Freezer Burn

[summing_it_up]

Who: The Fishbone and the Trollcat (aka Hiccup and Chessur)
When: 01.20 (I think)
Where: Out in the snow. (But not for long)
Summary: Hiccup braves the elements for a bit. Chessur 'helps' him.
Warnings: N/A

Comments

[madvaporskillz]

On hearing that it would only grow colder, Chessur had considered remaining inside. But then, what was the point of having a coat all made of fur if you didn't actually make use of it? So he'd quite simply drifted out under the door while no one had been looking. Snow was very occasionally a rarity in Underland and cold or not it did make the world look quite different. It's as if Marmoreal had spilled all across the world and at times he half-wonders what it might have been like in reverse. Red Queen triumphant and Salazen Grum writ large across the world. But that is a thought for darker days than this, and so he drifts across the land like so much smoke because he is only so much smoke. It's better than braving the numbing cold today, an excuse he barely needs to fade away.

But even smoke has eyes, and cold or not he hadn't missed the shivering figure down in the snow. A poor unfortunate, and though he's not often one to care he still heard the final comment out of Hiccup's mouth as he drifted idly closer. He doesn't bother to show himself though. A voice ought to be enough today.

"Anyone, is it?"

[summing_it_up]

Hiccup did remember the sound of that voice. He quickly recalled the image connected to it as well. "My luck is sooo good today," he said under his breath, resigning himself to the company that found him in his state of awesome. He then shrugged, speaking louder for Chessur to hear. "Yes. That's right. Anyone. Which includes you, apparently- "

But as he turned to look, eyelids flutter wildly to find...nothing in sight. Just the same vague outlines of nondescript buildings.

There was a pause before he threw his hands up into the air. "...And I'm hallucinating now!"

[madvaporskillz]

Oh, it still included him. But including him didn't necessarily mean he was going to be entirely helpful. Or visible, for that matter, as a purring sort of laughter echoed through the air. He'd help, but Hiccup might soon find that his help was often... unhelpful, for lack of a better word.

"If a hallucination helps, is it still a hallucination or an aid?" he asked, drifting ever closer. Perhaps he would deign to appear. But perhaps are tricky things at the best of time and he was so enjoying the boy's befuddlement.

"Or even, perhaps, an answer?"

[summing_it_up]

That so-called laugh sent an extra chill down his spine. This was so not what he needed right now. Hiccup frowned as he thought he heard the voice coming much closer on one side than the other...or was it the other way around?

Either way - darn acoustics. It was also not helping.

"Aw no, not this again- am I just suppose to accept the fact that I'll never get a straight answer from you?" he whined. "Or should I expect anything more from you and your weirdness?" Again the boy looked at the distance in front of him, sounding a bit more flat. "Either way, I think I'm gonna run into more useless questions."

[madvaporskillz]

Perhaps it was one and perhaps it was the other, but either way, Chessur had no actual intent to harm Hiccup. To confuse him, perhaps, and ask questions that made sense best if you looked at them in a very specific way, yes. But in the questions and the confusion there was - and would be - a single grain of truth at least. A voice was better than no voice at all.

"A straight answer is hardly better than no question at all. Unless you'd wanted to keep matters dull, I suppose. Did you?"

Not that it mattered to Chessur, of course. But a question was a question and despite the content of the same he would always ask them. This poor cold boy was most certainly no Alice. Not even if he'd tried, and found a muchness in himself to match the muchness of a Champion.

[summing_it_up]

So there was a truth there: the extra voice did help with the sudden feeling of loneliness he was experiencing. Even if its owner was a questionable talking cat who liked making everything sound like a tricky riddle, it was still welcome.

"...Well..." Hiccup had to pause again, glancing down at the slowly-growing snow bank. He did make sense of that statement, didn't he? "...Not like this a dull moment presently?"

The longer he stayed outside, the colder it became. He couldn't even feel his feet in the fur-lined boots he had on. "We're not gonna do this all day, are we?" He was hoping they weren't. "I have to get back to the Community Center. I just don't remember which way I was suppose to go."

[madvaporskillz]

All day? No, Chessur wasn't quite that rude. Irritating, most certainly, and never there when you expected him (and sometimes there when you'd really rather not have him around) but not rude. So after a brief moment of silence he spoke up again, this time from a place not too far from Hiccup's left shoulder.

"Why, when I'm lost I often find it best to follow my feet. They often know where to go."

Note, of course, that thus far Chessur doesn't seem to be using his feet. Invisible or no a walking cat would logically be bound to leave footprints in the deepening snow and so far there's not a single pawprint to be seen. Just the deep rumbling purr of his voice, and the assumption that a voice must be connected to some manner of physical being, even if the being is being less than physical.

[summing_it_up]

Hiccup almost jumped at the closeness, strangely enchanted and weirded out by the rumbling. Looking over in that direction still left him with nothing. No one, no thing, no cat. Yet it just felt like something emanating warmth was near him. And try as he might, he saw snow, snow, and more snow.

He must be going crazy.

"Either the visibility levels are getting really bad or I just can't find anything close to resembling a footprint of any kind!" His exasperation was controlled, but there was no way he could mask the frustration in his voice. Hands ran over his hair as he shut his eyes tightly for a moment, holding in a breath before exhaling. Calm down, the boy thought. The voice is only trying to help. Somewhat. "...Maybe. Maybe I'm trying too hard," he then said, glancing back over his shoulder. "Y-you said 'follow my feet,' right?"

[madvaporskillz]

No physical cat, no. But there was, perhaps, the idea of a cat, or the place a cat might be were a cat so inclined to be less than a suggestion of a cat. And perhaps later he'd slip back into visibility just enough to let Hiccup know that he wasn't simply imagining things. Simply not while the two of them were standing out in the cold.

"I do believe I did," he answered, stepping neatly over the question of whether or not there actually were any footprints in the snow. Following footprints only ever meant going where someone had already been, and there wasn't any reason to be where people had been when it seemed more likely that where people should have been was more the intended target.

After all, following his footsteps would have gotten nowhere, if he'd left any in the first place.

[summing_it_up]

The boy's brow furrowed, a crease which told of his teetering trust, the constant readjustment of his patience, and the thoughtful processes over what had been mentioned. "Follow my feet," he mutters, repeating the words as he looked down once more.

This time around, however, he saw something resembling footprints of some kind. At least that was what it looked like. He jerked his head up, then down, and then up again as he felt the weight of doubt lift off of his chest. "That's it. That's it! There they are!" Hiccup pointed at the ground excitedly, clapping his hands together as he started following them. "Oh thank the gods- and thank you," he added. Still couldn't tell where the cat was, but he was throwing it out there.

[madvaporskillz]

"You're quite welcome."

Whether or not it had truly been his own words or simple serendipity, Chessur was quite willing to take credit for what had been found. He was ever the cat, after all, and it was only right that he take this as his due. Besides, if he acted as if it were his words that had spurred the discovery than he could claim a reason to be outside (if he really needed on, apart from being a cat).

Still, just to be on the safe side, he figured he might as well follow along as Hiccup followed his footprints. It wasn't like the cold was currently bothering him.

[summing_it_up]

There was no time wasted in following the prints and there was enough company to work with for the time being to get over that isolated feeling. Although the sensation of being trailed after was prominent, it was welcomed. Boots trudged through the banks with new-found fervor, sometimes skipping across them, sometimes sinking into the white. Whenever the latter made him topple over, but he was quick to pick himself back up.

Some of the vague shapes became facades of shops. The community center soon appeared as well, slowly becoming more visible with every step taken in its direction. "Almost there," Hiccup breathed, not sure if the cat had heard him. Still, it felt like the minutes passed faster than expected; stumbling over the last snow bank, he reached the doors with a crashing thud. That didn't stop him from yanking them open to get inside. He just left it open a while longer before attempting to close them.

[madvaporskillz]

The cat had, in fact heard. He didn't answer, but he had heard. The snow wasn't that good at deadening all sound and even a vanished cat had ears.

It wasn't until Hiccup finally staggered into the community center that he once again made his presence known. While he could most certainly understand not wanting to close the doors right away, there was no sense in leaving them open over long. So after a brief moment more of silence, the sound of one of the doors slowly being pulled closed echoed around the room. It wasn't a particularly easy task, given the relative sizes involved, but that hardly stopped Chessur. Besides, the poor boy did deserve that much of a break, if nothing else.

[summing_it_up]

Being scrawny did have its downsides. The boy was now kneeling on the linoleum, obviously tired from all of the struggling. Eyes widen a bit as he watched the door move almost on its own, frozen where he was, unconsciously holding his breath until it was closed fully.

All of the the tension then ran out of him once that was done with, lips puttering the sigh of relief as he collapsed in a heap like a ragdoll. He didn't feel the need to move any farther than that. Not right away. It was nice regaining some feeling back into his body besides being cold.

"...That was interesting," Hiccup commented wearily, staring up at the ceiling.

[madvaporskillz]

For a moment, there's silence, as if the closing of the door had been more than the simple act of shutting out the cold - something that would certainly not have been outside of the variety of thing the Cat might well have decided to do. But eventually he speaks up once again - by the sound of the voice, he's still near to the door.

"Was it? I could certainly open it once again if you rathered."

He might prefer to keep it shut, certainly. But if asked he might do as Hiccup wants. Or he might not, but that's the problem with dealing with cats - matters are always filtered through a slightly different set of perspectives.

[summing_it_up]

The very thought of being alone again had not left his mind, but its priority wasn't a major concern to him. But he did hear Chessur, and his eyes took a moment to enlarge.

"Oh you wouldn't- "

Hiccup tried to sit up, failing to do so since his body felt like it had a mind of its own, grounded as it was. Instead, a hand shot up. "NO- no no, it's- it's okay!" He waved it frantically despite the exhaustion, emphasizing his point. "Leave it closed! Closed is good."