And here I am again. I don't actually know where I'm going with this one, hopefully it'll turn out OK.
I've been tossing this idea around for the last day and a half. It's been refusing to fully form, so I'm likely going to have some trouble with it.
"What's going on over there? Where are they?" Edward Middleford was muttering to himself as he watched the sinking ship through squinted eyes. He had seen some odd light in one of the lower-level portholes a moment ago, and suspected it had something to do with that wayward cousin of his. People were still trying to get off the Campania, not that the situation was much better in the lifeboats. They were small vessels, and the one that he was in was tossing about alarmingly. Eddie was not much of a sailor, and he supposed that the only guarantee he had that the lifeboat would not just flip over was the fact that it had not done so already. Water kept sloshing over the side, and the last thing they needed in this kind of weather was freezing cold sea water.
Speaking of which.
He glanced over to the other side of the boat, where Ciel's odd, reptilian footman was huddled up with Lizzie. Every once in a while the boy would glance over at her, becoming more and more alarmed as she showed no signs of waking. Despite Lizzie's unconsciousness, she was beginning to shiver violently. She had been soaked through when he had found them, and Snake appeared to have been in water that was at least up to his waist. Neither of them were in good condition, and Ciel had put them both in Eddie's care. It was his responsibility to make sure they survived.
Cursing under his breath, Eddie rummaged around under the seats of the lifeboat. Eventually, he came up with a stretch of canvas that had been used to cover the tiny craft when not in use. A blanket would have been better, but beggars couldn't be choosers. At least it would offer some protection from the wind. Trying desperately not to rock the lifeboat more than was necessary, he shuffled his way over and slung it around his sister's shoulders. After a moment of careful thought, he moved to wrap it around Snake as well. Predictably, Snake turned bright red and pulled back violently, and Eddie had to grab him to keep him from tumbling out of the lifeboat.
"Oh for heaven's sake, calm down!" he snapped. "I'm trying to keep you alive, you're no use to anyone if you freeze to death!"
Snake opened his mouth as if to reply, but glanced around at his serpentine companions and closed it again. It was the habit of snakes to enter a state of torpor when cold, and these ones had not moved for a while. Eddie was aware of Snake's habit of talking through them, and it seemed he could only do so when they were awake.
"Just get in," he sighed. "I need you to help me keep Lizzie warm. She can't try to warm herself up if she's not even awake."
After another second's hesitation, Snake nodded and allowed the canvas to be wrapped around him, gathering his snakes close. Eddie decided against climbing inside the canvas as well when he saw one or two of them start to twitch. Instead, he opted to sit nearby and bail out the seawater that kept sloshing over the sides. He was going to murder Ciel for getting him into this.
In the meantime, he contented himself with sending a death glare at Snake, who had started absently petting Lizzie's hair. Even in a crisis, a big brother had to have some standards.