Letting your mind wander when things had calmed -- that was the worst about a bad situation. All Ellyn had to do as she sat there, cuddling with Ion and looking out the opening of their makeshift shelter, was think. Think about everything that had happened and what they had to do next.
Having to practically carry Ophion up the incline wore her out, but sitting here wasn't relaxing her. All she wanted to do was leave. Go and complete what they had set out to do, but they couldn't continue until Ophion woke up. She looked at him when he cuddled closer, and his breathing eased. At least, he was getting better. How long had they sat here? How long since they'd been hit by the wave?
Despite how her mind raced for answers and strategies, Ellyn found herself relaxing into the warmth that the shelter and Ion created. After having been cold and sore from walking, it almost made her want to sleep, but she fought that urge. Sleeping was a bad idea. To keep away, she had to pinch herself, or move now and then when she got too comfortable.
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Every time Ophion stirred, it seemed to be for the sole purpose of getting closer to her. In truth, he'd have pressed closer to any heat. If there had been a fire, he probably would have woken up on fire from having tried to cuddle it. His body was so desperate for heat that he was operating on autopilot.For Ophion, it seemed like only minutes later that his eyes cracked open, but for Ellyn it must have been much longer. Despite the fact that he should have been terribly embarrassed to find himself literally cuddled up to a half naked minor, he showed no real signs of it. He'd always found it so much easier to be logical when he was cold, like the human parts of his brain were half asleep and the snake part was taking charge.
"I started to hibernate?" His words were slow and slurred, but still intelligible. There was no chattering of teeth, just an understanding that began to slowly dawn on him as he took in the situation, head shifting ever so slightly to look around them.
Ellyn nodded at Ophion's question. Throughout his cuddling, Ellyn had taken to shivering a little. At the very least, she could be happy that the growing chill over her body had hidden her blush. While Ion may not have been flustered by their cuddling, Ellyn was. It was odd, for certain, to be cuddling half-nude up to a man she had only met today and who was an adult. The things people did for survival.
"When you're feeling up to it, we can keep going. No other waves, so we could head back downhill and see the damage or we could continue forward. Either way, I don't imagine the rest of our trip is going to be very eventful." As she spoke, Ellyn stuttered from the cold. The light breeze mixed with water that felt as if it had soaked through to her bone was finally getting to her.
She wasn't as bad off as he had been, not even close. She couldn't have been, but her lips, ears, fingers, and toes were somewhat numb, and it made it hard to talk and not give away that she was chilly.
We'll probably end this thread in one to two more posts or so. I imagine around the same time as Gone.
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He was at least coherent enough to realize that she had shivered when he did, and his face scrunched in apparent confusion. Cold. She was cold? And he was cold. His mind was working through things, collecting each individual piece and comparing it to the rest. There was a picture there, but his brain hadn't quite put it together just yet. He simply knew that he was cold, and that she was warmer than he was."We should - should find someplace warm." His words came a bit faster the second time around, his eyes slowly running over the damaged environment around them. Absolutely everything was soaked, and the underbrush looked like - well, like a tsunami had just flattened it all down. There was no obvious good way to go, no clear fire in the distance. Uphill might be better because it was likely to be drier, but there was no obvious solution to their problem.
Ellyn didn't think Ophion was coherent enough to know what to do next. She'd have to move him...somewhere. She thought over their options. Downhill was soaked, but the tsunami threat was over (seemingly), uphill was drier, but the wind may make it more chilly. There was a camp uphill; that would still be there. Skyward it was.
Ellyn moved out of the shoddy shelter. "Hold on, let me get dressed." She didn't want him trying to cling to her as she was dressing. Her clothes were dirty and soaked through, ice to her skin, but they made her feel better nonetheless.
When she was done, Ellyn went back to him, holding out her hand for him and giving her most confident smile. He was talking now, and his eyes were open, the tsunami threat was gone, there wasn't much to be afraid of anymore. They had been in the tsunami, and they came out alive. That was worth a smile.
"We're going up. It'll be warm there." She didn't know that as a fact, but he needed assurance now and Ellyn was on the high of survival. Confidence was all she had.
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It was cold, but it was no longer cold. He was doing his stupid little awkward half-shiver, but he wasn't in any danger of slipping back into hibernation. He stayed where he was, pressing his back against the tree (also cold, but a sharp enough sensation to keep him lucid) until she offered her hand, which he took timidly. Her hands were so much warmer than his, and it quickly became apparent why. The sun was out, bright and shining, and he immediately shifted over to a patch of sunlight, letting it warm him bit by bit.Uphill - they'd have to go uphill. To safety, and to shelter. It was hard to really think about things, his brain still moving slowly, but he was pliant enough, following along after her as she guided him up. He was like a sleepwalker slowly waking from a dream, becoming more and more aware as he warmed up. It was a strange sensation, being intellectually aware that he was actually getting warmer, even as his body told him he was really getting colder.
He didn't say a single thing as they headed up the mountain, towards both the camp and safety.
@FoxalypticWorld - fade out