trans_9 | Snow Sheltering [Closed]

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Snow Sheltering [Closed]

Today's trek to Pelau's glass desert had started as more of a ridiculous dare than a serious idea for Billy. Terrain to conquer just because he could? It sounded reckless, but the risk carried a reward for it too. If the rumors of a beautiful display of lights were true, he definitely wanted to be out there. Rumor also had it that a few of his friends were going, and he didn't want to be left behind.

After packing his supplies and telling a few people where he was going just to be sure, he'd set off. It was a long, slow trek, and he was sure that the others who had gone this way had long surpassed him. He was a Southern California native! The desert he was accustomed to trekking was considerably hotter and sandier.

Finally, though, he stumbled across a small half-finished shelter that another traveler had built for themselves some time ago. Exhausted as he was, he set about securing it. When it was comfortable enough for a few hours of rest, he put out a call to any friends who might be in the region. Oh, he hoped they were there.

{{Hey, it's me, Billy. Are any of you hungry? I have some food in the shelter.}}

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Nokosi tumbled to the ground from the weight of his Orc friend and ate a mouthful of snow upon contact. He made a face as he grabbed for Ronnae's hand and sniffed.

"Of course you can catch me in this weather; I am an immobile target with no desire to flee." Before he could say more, the door opened, flooding them both with light.

Fontaine was the first to get inside--the wolf barked in greeting and squeezed himself through the door, then immediately filled a spot near the fire with his large body. The elf was next, though he was momentarily stalled by Kaya. Wearing his usual grin, Nokosi returned the gesture, then pressed his flushed, cold cheek against her face.

"It was excellent! Reminiscent of the Frozen Wastes but without all the giant humans and undead."

Ronnie was a bit slower to get into the shelter, taking a moment to watch over the scene from the door with a timid smile before closing the door behind her and heading towards Billy.

"Hello love~" she said in her usual shy tone before hugging and nuzzling her face against him.

"How are you?"

"Hi," Billy waved in the brief time he had before Nokosi and Kaya were all over each other. "Yeah, it's eerily quiet out here, isn't it."

At least they had each other. He leaned back to watch his friends, marveling at how attentive they were to each other. It was a good match. Of course, that thought led him back to his own match---where was his favorite redhead?

There she was! Billy broke out a smile and walked to her, holding her close for what felt like the first time in forever. It hadn't actually been very long, but the cold had a tendency to make him feel more isolated than usual. Snow was not his element at all.

"Much better now that you're here," he whispered in her ear, leaning up to kiss her forehead. "I was starting to worry. The weather outside is...well, it's pretty frightful."

Billy wasn't so far gone as to laugh at his own joke that none of them would get, but he did fight another smile. When he'd reassured himself of Ronnae's closeness, he stood hand in hand beside her and attempted to get the others' attention.

"Let's hang the wet things and get the food out. I know you're probably all hungrier than I am."

Wet things? Really Billy, you sometimes did forget you had a bender at your disposal. She couldn't steam it like a firebender, but she could suck the water right out of it, which was yet another great thing about being here. After the fight with all of those horrible robots, she was happy to be able to get some fresh water for her container.

After she was done doing that though, she took a spot next to Nokosi and Ronnae, with Billy on Ronnae's side. "Anything I can do to help with the cooking, Billy?"

Nokosi had already removed most of the extra furs he wore and stretched out in the small place, using Fontaine as a giant, fluffy pillow. He removed his boots and stuck his feet near the fire, happy at the warmth.

"I am starving! I had to sit and watch Fontaine devour what I am sure were delicious hare. He was not in a sharing mood." Considering what the wolf had to eat on the ship for days and weeks at a time, he couldn't blame him one bit.

Ronnae hugged onto him for a bit longer before settling down and smiling a bit more relaxed, yet still in her usual timid nature.

"Actually I am, pretty famished. I forgot to grab something to eat for the trip and didn't think I'd be gone that long... Heh..."

Billy was so forgetful sometimes. He laughed awkwardly, shaking out the dry items. When he was comfortable, he nuzzled against Ronnae for a moment before awkwardly crouching over the meal.

He doled out bowls and soup, with a nice chunk of toasted bread for each of them. There were sprinkles of salt and cheese if they were wanted, but he lacked any other condiments.

"Sure, you can help with the drinks," he offered to Kaya. "I've set out tea and hot chocolate. I have mine, but what do you all want?"

He hoped they'd be at least somewhat satisfied. If he was lucky, they'd feel good enough to get talking again.

Kaya was more than happy to help, and did so immediately, once her bowl and toasted bread was set. She gave a lingering glance to Nokosi before starting on the drinks. Poor Fontaine: she hoped this meal would be enough for him.

"I'll be fine with hot chocolate," Kaya said, wanting a break from the norm. She did want to get this settled soon though: Nokosi's lap, with Fontaine as the pillow, looked very inviting. "What will you two have?"

"Hot chocolate, hot chocolate!" the elf pipped up, extending a hand for the cup. "I have not had that in what seems like ages."

Now he was even more excitable--even when he was in Azeroth, things like chocolate weren't what he indulged in very often. It wasn't that he didn't have the money; his bank safe was brimming with gold coins earned through alchemy...because 'making money' was something he had been told was important. He was just never any good at spending it.

"Any marshmallows?"

Ronnie chimed in cheerful after securing her appetizing meal.

"I agree, I'd really like some nice hot chocolate please! I'm sure it'd be perfect for this occasion!'

"All right, all right," Billy laughed, leaving it to Kaya to distribute the hot chocolate between them. He should've guessed they would take it over the tea. Oh well, more for him!

That left the problem of marshmallows, though. He answered them by fishing into his bag, retrieving three enormous ones. They were slightly sticky, and one had odd rainbow sprinkles.

"These were the only marshmallows I could find. Be careful, they got hot and tend to stick," he reminded them, dropping one into each of their hands. The strands of marshmallow goo flopped all around them, causing him to laugh again.

"I'm sorry! I should've been more careful with storing them."

Kaya giggled, and made sure that each of them had a marshmallow at hand before pouring the remaining cups and then dropping the treats in each. She knew better than to offer the marshmallow to Billy though: the way he thought, they would be for the guests, something she would have conversely done herself.

"Its all right Billy, somehow we'll manage," she said, siding up next to Nokosi, sitting Indian style, her head on his shoulder. "Though you might want to explain those weird things on the marshmallows with all the colors. Is that supposed to enhance the flavor somehow, like when you stoop tea for different infusions?"

One BIG marshmallow? Oh man, how great was that? Usually he just overstuffed his mug with a bunch of tiny ones, but this would be even better.

As eager as he was to eat/drink the whole sticky mess, he still remembered certain lessons that were drilled into him as a child. Had to finish that soup first.

"Thank you for the meal, Billy. It is highly appreciated."

Ronnae eyed the large marshmallow curiously and smiled as it slowly dripped comically around her hand. She took a little nibble out of it before letting it slide into her hot chocolate.

At the comfort of being somewhere she could partially relax for the most part, she absentmindedly licked off what had gotten stuck to her hand playfully before smiling to herself and settling down to pick up her stew. It felt nice, being here, amongst friends and in good spirits.

Billy could see he had a lot to answer to before they could begin relaxing and talking. But that could wait a little longer. He'd waited this long already! He watched them with their marshmallows, an amused little smile on his face at the sticky messes.

"The little colored things are sprinkles. All they add is a sort of...concentrated sugar. It was hard to find any marshmallows at all, and that's the one I ended up with. It shouldn't change the flavor too much," he reassured Kaya first.

"It's not a problem, really. I just wanted to see you all again, and I worried you might not feed yourselves," he smiled at Nokosi. He had been right to be worried, at least with some of them. At least he was here to look after them.

Billy was tempted to pick up Ronnae's hand and lick it himself, and he definitely glanced at it, but such a gesture was hardly appropriate in front of his other friends. Instead, he settled for scooting closer to her, trying to find a way to cuddle that wouldn't get in the way.

"It feels like we haven't seen each other in forever. You're all better from the fighting, right?"

"More sugar?" Kaya said, wrinkling her nose. This was one of the things that the water tribe had actually lacked: she'd read up on the long term effects of sugar and didn't like it. True, it tasted delicious, but Kaya had always been wary about how sweet things would be.

"You were right, actually," Kaya confessed, laughing. "My whole point of coming was to see that Borealis thing later, and to get some meditation time for myself. It hadn't occurred to me to eat, and if I got hungry I probably would have just chalked it up to fasting."

She lay back against Nokosi, marveling in the way his warmth and Fontaine's were already working its magic on her: you could literally see the steam rising from her.

"That depends on what you mean by better," Kaya said. "I'm at peace with the things that happened. They still hurt."

Around Kaya's neck, one could see a looped necklace with a blue stone containing what looked to be a lock of fur.

"I am too much of a glutton to forget to feed myself," Nokosi cheerily admitted. "The first thing I did upon finding myself on this planet was to set about hunting. I plan to do that quite a few more times before we depart; I actually miss the taste of cured meat."

He tore off a piece of bread and held it back to Fontaine, well aware that it wasn't even a bite for the giant creature. The wolf snapped at his fingers to show his displeasure at the action and Nokosi laughed, ruffled his fur, then turned his attention back to the others in the room.

"I did not participate. I partially recall spending most of that time in hiding."

Ronnae nodded, remembering the brief time she spent fighting alongside Billy in Engineering before they split up once more to help the others.

"I recovered. Soon as things started going back to normal, the wounds I suffered healed rather fast as per usual." One of the many blessings of her regeneration.

Grabbing her bowl, she relaxed against Billy, her head resting aright under his own and against his chest before she rose her knees close to herself and placed the bowl on them, dipping a piece of bread a few times before taking a bite and smiling.

"Yeah... I sort of forgot to keep track of time when I was out. Didn't know it had been this long since I last ate." To which she looked up and nuzzled her face slightly against Billy's neck.

"Thanks sweetheart~"

That was better. Billy set his stew on the ground and picked at it slowly, using his other hand to secure Ronnie against him. He reached up to move one of her long pigtails, brushing it gently. That space was needed for his food!

He kissed the top of her head once he was sure his face was clean. "Oh, any time. I thought the offer food might be the only way to catch you all," he reasoned.

Poor Fontaine's hunger did bother Billy, though. "I'm sorry, big guy. I couldn't carry any more."

"It was the best way, really," Kaya said, reclining against Nokosi despite his seemingly non interest in snuggling. She really was going to have to get used to how aloof he played it when having a relationship.

"But now that we're all here together, why not watch that Borealis thing together? I'm told its supposed to be a sight to behold. It's the reason I made it all the way up here to begin with."

To Fontaine, she reached over and actually nuzzled him. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we get you a lot once we're back with the others. Unless you'd rather go and hunt for the food yourself?"

It was less that he had no interest and more that he had a bowl of stew in his hand and...food required some amount of focus to truly appreciate.

Heavy thumps of a wagging tail hitting the ground was the response Billy received from Fontaine, who had been watching the humanoids' small chat with feigned interest.

"Do not let him fool you," Nokosi said, raising his eyes from the bowl. "He may not have eaten as much as he liked, but two hare are more than enough for him at this moment." The elf's mouth split into a grin. "He just likes the attention."

Fontaine huffed loudly, as if to dispute his claim. Sure he wasn't starving or anything like that, but he would have liked some more rabbits, or sheep or bears.

"You are more than welcome to join us on our hunt, though."

Ronnae giggled, "I don't think Fontaine's appetite could ever be quelled~" Not that she could talk much considering her own needs... But still!

"A little hunting trip would be pretty fun actually. I wasn't aware of the borealis myself, I was more... having some time to myself, getting my thoughts in order and stuff... But I wouldn't mind spending more time together of course."

"I know how to hunt, I'm jut not the best at it," Billy said defensively. He'd had one or two lessons in it, but killing to eat wasn't something he was very used to or fond of.

He glanced around at the group, very aware of what a foolish mindset this was. "But I'll go. I don't want to miss the lights either. They're spectacular. They were only viewable from really remote places on Earth, so I've never seen one before."

"It's all right Billy: where you're from, you don't have to hunt unless its for sport, and even then, that's a pretty bad reason to hunt to begin with. Where I live, you could always fish, but considering the diet in the North Pole, you had to get your protein too."

She smiled at the four. "I couldn't have for better people to be with though. I'm glad we ran into each other."

And yes Nokosi, she was totally willing to go hunting: you could see that in her eyes.

In no time flat the elf had finished the soup and placed the bowl beside him. He stretched--cat-like, slung an arm around Kaya's shoulder, then reclined back onto Fontaine. Nokosi watched the three talk for a short time before chiming in.

"I was not aware of the Borealis either, but it sounds like a sight I would enjoy. In any case, you do not need to be 'the best' at something to do it. I think..." Nokosi suddenly sat forward, jostling Kaya and Fontaine in the process. He shot them an apologetic look and laughed, then turned back to Billy.

"I think that, considering your knowledge, you would be an exceptional trap-maker. I am. Perhaps we can construct a few together? You would not even have to stalk around with a weapon, then."

It would be fun for the both of them, he thought--interesting in the least due to their different knowledge of nature, mysticism and high technology. He was looking more than forward to going out and hunting with Kaya as well. It would be great to see how she applied her water bending.

Edited 2012-01-14 22:01 (UTC)

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