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Scott Smajor was never cold. That was a fact that everyone who knew him was well aware of. Snow and ice were like a second skin to him. He never had to worry about winter weather. He had ice powers, for void’s sake.
And yet.
He shivered uncontrollably. Was this what others felt when he froze them? No wonder they hated it. This was awful.
He curled tighter into his blankets. He normally didn’t bother crafting them, but this season he was spending every piece of wool he got his hands on on the stupid things.
Then there was the fireplace. Scott had always, always hated fire. He hated the sight of it, hated the smell of smoke, hated the stifling heat. Now he was sitting in front of a large fireplace, as close as he dared to get without burning himself. He loathed to admit it, but it was helping a lot.
Despite all of this, he was still absolutely freezing. His fingers were tinged blue, he couldn’t feel his toes, and his body absolutely refused to stop shivering.
There was only one possible explanation: his soulmate. Pearl had made it her mission to torment him, and had recently figured out that powdered snow was a particularly effective method.
She had been in there for hours now. His heartbeat was slow, so she had probably passed out at some point. He wasn’t sure how much longer they would last. There was no way he would be able to get food to heal them, much less find her and warm her up.
He was startled out of his thoughts by someone knocking at his door. He relaxed a little at the familiar pattern of taps. “C-come in,” he called.
Cleo let herself in, crossing the room to him swiftly. They sat beside him, giving him a once over. “Your lips are blue,” she noted, a hint of worry creeping into their voice.
“S-so a-are my f-fingers,” he stuttered. Their frown deepened.
“Do you need anything?” She asked gently.
“Y-you as m-my a-actual s-soulm-mate.”
They cracked a small smile. “That would be nice, but is unfortunately outside of my jurisdiction. Could I get you a warm meal instead?”
“Yes p-please.”
She went to his furnaces and set to work prepping some baked potatoes. They came back after a bit, and set the potatoes in front of him. He took them gratefully.
As he ate, she pulled out her comm and typed something. “Asking people to look for her,” they explained.
They set it down when they were done, and slid closer to him. She pressed her shoulder to his, and he leaned in. For the first time in a while, the biting chill wasn’t so bad.
He dozed off for a bit. When he woke up, he was wrapped in Cleo’s arms. “G’morning,” she said softly, “Ranchers said they found her. She’s with them now.”
He did feel a slight warmth in his chest. He was still cold, but it wasn’t so bad anymore. He made a mental note to send Jimmy some sort of thank you when they got back to Empires.
For now, though, he was cold, and Cleo was somehow warm, and he was perfectly content to stay tucked in his soulmate’s arms.