Cozy Winter Wishes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters of the Seven Deadly Sins; they belong to Netflix, Amblin Entertainment, and the original author of the mangas. No copyright infringement is intended, and no monetary gain is being made off this one-shot. Any further notes will be contained at the end of the story in an Author's Note! Enjoy the story, everyone!

This story is based on the prompt: "Quit touching me. Your feet are cold."

Word Count: 2808


Shivering against the icy sensation against her lower body, Elaine huddles more underneath the thick blanket covering the bed, pulling the thick blanket over her entire body save for her face. Tonight, one of the coldest nights of the year came to Liones, and while there are slightly fewer blankets than there are beds at the Boar Hat, the members of the Seven Deadly Sins and their respective loved ones- notably Elaine and Elizabeth- had come up with several unique ways to share bedding amongst one another on this frigid night. Of course, Meliodas, ever the persistent opportunist, proclaimed Elizabeth would sleep in a bed with him, and the Dragon Sin of Wrath carried the Third Princess of Liones off into his bedroom without any further hesitation, decidedly ignoring every last word of protest coming from Hawk's lips as the porcine pal of the Seven Deadly Sins spoke of how inappropriate such an action was from Meliodas and how King Bartra would have the blonde Captain's head for such a thing if he were to ever find out about Meliodas' actions!

"But, he never will!" Meliodas had smugly shouted from his room, already smiling at the knowledge he would be spending the night cuddled by Elizabeth's side, pressing kisses to her face and then being able to… "Because Elizabeth won't tell her father anything! Right, Elizabeth?" the blonde Dragon Sin of Wrath inquires, fixing Elizabeth with a curious look in his emerald eyes.

"Of course not, Meliodas-sama!" Elizabeth dutifully replied in a shout of her own, that sheepish tone in her voice as her one azure eye meets Meliodas' gaze.

Elaine cannot help but scoff at the memory as she snuggles down further in the bed, trying to understand why she is suddenly so freezing for no apparent reason. Nothing had changed about her current sleeping arrangement other than… Oh, right. That had changed.


Rolling over onto her right side, Elaine barely can make out the form lying beside her in the dim light coming from the candle she kept lit on the nightstand. Lying to her right is none other than the Fox Sin of Greed himself, clothed merely in a pair of underwear which looks much like a pair of small athletic shorts in Ban's signature color, red. Silently turning to face her true love, Elaine manages to softly card one of her small hands through Ban's light blue hair, enjoying the sensation of his longer locks against her fingers as she rubs his head as he does for her when she has nightmares, such as when she was newly resurrected after an absence of twenty years. Without waking up, Ban's face is overcome with a slight grin, and he hums contentedly in his sleep, burrowing himself closer to Elaine, and allowing the fairy to continue stroking his head with all the tenderness one would expect of the Princess of the Fairy Kingdom. Light snores escape from Ban's lips as he continues to slumber, and Elaine wishes she had a way to capture this moment forever, to preserve Ban's peace and ease for the darker days to come in the lives of the Seven Deadly Sins. However, as Ban scoots closer to Elaine, that is when the blonde-haired fairy notices the cold sensation shooting up her body once more, regardless of the fact that she is completely engulfed in the blankets on the rather cozy bed.

"This is strange," Elaine whispers to herself, not at all sure why she is suddenly freezing with Ban's presence in the bed beside her.

They have been sharing a bed since Elaine was resurrected, since Ban did not want to part with his darling, as the Fox Sin of Greed still firmly believes someone will try and take his beautiful fairy away from him again. Elaine has never felt the cold, numbing sensation before that which is currently climbing up her leg, so she knows she isn't embarrassed about sleeping next to Ban, often cuddling up close to his always warm chest. Besides, King has already walked in once when Ban was kissing Elaine from the crown of her head down the side of her face, so Elaine isn't all too concerned about someone walking in on her and Ban, even if they are "makin' out" as Ban likes to phrase it. It isn't that she is embarrassed by Ban; not in the least bit would Elaine ever become embarrassed by the man who has saved her life twice, once when he was willing to sacrifice his life to save her from the Red Demon in the Fairy Forest, and once when he was able to successfully find a way to resurrect her, even amongst the battle with the Ten Commandments. For that, Elaine would forever be grateful. However, now Elaine has been able to pinpoint exactly the source of the chill that is traveling up her legs into her core. This would need to change. Immediately.


Struggling to free her slender feet from the confines of the thick blanket, Elaine manages to kick free of the blanket, allowing her to start phase one of her plan to rid her body of the chill that has someone managed to permeate through her warm cocoon of blankets and the muscled man that is her true love, Ban the Fox Sin of Greed. As quietly as she possibly can, Elaine scoots closer to Ban in the bed, freezing in mid-motion when a particularly loud and alarming snore exits Ban's mouth. However, much to the golden-eyed fairy's relief, her lover remains asleep in the bed beside her, and she is free to continue her task without fear of waking him up. When Elaine is within distance to where she could comfortably snuggle with Ban on any other night, the Fairy Princess places her small feet on Ban's large, muscular, and incredibly long legs. They are the source of Elaine's sudden chill that makes her feel as if her body is in a block of ice. Well, more specifically it is Ban's feet that are making Elaine cold, as Ban has been pressing his larger feet against Elaine's calves while they sleep beside one another, totally on accident, but enough to make Elaine feel as if she is freezing nonetheless.

"And this is why you should wear socks to bed, Ban," Elaine mumbles under her breath, soft enough where the blue-haired human doesn't hear the words of his true love.

Placing her feet on Ban's legs, Elaine begins to push with all her might, trying her hardest to move Ban's legs further away from her where maybe his cold feet wouldn't press up against her calves for the rest of the night. Usually, Ban is warm and is able to give off heat to Elaine like a furnace; it is one of Elaine's favorite things about snuggling with Ban, as Elaine always feels as if hugging or snuggling Ban is akin to being wrapped in her own personal bubble of heat and warmth. However, after the fight with the Ten Commandments, every member of the Seven Deadly Sins and company are mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted, even though it has been weeks since the final battle. And that, in Elaine's mind, is why Ban's feet are so frigid on this particular night; his homeostasis must be off in the effort to repair other cycles in his body, so of course his feet would logically be colder than the rest of his body. However, that doesn't make the situation any less difficult for Elaine as she tries to move Ban's legs without waking her handsome hero as well as remain under her blanket cocoon she had made by folding the blankets around herself tightly.


Eventually, Elaine must give up in trying to move Ban's legs entirely on her own without waking the blue-haired, scarlet-eyed man up. Trying to kick a pair of legs that are nearly as long as Elaine is tall has proven to be quiet the challenge, even more so because Elaine is sitting up while Ban is lying down, his legs effectively dead weight as sleep makes his body heavy with exhaustion from the past weeks. As such, Elaine must switch to the least preferred phase of her plan, which is to wake Ban up and make him move his own feet away from Elaine's side of the bed.

"Ban, wake up," Elaine whispers near Ban's ear, not wanting to startle the Fox Sin of Greed into thinking that something dreadful is wrong with her.

Ban mumbles something incoherently in his sleep, a small pool of drool collecting at the corner of his mouth as he yawns, exposing his extremely sharp canine teeth in the process. Well, that didn't work. Not out of ideas yet, Elaine switches to another tactic, hoping that this will wake Ban up before she has to shift to a further phase in her plan.

"Ban, please wake up," Elaine softly murmurs in Ban's ear as she shakes the blue-haired bandit's muscular arms with as much force as her little body holds.

She vaguely begins to wonder if Diane and Elizabeth are having this problem with King and Meliodas, respectively. Then, upon further reflection, Elaine realizes that she is alone in such a problem, as Harlequin probably is giving Diane so much personal space in the bed, not quite ready to snuggle with her under the blankets whereas Meliodas is probably giving Elizabeth no personal space, much to Hawk's horror, but the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins has always been so in tune with Elizabeth's emotions and would never do anything to make her uncomfortable. As amazing as it is to have Ban as her boyfriend and true love, he can be quite the heavy sleeper, meaning that anything he does during his slumber, whether good or bad, he is probably going to forget such a thing ever happened. However, with the knowledge that such a phenomenon occurs, Elaine must now fully devote her attention to rousing Ban from his deep slumber, something she had much rather hoped she could have avoided.


"Ban, wake up!" Elaine practically shouts in Ban's ear, the only sure way that the undead man can be awoken so late at night.

Ban's reaction is immediate, and it scares Elaine a little to see him so flustered and concerned.

"Elaine!" Ban shouts, jerking into a sitting position so quickly that he nearly topples himself off the edge of the bed with the pure force of his momentum. "What is the matter, my love? What is it? Are you hurt? Do you need-" he continues, gathering Elaine in his arms, his scarlet eyes scanning her body for any signs of injuries or distress.

"Ban!" Elaine interjects, her voice loud so as to break through the Fox Sin of Greed's worry and assuage his fears that something terrible is happening to the fairy beside him. "I am fine. I just wanted to wake you up to ask you something, because I could not complete the task myself," she continues, and to assure Ban that she is completely safe and happy by his side, Elaine reaches upwards before tugging Ban's head downwards and then the fairy passionately kisses her true love on the lips in one of those kisses that seems like it could go on for eternity.

Ban eagerly kisses back, pressing his large, calloused hands on Elaine's back, holding her close to him as they close the gap between one another and focus solely on enjoying one another's presence. Such domestic life had been long overdue by just about twenty years, so it can be said that Ban and Elaine are making up for lost time to rekindle the intense spark of passion that had filled their very first seven days with one another. When it is an absolute necessity to pull apart for air, Ban moves his head to where his and Elaine's foreheads are touching, and scarlet eyes meet gold in one of the most sentimental and platonic gazes ever to be experienced by a couple.

"I am so glad I was able to bring you back, Elaine," Ban whispers, stroking one hand across Elaine's white nightgown, rubbing up and down to try and soothe his own nerves as well as the fairy's.

"And I am glad to have met you, Ban. Thank you for rescuing me," Elaine smiles, allowing Ban to scoop her up in his arms before the Fox Sin of Greed sits Elaine on his lap, and the blue-haired man begins to braid Elaine's soft, golden locks.

Something so tender and sweet is nothing like what is expected of the hardened criminal many know as Undead Ban, nor is it what would be considered anything within the scope of possibilities of what a member of the Seven Deadly Sins might do on his time away from battle. However, that is what makes Elaine appreciate the gesture even more. No one would suspect Ban as being capable of braiding a woman's hair, and if they did, well Ban would certainly have quite a few men to intimidate long enough to where they would never speak poorly of such a skill.

"What did you need to ask me?" Ban softly inquires, finishing off a smaller braid near Elaine's ear and then moving on to the center of her head to do one long braid down her back.

"I needed to ask you to move your legs over onto your side of the bed," Elaine sheepishly begins, unsure of how to suggest this to Ban without seeming childish or rude to the very man who saved the Fairy King's Forest from complete extermination twenty years ago.

"Was I crushing you, Elaine?" Ban questions, and he sounds so genuinely concerned for her well-being that Elaine can barely continue on without the threat of laughter breaking from her lips.

"No, no. It was nothing like that, Ban. It's just that…. Your feet were cold, and they sent a chill across my body when they bumped into my legs."


Ban cannot contain his laughter and begins to practically howl with deep laughs, his scarlet eyes filled with mirth.

"My feet made you cold, Elaine? Why didn't ya just say so? I coulda moved 'em!"

"I didn't want to wake you, Ban. You've had so much going on lately between battling the Ten Commandments, finding a way to bring me back to life, helping keep the Boar Hat running… It didn't seem fair to me to wake you without trying to move your feet myself," Elaine reveals her thoughts on the matter, and it is then that she feels the cold chill returning to her body. "Ban!" she scolds, playfully slapping her lover on the chest, making him drop the portion of her hair that he was intending to braid next.

"What'd I do?" he teases, a wide grin on his lips, exposing his famously sharp canines in the process.

"Quit touching me. Your feet are cold," Elaine manages to get out, a small frown appearing on her lips, and Ban swears he falls more in love with his true love at that moment upon seeing her in a pouty mood.

"What do you wish for me to get you for Christmas, Elaine?" Ban attempts to switch the subject, his bare feet finding themselves back on Elaine's calves, even amidst the fairy trying to pick up her lover's limbs and move them elsewhere.

"I sincerely wish that you would take your freezing feet off of my legs."

"Come, come, Elaine. That would make a terrible gift!"

"I am being serious, Ban."

"So am I."

"You're a goofball," Elaine whispers, lying down on her side of the bed, a yawn overcoming her lips.
"I know," Ban admits, lying down next to Elaine, cuddling her close to his body, but angling his feet where they are no longer touching his love.

"I love you," she continues, turning to press a soft, small kiss on Ban's cheek before curling up next to him, already beginning to fall asleep in his warm embrace.

"I know," he reveals, pressing a kiss to her temple and enjoying nothing more than this current moment of domestic bliss with the love of his life.

"Even if your feet do feel like icicles," Elaine sleepily murmurs, and Ban lets out a slight scoff.

"Says the girl with perpetually freezing hands," Ban mumbles back, but it's too late.

Elaine has already fallen asleep by Ban's side, tucked in the embrace of the only man she has ever loved, relishing in the warmth and protection he is offering her from the rest of the world. Such is how Ban and Elaine spend the rest of one of the first cozy winter nights they will spend together during the rest of their lives by one another's side.


Author's Note: And there it is! My seventh Seven Deadly Sins story! Wow! I can't believe it is one of my most prolific fandoms and I got into the anime way after it was put on Netflix. Shout-out to my younger sister Madison who got me into this fandom! You know what I like! ?Anyway, I have started watching Season 3, and I am already 10 episodes in of the 24, and I must say that this season is one of the best yet! GAH! The feels of so many varieties are abound in this season: platonic friendship, platonic family love, romantic love, and so many more! I CAN'T HANDLE ALL THE CUTENESS! So, don't give me any spoilers for the rest of Season 3, but I desperately hope they bring Elaine back, because I cannot stand to see Ban forever unhappy and guilty about it, and they've shown Elaine's body so many times already that I feel like crying every time they show her lying there lifeless! :( I plan on writing much more for this pairing, as I do for Margaret X Gilthunder and other stories for this fandom in general. Keep an eye out for future Seven Deadly Sins stories from me! As always, reviews are appreciated fully, and I hope you guys and girls enjoyed. Have an amazing day, afternoon, or night; until next time, dear readers!