"Laura Hollis, I swear that it looks to me like your entire body is turning blue. You've seriously got to get into the warm somewhere." Carmilla tells me, as I try to shake some feeling back into the tips of my purple fingers.
"You...you've got no idea. My...my hands. I can't feel them." I groan, kind of. The rest of my body aches with the cold. The rest of the team seems to be about to give out as well. We need somewhere to stay and it looks like the rest of the world is white with snow and ice. Carmilla grabbed my hands in her own and held them tightly against her chest. They burned like fire with warmth from her, disproving the myths of vampires being constantly cold.
"I should go find somewhere for us to stay. Out of the cold. Before one of you actually dies."
"That would be good, but right now I'm pretty sure that you are the actual only thing that is keeping me up right now." I lean in into her
"Alright, cutie. That is it." she says rather definitely.
"You guys, stay where I can find you. Huddle for warmth. I don't want to have to deal with the blowback of the Cupcake's heart getting crushed when you die." she turns back to me.
"You're coming along." she bends at the knees and lifts to pick me up and I start to shake as feeling returns to my appendages.
"Oh, God, thank you. Who knew that you were so warm..."I shimmy into her shoulder.
"Um, well, I guess not you. Is that...like a barn over there?" Carmilla asks, and I'm not really paying attention anymore because I am enjoying being close to her.
In a flash, Carm has set me down in a stack of hay somewhere in the barn and it's the warmest that I have felt in ages. It's the warmest that I have felt since we went out into the blizzard at least I guess. It was only a bit before Carmilla had come back with LaFontaine and Perry. Each sighed heavily in relief. Carmilla wrapped her arms around me and I sighed too, but maybe for different reasons. I loved her still, I think. I lean into her and it feels like home, but still when I kiss her it cracks me open.
