DISCLAIMER: The Vocaloids used in this story do not belong to me. Sonika and Tonio belong to their rightful company, Zero-G.

Comment: This story is an older work of mine as well, but I've tweaked it just in case there were any errors to be found. It's up to the reader whether or not the relationship between Sonika and Tonio is romantic or platonic.

There's a brief mention of another story featuring Sonika and Tonio that I did for their birthday; it isn't on this site, but I plan on posting it here in the future. The gist is: Tonio had a pretty shabby self-esteem even on his birthday he couldn't be happy. Once they were alone together, Sonika had a few words of assurance as a way to make him feel better. It somewhat worked.

Anyway, this story was from a prompt challenge I tried doing (sunshockk's 100 Writing Prompts Challenge from Deviantart), if anyone is curious.

Prompt #92: Warm

Ah, winter…damn, how Tonio hated the cold; then again, the Opera Vocaloid didn't like the extreme heat either. The weather had to be just right for him to be completely satisfied. Sadly, he would have to wait until mid-spring for weather which made him comfortable.

Oh well. For now, he had this large blanket sprawled over the couch and his own body; enough for the sheet to reach his collarbone. At least he was warm.

"Oh, bleedin' hell! Why does it have to be so cold today?!"

Tonio sat up from his spot on his couch just on time to see Sonika huffing to herself while she came down the stairs, rubbing at her arms in an attempt to warm her body up. "Sonika, you're wearing that tank top. It should be obvious why you're so cold."

Sonika's lips puckered out to one side at the comment. "I don't like long sleeve shirts though, Uncle Tony."

"If you were to start wearing them, you wouldn't be in the situation you're in right now."
"But I don't like long sleeved shirts!"
"Good grief."

Tonio watched the green haired Vocaloid shiver hard, her pearly white teeth clattering as she did so. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"I—I—I wa—was going to get some hot chocolate or some tea to warm me up," Sonika answered him. "Nobody's up yet, so…" she paused, but then she finally noticed the blanket covering Tonio and the rest of the couch, "…" She slowly began to grin as she took a few steps closer to where Tonio was relaxing. "Say, Uncle?"

He could tell by the grin on her face what she was going to ask him, but Tonio decided to play along by pretending that he didn't know what she wanted. "Yes?"

"Can I get under the blanket with you so I can warm myself up?"
"…all right, let me move over a bit for you."
"Yay~!"

As soon as he shifted over on the couch until his side was pressed against the couch's surface, Tonio lifted the sheet off himself, enough for Sonika to slide under without letting much of the winter air underneath. Sonika carefully got on the couch and immediately felt her body warming up, though not as much as she wanted to feel.

"Merda! Why are your arms like ice?!" Tonio yelped out when he felt Sonika's bare arms brush up against his hand from under the blanket.

"I told you that I was cold," Sonika simply said. "Oh yeah, I forgot…" she mumbled innocently, "you…kinda hate the cold, don't you? Terribly sorry about that."

Tonio sighed. "No, it's all right. You needed to warm your body up, anyway."

"…I'm still kinda cold, actually…"
"You are?"
"Yeah."
"Hm…"

"Oh hey!" Sonika exclaimed all of a sudden with an idea brewing in her mind. "I hear that you can warm up quicker with another living being's body heat!"

"…" He raised a brow at her. Tonio, once again, knew where this was leading to. "All right all right, I understand what you're hinting."

Tonio opened his arms half way before Sonika immediately launched herself into them, wrapping her own arms around his waist and snuggled her face against the side of his. Why did her face have to be cold like her arms…?! When he heard her make a happy sigh, he shivered as her breath hit his ear. He swore if this was any of the other Vocaloids, he had no idea how he would react. They knew he didn't liked being touched.

"Thanks, Tonio," Sonika cheerfully thanked the younger Vocaloid, then she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. "My body's feeling warm again!"

"That's…great." Tonio flushed at the new feeling on his neck. This girl, he swore, was pretty affectionate; whether or not she would realize it. At least her face wasn't cold when it was touching one of parts of his skin that wasn't covered by the long sleeve shirt he wore.

"Speaking of warm, your face's turning a wicked shade of red! Are you feeling okay, Uncle Tony?"

"I'm all right," he reassured her.

"Oh, okay—wait a minute!" Sonika lifted her head to look at Tonio clearly. "You're blushing!"

"…no I'm not."
"Yes you are!"

"Sonika, if you've warmed yourself up now, you can go ahead and lea—"
"Noooo…! I'll stop messing with you, I promise!"
"…fine. You can stay."

"Yay…" Sonika cheered softly and then she nuzzled her face back into Tonio's shoulder. "You're too warm to leave. I'll just get cold again if I get out from under here…!"

He shook his head at her behaviour, muttering, "That's why I said that you should, perhaps, start wearing a shirt with sleeves."

"Hm, no thanks," she replied. "I like snuggling up with you better than putting on a sweater or something."

"Why?"
"Because you're nice and warm!"

Tonio felt Sonika curl up in his arms and tried his absolute best to ignore her green hair tickling his chin, thanks to the girl's ponytail. "That's because I've been underneath this blanket for an hour," he said.

"Well," she replied with a smug grin, "we're gonna stay like this for an entire hour until I get nice and warm like you!"

Tonio was about to object to the idea, but he decided that he might as well let her warm her body up. It wouldn't be nice when she was freezing moments ago. "Fine, we'll stay like this."

So, the younger Zero-G Vocaloids stayed in each others arms in silence afterwards. Within five minutes of nothing but silence and the warmth of being held in someone's arms, Tonio felt his eyelids become heavy. Damn, he was getting sleepy…it doesn't help that he was laying down so comfortably.

Tonio's mind wandered then he suddenly thought about the last time which he and Sonika were together without the presence of anybody else. Their birthday, maybe? That was almost five months ago…

"…you know, you shouldn't put yourself down so much. Just because not that many people know you, it doesn't mean that you're not liked. Oooh, I don't know. I'm trying to make you feel better, because I know that you should never, ever, feel discouraged and stuff!"

Of course, Sonika's "scolding" from that one night on their birthday would echo in his head whenever he felt like shit about himself. Why, though?

"You know what, Uncle? I think that you and Prima sound the most human! You two are more human than everyone else, including the Crypton-loids! Please stop feeling bad about yourself. Promise us?"

"Hey, Uncle Tony," Sonika spoke out, "Did you want me to move my arms? I just noticed that they're still around your waist and I thought that you were probably getting uncomfortable—" she suddenly paused when she heard soft snoring beside her. "Ey?"

Sonika moved her head to look over to see what Tonio was doing. She slowly grinned at the sight. Tonio actually fell asleep! He had his head tilted to one side while he slept, his arms not letting go of her.

"Aww, Tony."

"I'm feeling really warm, at least," Sonika happily murmured.

Tonio had fallen asleep, alright…but, before he did, he had heard Sonika's words from months ago in his mind. Sonika was an odd one at times; however, during that night…her words made him melt. She made him feel better about himself. Granted, one could say she overdid it with the "being more human than the other Vocaloids" since the hardcore fans would strongly disagree with the statement, but whatever. Those words of encouragement continued on to make him, well, warm. Warmth came in different ways, didn't it? Tonio was in Sonika's arms just like she was in his; they were getting warm together. Then, there was the other kind of warmth Tonio was feeling when he remembered that moment with Sonika.

…you're such a sweet girl. Thank you, Sonika.

Somehow, he went to sleep after that thought.

Warmth, it comes in many forms.

Sonika, with a grin still on her face, nuzzled against Tonio's sleeping form. "Goodnight," she whispered. "Hey, since you're doing the same for me...I'll stay here to keep you warm as long as you need me to. Hope that's okay."

end