I've been wanting to write a cuddling/warmth-sharing ficlet for a while now, but have no idea how to make it not cliche. :p

Embrace the cliché! (And then subvert if you want)

Being cliché is half the fun with these :P

I'm with Sneaky and Shen. Cliché is totally the way to go. Here's the one I did for the 2012 Secret Santa:

Warmth (http://archiveofourown.org/works/594646)

Heck, even the title is cliché!

I wrote this from the deep knowledge that comes from living in one of the coldest capitals on Earth (Ottawa -- believe we won the title for 2014, with the coldest winter in 20 years...) about another place that's in the top 5, but sucks at central heating (Astana).

(edited to correct the spelling of my home town. I can't even blame frozen fingers ...)

Edited 2014-03-07 04:49 pm (UTC)

Greetings from Ottawa, where it was -16 on March 1 and we woke up to 10cm of freshly fallen snow. Let us be perfectly clear on one thing: Winter Sucks. Especially when it lasts 4-5 months. I am totally, utterly, completely Over It and wish it would go away.

My head canon has Natasha hate winter even more than I do, because the Red Room would have happily used the freezing Russian cold for "educational" purposes. Basically, she tries to avoid it, and is not above citing "inability to function in the cold" as a reason for refusing deployment. She'll go, but she will kvetch and complain.

Clint, on the other hand, has a high metabolism and has no issues sitting in a stakeout in the middle of winter, provided SHIELD gives him the proper equipment (thermal long johns, slow-release heat cells). He doesn't like it -- he has his own childhood memories about being left in a cold house when his dad drank away the money that would have bought heat -- but he can live with it. He would take considerable care to note the impact extreme temperatures would have on the flexibility of his bow and arrows, of course. He hates snow because of the reduced visibility.

Winter does suck (Winter Sucks sounds like a good name for a ficlet :P). I am so over it. I grew up where it never ever goes below zero, so I'm a complete weather wimp. I used to think 10C was ridiculously cold, now it seems like unreachable paradise.

My head canon is also that Natasha hates outside winter. She can handle winter from inside a warm room, preferably with a fireplace and books.

Fireplace and books -- pretty much. You forgot the glass of red wine (and, in times of real emergency, the kidlet curled up around you for reciprocal heat). I have long resigned myself to the fact that I am an Indoor Canadian.

That said, the coldest I ever was was in the UK, the year I had a scholarship to work at the Middle Temple (where the heat is from the 17th century) and hubby was doing a masters at LSE. Our basement flat was equipped with an energy-saving heater that would heat up overnight, when the electricity was cheap, and radiate it back throughout the day. Problem was, by the time we usually came home from fencing, it had finished radiating ... Between that and those damp walls, it's amazing I didn't succumb to some tragic Victorian affliction of the lungs.

I'm trying to look for a job in a place where that won't be an issue, but if I stick around in the Frozen North, I guess I will become an Indoor USian for four months of the year.

It's amusing to me that you rec'd Talking Like Peter Lorre because Clint spends that entire fic bitching about hating the cold and THAT HAS BEEN ME THIS WINTER OMG. Stupid polar vortex.

Rec: Warmth (http://archiveofourown.org/works/594646) by alphaflyer because THAT IS HOW I HAVE FELT, THAT COLD. Warnings for swearing, and it's cute. :)

Awww ... thanks! :-) And yes, Clint does swear a lot in this one. I do too, when I have to go outside these days... :P

And not a single soul would blame you. ;)

I know talking about the weather is usually the sign of boring small talk, but at the moment I think everyone is making an exception so we can all swear about the weather together :)

You could actually see peoples' souls dying the longer this winter went on. It was amazing to behold.

I left my soul on the floor of the Walmart where I got trapped.

You can buy it back. They're 10% cheaper than Target would but they used cheap labor to reconstruct it and used subpar materials.

I'm totally with frea_o "stupid polar vortex." I'm done with winter. Of course, check back in with me around mid-August and I'll be ready for a cold spell!

Recs:

Breathe (http://archiveofourown.org/works/702196/chapters/1294596) by shenshen77, rated M, Summary: Natasha and Clint have been partners for less than a year, yet something is building between them neither wants to acknowledge. Then a plane crash forces them to face their fears. Will help arrive in time?

Small Game (http://archiveofourown.org/works/1067728) by cat_77, rated M, Summary: A blizzard hits while Clint and Natasha are chasing after smugglers of alien tech because, really, why wouldn't it?

Things to do when you're cold (http://archiveofourown.org/works/837672) by anuna_81, Explicit, Summary: Clint and Natasha end up stranded in a safehouse during a snowstorm. Natasha is cold, Clint knows how to fix that.

Five Times Clint and Natasha Ended Up Under the Mistletoe (http://archiveofourown.org/works/638201) by allisnow (see what I did there?), rated G, Summary: New York, Austria, Morocco, Cleveland, and back to New York.

And I'm also seconding (thirding?) those fics already recced.

Happy Friday everybody! Stay warm.

Eeep, thanks for the rec and totally seconding the others as well as all the others already recced.

Thanks for all the recs! I was looking through fic summaries, got traumatized, and stopped too early.

What you guys call the "polar vortex" in the US, we Canadians call "January". Which doesn't make it any less unattractive.

ETA: Love cat_77's piece, but all the others too.

Edited 2014-03-07 08:16 pm (UTC)

The story by anuna was the first one I thought of what I read this topic. Aw yeah. That fic always keeps me warm too, haha ;)