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When it had first started, he had gotten the feeling like a strong icy breeze just went over him and he really didn't think that much of it, a house needed ventilation after all, and the weather hadn't been particularly good. So he had simply laid down the stuff he was holding at that moment and gone to his bedroom to dig through the closet and put on an extra layer of clothes. It hadn't taken a tick of damage off of him anyway, it was just, very uncomfortable?
But when it didn't stop he did gradually start to worry, it really couldn't be that cold in his house, even in a wooden house the insulation wasn't normally this bad. What in the Watcher's name was his soulmate doing to them? It was the only logical explanation to the overwhelming cold taking over his body, he had checked and it wasn't like he had left a window open.
By the time his first tick of damage was taken from him he had wrapped himself in every blanket he was able to find around the house. (Which of course still wasn't enough) He had already lost all feeling down in his feet. He was hopelessly pacing around the house with the hope that moving enough would warm him up, but it didn't and he eventually gave up, curling into a fluffy ball of blankets on his bed.
Not long after, he heard a vibration coming from the communicator in his pocket, but couldn't bring up the energy needed to take it out and look at it, because that meant taking his hands away from under the covers. If someone really needed to tell or ask him something, they should just come over for a visit.
And that visit did come, it was barely a few minutes—or two more damaging ticks—later he could hear the front door opening.
"Who's there?!" He manages to yell downstairs through gritted teeth, trying to keep his mouth closed as if it would betray him and let warmth escape through his breath.
"Scott it's me!" A familiar voice said from down at the entrance, it was Cleo, his friend, his—albeit self chosen—soulmate.
Scott didn't respond back, he didn't feel like it, the cold wasn't getting better and if you asked him, Cleo was allowed to snoop around his house as they pleased.
But apparently they weren't there because they needed something from him, their head appearing at the entrance of the room, about to ask something when they noticed Scott wasn't doing so well and hurrying to his side, forgetting what they were even here for.
They sat down on the side of the bed and looked at Scott, "What happened Scottie?" They asked carefully, pinching one of the hairs that had gotten in Scott's face between two fingers to carefully move it out of the way so they could see his face better, a face from which the color was drained.
The touch was brief and minimal, but it was warm, and looking up at Cleo he tried to follow their hand to get more of it. Because while Cleo might be a zombie, and zombie's aren't necessarily known for their body warmth, Scott was so cold he craved anything that felt even slightly warmer then the cold running through his body.
"My body is fr-free-freezing," His breath was heaving inconsistently, "I think Pearl is doing something."
Cleo's facial expression turned more annoyed, "I already thought something sketchy was going on."
"What?" Scott asked, confused, looking up at them with a desperate look on his face.
"Well I saw Pearl walking around with a bucket of powdered snow this morning, and when I asked she said it was for a trap. I should've known something bad was going on, but I let it go." They sighed with pity for the other.
"She wouldn't actually kill me right?" He asked, he knew death was inevitable during the games, but this would be an incredibly painful one he would really like to avoid.
"No, she is crazy, not stupid," Cleo said, "but she'll probably try to push the limits."
Their words were just confirming what he was already afraid of, but there was nothing he could really do.
He nudged for Cleo to come closer, and when they did he pushed himself against them. Cleo cooperated, thinking they understood as Scott enjoyed the warmer feeling against his body and especially his face.
They sat there like that in silence for a while, Cleo caressing his face gently while he shivered and whined every time he lost yet another tick of damage.
"Hey Cleo-" He mumbled softly.
"Yes Scott?" She answered almost immediately.
"Can't you message someone if they can check on Pearl? Make her stop." He shivered, "Hasn't she been talking with Ren lately, you know, their little club with Martyn?"
Cleo chuckles, they knew it was true. Ren had been talking more with those two after he'd discovered BigB was talking to Grian behind his back.
"I can try, but no guarantees." They responded, and Scott nodded, content with the answer.
They took out their communicator and managed to open it up with their arms wrapped around Scott. Opening up a private chat with RenTheDog she started typing, Scott watching as they did.
"Just uhm…" He started, but stopped as he realized how stupid he was about to sound.
"What?"
"No, nothing, nothing." He tried reassuring them it really was.
Unfortunately for him Cleo wasn't easily tricked, "Scott, there's something you want to tell me, I'm not stupid either."
"Well uh, maybe don't tell Ren how bad I'm handling this, he's- he's not a bad person, but he talks, a lot." He swallowed, trying not to make it come off wrong, "Before you know it everyone knows and they'll all be after us you know."
"Smart," Cleo remarked, understanding the point he was trying to make, "We haven't really been making many friends around here, have we?"
"We have each other-" He tried to look up at Cleo, but the position they had taken together didn't really allow for it, "That's enough for me."
"I agree," Cleo says from behind him, pressing a kiss to the back of his head as she finishes typing and sends the message.
From there they could only wait, he let Cleo talk to him about nothing in particular to distract him and let his mind dozed off in the meanwhile.
Eventually he notices the cold throughout his body is rapidly warming up, letting go of the blankets a little to cuddle up against his chosen soulmate better as he almost starts crying in happiness, in relief.
"Ren- I think he was able to convince her-" He managed to bring out, and Cleo smiled at him, genuinely happy for him as the color started to return to his face.
He will have to talk with Pearl about this later, figure out if something specific made her want to do this to keep it from happening again.
But for now, for now he just wanted to be with Cleo. He had made it out of the entire situation with barely 2 hearts left. It had just come as a brutal reminder to him how uncertain life within the games was, and how—especially with a deranged soulmate like his—life could be over before he could do anything about it.