Blue ain't your colour (It is mine)

8

"There, that should take care of everything. See that he gets a bit of rest and doesn't move around too much," the medic told them, fixing the bandage around Adam's arm. Austin swallowed, even though his mouth was dry. He felt terrible. All of this was his fault.
"Why is he so... weird? Why doesn't he talk any more?"
"Most likely it's just his way of coping with what happened. Accidents like that are chaotic and happen so fast, it takes a while to process everything once it's over. And he's dealing with some bad pain from that burn."
"Oh," Austin mumbled, feeling even guiltier.
"Don't be too worried about it; he will come out of it within a few hours at most. No lasting harm has been done."
Tim put a comforting hand on his younger colleague's shoulder and politely thanked the man.
"Not a problem. I'll be off. I will leave some painkillers; give them to him when he asks for them. No more than two per hour."
And with that the medic took his leave. He met Chance at the door. They exchanged a quick greeting; then his boss closed the door softly and turned to Tim and Austin.
"How's Adam?"
Tim relayed the doctor's orders. Chance nodded, relief obvious on his face.
"You guys look like you could use a break," he said quietly. "How about you go to the mess hall and have some lunch? Rob is covering the noon shift, would be cool if one of you could assist him, but you still have a while until then."
Both men got up. Tim just nodded at his boss in silent understanding, but Austin spoke up. "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault–"
Chance shook his head. "It was an accident, Austin. Don't blame yourself, sometimes accidents are inevitable," he said gently. Tim wrapped an arm around the younger one's shoulder.
"Come on, let's get something to eat."

When Adam came back to reality again, Chance was sitting with him.
"Chance...," he murmured, gingerly rubbing his forehead. "I had the worst day ever."
His boss sighed with a look of fond exasperation. "Tell me about it. Glad to have you back, Mr. Rupp, sir."
"'M not sure I'm glad to be back, yet," Adam muttered with a frown. "You got water?"
Chance nodded and uncapped a bottle. "Sure thing. You want something against the pain?"
"Oh god, yes." With a little help, he got two small pills and some water down his throat.
"I hope these things work fast..."
Both were silent for a while. Then Chance cleared his throat. "So, what the hell happened there in the kitchens? How come the only guy on my team with the power to instantly deep-freeze whatever he comes across gets burnt on duty?"

Adam stared straight ahead for a while, letting his eyes roam over the framed photographs Chance had hung on the wall behind his desk. Some were of his family, some showed Chance together with a big, shaggy dog. And somewhere right in the middle there was a picture that had been taken years ago, briefly after his first cruise on the ship. Tim, Rob, Chance and he were all standing at the railing of one of the upper decks, their backs turned to the sea, arms wrapped around each other's backs and wind blowing the hair out of their faces as they were smiling at the camera. He smiled as he remembered that day. It had been in late February and they had just left port for a big trip down to the Caribbean. They were still way up north and their heavy jackets, peaked caps and turned up collars spoke of the chill of winter. They couldn't care less, though – their excitement was showing in their beaming smiles. They looked so young. It had been what, seven years? At least. His younger self reminded him of Austin a little bit. Or it would have reminded him if Austin hadn't been so timid and weighed down by this terrible, cold emptiness he had felt for a split second, back there in the kitchens.

Chance had followed his gaze. "Seems like ages ago," he said softly. Adam nodded. He couldn't quite comprehend what he was feeling. These guys were his family, together with Chris. They'd been so young and happy and without a single concern back then. And while they might be older now, nothing else had changed, really. They joked, worked their asses off and had each other's backs just as back when they had started working together. The enormity of that realization made his eyes mist over. "You guys," his voice was heavy with emotion, "you guys are the best friends I could ever ask for." Chance turned to him and looked him in the eyes with a searching gaze.
"Not to say I don't love you like a brother, Adam, but you are high on painkillers right now. How's the arm feeling?"
"You're an idiot, Chance," Adam smiled. "But you're probably right. I don't even feel my arm any more."
"Good."
They were silent for a while. Then –
"I froze my shoelaces together the other day because Tim startled me," Adam said out of the blue. His friend gave him a look that said "What?", "How even" and "I have no idea where you are going with this, but keep talking." in equal parts. Adam sighed and tried to sit up straighter. "I was afraid I would give myself away today in the kitchens," he admitted softly. "As soon as I saw Austin falling, I basically shoved all of my powers as far away as possible. I didn't want anything bad to happen."
Chance exhaled heavily and rubbed his face with his hands.
"It wasn't supposed to end up like that. I could have caught him and the plates. But –" He felt his friend's eyes on him as he stared into nothingness and tried to find words for what had happened.
"When I... touched him... I don't know why, I have shaken hands with him before and there was nothing, but today... it was like getting hit by ice, but the ice wasn't my friend... I have never felt..."
He fell silent, helplessly shaking his head. The memory made a shudder run down his spine.

He felt Chance squeeze his good hand. The other man spoke with an uncharacteristic softness.

"I know today was a freakin' mess, basically. This holiday season is a nightmare. I also know Austin means a lot to you and obviously, there's something troubling the boy and you want to help him. But in the middle of all that, please don't endanger yourself again like that. You got goddamn second degree burns from a goddamn frying pan. Colliding with something hot kicked you right into unconsciousness. You know," he chuckled helplessly, "I wasn't being serious the other day when I asked whether you had experimented with touching fire. You're one very unique human, Adam, but that also means you gotta protect yourself. Please, promise me, next time a situation becomes so stressful you aren't sure whether you can keep yourself in check, take a step aside. Get out of harm's way when you aren't confident you can handle things. Remember, we got your back if you need it. And I would also very much like to still have one Adam Rupp on my team when all of this chaos has passed. Please be careful."
Adam was at a loss for words. He squeezed his friend's hand in return and nodded shortly.
"Promise. And, Chance... thank you."