A beautiful fiction I invented to keep out the cold

[desperate_times_right]

Who: Chloe Frazer & others
What: Catch-all; open prompts
When: March and April
Where: Around Milton

Content Warnings: Self-injury content related to the echo effects. Descriptions of canon typical violence and murder. Talk about hunting/eating animals.


Chloe doesn't trust Methuselah as far as she could throw him, and a trip through a mine where she's forced to rely on the goodwill of a bunch of cop types does not sound like her idea of a good time. Also, sticking around Milton when most of the people who 'patrol' (imagine her air quotes) are away is a great opportunity to snoop in people’s houses.

Anyone who remains in or returns to Milton may find her either doing her usual wild running in the woods, checking her snares for snacks, or sneaking around newly empty locations to see what's been left behind.

Aurora nights are a different thing, however. Chloe likes to think that she's done her best to do right by the people that she cares about, but the truth is she's cut a few throats in her day, stepped over others to make sure that she would wind up on top. Something about the aurora this month brings every one of those memories roaring back. It has her running faster, drinking until she can't see, and doing risky climbs onto (and jumps between) rooftops, trying to escape the feeling.

Comments

APRIL (cw: hypothermia symptoms)

[desperate_times_right]

With these new abilities, Chloe isn't used to physically being held back. Yes, it's cold out, and so foggy that navigating is beyond difficult, but she's still so hungry. In some ways it's even worse now, since powering through the fog requires even more effort.

It's not unusual this month to find Chloe stumbling around in the cold, or huddled by a building or tree somewhere, lost and a bit delirious.

on the way to lakeside;

[questioningmermaids]

This sucks. This completely and utterly sucks. March didn't ask for this. March didn't ask for anything, but if he did in this theoretical it would be a million dollars and a plane ticket to Waikiki and not the grand prize he's currently receiving, which is not really a prize so much as being miserable in the cold trying very hard to get to Wynonna Earp.

He's not a proud man. Not now. Not how he's huddled in on himself, bundled in his usual attire and trying to bravely trek through the fog and the snow. He is, however, completely surprised to find someone else out. He's seen her around--hard not to recognize a pretty face, especially when it's the only thing he can really see. He waves his hands to get her attention as he moves over to her, and says the smartest thing he can think of at the moment.

"Are you crazy?!"

Nailed it.

[desperate_times_right]

There's something orange kind of waving through the fog, but Chloe can't tell what it is at first. As it gets closer, it resolves into a man wearing the loudest outfit she's ever seen. It's too bad Astarion isn't here to see it, he might feel better about the ducks.

The figure starts yelling at her, and she blinks in a kind of bleary confusion.

“What?”

[questioningmermaids]

"You. Crazy." March lets one of his arms kind of flop as a gesture towards her, like clearly he's not also insane for being out.

"What are you doing out here?"

[desperate_times_right]

“What am I -?” What kind of a question is that? “I'm trying not to starve to death, what are you doing out here?”

[questioningmermaids]

"I'm trying to get to Lakeside," he says without a single hint of irony or the self awareness that he as little to no survival skills.

"Which, uh. Way is it? I think I got turned around."

[desperate_times_right]

“Lakeside?” Well, he's managed to get her fully alert, at least. “Through that death trap of a mine in this? Are you crazy!?”

What could possibly be so urgent that he'd risk it all right now? Maybe someone found weed over there or something.

[questioningmermaids]

"As crazy as you," March quips, that hand going up to gesture emphatically once more. It drops uselessly to his side, March opening his mouth for another second before leaning back slightly and scratching at his chin. He uses March logic:

"The mine doesn't have any wind. I'll porbably be fine."

[desperate_times_right]

“Do you even know anything about it? There's a bridge on the other side!” Yes maybe Lalo had exaggerated but it didn't sound like something you want to do when you can't see.

[questioningmermaids]

"Yeah, of course there's a bridge, how else are we supposed to cross it?"

March does not realize the physics of wind and rope bridges.

Yet.

[desperate_times_right]

“Walking over a broken train bridge in the fog, you're going to get killed -”

Wait. Maybe she can use this.

“What do you want over there anyway?”

[questioningmermaids]

March's head moves back so, for the briefest of moments, it looks like he has no chin as he all but side-eyes Chloe in the most suspicious way possible.

"No reason," he lies.

[desperate_times_right]

“So, you urgently need to get to Lakeside now, for no reason?” Sounds like maybe he's running from the same thing she is. “What's her name, dude?”

[notarat]

Even though Billy finds the fact that he now has some sort of power utterly ridiculous, he can't deny that it's come in handy multiple times by now. Mostly to protect himself in the past, but the fact that he never really feels cold anymore is a nice upside to the entire thing. It's why he doesn't even notice that it's been extra cold out until Hickey points it out to him, making Billy one of the people who's actually still out quite a bit during the month - because he's one of the few people that can be without trouble.

He doesn't even mind it being quiet out. There's something nice about not constantly running into people here, not being forced into awkward social situations.

.. but it does make it much more obvious whenever he does suddenly spot a figure in the fog. Like right now. He can't even tell who or what it is, but since it's in town, he figures it's more likely to be a who than a what. Most animals don't bother coming this far out. Yet the shape is so small, and he's just curious enough to come closer and take a look..

Until he realises the person huddled there is actually someone he recognizes. His eyes grow a little wider in surprise.

"Miss Frazer?"

What is she even doing out here like this?

[desperate_times_right]

Chloe looks up at a voice calling her name, which is kind of funny because she doesn't remember sitting down. She's still shivering, but almost doesn't feel cold anymore. It's fine.

“H-hey, stranger.”

She’d get up, but she's so tired.

[notarat]

Okay, she's freezing. He can tell pretty much right away, considering just how many years he's spent out there in the cold, especially after the ships got stuck in the ice. Billy doesn't even have to be a doctor anymore to be able to tell the symptoms of hypothermia at this point, even though he isn't sure why Chloe is so cold. Why didn't she just go inside?

(After all, it's not like he can feel exactly just how terribly cold the fog around them is, after all.)

It makes Billy realise just telling her to get up isn't going to do much good. If she was capable of doing so, surely she would have done it at this point.

So rather than forcing her to go up, he instead squats down to her level - more or less, since he's.. still so tall, even when you don't take his legs into consideration.. - and stares at her for a moment, a slight frown on her face. It looks like he's either pained or thinking about something really complicated, even though he's not opting to share it out loud.

After a moment of it, he finally moves. His hands peel the gloves off his hands, putting them into his pockets. Once his hands are bare, he moves to grasp her hands into his own, his hands awfully warm. There's a slight hesitance in the movement, but Billy grits his teeth and gets himself over it - the fact that this takes effort for him very clear from the way he squeezes her hands a little once he's holding them, like he's convincing himself to not let go right away.

"Why are you being foolish?" There's definitely some annoyance in his tone. Nothing too strong, or rather nothing angry. It's more the worried kind, even in his relatively soft tone of voice. "You should not be out right now."

[desperate_times_right]

Chloe hisses when he takes her hands - his hands are so warm on hers that it makes the joints in her fingers ache - but she doesn't pull away.

She takes a shaky breath. “Normally I could have made it there and back even in the cold… this fog, it pulls on you.” She tries to squeeze his hands back but can't really move her fingers. “I couldn't go any further.”

[notarat]

"You should have been more careful."

He knows it's not really her fault. If her explanation is true - and he has no reason to doubt it, because even though he can't feel what the fog is doing to people, Billy has already long ago realised that he hasn't felt the cold the way others here do for months now - then it's not like he can blame Chloe for being caught by unforeseen circumstances. By some sort of unnaturally strong fog.

But he can't help but say the lightly chastising words anyway. (It's exactly because he cares. Billy wouldn't bother to speak up if he didn't. He wouldn't bother to hold her hands, and even continue to hold her hands now, despite the way her hands feel so foreign underneath his own, especially when Hickey's are his only comparison material.)

"I will take you home as soon as we can be sure you are warm enough."

[desperate_times_right]

“Yeah, yeah.” Chloe sounds dismissive but it really is nice to be cared for, to know that someone saw her and was worried for her. She probably should have turned back once she’d realized the dragging effect the fog has on her, but it's a bit late for that now.

Her hands are long-fingered and rough and calloused from climbing, even here where she should have gloves on. They're also so cold that they've taken on a yellowish cast, clearly not good.

“Your hands are so warm.” Her voice still stutters a bit through her shivers. “Is that the fire?”

[notarat]

There's a slight nod in response to her question, but it's not really what Billy is focusing on right now. Instead his expression only seems to get more worried the longer he stares at her - and the more he realises in just what kind of bad state Chloe is right now. It makes him second guess his plan of just sitting out here with her until she's a little more warmed up. It might already be too late at that point.

It makes his brain quickly overwork itself with trying to find a different solution. Usually he'd offer his coat since he doesn't need it as much as she does, but it's not like she's underdressed for the weather. It's just the weather itself. And trying to drag her out of here when she probably can't move by herself sounds impossible for Billy, with his thin, long limbs that still haven't fully gotten over the damage scurvy did to them. He might break his back even just attempting to do so.

.. It only leaves one alternative, right? Even if he doesn't really like it. It makes him pinch his lips together with reluctance, but it's not like he's just going to leave her like this here now.

"You have to promise to not think anything strange about what is about to happen."

Don't ask him what's about to happen, Chloe!! Just promise so he can at least feel a little reassured, alright!!

[desperate_times_right]

Billy looks so stressed that Chloe’s about to crack a joke asking if she really looks that bad, but then he speaks again.

She gives a shuddering little laugh. “I trust you, and I'll promise, but you have to understand how alarming that sounds.”

[notarat]

"If you already think it sounds alarming, then imagine how much more alarming it is from my point of view," he grumbles.

Not that his grumbling is making him stop. No, he's grumbling exactly because he's going through with it in the first place, and a part of him can't believe he's actually doing it. It's not like anything is obligating him to help Chloe, after all. But it's very much the same case as back in that burning house. Something about the idea of just leaving her here like this, after all the help she has offered him, feels bad.

So Billy moves. First just his hands, taking off his winter coat, but then he fully moves to sit down next to her in the snow, folding his coat neatly up into his lap so it doesn't get covered in the snow as well - a neat freak even in these little moments. None of these actions are what he was stressed about, since he can't really feel the cold right now the way most people do.

No, what he was so stressed out about is his next move. Which is to put an arm around her so he can draw Chloe closer until she's leaning against him. This isn't the holding hands of a moment ago - nope, it's full body contact. It's practically a cuddle.

Billy's body is so warm - especially now he's stressed out about the intense physical contact happening right now!! - that he's practically a furnace to lean against.

He doesn't say anything. If anything, he just looks like he's trying really hard to not spontaneously combust.

[desperate_times_right]

At first, being enveloped in warmth like this after the painful cold of the fog is so nice that Chloe barely registers anything else about the situation.

However, as her shivers start to die down, she can feel the strained tension in him wherever they're touching.

“Are you okay?”

Maybe giving her warmth like this is making him cold.

[notarat]

It does take a moment for him to speak up after she asks that question. Though he at least doesn't sound shaky or like he's cold when he does.

"It's just that I'm unused to it," he says - or, honestly, it's more a mumble than him actually saying it, though it should be audible enough to her anyway with how close the two of them right now. And it's true. Even though Billy is used to close physical contact by now, that's with one person. Extending it to a second person, even out of necessity, isn't that easy when you've been pretty much touch starved for the rest of your entire life before recently.

It feels awkward to talk about though. Even more awkward to admit to. Maybe that's why Billy doesn't linger on it, instead asking her: "Is it helping?"

Please at least tell him it's helping. That he isn't getting all awkward and flustered for nothing.

[desperate_times_right]

“Yeah,” Chloe says, smiling a little. “I can't believe you're so warm without your coat, you fire guys are crazy.”

She tilts her head, having heard the earlier mumble. “Unused to what, huddling under a tree in freezing fog?”