Flame and Ice
Title: Flame and Ice
Pairng: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Warning: boys in space
Summary:
Author's Note: written for the salt_burn_porn challenge! The prompt was freezing cold
White. Everything was white. The walls. The bed sheets. The ceiling. Everything was white, and sterile. Cold. He was frozen to the core and no matter what they told him about his body temperature or the room temperature he was sure he was freezing again.
“Mr. Padalecki?”
The nurse was in white too and though she smiled there was no warmth in her eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I asked if you were ready for your visit?”
He had a hard time concentrating. It was supposed to be a safe procedure but they said it still happened sometimes, that someone came out of cryo-sleep wrong. He couldn’t concentrate but when he tried to explain to him that he couldn’t concentrate because he was so damn cold they all made notes and walked away with furrowed brows and whispered to one another.
Like he couldn’t hear what they said. He was a genetically enhanced soldier, made with better senses than the average human. They seemed to think that his inability to concentrate meant he couldn’t hear as well. He understood what they were worried about anyway. If they couldn’t find a way to heal his mind, he couldn’t return to work. If he couldn’t return to work … retirement wasn’t pretty for the genetically enhanced.
The nurse tapped his ankle and Jared looked up to realize she was still waiting for an answer. “Yes, I’m ready to visit this new doctor. I don’t know what you think he can do that the others couldn’t, but I’m ready to give it another try,” he said with his most charming smile.
She lowered the rail of his bed and removed the restraints on his legs. He thought it was unfair that they still kept his legs locked. He had only gotten out of bed the one time and that was to look for blankets. They seemed to think he was at risk of running.
He shook his legs out a little and rubbed his hands over the sides where the restraints chafed against his skin. When the nurse backed up he slid over the edge of the bed and stood. It felt good to be out of the bed.
The nurse motioned him to follow her and Jared did. The walls outside of his room where white too, as were the uniforms of the guards who walked behind him as they made a left towards the doctor’s offices. Jared didn’t know what to expect from this new doctor. All he knew was that the other doctors thought he was unconventional and he was really the last resort for Jared. If this doctor couldn’t get him out of the cold then it was retirement.
He shivered violently as a blast of cold air hit him. He had to stop and lean against the wall for a moment and he could see the nurse tense as she waited for him. He heard the guards shift behind him as they moved into position if he decided to attack.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jared said through clenched teeth. He didn’t know how anyone could consider him a threat when his teeth were chattering from the cold but the nurse seemed unmoved by his words.
“The doctor is waiting.”
Jared pushed away from the wall. He was still shivering but the only thing that had given him any sort of warmth was physical movement and he hoped the walk would help.
They walked past the main offices and down the sterile halls past empty rooms. The hospital had been far greater once, when the spacer plague was still upon them. Mankind had been proud of its medical advances but when they turned their attention to space, they found a whole new host of diseases to infect humanity with. They had survived the worst, but places like this, with their empty halls, were a constant reminder of the true scope of the terror of those days.
The nurse moved past the empty rooms without seeing them. Jared turned his eyes to the white floor and tried not to see the ghosts of the dead roaming the halls.
When the nurse stopped, Jared made sure to give her extra room as she opened the door and announced his arrival. Jared let her walk away before he approached the door, aware of the two guards who would stand watch outside of the room in case the doctor cried out for help.
Jared stepped into the room and kept his eyes down. He shuffled over to the chair and sat. It was comfortable, if still white, but Jared clenched his fists and unclenched them before he shook them out to get rid of the ice he felt forming there.
“Mr. Padalecki?”
“Jared,” he answered quietly. They didn’t like it when he spoke loud.
“Jared. I’m Dr. Ackles, but you can call me Jensen.”
Jared looked up because there was warmth in the voice that spoke to him and he gasped at the color the other man bled into the room. He didn’t wear hospital whites, but dark slacks and a blue shirt that was opened at the collar. Mostly, Jared noticed green eyes. Green like the color of spring.
For the first time in a year, Jared felt a warm breeze against his skin and he nearly sobbed.
Something must have shown because Jensen sat back in his chair for a moment before he got out of his chair and came around to sit on the edge of his desk. The warm breeze was stronger with the doctor there.
Jared reached out without thought and touched the doctor’s thigh. He pulled his hand back from scalding heat and turned his hand over. He had expected to see burns from the heat but there were no marks. Only the trace of warmth that still emanated.
“You’re warm,” Jared whispered.
Jensen nodded. “You’re cold.”
“Since I woke. I can’t … they say it’s in my head. The white and the cold but …” He shivered again because Jensen stepped away and the cold returned full force.
“Tell me about the white,” Jensen said as he took a seat behind his desk again.
“There’s nothing to tell. Everything is white and black. It took me a while to realize it wasn’t just because I was in the hospital. I was too cold to focus on the people, on the eyes and hair but then I realized they were all black-eyed.”
“And the cold?”
“Just … cold. All the time. Freezing. I was on an ice planet once, doing recon, and I almost froze down there. I know what freezing feels like. It’s what I feel all the time now.”
“Since you woke up?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. Jared, I want to try something a little … different. I have the notes from the other doctors and what they think the issue is. You’re a GES, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Jared replied. “We’re supposed to be immune to things like this.”
“Not everything. Being genetically engineered doesn’t make us immune to everything. In fact, there are some things that only infect us.”
“What?”
“Yes, I’m GES also.”
“But you aren’t a soldier.”
“I was. I was retired when I got sick. It took a long time before I was better but I could never go back into the field again. I dedicated my life to something else and that gave me the passion to keep going when I was no longer able to protect the things I love.”
Jared stared at the doctor. Very few of the GES survived retirement. They were meant to protect and serve and their emotions were hardwired for it as well. Suicide rates for their kind in retirement were m% and those that survived usually did it by going into some kind of protective service or security firm.
“What did you dedicate yourself to?”
“People like me,” Jensen answered. “GES who needed help but that no one could give them. The humans don’t understand but I do.”
Jensen moved away from the desk to a small couch at the other side of the room. “Come sit with me Jared. I think,” he took a deep breath before he started again. “I think I know how to help you.”
Jared moved to the couch and he shivered at the warmth Jensen gave off. Jensen held out his hand and Jared reached a shaky hand out to take it. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the warmth of Jensen’s hand.
“It’s okay, Jared,” Jensen whispered softly. “I’ll help you feel warm again.”
“How?” He opened his eyes to look at Jensen.
Jensen smiled as he brought one hand up to cup Jared’s chin. “I told you I was sick? I learned to live with it. Learned to stop showing the signs so they’d leave me alone. Let me out. It never stopped though. I felt you on the other side of the door before they brought you in, all that glorious cold.”
Jared was confused by his words but then Jensen slipped a hand under shirt and he gasped. Jensen’s skin was so hot it almost hurt but Jared pushed into the touch as Jensen brushed his cheek over Jared’s.
“Red,” Jensen whispered. “I could only see the red of flames until you walked in. For years, it’s been red. I’m so hot Jared and I think maybe you’re the way to quench these flames.”
“Yes,” Jared whispered the words against Jensen’s skin and Jensen turned his head to capture his lips in a kiss. Jensen moaned as Jared’s tongue demanded entrance and he opened beautifully for him.
Jared became bolder as Jensen pulled him closer and he pulled Jensen’s shirt out of his pants and slid his cold hands underneath. Jensen bucked against him and Jared wrapped him tighter in his arms.
“Need to touch you,” Jared managed to say as he broke the kiss and looked at Jensen.
Jensen didn’t need words. He began to unbutton his shirt and Jared pulled his own hospital shirt over his head. Jared could see how beautiful Jensen was but he needed to touch Jensen’s warmth and when Jensen threw his shirt to the ground, Jared began to fumble with Jensen’s belt buckle. He was too clumsy because of the ice on his hands but then Jensen put his hands over Jared’s long enough to melt the cold away and he got it undone. He undid Jensen’s pants and Jensen stood while Jared pushed the pants to the ground. He ran his hands up and down Jensen’s legs and thighs.
Jensen slapped his hands away after a moment and smiled at Jared before he kissed him again. Jensen pushed Jared’s pants down his body. When they were both naked, Jensen straddled Jared’s thighs as he sat on his lap.
Jared closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“Warm?” Jensen whispered against his ear.
Jared let out a small laugh, the first in longer than he could remember. “Finally,” he gripped Jensen’s hips. “I need more,” he admitted. “I need … I’m still cold. On the inside.”
Jensen’s eyes flashed and Jared knew he’d seen red behind them. Flames. “Yeah, I’ll get you warmed up Jared. Warm you up while you cool me down.”
Jensen kissed him one more time before he stood up. He grabbed something from his desk, then directed Jared to move until he was on his knees with his chest against the back of the couch. Jensen leaned against him from behind and nipped at his neck while he slicked his fingers up with the lotion he’d found. One hand gripped Jared’s hip tightly while slick fingers began to circle his entrance.
He wasn’t a strange to this but the heat Jensen gave off was far more intense than anything Jared had ever experienced. He pushed back into Jensen’s body and Jensen met him each time.
“Going to freeze to death before you get there,” Jared said as he fucked himself on Jensen’s finger.
Jensen let out a huff of laughter and without warning he pulled his finger out. He pushed back in with three instead and Jared moaned at the feeling of Jensen inside him. “Warm yet?” Jensen asked.
“Fuck me,” Jared demanded. He was on edge and ready to beg but he felt more like himself than he had since he’d woken up. “I’m not fragile, not gonna shatter. Fuck me.”
“Yeah,” Jensen whispered against the back of Jared’s neck. He pulled his fingers free and pulled back slightly but Jared could feel the blunt head of his cock pressed against him now.
He wasn’t stretched enough and they both knew it but Jared needed to be warm and Jensen was an GES and he knew Jared would heal so when Jared tilted his hips up, Jensen pressed in without hesitation.
“Fuck, yes, you’re what I needed,” Jensen said with a soft laugh. He pulled out of Jared and began to slowly slide in and out. The build of heat inside him grew with every thrust and Jared never wanted this to stop. He was warm and alive and himself for the first time in a year and he could feel something in Jensen as well, some answered need that bound them together in this.
“Jared, I’m gonna,” Jensen reached around Jared’s body and began to stroke his cock.
“Jensen,” Jared whimpered his lover’s name because it was too intense, the heat and need and he came all over the back of Jensen’s couch while Jensen’s hips stuttered. His thrusts became hard and fast, erratic, and Jared just spread his legs wider to get more of Jensen’s heat.
Jensen fucked into him hard and when he came, he pressed bruises into Jared’s hips as he buried himself as deep as he could. Jared felt the flames inside of him, felt the ice melting around him as Jensen leaned against him on the couch.
They stayed like that for a few minutes before Jensen finally pulled away. He pulled Jared back with him onto the couch and wrapped him in his arms.
“So, doc, you wanna explain what just happened?” Jared asked. He was himself again. Strong, demanding, protective, but most of all curious.
Jensen let out a laugh as he ran a hand through Jared’s hair. “There have always been rumors among the GES about an illness that can happen to us. It’s never affected humans but it’s very rare and there have been no documented cases of it. Just heresay and rumor.”
“People seeing white and being cold?”
“Two people who get sick with opposite afflictions. Say, one seeing flame and being feverish while another sees nothing but ice and feeling cold.”
“What is it?”
“Again, just rumors, but some said it was a debt being paid. Rumors say that in the first days of space exploration a pair of GES found a sentient life form and saved it. They helped it escape before humanity could investigate it. It gave them a gift, passed on to those worthy of their legacy. When two such souls meet, they both become afflicted.”
“But you said you’ve been sick a long time.”
“How long have you been in cryo-sleep?”
Jared thought back. “I went in six years ago. Woke up last year for the skirmishes but I wasn’t able to deploy.”
“Six years ago I got sick, coming back to the station for cryo. My guess is we met but you were put in cryo before the symptoms began. I was here long enough for them to see it and they didn’t put me in cryp because of the illness.”
“I’m so sorry,” Jared said as he brought a hand up to Jensen’s face.”
“For what?”
“I froze for a year, waiting for you. You burned for six and I never knew.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore Jared,” Jensen said as he planted a soft kiss to Jared’s lips. “We figured it out. Now, we just have to get you released from here and we can figure out what to do next.”
“You gonna keep me, doc?”
Jensen smiled, and Jared thought he probably hadn’t done enough of it in the last six years. He was going to make sure he laughed. Every day.
“Through flame and ice,” Jensen answered, “I’ll keep you.”
Pairng: Jared/Jensen
Rating: NC-17
Warning: boys in space
Summary:
Author's Note: written for the salt_burn_porn challenge! The prompt was freezing cold
White. Everything was white. The walls. The bed sheets. The ceiling. Everything was white, and sterile. Cold. He was frozen to the core and no matter what they told him about his body temperature or the room temperature he was sure he was freezing again.
“Mr. Padalecki?”
The nurse was in white too and though she smiled there was no warmth in her eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I asked if you were ready for your visit?”
He had a hard time concentrating. It was supposed to be a safe procedure but they said it still happened sometimes, that someone came out of cryo-sleep wrong. He couldn’t concentrate but when he tried to explain to him that he couldn’t concentrate because he was so damn cold they all made notes and walked away with furrowed brows and whispered to one another.
Like he couldn’t hear what they said. He was a genetically enhanced soldier, made with better senses than the average human. They seemed to think that his inability to concentrate meant he couldn’t hear as well. He understood what they were worried about anyway. If they couldn’t find a way to heal his mind, he couldn’t return to work. If he couldn’t return to work … retirement wasn’t pretty for the genetically enhanced.
The nurse tapped his ankle and Jared looked up to realize she was still waiting for an answer. “Yes, I’m ready to visit this new doctor. I don’t know what you think he can do that the others couldn’t, but I’m ready to give it another try,” he said with his most charming smile.
She lowered the rail of his bed and removed the restraints on his legs. He thought it was unfair that they still kept his legs locked. He had only gotten out of bed the one time and that was to look for blankets. They seemed to think he was at risk of running.
He shook his legs out a little and rubbed his hands over the sides where the restraints chafed against his skin. When the nurse backed up he slid over the edge of the bed and stood. It felt good to be out of the bed.
The nurse motioned him to follow her and Jared did. The walls outside of his room where white too, as were the uniforms of the guards who walked behind him as they made a left towards the doctor’s offices. Jared didn’t know what to expect from this new doctor. All he knew was that the other doctors thought he was unconventional and he was really the last resort for Jared. If this doctor couldn’t get him out of the cold then it was retirement.
He shivered violently as a blast of cold air hit him. He had to stop and lean against the wall for a moment and he could see the nurse tense as she waited for him. He heard the guards shift behind him as they moved into position if he decided to attack.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jared said through clenched teeth. He didn’t know how anyone could consider him a threat when his teeth were chattering from the cold but the nurse seemed unmoved by his words.
“The doctor is waiting.”
Jared pushed away from the wall. He was still shivering but the only thing that had given him any sort of warmth was physical movement and he hoped the walk would help.
They walked past the main offices and down the sterile halls past empty rooms. The hospital had been far greater once, when the spacer plague was still upon them. Mankind had been proud of its medical advances but when they turned their attention to space, they found a whole new host of diseases to infect humanity with. They had survived the worst, but places like this, with their empty halls, were a constant reminder of the true scope of the terror of those days.
The nurse moved past the empty rooms without seeing them. Jared turned his eyes to the white floor and tried not to see the ghosts of the dead roaming the halls.
When the nurse stopped, Jared made sure to give her extra room as she opened the door and announced his arrival. Jared let her walk away before he approached the door, aware of the two guards who would stand watch outside of the room in case the doctor cried out for help.
Jared stepped into the room and kept his eyes down. He shuffled over to the chair and sat. It was comfortable, if still white, but Jared clenched his fists and unclenched them before he shook them out to get rid of the ice he felt forming there.
“Mr. Padalecki?”
“Jared,” he answered quietly. They didn’t like it when he spoke loud.
“Jared. I’m Dr. Ackles, but you can call me Jensen.”
Jared looked up because there was warmth in the voice that spoke to him and he gasped at the color the other man bled into the room. He didn’t wear hospital whites, but dark slacks and a blue shirt that was opened at the collar. Mostly, Jared noticed green eyes. Green like the color of spring.
For the first time in a year, Jared felt a warm breeze against his skin and he nearly sobbed.
Something must have shown because Jensen sat back in his chair for a moment before he got out of his chair and came around to sit on the edge of his desk. The warm breeze was stronger with the doctor there.
Jared reached out without thought and touched the doctor’s thigh. He pulled his hand back from scalding heat and turned his hand over. He had expected to see burns from the heat but there were no marks. Only the trace of warmth that still emanated.
“You’re warm,” Jared whispered.
Jensen nodded. “You’re cold.”
“Since I woke. I can’t … they say it’s in my head. The white and the cold but …” He shivered again because Jensen stepped away and the cold returned full force.
“Tell me about the white,” Jensen said as he took a seat behind his desk again.
“There’s nothing to tell. Everything is white and black. It took me a while to realize it wasn’t just because I was in the hospital. I was too cold to focus on the people, on the eyes and hair but then I realized they were all black-eyed.”
“And the cold?”
“Just … cold. All the time. Freezing. I was on an ice planet once, doing recon, and I almost froze down there. I know what freezing feels like. It’s what I feel all the time now.”
“Since you woke up?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. Jared, I want to try something a little … different. I have the notes from the other doctors and what they think the issue is. You’re a GES, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Jared replied. “We’re supposed to be immune to things like this.”
“Not everything. Being genetically engineered doesn’t make us immune to everything. In fact, there are some things that only infect us.”
“What?”
“Yes, I’m GES also.”
“But you aren’t a soldier.”
“I was. I was retired when I got sick. It took a long time before I was better but I could never go back into the field again. I dedicated my life to something else and that gave me the passion to keep going when I was no longer able to protect the things I love.”
Jared stared at the doctor. Very few of the GES survived retirement. They were meant to protect and serve and their emotions were hardwired for it as well. Suicide rates for their kind in retirement were m% and those that survived usually did it by going into some kind of protective service or security firm.
“What did you dedicate yourself to?”
“People like me,” Jensen answered. “GES who needed help but that no one could give them. The humans don’t understand but I do.”
Jensen moved away from the desk to a small couch at the other side of the room. “Come sit with me Jared. I think,” he took a deep breath before he started again. “I think I know how to help you.”
Jared moved to the couch and he shivered at the warmth Jensen gave off. Jensen held out his hand and Jared reached a shaky hand out to take it. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the warmth of Jensen’s hand.
“It’s okay, Jared,” Jensen whispered softly. “I’ll help you feel warm again.”
“How?” He opened his eyes to look at Jensen.
Jensen smiled as he brought one hand up to cup Jared’s chin. “I told you I was sick? I learned to live with it. Learned to stop showing the signs so they’d leave me alone. Let me out. It never stopped though. I felt you on the other side of the door before they brought you in, all that glorious cold.”
Jared was confused by his words but then Jensen slipped a hand under shirt and he gasped. Jensen’s skin was so hot it almost hurt but Jared pushed into the touch as Jensen brushed his cheek over Jared’s.
“Red,” Jensen whispered. “I could only see the red of flames until you walked in. For years, it’s been red. I’m so hot Jared and I think maybe you’re the way to quench these flames.”
“Yes,” Jared whispered the words against Jensen’s skin and Jensen turned his head to capture his lips in a kiss. Jensen moaned as Jared’s tongue demanded entrance and he opened beautifully for him.
Jared became bolder as Jensen pulled him closer and he pulled Jensen’s shirt out of his pants and slid his cold hands underneath. Jensen bucked against him and Jared wrapped him tighter in his arms.
“Need to touch you,” Jared managed to say as he broke the kiss and looked at Jensen.
Jensen didn’t need words. He began to unbutton his shirt and Jared pulled his own hospital shirt over his head. Jared could see how beautiful Jensen was but he needed to touch Jensen’s warmth and when Jensen threw his shirt to the ground, Jared began to fumble with Jensen’s belt buckle. He was too clumsy because of the ice on his hands but then Jensen put his hands over Jared’s long enough to melt the cold away and he got it undone. He undid Jensen’s pants and Jensen stood while Jared pushed the pants to the ground. He ran his hands up and down Jensen’s legs and thighs.
Jensen slapped his hands away after a moment and smiled at Jared before he kissed him again. Jensen pushed Jared’s pants down his body. When they were both naked, Jensen straddled Jared’s thighs as he sat on his lap.
Jared closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“Warm?” Jensen whispered against his ear.
Jared let out a small laugh, the first in longer than he could remember. “Finally,” he gripped Jensen’s hips. “I need more,” he admitted. “I need … I’m still cold. On the inside.”
Jensen’s eyes flashed and Jared knew he’d seen red behind them. Flames. “Yeah, I’ll get you warmed up Jared. Warm you up while you cool me down.”
Jensen kissed him one more time before he stood up. He grabbed something from his desk, then directed Jared to move until he was on his knees with his chest against the back of the couch. Jensen leaned against him from behind and nipped at his neck while he slicked his fingers up with the lotion he’d found. One hand gripped Jared’s hip tightly while slick fingers began to circle his entrance.
He wasn’t a strange to this but the heat Jensen gave off was far more intense than anything Jared had ever experienced. He pushed back into Jensen’s body and Jensen met him each time.
“Going to freeze to death before you get there,” Jared said as he fucked himself on Jensen’s finger.
Jensen let out a huff of laughter and without warning he pulled his finger out. He pushed back in with three instead and Jared moaned at the feeling of Jensen inside him. “Warm yet?” Jensen asked.
“Fuck me,” Jared demanded. He was on edge and ready to beg but he felt more like himself than he had since he’d woken up. “I’m not fragile, not gonna shatter. Fuck me.”
“Yeah,” Jensen whispered against the back of Jared’s neck. He pulled his fingers free and pulled back slightly but Jared could feel the blunt head of his cock pressed against him now.
He wasn’t stretched enough and they both knew it but Jared needed to be warm and Jensen was an GES and he knew Jared would heal so when Jared tilted his hips up, Jensen pressed in without hesitation.
“Fuck, yes, you’re what I needed,” Jensen said with a soft laugh. He pulled out of Jared and began to slowly slide in and out. The build of heat inside him grew with every thrust and Jared never wanted this to stop. He was warm and alive and himself for the first time in a year and he could feel something in Jensen as well, some answered need that bound them together in this.
“Jared, I’m gonna,” Jensen reached around Jared’s body and began to stroke his cock.
“Jensen,” Jared whimpered his lover’s name because it was too intense, the heat and need and he came all over the back of Jensen’s couch while Jensen’s hips stuttered. His thrusts became hard and fast, erratic, and Jared just spread his legs wider to get more of Jensen’s heat.
Jensen fucked into him hard and when he came, he pressed bruises into Jared’s hips as he buried himself as deep as he could. Jared felt the flames inside of him, felt the ice melting around him as Jensen leaned against him on the couch.
They stayed like that for a few minutes before Jensen finally pulled away. He pulled Jared back with him onto the couch and wrapped him in his arms.
“So, doc, you wanna explain what just happened?” Jared asked. He was himself again. Strong, demanding, protective, but most of all curious.
Jensen let out a laugh as he ran a hand through Jared’s hair. “There have always been rumors among the GES about an illness that can happen to us. It’s never affected humans but it’s very rare and there have been no documented cases of it. Just heresay and rumor.”
“People seeing white and being cold?”
“Two people who get sick with opposite afflictions. Say, one seeing flame and being feverish while another sees nothing but ice and feeling cold.”
“What is it?”
“Again, just rumors, but some said it was a debt being paid. Rumors say that in the first days of space exploration a pair of GES found a sentient life form and saved it. They helped it escape before humanity could investigate it. It gave them a gift, passed on to those worthy of their legacy. When two such souls meet, they both become afflicted.”
“But you said you’ve been sick a long time.”
“How long have you been in cryo-sleep?”
Jared thought back. “I went in six years ago. Woke up last year for the skirmishes but I wasn’t able to deploy.”
“Six years ago I got sick, coming back to the station for cryo. My guess is we met but you were put in cryo before the symptoms began. I was here long enough for them to see it and they didn’t put me in cryp because of the illness.”
“I’m so sorry,” Jared said as he brought a hand up to Jensen’s face.”
“For what?”
“I froze for a year, waiting for you. You burned for six and I never knew.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore Jared,” Jensen said as he planted a soft kiss to Jared’s lips. “We figured it out. Now, we just have to get you released from here and we can figure out what to do next.”
“You gonna keep me, doc?”
Jensen smiled, and Jared thought he probably hadn’t done enough of it in the last six years. He was going to make sure he laughed. Every day.
“Through flame and ice,” Jensen answered, “I’ll keep you.”