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vvinter-queen · 3 months

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Here Comes The Avalanche ❅ Icebreaker

"Ralph is an old friend of mine from before I even came to Swynlake." "Yeah, we go way back," Ralph said smugly after she introduced them. To be fair, it was way back. The fact that they hadn't seen each other in a decade didn't need to be mentioned.

Before Swynlake, there was a hunting lodge on a mountain. And there was a storm.

@ralph-wreckin-reilly

Takes place in 2014

Elsa:

Elsa had been on the mountain for nearly two years now, and she’d developed a routine. Some days, it was all that kept her sane.

She would wake up and check the lodge to make sure the storm hadn’t done any damage to the weaker parts of the building in the night before making herself breakfast. Then, she would dress herself for the day and start on her chores. Sometimes it was checking the traps she’d set. Sometimes it was doing more repairs on the lodge. Sometimes it was scavenging.

All of it done in crushing, echoing silence.

Sometimes she’d turn on the satellite radio Mattias had brought her, but ever since he’d stopped visiting, looking at it made her too sad.

She’d also started running low on supplies since he stopped visiting, bringing things she couldn’t scavenge for herself. Elsa was resourceful, but she was running low on food and basic necessities, and there would be no one coming to rescue her if she ran out. It had taken her a few days, but she’d finally worked up the nerve to put in an order for supplies from the nearby town. Thank the Spirits she’d had all of her money moved to a private account back in university so she still had access to it all.

Elsa left detailed instructions on where they should leave the packages, along with a hefty tip, and waited an hour or two after the delivery had been confirmed before heading down the mountain on her sled. The road wasn’t far from the lodge, about 10 minutes downhill, but Elsa already wasn’t looking forward to the trip back up with her sled loaded up with supplies.

When she got to the road, however, it wasn’t the packages she noticed first. Her heel dug into the snow as she brought the sled to a halt, looking nervously down the mountain. The road was covered, with two dark ribbons of asphalt peeking through the powdery snow from the truck, and on the other side was… something. Large and bright in contrast to the white and black. Elsa’s eyes narrowed.

Was that… a backpack?

Her heart rate picked up and the wind howled around them in kind as she maneuvered her sled the rest of the way to her pallet of boxes. She left the sled there, checking both ways before making her way carefully across the road. Even knowing something was there, she could barely see it from the road. Until she was on the other side and saw the backpack. And a hand.

“Å, herregud,” Elsa gasped, voice cracking from disuse as she ran the rest of the way. She barely had time to think before she was pushing the snow away with a wave of her hands, revealing more of the man buried in the snow. And it was a man, Elsa realized, heart in her throat. She fell to her knees at his side, hands fluttering nervously over him before realizing she probably couldn’t make things worse and pressed her fingers to his neck gently, searching for any sign of life.

… There. A flutter under her fingertips, and she let out a sound almost like a sob and a laugh. Elsa quickly pulled her hand away and gently shook his shoulder. “Herre?” she said, voice almost too cracked to hear. She tried again, a little louder. “Herre, kan du høre meg?”

Ralph:

This wasn't going how Ralph had anticipated.

That is to say, he didn't know how he was supposed to anticipate the journey of finding the giants. So far, he'd been following rumors and speculation, which brought him to the nation of Arendelle. With little to go on but words alone, he was forced to ask around until a local fisherman offered information in exchange for labor. It had been a hard few days slipping around in marine muck, but what other choice did he have?

Finally, he was given a location, somewhere up in the snowy mountains. It made sense to Ralph--a community of persecuted Magicks settling in a location far away and difficult to traverse. For humans, anyway. As a half-giant, he knew he would be fine.

He was not fine.

Hiking wasn't an issue. Hell, even the cold wasn't that bad. But considering he had no idea where he was going, it didn't take long for him to get turned around and for his map to become completely useless. The days dragged on and he burned through his supplies faster than the fires he'd only barely managed to construct. After a while, he thought it was probably best to give up--as long as he went in a "down" direction, he'd get out eventually, right?

Wrong. No matter which direction he went, even at a declining slope, he always managed to find himself at the bottom of a valley that would just turn up again. There was nothing resembling a path buried beneath all the snow and memorized landmarks kept turning up again and again.

He didn't know how many days it had been. He'd lost count. Malnutrition and the lingering frost crept upon him, sapping him of his strength and energy before he could realize what was happening. He didn't bother to make camp--he just needed to lay down. Just a small rest, then he'd get up to try again.

How much time had passed? He wasn't sure. All he knew that it was cold--too cold for him to move. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to think. Just to rest. "S'cold," he murmured through frozen, chapped lips. His eyelids couldn't even open.

He drifted off again.

Elsa:

His reply was almost too quiet to hear, but it was a reply, and Elsa clung to that. Whoever this man was, he was alive.

If she didn’t act quickly, he wouldn’t be for much longer.

As she continued to dig him out, blowing the snow away with waves of her hands, Elsa frantically thought over what she could do. She didn’t bring the satellite phone down with her, and she didn’t have the time to run back to the lodge and get it. Besides, the trucks that could make it up the mountain wouldn’t be fast enough.

She knew there was only one option, truly. But part of her was scared that if she tried to help, she’d only make it worse.

She didn’t want to bury this man.

When enough snow was dug away, Elsa ran back to the sled and pulled it over quickly. She undid the straps that were meant to hold her supplies in place and shook out the tarp that she had brought for the same purpose. It wasn’t a blanket, but it was something. She couldn’t get his arms up to get his backpack off, so with a silent apology, she cut through the straps with her hunting knife and set the bag out of the way.

The sled was brought up along the man’s side, and once Elsa had everything positioned correctly, she grabbed the man’s jacket and pulled. He was easily three times her size, tall and broad, but Elsa was strong from years of running through Solensby and ice skating. With a few hefts, she managed to roll him onto the sled on his back.

His clothes were drenched through from the snow, so Elsa pulled all the water she could out of the fabric before bundling him up tightly in the tarp. “It’s okay,” she said gently, this time in accented English, trying not to touch his bare skin. “You’re going to be okay. We’ll get you warm.”

She wasn’t going to be able to pull him up the mountain to the lodge fast enough on her own. The walk with the supplies usually took an hour, and they did not have that kind of time. Grabbing his backpack, Elsa stuck it between her feet as she hopped on the back of the sled and took a deep breath. She hadn’t done this kind of magic in a few years, but she had to try. Elsa held her fingers to her lips and whistled.

Sled dogs made of ice leapt out of the snow, stumbling over themselves as they ran to position themselves in front of the sled. The ice was murky, their forms rough and undefined, but they would be more than enough to get them up the mountain. Elsa waved her hands and harnesses made of snow and ice wrapped around each of the eight dogs before attaching to the sled. The reins landed in her hands, and with a deep breath, she clicked her tongue like she’d seen at the sled races in Arendelle.

“Mush!” she ordered, and the dogs took off, racing up the mountain. Occasionally, the snow would be too fine and they would start to sink, but Elsa would wash ice over the ground and they’d be off once again. Thanks to the ice dogs, the hour-long trip took less than fifteen minutes, and soon Elsa was shoving the sled in through the front door with no care for the damage the sled was doing to the floors.

The lodge was cold, as Elsa usually didn’t bother with wasting generator fuel on heat she didn’t need, but she ran to crank the heat on and heard the generator roar to life. Next, she ran into the large living room with the gigantic stone fire place. She’d doused the small fire she’d used this morning to cook her breakfast, but there was plenty of wood inside that she quickly arranged to build the fire back up. It was messy, but it was the best she could do when her hands were trembling from fear. It took her several tries to even strike a match to light the kindling. The wood caught quickly, however, and Elsa felt a wave of warmth that made her sigh in relief.

“Okay, we’ve got heat, fire…” she muttered to herself, before looking at the couch. It was big, and Elsa had seen pictures of her father and his older cousins crowded together on a pull out. She threw off the cushions and sure enough, an old mattress was folded up underneath. It probably wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but Elsa couldn’t get the man up the stairs to the master bedroom which had the second largest fireplace in the lodge. She pulled the bed out and ran back to the sled.

“It’s going to be okay,” she repeated to him, almost like a prayer. She didn’t know what else to say. Didn’t even think he could hear her. (She hadn’t spoken to another person in almost six months.) “We’re going to get you closer to the fire,” she said, coating the floor with ice so she could tug the man into the living room more easily.

It took her several minutes to get him up on the pull-out once the sled was in place, and she’d almost certainly pulled some of the muscles in her back and leg, but Elsa got him up on the bed without hurting him further and collapsed next to him to catch her breath. “What would Yelena do,” she wondered out loud between panting breaths, looking over at the man’s face. He was too pale, lips tinged blue, and her stomach twisted nervously.

“Get him out of his wet clothes,” she murmured, nodding to herself before scrambling back up. Elsa had tried to pull most of the water out of his clothes, but they were still damp, so she pulled off his outer layers until he was just in his boxers and a tank top. She didn’t dare strip him further, and instead ran off limping into the lodge to gather as many blankets and pillows as she could. When she returned, she piled them up around the man, making sure he was tucked in tightly and no skin was exposed. The living room was warming up now, and she shed her own jacket and sweater as she worked.

“There you go,” she said softly, making sure her sleeve was between her palm and his head as she lifted the man’s head carefully to place a pillow underneath. “All bundled up.” Elsa sat on the bed, curling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around them as she watched the man breathe. There was nothing else she could do but wait, now. Wait and pray she’d done enough.

Ralph:

He felt...good.

That was the first thing that floated through his brain as consciousness began to return to him. He was warm. Comfortable. Like groggily waking up after sleeping in on a snowy winter morning. It would be so easy to go back to sleep.

Back to sleep.

It came to him in a flash. He'd always had an excellent memory, so it didn't take long for everything to come back to him. The aimless wandering through the snow, his energy draining, before he finally decided to fall asleep in the snow. The one thing you're never supposed to do.

And it was like the chill came over him again, freezing him in place. From his brother, to camp counselors, to even the man who had given him the map--*everyone* told him how dangerous the cold was, and not to let it overtake you. But he had, and that could only mean...

Suddenly, the warmth was no longer a comfort, but a harbinger of doom. At least if the chill was still gnawing at him, there would be a chance to keep going.

But now it might already be too late.

Terror seized in his chest and for a moment his eyelids closed tighter, as if he could permanently keep himself in a state of suspension by never finding out his fate. If only he could just go back to sleep.

Finally, with little other choice, his eyes opened, just a crack, and then slowly more. Everything was hazy at first, a fog of browns of all shades mixed together in unrecognizable patterns. As his senses returned to him, he could hear a fire crackling and smell the burning cedar. After blinking a few times, his vision came into focus and he realized he was staring at the ceiling of a wooden building of some kind.

He lulled his head to take in more surroundings, but his eyes ended up snapping to the woman who came in his periphery. A young woman, with flowing blonde hair, almost white tumbling over her shoulders and looking at him with wide, concerned eyes. She was breathtakingly beautiful, an angel in the flesh.

Or, more likely, just an angel.

"O-oh God," he murmured, as he realized his fate was now sealed. "I--I died, didn't I?"

Elsa:

Elsa had almost started to drift off to sleep herself when she heard his breathing pattern change. She watched him carefully, scared that he might be taking a turn for the worst and she had wasted the opportunity to call for help, but then his eyes opened slowly and she held her breath.

His voice sounded rough and weak, but miles better than his quiet reply on the mountain, and Elsa sighed in relief.

“No, no,” she reassured, shifting so she was kneeling a little closer to him. She hesitated for a moment before reaching out and laying her hand over the blankets where she knew his hand was. “You’re not dead. Everything’s going to be okay,” she promised.

“My name’s Elsa. We’re in my family’s lodge. How do you feel?” she asked.

Ralph:

The woman moved closer to him and placed her hand gently over his, which wasn't really helping her "not actually dead" case. Wide, brown eyes flickered over hers frantically as his mind raced, trying to put the pieces together.

"I...I-I don't understand," he began. He tried to ask multiple different questions at once, each coming out as hardly a syllable, before he finally settled on, "How?"

In the end, he didn't answer her, and it was unclear if her words had even sunk in at all.

Elsa:

The more he talked, the more Elsa relaxed. He was staying awake, at least, so he'd probably recover just fine. She gave him a small smile.

“You collapsed near the road, I think,” she explained. “I went down to pick up supplies and saw you in the snow and was able to bring you back here to warm up.” Elsa didn't mention the judicious amount of ice magic involved in the rescue, even though she could feel it still writhing in her chest, begging to be let out. The storm had picked up outside while she had worried, and she was sure she was going to have to dig all her supplies out of the snow later when she felt confident enough in his recovery to leave the man alone.

Elsa wanted to ask what he was even doing on the mountain in the first place, but he seemed out of it still, so instead she pressed against his hand a little before moving to stand off the bed. “You're probably thirsty,” she murmured. “I'll be right back.”

Ralph:

Ralph's eyes continued to flicker over her as she spoke. For a moment he tried to imagine her out in the snow, dragging his hefty body all the way back to this lodge. There was no way, right? Maybe there was someone else in the cabin. Despite this, he didn't look away from her, hanging onto her every word.

Finally, he blinked as she squeezed his hand, which sent another ripple of warmth up him. "Y-yeah," he said automatically, before remembering himself. "Thanks."

As she disappeared, he now took the opportunity to look around, taking in his surroundings. It really was a cozy lodge--maybe he had been closer to the road than he realized. Surely this place couldn't be too far away from civilization.

Somehow, miraculously, he survived. A shaky sigh passed his lips as he let his head fall back on the pillow, allowing himself to sit in the relief.

Elsa:

Elsa’s smile grew a little at the thanks, and she gave him a little nod before scooting off the bed. She was careful not to jostle him too much, and had to awkwardly step over the sled still next to the couch before limping towards the kitchen. It was a little outdated, having last been updated a few years before her grandfather died and the lodge had barely been used for almost forty years, but it was all still working.

She didn’t want to shock his system too much, so Elsa got a glass of room temperature water and a straw before making her way back into the living room. She made sure to come around the other side of the couch this time so she didn’t have to limp over the sled again. “Here we go,” she said softly, sitting carefully near his shoulder. “Can you sit up a little? Don’t strain yourself if not.”

She was used to acting as a nurse for people who weren’t feeling well, thanks to Anna and her mother. Before the accident, whenever Anna was sick, Elsa would bring her baby sister into her room and stay with her day and night, nursing the little girl back to health while their parents worked. After the accident, Elsa wasn’t allowed near Anna anymore and she was carefully watched whenever she visited their mother. Agnarr still let her help with the nursing tasks he was less familiar with. He didn’t hire a nurse for Iduna, so it fell to the skeleton crew of house staff and Elsa.

Elsa hoped her mother was okay. That Anna was okay. (She would be twelve now, wouldn’t she?) That her father was…

“I don’t know how long you were in the snow, but you’re probably not going to feel a hundred percent again right away,” she said. “I’ve seen a few people recover from hypothermia before, and it’s not a short process.”

Ralph:

As he watched her go, he finally noticed the huge sled in the middle of the room. Honestly, he had no idea how that wasn't the first thing he looked at. But sure enough, there was a large piece of snow equipment just sitting on the floor. He figured that was how she got him in here, but even then you'd need an oxen to pull him, maybe even two--

Eventually his train of thought was thrown off when the woman returned with a glass of water, asking him to sit up. He did his best to oblige, his muscles aching and groaning in turn. It was only when his collarbones felt the chill of the air did he realize he was not wearing any clothes. "Woah!" He quickly grabbed the blanket and held it up over himself, as if he were the one with unmentionables to expose. But after a moment, he realized he wasn't shirtless, nor pantless either. But he was definitely in his underwear. "Oh my god, uh--" Redness started to creep up his neck into his cheeks, but he attempted to laugh it off, stilted and awkward. "Sorry about that. Just wasn't expecting...anyway."

He cleared his throat again and reached forward to grab the water, the other still holding the blanket up to his neck. After taking a sip, he attempted to pull himself together. "I mean, it probably wasn't hypothermia, right? I couldn't have been out there for that long and still be alive."

Elsa:

She had honestly forgotten about his clothes until he reacted - she was so relieved he was okay it had entirely slipped her mind. Now Elsa could feel her face growing hot with embarrassment, little white freckles like snowflakes dusted across her cheeks and nose against her flush. “Oh my goodness, I should have warned you,” she fretted, holding the water steady for him and keeping her hands outstretched in case he lost his grip. “Your clothes were soaked from the snow, a-and you’re not supposed to stay in wet clothes or the cold will linger and I didn’t have anything else hot and I’m-” probably colder than you were, she thought.

“I’ll get them in the dryer right away,” Elsa promised, mortified. “A-and I have your backpack. You probably have dry clothes in there.” She slipped out of the bed again, stumbling on her bad leg for a moment before limping to the sled. “I had to cut the straps, but I can fix it, I promise. O-or we might have a spare somewhere.” She was rambling, but what else could she do? She’d never been the best in awkward situations in the first place, and after two years of minimal human contact, her social skills were shot. Elsa stood by the pull out bed, clutching the man’s backpack to her chest like a shield, feeling dangerously close to tears as the wind howled outside.

“I don’t know how long you were out there, I just… I panicked,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

Ralph:

Ralph winced a bit as she began to blush as well, clearly having made the situation worse by reacting in the first place. He did manage to keep a grip on the water, and pretended to be really into drinking it so that he wouldn't have to make eye contact. He swallowed hard before speaking, "N-no, it's okay. That's the right thing to do in this situation, I'm pretty sure." He was just lucky she hadn't taken off everything. Nobody needed to see that.

He perked up a bit when she revealed that she'd managed to grab his backpack. He hadn't been thinking about it in the few moments of consciousness he had, but it felt like a lifesaver to have its safety confirmed. After all, it was everything he owned.

"Thank you," he emphasized with a sigh of relief. As he watched her hobble away, he finally managed to catch a glimpse at her limp. His expression fell to a concerned frown as she returned, looking really sad and apologizing for some reason? "For what? You saved my life and my stuff. That's literally the best I could hope for."

Elsa:

“I… don’t know,” Elsa said quietly, setting his bag down on the bed before the encroaching frost could cover too much of it. Hopefully he wouldn’t be able to tell what was from the outside and what was from her. “I think it’s all kind of hitting me now.”

Finding him, bringing him up the mountain to the lodge, getting him warm. She’d done it all in a semi-panicked haze, her magic screaming in her chest as she pulled on it for the first time in months. It was still there now, wild and sharp and stingingly cold, and she hoped the fire was warm enough to keep the temperature in the room from dropping further.

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” she said softly, clutching her hands together and pressing them under her chin where she couldn’t frost anything else over. “Is… is there someone I could call? Maybe a family member who might be worried about you? I have a satellite phone and it usually works pretty well if the storm isn’t too bad.”

It absolutely was, she could feel it covering the mountain. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. Eventually the call would go out.

Ralph:

Ralph reached down to get the bag but then winced, his muscles still burning from everything that happened. As much as he wanted to rise to take care of himself (get dressed, mostly), his body would not allow it. So with a tiny groan, he placed the water on the coffee table and settled against the pillow.

Her question sent another chill up his spine, threatening to freeze him over like the storm raging outside. There was an initial part of him--the most cowardly part--that immediately wanted to say yes. Get him out of here. He had enough of this.

But then he thought about the look on his parents' faces. The scorn and disdain all packed together by a sickening 'we told you so'.

"No," he finally replied. "Trust me, no one's worried about me," he huffed, before realizing how bad that sounded. "What I mean is-- I've been out backpacking on my own for awhile. Even if we were to call someone I knew, it'd be in a totally different country." She could probably figure out as much from his accent.

"Your English is really good, by the way."

Elsa:

Something in her chest twinged a little at his admission and huff, something that had taken residence that day when she was fourteen and she watched the recognition drain from her mother’s eyes. It had grown thorns since she’d come out to the mountain, not sure who would miss her or worry about her. Her mother couldn’t, her father wouldn’t, and Anna… Anna was so young, Elsa sometimes wondered if she remembered her at all.

She would worry about him, Elsa decided, at least for now.

At his compliment, Elsa gave him a soft smile. “Thank you,” she said as she moved his backpack a little closer up to him. “In that case, you’re free to stay here as long as you need to recover,” she offered. “I’ve got food and power and everything, and it’s probably safer to wait until the storm dies down a little to call for a ride back into town anyways.”

She’d need to make sure to get the supplies sooner rather than later if she was going to have a guest. Luckily, she was at no risk of hypothermia herself. The cold had never bothered her before, and it certainly wasn’t about to start.

She sat back on the edge of the bed again, mostly to get off her leg. “What’s your name?” Elsa asked.

Ralph:

This was honestly too good to be true. After spending God knows how long wandering out in the freezing cold, constantly getting turned around, eating dried out rationed scraps until there was nothing--and now he was warm and cozy with everything he could possibly need being taken care of by this heaven-sent woman.

He wondered for a moment if this wasn't all just the fever dream of a dying man going out on his last wish.

Well, even if it was, it was a really nice dream, and he'd enjoy it.

"Thanks...like, really. A lot. I'm pretty sure I'd be a goner if not for you," he said, letting his head sink back into the pillow, blanket pulled up again. For once, he allowed himself to relax.

He watched her sit down again, his eyes briefly flickering to her leg, but he decided not to ask about it yet, instead answering her question. "Ralph. Ralph Reilly," he said. "I was born in England, but I left a few years ago. Been traveling a lot..." He wondered if he should tell her about the giants--it's not like it was a secret, and she could have information--but it wasn't really a good first impression, was it? "Are you a local? You said your family lives here?"

Elsa:

Elsa was second guessing the invitation almost as soon as it had come out of her mouth. Not because of Ralph, he’d been nothing but kind and polite since he’d woken up. Elsa was the problem. When was the last time she’d lived with someone? For the year she’d attended university in Oslo, she’d had her own little house her father rented for her so she was kept safely away from campus, and the Sommers Manor in Arendelle was large enough that Elsa usually had the whole wing to herself. She wasn’t safe to be around, especially not for someone recovering from possibly hypothermia. Her moods would make the temperature in the room drop in an instant.

Then he thanked her for saving his life, and she felt… warm. She’d helped this person with her magic. Maybe even saved his life. And it was… nice to have someone else in the lodge. It didn’t feel so hollow and cold. The flickering light from the fireplace cast a warm glow on everything, and Elsa felt the storm in her chest die down a bit as calm filled in all the cracks.

Elsa smiled at Ralph, her cheeks flushing again. “I’m just happy I got there in time,” she said. As he spoke more about where he was from, she pulled her leg up so she could wrap her arms around her thigh and rest her cheek on her knee.

“Sort of,” Elsa answered. “My family lives on the other side of the mountain down by the fjord. I… I live here on my own,” she admitted. “I have for a couple of years now.”

Ralph:

For a moment he closed his eyes and just took a deep breath, trying to wrap his head around the whole situation. When they fluttered open and saw the cute girl sitting cutely right next to him, all those thoughts turned to static. A reality wasn't sinking in because this felt like the farthest thing from reality.

Then, he realized he hadn't said anything, and he was staring. Clearing his throat and shaking his head, he quickly stammered, "A-ah yeah, definitely." He tried not to think about how that was a nonsensical response and was secretly grateful there was no one else here to watch him embarrass himself.

"So, are you like, a mountain ranger or something, then?" After all, that would probably explain the amazing feats she'd been able to pull off in rescuing his life.

Elsa:

Elsa honestly assumed Ralph was just still feeling a little out of it from the near-brush with death, and she had to fight the urge to reach out and try and check his temperature. It wouldn’t be any good with how cold her own skin was. Instead she glanced at the glass of water and wondered if it would be weird if she helped him take another sip.

Probably, yeah.

At his question, she pursed her lips together. “Not exactly,” she said quietly. “My uh, my mother’s family is very outdoorsy. I grew up camping with them and learning how to live off the land.” The world may have changed around them, but the Northuldra still lived and worked with nature. It was why they were blessed the way they were. “The lodge is technically my father’s, but he hasn’t been out here since he was a child.”

Agnarr had always been more of a homebody than his wife, choosing to spend his time in Yelena’s cabin or the community center on the rare occasions he visited Solensby with them.

Ralph:

As she talked, he closed his eyes so he could focus on her words and not, well...anything else. From the sounds of it, it seemed like she might be the best person to help him with his goals. But at the same time, he was nervous about bringing it up and scaring her off--or worse, her throwing him out. So he'd tread carefully, at least until he was sure he could survive back out in the cold.

"So is that what you're doing up here, basically? Living off the land?" He asked, opening one eye to peek at her. At the very least, he probably didn't have to worry about anyone else barging in and demanding to know why this strange, large man was in their house. That would be something of a nightmare.

Elsa:

Elsa gave him a sort of wry smile. Her cheeks were actually starting to hurt a little, and she realized that this was probably the most she had smiled… well, in a very long time.

“Essentially,” she said with a nod. “There’s a few things I can’t make myself that I can get delivered, which is why I was that far down the mountain in the first place.” And oh boy, would she be lodging a complaint with the delivery company for not noticing the freezing man buried in the snow by the road.

“Speaking of which,” she sighed, letting go of her leg so she could push herself back up. Elsa put most of her weight on her right leg. “I should probably go get them now that you’re up. Will you be okay if I leave you here alone?” she asked, concerned. “O-or do you want something to eat first? I’ve got some leftover soup I can heat up really quickly.”

She was loath to leave him alone after such a close call, but she really did not want to have to dig out those supplies from the snow any more than she already would.

Ralph:

Ralph nodded slowly, though took notes of her word. "Down the mountain"...had he really been that close to civilization? And he just laid down to die? Damn, maybe his parents had been right about him. Maybe this whole thing was a fool's errand.

But he'd never give them the satisfaction of that being true. So trek on, he would.

He blinked a bit as she stood before frowning. "No! No, I'm fine," he clarified, though still shifted a bit uncomfortably. She went all the way down for supplies but came back with him instead, leaving him out there. If those supplies were lost, it would be his fault, and he'd sentence them both to starving up here.

His parents were sounding more right by the second.

"You should go-- but wait!" He pushed himself up onto his elbow and winced at the pain, muscles aching. Still, he grit through it. "A-are you sure you should go out there by yourself? You've been limping..." His eyes fell down to her leg, which she noticeably wasn’t putting weight on at this point.

Elsa:

Ralph pushed himself up, wincing, and Elsa fluttered over him nervously. “No, take it easy-” she stammered, holding her hands out as if to push him gently back down, before he started talking. She stared at him with wide eyes, suddenly feeling very on the back foot.

He was… worried about her?

The shards of ice that had taken permanent residence in her chest lost a bit of their bite, and she smiled at him warmly. “I'm okay,” she reassured him softly. “It's an old wound, I'm used to it. I'll be fine,” she promised.

“I won't be gone long. But you need to take it easy,” she admonished gently. Elsa carefully grabbed the top of the blanket that had been pulled up to his neck and tugged it back up before gently pushing him back down so he was laying down once again. Hopefully the blanket would protect him from the chill of her touch. “Seriously, all you need to worry about is recovering.”

She moved his water so it was a little closer to him and gave the fire in the grate a glance over to make sure it didn't need any new logs before standing. “I won't be long,” she promised again. She looked at the sled for a moment before deciding that dragging it out would be too much trouble, especially since she didn't want to risk using her magic around Ralph and making the temperature in the room drop again.

There was a smaller sled in the shed outside, along with the ice dogs she could feel lying in wait by the door. She didn't have the energy to dissolve them before, and found herself grateful for it now.

“Rest,” Elsa said, pointing at him as she gathered her sweater up off the sled where she'd tossed it when she had started warming up before. She pulled it back on over her T-shirt and quickly plaited her hair back as she made her way towards the door. Frost was already starting to form over her skin as she felt the storm outside calling to her, urging her back out. She usually ignored it, but if she was going to have a guest, she probably should try to let some of the screaming power out so she didn't put Ralph in more danger.

With a deep breath, Elsa stepped back out onto the mountain and the snow enveloped her like a hug welcoming her home.

Ralph:

Elsa attempted to reassure him, but he still didn't like it. While he was grateful she hadn't been wounded saving him, it still clearly bothered her, and the cold would probably just make it worse. He wanted to offer to help, knowing he could easily carry whatever supplies there were. Unfortunately, those abilities were not up to par in his current state, which could barely manage holding his own weight.

His heart leaped into his throat as she pulled the blanket back up and gently pushed him back down. Even at his lowest, he could likely resist her if he wanted. But as her fingers--light and surprisingly cold to the touch--applied pressure, he immediately fell back, like a child being put to bed.

All he could do was watch her as she moved around, setting up his things while getting herself ready. He still didn't like it, but there wasn't much he could do. She pointed at him and he could feel himself sinking back in the bed, feeling more and more childlike with each scolding.

The door opened and he grimaced at the biting wind that swept through the cabin. The cold wasn't as sharp as the wind itself, which cut through him like butter. By the time he looked up again, she was already heading out. "Uhm-- be careful!" He called out, though he had no idea if she heard him as the door shut behind her.

#c: ralph reilly #t: here comes the avalache #;;icebreaker #//this is part one of who knows how many???#//but have some icebreaker backstory finally lol

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