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Abolish could see his own breaths in the air, almost as visible as the smoke coming from his lantern, his lips trembling every time he breathed out. His gloved fingers dug into the metal, hardly an inch away from the flickering flames. He was lucky that the fire didn't hurt him, or he would surely have awful burns by now - something he wasn't sure would be that much of a deterrant in his search for warmth.
His head rested on top of the lantern, raven-black curls falling on top of the equally dark metal. If he allowed his thoughts to wander a little more than he usually let them, he could almost imagine that the fire was trying to get closer to him, warm him up even more so he wouldn't freeze to death in this stupid cave. The thought was ridiculous, but it still made his heart flutter just a little at the idea of something caring about him. Even if that something was his lantern rather than an actual person.
"Gosh, why did I have to come here so late in the year," he huffed, quiet enough that no one could hear him save for himself and his lantern. Not like anyone would even be out here this late at night during a snowstorm. "If only I could've… come here in June, maybe. Or… April, since June might be a little hot. That's- when my birthday is, though, so maybe… after that."
A weak, bitter laugh left him, taking most of his energy with it. He was surely going to die in here and no one would even realize he was gone, not until someone noticed that the town was out of silver or the vampires were defeating them way quicker. Maybe no one would even figure that out, and someone would just happen to come down here to mine and stumble across his body, freezing cold and still hugging a meaningless metal object as if it were a stuffed animal.
He shifted, his jacket catching against the rough stone wall behind him, and an idea bubbled up in the back of his mind. A very, very dumb idea, but an idea nonetheless - which was better than he'd come up with until now. The metal clattered against the rock as he set it down gently as he could, then shrugged off his jacket. He was immediately hit with even more cold, but he fought through his shivering to crumple up his jacket, tipping the lantern over until the flames touched the fabric.
For a few horribly long moments, he thought it wasn't going to work. Then, dragging out a heavy sigh of relief, the jacket caught fire, bright red and orange dancing across it until the entire thing was engulfed. He rested the lantern next to it and opened up his bag, beginning to search for any other kindling he could use.
Soon enough, he was kneeling in front of a wonderful, warm fire, having stacked a few miscellaneous items on top of his jacket to keep it going for as long as he could. Regardless of if he needed anything in his bag, at the moment he needed to live more. To no one in particular - or at least he told himself it wasn't directed at anyone - he whispered, "Thank you."
His eyes flicked over to his lantern for a split second, before focusing back on the fire. He was all too familiar with the various symptoms of exhaustion and hypothermia and minor injuries and every other thing he was probably afflicted with by now. The loss of cognitive function was the main issue he was probably experiencing, making him think… whatever he was thinking. Thoughts like how his lantern cared about him somehow, even if that was entirely impossible. Honestly, the mere thought was laughable, because the only magic in that thing was from him, and that didn't provide it with any sentience or ability to care about people.
Lowering his trembling hands down into his lap, he tried not to think about it too much. He just needed to get a good night's sleep once he was home, and then all of this would be over, his thoughts returning to normal and his energy back at regular levels. But a strange sense of guilt twisted in his gut from how he was completely dismissing the thing which was quite literally saving his life at the moment, as dumb as it still felt for him to be personifying a random object so much.
One of his hands reached over almost on its own, grabbing the handle of the lantern and pulling it closer to himself. The metal scraped quietly against the stone until he settled it next to him, brushing a gloved thumb across the top of it, relaxing at how warm and smooth the near-black metal was beneath his grip. He traced circles against it, adjusting his position until he was sitting on the ground again with the lantern pressed against his hip.
"This isn't that bad," he murmured, glancing down. His eyes settled on the lantern beside him - more importantly what was mostly trapped behind the metal. Flames flickered red, orange, yellow, maybe a hint of white if he squinted, dancing against his black pants but not catching them on fire. "It's… well, it's quiet, at least, and I sure can't say that about the town. Or outside right now, with how loud the storm is in here, I can only imagine it's a lot worse out there."
He looked back up at the flames, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. There was absolutely no way he could safely fall asleep at the moment, but the temptation was there, the fire in front of him warm and the lantern beside him comforting to an embarrassing degree.
Part of him wanted to pick it up like one would a plushie, hug it against his chest just to really know it was there. He never let anything or anyone near his chest when that could completely ruin everything for him, so the urge was… strange, to say the least. Most of him thought that idea was stupid and, even if there wasn't anyone else here to see, he wouldn't ever live that down. He'd already done that earlier and he could not stoop so low ever again.
Running the handle between his thumb and the side of his finger, he murmured, "You're quiet, at least. Well, I can hear the… fire, and everything, but that's a nice sound." He cleared his throat as his face warmed, this time not from the fire - not in the way it should be warming him up. "I don't know. It's… stupid. Maybe I've finally gone crazy, I mean- I'm talking to a lantern right now."
His gaze flicked down again, unable to stop himself from giving into the urge to just stare. Studying the way the metal was put together, the way it faintly reflected the firelight, the minimal amount of detail that somehow looked even more interesting than the fancy lanterns he saw back at home. He noticed a few blemishes, scrapes and specks of dirt from how much he'd been dragging it around; he'd need to clean it at some point once he got home.
"I think I am just going crazy." With a weak laugh, he finally relented and lifted up the lantern, wrapping his arms around it once again. Tucking his face against the top of it, he whispered, "But this… isn't that bad, I think. I'm not telling anyone about this, though. I- I think I'd rather die than have… anyone else know about- whatever, uh, this is."
He leaned back against the wall behind him, extending his legs forward to stretch for a few seconds, before tucking them even closer to himself. He pressed the lantern against his thighs, leaning over it in something reminiscent of curling up into a pathetic ball. But there wasn't anyone around to see him, no one except him and his lantern, and his eyes fluttered closed with a small yawn.
"I like this," he murmured, curling his fingers around the metal. "We should… do this more often." A soft snort left him, pressing his face firmer against the top of his lantern. It was simple, as warm as the rest of the metal was, although it didn't give at all beneath him like an actual stuffed toy would. "Not- Not this, exactly. I'm not going to… get stuck in a cave again, not intentionally, at least. Just, uh…"
He trailed off, the words lodging in his throat, fists suddenly clenching around the object in his arms. The fire felt only a little unpleasant this close, comforting for the most part. Then, slowly, he took a deep breath, forcing out, "I don't know, uh, cuddling? Whatever this is. It's… really nice, just.. being here, with you."
The flames crackled in front of him, still working to keep the cave as warm as they could, while the fire from the lantern in his arms only heated him up now. With a groan, he leaned over until his side rested against the ground; the lantern was still tucked as close as he could get it to his chest. "I think I'm… gonna take a nap. Really quick."
He was going to feel so humiliated in the morning, but that was a problem for the future Abolish who could very well wake up to one of his fellow townsfolk calling his name while he was still curled up around his lantern - right now, he needed to sleep.
And God fucking dammit was he going to regret burning his jacket.