revivalproject | The blizzard doesn't last forever;

Entry tags:

The blizzard doesn't last forever;

WHO: Billy Kaplan, Soldier (Closed)
WHERE: The Hangar
WHAT: Trapped and paranoid
WHEN: Backdated to: Feb 10-14 (Event)
WARNINGS: Paranoia, Anxiety attacks, TDB

Today was laundry day. Admittedly Billy could have just magicked everything clean, but it wasn't really about laundry. It was a little bit of domestic socializing. Chatting (mostly Billy), while they used the ships machines, passed the time with nothing all that out of the ordinary (Billy attempting a few different combinations with the food dispensers, and Soldier trying them without complaint. Not one of them was good.) They'd folded (mostly Soldier) and packed up, and Billy continued to chat as they stepped out into the chill of the hangar (something about Tommy wanting Soldier to come round for dinner). It was a bit colder than when they'd gone in. Which hadn't seemed all that alarming until their communicators went off in tandem, and not long after the howl of the wind followed.

This would be troubling at any time, but for some reason Billy could feel an uneasiness brewing in the pit of his stomach that didn't feel quite...right.

With the now familiar sensation of power loss- Billy's coat faded away. With how often he magicked his clothes he thought he'd been clever keeping it a matter of his will and not strictly 'real'. Big mistake. Huge.

"...Crap."

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The Soldier harbored mixed feelings about the ships, but he wouldn't argue the necessities they provided. As much as they lacked the amenities he remembered from the Fleet, they remained the best option for clean laundry and a real shower. Even the food dispensers were useful; protein gel tasted disgusting on a good day but it satisfied his metabolic needs. All in all he considered the trip successful, and Billy's chatter not unpleasant.

It was, of course, too good to last.

He hardly noticed Billy's coat disappearing, too preoccupied with the sudden heaviness in his left side, the drag of dead weight that almost sent him sprawling. He groaned, nerves and muscles protesting as he tried to straighten his posture; his left arm a dead weight he had to compensate by pinwheeling his right to regain his balance.

"The ship," he managed to force the thought out. "Turn around, back inside—" They'd be safe, warm, maybe even able to get out—

Oh.

Billy moved to help steady Soldier, more moral support than any real help, and it took him a beat to properly latch on to that instruction.

He nodded, and hurried ahead to press his palm to the sensor to let them in, get Solider inside and they could ride this out together somewhere warm at least. Only... he tapped at the sensor again, and then waved his hand in front of it.

"No- come on- that's not fair-" he groaned, swatting the thing with restrained frustration, and he came back to offer his support to Soldier. "We can try the other one," he assured, like there was really any hope one would open and not the other.

Billy's support gave him at least enough to regain steady footing, and to re-settle the pack on his back. He'd managed without full use of his arm before. He could do so again.

Admittedly though he'd been hoping the ship door would open for Billy. The ships weren't the greatest but they provided adequate shelter and amenities and could make riding out the storm rather painless, all things considered.

"Give us one and not the other?" He shook his head; they could try but what was the likelihood of actual success? Better to seek out nearby shelter; a former camp of his wasn't far. They could make the trek, surely. "There's shelter nearby. Let's hurry."

Seeing the ferocity of the storm would quickly kill that idea, however.

It made sense, and Billy nodded, trying to think rationally and not let his nerves or the biting cold dictate his actions. If they got to a shelter quickly they could ride it out and a few minutes of exposure wouldn't kill him. It was just a bit of snow, right?

"Right," he agreed, sticking close to offer himself as support if Soldier need and/or would accept it.

Even before they reached the nearest opening a gust of wind nearly bowled him over, an alarming amount of snow all ready encroaching on the hangar and spilling inside. Billy paled, sneaking a glance up at Soldier to take his cue from. If he thought they could still power through Billy was prepared to try, but that growing doubt felt like a slowly suffocating weight. "...your kind of weather, right?" Billy offered, trying for a smile to make light.

Thankfully Billy didn't vocalize his willingness to be a physical support. And thankfully the Soldier didn't hold onto his stubbornness. Together they made it to the door faster than he would have alone, and even he could feel the cold creeping uncomfortably close. They needed shelter and warmth, and soon.

"No." Quiet, and not just because he tended toward uncommunicative. The storm blew fiercely, whiteout conditions already. With their current situation, going out posed a very real danger. But at the same time, he couldn't let Billy see him express anything akin to worry.

"We stay," he decided. "Back to the ships, we camp next to whichever provides the best shelter from the wind." He doubted they'd be able to force the door closed, at least not without more planning or a surge in their abilities. That happened with the moon in previous storms; surely they just needed to wait it out for a short time. "And we put you in warmer clothes."

Which might come from the Soldier's meager wardrobe, but they'd manage. At least he had some clothing, and a few blankets. The hangar itself had some abandoned crates and parts from the ships; they'd have to do for survival supplies.

Not about to argue, Billy couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt, warranted or not, thinking if he weren't here Soldier would be able to make it out on his own. Hell, if he hadn't talked so long they would have been out of here sooner and somewhere safe before all of this happened.

He looked out at the snow and hoped Tommy was somewhere better than they were, and nodded, helping Soldier make their way back into the depth of the hangar.

"...how bad is it?" he broached finally, and given the look he spared him he clearly meant the arm and not the storm itself. It was so strange to see Soldier not only accept help, but need it, "Would it help if I was able to make you a sling?"

"Have you ever been in a power outage?" he asked. "You can have the most powerful light, but it can't do anything no matter how many times you flick the switch? It's a little like that, and very heavy, and I'll start hurting soon enough. Don't bother yourself about it; I know how to deal with it." More honesty than he would have given, but it could be important for Billy to know.

He leaned against the ship when they got there, closing his eyes for a long moment. Then he shrugged off the straps of his bag, letting it fall to the ground. "You're going to help yourself to warmer clothes. I don't have another jacket but there are layers in there. Bundle up." Most of it was thin, warm fabrics: the kind that trapped body heat without adding bulk. Billy could dig through the neatly folded garments to clothe himself.

Step one: protect Billy from the immediate cold. Step two: craft a shelter for themselves. The Soldier figured they only had to wait for the screaming moon; then they could make a break for better shelter.

Problem was, Billy wanted to bother himself about it. Those eyes said as much, but he nodded, accepting Soldier's words for now, and grateful to have gotten a more honest answer at least. His medical training didn't really account for anything like this, and apart from a sling, he could only mentally run through different methods of pain relief and what he might be able to do for him without much to work with.

"Try and get comfortable," Billy encouraged, digging through the bag and pulling on a few layers quickly, "I can set things up, you should save your energy," he tried to insist, pulling out a few extra pieces for Soldier to throw on. He said it casually enough, but there was a pleading look in his eye. Just let him do this?

Right now the Soldier needed to focus Billy's attention on things other than him; down an arm, he'd have to rely on Billy for setting up their space. "Not too many layers," he cautioned, " for both of us. We've got some work to do and we don't want to get too sweaty." More importantly, they didn't want sweat to soak their clothes and leave them damp in the cold.

As for that work? "The crates, a tarp, whatever we can use to build a temporary shelter. The ship blocks some of the wind but not all of it. We don't know how long this will last, so we should get the work done now, while we both have the energy." Ans it'd give Billy something to do while the Soldier tried to deal with his arm; Billy didn't need to watch him struggle. It wouldn't be comfortable for either one of them.

With some reluctance, Billy stopped himself from pulling on any more layers, trusting Soldier despite chill settling over them.

"I'll start bringing stuff over," he agreed, giving Soldier a look he hope impressed on him his wish for him to just...take it as easy as he could. Just let Billy take care of him for once.

Of course, as he struggled to haul things across the hanger he could hardly blame Soldier for not feeling entiiiiirely confident in relying on him. To his credit, Billy was damned determined. Not the strongest guy in the world, but he was managing, bit by bit. He saved himself a bit of struggle around his third trip by thinking to use the tarp as a sled to pull supplies back once he saw how it slid on the hangar floor.

"Let me know when you start getting tired." He looked Billy in the eye, serious. "And be honest. Exhausting yourself isn't going to help us."

Especially since the hangar felt colder each minute that passed. The Soldier felt certain it was his imagination but even so he set to separating materials as Billy brought them over. There were things they could burn, so they had a heat source, and things that wouldn't burn so they could contain the heat source in a ring. The tarp would have to do as a tent; if they stayed close to each other they'd both fit.

He sat back on his heels as Billy brought the latest load of stuff over. His companion looked as tired as the Soldier felt; they'd have to stop soon. "Hanging in there?"

"I will." And Billy meant it at the time, though as he worked that pit of anxiety and want to take some of the burden from Soldier had him pushing himself past the point he probably should have.

He hesitated as Soldier questioned him, about to reflexively reassure he was fine. "...yeah. Let me...mm...let me take a small break and I'll get back to work."

He could see that Billy was staring to falter but they still had a decent amount to do, in terms of getting a shelter set up. But how hard could they keep pushing themselves? They had to be conscious of their diminished capabilities, at least at the moment.

"Better idea," he started. "Help me set the tarp up as a tent and we'll both take a longer break. I think we need it." They could stretch the plastic over some supports and crawl inside, where body heat was better contained. It'd have to do as a shelter until the moon came out; by the Soldier's estimation they only needed to remain comfortable for another half day at most.

Billy's features softened some, and he nodded, grateful to Soldier for knowing what was best for them.

"'Kay," he agreed, working together to set up the tarp. It wasn't exactly pretty, or as well made as any of Soldier's shelters, but it would do for right now. They just needed it to last for a short while, right?

He crawled inside and looked to Soldier's arm with a frown, delicately touching where flesh met metal as he shifted closer.

"How is it? Are you sure there's nothing I can do?"

It wasn't pretty, but it was more shelter than a snow cave. And the Soldier didn't want to have to dig a snow cave being down an arm. No, they could huddle under the tarp, wrapped up in the Soldier's blankets, and wait for evening.

"If the temperature continues to drop, we can build a campfire," he said as he waited for Billy to crawl inside their shelter, then squeezed in next to him. It wasn't the largest space, but that was the point.

He frowned less at Billy's touch and more at the reminder of the storm's effects. He didn't like feeling helpless; it was worse than the pain. Even worse was the vulnerability that came from being honest with Billy. "It hurts. Whatever these storms do to us suppresses some of what HYDRA did to me. I don't heal like I normally do, and this is a very heavy chunk of metal bolted onto me. It's not the most pleasant."

He didn't say it, but he also felt like something else was lurking in the storm, waiting to spring its unpleasant surprise on them. The sooner they could leave and find one of his hideouts, the better.

"Do you have a lighter?" Billy asked automatically, before belatedly realizing there were many ways to light a fire without one, and there were probably a good dozen Soldier knew off the top of his head.

Billy nodded as he listened to Soldier's explanation, wishing there was more he could do for him. "It'll be over soon," he tried to reassure. "Would a massage or something feel good, or is it too tender for that?"

"I have a firestarter." Matches, but also a more traditional flint and steel. They wouldn't need to get too creative on that front. "If it comes to that."

He shook his head at the offer. He didn't want Billy to touch on any way that could lead to him feeling the attachment points under the Soldier's skin. That felt too personal, in a place where they couldn't build up walls. "I don't want to peel down layers to make it effective," he offered instead. "We should stay warm as possible."

"Okay." Billy didn't press and smiled, trusting that if Soldier wants help he'll ask. He knew it was about as sensitive an issue as someone could have.

He glanced up with a bit of an anxious smile, feeling that...foreboding sense trying to bore into him, and he did his best to ignore it.

He blew on his hands and tried to arrange a few of the blankets over them, shifting closer still to Soldier. "...is this okay?" he checked with an uncertain look, knowing personal space was important to the other man.

At least Billy had consideration enough to let the subject drop. In this cold — and it was definitely getting colder — he didn't want to waste their breath on arguing. Better to focus on staying warm, and on the Soldier's mental map of the quickest route to the closest shelter. They'd need a lull in the storm, or a surge in Billy's powers. Or possibly both.

He did raise his good arm as Billy pressed closer, allowing him to tuck underneath it. Shared body heat mattered more than personal space. "Still cold?"

Billy gratefully snuggled close to that warmth, heat rising on his cheeks but that was easy enough to dismiss as a flush from the cold.

"This is helping," he confirmed softly, resting a cheek against Soldier's chest, "What about you?"

"Siberia was colder," he replied, using his good arm to try to tuck in the blanket edges. He would be fine; warmth helped more than anything else. That was more than worth the lack of distance.

"But we need to get you a proper winter coat," he mused. "One that doesn't disappear with the storm." The replicator could provide well enough, most likely. He made a mental note of it.

"And Hell was hotter," Billy countered with a teasing glance up at him, knowing how Soldier likes to dismiss things this way. Like having been through anything worse meant no one should concern themselves with him now. (Hell had been horribly hot, by the way, Billy did not recommend.)

He groaned with an embarrassed smile and nodded, knowing that was his own stupid fault. "I thought it was easier to deal with when I could...unthink it," he tried to explain. "Forgot we lived in a stupid...alien surprise bag world for half a second."

"Warmth would be nice right about now." Although for the moment, body heat worked just fine. And the nonbreathable nature of the tarp should help trap sooner of that heat from radiating away. "Keep twitching your hands and feet now and again. Keep the blood flowing."

He nodded; it made sense. Under normal circumstances Billy had quite the convenient wardrobe, what with his magic. "We'll use the replicator to make you one. Better to have a warm coat that doesn't disappear."

He breathed out a small laugh and nodded, glad at least for the warmth radiating off of Soldier and hoping he is giving some back as well, pressed as close as he is.

Even if he'd just magicked it into proper reality it probably would have been all right. But the replicator might be safer. It would certainly save him some energy. "One of those insanely puffy ones?" Billy imagined with a small grin, trying to help distract them with the imagery. "Where I look like the Michelin Man? You'd need one to match. And one of those furry hats with the ear flaps?"

"The what?" Pop culture wasn't his forte, and the reference flew right over his head. More practically, he focused on the idea of warm clothing more than the teasing. "Garments like that do not work for me. Too much fabric to get stuck in my arm." Many times he had to deal with pulling bits of fabric and thread out of the plates. It got quite annoying.

He shifted a little in his seat, tucking Billy closer. Surely just his imagination made the air around them feel colder. "The moon should come out soon. Then maybe we can relocate."

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