first encounter ; 0 days

[lostandfinder]

If there were any luck in the world, Chivason would have been sound asleep by now. He'd had a wonderful dinner — courtesy of sweet, old Mrs. Jann — and he'd eaten enough to be pleasantly drowsy, and then some. To cap it all off, she'd offered him a bed (a bed) and tucked him in as only a grandmother could. He didn't really have much to worry about, still having a few valuables tucked away in his knapsack, enough to cover a few weeks even if she decided to change her mind about letting him stay free-of-charge, and he certainly hadn't been here long enough to need to think about moving on.

Whatever the reason, though, he stayed in bed long enough to need to roll over half a dozen times before he finally gave up. Carefully tucking the blanket back under the pillow, he snagged his knapsack and tiptoed outside. He let his mind drift as he walked, hoping it would help him relax enough to actually sleep. He had liked his last stop, even gone so far as to make a few friends. He should have known better than to try helping Lia find her necklace. She was too excited when she asked him if he would walk with her. He scoffed softly at himself— then tripped, tried to catch himself, and faceplanted in the dirt. ⋅⋅ ⌊ ☆ ⌉ ⋅⋅

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Comments

[polarization]

"Doesn't sound like it," he commented idly. Out of the drizzle and finally finding a place to somewhat-rest, Sefton looked a bit flushed.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy frowned at the door. So close and yet so far. He waited a little longer and then carefully tried the doorknob. "It's locked. Man..." Giving up on that, he turned back to Sefton and frowned when he saw how flushed he was. "We've got to get you warm somehow."

[polarization]

Sefton sighed and lowered himself to the ground when it seemed Chivy had given up. "It's fine. I just need some sleep."

[lostandfinder]

"Still with the fine." Chivy sat down, too, setting his knapsack to the side. With shelter located, he remembered the key he'd found, and occupied himself by trying to wipe it off. It was better than staring worriedly at Sefton, at least, and he'd always been best at thinking about things by distracting himself with something else.

[polarization]

Without bothering to respond, Sefton sighed and closed his eyes. Might as well get some shut-eye here, even if Chivy was around. At least he seemed to realize Sefton was absolutely against being touched.

[lostandfinder]

Most of the mud cleared (and some of it transferred to Chivy's hands and shirt) revealed a strange symbol etched into the top of the key. Maybe it went to a treasure or something? It was just a key, though, and not likely to do them much good. Except... hadn't he seen that symbol before? He traced his fingers over it a few times, trying to think. Something like a spiral with a slash through it. And it was over— Chivy quickly turned back around and grinned when he saw the same symbol in the center of the door. Could it really be that easy..?

He jumped up and went to try the key, pausing before he turned it to hope. He couldn't help beaming when it fit. Maybe there was hope for this day yet! "Hey! Get up! Come on, we can go in!"

[polarization]

Sefton made a disgruntled noise and peered up at Chivy. "What?"

[lostandfinder]

"It's open, come on," Chivy gestured impatiently. "Maybe we can find something to dry you off with."

[polarization]

He stared for a moment, then stood up slowly, and jerked his chin in a motion to say that Chivy should go first.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy rolled his eyes, but stepped inside, looking around to see what possibilities there were for warming and drying.

[polarization]

Once inside, Sefton sought out the first, comfortable thing he could see, and sat down on it. Thankfully, it seemed the previous residents had left an old couch near the front room. It was dusty, which didn't help the stuffy air in the house, but still more comfortable than the floor.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy returned shortly with some worn towels, a huge blanket draped over himself, and a hair dryer. "I couldn't find any other clothes, but this should help." He held out the towel stack to Sefton and set the blanket down on the floor.

[polarization]

Sefton looked at him blearily, then reached for one of the towels and draped it over his hair to begin drying.

[lostandfinder]

While Sefton was occupied with that, Chivy played with the hair dryer until he got it working, setting it to 'warm' and aiming it in Sefton's direction.

[polarization]

Suddenly, the warm air blasting against him caught his attention, and he pulled the towel away to look at Chivy. "Shouldn't you aim that at yourself?"

[lostandfinder]

Chivy shrugged, grinning. "You're the one who's getting sick, I can dry off second."

[polarization]

Sefton sighed. "I'm not going to get much worse sitting here. Take care of yourself."

[lostandfinder]

"Nope." Besides, blasting him with the hair dryer was pretty fun.

[polarization]

Sefton rolled his eyes, and pulled the towel over his side like a blanket.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy kept using the hair dryer on what pieces of Sefton weren't covered by the towel, humming to himself.

[polarization]

Eventually, Sefton had found himself just comfortable to drift off. A headache had begun to form just behind his eyes, along with all the aching going on just about everywhere else, so he figured maybe Chivy had been right about him starting to get sick...

[lostandfinder]

Chivy had done as much as he could to make the room comfortable — closing blinds, opening one window just enough that it wasn't completely stuffy, leaving the hair dryer going as a source of heat — before curling up in a pile of random blankets and things. While the day hadn't turned out quite as good as it had seemed it would that morning, it had certainly worked out alright. Besides, if he hadn't been there, who knew what would have happened to Sefton?

--

The next day, Chivy woke to an unhappy grumbling from his stomach, a reminder that the last thing he'd eaten was lunch the day before, and it hadn't been much of a meal. He groaned, trying to find a different arrangement of the fabric he was tangled in that would somehow let him get back to sleep.

[polarization]

Sefton, it seemed, had left the comfort of the couch to wander the house while Chivy was trying to burrow back into his little bundle of blankets. His shoes had been discarded by the foot of the couch—where they had been soaked before, now little ice crystals dotted the laces and smaller fringes.

[lostandfinder]

It didn't take long for Chivy to give up on that plan, and he sat up with a yawn, immediately making sure his knapsack was where he left it and the way he left it. That accomplished he turned to check on Sefton and frowned a little at finding the couch empty. The shoes were a reassurance at least, although he didn't put it past the other to just up and leave without warning.

[polarization]

Sefton padded back into the room a few moments later, seeming both more-rested, but also more haggard. In his hand, he had a can of tomato soup. "You're awake?"