2/11 Instance: Camping In

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Slarti
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Title: Damn Not Given
Nightscrawlearth Character: :icey :phoenix

2/11 Instance: Camping In

Post by Slarti »

Timelined after In the Deep Freeze

<Shaw> It was enough wood to last for several hours, he estimated, and if they needed more, Sebastian decided he would deputize Shinobi to fetch it. Stacking the triangular chunks near the fireplace, he straightened up and brushed off his hands, looking around the room. It was... interesting. "Hope should be pleased. She's always going on about camping..."

<Jessica> Jess laughed a little as she finished laying out what little snack foods occupied their cupboards - she'd bought more since Hope moved in but not much more. "I wanted everyone to be comfy and warm... maybe I went overboard."

<Shaw> "No, it's a noble effort." He moved over to the crib, where Miriam was kicking her feet and fumbling with a crinkly toy. "She looks both comfy and warm, and I believe the other children are... using other means to keep themselves warm." Sebastian's face screwed up slightly.

<Jessica> Jess raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh stop being such a baby."

<Shaw> Sebastian looked up at her, his expression the picture of innocence. "I let them stay there, didn't I?" It had taken a tremendous amount of effort, too. He'd found them in a nest of pillows and blankets on his bed, fully dressed, and flipping through a book together.

<Jessica> "You did and I'm very proud of you but they're probably hungry so why don't you tell them we have food."

<Shaw> "I'm certain they know..." He started to turn to Widget, then cocked a brow and instead decided to summon Hope himself. Oh little Stark...

<Hope> I'm still fully dressed, she sent back to him, listening to Shinobi read.

<Jessica> "Mmhmm..." Jess flopped down on the sofa and gathered some blankets around herself, burrowing in and fully intending not to move for some time. Snuggly.

<Shaw> I wasn't asking, but thank you for sharing. If you can tear yourself away from story hour, we have both fire and food upstairs.

<Hope> Food you say? Hope was sold. She kissed Shinobi's cheek. "Hey they have food upstairs. Bring the book with us?"

<Jessica> Jess raised both eyebrows at Sebastian in question.

<Shaw> "They should be joining us shortly." He grinned at Jess and joined her on the sofa.

<Shinobi> "Sure." He flipped the cover closed and sat up carefully to stretch. "We should rescue your Flounder, too."

<Hope> "My fishie!" Hope gathered up the pillow that she had claimed and a blanket she found soft and cuddly. "I don't want to have to go ice fishing to get him. I hope he's okay."

<Jessica> "Good." Jess leaned against him but she wasn't sharing her blankets.

<Shinobi> "I doubt it's that cold in here yet. Probably in the sixties at the worst." He smiled at her pillow hoarding and got up.

<Hope> Armed with her flashlight app, Hope blew out the closest candle. "We ready?"

<Shaw> "Are you warm and comfortable?" Sebastian smirked down at Jess, his arm already around her, extra blanket bulk and all.

<Shinobi> "Yeah, I think so." He pocketed his phone and decided to keep the candle after stuffing a blanket for himself, and his book, under one arm. Once he opened the door, he waited for Hope and offered her his hand. "I could just take us up through the floor, you know."

<Hope> "Do it!" She grinned, taking his hand and lacing their fingers. She glanced to make sure there were no more lit candles before looking back at him, ready.

<Jessica> "I am, thank you very much." She smiled, "Feel safer with all the extra layers too... don't know why that works."

<Shaw> "I promise it's perfectly safe," he said, kissing her through her hair. The wind outside was still howling, and it was impossible to tell how much snow had really fallen, but they were safe.

<Shinobi> "I know you've tried it before, but some people don't like it." He shrugged and phased them both, abandoning the door to start up through the air. "Just remember not to breath inside anything. Bad idea."

<Jessica> "Logically I know that..." She cuddled against him, "But then..." she cringed at another strong gust, "That happens and it goes out my head."

<Shaw> "I understand." He tugged her closer into his side.

<Jessica> She cuddled into him, watching the crib, "Do you think she's warm enough?"

<Shaw> "She was, or at least she was doing an excellent impression of contentment. She was gumming that toy. Would you like me to move her closer to the fire? Or we could hold her..."

<Hope> Hope nodded to Shinobi, careful to pay attention so she wouldn't breathe inside the floor. Or walls. Or anything else for that matter.

<Jessica> "Well... she's probably okay for now... if she gets cold, she can come under here with me."

<Shaw> "Well, we can check her in a while." He nodded, looking over at the crib and noticing a little foot flailing up into the air.

<Shinobi> He hadn't done this with a passenger for some time, and it took concentration, but he brought them up through the house and bypassed the living room - and the fireplace - and went directly to her room.

<Hope> Feet securely on her own floor, Hope grinned at Shinobi and scooped up the betta tank. "Poor Flounder. We didn't forget about you, baby. We came to save you!"

<Shinobi> He snorted softly and moved in to tap the side of the tank. "He seems plenty alive," he observed, when the fish puffed up.

<Hope> Hope laughed as she watched them. "Stairs or shortcut?"

<Shinobi> "So that means you don't mind the shortcut?" He looked up from pestering the fish to meet her eyes.

<Hope> Hope tilted her head slightly, eyes locked on his. After a brief moment she shook her head no. "No I don't mind at all. Plus I love seeing how people use their powers."

<Shinobi> He grinned and straightened up, tossing his blanket over his shoulder and placing the book and candle on the table. "Okay. Let's go then." Taking the fish from her hands for a moment, he put the tank back on the book and scooped her up. "Now get him," he said, and bent a bit to make her task easier.

<Jessica> Jess retreated further under her blanket as the wind continued to howl around the old building, a hand reaching out for the table and the chocolate.

<Hope> Hope laughed as she was scooped up, carefully balancing her pillow, blanket, and then grabbing up Flounder and their other stuff. "Okay, we're ready for lift off!"

<Shaw> Sebastian laughed and fetched her hot chocolate for her, pausing to glance at the ceiling when he heard the voices from upstairs. Sneaky.

<Shinobi> "Well... we're making a descent instead of ascent." Slowly, they started to sink through the floor.

<Hope> Details. Hope would have told him that, but they had already begun to sink through the floor.

<Jessica> Jess thanked him quietly, retracting the hand with the hot chocolate and inhaling the warm scent as she curled up again. Mmmmmm...

<Shaw> Noticing movement from the corner of his eye, Sebastian turned to look. Well... there they are... he sent to Jess.

<Shinobi> Once they cleared the ceiling, he brought them to the floor of the room and looked around, quickly locating his father and Jessica on one of the two sofas.

<Hope> "Thanks," Hope told Shinobi as they landed safely, glancing over at Sebastian and Jess... and the child.

<Jessica> "Hey..." Jess spoke from inside her cocoon, "Help yourselves."

<Shinobi> "No problem." He carefully set her down, taking the book and candle, but kept an arm around her and even ventured to give her a quick kiss to the temple.

<Shaw> One edge of Sebastian's lip curled up, baring his teeth.

<Hope> Hope just smirked and moved to find a safe place for Flounder. "Think he'll be okay over here? He needs to be warm... but not boiled.”

<Jessica> Jess tugged the blanket down a little to peek out, "Yeah... think so..."

<Shinobi> "I thought the cold didn't bother you so much anymore?" Hadn't they just had that conversation? Although he was half asleep at the time, so anything was possible. He smiled at his father and tossed his own blanket and the book on the other sofa.

<Jessica> Jess shook her head, "It doesn't... it's not the cold..."

<Hope> Hope set Flounder down. She eyed the baby a bit, moving to find a seat near the fire. "Do we have marshmallows?"

<Jessica> "Yep, there should be some on the coffee table somewhere..."

<Hope> "Score! I'll be back." Hope abandoned her seat and made for the stairs.

<Shinobi> "Ah... the wind." He looked toward the window, but he couldn't see anything but white. After Hope's disappearance and since Sebastian was still watching them, he strolled past them to the window, still fiddling with the candle, and spared a grin for his father. "It is... nasty."

<Shaw> "Indeed." Sebastian sat back in the sofa and stared up at Shinobi, unimpressed.

<Jessica> "It's horrible and it needs to stop...." She could hear it howling around buildings streets away. It was more than a little unnerving.

<Hope> It didn't take long for the little engineer to have a metal hanger pulled apart. Upon rentry, she made for that bag of marshmallows on the coffee table. "Oh it's awesome outside. I need Drake to be in range. Then it'd be really freaking awesome."

<Shaw> Sebastian was busily engaged in a staring contest with his faux son, so he wasn't listening to the wind, or to Hope.

<Shinobi> "Yeah, you'd be out in it, right?" He decided it wasn't worth it and went to the window to look out.

<Hope> "I'd be making a snowman on the roof," Hope pointed out, taking the bag of marshmallows to her seat by the fire.

<Jessica> "If the cell tower hadn't gone down, I would have a way to get him here..."

<Hope> "I could get him here easy enough. I don't need him here though." She stuck part of the hanger into the fire, sanitizing the tip.

<Jessica> "Nope... he should be safe at home with his family... or he's probably out playing in it like the big kid he is."

<Hope> "You know he's out playing in it. Lucky bastard..." she muttered, pulling the hanger out of the fire and putting a marshmallow onto the end.

<Shinobi> "Crazy people." He couldn't see anything, so he gave up and went back to the fire, by way of the crib. Placing the candle on the mantle, he stared down at his baby sister.

<Jessica> "I wouldn't go out in that... immunity to cold or no."

<Hope> "It's not just being immune to cold... it's being part of the cold. Part of the storm." She shoved her marshmallow back over the fire, slowly roasting it.

<Shinobi> "Isn't that a song?" He looked up from the baby to blink at Hope.

<Shaw> "I thought you would enjoy this little adventure in indoor camping, but I'll draw the line at camping on the roof in this," Sebastian said with a chuckle, keeping one eye on the crib.

<Hope> "Maybe?" She shrugged, giving Sebastian a look. "You people have no sense of adventure."

<Jessica> "I like camping... reminds me of when I was little... but nope... not in this..."

<Shaw> "Not in the outdoors generally, no." He relaxed his death grip on Jessica's blanket to toy with her hair. "Although, I will make an exception for Hawaii, right love?"

<Hope> She rolled her eyes and rotated her marshmallow. "You realized I spent a week in stuff like this on our campout, right? Maybe not this bad, but yeah."

<Shaw> "Yes, and I doubted your sanity then," he said with a nod.

<Jessica> "Hawaii was nice," Jess nodded in agreement, "But there wasn't a blizzard... or even rain. I don't like rain..."

<Hope> "You and your dislike for precipitation..." Hope shook her head. "I'm perfectly sane, thanks. Something... thrilling about surviving on the land."

<Shaw> "Rain is... an irritation, but not often more." Sebastian grinned and lightly tugged a lock of Jessica's hair. "I do like lightning, however."

<Jessica> "I like not electrocuting myself."

<Shaw> "I also liked the waterfall..."

<Shinobi> He reached into the crib and returned the baby's toy. "Surviving on the land?"

<Jessica> Jess grinned, "Yeah... we should go back there sometime."

<Hope> "We only ate what we, well, rather I hunted. Bobby was useless at hunting." Hope watched him with the baby until it was time to take her marshmallow off the hanger and eat it.

<Shinobi> "You hunt, too?" He let the baby grab his fingers, watching her curiously.

<Shaw> "Maybe we should go back this summer then?" Sebastian kept one eye on Shinobi with the baby as well.

<Hope> Hope grinned. "I am an excellent hunter. I lived with this family that did that most of the year. I missed so much school that year," she laughed, popping the marshmallow into her mouth.

<Jessica> "I'd like that... we'd have to find a babysitter though..." Her eyes wandered between Shinobi and Hope.

<Shinobi> "What, they just dragged you into the woods?" He baby snuffled and kicked her legs and he smiled a little.

<Shaw> "True." He looked at Jess, noticing her gaze, then frowned.

<Hope> "Pretty much." She shrugged, putting another marshmallow onto the hanger. "That was the crazy redneck family that taught me about guns."

<Jessica> "Pfft, guns are for sissies."

<Hope> Hope raised an eyebrow at Jess. "Really now?"

<Shinobi> The smile slipped and he swallowed.

<Jessica> "They're noisy and messy... Some people have better and cleaner ways to kill things."

<Hope> "I can use a bow, just not as good with that. Unless Barton is around." She turned her marshmallow a bit, inspecting it as it roasted. "Should get back to practicing with that."

<Jessica> Jess wrinkled her nose, "Still messy..."

<Shinobi> He withdrew his hand from the baby and crossed his arms, backing away a couple steps.

<Shaw> Sebastian watched, tensing to get up.

<Hope> Glancing over at Shinobi, Hope cussed up a storm in her mind. She knew better than that. She touched his mind gently.

<Jessica> There was tension now, it was noticeable even without the extra clues from her empathy. Jess attempted to use that to her advantage, sending out some calm that she had now that the conversation had distracted her from the weather.

<Shinobi> He jumped a little from the telepathic contact and stared blankly in Hope's direction. All he could remember was the blood and the chaos, and now, her face.

<Hope> She popped her cooked marshmallow in her mouth and moved to Shinobi, taking his hands. Come back... she begged him, doing all she could to shove those memories aside before she could remember it from her own perspective.

<Shaw> Hope... get away from him. Sebastian pushed himself up from the sofa, calculating how quickly he could move between them.

<Hope> I've got this, she sent to Sebastian to shut him up, focusing on Shinobi's mind. If it made him feel better, she made David's power active and reached out to Shinobi again. Obi... please...

<Jessica> Jess refocused her attempts at calm on Shinobi from her spot on the sofa.

<Shaw> Like hell you do. This is what I warned you about. He stepped between Shinobi and the crib, but watched Hope. Koibito...

<Jessica> I'm on it, Jess sat and watched from her spot, Sebastian was there and her reactions were good enough that she'd get over there fast if anything happened.

<Shinobi> He blinked, refocused, and realized he wasn't seeing Hope in his memories.

<Hope> It'll be fine. she sent Sebastian, annoyed that he kept distracting her from her task. Obi?

<Shinobi> She was holding his hands, and he gasped at the realization.

<Jessica> "Everything okay now?" Jess broke the silence.

<Hope> That was a loaded question. Hope wasn't entirely sure he was back, but at least she was between him and Sebastian.

<Shaw> "Hope..." Sebastian looked in the crib, ensuring Miriam was all right.

<Shinobi> He lurched forward and yanked her hands simultaneously.

<Hope> Hope stumbled a bit at the pull and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

<Jessica> Jess smiled a little, Stop fussing. Bring her over here if you're that worried....

<Shaw> Sebastian watched them for a moment, eyes narrowed, then turned and picked up the baby.

<Shinobi> He held onto her, eyes closed now, and turned his face into her hair. Sorry. I'm okay.

<Shaw> Rolling his eyes at that leaked thought, he decided to tighten his own shielding and returned to the sofa with Miriam.

<Hope> I've got you... I've got you. Hope nuzzled Shinobi, stroking his cheek. You're fine. I'm so sorry.

<Jessica> "Hello baby," Jess cooed, at the arrival of Miriam beside her.

<Shinobi> He could only hope she didn't see what he'd seen. It wasn't anything useful, of course, just horror at what he'd done.

<Shaw> He passed Miriam over and knelt in front of Jess, deciding he was closer to any potential problems. This was what I warned her about.

<Hope> What do you need? How can I help? Hope asked, looking up at his face.

<Jessica> And she's handling it. Jess cradled her baby, all smiles for her.

<Shaw> For now. The moment had taken even him off guard, and he shifted to watch the couple again.

<Shinobi> Surprised, he met her eyes and raised one hand to her face. He tried and failed to hide his shaking.

<Hope> I'm here... and I'm fine. She told him gently, nuzzling his hand. Though that wasn't entirely true. She could feel the headache starting, but she was hell bent on ignoring it.

<Jessica> Give them some credit, will you? She was sure her frustration bled over the link there.

<Shaw> Sebastian felt that, and looked back at Jess with a raised eyebrow. I'm not pulling him off her, am I?

<Shinobi> No thanks to me. He looked away from her to watch the fire.

<Hope> We're beyond that. She gently pulled on his face to turn it back to her. Obi...

<Jessica> But you're doubting their ability to manage their own problems, she glanced over at them.

<Shaw> Sebastian's eyebrow cranked even higher.

<Jessica> If they want help, they'll ask for it. Until then, helping will just make it worse.... stop giving me that look.

<Shinobi> He nodded and let her move him, resting his forehead against hers.

<Hope> I'm with you. That's what matters now. Not then. That's over. She closed her eyes and breathed him in. And I'm here for you too. And she as so glad she had this new power!

<Shinobi> It was overwhelming, and he swallowed down the lump in his throat. Thank you. Now it was time to get his shit together, and he took a deep breath. It just... took me off guard.

<Shaw> Sebastian snorted quietly and turned, sitting on the floor in front of Jess and resting his head on her leg. He kept his opinion to himself.

<Hope> I should have known better. I'm so sorry, Obi. She leaned up to kiss him softly.

<Jessica> Jess stroked her fingers idly through Sebastian's hair, if he was refraining from comment it meant she won.

<Shaw> He closed his eyes and enjoyed the contact and the heat of the fire, but kept an ear open.

<Shinobi> It's not your fault. He knew it wasn't his exactly, either, but he was still surprised at the kiss. That surprise didn't stop him from moving to return it, however, any witnesses be damned.
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