the frost, it looks like dust, settled on the world —

[misshuang]

Who: Miss Huang + YOU!
What: general arrival catchall / event-related threads to be added in later.
When: December - January.
Where: Milton for now, may add more later.
Content Warnings: None explicitly, but themes of her canon content warnings may make an appearance in my introspection for her.

Note: I did have Miss Huang on a previous TDM; however, I've apped her in now from a later canonpoint. For that reason, I'll be clean-slating that TDM arrival and bringing her in fresh for new interactions!

Comments

[brushoff]

[ Oh no. She has no idea what she's doing. Dorian frowns a little before continuing, ]

Small sticks, twigs, or wood scraps that you use to start a fire. The whole log won't burn that well by itself at the start. You'll have to have something to keep it going.

[misshuang]

[ The girl pauses at that, before a frown of her own tugs at the corners of her mouth. She.. definitely did not know that. She's never even heard of that. Survival 101 wasn't exactly what she and the other girls were taught at their school. Her experience at the Lumon ORTBO was her first time really being out in the wilderness or anything at all, out of the comfort and security of the town she'd grown up in.

But then she gathers herself and continues, cheerfully. ]

That makes sense! Maybe that's what the box of smaller wood I found is for...

[ Whoever had owned this cabin before here had a few stores of scraps, but she'd paid them no mind. Now, though... ]

How much do I need to put in? The whole thing or one at a time?

[brushoff]

[ This poor child is absolutely going to freeze to death.

Oh well. Sucks to be her!

Dorian doesn't let that thought show, though. He's still calm and nonchalant, treating this conversation like it's an average, everyday conversation between two average, everyday people, as he points out, ]

That depends entirely on how big the box is. Mind if I come in and take a look myself?

[misshuang]

[ Miss Huang perks up at the offer, enthused. How kind of this stranger! There's no thought at all to be wary of anyone here. Where she's from, no one hurts each other. At least, not on any surface level that can be detected so easily. ]

That would be very much appreciated! [ She cheerfully steps across the porch and inside the cabin's front door, holding it open for the man. Once in, she's moving to the fireplace where she's put in some of those dried pieces of firewood already. The room is dark and extremely cold; she shudders as her breath comes out in puffs of white fog. ]

This is the box I found. Is it... kindling? [ She hands him a small chest that's clearly handmade, within which are a few dozen small chunks of wood. They definitely look ideal for tossing into a fire. ]

[brushoff]

[ Miss Huang is struggling with the cold, it seems to not bother Dorian in the slightest. His breath is still coming out in puffs of fog, but there's no shivering, no teeth chattering, nothing of the sort.

As he reaches for the chest, Dorian's fingers lightly brush against Miss Huang's—and they are freezing. Dorian seemingly takes no notice of that, though, as he opens the chest and gives it a once-over. ]

We'll be able to start a fire with this tonight. But you'll want to gather more kindling for any future fire. Small scraps of wood like this will work—hell, sticks would work as well. Just make certain they're dried out.

[ Dorian makes his way towards the fireplace, bending down to adjust the logs and arrange things for a proper fire. ]

Do you have any matches on you? That'll make things damn easier.

[misshuang]

[ When the man's fingers brush against her own, it's actually shocking to the normally composed girl, enough so that she gives a soft gasp under her breath. For a moment, she's not sure what she's felt. It's like he's holding ice.

Her eyes sweep down to his hands as he moves, staring. There's no ice. There's nothing. Just bare fingers. Are they so cold because he hasn't been wearing gloves outside...? How is he okay? ]

Um— oh, yes, I found these. [ She fortunately does know what those are, and steps over to a nearby shelf to retrieve a box of wooden matches. Bringing them over to Dorian, she stares down at him, still taken aback. Being a very forthcoming kid, she's going to just straight-up ask. It's with a mix of surprise and the tiniest smidgen of judgment. Sir... please. This isn't very responsible. ]

Aren't you cold? You don't have any gloves on, or even a jacket.

[brushoff]

If I was cold, I'd be wearing a jacket, [ Dorian points out, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Duh, Miss Huang. That's obvious to him! Of course, he could say 'I was given a gift by that odd lady showing up in everyone's dreams that makes me immune to the cold,' but why would he do that? It's much more fun to be a dick to children.

As he takes the matches, Dorian bends down. He adjusts the kindling, getting everything set up for a perfect fire. He strikes a match against the side of the box, sitting it down next to the kindling. After a moment, the kindling itself starts to smolder. ]

There we go. Give it a few moments and we'll have a roaring blaze.

[misshuang]

[ Miss Huang, who has little concept of sarcasm or even simple joking around — and gets very confused when others do those things — always appreciates and prefers when people speak honestly, bluntly. She takes no offense to the man's response, and in fact seems to be thinking about it very seriously, mouth tugging to the side. That reply makes logical sense on the surface, but... how isn't he cold? Perhaps he's from a department that's very used to this weather?

Or maybe... goodness, maybe, he's overcome it? No one can compare to Kier's capability, of course, but his followers can work to overcome all of the weaknesses that humans have, at least as far as they're taught. (Her world is fucking weird, okay.) She's thinking about it very deeply as she watches him work, and as soon as the materials begin to smoke a little, her eyes are widening. She moves closer, already able to feel a faint hint of warmth when she lifts her hands up. ]

Wow! That's really cool! [ For a moment, a hint of pure childish delight comes out. Firestarting is cool. She peers over at him, curious. If it's something he's overcome, then it's possible that she could learn too... ]

Could you teach me how not to be so cold?