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2
Weather God
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The weather picked up speed and intensity, blowing the white powder everywhere, blocking view of inches in front of them. "Pull off." Sebastian strongly suggested but he wasn't the one driving and if he were, he might choose to keep creeping along himself.
Kurt would have to choose what he thought was best. "I haven't seen an exit for a couple of miles." Kurt said, not that in this weather they would be able to. "Nor a sign signifying a town is coming up. I have no idea what the side of the road looks like- ditch, plains and flat lands, a nose-dive off..."
They hadn't taken this way before but the way they usually went was closed off due to some major damage to the road after an accident last week. Of course they'd gotten through it the first way just fine but now had to navigate a lot of smaller roads with twists and turns that they didn't know and GPS crapped out on them about 5 miles back. They had only a general idea where they were now. That was if they hadn't taken the wrong turn somewhere along the way.
Kurt sighed and peered through the thick snow, attempting to figure out if it was a safe place to pull over or not. "Let's go a little further, maybe there's some sort of town up ahead or a house or any sign of life."
They continued on for maybe another twenty minutes when they felt the front tires slip. Kurt pulled his foot off the accelerator but didn't press the breaks. He didn't want to send them into a spin. The tires slipped again and it pulled a little to the left and Kurt fixed their trajectory. For awhile it was fine again but then they did skid, but not in the way that Kurt was expecting. He had thankfully been backing off on the speed even more, letting the car basically move them with only occasional pressure to continue on rather than come to a complete stop.
He pressed the breaks but it was too late. They pitched downward and slid forward into a deep ditch. The sputtered as if trying to continue moving but was stuck and only buried it's wheels deeper into the snow already on the ground. It hadn't been a painful slide into the ditch, neither were injured nor really all that shook up. It was nearly comically slow but there was nothing they could do about it, no way to have stopped it.
Then the engine decided to sputter and groan. Kurt sagged back against his seat and looked at the gas indicator. "We have about 3 hours before we're out of gas." Three more hours of heat at least, maybe, as long as the engine cooperated. "I need to go look under the hood and check that out."
"No, stay in the car." Sebastian reached for Kurt but he was already unlatching his seatbelt.
"I really need to go check, make sure everything is ok." He reached into the back for his coat and scarf. His hat and gloves were in his pockets.
"Ok, I'll help." Sebastian reached back for his coat as well, pulling it on even as Kurt shook his head.
"No, no, stay inside, stay warm. Keep it warm in here." Kurt pressed a quick kiss to Sebastian's lips. "No use in us both being miserable out there."
"You're just concerned that I'll get in the way." Sebastian protested with a small pout.
"You know it." Kurt teased. "Honestly, stay in here. I might need you to do something and it'll be easier if you're in here and I'm out there rather than going back and forth."
Sebastian sighed but let Kurt do what he needed to do. "Don't die." Sebastian said in a parting shot and Kurt saluted him as he slipped from the inside of the Nav and out into the cold. He shivered and tightened everything around him once before heading to the popped hood.
He raised it and latched it into place and the engine was still running so he didn't touch much, just looked it over. Nearly everything looked right except... yep... there was a freeze in the antifreeze line that had cracked and leaked. No wonder he lost control and slid off the road. There was nothing to it, they were just going to be stuck here for awhile. Whatever warmth they could keep inside the car would be ideal rather than try to walk in this weather.
Kurt closed up the hood and made sure everything was in place before he went back around to the driver's door.
He pulled at the door and the handle but the door didn't budge. Sebastian pressed the unlock button in case it had gotten locked. Kurt pulled harder and Sebastian put his weight against the door from the inside and together they got it opened. Kurt slid in and shook at the difference of the the temperatures even as he shut the door. He quickly tossed off his gloves, scarf and jacket to the back floor behind him.
"Aren't you cold?" Sebastian asked, grabbing at Kurt's hands and trying to rub some more warmth into them.
"My coat isn't just stylish, you know." Kurt winked and shucked off his sweater, throwing it into the back also. His boots and socks followed after. He grabbed for a blanket to wrap around him instead. "And I have layers so anything that gets wet can go and the stuff underneath stays dry." Sebastian looked utterly disappointed. Kurt laughed. "What?"
"I was hoping we could go into the backseat and snuggle together skin to skin for warmth."
"Riiiight... warmth." Kurt teased. "We may have to do that once the engine dies, so you'll get your wish. We should probably snuggle together anyway, clothes or not, to stay warm for as long as possible. We're going to need to get some sleep too while we can."
"So, the prognosis isn't good?" Sebastian checked as Kurt pulled on another pair of socks and then reached behind them to move some knobs and vents around.
"We're bunkering down until day light." Kurt concurred. "The car isn't going anywhere until it can get towed out and fixed in a garage."
Sebastian hastened to the backseat and patted his chest, inviting Kurt to join him. Kurt laughed, reached for the clothes he'd tossed back and laid them out on the seats they just vacated to help them dry out. He may need them tomorrow still.
Kurt laughed and moved back to join him, pulling the blanket over both of them even as Sebastian opened his coat so they could both share the heat and reflective quality of the jacket. "Someone's eager." Sebastian teased.
"Oh yeah, someone is." Kurt agreed, pressing a kiss to Sebastian's cheek. "Sex is going to overheat us and the sweat will dry and cause hypothermia." He warned and Sebastian settled down again, fingers slipping under whatever layers they could, seeking skin. He gave in when he only got two layers deep and instead took Kurt's still cold hands and slid them up his own sweater and undershirt so his hands could be against his skin and warm them up. Then his hands went back to seeking out Kurt's torso's heat.
Kurt laid his head down onto Sebastian's chest, content to keep his hands where Sebastian had put them. He didn't fight off Sebastian's seeking hands either, enjoying the touch. It helped to relax his tense muscles and he sagged happily against Sebastian despite the dire circumstances outside.
He hummed a song which actually put Sebastian to sleep first. Kurt rubbed his cheek against Sebastian's chest and his eyes grew heavy and fell asleep too.
When he woke up, Sebastian was still asleep and breathing in a peaceful rhythm. It was nice and toasty and it took him a moment to realize why he'd woken up. The car was dead and the air around them was cold, but the air between them was warm. His eyes were scratchy but he was pretty sure there was a coat of ice surrounding the car but it was hard to tell with the blanket of snow on top of it.
For a moment it was just a crystalline orb of broken light somehow going through the thick snow and glass casing of ice. Still, it didn't seem like that could be what woke him. He narrowed his eyes and saw there was a shadow moving along one of the windows before a scrape came across the front window. Chopping at the ice after clearing away a portion of the snow. Then a face was poking into the hole trying to see in. Kurt moved quickly, waving at the completely covered face. There were even goggles keeping the eyes hidden from Kurt.
Sebastian groaned and grabbed at the blanket that slipped from Kurt's shoulders to try and regain any sort of heat. The person outside the car waved back and then came around toward where Kurt and Sebastian's feet. They started working on the door and Kurt woke Sebastian up so they could get dressed and ready to go outside. The door was having trouble opening and Kurt and Sebastian helped by pushing their feet against it and finally the door creaked, cracked and flung open.
Kurt was glad they hadn't been leaning against it. They would have fallen out and into the snow or into their hero. They didn't need to be wet on top of everything else. "You two ok?" It was a female voice as the head stuck itself in.
"Much better that you came." Sebastian praised as they slid out but it was totally the opposite in some ways, he could have stayed wrapped up in their cocoon for a long time but knew they needed to get into an actually warm place.
"Thank you for stopping and checking." Kurt said, glad that it had warmed up a bit out here too.
"Of course, let's get you two to the diner and we'll have someone tow your vehicle in to the shop." She gestured to their ride, it was a snowmobile. "Either of you have a problem tripling up on it?"
"Nope." Kurt slid in behind her while Sebastian took the back, wrapping his arms around Kurt while he could have just hung on to the handles near their knees like Kurt did.
The town was definitely not walkable. They'd have still been walking by the sun set. It was a good choice to stay in the car. It took about an hour to get back on the snowmobile.
They booked a hotel room for the next night and then headed over to eat at the restaurant. After a full stomach and warming up they headed to the shop and found the Nav already in there. "I think it should be ready in a couple of hours." The mechanic explained. "It was smart of you not to push it further or try to get it out of the ditch yourselves or even run the wheels into the ground further in determination to get it out."
Sebastian beamed. "That was all Kurt. He knows cars."
"I had checked the hoses before we left but I think some water must have gotten in somewhere along the way." Kurt defended himself when Sebastian put him in the spot as someone who could criticize the man.
The mechanic nodded, understanding where Kurt was coming from. "It happens. I think you got pretty far on the cracked hose. You got lucky too, the road you were coming down, there was a ravine about three miles back and the left road at the fork you missed was closed with roadblocks."
"So it was a really good accident in the end." Sebastian summarized and Kurt smiled up at him, taking his hand. They were incredibly lucky but they probably should have stopped once the weather picked up. Though, the weather hadn't been that bad and it had turned worse quickly.
"I'll be back for the Nav. We're spending the night next door." Kurt explained, intending to get a nap in while they waited.
"No rush, it can sit in the garage. There's not a need for the stall yet." The mechanic waved off. "Go take a shower or something."
Kurt warmed to the idea, a shower sounded very nice and he reached in for his overnight bag and grabbed Sebastian's at the same time.
"Did I tell you how amazing you are in the last hour?" Sebastian asked as they walked back to the hotel to shower and sleep. Maybe do a little of something they couldn't last night in the car.
"Yes but I always like hearing it." Kurt accepted the kiss as Sebastian bent his neck to accomplish it. "Race you to the room!" He took off on a run and again proved he had style and practicality in his wardrobe that looked only stylish as his boots didn't slip on the snow and slush like Sebastian's.