Coming In Out of the Cold

[f_steak]

The blizzard had struck without warning. If there HAD been a warning, Chie hadn't seen it. The cabin didn't get TV reception all the way out in the mountains. Despite the heavy parka and thick mittens, her teeth were chattering, and her whole body shivered violently as she crunched across the deep white fields. Ducking her head against a swirl

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[doomed_by_canon]

(OOC: Two months later, a new challenger appears! I hope you're still interested in this, because I sure was when I came across it. :x)

So there Shinji was, staring at the Dark Hour sky with the eyes of a man who'd already accepted his fate. The decision had been rash, but he knew that the kid didn't deserve to die so early. Neither did he, but life's unfair like that. In any case, he had been ready to die from the get-go, and when its cold embrace finally overtook his senses, he relaxed, knowing that Akihiko and the others would be able to carry on and defeat the Shadows even without him.

At least, that's what the brunette thought before suddenly bolting upright, up-heaving quite a bit of snow that was covering his body. Confusion settled immediately. Firstly, what was he doing alive (a quick check pulse verified he was indeed still living)? And second of all, what the hell was he doing buried in snow? However, there was nobody around to answer his questions; all he could see around him were the winds blowing, snow falling, and a lit cabin just a few feet away from him.

Though he was still bewildered, his survival instincts kicked in, and he made his way into the cabin, shaking snow off his clothes and plopping down gracelessly before the fireplace. Judging from the bags lying on the bed in the corner of the cabin and the fact that there was a fire already going, someone else was staying here. Well, he could explain it later. What were they going to do, kick him out and make him face the storm?

...They wouldn't right?

[f_steak]

(OOC: Absolutely! :D)

There was only one way to find out!

It was between one and two hours later that the first sounds of the owner's approach could be heard, a half-hearted stamping of boots on the front porch to dislodge the clumps of snow from her legs and feet. Chie could have sworn she got more training just walking through that stuff than she got from performing all her moves. She pushed open the unlocked door, ignoring the squeal of the hinges, shaking out her wet hair with her fingers.

"Brrrrrrrr!" she exclaimed to no one in particular, her body moving on instinct rather than any real conscious guidance as her feet carried her in a beeline straight for the gas fireplace she'd left on. It hardly mattered if it would end up costing her more, the last thing she wanted was to come back to a cold cabin!

Plopping down unceremoniously on the fur rug, right next to her visitor, she held her numbed hands out toward the heat. It wasn't home, but it was definitely good to be back, surrounded by things of comfort. A plush couch with a fur throw, a handmade table with a bowl and an unopened can of soup just waiting to be devoured, some tasteful paintings, a hobo, a lamp with an orange shade that cast a comforting glow on the--

Hobo?!

Chie's head whipped around as she leaped gracefully to her feet. ...If you counted a newborn calf stumbling upright for the first time as 'graceful'. "Wh-wh-who are y-you!" she stammered, not out of fear, but because her teeth were still chattering.

[doomed_by_canon]

Sometime between that hour or two, Shinji had become quite comfortable in front of the fire, going so far as to make himself a cup of hot cocoa. As he held the Trial of the Dragon mug in his hands, he put some thought into his current predicament.

~I'm alive, but somehow I've ended up on in a log cabin on a mountain... There's no TV or radio, and all I have with me are some suppressants and my Evoker. Hell, for all I know, I could be somewhere far away from home...~

Distressing thoughts, for sure, and Shinji would have mulled it over some more if he hadn't run out of cocoa. While he wanted to get up and have another drink, the heat from the fire was finally warming him up, and fatigue he had not yet realized he had was setting upon him. With a yawn, the teen set the mug down in front of him and slumped over, letting sleep whisk him away.

That is, until a stuttering cry yanked him back to reality (if you could call this weird alternative to death such). Whirling towards the sound of the voice as he pushed himself up Shinji simply stared at the girl in front of him for a few moments, his dazed mind formulating a response. After nearly five terse seconds of silence...

"I'm Shinjiro. And I'm alive."

Probably not the best reply he could have come up with, but being alive was pretty damn significant to Shinji at the time, considering how he had just taken a bullet not too long ago.

...

Actually, in context, that was probably a pretty stupid-sounding statement.

(OOC: Woo! And here I thought I'd be missing out on a cool Chie just because I didn't keep an eye on the comm for two months ffff)

[f_steak]

"Well I can see th-that," Chie grumbled, peering at the stranger. Shinjiro. So he was Japanese, then. Or at least, she assumed he was.

For a long time she did nothing more than stare at him, gauging his threat level. He wasn't pulling a weapon, so that was good. He also wasn't making any lewd remarks, or staring at inappropriate places (though considering she was a big ball of coat and winter equipment, what was there really to see?!), and most importantly of all...she wanted to bask in front of that fireplace, and in the end, it won over her suspicions.

She plopped down again, still regarding him oddly. "You can stay, as long as you're not up to anything weird. I'm a kung fu master." And she could Galactic Punt giant robots.

...

The oddness of her own statement suddenly struck her as funny, and the corners of her mouth twitched. 'I'm alive.' 'I'm a kung fu master.'

"We both kind of suck at introductions, don't we?" she grinned. "I'm Chie."

(OOC: Pshaw! Now you can DEFINITELY stay! XD)

[doomed_by_canon]

The flat look on Chie's face went well with her retort, and Shinji resisted the urge to yank his hat down over his eyes to hide his embarrassme-- never mind, he already did because what the hell kind of a response is 'I'm alive'???

In more relevant news, the girl didn't seem too peeved that he had just barged into what was presumably her cabin, sit in front of her fire, and drink hot cocoa from her kung fu mug. That was a good thing, right? He wasn't in the mood to get into a fight after such a relaxing nap. Actually, he wasn't in the mood to fight at all, but regardless...

After taking in her equally odd assent to his presence, Shinji sat back down, trying not to smirk as he held up Chie's mug.

"Kung fu master, or master of kung fu trivia? Either way, thanks for letting me stay. I'll be out of your hair as soon as the storm dies down."

(OOC: Yaaay~ :D Let's have fun, then!)

[f_steak]

Chie snorted. "I just really like kung fu, okay? And be careful with that, it was a present!" Yukiko had found a mail-order store that printed anything you wanted on t-shirts, hats, mugs, pins, even mousepads, and had given the mug to Chie for her birthday. Naturally it was precious to her, so much so that it was the only non-clothing non-food thing she'd brought.

Of course, once she was here she wished she would have brought something to read, but oh well.

She made no move to snatch the mug away, however. Just so long as he was careful with it, she didn't mind sharing.

Pulling her knees closer, Chie rubbed her gloves briskly over her snow-dampened track pants, trying to get some heat back in her frozen shins. And tomorrow, despite her setbacks and frustrations, she'd probably do the same thing all over again. A kung fu artist never gave up!

"Sure," she shrugged with a smile at his thanks. "How'd you get all the way out here, anyway? This place is pretty remote. Do you live nearby or something?"

(OOC: Time for work!)

[doomed_by_canon]

"Okay, okay." Shinji conceded to her rebuke, and placed the mug back down between them, before a peculiar thought came to him and he found himself taking a closer look at the ceramic gift.

~Trial of the Dragon... I think I saw a promotional poster for this last month... They have merchandise for it already?~

Something about that mug no longer sat well with him, but he had no time to consider the possibilities when the inevitable question came up.

"I, um..." The question had come suddenly, and it wasn't like Shinji had had the time to think of an excuse as to what he was doing here in the first place. There wasn't much he could say without telling her anything, so he instead went with the most reasonable explanation he could come up with on the fly.

"I got lost."

[f_steak]

"Uh...I kinda figured that..." Unless he made it a habit of wandering around and making himself at home in random mountain cabins. Chie kind of doubted that. It still didn't really explain how he wound up all the way in the middle of nowhere like this, but maybe it was a sensitive topic.

Maybe some yakuza thugs dumped him out here to die! Well if they came back, they were in for a rude surprise with Chie around.

"You said you were going to head out after the storm is over, but if you want to wait around, you can catch a transport back to the city with me. My training is over in four days." It would at least be nice to have someone to talk to, as long as he didn't keep telling her obvious things.

[doomed_by_canon]

"..." The first thing on Shinji's mind was getting back to the dorms, and if he wanted to be there as soon as possible, then it'd be best to leave by the time the storm cleared. However, at the same time, he still didn't have a clue as to where he was, or if he was anywhere close to Tatsumi Port Island. Chie was distinctively Japanese, but that was no guarantee that he was still in Japan.

Of course, he could just ask and pass it off as a part of being lost. Or try to sell that he had amnesia. Maybe he could even convince her that he was from another timeline, warped in from--Alright, that last one wouldn't get him very far. Regardless...

It'd be difficult to just straight up ask her where he was without sounding any more foolish than he already did. And hey, how bad could it be to stick around for four days?

"...Alright," the brunette finally replied, nodding as if to emphasize his decision. "I'll pay you back for the trouble later, then."

[f_steak]

"Aw, it's no trouble!" she grinned toothily. As Shinjiro would soon find out, Chie was a huge pushover, and once she'd made up her mind that he wasn't out to mug or murder her, she'd be quick to lend up a hand.

And she'd already made up her mind.

"I didn't bring much except instant noodles, though, hope that's okay!"

Because he really, really didn't want her to cook. The cabin owner had stocked the fridge and cupboards with cooking ingredients, but Chie knew better than to attempt creating anything with them.

[doomed_by_canon]

Chie's grin gave Shinji some security; he had been guarded since he first woke up from death, or his slumber, or whatever, but the other's lack of malicious intent and how welcoming she was towards him gave the teen some room to relax.

That is, until she mentioned the forbidden words.

Instant noodles.

Before he could stop himself, Shinji's Master Chef flag was triggered, and he gawked at Chie. "I-I-Instant noodles?! You expect to survive in this harsh environment--or anywhere--on starch-coated, malnutritious packets of death?"

[doomed_by_canon]

...And then reason slapped Shinji across the face, calming his rather sudden tirade.

"Er. Sorry. I got a bit carried away. You wouldn't happen to have the pantry and fridge stocked, would you?"

[f_steak]

Chie sat back, shocked at just how vehemently he objected to instant noodles. Was he serious? Who didn't like instant ramen? It was fast, it was easy, and it totally hit the spot after a long day of training in the cold.

Her only response at first was a growling stomach. Apparently she not only expected to survive on the stuff, she was looking forward to it.

"Well, yeah, it's only for a week." She glanced at the kitchen, unwilling to budge from the heat source, then back to Shinji. "I think so, but I wasn't paying much attention. I'm not much of a cook." She was more of an anti-cook, really, but he didn't need to know that.

[doomed_by_canon]

Well. Maybe he shouldn't have started yelling at the mention of instant noodles, but it was her fault for considering living off them for more than one meal's worth! In any case, Chie's stomach brought Shinji's own hunger to the forefront of his thoughts, and without further ado, he hauled himself up.

"That's fine. Leave the cooking to me. If I'm going to be mooching off you for four days, the least I can do is save you from instant... noodles..." The urge to shudder was quite strong at the end of Shinji's remark, and he may have gone on another rant about the flaws of instant meals if he didn't force himself to inspect the kitchen's stock. It was actually rather well-furnished for someone who was only staying for a week... And who wasn't a cook.

~

After giving the cupboards and fridge a once-over, Shinji decided it would be best to have noodles-- done right. Some ten minutes after he managed to get the stove running, the teen was balancing two large bowls of curry udon on a tray, and a plate of diced steak (there was so much in the freezer he could hardly find anything else) in his other hand. With practiced ease, he set the food on the wooden table and called out to Chie.

"Food's ready. I hope you like steak in your udon."

[f_steak]

[OOC: Keywords.]

Chie didn't even try to object to Shinjiro's offer to cook. It didn't matter to her that much if he could or couldn't handle himself in the kitchen, since she was pretty sure he couldn't be all that bad. And if he was, she had instant noodles to eat.

While he worked, Chie warmed herself, and at some point disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door once she felt warm enough to change into some dry clothes.

When she emerged, the savory smell of curry hung in the air, and her stomach complained that much more vehemently once she caught the savory scent. "Wow, that smells good!" she murmured in awe as she shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing a thick brown towel over her wet hair. Chie stood back to let him move to the table, catching a brief glimpse of the udon as he passed by. It looked good, too.

Shinjiro then said the magic word, and instantly Chie perked. Steak?!

"Are you kidding?" she laughed. "I can't get enough! Thanks!" She jogged to the table with a fresh burst of energy, picking a seat and settling in before taking up her chopsticks. "Where did you learn to cook like this? It looks really professional!"

[doomed_by_canon]

(OOC: Chie, do you know any other words that start with F?)

Praise was never hard to come by when it came to Shinji's cooking, but it never failed to bring a smile (or smug smirk) to his face to hear compliments. Before answering, he grabbed pot of tea he had been boiling and two cups, setting them down and taking a seat.

"Ah, well... It's a trade secret. Like the saying goes, a magician never reveals his tricks."

Nor does he reveal that he spent countless years watching popular cooking programs and reading magazines and cookbooks to hone his skill. That aside, Shinji took his own chopsticks and began eating with gusto. Having food in his stomach made him realize just how hungry he had been, and so he spent the next few minutes exclusively on his noodles. And steak.

Or whatever Chie left of it after she tore through the plate, whichever.