Temari left without getting her questions answered, which Hinata hoped she would just ignore until the next time she came and didn't dwell on it too much. Their lives went back to their normal routine. Hinata settled down into the spot they were in before, but today, she came with a pillow and blanket from her bedroom.

"What is this for?" Gaara wondered.

"I was getting stiff siting against up like this," Hinata explained. Gaara looked like he didn't understand. "The floor and wall are hard."

Gaara tilted his head. "I can make them softer."

"This is fine." Hinata curled her knees up to herself as she started another drawing. "I used to love being curled up in blankets in the winter to stave off the cold."

Gaara touched the edge of the fabric of her nest. "I don't use a blanket."

"Even at night?" Gaara shook his head. "What do you do when it's cold."

"Friction," Gaara answered plainly.

Oh, the sand. "Well, I guess that's convenient. I want a blanket even when it's warm. It's just comfortable." Hinata scooted over to offer him a spot. Gaara hesitated but moved in closer than they would usually be to sit on her blanket with her. "See?"

Gaara nodded, making himself as small as he possibly could on the blanket to watch her next drawing.

Hinata's jaw feel open when she saw Gaara come out of his room for breakfast. His hair was chopped jaggedly. "You… cut your hair?"

Gaara tilted his head. "Yes."

Hinata pressed her lips together. Would it be rude to offer to fix it? She couldn't assume he would be okay with it.

"Temari doesn't like it. She redoes it when she comes." Gaara rubbed his head, shaking some of the longer stands he missed and making them more obvious.

"Would… you allow me to fix it?" Hinata set down his breakfast.

"It bothers you too?" Gaara picked up his utensils.

"A bit," Hinata admitted. "But it's your hair."

Gaara considered it. Hinata was sure that brushing against her arm while they were next to each other or examining each other's hands was not the same as being close to his head with a pair of scissors. He nodded his head a fraction. She almost missed it.

"After we eat, then." Hinata started into her own breakfast.

Gaara didn't like having his hair fixed, but Temari always made it clear that it was not optional. Hinata offered the option, but options sometimes disappeared with more irritation.

Hinata finished her cleanup of their meal and dug into a few drawers until she found a decent pair of scissors. "Do you usually use a cape?" A what? Hinata saw his confusion and shook her head. "Never mind. Let's just see what we can do."

Hinata stood behind him and placed the scissors down, her hand brushing against the ends of his hair. Gaara froze as his skin prickled.

Hinata hummed. "I think this is the shortest." She picked up the scissors and started taking small sips.

Gaara relaxed, but his skin kept alert. This felt different from when his sister trimmed his hair.

Hinata took her time, occasionally running her hand back through to reposition his hair.

Shukaku started to laugh at him, and it was making the odd heat in his face get hotter. What was happening?

Hinata putting down the scissors punctuated the experience, or so he thought, until both of her hands ghosted through his hair, tossing any fall out. "It's not perfect, but it's much better. If you want a haircut, it might be better if I just do it in the future if you don't mind. It's harder to fix than just doing the whole cut from scratch."

Gaara nodded. He would absolutely let her do this again.

Hinata laid awake in bed. Another night that was just a little too cold to be comfortable, but if she got up and got a sweater to sleep in, she would bake in the morning. She tucked her head down into her blankets and groaned. Maybe if she had a warmer area, she would be able to sleep.

She kicked off her blankets and pulled on a sweater to stave off the chill in the sand walls, padded to the kitchen, put on the kettle, and leaned on the counter to wait on it, holding her arms around herself, hoping to keep in any of her body heat.

"You're not usually awake this late."

Hinata looked up through her bangs to see him, just as awake as when she went to bed. "It's cold. I can't sleep."

Gaara looked toward the windows. "Storm season is coming."

"Wonderful," Hinata grumbled. Maybe she could ask more about that when she was more awake.

"It's not." Gaara corrected.

Hinata looked at him for a moment. She didn't feel like explaining her sarcasm. The kettle screamed to tell her the water was hot, and she poured it into an empty mug, wrapping her fingers around it. The burning of her fingertips was a small price to pay for the spread of warmth that came over her. "Would you like some?"

"It's just water?" Gaara wondered.

"Wonderfully hot water." Hinata offered.

Gaara shook his head. It must be nice, never getting cold, and he didn't even look tired.

Hinata took her hot water to her usual sitting spot and waited for Gaara to join her. What else did he have to do this late? She closed her eyes, holding the mug up to her face. She would be sad when it was gone.

She opened her eyes to notice that the wall was much closer than before now shifting, and glittering. "Is this how you stay warm?"

Inside the small pocket, she did feel warmer. Hinata blinked as her eye drooped. She should go back to bed.

Gaara watched her eyes fall heavy as she fell asleep. Did he wake her to have her go back to bed? He took the cup from her hand and, put it aside and stiffened as her weight fell on his shoulder. He looked through her hair to her blank sleeping face as his felt a weird heat to his chest.

He should wake her up. He should move out from under her.

'Let her sleep.' Shukaku told him.

"I think she will want to go to bed." Gaara negated.

Hinata shifted off his shoulder, flinched awake, and blinked at him. "I'm sorry." She rubbed her face.

Gaara opened his mouth to tell her that he didn't mind, but nothing came out.

Hinata stumbled up to her feet and passed through the wall that he opened for her.

Gaara sat alone there with his hand on his shoulder, still feeling the remains of her warmth. He felt her return to her room, and he closed his eyes until she didn't get back in bed, but instead, she padded back down the hall and came around the corner with her blankets and her pillow in her arms.

She put her pillow against the wall, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, and sat back down, ducking her face into her knees. "That's better."

Gaara closed the frictioning sand around them to give her the heat she was seeking as she drifted back off in her sat-up ball. Would she fall on him again?

Hinata rubbed her face, looking at the pile of sand abandoned around them in a circle. Gaara was still sleeping, fully laid on her side.

For once, that permanent look of discomfort and mild confusion wasn't on his face. She didn't want to move him, but sitting up like this had done a number on her back. Was there a way she could move him without him noticing how he fell asleep? She didn't want to embarrass him.

Maybe they needed to have some futons. They could sleep out here without sitting up on each other.

… Hinata reached out to touch the sand with her fingertips. How late did he stay up to keep her warm?

The sand moved under her fingers, but Gaara didn't stir in his sleep.

"Shukaku-san?" Hinata wondered. The sand shifted again to answer. "Can you lay him down without waking him up?" The sand shifted between her and him and let her move. She put her pillow down to lay him on and placed her blanket down over him as he was laid down. "Thank you." She whispered to the beast as she stretched her sore muscles.

The sand retreated back to the ring around him as she stepped out of it. Hopefully, Gaara could get some more sleep before breakfast.