Snowstorms and matchmaking: An early Valentine's post

[shardofwinter]

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.))

Comments

[bestdadinamestris]

Damn the timing of this storm. Just when he was going to get back to the office after stopping in for a bite to eat. Guess that's how it goes sometimes, though.

The abandoned bakery is the closest thing when he decides it's time to give up getting back to the phone booth home. He pushes his way inside, a little surprised when the door gives way so easily. After brushing off the snow, he looks up, confused and a bit surprised when he finds Nat inside.

"Uh, hi there." Smooth, Hughes. Smooth.

[red_room]

Her only greeting is an arch of her eyebrow and a jerk of her head toward the back kitchen.

"Nothing's working, if you're looking for free baked goods." She saw you at the dessert table the other day Hughes. She's onto you. In the meantime, any luck on finding out about her?

"Power's off though, so this isn't an idea place to hole up."

[bestdadinamestris]

No, not much luck with that, but not for lack of trying. She knows Clint and... that's about all he's learned. Things back home haven't allowed him as much time as he'd have liked to in the Nexus.

"I didn't even know what this place was when I pushed my way in." He wouldn't have come into a closed bakery - that's just blasphemy!

"No way to turn the power back on? No wood fired oven or anything that we might use?" It's a bakery, it's a valid question, and Hughes is going to check around to make sure there isn't a way to bring some heat into this place.

[red_room]

"It was here and it was shelter from the wind." Natasha agrees, taking a moment to touch the window with the tips of her fingers and peer out into the snow. The white out conditions have--if anything-- only gotten worse since she'd come in here. If that was even possible.

"I didn't find one." Which should tell Hughes all he needs to know, but he doesn't know her or how she works. He should be forgiven for needing to check for himself.

[bestdadinamestris]

The place isn't big enough to require a second thorough search. If Natasha says there's not a way to heat the place, then Hughes will believe her. He grumbles in response, though.

"So it's either brave going back out or freeze to death? I'm not sure I like either option." He hasn't completely given up yet, which is obvious by his pulling out the two fire blankets he found with the suppression kit by the ovens. One is offered to Nat before he pulls the second around himself.

"Maybe we can break through into another business? Maybe one of them will have enough material to start a small fire?" Where the hell is Roy when Hughes needs him? Really.

[red_room]

"This is hardly the worst place I've had to wait out a storm." Natasha points out, but that doesn't mean it's going to be altogether pleasant. She wraps the second blanket around herself and positions herself so they're standing back to back, Natasha leaning into him slightly to catch some heat between them.

"We hardly want to go around damaging someone's property by lighting fires unless absolutely necessary. Get a bowl and gather some clean snow? Let it melt down and we'll have water at least. Just in case this isn't a short hold here..."

[bestdadinamestris]

"Good idea." It means pulling himself away from Nat's warmth, but making sure they have some fresh water is probably a good idea, too. Hughes is quick about the work, grabbing a plastic bowl from one of the cabinets and keeping the door open for less than two seconds while filling said bowl with snow. It's still cold as hell, but at least he didn't have trouble opening or closing the door against the storm. He places the filled bowl on the counter before stepping back to back with Nat again.

"Any other ideas that'll get us through this storm?"

[red_room]

"Don't move. And don't make this weird." Natasha runs her hands briskly up and down his arms, trying to get Hughes warm after his excursion outside, no matter how brief.

"We'll want to hole up as far away from the windows and doors as possible, try to stay as warm as we can. I'm hoping this blows over somewhat quickly..."