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⇨☾⇨The Madness Moon was only a short time ago as this was Rogue and Chance's first official mission that did not involve the madness crisis. They were sent into a tundra region to the far north, hundreds of miles from Death City. It was the afternoon and Rogue was walking beside Chance in the snow. The Sun was up and the flurries died down but it was far colder than Rogue was accustomed to. He shivered as his snow boots were buried under snow with every step. The Sun was going down early and they had only just gotten there. He felt the cold air biting into his cheeks as he kept walking through the tundra. "We're lookin' for a group of ice golems. Each one has a Kishin egg soul. You'd think that'd be hard to miss." He looked over and saw glaciers in the distant ocean as he kept walking forward. "We're losin' daylight and I'm not seeing 'em." Rogue was frustrated as he continued retreating himself in his many layers of clothing.

⇨☾⇨Rogue and Chance continued walking through the icy area and would barely get used to the cold before the ice monsters appeared. They both came to a stop in front of a cavern system with an opening in a slope close to the ground. One of the monsters was about ten feet tall before he roared out the breath of winter. Rogue's eyes widened in fear as he watched the avalanche barreling toward them. Trees were uprooted as they were threatened to be destroyed and buried underneath endless ice and snow. Rogue tackled Chance as they fell into the cave system, narrowly escaping the avalanche on flat land. Rogue gasped as he looked up to see that the exit from the cave was sealed under snow. He hopped up from Chance before running over to the entrance of the cave and pounding his fists against the snow. "Damn it..." He turned around to look at Chance who was hopefully on his feet by now. Rogue sighed before quietly contemplating their next moves. "We're stuck in here until we can create a gun blast strong enough to blow through the snow and get outta 'ere." Rogue explained it to Chance as he started pacing around. "But that stupid thing has kicked up a blizzard out there. It's almost nightfall so if we try to walk around out there for too long we'll die." He assessed that they were completely screwed for the next several hours. "We're also just buried under snow and ice until the blizzard ends and the snow loosens up. At least the golems can't get to us, I don't think. Let's just wait it out until morning and then we can get 'em." Rogue tried to remember his survival training as he grabbed ripped-up tree branches. He stacked as many of them as possible in the driest part of the cave which was the center. The cave was illuminated by one source of setting sunlight through an opening far above them deeper in the cavern. Rogue knelt next to the fire and began rubbing the sticks together. He was shivering as he focused on generating enough friction to create a spark.

⇨☾⇨Rogue sighed as he continued to rub the sticks together. His frustration was growing as he was unable to create a spark. When Chance asked him how they would know when it was morning he grunted. Rogue cut Chance off when he was saying that he could not tell time well. "I'll take care of it." Rogue huffed as he channeled his frustration into trying to generate a fire. After a few moments, he just sighed regretfully. "Sorry, just tryin' to get this fire started. How are yew feeling?" He inhaled gently just to get his frayed nerves under control. His tone was much gentler as he apologized and looked over at his weapon partner. Rogue could tell that Chance was feeling off with his unpredictable transformations. He created enough friction to be able to create a small ember with smoke being generated. Rogue transferred the ember to pine leaves that allowed the ember to smolder and glow into a substantial flame. Rogue placed it in the center of the pile of sticks. Warmth and light would fill their corner of the cave before Rogue started heating his shivering palms. "Come up to the fire." The Meister invited warmly and was feeling his spirits lift as he stared at the growing flames. He removed his gloves and felt the heat warming his skin. There was no wind in the cave so he was able to warm up faster. "We've probably got nine hours to go 'till the Sun's back up." Rogue removed his coat and used it as a dry cushion for him and Chance to sit on by the fire. "We'll need to wrap ourselves up next to the fire and conserve heat for when the fire smolders out while we're sleepin'. It'll get much colder in here when that happens." Rogue tried to remember his training and thought of one of the requirements of avoiding hypothermia. He became shy when he thought of the solution so he stayed awkwardly quiet hoping that Chance would change the subject.

⇨☾⇨When Chance sat next to him and offered his coat Rogue nodded. The coat was draped over both of them as they were squished together. Rogue stopped shivering as he felt the warmth of the new layer and the radiating heat of the open flame. When Chance asked his question he just rubbed the back of his head. "There's no way to know exactly. It'll be good for a few hours. There ain't much firewood so I'd say it's sure to extinguish during the night." Rogue explained with some anxiety as he anticipated how cold the cave would get without the fire. He listened as Chance expressed his insecurity. Rogue felt the imbalance in their partnership as well but just remained quiet for a few moments of contemplation. "I'm more experienced, yeah. But doncha remember how yew helped me with the directions before we got 'ere? Or that time yew saved my life back when we met?" He wanted to reassure Chance of his usefulness without getting too mushy. Rogue knew that he was not the best at giving a pep talk so he would just leave it alone. It all sounded fake to him anyway and he just wanted to speak honestly but kindly.

⇨☾⇨Rogue exhaled as he thought about the fire and the possibility of freezing in the cave. He turned away from the fire and looked at Chance's eyes as he awkwardly broached the subject. "If the fire does go out while we're sleepin' we might git hypothermia if we sleep alone." Rogue gulped as he continued with a brief explanation of his idea. "Body temperature goes down while yer asleep. To share body heat we'll need to take our shirts off and wrap ourselves together in our coats. Kinda like sleeping together in a sleepin' bag. Y'hear?" He kept getting embarrassed as he expressed such a level of physical closeness that was unusual for the meister and weapon partner. Rogue was always distant and professional but there was no doubt that they needed to do this to ensure their survival. He sighed as he continued to look into Chance's eyes. His voice shifted from serious to sensitive at the last second. "Can I hold you?" He felt uncomfortably vulnerable as he asked for permission to put his plan into action.

⇨☾⇨Chance was always so hard on himself so Rogue was relieved that he could see reason regarding his value to the partnership. However, Rogue was once again thrown off guard when Chance responded with ease and enthusiasm to his question. "Not exactly, when campin' everyone brings their own sleepin' bag." Rogue explained camping to Chance as succinctly as possible. He sighed when Chance mentioned the possibility of him transforming into a gun in the middle of the night. "I'm more worried about you shootin' me while you're asleep." Rogue responded curtly with an annoyed facial expression.

⇨☾⇨He sighed when Chance mentioned that it was time for bed. "Yeah, you're right." Rogue stood up and spread his massive coat over the ground by the fire. It was laid down like a mattress as he took Chance's coat and draped it over like a makeshift blanket. When he and Chance would sit back down he removed his other jacket and his shirt until he was bare-chested. His skin was pale and goosebumped from the cold as his chest and stomach muscles tensed. Rogue kept his eyepatch on and brushed away his hair. He started helping Chance remove his jackets and shirt until he was bare-chested as well. Rogue laid down as he felt the mixture of warm air and cold air biting into his chest. He finally embraced Chance with his arms and pulled his weapon partner onto him. Their chests were squeezed together tightly as they were face to face. "Ya ready?" Rogue asked before he rolled their coats over them. He continued rolling them until their bodies were wrapped together tightly inside the coats. Only their heads were outside of the roll of coats and jackets. Rogue had set aside their shirts to act as pillows. Rogue and chance were now tightly bundled by the fire and face to face. "That's...a lot better, actually." He could feel Chance's body heat warming him as most of his body was rolled up in the thick coats. Rogue also felt his face being warmed by the nearby fire and Chance's breath. He continued hugging Chance tightly before asking a question. "Are yew comfortable?" Rogue checked in on Chance now that they were all set to not freeze to death.

⇨☾⇨Rogue allowed himself to relax when Chance closed his eyes. He felt his face flush as he felt Chance nuzzle him. Feeling his partner's chest against his own along with his light breaths was invigorating for Rogue. His chest warmed up as he felt his heart rate escalate steadily. He had never felt so warm before, having been blistered by the cold reality of the world he was living in. He felt secure and able to fall asleep like this. Rogue was accustomed to bouts of rage that prevented him from a restful sleep. He often found himself waking up periodically through the night with nightmares about his parents. Rogue felt his eyelids becoming heavy as he drifted off into the sweetest dreams he had ever experienced. His subconscious was not plagued by rage nor anxiety for once. He dreamed about the next mission with Chance and it was joyful. Rogue kept dreaming of Chance telling him "You're safe with me, partner" over and over. It repeated one of the last things Chance said to him before bed that made him feel so reassured.

⇨☾⇨When he woke up he could feel the cold air of the cave biting into his face. The fire behind them was gone and he could see the light of dawn stabbing through the gap in the rocks far above the cave. Chance's face was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. He did not want to get up. He was still cozy holding Chance and was actually somewhat warm under the covers still. Instinctively, he wrapped his legs around Chance so that now all of his limbs were embracing him. He was shivering now that he was awake. Rogue was awake before Chance and noticed that he was stirring unpleasantly in his sleep. Rogue rubbed Chance's back to gently wake him up. He was vulnerable and embarrassed as he realized just how tightly he was holding his demon weapon's body to avoid the cold. The first thing Chance would see is his warm and affectionate eye in a new way. "We've gotta git movin'." Rogue said before suddenly rolling the pair together to unravel the roll of coats. He felt much colder all of a sudden as he sat up and began buttoning up Chance's shirt for him again. It was obvious that he just wanted to keep Chance close to him for a few more moments before they would have to go. He put Chance's coat on for him to get his layers on and warm him up as quickly as possible.

⇨☾⇨Rogue followed suit. Rogue felt well-rested as he put his boots on and hopped to his feet. He walked through the sealed-off entrance of the cave and turned back to Chance. "You think you can blast thru this snow?" Rogue was confident that Chance had enough spirit power to blast through the now-loosened snow. He extended his hand and waited for Chance to transform and do his thing.

⇨☾⇨Chance started out as quiet before absolutely erupting when he started to stand. When Chance grabbed his wrist he was startled. At first, he was worried that he did something wrong. He dressed Chance rather absent-mindedly but it soon became clear that was not what this outburst was about. "What's got into ya?" Rogue asked before Chance answered his question by stating that he had a nightmare. When Chance turned away bashfully, Rogue did not know what to say. He just grumbled and stood up before walking to the ice door. When Chance transformed he immediately pointed the gun and let out a big blast. Chance would release a big shot with Rogue's soul wavelength in it. Rogue watched as the ice and snow cleared away immediately.

⇨☾⇨Rogue would let go of the pistol and allow Chance to transform back into his human form. It was abundantly clear that Chance was still insecure about his role in their partnership. Rogue did not know any other way to put him at ease. "I've let you know when you've made mistakes. I make 'em too. Sometimes. It's normal." The Meister felt a lot closer to Chance in a way that was difficult to describe. Rogue was always distant before but his recent closeness with Chance allowed him to sleep without terror after years of suffering so. He just pat Chance on the shoulder and reassured him. "You've got nothin' ta worry about." With that, Rogue began walking through the tundra again.

⇨☾⇨When they were walking through a howling mountain pass with chilly winds, the golems reappeared. These icy golem creatures descended on them from above. They roared and released winds with icicles. "C'mon Chance!" Rogue announced for Chance to transform before dodging one of the icicles before more were sent their way.

⇨☾⇨Rogue felt himself pull the trigger and blast away the remaining ice monstrosities with Chance. Once they were slain, their souls remained for Chance to devour. Rogue would feel himself get slightly stronger as Chance did so. Finally, it was time to go home. Rogue could hardly stand this cold weather anymore, although he felt warmth in his chest from Chance's presence. It was a kind of calming feeling like drinking warm coffee on a cold day and wrapping himself in a blanket. As Rogue shivered he would declare victory. "There we go! Now, let's git ta somewhere warm!" Rogue would release Chance and allow him to transform back into human form.

⇨☾⇨Rogue marched quickly out of the frozen wastes with Chance. When they traveled far enough south, the Sun was beginning to set again. At least now they were in a warmer environment, although not in Death City just yet. Rogue paid for lodging at an inn with two beds. Rogue felt sore all over and immediately collapsed into his bed after taking his boots off. As he rolled over and stared at the ceiling he glanced over at Chance fleetingly. Rogue was very quiet during their walk and allowed himself to contemplate about his mixed emotions. Yet he forgot to neglect to debrief about the mission. "What'd ya think about tha mission? We shoulda been more prepared. We coulda frozen ta death." Rogue was self-critical as he felt that while they got the mission done that there was a sloppy execution of it. "We got the souls at least and you did a good job breakin' down tha ice wall. But next time we should bring some survival kits along." Rogue spoke very seriously about their mission priorities even as he felt his eyelids getting heavy. He would allow Chance to converse with him further in the debrief if his partner wanted to. Once it was time for lights out he looked over at the second bed and spoke up. He felt worried as he thought about not being able to get enough sleep from the nightmares. The night before was the most peaceful night's rest he ever had and he felt desperate to experience that again. "Can we...sleep in the same bed again? Ya don't hafta, but, yeah..." Rogue was sheepish and awkwardly serious as he made his request to Chance. Last time was for survival and he felt awkward asking again. He would remain clothed this time, this he was sure of. But now he was going to sleep beside his partner completely out of choice. He felt a little uncomfortable with the ask as he waited for Chance's response.

⇨☾⇨Chance's "everything worked out" attitude was not comforting for the worrywart. He continued to contemplate ways to improve their mission performance before his brain gave in from exhaustion. Then when he asked if this was a "commoner thing" Rogue just shook his head. "Don't say commoner, Chance. It's a rude thing to call working folks." He raised this point but decided not to correct him on the saving money aspect. How was sleeping in the same bed in a room they already purchased going to save them money? He just let it go and allowed Chance to settle in next to him. Rogue drifted off to sleep and enjoyed a second peaceful night's rest beside his partner.