008 → It's only different seasons

[wrigurun]

Characters: Wriggle Nightbug, Open
Setting: Floor 35 (summer), Lift (winter)
Format: Action tags, tags will follow original taggers style
Summary: The summer was fun, winter was not
Warnings: Potential character death

Floor 35
[Maybe it was the mist, or maybe it was the winter, or maybe it was the knowledge that no matter what the tower would probably get the better of her weighing down on her shoulders. Whatever the reason, once thing that was certain is that Wriggle had been miserable for a long time, much longer than usual for her and her normally curious and aggressive disposition had been significantly subdued for the past month.

The rain didn't mean much to her, she had nothing that wouldn't be fine after being dried out. The heat she'd been able to stave off by staying in the shadier areas of the tower and moving as little as possible. However as the humidity started to rise she felt a sort of nostalgia, a longing for the carefree days of Gensokyo. She could have easily become more depressed at the thought but she was tired of sulking. Even though this place could be a nightmare at times there was nothing stopping her from experiencing the same joys she did at home.

The fact that she'd almost forgotten it meant that she had to work even harder to preserve that memory.

As dusk starts to fall Wriggle wanders down to the lake with a large jar of fireflies collected from the forty-first floor. She can't control them here and she can't fly but right now there's no place she'd rather be and she's sure they'd enjoy it more too. She unscrews the lid and releases them into the floor. Even if she can't control them they seem to float around her as she skips and dances and sings in a slightly off key, basking in the memories of summers past]

Pandora, Pandora, Pandora's box was cat coloured ♪
Pandora, Pandora, Pandora's box, was it black or white? ♫

Lift
[After the summer autumn had actually been fun but everything took a sudden nosedive the moment winter rolled around. She'd had a hard enough time getting by during the tower's actual winter but this was on a whole other level. Wriggle had stolen all the sheets that werne't in use from her dorm room and cocooned herself up in them but even that wasn't enough to keep the harsh chill out. There was nowhere to keep safe and Wriggle didn't know if she should stay in the dorms or try and find somewhere else.

Eventually she manages to get off the bed but struggles to keep herself afloat, even her legs feel too frozen to move. She wills herself forward and into the lift, hoping it might take her to warmer weather. Who thought moving around could be so exhausting? Wriggle bundles herself into the corner and closes her eyes just to rest a little while, content with riding the lift to wherever until she's ready to move again.

Although if someone doesn't wake her and help her get warm soon she'll surely perish]

Comments

Winter.

[hystericull]

[Burying himself in the snow was not the most ideal survival tactic, Gamzee had found. His winter jacket was sturdy, but it was starting to dampen at the hems. If he didn't move soon, he'd be completely soaked. Breaking out of his ice bed, he crawled across the snow towards a small, moving object. His hands lacked gloves, and the skin on them was bright purple, cracks forming across his knobby knuckles. He was so tired. His body didn't want to move. He had no idea why he was following this blob, but he was. Turns out the thing had made its way into the lift, and it was only after Gamzee had dumped himself in, as well, that he realized it was Wriggle.]

Ugh...

[It was the only speech he could seem to formulate at the moment.]

[wrigurun]

[Wriggle barely opened her eyes at the thing that thumped on the floor. She could easily make out the bright orange horns but that meant it would be any number of people. Shifting a little she wrapped the sheets around her tighter]

Wake me up when we get somewhere warmer, okay?

[She gives a slight yawn and settles down as if going to sleep]

[hystericull]

Mmn...

[He was getting drowsy, himself. Pinching his skin to keep himself awake had stopped working after his whole body had gone numb. Now his cracked hands were starting to get prickly and warm. It was a nice feeling, though a little confusing. He forced himself to pick his face up off of the floor of the lift. He could hardly blink or move his mouth. Was his fucking facepaint frozen to his face???]

Ain't no mother... huff huff... motherfuckin' p-place what's... fuckin' warmer...

[He struggled to pull himself closer to her. Why couldn't he have been stuck here with someone larger!? It would make his plan more effective.]

'f you croak... can I fuckin' use you as a heater...

[wrigurun]

[That certainly woke her up a bit]

You're rude...

[Her words were muffled slightly by the sheets but her vision cleared enough for her to finally recognise who she was speaking to. Of course she should have guessed by their manner of speaking]

And I'm n-n-not going t-to die, s-so don't even think about it!

[Well... it was more that she didn't want to die. Even if it didn't matter in terms of mortality, it still mattered to her. If the cold wasn't making her throat hurt and her teeth chatter she might have been able to sound more firm than pathetic]

[hystericull]

No shit.

[Laying in the snow seemed counter-productive, so Gamzee attempted to claw his way to a sitting position against the wall of the lift. Good fucking hysterical lords, that sapped almost all of the energy out of him. He wasn't going to make it, he could feel it.]

Fine. I'll j-just... I'll just mothe... motherfuckin' wait, then.

[He wrung his hands. Even though they felt warm on the inside, the skin on the outside was like ice. It was starting to hurt again.]

Floor 35

[geometry]

[Singing? ...Now that was new. It wasn't often that anyone in the Tower was even remotely happy enough to attempt singing, outside of maybe the music floor. Now, Equius wasn't very familiar with the song that he heard, so he couldn't tell anything about the purity of Wriggle's notes. But somehow he wasn't surprised to find that the girl who was singing on the lakefront about cats and boxes and someone named Pandora was the little firefly demon he'd come to view with fondness. He casually ignored the small throbbing that was starting to show up in the back of his head; this floor never was too much of a problem, unless he stayed in it for several hours straight.]

[Equius waited until she seemed to be done with the song (tough noogies if she planned to sing it again), and then broke in:] ...Hi.

[wrigurun]

Hnn?

[She turned to the voice, wondering how long he had been there listening. It didn't particularly matter though, Wriggle wasn't exactly shy. If fact she seemed happy to see him for once. Singing and dancing and generally being merry was always better with company. At the very least she was sure that Equius could hum a tune]

Hey, Equius! How long have you been there?

[geometry]

Not long.

[Seriously, he just got there, Wrigs. Get with the program. ...Actually, maybe that wasn't so accurate; it seemed like Equius himself didn't really have the program on lockdown as much as he would have liked, because a happy Wriggle is not a Wriggle he's used to seeing.]

What's got you in such good spirits?

[wrigurun]

[For a moment her smile seemed slightly solumn. She shrugged, only slightly avoiding eyecontant. Even if it was nostalgia for something she'd probably never get to truly experience again, it's not like she had to give a reason to be happy]

I guess I just missed those summers when I used to play by the lake. It's been so bad here lately that I thought having fun again wouldn't be a terrible idea, you know?

[geometry]

I guess. [He didn't really play by a lake too often because he... had never actually seen a lake. But he had seen the vast ocean of the Land of Lotus and Frogs, and that was a pretty good place to chill too, on the rare occasion that he allowed himself to chill about anything anywhere.] Kind of see what you mean. It really could be worse, all of this heat... I like it a lot more than the constant rain, anyway. [He grimaces at the mere thought of all the ruined food and soggy supplies.]

Lift

[notagiraffe]

Taiki was so cold, but he was keeping active. He was lucky that his court clothes were made for the harsh winters of Tai, he kept moving not sitting down for long.

It was hard, he was weak, he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten properly, before his coma, before that fog.

He was stumbling along when he saw Wriggle, "Wriggle... sorry..." He rushed over to her, taking off his long cloak and wrapping it round her for extra warmth, a moment later he switched forms, pulling his discarded clothes onto her as well before curling up next to her in beast form, he generated more heat that way.

[wrigurun]

Wriggle had started to drift off to sleep when she felt something heavy placed on top of her. She could have sworn someone called her name but she couldn't be sure. Opening her eyes she thought she saw the figure of someone over her but blinking a few times they were gone. With the addition for a few new layers she was about to settle down again when she felt something warm curl up besides her.

A strange creature she'd never seen before, but she almost instinctively draped her arms over it's body.
"Hey, what's your name...?" she murmured, her voice weak. Even breathing was becoming a chore with her chest frozen like that. Hopefully it would thaw soon.

[notagiraffe]

"It's me, Taiki." He murmured, using his nose to pull her further into him, hoping he was enough to keep her warm.

[wrigurun]

"Taiki..." Did she know a Taiki? It seemed vaguely familiar but it didn't ring enough of a bell. "I don't know that person..." Wriggle mumbled, letting herself get pulled along. With a satisfied sigh she nuzzled into his coat, losing the battle to stay awake.

[notagiraffe]

Sadly enough the fact that she couldn't remember him didn't surprise or upset him, he just lent over her trying to keep her warm.

"Stay awake Wriggle, don't sleep... sorry... but you can't..."

Lift

[swiftkicks]

"Cold, cold, c-cold, cold..."

Even for someone who's used to fighting in freezing temperatures, this was still insane. Breathing into her hands to warm them up, Rena stumbled into the lift without actually looking at what's inside first.

Which is why it took her a few seconds before she realized she wasn't alone in the cold. And that she almost stepped onto said person.

"Um, h-hello?"

She was just about to apologize before she realized that the girl was probably going to fall asleep in the freezing cold.

Oh no you don't. Death flags everywhere.

She took off her jacket she nicked somewhere and covered the girl with it. She felt chilly afterwards, yes, what with all the skin she's showing, but she can endure it. She hoped, anyway.

[wrigurun]

The sound of footsteps and voices seemed strangely distant somehow. While she sensed the presence of another person in her state she almost felt like she was dreaming.

"Hello," she mumbled in reply and settled more into her corner "Wake me up when it's spring." Wriggle could barely remember being a grub but somewhere in the back of her head were the faint memories of hibernating during the winter. When the jacket was placed over her she clung onto it and wrapped it tighter around herself.

[swiftkicks]

Spring, huh. What a pleasant thought.

Though at this rate anything that isn't 'freezing cold' would be welcome at this point.

Rena picked the girl up, blanket and jacket and all, and held her close to her own body, hoping to warm Wriggle up with her own body temperature.

"Come on, get up. If you fall asleep now I won't be able to do anything for you."

Ugh. If only they weren't in a lift, she would probably light a fire to warm themselves up. Unfortunately, death by smoke suffocation is still way above death from hypothermia on her 'worst ways to die" list.

To that end, she's just going to randomly jab at the lift buttons and hope it stops soon. Preferably a floor where she can light things up.

[wrigurun]

At the feeling of being picked up she tried to struggle. Wriggle would much rather stay put but with her body so still all she could do was writhe helplessly.
"Put me down... I just wanna go to bed," she whined, slowly loosing touch with the severity of the situation. It didn't occur to her that she could actually die like this.

Unfortunately with such a weakness to the cold, Rena's body heat wasn't doing much to help. Defeated, Wriggle simply lay against Rena with her eyes closed. She was still breathing but her heartbeat was starting to slow.

[swiftkicks]

With Wriggle's struggling and whining, Rena actually felt right back at home, what with needing to babysit two young so-called 'teenagers' that were almost devoted to being as annoying as possible.

Almost. Except, you know, the whole deathly cold thing.

"I'll put you down, but you have to promise me you won't go to sleep, okay?"

Holding the girl, Rena exited the lift in a hurry, before realizing which floor she was on.

The poppy floor. Perfect. Just typical of her luck.

New plan: keep the conversation going and not go to sleep.

Quickly starting a small fire with her magic, Rena made sure that Wriggle was getting as much of the miniscule amount of heat as possible.

"Here, warm yourself up, and don't go to sleep. What's your name, by the way?"

Floor 35!

[gradosfinest]

[... singing! There's something you don't hear every day in a place like this. Especially at a time like this, while the weather so far hadn't been impossible for Amelia to deal with it certainly hadn't been fun, the blazing heat of summer reminding her of the harsh deserts of Jehanna. At least she wasn't weighed down in a massive suit of armor this time.

Dangerous as the tower can be though she swears she recognizes that voice, and curiosity almost instantly gets the better of her. Not that it's hard to find the origin of it, considering the fireflies surrounding Wriggle at the moment, and when she spots Wriggle she can't help but smile a bit. It certainly sounds like she's doing better than the last time they'd met, and maybe having someone to talk to would help her take her mind off the heat! With that thought she took a few steps closer, careful not to get too close in case she might be interrupting something before making her presence known.]

... Wriggle?

[wrigurun]

[She spun around so quickly that she did a full pirouette before landing firmly on both her feet. At the sight of Amelia Wriggle smiled, but it was one laced with embarrassment and she quickly glanced off to the side, fidgeting with the lining of her cape. She was certainly happy to see her, in retrospect she'd helped her a great deal but being seen at her most vulnerable wasn't exactly the best first impression]

Oh! Hey it's you again!

Uh... listen, about last time. I'm really sorry you had to see me like that, heh...

[gradosfinest]

[And when it becomes obvious Wriggle's doing much better than the last time they'd met her smile widens, the young knight quickly making her way over towards Wriggle. Finally, something resembling some good news in this place!]

Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're alright now. Mind if I stay here for a little while?

[Sometimes it was the little things that helped, just seeing her doing better was proof that everything that had happened in the mist had been worth it, and it helped to lighten her own mood too. Sure the humidity was still anything but pleasant for her, but... she'd live. Especially if she had somebody to talk to now.]

[wrigurun]

Uh, sure thing! It's not like I own the floor or anything.

[That would be the 41st. Wriggle takes a step or two back to make space and smiles again. Biting her lip she wonders if she should keep talking about that time before finally taking the plunge. Some things still had to be said]

And uh, thanks again for everything. I guess I was a bit difficult then but if you hadn't gotten me back to my room I might have done something stupid so... Yeah, thank-you.

[gradosfinest]

Alright!

[With that she let herself take a seat on the ground, letting out something between a yawn and a sigh. The humid weather did make getting worn out easier, and trekking around the tower was never an easy experience. And although she was doing her best to remain alert she still couldn't help but let her attention wander, staring quietly at the fireflies.]

Anytime! I'm just glad you're alright. I couldn't just leave you in there afterall... plus you helped me get back to the elevator too, remember?