Prompt: Harlock and best bud Mii-kun and a fireplace.
Somewhere between Daiba's second and dozenth complaint over ice planets, it began to snow. Then it snowed harder, piling up around their boots so that every step came with weighted effort. It was simply too much for the shorter members of the group.
If there hadn't been a place to stop, Harlock would have carried each party member back to the ship, starting with the little cat wrapped in his cape and held close to his chest for protection against the wind. It howled as though to tell its hatred for them, biting into exposed skin. Harlock could only see half the time, with his hair whipping into his eye every few seconds.
Kei spotted the house, a giddy squeal to her voice at the sight of it. Daiba said it looked more like a lean-to, but Harlock had a feeling the young man had simply never seen a cabin before. Like everything else, it was almost buried in a curtain of white. Some of the snow spilled in as soon as they shoved the door open. The frame cracked in protest, but as far as Harlock could tell, the structure wasn't going to cave in on them.
For better or worse, there were no occupants. Harlock guessed it was made for situations like this, simply to hold travelers over for the night. There were a few chairs scattered about, a table, a bed without a mattress, a couple of blankets eaten through with holes from one creature or another, and a pile of wood.
"I hate ice planets," Daiba said. He tugged at the corner of a blanket and inspected it as though the whole thing might be infected.
"I thought they'd be your favorite," Kei said as she righted one of the fallen chairs. "No Mazone can survive here."
Harlock decided to step in before they started arguing again. "This will do for the night. I'll get the fire going." He pulled off his cape and wadded it into a makeshift cushion on the table before setting Mii-kun on it. The little cat hunkered down in the fabric, tail covering his frozen nose.
"Why'd he come with us?" Daiba asked. "Could have frozen his tail off in a place like this."
"He just tags along when the captain or doctor leave the ship sometimes," Kei said. "He might have just been interested in the snow when there wasn't much of it."
Harlock couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a real fireplace. After tossing the logs in, he stared at it, frowning. He'd built a few fires with Tochiro, but he'd never been the one to light them. After scratching his head, he pulled out his gun and shot the wood.
Daiba cursed in surprise. Kei threw her captain a disapproving glare. Mii-kun stood on all fours, every hair standing on end. As the fire crackled to life, Harlock reached over and pet Mii-kun's fur back into place. "Didn't have anything else to start it with," he muttered.
Harlock wasn't surprised the ship never came looking for them, or even a search party. The men were likely not feeling up to wandering aimlessly in a blizzard. In hindsight, Harlock realized he should have brought a communicator. But they were alright. The cold haunted the edges of the cabin, so Kei and Daiba took chairs on each side of the fire, each wrapped in a musty blanket as they dozed. While the boards around them creaked in anxiety from the wind, the fire crackled with lazy assurance.
Harlock placed his chair in front of the fire, watching its shadows flash across the walls. When the shadows grew, he poked at the logs with the metal prod to reignite the tiring flames. No time for sleep. He needed to keep the fire going.
Mii-kun butted up against his leg with a meowed greeting before winding back and forth across his feet. "Better now?" Harlock asked with a smile. He reached down to scoop the cat up with one hand. "Zero will be upset if you wind up with frostbite, but I'll be the one taking the fall for it. The only person who ever gets mad at you is Masu."
Mii-kun walked in circles over Harlock's legs until he found what must have been the best spot to curl into a ball. Harlock took off his glove to run his hand down silky fur of the little cat's back. The answering purr rumbled like an idling motor.
"Have you ever seen a fireplace before?" Harlock asked as though he might get an answer. "You've been on the ship so long, but then again, so have I. Can't remember the last time I saw a working fireplace either."
Of course, Mii-kun didn't look concerned with this, and Harlock smiled as he realized how trivial it really was. Cats probably preferred sitting on the heated consoles of a ship anyway. And Mii-kun never lacked for sake, despite Masu's attempts.
The contented ball of a cat rolled over in his lap, batting at his hand. "I suppose I don't approve of you tagging along this round," Harlock said. "But I do appreciate the company." He pet the lighter fur of the cat's belly until claws and teeth put an end to it, latching onto his hand. "Hey-hey," he scolded. Mii-kun didn't let go until the hand tugged out of reach. His tail whipped with the new interest of play, round pupils shining with the fire's reflection.
Despite all logic telling him otherwise, Harlock dangled his hand back within range and batted the little paws in return until they managed to snag him. With a smile, he scratched under Mii-kun's chin despite the claws holding him. Wild eyes calmed for a moment as the cat pressed his face into Harlock's fingers. Then Mii-kun bit them, not quite hard enough to break skin.
"How am I supposed to live up to my reputation as a fearsome pirate when you make it difficult for me to stay mad?" Harlock sighed.