strangetrip | [GP] SNOW DAY

Entry tags:

[GP] SNOW DAY

Thor and Loki got an early start, because there was a lot to do. Almost two weeks to the day since their first small-but-successful experiment with snow, Loki was confident that he'd improved enough for a bigger experiment. Still snow, because Thor wanted it and it did seem like a decent way to try something big-ish without causing Loki unnecessary grief with the other residents. (It was an arrival day, so there would perhaps be some grief with any new arrivals, but that was entirely acceptable.)

It was before dawn when they went out into the grounds. Thor called up clouds and loaded them with water so they hung low and heavy, covering the sky so that the sun, when it rose, wouldn't ruin the event. Loki took his frost giant shape and staff (now very familiar to his hand) and concentrated on dropping the temperature. Just around the Inn and grounds, but that was enough to be serious effort.

When the snow first started, the flakes were big and wet, and melted as soon as they hit the ground, which was still on the warm side. As they melted, they cooled the ground. After an hour or so, the flakes were smaller and more powdery - real snow, not glorified slush - and they were starting to stick to the ground.

By mid-morning, the Inn and grounds were covered with a thick layer of snow, and it continued to fall.

***

Meanwhile, indoors and inspired by the snow, Hurley and Xavin decided to try and make cookies. Cooking together was fun, since neither of them exactly knew what they were doing apart from 'follow the recipe', but since the point was 'try to make cookies' they ended up with a lot of cookies. Sugar cookies, gingerbread, all kinds.

There was no way they'd be able to eat all of them.

Instead, they loaded them onto trays and hauled them to the cafe, then brought out various frostings and candies for decorating. This had been completely intentional. Completely.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Moana." She tucked her hands into the sleeves of the hoodie and gestured vaguely at her chest. "This is Heihei."

Soon the inn resolved itself, nearer than she thought it would be. "What is this stuff?" Talking felt like it would help. She was feeling as fuzzy as the stuff falling around them.

It took Ned a second to realize she was asking about the snow. A look of slight confusion spread across his features - who didn't know about snow? "Uh, well... this is snow. Happens in a lot of places around winter time? It's basically when atmospheric water vapor freezes into ice crystals."

Moana shivered. "We don't have snow on Motonui. And there has never been any snow here since I arrived." Almost a year ago now, she realized.

She stumbled, bare feet tripping over something she wasn't sure she felt.

Even though they were getting closer to the inn, Ned was starting to feel like they were never going to get there. "Motonui? Where's that?" It sounded vaguely familiar, but he knew he didn't know the name either.

Automatically, Moana tipped her head toward the clouded over sky. Even if it had been night and clear, the stars were too different for her to navigate by. "I'm not exactly sure. In the ocean. It's always warm. The waters are soft blue and green. The sand is soft. You can sail for days without seeing another island. Our people, we used to travel that way."

Talking of home warmed her a bit, seemed to chase away the chill. She remembered being wrapped up by the ocean, being carried by it and supported.

"In the ocean." Sounded like a tropical island. She kind of looked like some of his cousins, but Hawaii didn't have any islands by that name. Maybe she was from some Polynesian island he didn't know about? Or maybe he was being incredibly racist and presuming things.

"I'm from an island too." The stupid remark came out before he could stop himself.

"You look like someone from home." Finally they were reaching the walk up to the lobby.

"When I first arrived, I was so confused. I've never seen people so pale. I thought they had to be sick."

He never thought of that before, but he supposed white people could look pretty pale. It probably helped he was from a very white-centric part of the world.

"My family's from Hawaii." He paused. "Well, my grandparents are. My parents were born in New York." That he looked like someone from home, though, made him feel good.

"Hawaii," she repeated. She liked the sound of it. "Maybe your people were mine as well. We were voyagers, long ago. Some of ours could have gone to Hawaii."

The door scraped over the snow and ice-covered mat but the blast of heat from within the lobby was like a siren's call. She stumbled forward gratefully.

"So you could be my ancestor?" He paused. Ned tried to remember what his grandmother said about the history of the people in Hawaii, but sometimes he didn't listen to well. "But not like... related, related, right?" Because that was important for no particular reason at all.

Then he tried to remember what to do when someone might be suffering from frostbite - he quickly remembered he had no idea.

"Should we maybe get you a blanket? Maybe sit by a fire? I can get you hot chocolate."

She hadn't been thinking of it like that. She'd never thought of being anyone's ancestor really. "Um. I don't know. Maybe?"

Being inside, she was still shivering and when she looked down at her feet, she saw one was bloodied, like she'd scraped it over coral. She felt nothing except a deep ache. "I think a fire is a good idea." Blankets needed heat to work. She didn't feel like she had any heat left inside her.

Ned really, really did not want them to be related.

"Okay, okay..." He looked around and was thankful that someone stoked the lobby fireplace that usually was never on. He put down the fish and gestured her toward the couch near there. "I'll go get you some hot chocolate and bandages."

Ned hurried off with a rush of panic.

Moana sank into the sofa by the fire. The heat was painful, like stinging insects, but she was still shaking from the cold. Her limbs felt heavy and clumsy. Her feet and hands looked swollen. She wasn't sure what it meant but she didn't think it was good. She'd never been so cold.

She huddled in Ned's sweatshirt and waited for him to return. A stray thought floated through her awareness. Someone needed to take the fish to the kitchen. It would spoil if not.

Ned hurried back with a cup of hot chocolate - with a lid because apparently he looked frantic enough to warrant a lid - and a first aid kit. He offered her the beverage. "Okay, uh... can I look at your foot? I mean, I'm not sure how good I am, but I can wrap bandages." How hard could that be?

She took the mug from him carefully, the heat stinging her hands. "Yes, thank you. I don't think I could clean it myself right now."

She made a face, annoyed with her own helplessness. Really, she was lucky Ned had found her.

Ned wasn't sure what he was doing, exactly, but he really wanted to make sure he did a decent job. He almost called for Peter, but he didn't know where his friend was and... he could do this on his own, right?

He crouched and took a look at her foot. Ned felt a little faint - blood was not his thing. He took a deep breath and told himself he could do this. First he tried to clean her foot as best as possible, gingerly and lightly with a wet cloth. "Do you not normally wear shoes?"

Moana gulped down the hot chocolate, not caring that she was scalding her mouth. The warmth spreading through her chest was more important. She almost missed his question and just shook her head when she realized what he'd asked. "No, never. I tried some after I got here but they're strange. Confining. A lot of the clothes people here wear are."

Even now in the middle of the cold season, she still wore a wrap skirt that let her move and climb easily. "You don't have to be gentle. I can't feel it."

"You can't?" That was alarming and the worried spread over Ned's face - he was not good at hiding his emotions. "That's not good. We should.. I mean, I should go get someone from the clinic. I think there are people who can heal with magic?"

He looked at her foot again and then bandaged it, though his hands were a bit shaky as he was panicked quietly.

She leaned over to look at her feet. "I don't know. This has never happened before. Is it bad?" She looked at him, trusting that his knowledge of snow would also answer what to do when you had been stuck in it for an hour.

"Well, I mean, bleeding is general bad to begin with, but not feeling it is usually worse." He winced. "Sorry. I mean... It'll be okay because we have people who can heal and stuff."

He finished wrapping it and looked up at her. "I'm going to go get someone, okay?"

Moana hadn't had to spend any time with the doctors in the inn, so she didn't know what they were capable of. Magic certainly seemed possible. There was a lot of magic here. "I don't know what harm snow can do. It's just frozen water, right?"

He looked very concerned. It was part of her role to ease the concerns of others. She shivered again and nodded. "I'll wait here. You ask a doctor. Just in case."

"Too much frozen water can cause a lot of problems, actually." Ned started to explain about how when the body gets cold it reserves heat for the more vital parts of the organs to keep a person alive and then trailed off because he really needed to get her help and he wasn't sure she cared.

"Okay, I'll be right back." And then he ran off to get help.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[GP] SNOW DAY

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned

Re: Moana and Ned