Learning to Dance

keep it going once their limited fuel ran out. They pulled
out blankets and stretched out on either side of the flame, as
close to its paltry heat as they dared get. Taz could see her
breath now, crystallizing in the air before her. She shivered.
Sleep wasn’t coming, and she was half afraid if it did, she’d
never wake up again.
“Dead goddammit,” said Up, after a while, and she could
hear the cold in his voice, too. “This must be one of those
desert moons with extreme temperature shifts from day to
night.”
“No kidding,” said Taz, but her heart wasn’t in it. Her
brain was starting to feel fuzzy with cold.
“Body heat,” Up said then, and she blinked. “It’s the
only way we’ll have a chance at still being alive in the
morning, come on.”
Taz hesitated, peering through the darkness to try and
see his outline.
“As charming as I find it that you would rather die than
snuggle up with me,” Up said, his tone unreadable. “Don’t
be an idiot. Get over here.”
He was right, of course. Gathering up her blanket, she
dashed around the fire, shivering as the cold night air hit
her anew. Up was laying on his side, with his arms open,
and she practically dove into them as he arranged both
blankets over them. He was shivering too, but his body felt
warm to her.
“Your lips are blue,” he said softly, as they lay face to
face in the dim light of the fire. “Dammit, Taz, don’t you
keep any body heat at all?”
“Too skinny,” she chattered, and he pulled his arm back
from her and started maneuvering his way out of his shirt
again. “Wh-what are you doing?”
“I know it may seem counter-intuitive,” he said, now
unbuttoning her jacket and helping it over her shoulders.