Day Seven: Snowed In
"Look at me," Nikola grumbled as he and Helen trudged through the thick snow. "The things I do for love. I can assure you, Helen, that no one else on this planet would have been able to get me into a – a – a puffy jacket." He hissed the last few words as if they were a curse.
"You're warm, aren't you?" Helen asked, only half listening. Nikola had been complaining about the winter fashion (or lack thereof) for a good hour, and she was focused on the task at hand. They were tracking a wyvern through the mountains, one which had clearly been injured in some way. It kept taking off in odd jerking flights and then landing a short distance away.
Short for the wyvern, but not so short that it was easy to follow with human eyes, certainly not with snowflakes whirling through the air with increasing speed and volume. At each set of tracks, they had to stop and scan the horizon for a while until they spotted the next one.
"You tell me," Nikola said, inching as close as the knee-high snow and half a dozen layers of coats he was wearing would allow.
She took one look at him and snorted. He certainly presented a different sight than he usually did, all sleek elegance in his tailored waistcoats. Now he was wrapped up in sweaters and coats with a huge blue scarf (a gift from Helen) wrapped around his neck and a rather lumpy wool hat (from Bigfoot, who had officially adopted Nikola into the fold).
Helen supposed she was no more graceful of a sight, but it was amusing nonetheless, particularly when Nikola started up with his usual flirtations.
But before she could respond, a roar had split the sky above them. Helen spun around, scanning their surroundings until a huge grey shadow passed right overhead, and the wyvern landed heavily in front of them, kicking up a wave of snow.
It was definitely injured; its right wing looked like it had been broken somehow, held stiffly against its body at an odd angle. The poor creature seemed to be in agony, its violet eyes burning as it let out another roar.
It took off again, awkwardly jumping nearly a quarter of a mile away, and Helen started in pursuit. It was large enough that she wasn't sure if a stunner blast would knock it out, but she didn't see any alternative.
She had a head start on Nikola, who had stumbled during the first landing and was less accustomed to running in climates like this: even his vampiric speed didn't help him much in the deep snow.
This time Helen was able to catch up to the wyvern before it took off again, but as she approached, she realized that might not have been such a good thing after all. It had seen her, and blinded with pain, it was liable to lash out at anyone who came close.
As she pulled out her stunner and aimed, it swung its uninjured wing out, striking the nearby mountainside with booming force. At first, nothing happened, and then a huge cascade of snow dislodged itself and began falling toward her with alarming speed.
"Oh, bloody hell," Helen muttered. She turned and ran back towards Nikola, gesturing for him to retreat as well. He stood frozen, no doubt torn between following her orders and running forward to her, even if he'd be no help at all.
The wyvern screeched behind her, taking off again, and the powerful beat of its wing knocked Helen off her feet, sending her sprawling into the snow. The avalanche was almost on her; all she had time to do was look up, glad to see Nikola finally obeying her, before the snow rushed over her.
The first thing Helen thought when she woke up was that she was quite cold, and a hot cup of tea would have been lovely. The second was that she felt very light and floaty for someone who should have been buried under several feet of snow.
When her eyes opened, she discovered the reason: she was not, in fact, buried under an avalanche. She was clasped in Nikola's arms as he trotted through the snowdrifts, so concentrated on something ahead of him that he hadn't yet noticed she was awake. Most of his extra coats were bundled up around her, forming a sort of cocoon, and he was visibly shivering.
"Nikola," she said, or tried to: all that came out was a mumbled, "Nik…"
It was enough, though. Nikola's eyes widened and his head jerked down to meet her eyes, a grin spreading across his face. "Helen!"
"You're underdressed," she told him, still feeling as if she hadn't woken up completely.
"Well, usually I prefer hearing the opposite, but I guess I'll take anything as long as you're awake," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"In need of information. I thought I told you to get clear."
"Helen, dearest, you know how bad I am at following orders," he said, grinning down at her.
She raised an eyebrow. "Really? I seem to recall otherwise. At least in certain situations."
"Mmm, well, just stay awake a little longer and we can see who's right. Anyway, I did follow your orders. But you never said I couldn't come back for you after the snow settled."
"I suppose not. How long…?"
"A few minutes." Nikola sounded a bit grim, and he nestled her closer in his arms.
If he hadn't come back when he did, Helen could have been in quite dire straits. "Thank you, Nikola," she said, disentangling one arm from the coats and patting his cheek, moving with difficulty. "And the wyvern?"
"Gone."
"Are you following it?"
Nikola stared at her, several emotions warring on his face. "I love you," he finally said with fervor, and kissed her very briefly. "No, my dear, I'm not following it. You were unconscious five minutes ago, and your body temperature is even lower than mine right now. Last I checked, you were usually the hot one, so that's kinda the priority right now."
"Oh, nonsense, I'm fine."
"That may be, but as long as I'm acting as your personal vampiric taxi service, we're heading for shelter and warmth, not tracking overgrown escapees from Game of Thrones." Nikola nodded to something in front of him. "Look, we're almost here anyway."
Helen twisted to see a small cabin maybe a hundred feet away. "And where is here?" she asked, still irritated at Nikola's presumption.
"My private cabin which I've owned for decades, longing to spirit you away here and make love to you while snowflakes fly artistically outside our window and a fire crackles in the hearth, burning almost as hot as our unbridled passion."
"...Nikola."
"Ok, I have no idea who owns this place," he said, shrugging. "But I saw it a couple minutes ago and it's way closer than heading all the way back down the mountain tonight, and you were already so cold…" He trailed off, and through the smarm she saw that he looked strained and a little bit lost, and despite her annoyance her heart went out to him.
After all, if their positions had been reversed, if Helen had dug Nikola out of an avalanche and found him unconscious and frozen… She probably would have done the exact same thing.
Nikola carried her up the steps and stopped at the door, closing his eyes and tilting his head. There was a faint hum, it sprung open, and he grinned.
"So much for knocking. Remind me to install some non-magnetic locks," Helen said.
"Oh, Helen, let me enjoy this moment," Nikola said as he entered the cabin. "One of us carrying the other across the threshold is a particular favorite fantasy of mine, you know."
"I'm well aware, Nikola."
Grinning, he kicked the door shut behind them. "Don't worry about upsetting the owners, Helen. Vampire, remember? I don't smell any people except us around for miles."
"Perhaps, but you might take a bit more care with the place," she pointed out.
It was quite a lovely little cabin, furnished in a warm, old-fashioned style. There was a small sitting room, and a couple of doors branching off into a kitchen and bedroom, and that was about it. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust, but for the most part it looked as if it had been only recently left by its owner.
Nikola laid her gently on the couch, leaning over and planting a kiss on her forehead. "Be right back," he whispered, and hurried off.
Divested of Nikola's warmth and feeling rather shaky despite the soft couch cushions she was resting on, Helen let her head fall back and closed her eyes, trying not to shiver too hard. Around her she could hear Nikola whirling about the cabin like a concerned, electromagnetic tornado; before she knew it he had a fire roaring in the hearth and a pot of tea bubbling in the kitchen, and then he returned and said, "Now off with your clothes, my dear."
She allowed him to take her hand and help her to her feet. Amusingly, he turned around as soon as she was standing, without even a warning from her.
"You're acting quite the gentleman today," she said, beginning to undress as best she could with her shivering getting worse.
"Only acting, my dear," Nikola said cheerfully, going over to the door and rummaging around in the backpack he'd dropped there when they first came in. "If you're disappointed, I'd be more than happy to help you take off your clothes; it is, after all, one of my favorite pastimes."
Helen actually hesitated; it might have been useful to have the help, as her fingers were icy and clumsy and it was taking every ounce of energy she had just to stand. But even to Nikola, her oldest and dearest friend, there was a part of her that balked at admitting she needed assistance.
"After extolling your own virtues, perhaps," she said instead.
"There are just so many!" Nikola found what he was looking for and stood up. "Are you done yet?"
"No," she said testily. "Because someone decided to wrap every spare item of clothing they had around me."
"I would have wrapped my arms around you if I'd thought it would have done any good, but vampires aren't exactly known for their high body heat," Nikola said glumly.
She didn't tell him, but right now she was so cold she suspected even a vampire would feel toasty warm compared to her.
"Nikola, you did wrap your arms around me." Helen finally removed the last coat and put it on the growing pile. Her shirt buttons were next, which came close to defeating her fingers, but she pressed on.
"Yeah, that was mostly for my benefit." Nikola was quiet for a second. "...Are you done yet?"
"Oh, get over here," Helen growled.
To her surprise, he didn't say a word as he crossed the room, and instead of helping her with her buttons, he pulled her into his arms. He held her tight for just a moment. "I'm glad you're alright," he said in a whisper before releasing her. "Now, I believe my talents are needed."
With Nikola's help, it was only a short time before Helen had shed the rest of her cold, wet clothes and was dressed in a spare shirt of Nikola's.
"You brought a spare dress shirt into the mountains?"
"You never know when I might need to change," he said. "I could spill wine, or you could shoot me. Better to be prepared."
Still, Helen was glad of it. Nikola's shirt was soft and smelled of him, and after he heaped every blanket he could find in the cabin on top of her, Helen finally began to feel as if she might remember what being warm was like after a while. By that time the tea was ready, so she sipped a cup while Nikola knelt behind her and wrung out her hair, which had acquired a fair amount of melted snow.
Then he would have brushed it, except that Helen said, "Nikola, what do you think you're doing?"
"Tenderly caring for you?"
"You could do that much better if you'd get onto this bloody couch with me."
"Oh, I thought you'd never ask."
Nikola slid underneath the blankets with her and squeezed onto the couch. She was now cozily wrapped up in blankets with the back of the couch on one side and Nikola's warmth on the other.
"Much better," she mumbled as one of his arms wrapped around her.
Ordinarily, Nikola was just slightly cooler than she was; now, he felt almost too warm, but Helen welcomed the change from her own shivers, and curled into his chest with a contented sigh.
"Why, Helen, you're enjoying yourself," Nikola said with a grin.
"Don't let it go to your head."
"Never." He shifted a little closer. "Is it helping?"
"More than you know," Helen said, a little more honestly than she had been intending to, but it was difficult to remain distant when Nikola was happily snuggled up to her. "But don't think this gets you off the hook. As soon as we're both warm, we're going back out there and finding that wyvern."
"My dear, I had expected nothing less." Nikola kissed her damp hair. "So, while we're waiting, what do you want to do?"
"I'm sure you have plenty of ideas," she answered dryly.
"Ideas are my life. Though right now I'm running a little low on practical ones…"
"Whyever could that be." Helen chuckled against his chest.
"I must be distracted." Nikola wrapped his other arm around her and nuzzled her. "Let's see… I spy something that begins with the letter 'L'."
Helen laughed at that. "Good God, Nikola, we're not children at summer camp."
"Well, are you gonna guess or not?"
Shaking her head, Helen leaned back against him. "Light," she said.
"Nope."
"Lamp."
"No."
"...Nikola."
Nikola grinned. "That doesn't start with 'L', should I be worried about a head injury?"
"I know what you were thinking of."
"Oh? Tell me then."
Helen told him, at length, until they both ran out of breath. Then they fell silent, curled up next to each other and pressing an occasional kiss to each other's face or neck, while the snowflakes flew by outside.