Open | Oh, the Weather Outside Is Frightful

[effiomsfavorite]

Who: Anyone and everyone!
What: There's a freak snowstorm in Little Love, and this is an open catch-all for interacting with that.
When: Late November/Early December
Where: Little Love
Content Warnings: None in main post; may be in individual toplevels.

[The weather is sudden and unexpected, barreling into Little Love with a supernatural fury, and the town is soon blanketed in white.]

[And occasionally rained on by Confluence-grabbed newcomers. That bit is slightly less unexpected, at least.]

[Where are you in all of this? Do you live here, helping to save your home? Did you port in when the call for help came, prepared for the cold and to provide whatever assistance you can? Or did you arrive on this world suddenly, still trying to get your bearings? Either way, good luck with that cold snap.]

Comments

[kid_flash_found]

Bart barely stops himself from trying to catch Thad after the shove, then turns to create a scout.

"Thermal wrap, you know where they are," he snaps, taking the moment the scout needs to return with the crinkly-sounding aluminum blanket to try to center himself before draping it over the younger speedster.

"Look, I know this isn't what you want, so I guess we have two choices. I can take you inside here, or run you to the triage center. But you need food and warmth." And Tim is going to kill him.

[mirror_soldier]

Aside from a light flinch, Thad doesn't move when the weight of the thermal blanket falls over him.

Bart was correct, he didn't want this, and he almost snapped for him to just leave him alone. But knowing how stubborn Bart could be and their last conversation, it would likely be a waste of breath. And he didn't have the energy to scuffle with Bart if the other boy felt prompted to take him somewhere by force. So instead he weighs his options from under the aluminum blanket.

The idea of being taken to a triage center was only tempting for about half a picosecond. It might get him away from Bart the fastest, but being poked and prodded at by strangers while being asked questions about his identity and medical history was arguably worse. Especially if he was being brought in by someone who looked suspiciously like an older version of himself. In an environment where clones could be treated with hostility or suspicion, or like they were property, that could turn bad.

Maybe that line of thinking was a bit too paranoid, but was it something he could really risk coming back to bite him?

Reluctantly, he eventually asks, "..Where's here?"

[kid_flash_found]

"My place. You don't have to come inside, but in that case I'm going to run out the electric blanket onto the porch. Or you could go sit with the girls under the heat lamps in the henhouse, but that might be a little tight," Bart says, listing multiple options, any of which would be fine, but all mean that Thad's getting at least a little care.

"I know this is not what either of us wants, but you need some help before you can run off again. So why don't you decide while I get some soup warmed." He nods at the nearest window which looks into a kitchen that is either spotless from care or lack of use, but it's hard to tell which at from here.

[mirror_soldier]

"Right. The farm." Chickens and all. Wasn't that just his sprocking luck.

Without warning, he tries to make another break for it, managing to stumble to his feet and out from under the blanket, but only makes it about a foot or two away before the dizziness and stomach cramps bring him to another stop. He at least manages to stay on his feet this time, but it's clear, even to himself, that he's not going to be able to just speed off any time soon.

"...Porch." He definitely wasn't hunkering down with birds, and he definitely didn't want to be stuck in his house.

[kid_flash_found]

Bart is back out, before there's too much of a stumble, running through the wall with the steaming cup of broth he'd just vibrated warm. Picking up the foil blanket, he drapes it around Thad and hands him the soup. "C'mon, baby steps. One at at ime."

There's no judgement as he helps Thad to the rocker on the porch, just weary sympathy. He'd been off the front lines for a lot the help needed, both because the Alliance knew Kid Flash as a goofball and because he'd had to assuage Tim and Kon that he was safe.

"Just sit tight, and I'll get the blanket set up so you can raise that core temp. I've also got some protein bars and stuff that doesn't taste like crap."

[mirror_soldier]

The foil blanket is draped over him and this time he holds it around himself with the hand not holding the soup. The cold was starting to really seep in now that he'd been relatively still for so long, and he wasn't quite stubborn enough to refuse it again. As Bart helps him to the porch he doesn't quite let him touch him when he can help it, but can't do much to stop him from being close or catching him when he looks like he might stumble.

Sitting in the rocker he was directed to, he gives a non-committal noise at the offer of protein bars, choosing to stare sullenly into the bowl of soup as Bart goes for the heated blanket.

[kid_flash_found]

It took a little big more work to get the outdoor extension cord run and the electric blanket in position, but Bart didn't rush it. With the reflective blanket and something warm to drink, he knew that a speedster's metabolism was good enough to not go fully into hypothermic shock. But it also gave him a little time to think about the next move or two.

"Who are you reporting to for mobilization?" Bart asks, keeping to business for now. "You'll need to tell them you're done for this shift."

[mirror_soldier]

The first question just gets a confused look from him, mouthing the words "reporting to" to himself as he tried to puzzle out who Bart could have thought he would be in contact with. It clicks after he advises him to let them know his shift is done. The Guilds.

Frowning down at the bowl of soup again, for a moment he debates how to answer.

"No one sent me here. I saw the news and came down here on my own."

[kid_flash_found]

Bart can't help a frown at that. "It's dangerous to operate without Guild support. This universe isn't all that forgiving of vigilantes," he feels obliged to say. "I'd rather not see you get hunted down for that. Or, well, anything else."

While he doesn't really expect Thad to fall in line with either group, it's still something to bring up and be concerned about. Crossing lines should at least be something you do on purpose, not because one is under-informed.

"The unaligned are easy targets because the people here want powers 'regulated' or some such nonsense."

[mirror_soldier]

"Like for being your clone." Not much point beating around the bush. "From what I've gathered joining them doesn't seem like a particularly wise choice for that same reason."

[kid_flash_found]

Bart can't help a slight wince at that. "You're just as much a person as anyone else. It shouldn't matter how you came to be."

It shouldn't but it does.

"There's a lawyer, the one they're trying to pressure into joining up. Kon's talked with her. She's...well, she might as well be as close to being a leader for a third faction. And I would never expect you to join up if you didn't feel it was a good decision. You're the smart one, after all."

[mirror_soldier]

It's hard not to note that wince. He can't quite understand why simply stating the fact that he was a clone would make Bart react like that, but he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he merely gives Bart's statement about him being as much a person as anyone else, a soft noise of acknowledgment, or possibly agreement.

When he brings up the lawyer, Thad nods.

"Frances Starling. Guardian mentioned her." He still hadn't reached out to her yet, unsure if he wanted to. For the moment she was considered a last-resort resource. "Wasn't aware she was essentially heading a third unspoken faction."

If he feels any particular way about that, it's hard to parse with his voice staying a soft monotone. Lifting the soup bowl to his mouth, he forgoes the spoon to just drink down the broth for now.

[kid_flash_found]

"It's more that she's a voice for the unaligned than actually organizing anything. But, uh, yeah. Guardian didn't have anything particularly bad to say, which is a lot better than the hinkiness that I keep seeing in the Guardian Alliance. They really are pushing the line that all people with powers should have oversight," Bart points out.

"I mean, I know I've practically been a poster child for the misuse of superpowers, but I have never agreed that government regulation is going to help." It always seemed to go bad or end up with people getting hunted down like criminals or worse.

[mirror_soldier]

Putting the soup back down in his lap, he stays silent for a moment, mulling that information over.

"...What kind of 'hinkiness' have you seen from the Alliance, beyond their treatment of clones?"

[kid_flash_found]

"The Godfall incident. I'm pretty sure they just straight-up murdered a traumatized teen and passed it off as some kind of glorious win for the team. And people have mostly let them get away with things like that. Sweep casualties under the rug," Bart explains, gesturing as he talks.

"It's the kinds of things that would destroy the Justice League. The history is so different that there's not as much of an adherence to general morality. There aren't any folks like Superman or Wonder Woman that make it worth it to try to toe a line."

It bothers him. Because without those kinds of upstanding people, the moral imperative of trying to be even a fraction as good as Superman, it makes it harder to draw lines.

"Heck, the Society doesn't actually bother with actual reformation. It's more of a place to keep doing the same thing, and having people to bail you out. Unless the pressure gets too bad, then you might be on your own."