A/N: Written for blazethecat2012 on tumblr who suggested I continue it.

Um, while XHatch is on hiatus, I can post some little bouts like these given I can dedicate them to someone. If you want updates without waiting for the next chapters, you can keep track of my new writing blog (tumblr url: cagedinsanctuary).

...Okay I'll stop rambling now, and Yu-Gi-Oh! is copyrighted to Kazuki Takahashi.

Furnace of Winter Dawn

Domino's winters aren't doing well for Yami—who is experiencing it for the first time in a corporeal body. Like Yugi, he traded his leather clothes for wool, but he rarely went out. Rarely could. He couldn't rise until late in the morning, and the cold knocked him out every evening.

As it did tonight. But when his eyes opened, the room was still dark.

The lamp was out, which meant Yugi was still asleep.

He felt warmth pressing against his back, an arm loose around his waist. He tensed, until he heard-and felt-Yugi's sigh on his neck.

Yami slept below Yugi, in a futon spread across the floor, the covers pulled up to his nose. The futon itself could catch Yugi if he fell, but that never happened.

Besides, Yugi was snuggled under the covers, which was why Yami could feel his skin. This must have been his intention from the start—to hold Yami close as he slept.

Maybe he needed the heat, too.

"Aibou?" he whispered, careful not to move. "Aibou...you should return to bed..."

His only response was panting. Heavy panting, Yami realized.

Then a sneeze.

Yami scooted out of Yugi's hold, and turned to face him. Asleep, but he could see his red face with the help of the lamp. He reached to tap his cheek, and was greeted with heat. It wasn't the heat of summer, but it wasn't the temperature of a human, either.

He moved his hand to Yugi's neck, under the covers where even the air felt hot. Tugging the fabric off, he unbuttoned Yugi's shirt. Sweat clung onto both his clothes and chest, and still he did not wake up.

"Aibou…" Yami sighed, and slipped Yugi's shirt off, half-hoping that would wake him up. "What did you think you were doing…?"

For many moments, Yami sat over Yugi, using the shirt to wipe the sweat off his body. Yugi would stir, but he didn't open his eyes. When Yami was done, he spread Yugi's arms, which seemed to relax his breathing. His pants grew silent, but his jaw quivered with cold, like he was begging in his sleep.

Nodding, Yami leaned back on the futon, and threw the covers over both of them. He turned Yugi away from him, and then wrapped his arm around him. Fevers make the air feel colder, he learned as they took care of Shizuka's fever just a week ago.

The cold descended upon them, and almost immediately, Yami could feel the weight on his eyelids. He carefully dragged his hand down up and down Yugi's waist, an attempt to rub some of the cold off. Then he felt under the cover for Yugi's hand, and twined fingers with it. Even more cautiously, he nuzzled Yugi's hair, and planted subtle kisses onto his nape until he drifted back to sleep.