For starflower, who wanted just a hint of fluff, prompt 'cool'
Nearly Sweet as Water
It was a strange thing, Jo thought as they struggled over ridges of hot sand, their former captors now somewhere far behind. Strange because usually being near to someone meant you were hotter.
She remembered days in school, crammed together, parched, when the heat of the bodies in the room was enough to stifle the life out of anyone; a merciless sun beat through the windows, the sweat trickling beneath her scratchy uniform.
"Jo? Just a little farther."
A coolness enveloped her; she blinked out of heat-addled dreaming, letting him shade her and gently cool her with his alien hands.