#I DIDNT FORGET this is still alive. i promise. now with toajuicy taken into acct. hi

[lycianlynx]

Araphen had always been temperate at best and stormy at worst; caught between the peaks bordering Ilia to the north and those of Bern by the ocean to the south, the weather could be moody if not tempestuous, but cradled close enough to the balmy ocean to avoid being outright frigid. Blizzards have hardly ever been a reality to him, and so even a winter already spent at Garreg Mach still couldn't familiarise them with the signs of its lurking dangers...

But Chad is still sharp enough to navigate a sudden storm, and with a second pair of eyes better suited to conditions like these, he and Hugh have managed to find shelter. The cottage isn't quite dilapidated, but abandoned, run-down and cold— So even with this miracle in mind, it's only barely enough, especially if they can't get a fire going. The boy suppresses a shiver, ever having dealt poorly with the cold, an ungloved hand testing the air flow in the room to catch any stray drafts.

"Don't have to tell me that twice," he mutters, wandering a few silent steps forward— Their palm meets a split in the wood that isn't an obvious breach, but is still letting the cold in, before they turn around to try and look for anything of use: To keep the cold out, to keep the warmth in, to generate any more... Could any oof the furniture be used as kindling?

In their seeking, their feet no longer fall silently; After all, they are tired and cold, and haven't had the time or space to learn what floorboards creak and which don't. Brown eyes dart up as Hugh rounds, voice firm.

They are cold and tired and not a stranger to that, at least. Maybe that's why something about the tone raises their hackles— Or maybe they've just been on some kind of invisible hair-trigger already? Their brow pinches reflexively, the corner of their mouth drawing to bare teeth.

"Like hell I—" A bitten exhale, a huff. No, snapping won't help. Never does during a storm.

"At least tell me what to do. And not just 'stay put'."

Cloudy with a chance of Insecurity

[Anniversary Mission - Heavy Armor]