The Silence of the Storm

[shardofwinter]

Rations have been cut. Again. Everyone is on one bowl of watery soup a day. Sometimes with crackers, sometimes not. Most people are too tired and weak to do much more than sit around and talk, and nobody discourages them in the slightest. Work has to be rotated constantly as people weaken quickly, but the fires still need to burn, people still need to guard the cooks and rations, and the sick still need to be tended to. Soon the hardest job is keeping up morale while the big expedition comes back. All the gods and heavens of the multiverse help them if they don’t come back with supplies, and soon.

The boundaries have tightened to an almost suffocatingly small space. It doesn’t take much to imagine where they will be by the end of Winter, which at least makes planning a little easier. People are already relocating to deeper in the Plaza. Unfortunately it means that those who have enough energy to often end up fighting with their neighbours, as the close quarters tests everyone’s patience. There are a few spaces carved out for like minded people to shelter from the dreary situation. Mechanics and those like them have set up a nice little place close to the Crossroads Café, and a break area for those helping the sick is sheltered in a room behind the injured and ill. Zandros moves from groups to individuals, looking for help in creating some form of morale boosting display that will adhere to Isidor's instructions. People are surviving in whatever ways they can, but it's reaching breaking point.

((It's the Final Event Post, everyone! OOC Post is here! This is for those stuck at the hub while the Main Expedition is going on. There will be a second part to this post for the Return of the Expedition. In the meantime, have fun!))

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[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

Daredevil is one of the wounded that stumbles in long after the main convoy, accompanied by Palmer, Harley, and Sif. He's irritable, cold, and sports multiple cracked ribs and a broken arm, which the healers are quick to assess and treat as best they can, his fingertips dusky with minor frostnip.

There's nothing that can be done for his ribs, but after his fingers are thawed with lukewarm water, they secure his arm with a splint and a sling while more serious injuries are being dealt with.

Matt eventually finds a spot to rest near one of the many fires keeping people warm, letting its heat wash the bone-deep chill from his body.

[heirtothedragonsfire]

"You survived." Isidor takes a seat nearby and tilts her head to try to meet his eyes. Really he deserves space and time to rest and recover, but they're still figuring out what happened out there. Being left alone might be the worst thing for them right now. It's hard to tell.

She offers a mug. A rich, warm aroma rises from it: High quality coffee. Her own exhaustion means her motions are clunky, but she can afford this much kindness. "How are you feeling?"

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

Matt’s more tired than he thought, because he doesn’t consciously notice her approach until she speaks, and he starts, turning his head in her direction, his gaze not really meeting hers. The mug, however, he has no trouble finding, homing in on heat and that familiar scent of coffee, reaching out to take it with his good arm. “I’ve been better,” he answers wryly, almost managing a polite smile. “Had worse too. I take it the supplies made it back all right?”

Otherwise this would be another round of steeped pine needles, he’s pretty sure. He forces himself to take small sips, both to avoid burning his tongue and to keep the precious drink lasting longer.

[heirtothedragonsfire]

The coffee is all Isidor's. From her private stash back when she had the sense to hoard like a good dragon. If anyone deserves it, it's the people of the expedition. Everyone owes them a great deal, and it's her job to make sure they get their due gratitude.

"They did. You saved a lot of lives." She smirks, but it hasn't got its usual sharpness. "It won't stop the pain, but I hope it makes it more bearable at least."

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

He’s not sure if she means the coffee or the satisfaction in knowing he’s helped save the starving folks here in the Nexus, but either way, it means the same in the end. “Yeah, it does. Thank you.”

Matt carefully shifts his grip on the mug and rests it against his thigh, letting the warmth seep in. “When we got separated, I wasn’t sure the supplies were going to make it back. Last I could hear of it, it sounded pretty violent.”

[heirtothedragonsfire]

Violent. That's not a kind description. Then again, it's hardly surprising considering how people have trickled back and in what state.

Isidor leans forward, her voice soft and curious. "What happened out there?"

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

Matt tilts his head a little, listening to her movements, the change in the cadence of her heart, but he sees no reason not to answer honestly. “They were waiting for us. We were attacked once on the way, probably just testing how tough we were gonna be. They didn’t pull the big ambush until the trailer was loaded up, but then all Hell broke loose. I don’t even know how many of them there were, but it was plenty.”

He frowns, trying to piece together the madness that he remembers of the fight. “Something exploded at some point. Wasn’t one of the vehicles, but the snowmobile took off, and those things chased them until I couldn’t hear it anymore. There was still some left to attack us until they all just disappeared.”

[sweetcandygirl]

After spending some quality time with Cricket, Harley heads over to where Matt is still keeping warm near the fire. She sits by him.

"Hey. It's Harley." She grins. "Looks like you got a little TLC."

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

There's a lot of people coming and going, in the wake of the expedition's return. Matt pays her little attention until she addresses him, and his head comes up a little. "Oh, hey." He doesn't need to self-consciously touch his injuries to know that they're there; every breath sounds like an ancient wooden ship has taken up residence in his chest, creaking with the cracks in his ribs. "It's not too bad. I've had worse than this. Are you okay?"

Normally he'd be able to tell, but he's tired and in pain, and not as inclined to focus as well as he wants. And besides, that wouldn't tell him anything about how she's doing mentally, anyway.

[sweetcandygirl]

"I heal quickly. My ankle is already better. And it won't take long for the rest of me to get there." She gives him a reassuring smile.

"Considering the fact that I was at the epicenter of the explosion... I lucked out pretty good. Injury wise." Harley prefers to focus on the physical side, instead of her mental stability. Cause mentally... is complicated.

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

"You were?" Matt turns a little more in her direction, wincing as it pulls at his injuries, and it takes him a moment to find a spot to settle where it doesn't hurt as much. "What the hell happened? One minute it was a brawl, the next..."

[sweetcandygirl]

"Azwel happened. He went into the brawl flashing his fancy powers. And the next thing we know... a big huge Ice creature appeared and challenged him. Maybe it was the Winter Spirit making his appearance known."

"Once Azwel and the Ice Creature locked eyes... something in him snapped. And suddenly he was looking at the convoy, like we were the bad guys."

"I went to face him. Keeping him from attacking anyone else."

"His powers just kept getting stronger and stronger around him. Then Loki wrapped him up in ice... and I had a pressure cooker on my hands. So I pushed him into a group of the Fallen. And when he sorta exploded."

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

"Azwel exploded?" Matt didn't exactly know him personally, but he'd familiarized himself with the names of most of the people on the expedition, knowing that things were probably going to get hectic as hell out in the field.

He'd known that people hadn't made it back, but he hadn't expected to hear that someone had died by becoming a bomb. (Because of course he's dead, right? Who could survive that?)

[lady_sif]

Although she stays away long enough to allow the healers to fuss over him, to do what they can, Sif eventually comes and sits beside Matt.

She does not touch him, and she wouldn't blame him for being angry with her. In the midst of battle, though she had helped him, she had physically held him back when he'd wanted to fight. He'd even struggled against her grip, but she hadn't relented.

She doesn't regret doing so--he was wounded enough that it would likely have resulted in his death if he'd gotten his way, but every warrior had the right to die in combat if they so desired. She denied him an honorable death, but she dared also to hope that he would not resent her for it.

He'll know she's there, and he'll know it's her. Her heart beats strong and slow, a slightly different rhythm than a human's would. Eventually, her fingers alight gently on his wrist.

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

Now that the adrenaline has worn off, Matt is tired and sore, his broken bones throbbing uncomfortably beneath his skin, and he's only accepted the weaker painkillers to take the edge off rather than the heavier-duty drugs. Still, it takes him a moment before he realizes he's not alone, and he tilts his head a fraction as he listens to the cadence of her heartbeat, her breath, takes in the subtly foreign scents he's begun thinking of as Asgardian. And there's only one that he knows personally, so far.

"Hey Sif," he says, his voice sounding rough with fatigue.

[lady_sif]

"Matt," she says in return, her voice warm. "How are you feeling?" He looks terrible, not that she'd point that out. There's a girl going around purposefully, healing people as she can, but that work seems laborious, and she's tending the most grievously injured first.

Sif doesn't withdraw her hand, but lets it rest fully on his arm if he'll allow. "I had hoped to speak with you."

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

He sighs, sounding more tired than angry. "I've been worse," he says, which probably isn't the answer she's looking for, but it's still true enough. "I'll heal."

Matt doesn't pull away from her touch, though, turning his head in her direction a little more. She sounds a little hesitant to his ear, careful, like she's not sure how he'll take it. Not really what he would've expected if she was going to yell at him for being reckless. "What about?"

[lady_sif]

Anger is unwieldy and prickly, but tired she can work with. Tired is to be expected after the horrors of the night. Since he doesn't pull away, neither does she, and maybe the warmth of her hand is a comfort in some small way.

"I wanted to say... I hope you are not cross with me." She squeezes his arm very gently when she says this. "I do not regret what I did to protect you, but you are a man grown, and a warrior moreover. Every warrior has a right to decide what battles are worth dying for, and to an Asgardian, there is nothing more glorious than death in combat.

"But," she quickly goes on, "that does not mean we yearn for death--only that we do not fear it. And I am selfish, perhaps, in that I do not want you to die. You are my friend, and you are young, still. You ought to live to the fullest while you can.

"That is why, if we ever fight side by side, you must know that I will always protect you, even if that means protecting you from your own impulses. If... if that is not acceptable to you, I will understand."

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

It's such a different thing than he's expecting to hear - Foggy and Karen have lambasted him more than once for putting himself in danger, especially once they'd all had a taste of how deadly serious the consequences of being Daredevil could be - that Matt is visibly taken by surprise when she tells him what Asgard thinks of such suicidal career choices. Even if she does follow it up with her own personal wish that he doesn't get himself killed.

He's quiet for a long moment, ruminating over his words before he responds. "It's not that I wanted to die, this time." He's been in darker days where that hadn't been the case, and not all that long ago. "But we all went out there knowing we might not make it back. That getting the supplies back was the only priority. If they hadn't made it because I hadn't done everything I could've..."

But they did, and between that and the post-battle fatigue, it's cooled his temper a fair amount, leaving him with more guilt than fury. "I wouldn't have ever forgiven myself."

[outpostcook]

"Glad to see you made it, Matt. Got your arm taken care of." Kinner joins Matt beside the fire. "I wanted to check up on Palmer. Is he all right? I was kind of worried how he'd handle himself out there. He's a mechanic, not a soldier."

The little cook's worried about the other man, given Palmer's recklessness and lazy ways. Once he has informarion on Palmer, Kinner will give it to his friends.

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

It's been a long day and Matt is pretty tired, so he doesn't pay much attention to the sound of footsteps until suddenly there's someone right next to him, talking, and he has to rally himself to respond. "Uh, he's fine, I think. He did come back with us; I didn't smell any blood on him. Human blood, I mean."

[outpostcook]

"Not human blood." That means that Palmer was in a direct fight, and almost certainly killed at least one Fallen. Kinner gives an impressed sound. "Seems like he carried himself pretty well. Maybe things'll ease up now we've got food. I reckon they'll be looking for me in the kitchens to help cook it pretty soon."

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

"It was a real shitshow out there. Anyone who made it back did good, as far as I'm concerned." Even some of the dead, probably, but Matt had been far too busy to notice.

Besides what he heard of the convoy as it roared into the distance, anyway, and he frowns a little at the reminder that Kinner was part of that. "How'd you end up getting away? I heard some of it, but you were too far away for me to hear what happened in the end."

[outpostcook]

"Isidor's fire finally scared 'em off, I think. That and Furiosa's driving. I'd say my markmanship helped, but I'm not sure it did. One of them hit me in the chest at one point and knocked me off the snowmobile, but Furiosa pulled me back."

Kinner doesn't disagree with Matt's description of the battle.

"Oh, it was a real mess. Those Fallen just wouldn't quit. They chased us almost all the way across the torches, and it was all I could do to hold on when Furiosa was goin' full throttle. It was chaos out there. Whatever else they're up to, they really, really didn't want us to have that food."

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

"But they backed off at the torchline still?" Matt still doesn't know what it is about that arbitrary barrier that's holding the Fallen at bay, but it seems to him that if they'd been able to cross that line, that would've been the time to do it. It makes him uneasy, relying on some kind of barrier he doesn't understand, but it's reassuring too, to know that there's something keeping them all safe regardless.