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It was Monday night. Darkness had settled outside the windows. The blue sky giving way to black, dusted with glimmering stars. The smell of their dinner cooking in the oven drifted from the kitchen behind them.
Can watched as Sanem returned from the hallway, walking back into the living room with a large, fluffy blanket bundled up in her arms. She sat down beside Can on the grey sofa, folding the blanket around both of their shoulders.
"Thank you," Can said, wrapping an arm around her side and pulling her close. He covered his hands over hers, feeling the chill of her fingers and attempting to warm them up. The fireplace was flickering in front of them, still young and fragile - not strong enough to heating the room. Can had set it up five minutes ago, and was now waiting for the flames to take hold of the larger logs he had provided.
The house was beginning to feel more and more familiar to them despite having only moved in a few weeks ago. It hadn't been their intention to move in so late after the wedding, but the building had been in a pitiful state. They had knowingly bought it with the intention of fixing it up, reviving life to the cold and dusty walls. The task had turned out to be more of a trial than they had anticipated. The very skeleton of the house had been old and tired. The windows were speckled with shattered glass, the doors rotting and falling off their hinges, the plumbing rusting away to dust, the central heating non-existent.
After months of cohabiting in the Divit household with Emre (who politely made himself as scarce as possible). Renovation work was nearly complete, and the house comfortable enough to live in. So they had eagerly moved out of Can's house and into theirs.
The open-plan living room and kitchen area, where they sat now, still had to be fitted with new radiators. But for the time being, the fireplace and Sanem's collection of blankets kept the winter night's chill away. Not that Can could particularly feel it. After a lifetime of camping trips that cared little for the restrictions of upcoming weather forecasts, the cold didn't tend to bother him. Sanem, however, seemed to enjoy the opportunity for them to wrap up together under the king sized blanket - so Can didn't protest.
They watched the fire spark to life, finally strong enough to cling onto the larger chunks of wood. A pile of logs sat beside the fireplace, the result of Can's attempts to tidy up the garden. It had been wild and overrun with trees and bushes. The latter making good kindling, the trees having been cut up and kiln-dried for the fire.
Sanem stretched out her feet towards the flames, in an attempt to heat up her toes. Can cuped her hands in his, rubbing and breathing against them until her white skin turned pink again.
"Can," Sanem said, sighing at his touch. "We need to decide on a gift for my parents." She said, tucking her legs back underneath her and turning to face him. Mevkibe and Nihat's anniversary would be on the following weekend. They had been slow to decide on something; wanting it to be special, but unsure of what to do.
