Disclaimer: This is a non-profit work of fiction. All characters and places belong to those who created, and produced Swamp Thing.
Notes: This was written during a blackout that occurred in a hotel I was staying at. I had to write it with the hallway door propped open. It wasn't cold, but that I'm not complaining about.
Blackout
"I hate this bloody place!" Arcane swore vehemently, breath misting in the freezing air, "Damn backwards town, flea-bitten Motel. They can't even keep the electricity running." Glaring at his assistant, he focused his anger at the situation on Graham, "This is your fault, Graham!"
My ...! Just apologize Graham, it's the easiest thing. "... er, I'm sorry, Sir," Thankfully the darkness hid his resentful expression. "I, I didn't know there was a blizzard on the way."
"You should have checked the blasted forecast, Graham," Arcane snapped, stalking towards his assistant. "I'm freezing cold, there's no electricity, we're trapped by a bloody blizzard, and it's your fault. All I have to say Graham, is if things don't improve soon the only mistakes you'll be making in life will be as a mutant!"
"Maybe the power will come back on soon," Graham suggested. He dimly saw Dr. Arcane continue to stalk towards him, and took a quick step backwards.
"Don't act stupider then you ... bloody hell!" Arcane cursed suddenly, stumbling over a small foot stool and painfully stubbing his toe.
"Are you okay, Sir?" Graham asked in concern. Carefully, he made his way over to Arcane's side. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Why certainly, Graham," Arcane looked up in the general direction of his assistant, his tone fairly radiating sarcasm, "You can - bloody well find a light!" Graham hastily backed away, moving off with a stammered acknowledgment. "I ask you, would it be too much trouble to find some intelligent help one of these days?" Arcane muttered to himself, sitting down on a chair to wait for Graham to get back with a light. He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering in the cold and cursing the events that brought him to this second-rate town.
Previous week
"Yes, this is Arcane," The Doctor answered absently, listening to Graham's report on the status of the latest project. "What? Do you have it?" He quickly held up a hand up to silence Graham. "What do you mean 'it's there but you don't have it'?" Listening to the anxious reply, his eyes closed involuntarily. When they re-opened, Graham swallowed nervously, hoping the visible rage there wasn't going to be directed towards him. "Idiot!" Arcane snarled, slamming the phone down.
"What ... what's wrong, Sir?" Graham asked after a few beats of silence, best to get it out in the open now, before he gets even angrier.
"'What's wrong', Graham - is the man I hired to retrieve an extremely rare gem for me didn't quite manage to complete his task. Instead he got arrested by the authorities for illegal possession." Arcane seethed, arms crossing reflexively. "He located the diamond in a small town just outside of Alaska before he was taken in." Too angry to stand still, he started pacing the floor. "The only good thing to come out of the whole mess is he managed to at least hide the diamond in a safe place before he was arrested." Arcane continued to pace, thinking silently.
"Well, Graham, old chap," He finally roused himself, clapping Graham briefly on the shoulder, "I guess we'll just have to go and bail him out ourselves, eh? Find the diamond and all that. See to all the details!"
"Yes, Sir," Graham agreed, groaning silently at the thought of all the work ahead of him. "Umm, Sir," he paused on the way out of the lab, "What's so important about this stone anyway?"
"Stone, Graham!" Arcane repeated rolling his eyes in disgust, "This so called 'stone' just happens to be twice as structurally stable as any ordinary diamond." he turned away, dismissing his assistant.
"Umm..." Graham frowned slightly, looking over at the Doctor.
"What?" Arcane snapped, glaring at the man.
"What's, ah, what's so special about that?"
"Graham, sometimes I wonder how you ever made it past grade school," Arcane sighed, shaking his head, "Diamonds are the hardest substance on earth, nothing but another diamond can cut it. This 'stone' I'm after is so far beyond that, that nothing can even scratch it. Try and imagine the possibilities inherent in being the sole possessor of a diamond that is so strongly bonded it can cut through anything." Arcane glared at his assistant, waving his away. "Now, buzz off!"
"Yes, Sir," Graham muttered, slinking out of the lab.
Present time
"I never should have come," Arcane muttered to himself, teeth chattering in the cold, "Damn it, where's Graham with the light!" he stood up abruptly, almost tripping over the same foot stool from before.
"I found it, Sir," Graham yelled out, his voice coming closer, "I found a candle!" he triumphantly held it up; it's small flame barely lighting the room.
"Well, jolly good for you, Graham," Arcane said sardonically, the sound of his teeth chattering ruining the effect he was aiming for.
"Thank-you, Sir," Graham handed it over, "It was a little hard to find."
"Then you can bloody go and find a blanket for me, now," Arcane shivered, "I'm freezing!"
"Yes, Sir," his assistant sighed wearily. As if I'm not freezing too, Graham resentfully trudged back the way he had come. This time he found a blanket almost immediately, but only one. What! This place only has one extra blanket! He quickly searched the rest of the cabin, not able to locate another blanket. Great! Guess who's freezing tonight, he thought despondently. Letting out a breath, he made his way back to the Doctor.
"Umm, Dr. Arcane, Sir," Graham began hesitantly, hurriedly handing over the blanket as he saw Arcane turn irritably towards him, "Here's a blanket."
"About bloody time," Arcane snapped, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around himself, "Why is there only one? It's freezing here; I need more than one wretched blanket!"
"That's all I could find," Graham answered, blowing on his hands to warm them.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to make the best of it then," the Doctor grumbled, pulling the blanket tighter.
"What ... what about me?" Graham asked, gazing pathetically over at his employer.
"You're the reason we're trapped here," Arcane glared at Graham, "So you can bloody well freeze out here! I'm going to bed."
"Great!" Graham sighed, as the doctor left the room, "Just great!" Shivering, he sat down in the chair his employer had vacated, curling up as small as possible. The cold gradually seeped into his body, lulling him into a dangerous sleep.
Meanwhile, Arcane was too uncomfortable to sleep, the extra blanket not quite able to keep the cold at bay, even with the two blankets already on the bed. Guilty thoughts of how cold Graham must be, pushed their way into his mind. Well, he deserves to freeze. It's his fault that I'm stuck in this wretched town. He tried to settle back into sleep, but was unable to shake the nagging concern about how Graham was doing. "Oh, sod it!" Arcane sighed, giving in to his impulse to check on his assistant. After all, I wouldn't want the little bugger to die.
The doctor heaved himself out of bed, his joints actually creaking from the cold, and hobbled into the main part of the cabin, "Graham." he called out, carefully making his way over to where he could dimly see his assistant. "Graham!" Arcane repeated more impatiently, shaking his shoulder, "Come on, wake up!" Alarmed by Graham's lack of response, Arcane hurriedly felt for a pulse, closing his eyes in relief when he felt it beating under his fingers.
"Wh..what's wrong, Sir?" Graham asked groggily, finally waking up. He looked up at the doctor standing over him, vision fuzzing slightly.
"Nothing's wrong, Graham," Arcane grimaced, "Aside from the obvious that is." he bent down and grabbed Graham by the arms, "Come on!"
Graham unfolded himself and allowed the doctor to tug him to his feet. He stumbled awkwardly, his legs numb from the cold. Arcane grabbed him around the waist, half dragging him into the bedroom. He released Graham, and went back out to fetch the blanket that he had dropped. Coming back he saw that Graham still stood by the bed, a confused look on his face.
"What is it?" Arcane asked wearily, already regretting the impulse to not let his assistant freeze.
"Umm, why, why..." Graham trailed off, his mind too tired to supply the rest of the question. In truth he had already forgotten what he was going to ask.
"You went to college, Graham. Use the few brain cells that actually work." Arcane shook his head. Seeing that Graham still looked puzzled, he slowly spelled it out for him. "In cases of extreme cold, in order to avoid hypothermia, one has to share body heat."
"Share body heat," Graham repeated, frowning as the Doctor's meaning penetrated his mind.
"For pity's sake!" Arcane snapped, his patience coming to an end. He roughly shoved Graham, pushing him down onto the bed. He climbed in and pulled his assistant close, wrapping his arms around the man. Positioning the blankets over both of them, Arcane settled down, shifting slightly to get comfortable. "Now, don't say a word. Just *go to sleep*!"
Graham snuggled in drowsily, one arm drifting up to curl around Arcane's waist. He drifted into sleep almost immediately, lulled this time by warm and happy thoughts. Arcane lay awake a little longer, uncomfortably aware of how close his assistant was. Finally he too drifted away, giving into the warmth and the oddly relaxing sound of Graham's light breathing.
Sunlight slowly filtered into the cabin, casting its pale light over Arcane and Graham, both men deeply asleep. A repeated knocking on the door finally dragged the Doctor out of dreamland. He groggily opened his eyes in time to see the door open and a woman, dressed in the plain white uniform of house-keeping, with steel-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, step into the room.
"Oh, excuse me, Sir! I didn't mean to disturb you...oh-" she trailed off in embarrassment, seeing the two men laying entangled together. "I..I wanted to let you know that..that the electricity is, ah, back on." The woman hastily backed out of the room, the door banging shut behind her.
Arcane let his eyes drift back shut, his brain slowly processing the strange encounter. He felt someone snuggle closer to him, and relaxed back into the comfortable warmth.
Arcane stiffened in shock, his eyes opening, remembering exactly who was pressed up against him. Turning his head slightly, he was able to see Graham, still sound asleep.
"Great! Can this trip get any worse?" he groaned quietly, tiredly staring up at the ceiling. To hell with it! I'm warm, comfortable and still tired. I'll deal with this later. For now, some sleep! With that last thought Arcane snuggled back in, enjoying the comfort of having another person near, even it was only Graham.