[Hytech PRP] Cold Should Die in a Hole (FIN)

[elfgurl1234]

It was New Year's Eve. Most folks were out partying or prepping for the new year in some way or another. Seth, however, had spent much of the day trying to get things set up at his new apartment. Might as well start out the new year with a fresh start, right? The old apartment was too empty and had too many memories he'd rather not think about.

It had been freezing out all day, but as the sun began to dip down below the horizon it grew even colder yet. The cheetah Hyte still had to make one last trip back to the old apartment to retrieve a few boxes of clothes, blankets, and a small space heater he had left behind. The car heater hadn't been working for weeks now, so by the time he arrived back he felt like a popsicle. Maybe I'll just thaw out inside for a bit before making the drive back, he thought to himself as he got out of the car and hurried inside.

Unfortunately for Seth, he would not get off so easy. The heating in the entire apartment building was on the fritz, and the repairman wouldn't be able to make it till morning. Shivering and desperate for warmth by this point, he unpacked the box of blankets and wrapped himself up in them tightly. He sat on the floor next to the tiny heater which was doing a pitiful job in trying to warm the place up. If he could ever get warm enough again he'd head back to his new home, but for now it seemed he'd be stuck for a while. Or maybe just frozen.

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dacj hadn't been entirely certain when Seth had planned to make his move, but after double-checking with his mother and finding out today was indeed the day, she hurried on over to what would soon be "the old apartment" to see if there was anything left to do. Silly cheetahs, always trying to do things themselves! Besides, she'd promised they'd see each other before the new year, so it had to be tonight...

His car was still outside, so at least there was that. The kraken shivered in the cold night air, but it was mostly her human half that was cold. Her tentacles were surprisingly temperature resistant once they'd been out in the cold for a bit, though she supposed it made sense. Squid, especially the giant varieties, lived very deep in the ocean, so it must be a natural resistance. It still felt nicer to have them cozy and warm, so she doubted she'd take up ice swimming any time soon...

She headed to the apartment, knocked once as she tried the handle and discovered the door was unlocked anyway, and let herself in. The apartment looked almost entirely empty save one opened (empty?) box, a small space heater, and a large huddle of blankets. Damn cheetah and his stealthy moving tactics--didn't he know that moves were supposed to be social events? Really! And on New Year's Eve no less!

It wasn't until she looked closer that she realized the huddle of blankets was suspiciously Hyte shaped. "Seth? What on earth are you doing?" Wrapped in blankets, beside a heater...being cold, presumably, but--was it that cold? She tilted her head to one side. Well, it was pretty nippy in here...was the heating off?

[elfgurl1234]

Seth didn't turn to the knocking or the opening of the door, cause quite frankly, he didn't care. A pack of Tasmanian devils could have entered the apartment and he wouldn't have cared-- so long as they didn't dare try to harm the heater. The poor, pitiful little heater which was really not doing that much heating... Curse his luck.

It wasn't until Dacj addressed him directly that his attention shifted partially off trying to obtain warmth. "Apartment heating is broken," was all he said, falling silent again lest the very air leaving his lungs deprive him of any extra warmth. He hated winter. With a passion. Why didn't he live at the equator?

[AnimeEyeshime]

Well, all right, one question answered. It looked like she'd have to ask carefully for what she needed, since Seth seemed entirely absorbed in being a huddling mass of unhappiness. It didn't take an empath to see the cheetah was absolutely miserable. She shuffled over to sit beside him on the far end, guessing if she got between him and his heater there would be hell to pay, and began to rub her hands together to warm them up. "And you are still here because...? Why don't you just go to the new place?" she asked. Obviously he'd been able to move nearly all his stuff somewhere...

[elfgurl1234]

The kraken was wise in not getting between the cheetah and his heat, else she may have been glowered to death. "Car heater's broken. Need to warm up first." Of course, he was only having minimal success in this venture, but he was still trying valiantly. 'Trying valiantly' translating to his current futile blanket-heater effort that was.

[AnimeEyeshime]

"I'm sure that is going swimmingly," Dacj said wryly, observing the scene before her. Seth just looked so...so...pitiful. She had the overwhelming urge to hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay. "Well, my car's heat works just fine. And I was going to steal you away for New Year's anyway, since clearly you don't have plans. Would that be acceptable?" The trouble might be persuading him away from the heater for even the minimal trip to her car...

[elfgurl1234]

Beneath the blankets her ears would have perked at the word 'heat' had they been able to, but... car. Outside. Away from the heater.... But to more heat? "How far away are you parked?" he asked. Even he hadn't been able to park that close due to the abundance of car gathering for New Year's parties and he lived here. Technically. For another few days, despite the fact that the place would be empty then.

[AnimeEyeshime]

"Not far enough away to make staying here a better idea," Dacj retorted, sensing he might be stubborn about this. "Nice, warm car. You can even keep your blanket layer on the way," she added persuasively. "And even warmer house at the end of it~" She neglected to remind him of the trek to the treehouse, but, well, he'd have thawed out by then and be better ready for such a journey, right? "And hot drinks to sip on. And all the warm squishy blankets and pillows you could dream of~" She was likely laying it on a bit too thick. But it was also probably better to do that than start giggling at him, which she was very close to doing.

[elfgurl1234]

Silly though it all may have sounded under normal circumstances, for him it was doing the trick. Especially considering the fact that the night and the apartment both were only likely to get colder. "... We will walk quickly." And then she would turn on the car quickly. And then they would blast the heat and he could stop shivering. Yes, that was a good plan.

[AnimeEyeshime]

She couldn't help but chuckle. "Agreed. Come on, then." She drew him to his feet, using her clubs to help keep the mass of blankets tucked on, though Seth was no doubt clinging them closely enough for that to not be much of a worry. "I'll come back for the heater after I get you in the car." Granted, she hadn't left it running, but she'd had the heat on before coming in, so it would probably be warmer than the outside air. Dacj finally gave up on trying to resist her incessant urge to hug the poor cheetah, and gave him a proper snuggly sort of hug before they started for the door. "It'll be all right. Just keep moving," she advised, reaching for the handle. At least the outside couldn't be much worse than the frigid apartment...

[elfgurl1234]

She was wrong. Outside there was wind. Freezing cold wind with the magical ability to penetrate all types of material and inflict physical pain upon its victims. Seth hurried to the car as fast as was Hytely possible (which for him was pretty fast) without actually breaking out into a run. He didn't actually know where she had parked, but he had gotten the general direction when they started out the door and found it on his own from there. Open the door open the dooropenthedooropenthedoor! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, winter, whyyyyyy?

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dacj had never seen a pile of blankets hustle so fast, but considering the one inside them was part cheetah, it made sense enough. She hurried after him as best she could, but there were patches of ice in the parking lot and she had to be very careful lest she wanted to fall--and Seth would probably just tell her to hurry faster, the kind of mood he was in. She made it to the car (probably far too slowly for Seth's liking), unlocked the doors, and reached in to put the key in the ignition to get the heater going. She figured Seth would take care of getting himself in just fine.

The air that blasted out didn't feel that warm to Dacj, but it was something at least. "Have fun thawing out, silly. I'll be right back." She closed the door quick as she could to keep the cold air out, and started back for the apartment to retrieve the rest of what had been left behind. All those stories about space heaters catching on fire involved them being on overnight, right? Not just left unattended for a few minutes? She really hoped so...

[elfgurl1234]

The second the car was unlocked, the pile of blankets Seth was inside of it, huddling up and waiting for the air to actually warm up. Even the current cool air of the car was relief compared to the biting sting of the wind outside. He was grateful for Dacj's arrival, that was for certain. He would just need to thaw out a bit first before being able to properly thank her. And stop shivering. Shivering made proper speech a bit difficult.

[AnimeEyeshime]

There was a another brief bite of cold air when Dacj opened the trunk on her way back, stashing away what had been left behind, and then one more as she crawled into the driver's seat. She reached forward to rub her tentacles a little warmer, though the heat seemed to have kicked on in earnest and made the task much easier. "All right over there, Seth?" she asked with a grin.

[elfgurl1234]

"Better," Seth replied, having thawed out a little bit since the heat finally kicked on. "Thank you." He likely wasn't going to hear the end of this, but it couldn't be helped. He didn't deal well with the cold.