The sunlight filtered in through the slivers of space left by the curtains as the material fluttered away with the breeze, and he grumbled, curling in on himself as the slight chill passed through the room. Stein's brows furrow in sleep, arms instinctively tightening around something warm and plush and solid that brings comfort and a surprising amount of peace and heat. His poor circulation made him feel like even the smallest of temperature changes were massive, and he shivered from beneath the blanket, tugging whatever warmth was in his grasp even closer to his chest.

The small squeak that sounded off in his ear, however, sleepy and amused, made him groan more, the world starting to come into a hazy kind of focus, still all too blurry at the edges. His fingers dug into the softness of what he was holding, resulting in a small giggling and a "Franken," that was more affectionate than anything else.

Marie, his mind supplied, and with it, he pressed himself to her, reveling in her heat. She tugged on his hair slightly, calling his name out with the syllables stretched as though to bring him to the waking world, and he shook his head, denying the inevitable.

It was a losing battle. When his eyes fluttered open, immediately settling into a squint, he was convinced for a moment that the bright gold over his gaze was sunlight. He was certain of it until his mind caught up to him, Marie wriggling his his grasp, forcing her golden locks to shift over his face, soft and tangible.

And it tickled.

He made a sleepy sound in the back of his throat as he tucked his head down, hiding away from the world, and Marie giggled once more, her hands stroking down his spine.

"C'mon, sleepy. Rise and shine," she said, all the while lifting her chin so he had room to nuzzle beneath her jaw, closing his eyes to the morning, basking in the comfort of her body.

"Ten more minutes," he bargained, but he found that he had already awakened, his mind starting to chug along. He still needed caffeine, preferably in an IV so he could bring it directly into his bloodstream, but he had already started to run his hands over Marie's skin, more interested in lazing in bed for a few moments than rising from the warm cocoon of comforter and multiple pillows. One of Marie's legs, silky and bare was dragging up his calf, as though to tease, before she nudged him.

"We need to be at school soon," she informed him, arching when he let his fingers play over her lower back, ghosting his nails over the dimples.

"Call out," was the only solution he offered, finding that teaching was the last thing on his mind. They had stayed up all too late the night before, both of them irritable and annoyed at grading too many papers, arguably last minute, and needing to unwind.

Marie's hands ran over his shoulders and he hummed, remembering how the nails bit in the night before, the way she bucked and had to use him as leverage. His smirk stretched the stitches on his face and he pressed his cheek against her neck, nuzzling. He felt like jelly, relaxed and warm and comfortable, and he supposed she must have felt the aftereffects of the natural release of endorphins, too, because she only shook her head, saying "Franken," more in amusement than exasperation.

Ah, she was in a good mood. That would be the serotonin spike, he assumed. Were he in a more productive state, he'd certainly be tempted to get out some equipment for testing out just how much of that spike was Marie's natural disposition and how much of it was because of him.

Slowly, he shuffled downward, settling his ear against her breast and cataloguing her heartbeat as he brought his palms lower, cupping her ass. Marie hummed, squirming slightly as his hair tickled her jaw, but she seemed to cuddle to him, one of her legs between his, the other pressed against his outer thigh. Slowly, she let one hand tangle in his hair, her index finger tracing where his bolt met his skull, and he moaned lowly as he kneaded her flesh, arching like a cat and nuzzling between her breasts. He felt comfortable, at peace, happy, and he rubbed his cheek against the soft of her, particularly enjoying the cushion of her chest.

She laughed at his reaction, as well as how his stubble scratched at her slightly, and she rubbed a small circle between his shoulder blades. "Someone's affectionate this morning," she commented, yelping when he squeezed her ass, pulling her to his frame.

"It's the oxytocin," he replied, his mouth muffled by her skin, and Marie tipped her head back as he ran his hands over her thighs, stroking over her, warming her up before settling his hands on her backside once more, fingers digging in slightly.

Well, that was a lie. Part of it was the oxytocin, and the dopamine and serotonin, that was making him so inclined to feel Marie's skin and press her to him, but most of it was simply her. He wanted to be close to her, near in multiple ways. In every way. He felt her warm exhale move some of his hair and he could note how she was breathing against him, her plush, small frame pressed so flush to his scarred skin that he could feel her lungs expanding, pushing her ribs out slightly. When he closed his eyes, her soul was thrumming and happy, and he couldn't help but extend his own to softly push against hers, asking for resonance.

He knew she was smiling without even having to look up, even as he set a kiss her sternum, feeling her stroking over his arm. Her naked form against his was a reminder of what they had done the night before, and when their souls linked, he felt her nuzzle against his.

His eyebrows went up and he finally looked at her face, chest warming at the serene expression he witnessed, and Marie scratched at his scalp as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Someone's affectionate this morning," he threw at her, almost dryly, but he knew she could see the slightest gleam in his eyes because her smile grew.

"It's the oxytocin," she responded, giggling even as he smirked, rolling her onto her back and coming over her in a straddle.

"That so?" he asked, untangling their legs and settling on his knees, one between her thighs and the other trapping her left leg.

"Mmmm," she hummed, fluttering her eye closed. "Must be."

His smirk softened as he looked at her, first at her face. The silvery scar tissue of her eye was no matter to him; she had once told him she wouldn't flip the eyepatch up for anyone else, too scared of being rejected. He lowered himself until he could set a kiss to the depressed eyelid, as he often did, as though to reassure her, and her soul warmed even further as though in reward. When he pulled back, it was just enough so that his eyes could skim over her bare form, previously obscured to him by the blanket wrapped around them both.

He must have been in a teaching mood, last night, because he noted how each mouth-mark on her was mapping her internal organs.

"Appendix," he'd said, kissing over her side, leaving a burning trail as he worked up to her breasts. "Lungs. . .heart." The kiss over that particular spot was more delicate than the rest, and his hand had slowed down to a butterfly of a touch, slowly circling her damp flesh, considerably further south. Marie arched against him, grinding down on his fingers to entice more friction, asking for sweet mercy.

"Oh, god, Franken, stop teasing!"

He smiled wider at the memory, lowering his lips to her throat where a particularly dark hickey was marking her carotid artery. He'd sucked at the flesh atop it particularly hard when he was losing himself in her, he remembered, feeling each quickening thump of her pulse on his tongue had undid him. Marie sucked in a sharp breath when he kissed it, and he could feel her heartbeat growing faster as a result. His knee gently ground against her and her hands came up to his shoulders once more, nails biting in, so familiar.

Slowly, pulling away once again, he hovered over her, supporting his weight on his knees, which forced him to grind against her all the harder. Marie's soul thrummed in pleasure, her temperature rising as he smiled down at her, purposefully stopping all motion. He watched as her brows furrowed, her singular eye fluttering open, confusion and irritation evident in the amber orb.

"Franken?" she asked, raising a brow, and he only shifted his smile into a twisted smirk.

"Marie? Don't we need to be at school, soon?" he threw back, echoing her morning greeting. Instead of huffing, as he expected her to, Marie brought one of her sinfully soft legs up to drag against his outer thigh, hitching it higher and higher until her foot pressed into his lower back and she tugged him closer to her, grinning.

"Ten more minutes," she bargained, her voice lowering slightly as she kissed him on the nose, running her hands over his body, drumming her fingers against his ribcage and then down down down until she grabbed his ass, grinding against him.

He groaned, tilting his head to meet her at a better angle. "Call off," he insisted once more.

When she kissed him, biting at his lower lip, he assumed that this time she agreed.

Part 1 of the 30 day NSFW Challenge! More smut coming to a screen near you, soon.