Title: Cold Comforts

Characters: Karis/Matthew

Rating: Teen – at best

Disclaimers: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Golden Sun. Nintendo owns Golden Sun and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: Separated from their friends and cold, there is only one way to keep warm

A/N: Prompt for September 13th – Karis/Matthew – Cold Comforts – 'Separated from the others, there is really only one way to stay warm.'

Timeline: During Game (AU)

Word Count: 3,323

Betaed: Nope

Cold Comforts

Karis coughed as she pulled herself up onto the shore, shivering as the cold breeze ran over her already cold body. Her long green hair and her clothes were wet as her purple eyes scanned the area. There was nothing but snow; her fingers were becoming numb from where they dug into the snow to pull her further up.

Karis whimpered as flexed her fingers, the pain radiating from the stiffness of her joints. She closed her eyes as she remembered how she ended up in the water in the first place.

They had all been on the boat, heading to an island when they got caught in a thunder storm. The sea had been turbulent but they were holding on when a tornado came out of nowhere and picked up the boat. She vaguely remembered being flung over the edge of the ship but a hand had grabbed her wrist only for darkness. Next, she woke up in the water and she saw land so she swam for it.

She felt so tired, so numb and so cold. All she wanted to do was lay her head down and sleep until she got warm again. A small voice in the back of her head warned to keep her eyes open but it was being drowned out. She was about to close her eyes when she heard something.

"Karis?" she heard a worried male voice call out. It sounded so distant over the roar of the wind. But even so, she could recognise the voice.

"Matt…Matthew…" she tried to call out, her throat hoarse.

"Karis?" Matthew called out again, this time fainter and panic surged through her. He was walking away from her. Gritting her teeth, she gathered all the energy she had left and screamed his name.

~_KxM_~

Matthew shook his head he climbed out of the water, shivering but he fared better due to his clothes. His grey blue eyes roamed the area looking for his best friend Karis. When they had been on the boat, he saw her falling off the side and grabbed her but at that moment, a wave crashed into the side of the boat, sending him over the edge with her and they crashed into the water. Due to the strength of the waves, he had lost his hold on Karis and hoped that she had been washed up with him.

Groaning due to the cold making him stiff, he managed to get to his feet and wrapped his arms around his torso in a bid to keep warm as he set off, calling Karis' name in hope that she would be able to answer him. The howling wind made it difficult for him to hear his voice but he persisted. He needed to find her as soon as possible.

"Karis?" he called out, stopping to listen out for any reply. All he could hear was the whistling of winds and he sighed, moving down further and called out her name once more.

"MATTHEW!" he heard Karis scream and spun around before pushing on as fast as he could in the direction of her screams. He knew that the wind could trick people but he had to be sure. He reached the snow bank and looked around before he saw a flash of green and silver.

"Karis!" Matthew spotted his best friend lying in the snow, breathing shallowly. Her face was flushed red with the cold and her fingers were also red from where she had been using them to drag herself.

"Matthew," the relief was palpable in her voice and face. Matthew knelt down beside her, scanning her body for any injuries.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"I don't know," she told him. "I feel numb and tired." Panic surged through his body, he couldn't let her sleep, not until he knew that she had no injuries and that they were in a warm place. He saw her eyelids droop and patted her cheeks to keep her awake.

"Come on, I saw an outpost nearby. We can use that for shelter," he helped her up, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her close and to help her walk.

It was a slow trek but they managed to reach the building. It was partially covered by the snow and Matthew hoped that it was in one piece. He needed to get Karis warm.

They reached the door. Matthew led Karis over the wall and let her go to lean on it before he turned back to the door and used all of his strength to open the door. It had been frozen due to lack of use and the heavy snow. He managed to get the door open and peered in to sigh with relief when he saw the lack of snow inside before he helped Karis into the building.

Matthew led Karis over to the middle of the room, letting her rest her back against a pile of logs before he rushed over to the door and pulled it close. Once the door closed, darkness filled the room but it was slightly warmer.

"So cold," Karis whimpered as she tried to rub her hands together to heat them up. Matthew moved closer to her and knelt down beside her. He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the darkness and he saw more piles of woods. If they could access their Djinns, they could get a fire started.

"Do you have any Mars Djinns?" Matthew asked as he looked at her. Karis closed her eyes and concentrated before she shook her head.

"I can't access them, I feel too weak," she admitted.

"It's ok. I'll see if I can get Flare to come out," he assured her before he closed his eyes and concentrated. A few moments, a small red fury creature appeared in front of Matthew. It looked up at Matthew with bright blue eyes, its bushy tail wagging softly. Matthew opened his eyes to see Flare standing there. "Can you light these woods up?" Flare turned around to see the pile of wood and inhaled deeply before a breath of fire came out with a soft roar. Within seconds, the pile of woods was burning, slowly heating up the room they were currently hiding out in. Flare turned to face Matthew, who nodded, and it disappeared, returning to its place within Matthew.

With light and out of the cold, Matthew began to scan Karis for any injuries. He found a cut on her forehead hidden by her hair. Blood had already matted her hair. Her fingers were red and stiff. She was lucky to get off with the minor injuries as she did but he didn't like the look of the cut.

"Do you feel dizzy?" he asked, checking her eyes to make sure that she could see him.

"No, just tired," she told him, following his finger as he moved it. "What are you doing?"

"You have a cut on your head; I'm just making sure there's no serious damage. Since you can't heal yourself or call out any of your Djinns to heal you, I need to use an herb." He raked through his pouch until he found the green herbs, slightly damp.

"Do you need to?" Karis glared at the green leaves. She hated taking medicine.

"Yes," came the firm reply from her best friend and she made a huffing sound. Matthew tore the herbs up into small pieces so it was easier for her to swallow. Karis made a face when she spotted the herbs in Matthew's fingers as he brought it to her mouth. "Karis, you need to eat it." Karis reluctantly opened her mouth and he slipped the herbs in. With a wince of disgust, Karis managed to swallow the herb and felt a bit better.

Matthew watched as the herb worked it's magic on Karis' wound, and wiped away as much of the blood as he could before he placed his hands on his thighs to find that his clothes were still wet despite being near the fire.

"Our clothes are not getting drier," Matthew muttered under his breath as he wringed his scarf in a bid to get to dry quicker.

"We…we need to…remove our clothes," Karis managed to get out. Matthew looked at her, wide eyes and she huffed when she spotted it. "Honestly, Matthew, we'll freeze if we keep our wet clothes on." Matthew flushed, grateful that the heat of the fire covered it up.

"Okay…er, no looking?" he asked and she nodded. Matthew turned around completely while Karis shifted so her back was facing him.

Matthew removed his sword then his boots. He pulled off his gloves then removed his scarf and jacket before working on unbuckling his belt. With each new piece he removed, he dropped them to the ground. He removed his red shirt, having to peel it from his body then moved onto his jeans.

Karis flushed with each thud she could hear whenever Matthew dropped a piece of clothing onto the ground before she remembered that she should be removing her own clothes only to find that her fingers were still a bit numb and clumsy. She bit her bottom lip when she realised she was going to need Matthew's help.

"Are you okay?" Matthew asked once he dropped his jeans and stepped out of them, only wearing a pair of black boxer shorts. They were relative dry, much to his relief.

"I need you to help me," Karis told him softly that Matthew believed that he had misheard her.

"What?" he turned around to see that she was struggling with her wet clothes. Karis flushed, not looking at Matthew.

"I need you to help me to take my clothes off," she told him, her voice firmer and making sure that Matthew understood her. Matthew flushed brilliantly.

"I…I…" Matthew stuttered as he tried to keep his flush down but it was becoming difficult.

"Matthew, I trust you," Karis told him. She finally looked at him and felt her flush come back tenfold. He was wearing his boxers, which were moderately dry. Even though she had grown up with Matthew, she hadn't seen him like this. He had muscles, not as big as Tyrell as Tyrell lived for fighting and being stronger, and he was slimmer than the older boy but it didn't make him less attractive. She could see the six-pack that was forming due to their travels and fighting.

Karis cleared her throat, gathering her thoughts and looked down at her clothes, tugging futile at the buttons. Matthew knelt down next to her, seeing the look of distress on her face and assumed it was because she was still in her wet clothes.

Matthew pulled off her boots and set them next to his before he frowned, wondering what he should do next. It wasn't as if he had experience in taking off women clothes.

"You need to unbutton the cape then unzip my top," Karis told him, sensing his confusion. Matthew reached up and unbuttoned her buttons, pulling her cape off her body and put it to the side before his hands turned shaky as he unzipped her top. He helped to peel the white robe like top off her body and set it off to the side to see that she wore light purple tunic. The gloves were next to come off, though he struggled with the belts that held them up around her upper arms.

Once he removed them, he tried to figure out how he was supposed to remove her tunic. He couldn't see any buttons or zips.

"Matthew," he locked eyes with hers. "You need to pull it off." Matthew scratched the back of his head. He hesitantly reached out and grabbed the hem of the tunic and pulled it up. Karis shifted so Matthew was able to slip it up from under her bottom and raised her arms as he pulled it up further, peeling it away from her skin.

With each creamy skin exposed to his view, Matthew couldn't help but follow the trail. She had silver satin like knickers on and pulling the tunic up further revealed that she wore a similar bra, she wore matching underwear. Her breasts were filling the cups nicely and he could see the outline of her nipples behind the thin material.

With a hard a shake of his head, Matthew peeled the tunic off completely and placed it over to the side before he spread each clothes out properly so they would be able to dry when he felt her hand on his elbow. He turned to face her.

"You need to remove my tights," she reminded. Matthew's eyes flashed down to her legs and mentally groaned. It was torture, pure and simple. He moved back down and gripped the elastic band of her tights at her hips and pulled them down, accidently brushing his knuckles against her knickers and he could feel how soft it was.

His hands slowly peeled the dark tights down her legs, his knuckles brushing lightly against her skins and she bit her bottom lip to hold back her moan. Tingles spread out from where his skin would brush against hers. She couldn't believe how turned on she was getting from that simple touch or from him taking her clothes off.

Matthew couldn't tear his eyes away from her legs as he slowly revealed them. They looked so smooth and toned that he had the urge to run his hands over them, to feel just how smooth they were then to wrap them around his waist.

He came out of his thoughts when a moan escaped from Karis. Worried that she might be in pain, he looked up to see her head was tilted backward, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth, her eyes closed and her cheeks flushed. He swallowed hard, wishing that he wasn't getting so aroused from the sight of his best friend like this.

He had always harboured feelings for the slender Jupiter girl but he kept it hidden because he didn't want to ruin their friendship. Karis' head came down when she felt him remove her tights completely.

Their eyes met each other, hiding nothing. His hands slid along her ankles before slowly making their way up her legs as he leaned in. She held her breath, her eyes closing when his nose brushed against hers before his lips were pressed against hers.

She began to feel warm; he just seemed to generate heat, which was curious as he wasn't of Mars descendants. His hands slid over her thighs as she brought her arms up, circling his shoulders. He shifted so he was pressed between her legs, which were now raised.

It should feel awkward, they were best friends who was now taking that leap but it felt right to the two of them, like it was something it was meant to happen.

"Matthew," Karis moaned as her fingers slid into his hair, his hands sliding over her waist. He pulled her in closer, his lips moving over her shoulders before they came back up to her lips, wanting to taste her once more.

She felt warm; her fingers tingled as the feeling slowly came back. They clenched reflexively in his hair as he slowly began to rub himself against her. The material of their underwear did nothing to hinder the pleasure, heightening to the point Karis had to break their lip lock to breathe. She moaned his name as his lips travelled down to her neck, attacking the soft flesh with nibbles.

Her head fell forward, resting on his shoulder. Her lips caressing whatever skin she could reach wanting to give him as much pleasure as he was giving her. They tumbled to the ground and allowed themselves to be guided.

~_KxM_~

Karis sighed she slowly blinked open her eyes to see that the fire had died out sometimes during the night. The sunlight was shining in through the window and there was a warm body pressed up against her back. Her memories came back to her and she lifted up her right hand and flexed her fingers. No pain and there were no stiffness either. She sighed with relief.

"Morning," Matthew's husky voice sent shivers down her spine as his lips brushed against the soft skin of her shoulder, his spiky blonde hair caressing her cheek.

"Morning," She turned in his arms so she was facing him and pressed her lips against his, her hand sliding into his thick blonde locks. His hands brushed over her back, enjoying the feel of her skin, only briefly separated by the strap of her bra. He was beginning to think that he would prefer his mornings to be like this from now on when a noise interrupted them.

"Hey Matthew, you in here?" the familiar voice of their best friend, Tyrell, called out as the door slammed open to reveal sunlight and the group. All of them, apart from Tyrell, gaped at the sight. Karis and Matthew grabbed their clothes and covered themselves up the best they could.

"Turn around!" Karis shrieked. Amiti, Rief and Eoleo all spun around to face the other direction. Sveta and Himi cleared their throat when they saw that Tyrell was still looking at that the couple, not bothered around their semi nakedness. "TYRELL!" shouted both Matthew and Karis, startling him into seeing the state his two best friends were in and blushed.

"Oh! Whoa! Sorry!" Tyrell spun around, scratching the back of his head as he did. Sveta tilted her head a bit as she gazed at Matthew before she giggled, startling everyone into looking at her.

"What's so funny?" Tyrell asked; his eyes narrowed in suspicions. Sveta turned to look at him with an innocent look but he wasn't fooled.

"Just something I read," she told him before making her way out of the outpost leaving the others confused and Matthew flushing heavily. Tyrell followed her out, demanding to know what she had read that it was so funny.

The others just watched them leave before Himi cleared her throat as she looked at the couple on the floor once more.

"We will wait for you outside," she told him before ushering the boys out of the building. Matthew and Karis watched as the others leave before Karis' forehead rested on Matthew's chest.

"Unbelievable," she muttered. Matthew pressed his lips to the crown of her head.

"It could have been worse," Matthew murmured and she lifted her head, her purple eyes wide in disbelief. "It could have been our parents." A shudder ran through Karis' body at the image and she shook her head.

"Let's hurry up and get ready. The last thing we need is Tyrell demanding to know why we are taking too long." Matthew nodded and they reluctantly separated, standing and pulled on their clothes. Matthew grabbed his sword and strapped it back into place while Karis reached for her staff when Matthew turned to face her. He held out a hand and she smiled, slipping her hand into it, intertwining their fingers together before they made their way out of the building and they saw their friends standing at the shore where the ship was. Himi waved, letting them know that she saw them and they made their way down to the shore.

Once they reached the group, Karis was struck by a thought and she frowned thoughtfully.

"How did you find us?" Karis asked.

"Kitty Dog used her scent ability," Tyrell pointed his thumb in Sveta's direction and got a growl of annoyance from her.

"Thank you, Sveta," Karis told her. Matthew nodded in Sveta's direction while Sveta's shook her head, waving off the thanks.

"Have a nice time keeping warm?" Sveta asked them innocently, although the glint her green eyes implied otherwise. Matthew and Karis just flushed, making Sveta laugh.

The End