Beating the Heat

By Snare-chan

Pairings: Hints of Abel/Tres
Ratings: K+
Category(ies): General
Warning(s): None
Status: One-shot, complete
Summary: No clouds in sight, no breeze to comfort him, and temperatures skyrocketing to 110 degrees…however will Abel stay cool?

Notes: Woo, new fangirl in the house! Well, technically, I've been into Trinity Blood for a couple months now, but haven't written anything for it till now. I'm very fond of this piece, and I do hope I get the chance to write another one like it someday. -swoons-

Disclaimer: I dun own Trinity Blood; wish I did like everyone else. They should put TB in stock, then I'd buy it all!

Abel Nightroad was really really hot.

Not in the sense of attractiveness (though he was quite handsome, despite his modest protests that he's as plain and ordinary as any of his fellow men), but instead physically. Normally, he could handle the heat of Rome, with its many tiled roofs that overhung the streets, and its mild climate; even with his many-layered (black!) robes, it would usually take quite some time just sitting flat out in the sun to start sweating, though it still might be tolerable.

Today, however, the weather seemed rather hell-bent on making the occupants of its fair city quite miserable. A heat wave from the east had swept in during the wee morning hours and steadily climbed to 110 degrees by noon, which was where it was staying well into the evening.

At first, Abel had been strong and ignored the rise in warmth, having been busying away at headquarters in well air-conditioned rooms before Lady Caterina decided he was in need of something other than raiding and standing before the nice, cool refrigerator in the lower floors of the church. Now Abel had removed a portion of his outfit and brought his long hair over on one shoulder to allow for some breathing room, yet he still felt the effects of the sun.

The assignment was something to do with going out to a neighboring city to stop some strange occurrences that had been stirred up for no apparent reason. At the time, he was sure he'd been diligently paying attention, but in this heat how could anyone possibly expect poor Abel to recall much of anything? If he didn't know better, he was sure his brain was frying inside of his head like an unprotected egg… Perhaps when he had the energy, he'd ask his partner what they were eventually supposed to be doing.

Speaking of his companion… He miserably turned his head about to spot Tres Iqus sitting straight in his chair, looking cool and collected in the direct rays of the sun. If it were possible, just the sight of the other looking comfortable in his seat while he was sitting there feeling sticky had everything about him drooping even more.

"Father Nightroad, waving your hand in attempt to cool yourself will only further increase your body temperature," Tres spoke up suddenly in his cold, monotone voice.

"Oh! But I can't help it Mr. Tres. It feels like I've been waiting forever and ever for my iced tea, and there's not much more I can take of this unbearable heat."

It had taken forever in itself to convince his partner to stop at the small café, his persuasive skills bringing up that he'd surely be too dehydrated by the time they reached the train station to be liable to complete the mission. In all honestly, it was probably because Tres had uploaded the day's train schedule and knew that their train wouldn't be arriving for another 1500 seconds, or 25 minutes.

Thankfully, as soon as Abel had spoken those words, a young waitress sauntered over to relieve him of the warmth filtering in from all directions by dropping off his tall glass of iced tea. And what a fine specimen of a drink it was! Dark and topped with five large frozen cubes, perspiration was already forming along the side of the cup. The sight alone had Abel salivating like mad.

Reaching for the sugar packets, he reached for the most pure, sugary kind the establishment offered before Tres spoke up again, in the same robotic responses he was known for.

"Too much sugar will cause excessive fluid intake and thirst. Proceeding with your course of action will not be beneficial later."

"Oh come now, Mr. Tres; you know I like my iced tea this way," Abel calmly replied, still grabbing several of the small packets of sweet delight. Still, he took the other's advice to heart and only grabbed twelve packets instead of the original thirteen. He was sure his body would be thanking him if he were unable to happen upon something to drink later on.

Carefully, he sifted each of the packets' contents into the glass, stirring it slowly so as not to let a single drop loose. When he was unable to see through it any longer due to the huge sugar content, he finally took the straw to his lips, taking it easy and enjoying the wonder that was his cold drink. Having sat out in the daylight for only a short while, it had started to melt quickly, but all the same it was like a soothing medicine and fresh mountain waterfall all in one as the drink traveled past teeth and tongue.

There were no words to express how happy he would have been to just sit there all the rest of the evening enjoying such a sensation as this, but already it seemed to be coming to a close. Knowing Tres, who was ever diligent in his ways, the other would never allow him to idly sit back and let the day pass him by. How unfortunate, because Abel really had no desire to get up and move, even just that little bit of work sure to cause another bout of dizzying heat to strike him.

Slurping down the last of his drink, he dejectedly pushed it aside to stare at it, as if asking it for mercy. How could it betray him like this? He was still so thirsty, and hot, and there had hardly been enough sugar in there, and hot…

"Are you ready, Father Nightroad?"

"How much longer do we have?"

"900 seconds until the train docks."

Calculating that out in his head, Abel assumed that he could at least buy five more minutes if he played his cards right. As stated before, the less movement he was forced to do, the happier he'd be.

"Then you wouldn't mind a moment to relax, right Mr. Tres? No need to exert more energy than necessary."

He accepted the long, calculating stare he received with an innocent smile. At last, the other looked away, apparently accepting his answer for now with a 'you only have 300 seconds'. This did present another problem, namely how in the world Abel was going to get cooler now. With his glass empty and no more money left for a refill, the two of them only had the peaceful scenery around them. One with no breeze whatsoever to help.

Sighing softly, he eyed Tres out of the corner of his eye, taking note how vigilant he was being. He didn't think for a moment that the other was actually enjoying the sight of women and their children strolling down the streets or sweethearts picnicking in the distance, for the other never let down his guard. Such a pity that the gunner didn't enjoy such innocent sights more often, instead of keeping his ever-watchful gaze on the lookout for possible threats.

As far as he knew, he wasn't sure if the other was even able to sweat, much less know what to do if faced with the proposition to take in the world simply for peace of mind. There wasn't much he knew aside from basic cybernetics, most of which he'd only acquired through word of mouth rather than actual insight or manual hopping. After all, that's probably how he stayed cool, his interior machinery built with filters and cooling systems. Though human in appearance, he was probably set at a constant normal temp-

Staring at Tres with new eyes, such a train of thought did not easily escape. Filters…coolers…set body temperature…why had he never realized this before? Iced tea and sitting still were all too easily forgotten in wake of his discovery.

While the other wasn't looking, he indiscreetly scooted a single chair over.

The movement was more than enough to gather the other's attention, brown eyes turning to face him with more calculation then curiosity. A smile fell into place as he was regarded, the other's head swiveling to survey his closer position.

"I demand an explanation."

"You don't mind, do you, Mr. Tres? It's so much cooler over here; don't you agree?"

Tres' optics immediately took in the position of the sun, nearby cold spots and other anomalies. The café having already been crowded when they'd arrived, they'd taken position at one of the many scattered tables and chairs outside. Though secluded in a corner, it was one on the side farthest from the building where no possible shade could be had. His inbuilt thermometer alone told him that in a ten foot radius, the temperature was the same.

"I do not understand your response."

Grabbing hold of his arm Abel was able to just get close enough to feel through the other's sleeve with his own, the difference in body heats so noticeable it made him shiver. Hah, so he'd been right!

"Father Nightroad, are you damaged?"

Startled out of his inner successive banter, Abel looked at the other, remembering that Tres had been talking to him and that he'd responded to neither question yet.

"Ah, no, no! I'm quite fine, thank you."

"Then I demand an explanation."

Sighing with enough force to push up a couple loose strands from his ponytail, Abel scooted closer, having been discovered before he'd even really had a chance to get cooled down. So what did it matter? His partner was unmoving, still giving him a blank look.

"Um…well…you see…the thing is…" he fumbled ungracefully, searching for an even remotely reasonable answer for sidling up to the other like this, in public, that the other would be able to understand, only to fall short by several syllables and settle on, "I'm hoooooooot! And you're not. You don't want me to get heatstroke, do you?"

If he could snort, Abel was sure the other certainly would have in this instance, and since the cyborg had never been built with such input, he simply responded with a negative, before going back to analyzing their surroundings. For a moment Abel was actually at a loss until he too shrugged it off, contently sticking as close as possible to lose the intense heat his body had been building.

By the time he was actually losing the feeling in his fingers from hanging on so long, they only had a minute to rush to the station.

-Fin-