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The cold, bashing wind of Dragonspine attacked its icy hills, as Felix pushed through the thick snow. He’s capable of withstanding the cold for quite a while, but he hadn’t come across a fire in some time; it was getting dangerous. The wind at night was more chilling and intense than usual, so even if he tried his best for heat, he was always in danger. Every exhale filled the empty surroundings with chilled air. He was only halfway up the mountain, and every step was a challenge.
“Hey, traveller! Please, stay there for a moment.” Rang out a voice from somewhere in the fog. Looking to the sound of the voice, he saw a boy in a white coat running after him from behind; his close friend, and Tevyat’s best alchemist: Albedo. Albedo had his workshop up on the mountain, taking space in a small cave. “Felix, I apologise this is such short notice, but would you like to accompany-” He took hold of Felix’s hand, then immediately recoiled when his cold skin made both of them shudder. “Oh, good heavens! You’re so cold… Please, come with me.” Despite the previous shudder, he took a tight grasp of Felix’s hand once more, seemingly not taking a refusal as an answer. Albedo attempted to pull Felix down, but was met with a small stumble and a fall onto his knees from Felix. To the traveller, things were direr than he thought. He hadn’t noticed his energy being sapped from his legs as the cold made them numb.
Albedo hurried beside him, kneeling onto one knee as he held the cold traveller. “Forgive me, but you really should take better care…” The alchemist leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Felix. His arms felt lovely in comparison to the cold. “Don’t worry, let’s go.” Albedo put an arm under Felix’s legs and another holding his back, picking him up in his arms, carrying him down the mountain.
Carrying the cold traveller in his arms, he took him down back to his workshop, laying the shivering traveller by the fire in the middle of the cave. While usually neutral, Albedo felt worried for him. It was very lonely up in the mountains, so it was always nice whenever the Felix was near. Taking off his coat, he laid it on top of Felix, though carefully avoiding the flames. “Stay there, I’ll make you something nice.” The alchemist said, placing his hand through Felix’s hair and stroking comfortably.
Wandering over to the cooking pot he had in the corner of the room, he prepared him some goulash, a meaty dish known to heat up the body and soul greatly; perfect for a place such as Dragonspine. Albedo personally didn’t enjoy food with a lot of meat, having more of a sweet tooth for various desserts. Fortunately, he had enough meat to prepare some food just for this. Stirring the bowl, he came back over to Felix, who had regained a lot of the colour in his skin. Placing the bowl next to Felix, he sat behind the traveller, pulling him closer to lean his head on the alchemist’s chest. Felix cupped the bowl in his hands, almost dropping it as he was still weak. Albedo reached around Felix, moving his hands to take hold of Felix’s cold hands, helping guide the bowl to his lips.
Slowly, Albedo felt the close body of the traveller heat up, eventually enough to pick up some of the meat and feed it to him. The warmth of Albedo’s body helped greatly too, both for warming Felix’s body, and for making him feel much happier. Finally, with enough strength: “Thank you, Albedo…” Putting down the half-eaten goulash, Felix turned on his front, guiding Albedo to lay back on the floor with him. Felix laid comfortably with his head against Albedo’s chest, both of them using his coat as a blanket. Felix was short enough that the coat completely covered him, but Albedo’s boots lay out the bottom; not that he was all too bothered, as long as Felix was here, he was okay.
Originally, Albedo was looking for him so he could sketch the traveller, but that could wait until morning. When he gets the chance, he’ll put all his heart in capturing the beauty he saw in his traveller friend, more beautiful than any landscape.
