strangetrip | [GP] SNOW DAY

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[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.

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The snow was deep and Rocket was short. He'd experienced snow in Gotham, and had generally decided to stay indoors at Sanctuary or wherever until it was gone. If he went anywhere, it was because he could hitch a lift on somebody's carriage or horse or shoulder.

That wasn't so much an option in the Inn, but the place was smaller so fuck it: Rocket went out in the snow. He'd amused himself a little by traveling under the snow and ambushing people with snow attacks, but that ended with him being cold and having to shake snow out of his fur.

Quill by a bonfire seemed like an opportunity to get out of the snow. Without any warning or asking for permission, Rocket climbed on his back and up to his shoulder, then started picking ice crystals out of his tail.

Quill smiled, but then closed his eyes to avoid some stray ice from falling into them.

"Hi to you too, Rocket." He greeted pleasantly. "Any good prey out today?"

"Yeah, I threw snow at a buncha idiots. Then the shit started to melt an' refreeze on me, so." He shrugged a little while he yanked at a couple of frozen-in ice bits, trying to pull the ice out but not his tail fur. "Kinda figured I didn't wanna try an' fix shit while I'm still buried in it."

"Yeah. Water and technology aren't friends." Quill said sagely and nodded. "You could just wait for it to melt, though. You're by a fire now."

He looked at his friend and then reached out to gently extract some snow from Rocket's back.

"Yeah, I could, but then I'd be all wet an' fuck that. A little wet's okay, though." Someone touching him when he wasn't expecting it, didn't trust them, or both was a good way for someone to get bitten, or snapped at if they were fast enough to avoid the actual bite.

Rocket wasn't expecting Quill to help with getting rid of the snow, so it was unexpected, but fortunately Rocket did trust Quill. At least enough to know he wasn't trying anything. "An' this way I can melt on you an' share this shit. Win-win, right?"

"I was sitting here thinking about how I needed to be less dry," Quill retorted.

He took the small piece of snow that was off of Rocket, balled it up, and lobbed it into the fire since no one else was around to be his target.

"See Quill? I gotcher back." Rocket was even tempted, for a moment, to drop a few ice crystals down the back of Quill's shirt just to make it literal. But then he remembered that he was on Quill's shoulder and ice down the back'd be a good way to get dumped back in the snow.

"You get any good ones off at Loki?" He said. "The dude seems pretty unhittable."

Loki still freaked Quill out a little ever since he dealt with him as a kitten. He was not like his brother at all either.

"Nah. Fuckin' ice powers. Who knew he was a fuckin' Jotun? Thought he was Asgardian like Thor." Advantage of being a lifelong space traveler who happened to have been programmed with a lot of information: he knew a lot of species that other people didn't. "Busted an invisible chick pretty good, though?"

Quill had heard of Jotun, but had never met any. Knowing Loki here, he wasn't really sure if he did.

"Someone was invisible?" He said. "How'd you figure that out?"

"She was visible first. But mostly I got this thing on my face called a nose. An' Terrans have pretty distinctive scents, so I didn't hafta fuckin' see her." Rocket was still pretty proud of that.

"What do we smell like?" He said, having never really asked Rocket before. "Please tell me we don't smell like Kale. No one deserves that."

"Like Terrans! Kinda fleshy, a little sour sometimes, maybe." Rocket yanked on a piece of ice, then winced when it took a couple of tail hairs with it. "I can't fuckin' describe 'green' to a blind guy, ya know."

"Hey, I can smell," Quill said defensively. "I smell Drax all the time."

Quill knew there was a difference, but he felt the need to retort.

"I actually don't remember what he smells like. It's been fuckin' years." Different from Terrans, definitely, but beyond that Rocket couldn't be sure.

"Old socks, beer, and for some reason Doritos, though we never had any on the ship," Quill said, making a face. "I don't think I've ever actually seen him bathe."

"I think his people did like sand-scouring or sonic bathing or whatever. Not water, just scrapin' off the top levels of skin." Was that Drax's people or a different one? Rocket couldn't remember that either.

"Well, just for the record, I'm now officially putting you in charge of his smelliness when we get back," Quill said, ignoring what he knew about home.

"Great!" Rocket had spent long enough in Gotham and now the Inn that 'when we get back' wasn't something he put any real faith in. Quill was still pretty new to the extradimensional kidnapping thing, though, so he didn't have to sit the guy down and spell out 'this is home now, you're never goin' back or seein' anybody ever again' yet. "I know like a million ways to stink shit up. Even your humie nose'll stop workin' so bad you won't be able to taste shit either."

"What?" He said. "No, no. I mean like, to help Drax smell better, not worse! I don't think he need helps in that area."

Rocket and Drax working together to smell bad sounded in biological warfare.

"That sounds like a lot less fun." Rocket flicked an ear. "I must just stick with my plan, Quill. Just replace his mattress insides with garbage or somethin'."

"You know we live on the same ship, right?" He said, looking at Rocket. "You can't tell me you actually like the smell of garbage."

Even if I did call you a trash panda that one time.

“Eh, depends on the garbage. Some stuff you people hate is pretty okay to me. Just gotta find a lotta that. Easy!”

Quill took the time to try to think what possible smells might be good to Rocket. He peered into the fire as he contemplated.

"Old fruit?" He asked. "Bacon grease?"

“Oh, yeah.” Both of those could be pretty nice, actually. “Rotting fish sometimes. I think it depends on the fish.” Rocket pushed lightly on the side of Quill’s head. “I’m not gonna do it to you! Just soap or whatever an’ you smell okay. No problem.”

Re: Rocket and Quill

st_arlord - 2018-12-29 03:09 (UTC) - Expand

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