Work Text:
The night was young, the moon low in the sky. Through silver wisps of clouds it illuminated the landscape below, the snow reflecting the light to the point it looked as though the ground was blanketed in white glitter. As pretty as the winter wonderland outside was, the fact remained that it was horribly, horribly cold, even beyond the comfort of walls that were supposed to preserve heat. Mitsuhide was hardly bothered by the cold, though. His body maintained a constant temperature that was below average so cold weather hardly impacted him. Hot summer days were a completely different subject, however it would be another month before the snow melted, then another three months on top of that before the cool winds of spring turned into the sweltering heat of summer. Mitsuhide was perched at the single, small desk in his room, a thin parchment grasped between two fingers and a thumb as he read what was printed on it. His hold made it look as though he cared little for what the letter entailed, however he was engrossed with each character his eyes flickered upon, coming up with and constantly changing how he planned to reply. The letter itself pertained to nothing of importance, only a daimyo expressing gratitude to Lord Nobunaga, however he planned to take his response very seriously. That was, until a knock sounded at his door. While it was not too late in the night for someone to stop by for a visit, it was particularly cold out, meaning whoever was knocking at his door was an immense idiot for venturing to his domain. Which mean it could only be one person and one person only.
It bothered him, only mildly, how the name that flitted through his mind sent his heart racing.
Carefully setting the letter down atop his desk, he switched his attention from studying the note to eyeing the door. The suspicion he usually regarded others with was evident in his gaze, however there was a small flicker of hope that swam within those golden pools, as well, almost overpowering the maliciousness to his stare. He didn't waste another moment as he straightened his posture, sitting up so his back wasn't curled as he rested on his elbow, chin propped in his free palm. His hands were moving to clasp together in his lap at the same time he spoke. "Come in."
Not a second later, the door slid open. Whatever hostility Mitsuhide held within his gaze vanished the moment he saw who had come to visit him. It looked like his suspicions were correct.
"I know it's late, but I brought you tea." A familiar female figure hastily entered his room, quick to slide the door closed behind her. She murmured a quick, quiet brr under her breath, trying to mask it with the sound of the door closing, like he wouldn't catch it. Once the cold was, quite poorly, blocked out, she turned to face him, though only after she regarded the tray she brought with her. "It was meant to warm you up, though I'm pretty sure it's cold by now." There was no way she could have covered up the shiver that ran down her spine. She played the action into the conversation, though, offering a sheepish laugh. "Has it gotten colder outside? I think it has."
"Hmm." Mitsuhide responded with a thoughtful hum as he watched her pick up the tray, being careful as she brought it over to him. Only once she sat it down before him, placing a cup in front of him before pouring into it, did he continue. "If you're cold, I can provide you warmth." His trademark smirk worked its way onto his lips, a direct result of watching her falter and nearly spill the tea she was pouring. Before she could reject his idea before he even said it, Mitsuhide beat her to the punch and continued. "My lap is always open to you."
"I'm good! I'm not that cold!" she interjected, yanking her hands back toward her own lap after she set down the pot she was pouring from. The red that colored her cheeks was too deep to be from the cold, however he didn't bring attention to it, figuring he had had enough fun just from flustering her. A chuckle resonated from deep within his throat, only quieting down once he plucked up the cup she poured for him and took a tentative sip. As she had mentioned when she came in, the tea had grown cold from its journey from the kitchen to his quarters, however it tasted delicious nonetheless. Not like something like taste mattered when it came to Mitsuhide. Despite how she seemed on edge since his last comment, he used the hand that wasn't holding the cup to pat the spot beside him, a silent gesture for her to change where she was sitting. His eyes followed her as she reluctantly closed the comfortable distance she had spaced between them, shuffling from one side of his desk to the other before she plopped down beside him.
"How is it?" she inquired after a moment of silence, vaguely gesturing at the tea he was idly sipping at.
"Decent," he replied. Although his one-worded answer sounded harsh, his tone didn't own up to it. "It would be much better warm."
There was a sigh from beside him. "I really didn't think it was cold enough to affect the tea, but I guess I was wrong." She shrugged, but she didn't seem as dejected as her words implied. Mitsuhide had already suspected that she had come to his room for a reason aside than giving him something warm to drink, but she was beginning to do a poor job at playing her role despite hardly being there for five minutes.
Another silence lapsed between them, however it was a comfortable one. While he graciously finished off the beverage she poured for him, she took the time to eye the interior of his room. Eventually her eyes landed on the opened letter he had been looking over before she came along. It suddenly registered in her mind that Mitsuhide must have been working before her intrusion. Her job of delivering what she wanted was done, and while she would have liked to bask in his company a little more, she didn't want to hinder his work. She turned her gaze away from the parchment, intending to lock eyes with Mitsuhide, only to shriek in mild surprise as something cold slipped between her fingers.
"You may not be too cold," Mitsuhide began in reference to her earlier comment about the cold, shifting his hand to interlace his fingers through her own more firmly as he spoke. "But I am impeccably freezing." He added heavy emphasis on the word 'freezing,' but she highly doubted he was being serious. Not with such a coy smile twisting his lips upward as he side-eyed her, mouth nearly hidden by the cup he had pressed lamely against his lower lip. "Be a dear and keep me warm?"
She bit her tongue to keep a sarcastic retort from tumbling passed her lips before she could even register it. The heat that had finally began to die down from his previous suggestion came back tenfold. She acted as though her cheeks weren't painted a lovely shade of red, and relaxed into his hold as she gripped his hand back. "Just for a little bit," she clarified, wanting to act as though she was in control of the situation even though they both knew she wasn't. "It's getting late and I intend to go to bed soon. In my own room." She threw in that last comment before he tried to worm in another funny remark to rile her up. She knew better than to think he harbored any malicious intentions toward her, even perverted ones, however he did have a penchant for teasing her until she nearly passed out from the blood rushing to her head.
"Just for a little bit," Mitsuhide confirmed, somewhat to her surprise. For a split second, she was under the impression that he was acting sweet, however the moment was ruined when he released his hold on her hand in favor of wrapping his arm around her waist. An unattractive squawk left her lips as he swept her from her place beside him, dumping her onto his lap before he secured both arms around her waist. "If I am to get warm in just a little bit, though, you're going to need to be much closer, hmm?" Even though her back was facing him, she could practically hear the smirk in his voice. Damn sneaky Mitsuhide. Rather than fight him, though, she settled against his chest. Mitsuhide offered a hum of content as he rested his chin atop her head. His body temperature began to rise, though he chose to believe he was stealing her body heat, immediately discarding the possibility that his racing heart may have some kind of correlation with being so close to her.
He was hardly bothered by the cold, but if this was how he got to warm up, he supposed he didn't mind cozying up more often.