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[haledamage]

Rhicember 12/25

There’s a snow storm. I guess we’re stuck in here together till it passes. - Kai&Ensemble (Pillars of Eternity 1 - in this case, ‘Ensemble’ is Kana, Hiravias, Maneha, Aloth, and Edér)

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Hiravias asked, voice deep and gravelly in his autumn staelgar form. He shook the snow from his fur, covering everything near the door in cold water. “Bad news is, there’s a snowstorm and we’re stuck here until it passes. Good news is, we get our pick of the hot springs.”

“How bad of a snowstorm?” Kana threw a towel to Hiravias, who took it delicately between two claws to try and get the last of the melting snow off of him.

“Even the locals are batoning down the hatches.”

Kai sighed. “Lovely.”

Maneha clapped a hand on Kai’s shoulder, sending her staggering a step forward. “Well, at least we got back to town before it hit. Can’t imagine we’d be as comfortable at the Battery.”

“That’s true, I suppose.” At least Durgan’s Battery was warm, Kai thought, but she kept it to herself.

“And at least we aren’t already on the trails back to Caed Nua,” Edér piped up, pushing aside the curtains to look outside. It didn’t look too bad yet, no new snow except the stuff that always seemed to be on the ground, but the clouds looked very dark. “We’d be as good as dead.”

“That… is also true.” Kai sighed again. “Well, I guess there’s nothing to be done for it.” She set her rucksack on one of the beds to do a quick inventory of what supplies she had. “Any dire business you have in town, get it done quickly. I expect you all to be back here by the time the snow arrives. If I have to go out looking for you, I promise you will regret it.”

Edér chuckled, amused by the sharpness of her tone. “I thought you liked snow, Kiki.”

“I don’t like delays.”

“I’d call it an act of the gods, but we’ve already dealt with our share of those.” Maneha’s laughter is much warmer than it has any right to be on such a cold day. “I’m gonna go get a drink. Want anything?”

“No, thank you, dear.” Kai grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. “Do try and pace yourself, please.” Maneha scowled, but Kai continued before she could interrupt. “We don’t know how long we’ll be snowed in and you don’t want them to run out before we can leave.”

“Good lookin’ out, Kai.” Maneha winked and left the room.

The others filtered out, too, to go finish some last minute shopping run or to join Maneha at the bar. Hiravias was still in staelgar form, which was going to be problematic, but he disappeared before Kai could catch him and she had no idea where he went. She’d just have to deal with that problem when it surfaced.

It was only when she turned back to the room, intending to get some of her own work done, that she realized she wasn’t the only one in the room. Aloth stood staring at his open pack, a distant look on his face and a pensive set to his eyebrows. Kai walked over to him and gently touched his arm, bringing him back to reality.

“Are you okay, darling?”

He gave her a small, tight-lipped smile. “I’m fine.”

“I can see about getting you a separate room,” she said quietly, trying to guess what might be bothering him. “I know spending a lot of time in this close of quarters makes you uncomfortable.”

“You don’t need to make exceptions for me, Kai,” Aloth said, but his smile became a little more genuine.

“I know.” She looked around to make sure they were truly alone, then dropped her voice to a near-whisper just in case. “I may have, perhaps, been hoping you would say yes so that I could get away from them for a while, too.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a shrewd look. “Well, with a party this size it would make sense to split up. For safety’s sake, of course,” he said lightly. “You, me, and Edér in one room, the others in a different one?”

“Very clever, darling. What would I do without you?” Kai asked fondly.

The tips of Aloth’s ears turned pink and he looked down, staring at his hands. “I’m sure you’d be just fine.”

“Oh, I doubt it. I don’t think I’d have even made it out of Gilded Vale without you.” There was a loud whoop and then a crash, and they both cringed. “I should see to that.”

“Of course,” he said, all business once more, and the moment was gone like it had never been there. “I’m going to head into town and see if they have any supplies they can spare. We didn’t exactly pack for a prolonged stay.”

“Good idea. If they give you any trouble, don’t be afraid to throw my name around.” She fished around in her rucksack until she found the seal of Caed Nua that she carried around for just such a purpose and handed it to him. “After the shit I’ve been through on their behalf the last few days, they owe me some extra blankets at the very least.”

Aloth laughed quietly. “Indeed.”

There was some yelling in the main room, and something that sounded decidedly like a staelgar roar. “Right. Going. See you later.”