[open]

[hellsbel]

Who: Bel and whoever
When: December 8-10
Where: Nomo Deck, rec room, various other places
What: Various things that happen while Miles and Loki are missing. And after.
Warnings: at least one instance of sharing body heat because Bel is practical okay


December 8

The ship is slowly freezing from the inside out. Quick thinking and ingenuity among the crew, to say nothing of an encouraging amount of good humor and altruism, have made it more bearable than Bel would have guessed. The library group is lively and friendly, and people are looking out for each other; if no other systems break down, they might get through without any severe effects.

Then two crewpeople go missing. And one -- small, heat-inefficient, deeply hates the cold -- is Miles.

Searching the largely empty ship in the frigid atmosphere, half-expecting to come across a huddled figure around every corner, is made all the more disconcerting by slight movements in the shadows. In the meantime, Bel tries to find out who saw them last, but no good leads are generated.


December 9

As the crew settles into the new social scene prompted by the cold spell, Bel has been all over the ship several times. No sign of Miles -- or Loki, who also seems to be missing. Even Jane's new MID apps haven't been able to locate them.

If they're still on the ship, they must be somewhere unreadable. The deepening shadows, with their now-unmistakable whispers and movements, have everyone pairing up for any activities outside cabins or the library.


December 10

Now that Miles is back, reaction is setting in. Bel cuts down on walking the ship, keeping a careful eye on the MID for any alerts. Otherwise, though, it's time to answer late messages and take care of things closer to home.


[[Sorry for lagging behind on things! Intense thread + heavy workweek. Bel will be jumping into a lot of posts and tagbacks as soon as time and energy coincide; if you'd prefer something not be continued that's fine too. This is a quick catchall for activity during the period when Miles and Loki are missing, and immediately afterward. Please tag with date in subject line; feel free to rope Bel into other ship activities on the 8th, be roped into the increasingly concerned search for Miles and Loki on the 9th, or whatever works!]]

Comments

[hatesimprovising]

Yeah, Wash hopes not, too. That'd be a terrible way to die, drowning and/or freezing. Hopefully it's just something from the rec room that got knocked under the water before things froze.

"Unfortunately not." Wash shakes his head, glancing back over at Bel. An apologetic look crosses his face, hidden behind his visor. "Closest to cutting tools that I've got are my guns." Which won't be much help here. So instead he goes ahead, carefully shifting himself so he won't fall in if he manages to break his way through, and gives the ice another good stomp. It cracks the ice some more, but it's going to take a lot of effort going this way.

Feeling a little helpless and a little good-for-nothing, Wash lifts his head and casts his gaze around the rec room, looking for something that might be of some use. And he actually spots something. Standing up straighter, he points over;

"You know, we could use some weights as improvisational tools," he comments, giving Bel a look to see if he thinks that's a good idea or not. Those have a better shot of actually digging a hole than stomping or punching the ice does, he thinks.

[hellsbel]

"Good thinking!" Bel nods quickly, striding over to have a look, and returning with a heavy pole held aloft.

"This. The ice is already cracked -- how heavy are your servos? Spear it deep as you can, then hammer it in. Make a couple of holes in a row and try stomping next to them."

Without armor, there's no way Bel's merely human strength can go through the sheet of ice. But Wash, his limbs shielded from the concussion of the blows needed, just might.

[hatesimprovising]

"I'll see what I can do." Wash nods, walking over and taking the pole from Bel. Seems like a better plan than just hammering at the ice until he makes a dent in it. Moving back over to the shape and the cracks in the ice, he hesitates for a moment, glancing around for a good place to start.

Finally he spots one. A crack that's open wide enough that he should be able to get the pole in with relative ease. Moving over toward it, he shoves the pole in with a fair amount of force, just to make sure it gets in there, then hammers down on it with his gauntlet, shoving it further into the ice. It seems to work, so with some difficulty, he pulls the pole back out and moves off to another spot.

He repeats the action a number of times, all around the area where the shape is below him. Once he feels like he's done it a sufficient number of times, he casts Bel a glance, almost like he's seeking approval or another suggestion, then looks back to his work. Drawing a breath, hoping that this works, he then lifts the pole out of the ice and gives the ground a good stomp.

That seems to do it. He hears the cracking before he sees it start to work, but once he does, he backs off away from the holes that he's made. The ice cracks inward and loosens, now floating in large chunks on the water below. Satisfied and in face actually quite thrilled with himself, Wash looks back at Bel with a grin hidden by his helmet.

"Let's check what's down there now."

[hellsbel]

Bel already has another pole in hand, a sheet of matting wrapped around it to protect their half-gloved hands, grimly levering blocks of ice aside and out of the water. The whole sheet settles a little, but doesn't break further, forcing the water further up into the hole. It takes some effort from the two of them, but finally there's a clear enough space to nudge the floating mass upward.

One of the ship's yoga mats, soggy and folding over where the pole catches it.

Panting, Bel stumbles back as the mat flops over out of the hole, already freezing to the surface of the ice. The pole drops with a clatter, spinning away. The face that lifts toward Wash wavers between elation and the shivering exhaustion of adrenaline draining away.

"Nobody. Good. Thank you." It had looked just Miles's size. He's still missing, not dead in the water. It's going to take Bel a moment to reorient.

[hatesimprovising]

When they get the thing up and it's not a body, Wash sighs with relief, almost laughs even with the amount of relief he feels that it's just a yoga mat that fucked with them. Grinning, he turns his head to look over at Bel, and his expression falters slightly seeing the state the other is in.

"No problem," he waves off the thanks, walking to the edge of the pool and climbing back up off the ice. His eyes remain on Bel, full of concern now--it's cold in here, and after exerting all that effort, they must be feeling the cold even more than before. "You okay, though? I'm thinking maybe we should head to the library and warm up."

He wants to ask just who Bel was expecting to find under the ice, but that can be asked at a later time. Right now he's just worried about his companion.

[hellsbel]

Bel rubs the sweat away with one forearm; it's already started to freeze. The hollowed-out feeling is familiar, nothing but a reaction after the exertion of nerves and effort. Despite the shaken feeling -- no answers, but not the worst answer -- there's a grateful smile for Wash. Good kid; he'd really come through. Bel would have been happy to take him on as a crewmate back home.

"Good thinking. Let's cover this up and get out of here." Whatever they put over the ice will just fall in when it melts, but the inconvenience is far preferable to letting a crewperson fall in now. "If we had more able bodies, I'd say to break it all up and leave it in the shower-rooms to drain later, but it might as well stay where it is."

And warming up in the library sounds really good.

[hatesimprovising]

"Right." Wash nods and quickly starts looking around for something to cover up the hole in the ice with. Quickly, because he wants to get Bel warmed up. He's fine, his armor keeps his body temperature at the norm, but Bel hasn't got that.

Humming to himself, he spots a pile of more yoga mats nearby and moves over to grab a couple. Then dropping back down onto the ice, he moves carefully toward the hole and, after setting the mats down behind himself, starts cautiously unrolling them and placing them over the hole.

"...These should work, I think?" He casts a questioning look Bel's way before continuing. The mats are a little short in some places to cover the hole, but in that situation, Wash makes sort of a patchwork pattern with them, laying them in the opposite direction of the others, using the mats beneath them as support. It's not the neatest job ever, but he manages to get the hole covered, and that's what's important, right?