"How much farther is it? Geez, I thought you said we didn't hafta do recon? My toes are frozen. I think there are icicles on my eyebrows. So glad I bought the thicker jacket. Ooh, it's sooo cold. I bet it's, like, below freezing. Do they use Fahrenheit here? I wish we'd get a job in Hawai'i. The beach! Oh, that'd be nice. How much farther, again?"
An annoyed growl rumbled in Sabretooth's chest at Birdy's steady stream of dialogue. They'd only been trudging up the mountainside for about fifteen minutes and she had been talking the entire time. He was beginning to wonder if it was the lack of any other mental signatures around that drove her to voice anything and everything on her mind. What little daylight they had this far north was dwindling, the darkening clouds didn't help, and Creed wanted to get to shelter before nightfall.
"And why you dragged me up here is beyond me," Birdy continued, hardly stopping to take a breath. Surprising, considering the altitude.
Victor whirled on Birdy, and with her eyes focused on stepping in his footfalls in the snow, she bumped right into his chest with an oomph. "Birdy, if you don't shut that trap o'your's, you're gonna draw attention."
She flung her arms wide. "From who? There's no one on this frozen mountain but us!"
Sabretooth gave the blonde woman a toothy grin. "Ain't just people ya wanna watch out for. Might be wolves stalkin' 'round." He lifted his eyebrows as if to give it thought. Birdy's look to him said she thought he was full of shit. Creed shrugged a shoulder and continued onward. He smiled to himself when, as if on cue, a lone wolf howled in the distance. Birdy rushed to catch up, huffing as she grabbed onto his coat sleeve.
"Wolves, Boss?" He got a thrill from hearing the fright in her voice.
"Yeah," he drawled. "Wolves. Maybe a mountain lion. Heck, some ol' bear that ain't ready for his winter sleep. They could all be roamin' around here." He paused and tilted his head, as though he was listening for something. "Even that bastard Windigo." He looked down at Birdy, her eyes wide.
She sucked in a breath and exhaled the creature's name, "Windigo?"
"Mmhmm." They stopped in front of a massive boulder, half buried in snow. Creed hauled himself up onto it and stretched as he got to his feet. The wind was picking up, it would be snowing soon.
"Umm, Boss?" Birdy extended a hand, waving it back and forth. Creed crouched down and grabbed a hold of Birdy's forearm and hefted her up, placing a hand on her waist to steady her. She whispered a "whoa" as she looked toward the small town at the base of the mountain. The lights there twinkled and reflected off of the snow-covered mountainside making the valley glow. The gentle, constant wind brought with it soft, fluffy bits of snow and Birdy giggled as flakes touched her face. There was a loud pop behind her and she flinched, turning to see what her employer was up to. She caught him grinning as he tipped a champagne bottle, foam spilling from the top.
"For a job well done," he said, answering her questioning look.
"But," Birdy paused, "we haven't finished the job. Technically, we haven't even started it." She took the plastic cup he handed her, letting the bubbles tickle her nose.
"Finished it this morning. Th'old geezer keeled right over in his tidy whities as soon as he saw me. Never even laid a finger on the poor bastard. Dropped dead of a heart attack. Course, couldn't leave 'im all clean or I wouldn't get paid. So, a little slice, a little dice. Finito." Creed took a healthy chug from his cup, downing its contents in one go.
The snow was coming down heavier now though the wind had mostly stopped. The flakes fell nearly straight down and began covering what little of the boulder that wasn't already covered.
"So, we get an extra day of fun, huh?" Birdy sipped at the bubbly, her eyebrows raised in question.
Creed smiled that smile that made Birdy feel half scared out of her mind and half silly schoolgirl. He reached over and dusted off the snow that had started to build on her shoulder. "I got somethin' in mind. Wanna melt some snow t'night."
"Yeah? How's that?"
Creed stomped his boot, the 'boulder' making a hollow sound. "Right in here, darlin'. Nothing but me an' you in an ol' lean-to."
Birdy lifted up onto her toes and ruffled the snow from Creed's hair. "Hmm…might make noise. Draw unwanted attention to ourselves."
There was that grin again. "Girlie, we're gonna make so much noise, we're gonna scare 'em all away." With that, Creed snatched Birdy, swung her up onto his shoulder and jumped down to the ground, Birdy laughing as the snow fell quicker.