december 2019. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Sixth Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of December 2019
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

a. the generic holiday cheer prompt.

It's a dark, quiet, uneventful night. Only those up and about in the wee hours will notice something odd starting in the park.

It's snowing.

The phenomenon seems to be coming from a small bank of unmoving clouds hanging suspended above the trees and lake. A cloud that, upon closer inspection by any scientists in the room, appears to be made of harmless nanites whose sole purpose is to unleash a cheery, blustery kind of weather that remains mostly contained to the park.

Some bots are out serving hot chocolate, cider, flavored snow cones, and other small baked treats. Others are building a solid-looking bit of scaffolding that the snow is rapidly turning into a sledding ramp. In fact, there are sleds ready and waiting at the foot of the slide. The smaller ponds have frozen over in a sharp cold snap that came with the nanites' release, and there are other bots handing out ice skates - careful, though, because one of them is a chef bot and he's made the blades of the skates ridiculously sharp. At least they'll glide well?

Around the middle of the day, the intercoms squeal loudly, crackle, and start pouring generic seasonal music out into the air. Is it for Hanukkah? Christmas? Kwanzaa? Some strange holiday no one has heard of? Who knows, since half of it is in alien languages, but man, it sure is peppy! And kind of annoying after a while! Maybe someone should hack the system and change the music up?

b. the body heat trope prompt.

As the day wears on toward evening, the nanite winter storm starts to gather a little more force, sending cold seeping through the halls of Anchor. There are pockets of warmth here and there - notably, for once, the agricultural areas are largely unaffected thanks to their temperature regulators--but most of Anchor has a wintery chill, and snow is starting to bluster across the levels from bottom to top. Temperatures continue to drop when the suns go down.

The bots are out being helpful, though they can't stop the storm. They're rolling around handing out blankets and thermoses of warm drinks. Unfortunately, it's one blanket and one thermos per two people. Better get cosy - it's going to be a long, cold night!

c. the terrifying monster attack prompt.

The cold has woken up some creatures that have been slumbering away in one of the sealed-off areas of the labs. They couldn't get through the door that kept them caged, but they sure could freeze the windows and escape that way when they got cold enough to break. The little critters make a beeline for the park, prepared to wreak havoc-

If eating snow and ice and rolling snow into tiny balls for meal stockpiles is havoc.

These little creatures look conspicuously like the western dragons of Earth, though most are no bigger than a person's forearm. Their wings - some strange shade of white that sparkles when they move - seem largely decorative. They use them to communicate, to posture, and to keep themselves balanced when they rear up on their hind legs, but none of them appear able to fly. They're a mix of colors, blue and silver and white, some of them with a variety of shades swirling down their bodies, others with one color on their bellies and contrasting colors on their back and head. Some have splotches, or speckles, or tiger stripes of blue. They breathe steam and can freeze things with their clawed forepaws.

Also, if you feed them a flavored snow cone, they will follow you forever. No, really. You'll have yourself an undyingly loyal new pet.

Navigation.

Comments

QUESTIONS.

[modblob]

Any questions for the mods can go here!

[superposition]

So Qubit's gonna want to fix the climate control, obviously. Is that a thing that can be done?

Related: How's the climate control system implemented, generally speaking? (Somebody asked him and I wasn't sure how much of it is cool to just make up.)

Rey | OTA.

[circumitus]

a. The Park;

Snowflakes softly land and melt on exposed skin from where Rey slumps on a bench. It doesn't wake her right away; despite being dressed in her normal, sleeveless getup, the biting chill that sweeps in over the passing hours is hardly enough to rouse her from her brief nap.

It's the movements that stir her awake, only to find that it's just another robot puttering along the pathway as if searching for something. Every muscle in her freezes up, as she glances up at the mist overhead dropping little icy flakes onto the park area.

"What the f...?" Rey starts, until a bot rolls up to her with a tray of some piping hot gifts.

For anyone else, the treats would be a welcome offer to combat against the cold. For someone who's hardly dressed for the weather, however, she is less inclined to accept, let alone move to seek shelter or find proper tools and aid. No, she doesn't even shiver, not even as snow piles up over her puffy mahogany hair and broad shoulders.

It seems like there's plenty of other things going on now as well. How long was she out on that bench, exactly? She can't remember. Much of this reminds her of the winters in Chicago, when she was able to slip into the crowded streets at night. If only this place wasn't such a goddamned ghost town, she would almost feel nostalgic.

b. Anywhere (Heat);

While Rey doesn't have much to worry about, Tripod is a different matter entirely. Once she managed to find the mutant feline among the gradually whitening park, he was a shivering pile curled up under a tree and she knew that he wouldn't fair nearly as well in this change as she would.

Despite not having much on her, she cleared out enough space in her backpack to stuff the cat into, cursing under her breath for neglecting the poor thing. Of course a hairless animal would have issues with adapting to the drop in temperature.

Rather than leaving it this time, Rey moves from place to place to find areas of warmth where she could let Tripod out in for a while. But eventually she would have to move again, packing him up so she can scrounge for anything that could be of use. She's been given a living creature whose life she's now responsible for. Even if she's not the 'Rey' that Tripid knew, she's come to accept that she's not getting rid of him anytime soon.

Eventually, she passes someone who might be of some help, which she promptly stops them by grabbing their arm, a determined expression on her face. She won't let him die.

"Hey, you have anything that can help this guy out?" Rey shrugs a bare shoulder at the pack strung behind her, with a shaking cyclopean cat inside.

b.

[kaballin]

It's cold enough that Kabal is actually wearing a shirt, no one die of shock. He's pretty confused about why the fuck it's snowing inside, but once it starts getting sub-freezing he's less concerned with that and more concerned with what he's gonna eat and how he's going to not freeze to death. He already burned to death and he's fine with not experiencing both extremes, thanks.

"Oh hey, you managed to keep it alive." One hell of a greeting. And from the shivering, naked blob in the pack that might only be temporary. "Maybe it needs a sweater like a purse dog."

He's noticed that she's definitely not dressed for the weather, and assumes she hasn't been able to find anything else. Maybe resources are scarcer than he thought.

B :>

[birdical]

Unfortunately, Elleru isn't faring so well herself as the temperatures around Anchor continue to drop, her entire top half wrapped in one of the blankets the robots have been handing out. It does little to help her, given a. she has no shoes, and b. her kind are generally not well-equipped to deal with the cold, especially in an upright guise. She doesn't yet have a room of her own, her people normally living in burrows and underground dens, and with the temperature shift so sudden, she hadn't time to grow a winter coat. The clothes she came to Anchor with are woefully inadequate for such a chill.

However, she recognizes Rey's voice when addressed, and when she turns around, she knows who Rey must be talking about, as well. If she's this cold in her upright guise, Elleru considers, how freezing must a hairless cat be?

Elleru's ears prick up in alarm beneath her blanket hood, poking the fabric. Her teeth chatter as she gives Rey a sad look. "He is cold, as am I." Her eyes trail to Rey's bare shoulders. "How is it you are not shivering?"

A

[redwinekindofgirl]

Julie enjoys the snow for a very simple reason - it's the first time she's been able to do so without having to worry about what sounds the white blanket over the ground might be covering up. Her steps crunch noisily in the fresh fall and she turns her face up to it occasionally, letting flakes land on her face and eyelashes.

Rey draws attention to herself only through being entirely underdressed for the weather. Julie slows her steps when she sees her, pressing her lips together briefly and following that with a small and uncertain smile.

"Uhhh, hey. Aren't you cold?"

Genji Shimada | OTA

[arcadedragon]

1. Frozen Fish Sticks of Holiday Cheer
The snow is actually sort of nice. It reminds him a bit of home and he's thrown a few snowballs at trees, smiling at the bittersweet memory of having done that with someone else long, long ago. But then he ventures further out into the park and sees the frozen little puddles of water and iced over fountain and suddenly he's running as fast as he can out to the small pond he and Reynir had created for his fish stolen from Hanamura. There's real panic rising up in him as he punches his metal hand into the ice crusted across the surface of his little fish pond.

Fortunately the fish are fine, they're in a sort of cold induced stupor floating near the bottom, but they're hardier than Genji expected. However; he has no idea where the cooler they'd used to transport them went, and all he can find while searching around is a small plastic bucket.

Genji can be found at the pond standing knee deep in freezing water and carefully catching his colorful fish in his hands and depositing them in the pail. Or making his way back to his room carrying a too small bucket with five very grumpy fish in it. He's moving a little slower than normal, ice cold water and freezing temperatures aren't great for robot joints or any of his human bits either.

2. Sōmen and the Terrifying Monsters - Park
Having safely deposited his fish in his bathtub for now, Genji heads back out to the park to investigate this whole snowing inside situation. While he tries to figure that out, his spirit dragon is out and about visiting with all the new snow dragons. It's slowly flying right above them in a circle, inquisitively tilting it's head back and forth before descending to the ground and attempting to make friends.

After a few moments Sōmen will take to the air again, undulating it's noodly body as it flies, even though it doesn't have wings. Some of the small dragons jump up and wiggle, imitating what the slightly larger dragon is doing. Apparently it's time for some flying lessons with Sōmen.

3. Hypothermia Body Heat - Around the living quarters
Turns out that standing in an iced over pond to gather his fish and letting all that frozen water into his joints and armor is a really bad idea. And then going out to stand in the snow to figure out what's going on for hours without taking a nice hot shower after to warm up is an even worse idea. Granted he couldn't take a shower in his own room because his bathtub is full of fish, but there's plenty of empty rooms he could have used.

Within a few days he's feeling awful, shivering uncontrollably and there's a weird tingliness in his one remaining extremity. Bundling up in all his blankets and clothes is only marginally helping and he's only left his slightly warmer blanket nest because he'd run out of food and maybe soup will fix him. Getting to the dining hall, heating some soup, and bringing it back to his room should be a simple task, but he's so cold and shivery that it's taking far longer than it should. He could use some assistance.

3!

[hersay]

Allison isn't a big fan of the cold, either. Most of her clothes are designed to suit a southern Californian climate, not this. Initially, Allison tried to preserve some dignity by just sucking it up and wearing what she's got, but at this point she's so cold and so sick of it that she doesn't care anymore. She's wearing all three of the scarves she's got here, and both jackets. Allison feels like she looks like the Michelin man, but you know what? Fuck it.

Allison is on a voyage to brew some tea when she notices Genji, that nice guy from the syrup festival. He looks awfully cold, and he's moving so slowly for someone his size.

Allison walks up and waves, offering up one of her scarves. Genji helped her fend off those very determined robots -- it's the least she can do to help him out here.

1 (making his way back)

[birdical]

"Do you need help?"

Elleru's voice rings down the hallway from behind Genji. She's been following him at a distance since he left the park, having watched him pluck the fish from the water with his bare hands to place them in the bucket for travel. She thought that he might have been catching them for a meal, albeit in a way she's sure is unusual for uprights; however, when he turned toward the barracks rather than the kitchens, she found herself curious as to where he was taking them. To his room? Or the someone else's? Are they a gift? She must know.

"I could carry them for you, if you would like," she offers, her long stride making easy work of the gap between them.

2

[redwinekindofgirl]

For the last ten minutes, Julie has been being followed. A particularly inquisitive snow dragon had crept close enough to her for her to feel the need to ward it off by flicking a few pieces of her snow cone in its direction. That had not helped, and now it's definitely following her.

"Ohhh my god, look, go-- go home, or something."

She didn't ask for this! When she comes across Genji, already with an apparent entourage of the creatures, she makes a pointed gesture to the one following at her heels.

"Go play with your friends. Over there. Over-- Oh, come on..."

4. DRAGON TIME

[abheirrant]

Things Carlisle hadn't expected: for Genji to call him.

Things Carlisle definitely hadn't expected: for Genji to say he had something for him. A gift of some sort? What in the name of the Clarity could be possibly be?

It wasn't that he'd never received a gift; quite the contrary, as when his uncles were alive, he very often got gifts, trinkets and knickknacks they brought home from their travels to help their nephew live vicariously through their adventures. He was the sentimental sort, the kind of fellow who kept each and every one of those presents, made sure they were maintained and protected from the dangers of the world, as he often was. And, much like his uncles with him when they disappeared, he'd left most of them behind by accident when brought to Anchor; even now, he cannot help but miss his familiar trappings, comforts that always reminded him of his family and the good times they shared.

Such times are well behind him now, unfortunately; however, he knows good and well Genji would disapprove of such morose musings, urging him to move forward rather than stagnate, and so he does his best to make himself presentable when he opens his door for his guest.

Hanzo Shimada | OTA

[nockturnal]

Arrival

He believes it be a trick, at first. How could he not? To suddenly come to in such a place, to be told there is no way out but he is welcome just the same, it makes no sense that he can rationalize. There is also the condition of the room, the cracked and dusty glass. It is a place that has seen neglect, certainly no measure of supervision or maintenance that he can see.

He is very apprehensive when it comes to surrendering his weapons in order to undergo the decontamination process.

It is only knowing that they could have taken them at any time, while he was unconscious and unaware, that keeps him from stubbornly holding fast to them. Some measure of cooperation is clearly expected and perhaps even necessary. So surrender them he does, his expression grave all the while. But no attack comes while he is unarmored and defenseless -- or as defenseless as they could ever make him -- and so he is merely left with a feeling of unease as he gathers his clothes and belongings after.

Anchor, they called it. So it seems that he is to be anchored in place, and his days of roaming the world like some fleeting shadow are done. Perhaps it was time. He had not seen fit to remain in one place for very long in some time. Years, in fact.

So. Time then to venture into the colony proper, and see what would be made of his time here.

The first glimpse did not seem promising, although given the condition of the room he'd woken in that was perhaps to be expected. The air is thick with dust and uncomfortable to breathe. Lifting his sleeve to cover the lower half of his face in a makeshift mask, he presses on. Perhaps there is someone to be found on the lower levels of...whatever is left of his place.



a. the generic holiday cheer prompt.

It's a surprise to see the lower levels are as hospitable as they are. It's even more of a surprise to find a lush park at the bottom level, and to find a small collection of clouds just...snowing. For no discernible reason. Nowhere else can he see such a phenomenon, and its source seems just as mysterious as the rest.

Hanzo looks mildly bewildered for a moment before deciding a frown is the best response, turning his attention elsewhere.

Childish frivolities are not his concern right now. Finding out what is happening, where he is, and what to do next are the main concern. But...those cups of hot chocolate do look rather tempting.

He may stop to have one, thank you.



b. the body heat trope prompt.

The warm drink is more of a boon than he would have first thought. As the day bears on, the temperature only appears to be dropping further and further. And the clothes he had been wearing upon first arrival aren't incredibly suited for cold weather.

Fortunately, there was a jacket in the bag that he'd brought with him. A spare change of clothes meant for extended travel, lucky in hindsight. But even that only provides a moderate amount of warmth, given that before long he can see his breath in the air. Supplies are being handed out by the bots, but only to pairs of people.

And Hanzo is alone, as ever.

With a derisive sniff, he simply finds somewhere comfortable to bunker down for the time being, taking a swig of his sake bottle to feel a little warmer for the time being, and conserving his energy. Exploration for a solution to the cold can wait until the sun rises again. Hopefully he does not freeze to death before that happens.

What an ignoble end that would be.

A

[braidmage]

Do you know what's relatively difficult to find in a post-apocalypse where importing and exporting basically went off the table a hundred years ago? Chocolate. It's not unheard of, but it's quite expensive and easier to get hold of in the city than in a tiny village like the one Reynir had grown up in. Besides, it wasn't like his family was exactly like Emil's... they lived comfortably but they were still sheep farmers, and that didn't leave a lot of extra money lying around for frivolities.

Which is maybe why Reynir is lingering near the hot chocolate looking absolutely over the moon. He's clutching a steaming mug of the stuff between his hands when Hanzo comes over to grab some. Sorry, was he trying to do that quickly and nonchalantly, without any social interaction? Not anymore.

"It's so delicious, isn't it?"

Reynir beams at this total stranger, just wanting to share a bit of that Chocolate Happiness™ with him.

B

[arcadedragon]

Hiding in his room may not be the best option for staying warm, but that's what Genji has chosen to do. Unfortunately, the ninja is chilled to the bone and his armor is not especially effective at keeping him toasty. In fact the metal encasing him is absolutely freezing. Stubbornly he refuses to remove any of it even in the privacy of his own room. Piling blankets on top of himself doesn't really work as any heat he generates that could have been captured in the enclosed space is sucked away by the metal alloy of his armor.

His current plan is to bring soup back from the dining hall and warm himself from the inside out. That seems like a tenable solution to this.

It's a good thing he's screwing the top on a container of steaming soup as he rounds the corner because he nearly drops it.

The outfit is strange, he doesn't recognize the jacket, but the man is familiar and for a moment Genji is frozen by more than just the temperature. He'd rehearsed what he'd say to Hanzo if he saw him again so many times, but now that he actually sees his brother in the flesh every carefully chosen word evaporates from his mind left with a mixture of fear and bitterness and betrayal and confusion. What is he doing here? How did he get here? What has he been doing since.. since...

It takes a while for Genji to manage to find his voice, "Hanzo?"

A

[abheirrant]

The one other fellow in the park at that moment spots Hanzo at the same time Hanzo spots him, stiffening in surprise as their respective gazes cross paths.

"Oh!" Carlisle gives a polite dip of his head, not a full bow so much as a vague acknowledgement. "Oh, I didn't realize anyone else would be here at this time of day. Early morning and what have you." He'd been hoping he wouldn't find anyone else, as he's mostly been holed up in his room for the past few weeks, trying to get his energies back in order while avoiding everyone he could possibly burden with his presence or injure with a wild bout of necrotic rot -- and that's just about everyone in Anchor, really.

But he's here and been spotted now, so he tries to act as human as he wishes he was. "I don't believe I've seen you. Probably understandable, though there aren't many people here, so someone new does, ah. Stick out."

B

[redwinekindofgirl]

There was a point, while she was meandering her way around the levels of Anchor, where she managed to come across one a bot that decided she looked as if she needed a blanket. Julie hasn't been using it, with her coat, scarf and hat keeping her warm enough for now, but she carries it over her arms with her hands tucked inside her sleeves while she pokes around the place.

She's still finding rooms that she's never seen before. Didn't someone say something about making a map, once?

She almost passes Hanzo by without noticing him, and it's only the motion of tucking her hair behind her ear that has the shape of the man catching her attention. The young woman jumps slightly, muttering a breathy 'oh holy shit' as she stops.

"Yo, aren't you cold?"

Starscream | OTA

[vosseeker]

A. PARK

As multiple people had informed him upon his arrival, Starscream was proving too large to fit into most of the habitat areas of Anchor, leaving him confined to public spaces and segments of the station where the architecture had been generous. The park had proved a mostly secluded, out of the way spot to recharge in peace and quiet.

And then it had started snowing. Inside.

Starscream looks ready to murder someone. (To be fair, on most days he looks only a few steps from murder.)

He's currently sitting on the ground near a stand of trees, spiky legs drawn up and crossed loosely in front of him, with arms folded across and wings tucked tight behind him. Snow has begun to settle and accumulate on the flatter planes of his armor, but every so often his wings will twitch irritably to knock loose snow from them. As the temperature continues to drop after suns down, the quiet sounds of plating rattling belies the fact that inorganics can, in fact, shiver.

B. HOT CHOCOLATE AND BLANKETS

Despite the bots' best intentions, their offerings don't do anything for Starscream other than make them a target for his ire. "Have you got rivets for capacitors, drone? What am I supposed to with this organic swill and this?" He holds up the blanket, barely large enough to drape over the back of one servo, to illustrate his point.

Seeing someone passing by, he thrusts the blanket at them. "Here," he barks. "Take it, so this boltless trash compactor can consider its duty discharged."

B

[arcadedragon]

"They are only trying to help, they do not know the difference between humans and machines." Genji certainly looks like the latter, but he accepts the blanket, draping it over one of his arms, oddly thankful that he can't feel the cold in the other one. At least it appeases the bot who wanders away to foist blankets on someone else.

"Holding the cup will warm your hands at least. You do not want your joints to freeze up do you?"

A

[writtendestiny]

A familiar shape, yet again. How many times has it been, now? She's not likely to ever fail to know that spiky form when she sees it, but he never remembers her. Poison does not expect that this time will be different, but she approaches Starscream after night falls and could track him in the dark with the sound his plating is making.

"Hello," she says, coming close to one of his feet and looking up at him from beneath the dark hood of her coat, hands pushed into her pockets.

"You sound cold."

Peter Parker | OTA

[itsnotaonesie]

the generic holiday cheer prompt:

The last time Peter had experienced "winter", he'd been stuck on a barren ice planet where he had to fight giant alien mammoths, endured a two week expedition out into the frozen wasteland, and made an emotionally crippling discovery about some weird snail aliens, and fell into a weird depression funk where he just kind of avoided people for a while. It had been busy as fuck, in other words, and Peter hadn't exactly had a chance to actually enjoy the season. Now he had that chance, but he is far more interested in whatever's causing the snow than the snow itself.

So, like the nerd that he is, he can be found hanging upside down from a strand of web from a branch of the tallest tree he can find and taking readings of the ~mysterious~ snow clouds with some sciency looking device he found in the lab this one time. He's already determined that it's nanomachines, but surely there are better things that the nanomachines could be doing right now, like repairing the goddamn heating system or whatever is going on God it's always something around here.

When he's not doing that he's straight up stealing an entire tray of baked goodies from one of the robots and retreating back to his branch, still hanging upside down from his web, just out of reach of the cranky, flailing robot. Eat shit robot, these are Peter's cookies now.

the body heat trope prompt:

He can't spend the entire day in bed buried in cats and blankets and snuggling with Poison. Sometimes you gotta go out and freeze your ass off for a while.

Except that Peter's finally repaired the heating system in his suit, so he's just out doing maintenance in skin tight spandex like it's the most normal thing in the universe. It doesn't stop the robots from shoving him at someone and then then shoving a blanket and thermos at the pair, though. Warm blanket, warm thermos, warm Spider-Man, come get all toasty before Peter grabs this thermos and bails to go overwork himself some more.

the wildcard prompt:

throw a snowball at this fool you know you want to

Holiday Cheer

[theweakhavepurpose]

"Did you bring enough to share with the class?" Pratt is actually enjoying this. Sure it's freezing, but he has hot chocolate with marshmallows in it (and maybe also chocolate sauce), and he's wearing a parka that one of the helpful robots shoved him into. Honestly this is great. There's snow and cookies and food and he's not really freezing to death because he has a giant wolf that insists on sleeping next to him and raising the temp of the entire bedroom to sweltering.

Granted Pratt can't reach that tray of cookies that Peter has up there, but he can smell them. "What's the verdict? Is the snow somehow toxic? Are we going to all become ice zombies from this?"

Body Heat

[birdical]

Having not yet claimed a room for herself, Elleru usually spends her nights in the park in her natural form; however, it's cold there. And it's cold in the upper levels. And in the mess hall. The barracks hallways. It's cold just about everywhere, and if there's one thing Elleru is not terribly fond of, it's the cold. Maybe it's the fact her backside only has a thin layer of fur covering it, the majority of her tail completely bare; maybe it's that her people live in burrows, the ground keeping them safe from the winter chill.

Whatever the exact reason, she's just a hair miserable as she lies in the lobby of the spa, her large frame (all but her tail) covered by three large blankets, six thermoses standing nearby like inanimate attendants. Apparently, the robots keep tossing blankets and drinks her way -- and now, they've shoved a stranger, as well.

Scaramouche | OTA | Will Match Format

[numerouno]

A. Spa (near the Steam Rooms)

[He didn't think he'd be back here so soon.

He's still got the sticker in his pocket from a few days ago when he'd gone for a dip on the condition that it was a private spa and that they didn't. Touch. Anything he took off. That got rid of them; they did what they were told and he was out of there in a jiffy. Getting any cozier with your surroundings than that isn't smart.

This time, he's here because it's comfortably warm, unlike the bar. The cold doesn't really bother him, but he's taking a short break before he goes hitting the pavement again and he wanted a change of scenery.

Laid out on a lounge chair now, his legs are folded at the ankles and his hands are placed behind his head, upon which his hat is tilted rakishly. On the floor, below the left side of the chair, lies the large sword he usually carries on his back, concealed in a black scabbard. The dagger tied to his belt remains sheathed there.]

B. Mid/Upper-Level Central Hallways

[Scaramouche slows to a halt and tips his head back a little to peer up at the flurry around him. Snow drifts lightly onto his face. He deftly brushes the specks of ice away, turning his attention to what he can see of Anchor from here. Seems like it's snowing everywhere now.

It reminds him of falling ash.]

What do you want, babe?

[The question, terse and monotonous in its delivery, isn't devoid of a snide undertone. The little servant bot behind him totters closer, coming up to his side to offer him a compactly folded blanket.]

Suppose I don't take it.

[They hesitate, but in a few seconds, they're holding up a steaming capsule of... what is that, chocolate? Scaramouche looks down at it and takes it from them.]

B

[nockturnal]

Unless you are somehow immune to the cold, I would take it.

[ The voice comes from a figure huddled under a jacket, trying his best to conserve heat, and scowling mildly at the display. The little robots seemed to have an odd notion of who to deliver these gifts to, as they'd rolled right past when he was here in this section of hallway by himself.

Probably damaged programming, or some such. ]

Ben Hargreeves | A nice spicy mixed of open and closed

[benhargreeves]

HOLIDAY CHEER

[ Sure, that tinny repetitive music is obnoxious as hell, and some part of him is a little worried about whatever has made a cloud just appear above the park like this... but for once, Ben Hargreeves isn't worrying all that much. Because to him, all of this is an opportunity. He hadn't really had much opportunity, back on Earth, when he was alive, to participate in any of these kinds of activities.

He doesn't intend to waste the opportunity, now.

He can be found by the frozen pond, lacing up ice skates and taking tentative steps onto the ice. At first, it's clear just how much of a novice he is. But with a little bit of time, and perhaps some help from a more experienced friend or stranger, he starts to get the hang of it. They might not have learned this at the Academy, but he'd learned how to pick up skills quickly, how to pay attention and notice his own stance and balance, how to persevere. So eventually he is gliding peacefully around that pond, looking tranquil and exhilarated.

Much less tranquil is his attitude while sledding. He loves the speed of it, and can be seen heading down that slope repeatedly, grinning brightly, laughing and whooping loudly. Come join him! ]

BODY HEAT [closed to Cole]

The cold has only just started to permeate the corridors of the Anchor as Ben makes his way towards Cole's room. He is preoccupied enough with his own thoughts that he barely notices it starting - he was already feeling so nervous he was shivery, already had his hands buried deep in his pockets. But then, halfway there, a bot stops him, insistently shoving a blanket and thermos of something warm at him. Distracted, Ben takes them merely because it's easier than arguing.

It's been two days since he last saw Cole. Not long at all, by any standards, except that he had gotten so into the habit of seeing him at least once a day, even if it was only for a few moments. But then he had had that conversation with Klaus, the one that had shifted his whole worldview so radically. And Ben had needed time. He'd spent much of those last days alone, in his room, in his bed or with his head buried in his hands, just - trying to sort it all out. Trying to think his way through it.

But it had only left him more tangled than ever, and Ben is worried that Cole might be lonely or hurt or think he's done something wrong to make Ben stay away, and the truth is he just. Misses him. He misses him badly, and so even though he's scared, he makes that journey. The wind is getting icier as he rounds the corner and reaches the corridor that the little storage room lies off of. His heart is racing, his stomach all in knots. Ben can't stop himself from imagining all the worst case scenarios, that this is going to all go so wrong, and it will be his fault for ruining something that was so good.

He just focuses on breathing, notices with vague confusion that he can see his own breaths in the air, and knocks lightly on the door to the little room.

"Cole?"

Oh, his teeth are chattering. Is that nerves? When did that start happening?

"It's- it's me, are you in there?"

Body Heat

[killedwithlove]

Something's happened to Ben.

Cole doesn't know what, but he knows Ben wants and needs space and so he stays away for now. Ben will come and find him when he's ready and Cole is a creature of infinite patience. Or, mostly infinite patience.

He tries a few things while Ben is thinking. He raids one of the storage spaces for clothes and tries them on, surprised they they feel different from his own clothes. Not so stiff and rough.

When Ben does come, Cole can feel his anxiety and concerns churning and tumbling, knotting inside him and he's also pleased that despite it, They seem to have stayed calm, recognising there's no actual threat.

He opens the door and sees Ben's breath, the shivering and he feels the pinch of cold on him. "You need to come in- no, too cold, we need to go somewhere with mattresses, blankets, things we can use to keep the cold away from you. Maybe wood, we can start a fire. Yes." He steps away in a curl of smoke and back in the next breath with an armful of blankets.

He's managed to stay clean, skin still pink, hair finally revealed a pale gold blonde, fine and soft.

[backdated to mid-December; closed to Commander Shepard]

[abheirrant]

Given only a handful of people know which room is his, and they are largely polite enough to call before coming to visit, Carlisle is surprised to hear a knock on his door. Not Reynir coming by to talk about runes, surely. It can't be Genji back to check on his (yet unnamed) dragon, the diminutive beast snoozing away in a small nest he's made in Carlisle's (yet unused) pillow. And as for Pratt, well... Carlisle usually has to coax him out, and that's saying something, given what a shut-in he himself can be.

Pulling his mask around his face and straightening his veil, Carlisle cracks the door, peering into the hallway, his glowing eyes bright with quiet uncertainty. He doesn't recognize the woman on the other side; she must have the wrong room, he assures himself.

"May I help you?"

[queenofthegirlscouts]

Civilians can be... hard. She doesn't really have any natural authority here, beyond just herself. No uniform, no rank, no weight of history of Earth's military or her own stunts. And all of that makes these civilians hard. And the non-civilians. It's hard, still, to see the differences. For a woman who has lived her entire life having to read signals, it can be more than a little frustrating. But also being a woman of action, she makes her choices. Rolls the dice. Sees if it's the right action.

All of which means: she decided that as she was around, she might as well just knock on the man's door without overly alarming him, which a message of, 'I need to see you' could do. She's the medic, after all. And mostly a stranger.

When he peers at her around that barely opened door, Shepard suspects she might have chosen wrong.

She's never let that stop her, so she smiles at him. Her communication device, muffled, is still muttering poetical clues and taunts.

"I think I have something that belongs to you. Sorry it's taken me this long to deliver it."