First uploaded to AO3 on 08/01/2018

hello, have some trash

Invisibility had its perks. Although, as Mason kept telling him, it wasn't true invisibility, but more of an ability to transport himself to an overlapping plane of existence, hence Corey being able to see the Ghost Riders – although perhaps that was because of Corey's second set of genes that he'd gotten by the Dread Doctors, they had given all the chimeras two, and nobody was quite sure what exactly he had aside from the chameleon genes – anyway – and also being able to see full-stop when he couldn't be seen (apparently if you were invisible you wouldn't be able to see because of the light rays passing through you – something like that? Corey had tuned out and just watched fondly as Mason ranted about particles). But yeah, being able to camouflage into the background was fairly advantageous. Corey liked it, for the most part, liked that he could slip in and out of places with nobody knowing (it did wonders for his social anxiety), and liked that he could help the pack out with his unique ability.

What he didn't like was one of the more major side-effects that came with the reptilian genes: that he was now ectothermic (as Mason would put it), or cold-blooded (as Corey would put it). He'd read books about reptiles since his resurrection, looked it up online, and tried to understand the more complicated descriptions surrounding it, but in the end had settled for the more simple explanation: he got cold pretty easily.

And that sucked.

In summer it wasn't so bad; in fact, it was quite good, because California got really hot, and during those times where everyone else was literally sweating swimming pools, he was at a perfect temperature. For the most part. He still had to blast the AC sometimes.

But in winter, it was the worst. He cranked the heating up to the max during that time (and honestly, thank God that his parents didn't know how to do their finances properly and just had their bills set up automatically because he doesn't want to think what would happen if they saw how much it cost) and piled on blankets and coats, but it was still not quite enough a lot of the time. He'd gone to Mason's house last Christmas, and sat in front of the fire the whole time, only moving when it was time to eat and go to bed. Luckily, it didn't seem to freak his boyfriend's parents out too much; Mason made an offhand comment about how Corey felt the cold easily, and his father had just nodded while his mom immediately started fussing about extra blankets and hot drinks.

Christmas was a good memory. Most of his memories that had Mason in were good. When Corey got particularly cold, he thought about his boyfriend, and it made him feel a little warmer. Sometimes he did slightly more than think about him, which really made him quite warm.

Right now, though, he was absolutely freezing. All of the pack were back in Beacon Hills for the holidays, and they'd decided to make the most of the time back together not by having a game night, or a nice meal together, or even going to see a movie (which Corey was personally in favour of, because he could turn himself and Mason invisible halfway through and sneak to the bathroom for a make-out session), but by splitting into pairs and patrolling the town for any supernatural misconduct.

Corey would have assumed he'd be going with Mason; it was how they always split, and then Liam would go with Theo, and Lydia with Stiles, and Scott with Malia. But Mason hadn't been able to make it, because his great-aunt was visiting, and Malia was having a meal with Peter and Derek to get to know her dad and cousin a bit better, so it seemed natural for Scott and Corey to pair up.

Corey didn't feel scared around Scott now, ever since the werewolf had sat down and apologised profusely for shoving his claws into his spinal column, but he wouldn't say he was exactly comfortable around the alpha either.

So he was quite content to let Scott bound ahead, the wolf slightly giddy from all the familiar scents he was picking up, while he trailed behind and glanced about half-heartedly every so often. They were checking out the mall and the area surrounding it, which spanned a couple of miles in diameter, and honestly Corey was getting kind of weirded out by all the mannequins he could see in the windows. Freaky no-faced things.

He shuddered, partially from the sight and partially from the chill in the air, and wrapped his three jackets a little tighter around himself, wishing that he'd brought a fourth and maybe even a fifth. He took another minute to look around, checking that there were indeed no creatures about to maul some innocent citizens, then jogged to catch up with Scott, who was enthusiastically examining, of all things, a broken fire hydrant.

"How long has this been broken?" he yelled when Corey caught up to him, circling the object suspiciously.

Corey shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a couple weeks? And it was probably some stupid teenagers, not a were-anteater or whatever."

Scott grins. "Were-anteater? That I'd like to see." Maybe saying that conjures up memories of the Dread Doctors artificially splicing creatures together, because he stops smiling. "Dude, why do you smell so miserable?" Or maybe that's why.

Corey considers lying for a minute, but Scott has his best confused puppy expression on and looks genuinely upset about it…and besides, Scott can not only smell his chemo signals but also hear his heartbeat, so there'd be no point. All that would happen is Scott would think Corey doesn't trust him.

He goes with what is mostly the truth. "I'm just really cold." He leaves out that he's bored as shit, because that would just hurt Scott's feelings, and it's not his fault. It's Mason's, for being a lovely person and cooking his elderly great-aunt dinner, and Corey will be demanding some form of consolation prize when his boyfriend gets home. Probably in the form of kisses.

Scott's expression immediately changes from confusion to worry, and he flails in a way that Stiles would be proud of. "Why didn't you say?" he exclaims. "How cold?"

Corey gestures uselessly, in a way that Stiles would also approve of. "I don't know a scale! Is there a scale for coldness?"

Scott stares at him. "Fahrenheit?"

Corey squints at him. "I can't use Fahrenheit on my own body."

"I guess…" Scott shakes his head. "Not the point! Anyway. How cold?"

"Really cold. Blood turning into ice cold."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

Corey suddenly feels really awkward, and he doesn't know why, and that makes his anxiety spike so his heart starts beating, and he knows Scott knows because he cocks his head to the side, looking confused. Corey tries to think of something to say to defuse the situation, but before he can really think of anything he gets wrapped up in a Scott Hug. The sudden movement alarms him, and he tenses and squirms instinctively, before hesitantly relaxing into the embrace. Only because it's warm.

"Tell me if you get too hot," Scott murmurs, seemingly not finding this entire situation odd or awkward at all.

Corey does, and is also odd and awkward himself, so his mouth decides to answer Scott's question, and it ends up being way more truthful than he intended because his brain doesn't quite manage to catch up in time. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to be annoying or a burden or make your life difficult!" Oh shit, too truthful. Abort mission, run away, start a new life in Mexico, Corey's planned for this.

"You have some issues, dude. If you want to talk about it, you can always come find me. I mean, I'm guessing there's a reason for them."

"Actually, no, I just have crippling anxiety for the fuck of it."

That shocks a laugh out of Scott, and he squeezes him a little tighter before muttering, "I've never heard you swear before."

Corey shrugs as best he can into the hug. "You don't really talk to me that much." The words aren't intended as a guilt trip, but from the way Scott freezes he takes them that way. "I haven't really made an effort to talk to you either, though," he tries to rectify.

Scott relaxes again, and actually, Corey can see why everyone loves Scott Hugs. He'd probably take a hug from most people right now, but this isn't just warming him up…it's calming him down. He feels his anxiety dissipate and unconsciously burrows his face deeper into Scott's clothing, Scott's scent. It's having almost the same effect as Mason's scent does, which is really weird, but Corey doesn't want whatever it is to end so he just leans into the hug and closes his eyes, listening to Scott's steady heartbeat. He's so lovely and warm now, like he's at home with the heating on full blast and wrapped in a blanket.

He doesn't realise he's fallen asleep until he's waking up, in the passenger seat of Ms McCall's car that they've borrowed for the night, a blanket folded into a cushion between his head and the window and another two blankets thrown over him, and the heating turned up full blast. He glances to the side and sees Scott driving, eyes focused on the road as he taps his thumbs on the steering wheel to whatever song he's got in his head, and visibly sweating from the heat in the car.

Corey tries to get his attention by saying his name, but he's still drowsy so he just kind of mutters a few consonants with a vowel thrown in there, but it does the trick. Scott glances over and smiles at him. "Hey." Corey's getting used to hearing affection in people's voices now, mostly thanks to Mason, but it's still a surprise hearing it from Scott.

"I fell asleep?" His cheeks heat up a little, but he's still too tired to be properly embarrassed.

"Yeah." Scott wipes at his forehead subtly, but they're passing under a street lamp so Corey clocks the movement. "My hugs are just that good."

Corey stretches without dislodging the blankets. He's so nice and warm, but he feels bad about making Scott so hot. "Thanks for all this," he murmurs, snuggling down and tucking his feet up under the blankets too. Scott's even taken his shoes off for him, presumably because of the mud they'd been traipsing through.

"No problem." Scott's voice is soft and reassuring, and Corey falls back asleep before he can help it.

He'll be plenty embarrassed the next morning, when he wakes up in the McCall's spare bedroom and can hear Scott enthusing to his mom about how cute Corey was when he fell asleep in the middle of the hug.

He'll be slightly less embarrassed when Melissa wakes him up with pancakes and tells him that he's always welcome in her home, whenever.

For now, he's warm.

this has? no point to it whatsoever? but i hope you enjoyed anyway, you guys are always so lovely and supportive so thank you so much i love you all3