towerofanimus | 008 → It's only different seasons

Entry tags:

008 → It's only different seasons

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]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

[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]

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...

[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]

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.]

W-why would you wait for th-that? Th... That's really c-c-c-creepy.

[Talking feels like it's wasting energy but on the other hand it helps keep her awake. Even if she would like to get some shut-eye with Gamzee around it doesn't feel like it's safe. The sheets are good for keeping the breeze out but nothing more. The skin on her legs is completely numb and for the love of god why couldn't the tower provide her with a warmer alternative to shorts?]

I ain't g-g-giving your... motherfuckin' ass n-no... fuckin' ideas...

[His crooked teeth were clattering together, making speech even more difficult. Even if he were to cut this girl open after she died, her tiny body wouldn't have enough blood to saturate him completely. He could maybe do an arm, if he was lucky. Or maybe just put his hands in her stomach.]

[Ugh, why couldn't she be fatter?]

Fuck.

Who the f-fuck am I motherfuckin' kidding? Your tiny ass ain't all gonna d-do... fuckin' nothin'.

[Finally, he spied the sheets she'd wrapped herself in.]

Hey.

Gimme one of them fuckers.

[She scooted away further but there was only so far she could wriggle her way into a corner. Even though he said he wasn't going to give her any ideas she couldn't help but play with them in her head. Maybe make a coat from her skin or warm up with a stew made form her organs. Those kinds of thoughts only made her shiver harder]

N-no! I need them!

[He didn't have enough energy to snuff anything out right now... even if Wriggle was tiny... He'd never really thought about killing her before. It seemed pointless, but he was running out of options...]

[This lift is only so big, and it was just a few seconds before Gamzee was at her side, tugging on one of the sheets.]

Come on, don't be a fuckin' bitch!

[If she were any stronger she might have fought back, kicked him or shot at him. As it stood, she could only muster the energy to hold onto the sheets as tight as she could and try and worm her way away]

No! It's t-too cold! Y-you already have w-w-warm clothes!

They ain't warm e-fucking-nough!!!

[Being a highblood, his body temperature was naturally severely low. Heavily reduced temperatures like this made him greatly susceptible to hypothermia and frostbite. The two shirts, winter jacket, scarf and hat were doing absolutely nothing for him. He needed more, dammit!]

[Gamzee continued tugging at the sheets, trying to loosen at least one of them to get a better hold. If he could get one, he could probably unravel the whole thing.]

[Stupid motherfucking girl was probably all toasty in there, shivering just so he wouldn't take her stupid blankets away.]

If you ain't motherfuckin' extricating your ass from these motherfuckers, you all up and are being included in the motherfuckin' package.

[With that, his hand clamped around one of the sheets, dragging Wriggle and her bundle closer to him. He shifted, throwing himself over the entire thing and wrapping his arms and legs around the cocoon until it was a tangle of Gamzee.]

[Very mature.]

[The layers didn't matter. Wriggle was just as cold as she was making out to be. The longer she was out the colder she was getting and it didn't matter how much she wanted to resist she could barely put up a struggle as Gamzee threw himself around her]

Get off, y-you're heavy...

[Her voice was barely above a whisper and even with the added troll she didn't feel any warmer. Maybe if she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a few moments she'd be able to recover the strength to break out]

Shut up!!!

[He hissed, losing his balance a little until Wriggle was a Wriggle-pancake, and Gamzee was flat on top of the sheet pile.]

[God damnit, this wasn't making him any warmer. It was just fucking uncomfortable.]

Hey, wait. I got a fuckin' idea.

[Another idea. Hopefully it was as brilliant as the previous one. Removing himself from the pile, Gamzee sat back on his ass, fumbling with his scarf until he'd loosened it enough to be able to access the zipper of his jacket, which he yanked down a little.]

Get in.

[The whining steadily grew louder as Wriggle was pushed down under the significantly larger troll. When the weight was off her she took a deep breath only for it to be pushed out of her when she found her chest too frozen to hold it all. She scrambled up to her knees, staring at Gamzee with a look of confusion and anxiety]

What are you on about?

You think I'd fuckin' waste time culling your motherfucking ass when all you up and ain't gonna be being warm e-fucking-nough that way!?

[He sounded annoyed.]

You all ain't no fuckin' good to me deadways.

Come on, man! Bugs all gotta motherfuckin' work together, right? Let's get some mother fucking insectoid symbiosis going, for fuckin' shit tit's sake!

[She wasn't sure if she should feel complimented that he preferred her being alive to dead. And while she didn't quite realise the insectoid nature of the troll species yet he had a point. Better to work together and live than be stubborn as a mule and die.

Her breath came out in clouds as she grumbled and crawled over to him. Seating herself in front of him she fell back against his chest, still cocooned in the sheets]

This better work...

Ugh! That ain't motherfuckin' symbiotic, parasite!

[He pushed her forward, snatching the end of one of the sheets and tugging on it.]

If we gonna get up at the shameful mother fucking act all on bein' a burrito, you gotta give me the motherfuckin' tortillas!!!

Okay fine! Geez!

[She lets go of the sheets, her throat raw at the sudden raise in volume. The moment she's uncovered she curls up even tighter. The sheets may not have been that thick but it's a bit of a shock once they're taken away]

[Hold on just a few more seconds, Wriggle. Gamzee tossed the sheets haphazardly around his own shoulders for now, focusing on maneuvering this stubborn girl like a fucking marionette.]

[Their size difference allowed him to lift and position her as he saw fit, provided she didn't put up a struggle. Unzipping the entire front of his jacket this time, he'd folded his legs up Indian-style, plunking Wriggle down on top of them. With shaking, chapped fingers, it took him a minute or two to put the zipper together again, but once he did, he zipped it up over her front, as well.]

[Finally attending to the sheets, he balled up the ends of them all in each hand, wrapping them tightly around the both of them. His arms crossed each other, tightening inwards and pulling Wriggle's legs up to her chest. With a final shiver and chatter of teeth, Gamzee placed his head atop the girl's head.]

[He was getting sleepy.]

Don't get no ideas.

[All Wriggle did was grumble and pout as she let Gamzee re-position himself around her. She didn't struggle, her limbs felt way too heavy for that and she almost wondered how the troll could actually lift her. Finally curled up and bundled inside his coat, she had to admit that it was a tad warmer even if it was just because she was shielded from the wind.

Letting out a loud yawn she slumped backwards into his chest and shook her head a little so he wasn't leaning on her antennae]

Like what? What ideas could I possibly have?

[How could he lift her? Easy. It was less "lifting" and more "throwing limbs around in exasperation". However, once he had her the way he needed her to properly wrap themselves up, it was of no concern how they'd happened in that position.]

[Wriggle's yawning and shifting about kept him awake a little longer, and her question stirred a feeble frustration in him that also served to help him remain conscious. Wrapping his arms tighter in irritation, he curled up defensively.]

You fuckin' know how many bitches would be killin' to get up all at your motherfucking position right now?

They have blankets and warm clothes, don't they?

And they're probably better made for the cold...

[The actual implications went way over her head but she was so tuckered out that any actual explanation would probably just go in one ear and out the other]

We got all m-motherfuckin' that shit and look how f-f-fuckin' well we be holdin' up.

[He'd forgotten he was supposed to be being cocky. Right now, everything just fell away and was replaced with the fact that he was freezing. And sleepy. The blankets and Wriggle's extra body heat were a vast improvement from before, but it wasn't enough to stop him from shaking like a leaf.]

A b-brother ain't all never was at b-being so fuckin' cold in his g-god damn life.

E-even hanging around that ice fairy wasn't as bad as th-this...

[Wriggle is getting rather drowsy herself and being bundled up like this isn't really helping that fact. Every so often she seems to nod off, only brought around by the sound of Gamzee's voice and the prompt to respond]

D-do you think I-I'll die again?

[He was falling asleep just as fast, eventually losing the energy to even shiver. When he spoke, it was nothing but a mumble into her hair.]

Probably...

[He wasn't going to lie. What was the point!? He knew he wasn't going to be able to survive. His cold-blooded body wasn't built for extreme temperatures, and he didn't have the proper resources to survive such conditions even if there was a slim chance.]

[His eyes felt heavy. He was about ready to give up. Why bother staying alive... it's not like he'd stay dead after he finally croaked here.]

K-know I ain't gonna all be fucking lasting m-much longer... Sorry, girl...

008 → It's only different seasons

Winter.

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