Cold Again

Writers: AL, Cali
Date Posted: 2nd February 2010

Characters: B'lamick, Briata
Description: B'lamick takes Briata have more firewood and work on getting warm again.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern, River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 7, day 14 of Turn 5

Briata

She was thoroughly chilled again. The cot was cold again and Briata was beginning to wonder if they should have left things alone. She dumped the wood in the box near the hearth and stepped aside to allow B'lamick to place his there as well. "Your hand."

Before he allowed himself to look at it, he added more logs to the fire. Not too many though, he had no intention of going back out that night so the logs needed to last. Finally satisfied, he allowed himself to pull off the glove. It was long, but shallow, the side of his hand showing the evidence of his boot blade's work. "The latch to the woodshed was iced over. I took my gloves off to try and pry it loose, when that didn't work, I tried my knife. My hand slipped I guess, it got too cold."

"We should dress it." At least it wasn't deep. Briata had some basic healing skills. She could even stitch a wound if she had to, but it wasn't something she necessarily wanted to do, especially not there, especially when she wasn't sure they would have the proper equipment. "I'm glad it's not worse. Should I get some more wood and bring it in?" Might as well while the cot was cold rather than when they had gotten it warmed up again.

"I think we're about out of room." Really, the extra load they'd brought in was already covering half of the little standing space they had. "Maybe you're right though, let's go." He slid the glove back on and opened the door, not allowing for any argument of him staying behind. He knew better than to insist she stay in, she hadn't listened to him earlier, why would she now.

He took her hand and Briata looked down at it as they walked. Where were they going with this? What did he want? Did he really want what he seemed to want? Did she? Oh shaffit, she thought she did...no, she didn't think, she knew. That's what scared her. What if the same thing happened again? But B'lamick wasn't Ishek, he wouldn't do such a thing! Would he? Had she done something to make Ishek not want her? What if that was it? She had thought about that on more than one occasion. What if she did something and B'lamick changed his mind too?

Even the cold could not tear away that fear, but she didn't let go of that hand. She held on to him, even tightened her grip. She didn't know what to do. Briata wasn't sure if she could handle another heartbreak.

The ice, sleet, and blowing snow had already started to cover the woodpile inside the opened shed. It wasn't a worry of B'lamick's though, they had the fire going and it was hot, the wood would burn slowly, but if they mingled it, it would be okay. "Load me up, as much as you can." He held out both arms and waited as Briata filled them up to where he could barely see over them. He waited until she had her arms loaded too and then followed her back towards the cot door.

One moment he was walking, the next he was flat on his back, unable to breathe. There was weight and pain and a burning suffocation, but that only lasted a moment as he was finally able to take a deep gasp of air. Briata was there, almost as soon as he found his breath, her black hair creating a halo around her face as she looked down at him. She was beautiful.

"B'lamick?" Concern rippled through her voice. He had slipped and fallen so suddenly that Briata had taken another couple of steps before she realized he wasn't behind her anymore. As soon as she realized it, she had dropped her wood and fell to her knees beside him. "Are you all right?" Some of the wood had fallen from his arms, barely missed his face and head. A hit on the head would not have been good. The wind whistled in her ears and picked up its fury. "We've got to get inside. Can you stand?" Jewel tried to take to the air, but the wind was too harsh. Instead, she chattered from Briata's shoulder.

"Uh, huh." he nodded and attempted to stand, but was unsteady and slipped again in the wet slushy snow. "Maybe I should just lay here for a moment."

"No, we've got to get inside. We'll freeze out here if we stay much longer." Briata tugged at his arm, insistent. "Come on." Already she was shivering again. If her clothes weren't already wet, she would have been fine. Unfortunately, the dampness merely emphasized the cold. More ice tumbled down on them. It was getting harder. "We've got to get inside."

B'lamick pulled himself up. She was right, and he needed to man up and get the wood in. If he didn't look too closely at things he didn't notice the slight blurriness of them. "Load me back up, I'm fine." When she'd finished, he watched her pick her load back up and followed her into the cot. She unloaded the wood for him, and finally shook out his arms. It was then that he let himself acknowledge the icy burning down his back.

"Well, I'm stuffed through. I've got cold and wet every place possible." He started removing his layers again, thoroughly annoyed at his unsure footing. "You doing okay?"

"Cold. And wet." They weren't doing too well in that department. Briata gave B'lamick a rueful smile and stoked the fire a bit. It flared up. She hoped it would warm up quickly. "I think it's your turn under the blankets." That time he was wetter than she was.

He'd argue, but he was already shaking. He looked at his hand, it was still bleeding, and he shuttered to think what the inside of his glove looked like. "How about that hand wrap first?"

Briata nodded. She carefully reached out to pull off the glove. Slowly she worked it free, doing her best to keep it from hurting too much. She frowned at the cut. The blood had been smeared so looked like there was more than there really was. She used the glove to wipe away the blood then looked around. Finally, she shrugged off her jacket and sweater, then untucked her tunic. She tore a couple of strips from the bottom. Fortunately, it was long enough that she wouldn't be indecent. She didn't want to take anymore of B'lamick's clothes either since he had already sacrificed some for the fire. She tenderly wrapped his hands with the cloth and tied it. "We'll have a healer look at it when we get back home."

B'lamick had only a peripheral knowledge of her dressing his hand. His attention was focused on the tear of her tunic, how when she moved, he'd see little peeks of her pale soft abdomen. "Sure." he said, finally drawing his attention away.

Briata was shivering, but not quite as much as B'lamick. Her hands lingered over his hand and she gazed up at him. Her fingers caressed the bandage where she had tied and secured it it, loathe to release him. "You need to get warm." She whispered and felt heat, blessed warm heat, rise to her cheeks even as she stared at him. It wasn't quite so chilly anymore.

"So do you." he replied, already starting to remove the rest of his wet layers. "It's that wind that's the killer though. Just being inside and out of it is such a vast improvement. Come on, let's lay everything out on top of the wood and get under those blankets. We can share."

"R...right." Share. They could share the blankets. Briata stripped of all the clothing she was comfortable with in front of him. She still on her pants and her tunic that was torn, but the rest of her clothes she laid out to dry. the clothes she wore were still wet, but at least she was clothed. Of course, she hadn't been last time, but that had been before the kiss. That kiss...that...she didn't look at B'lamick as she crawled into the bed. She was too busy trying not to let her mind wander on things it shouldn't.

"Hey, that's wet!" B'lamick recoiled from where Briata had sat down next to him. He understood completely why she hadn't undressed further, but her sitting in soaked clothes wouldn't do her any good; nor him for that matter if he expected to warm up himself. "Here, wrap yourself in this smaller blanket, and then we'll share this one until your underclothes are dried. I won't peek."

Briata started to protest but cut her words off before they could escape. She was still wet, and it wasn't very comfortable. With an inaudible sigh, she did as B'lamick suggested. Once his eyes closed, she stripped down, laid the clothes out onto what little room was left, then covered up in a blanket. She got back onto the bed and curled up underneath the larger.

"Much better." B'lamick said smugly as he pulled Briata against him and leaned back slightly until he was supported by the wall. "We'll be warm in no time." Not that he wanted to let her go, he'd take her even damp and freezing.

Last updated on the February 2nd 2010

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Cold Again