freshly fallen. Her lips were soft and more pliant than any human's could have been, giving with the simplest push like liquid pillows or clouds even. His hands wrapped instinctively around her waist, pulling her close. He could feel her coldness embedding itself into his own numbness, giving him sensation where there had only ever been cool neutrality. It all sated him in a way that frightened him and thrilled him all at once.

"Mitchell..." he woke up in the middle of the night to her laying beside him, holding his hand in hers.

"S'everything alrigh'?" he murmured, still groggy.

"Mmm...I love you, that's all."

His eyes opened a little wider, and a chill went down his spine. He looked at her, sitting over him in the darkness and suddenly needed her closer. As close as possible.

"C'mere." she snuggled against him, lying her head on his chest, not really reacting to the lack of a heartbeat. He threaded his fingers through hers. Cold little bits of stardust all solidified into finger shapes. Soft and bendable and almost-not-there-but-not-quite.

"Do you ever miss being warm?" she asked quietly, once she noticed her proximity and relative excitement at said proximity had started causing his breath to cloud up. He immediately stopped breathing and shook his head.

"I miss it. I feel like the warmth was such an important part of the human existence. We were all like little moons, circling around trying to find a sun to reflect light off of."

"I'm just happy I can feel anything. The blood makes me feel warm for a moment, but it's all gone way too fast. I'd much rather be cold anytime I want, without having to hurt anyone. In fact, I quite think I make you happy when we do this."

Annie smiled sheepishly and nodded. "I can feel you. You're not warm, but you're warmer than I am, and real. And wet. It's wet when we kiss, I can feel that at least. I can almost taste you too, if I try hard enough. Or maybe it's my imagination running away with me, I dunno"

"Gonna be honest with you, but this is turning me on way more than that silly list you were reading out earlier."

"Is it? How funny..."

"Some things never change I guess. Even humans can try too hard sometimes. Just gotta go with the flow."

"You and that damn flow again-"

"What? it's true!"

And suddenly sleep didn't seem so important. Even though Mitchell knew his days might be numbered, he couldn't help but lose himself in silly conversation with the love of his life. Or death, more likely.

He'd been alive for 117 years and never known someone like Annie. They were perfect for each other. He couldn't hurt her, and she couldn't hurt him. Not physically anyway.

"Bite my lip again..." he purred as she straddled him on the bed. It was like a little cushion of cool softness right over his crotch. It was amazing. And when she acquiesced to his demands and bit him a little harder on the lower lip, the sensation wasn't anywhere close to pain, but like two firm, round pressures pushing against his skin, both cold as metal and 100 times smoother than human skin. He groaned softly. "Thaaat's the ticket..."

They might not be able to consummate their relationship but He was ok with that if the foreplay stayed this amazing.

Once he'd exerted himself enough to the point where he was almost sure his balls might be frozen, they slumped as one against the bed. His breath misted but he didn't care anymore now that he knew what it meant for her.

"Hey M-John?"

He smiled.

"Yes, Anna?"

she grinned.

"Love you."

"Love you too."