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Sampo was a dead man. That is if you survived this blizzard outside Belobog. Sampo “Conman” Koski had sent you a message not asking—but begging for help in delivering his newest invention, something he found in the trash in Rivet Town. Out of the kindness of your heart you agreed and came over only to find that outside Belobog was a massive blizzard. The snow is aggressive, the falling snowflakes burn into your skin and the wind feels as if it's biting at every contact it makes.
Serval finds you once you reach inside the walls of the city, your teeth chattering and skin absolutely frozen to the touch. The heating systems weren't working well inside the walls, so the inner city was only a fraction warmer.
“You're lucky I was out here fixing these things when you came by.” Serval says in disbelief, nudging the heat lamp by her shop.
She frowns at you in concern.
“What're you doing here? There's been a blizzard warning for a couple days.”
“Sampo.” You mutter with numb lips.
She draws back with an “Right. I see.”
Serval sighs and wraps an arm around your shoulders, leading you with her.
“Well come on. You can stick out with me and Geppie. The Landau siblings will take care of ya!” She laughs, lightening the mood before she looks at you with a smirk.
“One of them might even do more than that.” She teases and you push her off of you, despite knowing you'd lose her merciful body heat.
“Shut up.” Your teeth chatter as you speak.
You and Gepard had a weird dynamic. You were friendly. Friends even, but at some point along being friends, Gepard had grown a bit awkward with you. He would avoid your eyes if he felt you were staring too long, his hand would fall naturally at your shoulder or the small of your back when you walked alongside him, but then he'd pull away quickly like you burned him.
He was still friendly, a tad protective. He'd check in on you via text, call or in person if he could, inquiring about your health, and he used his position as captain to fix some of your more menial problems such as the street in front of your hotel not being being lit up at night and he always insisted on accompanying you outside of Belobog on Jarilo-VI.
Yet, you did not live here. You were much more nomadic, like the Nameless, travelling between planets. If you had a home it would be the space station, but Belobog was a close second. Serval would mess with you, texting you about how sad and lost her brother looked when you weren't around.
Serval brings you inside Gepard's place, which was also hers since he spent most of his nights in the barracks anyways. They made the agreement since Gepard didn't want his sister to worry about having a place if she didn't need to. She tosses a blanket at you and disappears, mentioning something about checking the power downstairs before the storm gets crazier.
She's gone for a while, leaving you to shiver on the couch, tightly clutching the blanket around you.
The door opens and slams shut. You turn to see Gepard covered in snow. You keep quiet and watch him as he shuffles in, tugging his uniform off to reveal his plain white long sleeve underneath. He turns and stops in his tracks when he sees you.
He's at your side in a second, worriedly touching your forehead, your wrists and the side of your neck to check your temperature and pulse.
“Where did you come from?” He exclaims, sounding mortified. “You didn't just come from outside did you? There's a serious snowstorm and you could have gotten hurt–” He begins to lecture you, not noticing how close he is, his hands having found their way to your face, cupping your cheeks.
He coughs, face turning red as he pulls away.
“Are you alright?” He asks, softer.
You nod, still shivering. He frowns scanning the blanket you have around you. He lets out a low scoff.
“That's not nearly sufficient enough to keep you warm. Wait here.” He sighs to himself, walking down the hall with a mission.
You still can't feel your legs so wandering off wasn't a concern as you sit back in wait.
When Gepard returns your jaw drops. He has what looks like ten blankets folded in his arms–they nearly topple over him, that's how many he grabbed.
“Gepard, I really don’t need that many–”
“Nonsense. You aren't from here so you are not as attuned to the cold weather, much less these extreme conditions we get on occasion.” He interrupts without budging.
You sigh begrudgingly and he wraps as many of his blankets around you before you risk losing breath under the weight. To which he then removes a couple.
You still can barely move under the mountain of blankets. Gepard hovers over you like he’s considering adding more even though he just removed some.
“I think I’m so warm, I’ll start melting into your couch.” You mumble, voice even more incoherent as it gets muffled by the thick quilt in the first layer of your new skin.
He stops and takes a step back, nodding with a satisfied noise.
“Good. Then maybe you’ll learn not to be so reckless.” He furrows his brows. “I mean—a blizzard! What were you thinking?” He exclaims, exasperated.
You wrestle your head out from the blankets to blink up at him. “To be fair, I didn’t walk into a blizzard knowing it was a blizzard. Sampo wasn’t exactly clear on the perilous weather when he asked me to play deliveryman. No note of the copious amounts of sharp ice and snow particles that stab your face.”
You thought you were getting worked up, but Gepard straight up freezes.
“Sampo?” He says eerily calm. “Sampo is the reason for this? I should have—”
“He said it was urgent!” You sputter, assuming you were about to get scolded big time. “A ‘brilliant business opportunity’ and ‘help a buddy out’. He didn’t say anything else.”
He exhales sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yes…I should have known. That man has his filthy hands in every problem around here…”
“I mean, I’m okay now.” You mumble, trying to give Sampo some grace. Gepard looked like he was only another minute away from finding the goofball and maybe tossing him in cuffs for a bit.
“You could have gotten seriously hurt.” Gepard snaps—not at you. His face softens as he takes in your face still recovering from the cold and the watery lines under your eyes from the stinging winds and snow outside. “I…” He stiffens, glancing away for a moment.
“I’m really fine now. A lot better with the fifty blankets I’m swaddled in.” You reassure with a slight teasing look.
He huffs but you see a small smile appear on his face. “I’m glad.”
“But you shouldn’t have been out there. Especially not on the whim of some idiot like Koski.”
You laugh.
“Understood, Captain. Should I get your approval for future similar events? Or refer to you when Sampo makes contact?”
The tips of his ears turn red. “I mean—” He stutters, “Just come to me okay? For help.”
“Even if it’s Sampo related?” You tease, leaning off the couch toward him.
“Especially if it’s Sampo.” He mutters.
You laugh again, short but full of that warm joy Gepard always seems to inspire when he’s around. You lean back against the couch. Gepard follows and sits next to you, stiffly. You can see his hand twitching near you like he wants something but can’t quite do it himself.
“You were out there a while too I’m sure.” You murmur. “Being all heroic, saving stranded citizens…”
He scoffs lightheartedly at your praise, but he freezes when you extend one of the blankets his way.
“Want to share? Can’t have the Captain cold either. What would the Silvermane do without you?” You grin softly.
He chuckles, and hesitantly takes the offered blanket, wrapping it around his shoulders. The blanket’s not too large so he has to shuffle closer to you on the couch, something neither of you complain about.
You can practically hear him manually breathe as you two sit there together, shoulders pressed against each other’s. It’s loud even against the wind howling outside.
After a moment, you speak just above a whisper.
“You’re really warm, you know that?”
His shoulder goes rigid against yours and you can see his face flush a deep red,
“Well—I do run hot. A-And the people of Belobog have naturally adapted to such low temperatures over the years.”
“Guess you’re more effective than these blankets.” You suggest lightly, glancing up at him with a small smile.
He almost shortcircuits again but then he just laughs, a breathy and warm laugh that has your ears heating up this time. He doesn’t reply further, but his arm slowly winds around you, grasping your side and pulling you closer. He doesn’t address it—and you don’t quite care to either.
“Let’s keep each other warm then…for a while longer.” He murmurs, avoiding your eyes.
Later, Serval is distracted with some mechanical parts in her hands, coming up the stairs and spots you and her brother half asleep together on the couch. She covers her mouth and instantly fumbles for her phone. The flash goes off and she curses, running off before she gets caught.
Gepard rouses, eyes still half shut. He’s still alert, scanning the area but when he finds nothing he sighs softly and sinks back into the couch, tightening his arms around you. Sampo Koski lives another day—for his unintended act of kindness.