I think everyone has at least one person in their life who is, inexplicably, hot as hell all the time. They walk around in the winter in shorts and you're freezing your ass off. Well, I had a little headcanon that Phil is one of those people who just throws off heat like there's no tomorrow. Mostly because it's an excuse for cuddling and gosh do I love cuddling and it fits so nicely with my "Steve hates the cold" headcanon so have at you.
Sometimes Steve is surprised by all the little cracks in his life that Phil seems to fill in. He feels silly with thoughts about two people being meant for one another, destined for one another, talk of soul mates and the like. Because things like that, they're fairytales; like the stories he used to read as a child where there was always a brave knight to strike down evil and there were always happily-ever-afters.
What he does believe in is compatibility and they bring that in spades. It would figure, then, since Steve hates the cold, that Phil would be so very warm.
"Steve."
He looks up from his incident report as Phil settles beside him on the sofa. A quick glance tells him that the agent has abandoned the reports on his desk to come talk to him.
"Why don't you finish the report later?" Phil suggests. "Go back to the Tower, get some rest."
"I'm not that tired, really," Steve assures him. "I may as well finish the report now. Besides, I'm not clocking out for the day until you do, remember?"
Phil gives him The Look; the one that says he's not happy with his request not being carried out.
"You're shivering," he points out.
Steve is surprised to find that Phil is right. It's only now that he notices his hands shaking. Although, perhaps 'notice' is not the right word. He knows he's shivering because he knows he's cold. He just prefers not to admit it. It's an annoying weakness, being so affected by cold, so he shoves it away as hard as he can. Two days in freezing rain has put a chill in his bones that he can't seem to rid himself of.
"Just cold," he says, shrugging dismissively.
He focuses on the report, but he can feel the other man's gaze on him.
"I'll turn up the heat."
His eyes stay on the paper in his hands but he's listening for Phil's movements. You have to focus if you're trying to follow him; he tends to move silently even when he isn't trying. The closet door opens and he hears shuffling. He's not sure what the agent is looking for until it's draped around his shoulders; a blanket. He looks up in surprise as Phil tucks it around him and settles back on the sofa once again.
"You know I would have turned the heat up earlier if you'd asked," Phil says.
"It's not a big deal," Steve says.
He tries not to react too strongly when the agent places a hand on his thigh. He can feel heat radiating from Phil's open palm, seeping through his khaki slacks, through his skin, his blood, right down to his bones. It trickles down and he finds himself leaning marginally towards the shorter man, his eyes falling shut.
"If it bothers you," Phil is telling him, "then it's a big deal to me."
There's a moment of quiet hesitation before he feels Phil's other hand come to rest at the side of his face. He stiffens momentarily, unsure of what to make of the contact, but relaxes into the touch with a soft sigh before Phil has the chance to second guess himself. They haven't been together very long, have only been on a handful of real dates (coffee and paperwork do not count) when they've managed to find time, and so this is foreign territory. Steve has only been bold enough to kiss Phil once, so he understands the agent's hesitation.
"You've been checked out by medical?" Phil asks.
"You know I have," Steve mumbles.
"I just want to be sure," Phil answers.
Steve's aware of the hand leaving his face and the reports being taken from his lap and he opens his eyes. "I can finish—"
"No," Phil says, cutting him off. "You've been awake for three days. I shouldn't have allowed you to start them in the first place."
Steve sits up a little straighter, a frown making its way to his face.
"I can take care of myself," he says.
"Then see that you do, Captain Rogers," Phil counters. He holds up a hand when Steve begins to retort. "Hear me out."
Steve eases back on the sofa giving Phil the opening to talk.
"As team leader, it's your responsibility to ensure that you're well rested and prepared for action whenever duty calls. I appreciate that you take your reports seriously, but they can wait. I can guarantee that neither Agent Barton nor Mr. Stark have so much as thought of theirs, so one night won't hurt you," Phil explains. "Furthermore, as the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to the Avengers, it's my duty to look after each of its members. That includes you. I can't do my job if you're going to fight me on this. If you won't return to the Avengers Tower and rest there, then I ask that you please, at the very least, rest for a few hours here. The paperwork will still be here when you wake up."
"You are the very last person who should be preaching about letting the paperwork go for one night," Steve points out.
"Maybe, but it doesn't make what I've said any less true," Phil says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Just a few hours. I promise I'll wake you up if you sleep more than five."
Steve thinks it over. He can claim he's not tired as long as he likes, but this mission has worn him out more than he can say. Curling up for a nap under a nice, warm blanket sounds far too tempting. And it's only a few hours, right? He sighs.
"Just a few hours," he says.
"Just a few," Phil echoes.
He's glad when he shuts his eyes and Phil makes no move to get up from the sofa. The sound of the scratch of a pen on paper reaches his ears and he knows the agent must have shifted his workload to the table in front of them. Sleep gradually begins to set in and he hardly notices as he begins to tip over. Very soon he feels warmth wash over him, the kind that reaches down to his bones where the cold has nestled itself like a parasite. He tries to move closer to it… and it moves, too. That drags him back from the cozy arms of semi-consciousness and prompts him to open his eyes and discover that the source of the warmth is actually Phil.
"You're fine where you are," the agent assures him when he moves as though to sit up. "If you want to stay, that is."
That hesitation is back. Steve's not sure what to do himself; his head is resting on Phil's shoulder. Admittedly, the only reason he feels like moving is because he's not sure what kind of boundary this crosses for both of them, but Phil himself had just told him it's all right. And he's so warm. Why is he so warm?
"Why're you so warm?" Steve asks.
"My body temperature has always run on the hotter side. It's something that's been known to drive people out of my bed," Phil admits. He hears something like amusement in the agent's voice. "You don't seem to mind, though."
Steve shakes his head and nuzzles closer, an arm sliding across Phil's middle.
"No," Steve murmurs drowsily. "You feel good."
He hears the shorter man clear his throat. The noise sounds embarrassed to him, but there's a hand patting his knee suddenly and he can't bring himself to think too long on it.
"Get some sleep, Captain."
He does.
When he wakes again, the office is lit only by the small lamp on Phil's desk. Someone must have turned off the overhead lights (his money's on Jasper Sitwell). He doesn't need the dim light to be able to tell that he's essentially sprawled on top of the agent, but what he's surprised to see is that Phil is fast asleep. The shorter man has slouched in his seat just enough so that the angle allows Steve's head to lie pillowed on his chest. The soldier doesn't move, and instead listens to the steady thud of the agent's heartbeat and each slow, easy breath. He turns his head slightly, glancing up. Phil's head is resting against the knuckles of his right hand, his elbow propped on the arm of the sofa. Steve can feel Phil's other arm wrapped securely around his shoulders.
Phil wasn't lying when he said his body temperature ran on the hot side; the agent throws off heat like a small furnace. With the blanket that had previously been around Steve's shoulders now pulled over both of them, all that heat is trapped beneath it. He could wake Phil up, get them both on their way back to the Tower. But there's the chance that if he wakes Phil, the man will go straight back to doing paperwork.
He decides it's best not to risk it.