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

[lostandfinder]

That established, Chivy focused on getting them there. Accidentally coming into contact with Sefton's leg when a wave jostled them explained why Sefton was having so much difficulty, but it just made Chivy wonder more why anyone would want to wear freezing shoes in the first place. Questions could wait until they weren't in danger of drowning, and he was glad the rock wasn't too far. It looked like they might even be able to get up on it (it was only big enough for one, but that should be enough) with a little effort.

[polarization]

Sefton inhaled sharply when Chivy brushed against his legs, but focused again on staying afloat. When they reached the rock, he didn't notice immediately. The water nudged him against it, which prompted him to reach out and grab hold of it. He had let go of Chivy's arm in the process, which was probably a good thing for letting the other keep himself properly afloat.

His legs were beginning to go numb. Sefton swallowed his growing worry and laid his cheek against the rock, feeling the gentle push of the water around him, and tried to regain some his senses.

[lostandfinder]

Once Sefton was safely resting, Chivy found his own spot to hold onto the rock. He kept part of his attention on Sefton, not wanting to turn and find him underwater again, but took long enough to catch his breath before returning to the issue at hand. "Do you want to try and get up there and dry off, or just head for shore?"

[polarization]

"Hn?" Sefton glanced at Chivy, finding it harder to focus longer he stayed in the water. It was strange, as Sefton was usually a strong swimmer and his stamina wasn't anything to laugh at. But he was becoming too scattered to ponder that, and instead focused on what Chivy had asked him. "How far's it?"

[lostandfinder]

"Maybe three times what we just did, and then we— I could walk." He was having a hard time deciding which way would work best, but sitting and waiting in the water didn't seem like a good choice at all.

[polarization]

Sefton was silent for a solid minute or so as he considered the options. Three times the length... he wasn't entirely sure he would stay conscious through it all, which was worrying for several reasons. "Uh..." Some water washed up into his mouth and he spit it back out in annoyance. "Not sure."

[lostandfinder]

"Let's try getting you out here, then." If Chivy could get him out of the water, there was even the possibility of going into shore alone to find some kind of raft or something. He hesitated before adding, "I'm probably going to have to help support you even once you're out of the water."

[polarization]

"C'n still use my arms," Sefton said, looking reluctant at the prospect of contact without the water's protection. The look morphed into confusion. "What're we doing?"

[lostandfinder]

Well, that wasn't a no. Chivy swam over to just behind Sefton. "Getting you on the rock. Get ready to grab."

[polarization]

"Wh—" Sefton tried twisting around to face Chivy while still maintaining his hold on the rock, but eventually decided to grit his teeth and tighten his grip. "Just... don't touch above the water. All right?"

[lostandfinder]

"I can try," was the best Chivy was going to give him. If it was a choice between letting him fall back in and following through with the shove/push, he was following through. That was enough wondering, though, so Chivy took a breath, ducked underwater, and tried pulling up on Sefton's legs. He was doing his best not to touch anywhere frozen, but at this point... just getting Sefton out of the water was the biggest priority.

[polarization]

Sefton gasped through his teeth, yet remained mostly quiet as he tried to reach up and over the rock in order to gain some sort of handhold he could try and use to pull himself over. After scrabbling around the rough edges, his fingers finally found purchase and he tried to haul himself onto it. He simply would have to hope Chivy would back away before he got an icy foot in his face.

Once out of the water, he began to shiver like mad and automatically wrapped his arms around himself; his legs had become almost motionless, though thankfully only the tips of his frost-covered shoes remained in the water. Now freed from the warped perspective of the water, it was clear that his legs had not been cased in ice, but smothered in frost. While it seemed most of it was outside his pant legs, the water had already soaked through them and it did little good at this point.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy did his best to stay out of the way, but couldn't avoid all of Sefton's kicks. Luckily, it was once Sefton was most of the way out and only a glancing hit to the side of his face. The force and surprise of it knocked him underwater, but he quickly kicked back to the surface and grabbed a hand hold on the rock. Once he was sure he wouldn't cough his way through the sentence, he cleared his throat. "You want me here, or should I go get stuff?" he asked in a quiet tone.

[polarization]

"Don't you always get stuff?" Sefton asked, after a moment of simply staring at Chivy. It was difficult to figure out what the kid was trying to ask—and why was he so tired, anyway? It didn't make sense. The water hadn't really been cold enough to numb anything other than his legs, but he found himself losing steam regardless.

Shaking his dripping head, Sefton tried to concentrate. What had the other option been? Chivy staying? But... "There's no room for you up here," he said, figuring that process of elimination might help Chivy figure out the answer to his question.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy had to take a second — Sefton was being weird, even for him — but that was more a reason to be decisive than one to wait around. "Stay on the rock, okay? I'll come back as fast as I can." He didn't want to think about coming back to an empty rock. It was one thing if the guy ran off while they were talking, but Chivy wasn't sure he would be able to live with himself if he didn't know what happened to Sefton.

[polarization]

Sefton nodded in agreement to that and dropped his head onto the rock. He closed his eyes and rubbed at his arms in an attempt to either warm up or dry himself off. "Okay."

[lostandfinder]

Even going as quickly as he could, it took Chivy almost half an hour to find a paddle boat he could rent, a blanket, a towel, and a thermos of warm water, especially since he had to run back to where he'd stashed his bag for some more money (and the blanket). "Delivery for prickly," he called as he neared where he'd left Sefton. It didn't seem right to just... show up and start ordering him around immediately.

[polarization]

By the time Chivy returned, Sefton had fallen into a light doze. The numbness of his legs had begun to recede, only to leave behind painful icy burning from the frost still clinging to his legs. Thankfully, he was a pretty solid sleeper, and had not rolled himself off the rock at any point during Chivy's absence. At least he had mostly dried off in the brisk wind wafting around the pier, though that didn't necessarily mean he had warmed up.

Cracking his eyes open, he gave Chivy a bleary look. He had a few questions, such as "How long had it been?" or "Where did that (the paddle boat) come from?" In the end, he settled for trying to look alert and not like something the cat had dragged in.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy brought the boat as close to the rock as he could, with the empty side closest. "Are you going to be able to get over here, or do I need to find a way to help without capsizing?" He had other questions to ask, too, but getting Sefton warmer was first priority.

[polarization]

"I can do it," he said, lacking any sort of conviction. Sitting up halfway, he slowly scooted toward the edge, trying his best to ignore the protest of his raw legs scraping against the uneven surface. Taking a look toward the boat, he tried to figure out his landing... then shoved off the rock and landed in the boat.

Sefton almost missed and would have managed to trap himself between a literal rock and hard place, but thankfully only managed to tip the boat enough to let in some water around his feet and nudge the boat away from his previous resting place. Once inside, he shifted so that sitting in the seat properly, then proceeded to curl up on his side, facing Chivy, surprisingly, and wrap his arms around himself.

[lostandfinder]

After making sure that the boat wasn't going to wobble around anymore, Chivy grabbed the towel and stuffed it down by Sefton's feet. That accomplished, he took the blanket and carelessly draped it over Sefton. "And now we head for shore," he announced, suiting action to word and paddling forward.

[polarization]

Sefton shuddered when the blanket hit, then quickly grabbed at it and pulled it tighter around himself. He murmured an agreement and closed his eyes, content to simply feel the boat moving through the water underneath him while willfully trying to warm up.

[lostandfinder]

Chivy kept quiet the whole way, just paying attention to what he was doing, and brought the boat over to one of the docks specifically set aside for the paddle boats. "Your destination, sir," Chivy said, getting out to tie up the boat. He didn't much care if Sefton felt like getting out immediately or just staying where he was now that he had a blanket and was actually out in the sunlight.

[polarization]

Sefton peered out over the docks with dulled curiosity. "Where?" He took a moment to more-properly set the blanket over himself, yet made no move to get out of the boat. To be honest, he had no idea whether he could stand or not. Probably not.

[lostandfinder]

"It's called a pier." Chivy couldn't help making the smart alec remark. "Did you have any ideas how we can get the shoes off?"