Rosie dozed off, curled up against him, one hand clasped in his. Eddie kissed her fingers and arranged her hair away from her face. She rolled when she felt him shift, and he froze until her breath puffed peacefully through parted lips. It was cold, and he crossed his arms protectively over his bare chest as he stepped out.

The cat was sitting on the other side of the door. It blinked slowly up as he emerged, tail swishing.

"Were you listening the whole time?"

Purr.

"Weirdo." He leaned over to rub its head. The cat allowed this at first, then jerked back and pounced at his hand. "Ow!"

He sucked his thumb where the animal's claws had caught him. The cat scampered away victorious. Eddie made sure to wash his wounds after using the bathroom. He was about to unlock the door when he heard someone outside. Talking. Cooing. Presumably to the cat. He looked down at himself; still just in a pair of boxers, and sat on the edge of the tub, listening until they edged away.

In situations like this, timing is really everything. If Eddie had been more patient, maybe waited a minute or two longer, Gabrielle might have made it to the living room. As it happened, however, she was in the kitchen when the lock snapped back, and assumed it was just Rosie.

"Hey. Next time when you finish the milk, could you -"

"Hi." He didn't know why he bothered to cover his chest.

"Ugh!" Rosie's roommate blocked the view with one hand, still holding the milk in the other. Murdock eyed him judgmentally from the counter.

"I w-was just..."

"I don't care."

"Right." Eddie ran awkwardly past, slamming the door once back in the safety of Rosie's room.

She stirred. "What happened?"

"I met your roommate."

Rosie raised herself on her elbows, covers falling away from her breasts. "Like that?"

Eddie nodded. "Like this."

She giggled. "Is she scarred?"

"For life, I think."

"You're cold." Rosie laid back and opened her arms. He slithered under the blankets, pressing his cold hands against her. "You little shit!"

"I thought you wanted to heat me up."

"Fuck!" She tried to kick his legs away; his feet were worse than his hands. "Get off!"

Trapped, Rosie could only growl and gripe. Eddie smooched her head repeatedly as she continued to struggle. It was only a matter of time before she gave up. Accepted her fate as his human heating pad. She fell back asleep shortly after.

Two hours later they remerged - this time fully dressed - together. Gabrielle was reclining in front of the TV. Rosie poked her in the shoulder and she glared at them.

"Um. Gabs. This is Eddie."

He tried a wave and a smile. The girl's scowl deepened. "Hello."

"Eddie. Gabrielle."

"Could you please keep a shirt on if you're gonna be walking around?"

Eddie reddened. "Sure. Yep. Sorry."

"He didn't expect you to come home."

"If I'm here or not, I mean. No-one wants to see that."

He shuffled with shame. It was Rosie's turn to be annoyed. "Are you not even going to say hello?"

"Hello." Gabrielle was facing the TV again, and waved them both away.

"I don't think she likes me."

Rosie took him by the arm. "She doesn't really like men. Or people in general."

"And you get to live with that."

"Eh. She's nice enough to me. When it suits her."

She took some tomatoes out of the fridge. Eddie just held them as she handed them to him. The onions, too. Rosie kept going until his arms were almost full.

"What are we making?"

"Just pasta. I'm lazy."

Eddie waited for her to lay out a chopping board and put the ingredients down. Rosie took the onions and left him to mulch the tomatoes. She had really tried to teach him to be careful with them, but he was still too heavy handed. She let him do the garlic and spinach, too. Anything that didn't matter if it was mush. In true Rosie fashion, she made sure they made enough for Gabrielle instead, in spite of her roommate's attitude.

They retreated back into the safety of her room. Rosie struggled with, and eventually managed to hook up her own tiny, disused TV. She pushed her leftovers onto Eddie's plate, and he tried to protest. He knew for a fact she could eat more.

"I'm trying to fatten you up." She said, prodding his concave gut. "So you can't run away."

"I could still roll."

A titter. "I want to get dessert. Hurry up."

"Dessert's right here." He tried to sound sexy. Neither of them found it seductive. Rosie gagged.

She made sure he wrapped up. Shoved a sweater on over his t-shirt and wound a thick grey scarf tightly around his neck. Pulled up his hood and produced a new pair of gloves from one of her drawers.

"I don't need -"

Rosie slapped his hands as he tried to move them away. "Says the man who just molested me with ice-blocks."

Eddie let her put them on. He didn't like gloves. Always felt like he couldn't move his fingers in them. He stood there, sweating as Rosie bundled herself up. As it turned out, he was immediately grateful for her fussing. It was freezing outside. The snow had mostly been cleared from the roads and sidewalks, but still stood in slushy piles in certain places. The puddles were all frozen over, and they stepped gingerly around visible patches of ice. In some spots it was black, however, and Eddie came very close to falling on his ass three times.

They ended up getting hot chocolates over anything frozen - both being frozen enough as it was. Sitting in a cramped café full of students, for a change Eddie really didn't feel any eyes on him. Unlike Hawkins, no one knew him here. No-one bore any prejudices or accusations toward him. In a city, he was just another stranger, rather than the local freak. Rosie held his hand as they sat, telling him eagerly about the neighborhood, about college and her friends. It just felt so normal and comfortable. He silently reminded himself that as soon as his funds ran low, he would be heading home. He couldn't grow too accustomed.

"We're definitely supposed to be in here?"

"Like you care." Rosie threaded her fingers between his. It was dim, and he half-suspected the door they had entered through was meant to be locked. She led him up the stairs and through another set of glass doors, to a hallway lined with cabinets. "This is cool. Look."

"What the hell is that?"

"Biarmosuchus."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Bless you?"

"Look. There's a drawing."

Eddie squinted at it. "Like a doggosaurus?"

"Sort of?"

"Is his name Rex?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Not very big."

"They weren't all big."

There were rows and rows of model skeletons, some with illustrations, others just left up to the imagination. Most were around the same size as the doggosaurus, but a handful took up whole cabinets. Rocks, too, naturally, imprinted with the remains of things long lost.

"And you have to learn all these?"

"Not all, no." Rosie corrected. "I really just focus on the prehistoric reptiles. But look! They have you!"

The sign next to the figure read homo erectus. Eddie stared down at her. "That's not funny."

"It's pretty funny."

"Did you bring me in here just to make that joke?"

"Absolutely."

"Not a day in the place and she's calling me a neanderthal."

"No. That's a neanderthal." She pointed, still chuckling to herself.

"Same thing."

"Actually -"

Eddie walked off. Rosie trotted along behind, babbling about the differences in early hominids.

"You're such a nerd."