48

Winston's wakes on top of Jason. The couch's pullout bed wasn't very big; there wasn't room for that. Below him, Jason breathed in even, steady exhalations, and Winston floated with it. Inhalation through his nose, he reveled in that familiar smell that now lingered on Jason.

The sunlight is bursting through the open blinds, covering the entire room in a bright glow, reflecting off the white walls and the light floors. Winston blinks into the light, squinting as spots of colors bleed into his vision. Blinking again, he wrenches his eyes shut and holds his breath until the colors fade.

Only then does he open his eyes again.

Jason breathes beneath him, Winston moving with it, and he clenches his fingers briefly in the thick covers. Inhales through his nose and gazes out at the world again, tilting his head to look out the window.

It's snowing.

Snowflakes drift on the wind, landing on the window and melting almost instantly. But for a second, just the shortest of moments, Winston can see a perfectly formed snowflake on the glass. For a second, it seems to exist just for him, and when it melts, vanishes before his very eyes, he reaches out a heavy arm and tries to catch it.

It doesn't work, but another one hits the glass soon enough and Winston finds himself content to simply wile away the time waiting for Jason to wake by watching the view.

For once, it seems like a fairy-tale.

Head on Jason's chest, Winston unspools his legs from their clamped down position around Jason, grimacing as the stiff limbs move for probably the first time in hours. His knees protests for a second before he pushes through it and he shifts off Jason and onto his back, scooting so he's still close enough to touch.

Staring at the ceiling, he lies in the sunlight.

Jason wakes quietly. He turns beside Winston, the mattress sinking and rising with his movements. The sheets rustle, and then Jason turns again so he's on his side facing Winston.

"Morn-" Jason yawns, "-ing?"

Winston smiles. "Yeah. Good morning."

Jason shuffles around some, until at last he can rest his head on Winston's shoulder without twisting a bone out of place. Winston sinks further into the mattress with the added weight, and when Jason rests a hand on Winston's chest, Winston reaches up and grabs a hold of it. He squeezes, the warmth sinking into his bones, and Jason yawns, turning his head to hide it in Winston.

His chin is hooked onto the top of Jason's head, and Jason pats his chest. "Chin," he mutters, and Winston hums, turning his face so it's his cheek that rests on Jason's head. Thankfully, Jason shuffles around a little so Winston's neck doesn't need to bend in unbendable directions.

Minutes pass. Winston's breathing remains steady, even as Jason momentarily falls asleep again. It doesn't last long; Jason wakes up once more just a few minutes later, a yawn on his lips.

Winston hums an old melody he can't remember the origin of. Jason is silent for a moment, then rasps, "What time is it?"

"I don't know."

Jason hums. He's caught onto the melody now and hums in tune with it, and they cycle through the only bit of it that Winston remembers over and over again.

More minutes pass.

Winston's phone buzzes. Once, twice, three times, and he reaches out for it with a soft grunt, nabbing at it with the tips of his fingers until it's pulled enough in his direction for him to get a good grip. It's Gary--predictably. Winston smiles, unlocking the phone and going straight for the new messages.

It's just memes. Laughing, Winston sends a LOL in return and drops the phone beside his head on the pillow. He rubs a hand over Jason's back, and, as if on cue, his stomach grumbles.

"Food," Jason mutters.

"Yeah." Winston giggles. "That would be good."

Jason takes a deep breath, hugs Winston tightly for a second, and then rolls away from Winston. He rolls right off the bed, in fact, because it's not very big but both Jason and Winston are--albeit in different ways. Jason's feet hit the floor with a thud, and Winston pushes himself up on his arms. He watches Jason vanish into the bathroom, and Winston drops back on the mattress.

Two seconds later, he, too, has rolled off the bed. He busies himself with putting the bed away and turning it back into a couch, grunting as he bends and pushes and pulls on things until they all align perfectly. Then he crosses the tiny bit of distance to the kitchen and fills the water-heater with new water.

Jason comes out of the bathroom yawning, going straight for Winston and sort of flopping onto him. Winston nearly buckles under the weight, but Jason isn't actually resting a lot of it on Winston. He's just embracing him.

"Alright, coffee," Winston says after a minute, patting Jason's hip. Jason's nuzzles his hair, then sighs. Let's go. Moves toward the now done water-heater and starts wordlessly preparing the instant coffee while Winston sits at the couch.

When they're done, Jason swishes over with the two cups. "Cereal?" he asks while Winston grabs his cup. They don't match in neither size nor color; all his mugs are from second-hand stores. But they're charming, he supposes.

He nods, sipping at the scalding hot coffee. Grimaces, but thankfully Jason is too busy getting the cereal to see. Blowing on the hot liquid, Winston takes another, much smaller, sip, and ignores the burning sensation on the tip of his tongue.

It's probably fine.

Right?

Jason is carrying all the things for the cereal at once; the cereal box itself, the bowls, the spoons, the paper towels--it's all snugly held to his chest as he drops onto the couch and Winston takes them one-by-one and puts it carefully on the coffee table.

"Thank you," says Winston, filling his bowl with so much cereal it nearly overflows. Then he grabs for the milk and ends up with an empty hand. He stares at it, uncomprehending.

Jason giggles. "I forgot," he says between his laughter, knocking their their shoulders together. He stands, "Don't worry," he says and traipses off the tiny bit of distance to the fridge.

Winston watches his ass as he goes, eyes momentarily stuck on it. The pants Jason's wearing are heavenly on his body, and Winston can't quite resist the temptation.

Jason turns, catches him staring, and smirks. "Like what you see?" he drawls, cooking his hip against the counter.

"Yeah," responds Winston shamelessly.

Jason's lips twitch, slowly turning into a proper smile. "Yeah?" he asks, raising a challenging eyebrow.

Winston laughs. "Yeah," he confirms again. Jason grins, returning with the cart of milk. He plops onto the couch again, Winston instantly sliding along the new hill to bump into Jason's side. In revenge, Jason ruthlessly grabs him around his waist and pulls him even closer until Winston's having trouble breathing--from the heart palpitations, of course.

They eat breakfast still nuzzled together, melting into one giant blob instead of two distinct people, and even Gary's recurring meme messages doesn't manage to pry them apart.