nexus_sages | Snowstorms and matchmaking: An early Valentine's post

Winter in the Nexus has been especially present this year. The weather has presented plenty of hardships for the past few months, something which numerous people have bemoaned. It doesn't look set to change, either. If anything, Winter seems to be going stronger than ever. There are no signs of it winding down at all.

Everything seems normal at first, the usual hustle and bustle has the Nexus thrumming now that people have adapted to the cold conditions. Then, rather suddenly, everything kicks into gear. The wind starts to howl, battering people to and fro. Not long after that, the sky becomes thick with snow, making it nearly impossible to see, the biting cold driving people back inside. It soon becomes completely inhospitable to all wandering around outside.

In the hurry to get out of the storm, people end up scurrying to the nearest available shelter. Apartment lobbies, houses, cafés, shops, restaurants, the library... Anywhere and everywhere that offers some shelter. Peculiarly, people seem to end up in pairs as they hide away from the cold. Looks like everyone is going to have to huddle close together. For... warmth... We'll say it's for warmth.

((This is entirely an excuse to shove characters together and force them to spend time with each other. Feel free to have as many threads as you like, trying as many combinations as you like, where ever you like. Brave souls can try and berate Reynard if they really want to.))

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If there's one guy who knows undeath and the freezing cold, it's Harrowheart.

The few minutes before there's any sign of life (unlife?) drag on agonizingly slow. But finally, there's movement. So small and so subtle, it might be quite easy to miss.

But Jesse's pale eyes have gone from frosty and dull to glassy and watering. There's only a few twitches at first, failed attempts to blink eyelids that are still stiff. Then they flick side to side, perhaps taking in the unfamiliar view, perhaps just moving for the sake of making sure he can. Eventually, they pass over and then latch onto Blaze. Just watching her rather than trying to examine or focus on anything else.

It's another two minutes before fingers twitch. Another one after that before he makes a low and raspy sound.

At some point, Blaze remembered to detach her helm. She's perfectly still, intent on her little vigil. At least until the Ghost announces hopefully, "He's moving!" and she nods, optics brightening.

"That's it, Jesse. Keep going, just take it steady. Don't want to damage anything that's still locked up."

It's one thing to not need breath. That's old news. But it's disconcerting to try and inhale and the lungs won't expand on account of being frozen. And no breath means no proper speech. So after a few raspy failed attempts, he finally gives up on that and just concentrates on everything else. Things closer to the surface.

Fingers continue to twitch and jerk, and soon are moving more fluid. Unseen in his boots, toes are doing the same. Eyelids are finally able to blink and do so deliberately. Portions of his face twitch and scrunch, testing out mobility there as well.

He tries to move an arm a little too soon, though, the joints still too stiff to move without a great deal of discomfort, prompting another hoarse sound before giving up. Okay, maybe later.

His two would-be nurses are tracking all this as best they can, Blaze's optics dimming a bit as Jesse struggles to speak. She wonders what that means, how bad a sign it is if there's frost damage to his respiratory system. Could be rough for his vocal cords. Still, it's cheering to see him work his facial muscles,

Her adventure with Hughes has had at least one benefit: she remembers what it was like to wake up stiff and sore, and when her friend seems to be struggling with his joints, she shifts around to hold her arm more closely over his shoulders, wrapping a warm hand over one elbow. Let the heat soak in for a while.

Bodies made of meat are the absolute worst!

The warming hand helps so, SO much. It's not long before that arm goes limp, a kind of relief that it can leave the position it was trapped in for who knows how long.

He's feeling so groggy still. He didn't sleep; he still sleeps in a conventional sense. This was just...shutting down. Slowly winding down like a toy losing its battery charge. And Jesse's decided he is certainly not a fan of how that all felt.

The cowboy takes another chance to test his lungs. They still feel strange; prickling and halting. But he can take half of a breath, enough to say, "Cold sucks," in a raspy voice.

Such hard work! Whose bright idea was it to make bodies out of meat?

Blaze laughs, her Ghost fluttering above them. She gives him a squeeze, shaking his shoulders a little.

"No kidding! Ghost was getting worried you'd turned into a popsicle." The little bot gives her a look at that. Sure, the Ghost was worried. Blaze merrily ignores it, making sure one elbow's defrosted before she warms up the other. "I told him you'd be fine. And you will be."

"Y-Yeh?" Jesse attempts a laugh, but it's kind of just a wavering wheeze. With how short his breath is until he's proper thawed, all his words and sentences are brief and huffed. "Snow...Storm. Happenin' real-...Real quick. Sl-Slowed me down. Then." Well, this. Then this happened.

He looks aside curiously, more with his eyes with his head, because he's not keen on moving his neck overmuch either just yet. "...Yer house?"

Blaze nods, happy to fill in for him. "The way our beacons were yelping, it came on like a charging ogre. Not much you could do besides hunker down and conserve heat."

She glances around. "Our jumpship. I'll show you round properly soon as you can stand. Not that there's much to see, heh. Kind of a one-room outfit."

There's a big window or view-screen behind the pilot's seat over there, stars glittering through it. Otherwise the ship seems to be mostly one tight cabin behind the chair, all worn metal deck plates and sealed compartments taking up every surface. Though, seamlessly as all the panels fit together, they're subtly different in finish and hue, patched together over a long stretch of time. High-tech it may be, but this ship certainly isn't new.

Jesse unthinkingly cranes his neck and makes a small 'grk' noise from the stiffened effort. But it happened without thinking because he saw that window.

"Sp-...!" His eyes dart back to Blaze because his neck isn't gonna follow for another few moments. "Space?!"

Holy shit, is he in space.

"Oh." There is that to see, she remembers. "Heh, sure. Best place to keep it, right?" She rubs her antenna for a moment before remembering she's trying to heat his other elbow up and returning her hand. "We've got complete environmental control on board, so it was the fastest way to warm you up."

That and curling up with him.

Edited 2016-02-13 11:50 (UTC)

Holy shit again. He is in space! His eyes stay wide even as he eventually turns his neck back to looking forward instead. Gives the elbow that's being thawed an offhand wiggle to see how it feels. Blaze lives up to her name in the fact it's doing wonders!

"Sp-...Space. Shoot. First, hh. First...zed in space. Right?" Jesse quirks a lopsided smile at his friend.

It's too bad she can't grin back. His sense of wonder is charming, and it's good to think he'll come out of this with something better than the memory of nearly freezing solid. They've all got enough bad memories.

"Didn't think of that. Guess I'll have to let the City know we've got a new record. Maybe while you're defrosting we can go for a little cruise. Get a better view of things."

"Y-Yeh? I-...Hh, 'd like th-that." He's still wearing that smile, apparently in good spirits for a guy who was, moments before, a zombie popsicle.

Jesse squirms a bit, trying to see if movement, even just little bits of it, will help this process along. Part of him feels kind of bad Blaze (and Ghost) have to dote on him like this! The sooner he can be functioning again, the better. Although moving and skin regaining its sensations reminds him that he's soggy.

"G-Gonna make yer-...yer blankets all wet."

She gives her Ghost a bright look. See? What’d she say? Jesse’s a fighter!

“Not my blankets.” Blaze lets him have the space to move, letting go of his elbow, though she’s still watching to make sure he’s thawing okay. “Better they get wet than you, right? Though- I think you should probably strip out of some of your clothes if they’re wet. Damp can’t be any good for you. Didn’t feel so great either when- uh. You heard about that business in the Nexus lately? People getting swapped into each other’s bodies?”

Snowstorms and matchmaking: An early Valentine's post

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