August 19th, 2014 - On the Quest for Thor's Hammer

AUTHOR: theswedishpointofview

August 19th, 2014 - On the Quest for Thor's Hammer

"I can't do this, Arthur. I really can't! It's too cold. Humans weren't supposed to be here, we will never survive this. We will freeze to death right here, in this cave, and no one will ever find us. We will be trapped here, alone forever!"

The howling wind outside the cave almost drowned Alfred's ramblings, but he could still talk through his cold lips. In a breathless and numb voice, he continued to curse the cold temperature of the Arctic.

"Damn all the ancient weapons that just have to be hidden away in arctic caves were no human will ever go." His teeth were clattering so much they resembled Spanish castanets, a steady click-click-clack-clack.

Trying to curl himself up more in the multiple layers of clothes and covers and the big, poofy sleeping-bag, Alfred noticed it had been a while since he'd gotten a response from his grumpy companion.

"Arthur? Are you even listening to me? Shouldn't you have bitten off my tongue by now?" Still without a response, a trickle of worry was starting to crawl up Alfred's spine, prompting him to crawl over to where Arthur was bundled up in a similar fashion to the American.

"Hey, Arthur, you hear me? Stop ignoring me, you ass! Say something."

Finally reaching the still Brit, Alfred freed his arms from the sleeping bag, turning Arthur around to face him. What he saw immediately caused him to start moving rapidly, opening his own sleeping-bag in quick movements.

"Arthur! Do you hear me? Can you try to open your eyes for me please? Give me a sign to let me know you hear me, okay?" Stripping his hands of the warm gloves he was wearing, Alfred reached beneath the layers of clothing surrounding Arthur's throat, searching for a pulse. Of course he wasn't dead, hypothermia didn't act that quick, but it was still important to check it. Arthur's pulse was still strong, so he was still only in the moderate states of hypothermia.

Covering the Brit up again, Alfred went over to their emergency-pack, picking up the hand-warmers before heading back for Arthur. His normally pink lips were turning bluer by the minute, making Alfred act quicker in his haste to warm him up. Bending down to open up the sleeping-bag encasing the other, Alfred noticed the faint flickering of Arthur's eyelids.

"Okay, Arthur, I'm gonna warm you up, alright? Don't worry, I'm here. Everything will be okay."

Having freed his companion from the sleeping-bag, Alfred undressed himself down to nothing, removing everything on his upper body before doing the same to Arthur. They hadn't brought anything for a situation like this, leaving Alfred with only one option: warming Arthur up with his own body-heat.

Alfred wrapped himself up in his jacket before crawling down next to Arthur. It would be a tight fit for the both of them, but at least they would be warm. Zipping their jackets together, followed by the sleeping bag, Alfred was almost done. Reaching out to get the hand-warmers, he cracked the chips inside them before putting them in Arthur's armpits. It wasn't romantic in the least, but in a life-and-death situation, certain things had to be done.

All the moving around and undressing must have woken Arthur up a bit, because his eyes were now open, watching Alfred's face only centimetres in front of him. The slow blinking of his eyelids told Alfred that the Brit was still sluggish from the hypothermia.

"There, now. This will warm you up in no time," Alfred said, grinning reassuringly, like nothing was wrong in this world. Except Arthur had almost passed out from the freezing temperature. Alfred didn't even want to imagine what could've happened if he hadn't acted in time.

Lying this close to each other it was impossible not to notice the small smile gracing Arthur's lips. It was a rare sight these days, and something Alfred had missed terribly. Accompanied by Arthur's doped-up look though, Alfred knew it wouldn't have appeared under normal circumstances.

A sigh passed Arthur's smiling lips. "I remember this. I thought you left me, Alfred. Why would you do that?" The slurred words felt like a knife stabbed to his heart. Alfred wrapped Arthur up tighter in his arms, knowing Arthur would regret this when he came to again.

"I didn't have a choice. Or- I did, but I felt like there were more important things to take care of." Nuzzling his nose close to Arthur's hair, he thought of all the other times he'd done the same, taking comfort in Arthur's smell.

"More important than us? I didn't even know if you were alive."

Alfred closed his eyes in shame, knowing he had absolutely nothing to say to defend his actions. At least not if he treasured his life. Matthew would kill him for sure if he told Arthur.

"One day, Arthur, when all of this is over, I will tell you why. I just need you to be patient and help me get through this, so I can get that hammer and set Matthew straight again. After that, I will tell you. I promise." Alfred hugged Arthur closer for a moment, feeling his heart flutter when Arthur nuzzled his nose into his throat.

"…I feel cold," came a quiet murmur, making Alfred sigh in fondness. Arthur was so cute when he wasn't his normal, sane self. Including drunk out of his mind.

"Good. That means you are starting to warm up again. Just go back to sleep for now, and you won't be so cold when you wake up tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Alfred."

"Goodnight." Alfred kissed Arthur's forehead just like he'd done before this mess all started, when life had been easy and sleeping like this with Arthur was normal.

"I love you, Arthur. I always will."