The air was becoming stifling as August felt Sasha shift against him on the bed. This was the third time this month that Hollow Point had lost power, usually through the interference of the rakk roosting in the cave ceilings and chewing through wires and conduits that got in their way. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't the hottest month of the year. There was little to do around Hollow Point otherwise, and going outside was a risk in and of itself with the skags in heat.

Plus staying inside meant he could chase off anyone who was interested in robbing the place.

"You wanna drink?" she muffled, and shifted once more. The agitation of damp clothing against skin was becoming increasingly unpleasant with each movement, and August wasn't sure how much longer he could take it.

Not that he wouldn't mind getting a little more naked to pass the time.

"If there's anything cold enough," he mumbled back, and peeled his arm off her side so that she could get up. It was dark, but his eyes managed to adjust enough so that he could see her faint silhouette padding across the room to the useless fridge. A puddle had already grown underneath it, and he heard her hiss in discomfort as her toes splashed in it.

"What's taking you so long?" Bottles and cans bounced against each other as he listened to her searching around in the dead appliance.

"I can't figure out what any of these drinks are."

"Does it matter? Just grab anything." August grunted as he peeled his shirt off and tossed it aimlessly over his shoulder. It was getting worse by the minute and he didn't want to sour it any further with his bad mood. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, just as dark as the rest of the room around them, and dwelled on all the ways they could avoid this problem in the future. That was a big undertaking, and he didn't even own Hollow's Point. He was just a bartender with his fingers in a few pots and the hope that they wouldn't be cut off in the process.

He felt the bed shift and heard it grown as Sasha's weight settled against him again. Her hand found his shoulder, and she traced it up to his face to get a sense of his position.

"As you requested." There was a playfulness to her voice as she gently lay the chill bottle against his chest, unable to find his hand in the blanket of darkness they dwelled under. August gasped in both delight and surprise at the sudden change in temperature, and groped the neck of the bottle to find the cork.

"You just had to grab the rakk ale, of all things..." he teased as he rolled onto his side, the bottle dangling from his fingers. He could tell fromt he shape of the bottle exactly what it was. The liquid splashed about as he swung it back and forth, staring into the nothingness of where he thought her face should be. He wiped away at the light condensation the bottle had left behind on his chest.

"If you don't like it, why do you even keep it?"

August could easily imagine the judgmental look on her face - that quirk of a smile, the tug of one eyebrow, that ever-present dimple on her cheek - and pressed the side of the bottle to her neck. His guess and aim proved to be true, and the surprised gasp that came out of her brought a smile to his face.

"Gotta keep my collection filled, don't I?" Her movement told him she was making a grab, and he managed to pull it out of reach before she could. With the lights out, this little game of his was going to be easy to win.

"It's not like you show it off to anyone." Another grab, and her fingers scraped against his cheek. He quickly pinned her hand to the bed with an elbow, and the cold bottle found her side. Her response was much more exuberant, due to the sensitive spot he chose, the fact he was delighting in this, or both.

"'s still something I can be proud of. I don't gotta show off everything to everybody."

Another grab and she managed to catch his wrist. But without her other arm, she had no leverage to wrestle the "weapon" away from him. He managed to switch it up and get the hold on her instead, leaving her open for the bottle of ale to find the small of her back. Sasha swore and struggled to get him off, and August chuckled at her display, metaphorically speaking. But soon she gave up her fight, and relaxed beneath him. The drink had warmed up slightly to a more accpetable temperature, and felt like heaven against her heated skin. A contented sigh escaped her, and August decided to oblige her, assisting in her relief.

"You like that, huh..." He adjusted himself so that he sat lower on her legs, her shirt pushed up to her shoulders to expose the rest of her back to him. Sasha replied lazily with a half-hearted hum, her skin flinching with each new area the bottle explored. "Dunno why we didn't think of this sooner."

They took turns with the various drink containers that remained, cooling each new body part in turn until they shivered internally. Shed clothes made it easier and more difficult at the same time, unable to see where each other started and ended. It didn't matter for very long once their limbs were tangled together and they made a new heat of their own. It would have been intolerable if not for the foggy passionate haze they found themselves in. Sheets cast aside, they were enveloped in each other's heat until it all came to a crashing end, bodies covered in a fresh sheen of sweat that was a little more tolerable than their earlier predicament.

Breathless and panting, they lay on opposite sides of the bed, their hands meeting somewhere in the middle.

"... well that was a fun way to pass the time..."

And to add icing to the proverbial cake, the lights overhead flickered on, and there was a general hum of electricity flooding the building once more. The AC unit flickered into overdrive and blasted the room with so much cold air that neither of them was prepared for. It was a temporary relief, however, as the power being back on meant that the people of Hollow Point would be milling about again.

"We should get back to work..." Sasha sounded a little disappointed, her hand slipping from his grasp as she escaped fromt he damp mattress beneath her to search for her clothes. August remained, watching. Stuck between the need to get back to running his bar and cursing it all to the wind so that they could spend more time here, pretending as if the world outside didn't exist. That yearning was almost enough for him to wish for another blackout, but he knew these moments were never meant to last. Responsibility was a difficult thing to ignore.