Chapter Text
It had been years since blaseball ended. The black hole having taken away every trace of its presence, the immaterial plane was a different place. Former stadiums and offices had been reduced to flat patches of grass and dirt and all traces of its history, memorabilia, even a sizable amount of people's memories, were gone.
Prime spent a lot of time pondering it. It could feel quiet without the ever-present looming eyes of the gods and Fans he had grown so accustomed to. Only a few gods had been seen since season 24 and even the ones that were around weren't exactly ever-present anymore, the Reader could even pass as any other travelling clairvoyant.
He sat on the frosted grass outside their home, carefully looking up at the daytime sky. Despite it all, there was still a sun, though nowhere near as hot or bright as the semicentennial's array. It was nice.
A delicate breeze brushes past. Calm as could be, he lays down, his warmth quickly melting the dusting of ice and promptly soaking his hair and back.
His eyes drift shut, dipping into daydreams of times long gone.
~~~
A chill darts through his spine, pushing him upright and out of his thoughts. He sits bewildered for a moment, even when laying on ice actually feeling the cold enough to bother him was uncommon, both as the firewalker and someone who grew up in Alaska. He looks at the sky and sighs, dusts himself off, then heads back inside.
“Hi, Prime! Welcome back.” Four greets him as he enters the main room, as per usual. He and Three were on the sofa reading something together.
“is it raining?” Three asks despite having a clear view outside, wondering what the acceptable way to ask why someone is wet is.
“No, it’s sunny. I just got cold laying on the grass.”
Four winces slightly before quickly falling back to his usual carefree grin. “You got cold? That doesn’t happen very often.” Despite his smile, he can’t hide the tinge of concern.
“Well, it’s not impossible. It won’t take long to warm back up.” Prime chuckles out of some mix of lightening the mood and reassurance. “I’m going to dry off and change, you two enjoy your book.”
~~~
Alaska is just cold. Prime knew this, but he knew the cold too. As the day continued on, he couldn’t shake the dread that had stuck itself in his mind.