The thermal regulator's out

[for_everyone]

Pirates are definitely not an ideal encounter in the Outer Rim, though they're occasionally a little less fraught than the Imperials. The set of pirates the Ghost only just escaped, however, had slightly better ships and better armaments than the usual, which means they took a few hits on their way to a clear heading out of range of the rogues and their guns. Lightspeed is only useful when you're not headed straight into a gravity well.

"Well," Hera says, rubbing her hands together to keep her fingertips warm. "Good news is we have shields and our hyperdrive is minimally damaged. Our environmental controls are fried, though, mostly the thermal controls and water recycler, which is better than the oxygen generator being out."

She lifts her head, turning to shout back deeper into the ship.

"Any other damage reports, Chop?"

Comments

[for_everyone]

Hera takes stock of her trembling limbs, scowling in-between hard rounds of shivering.

"N-not sure. B-but I'm g-going to t-try."

Right. She'll just swing her legs down onto the freezing metal floor. That will be fine.

[notallofus]

"Hera, um -"

He presses his arms even tighter into his chest, shifting his feet to make sure they haven't gone numb.

"This might go faster if I just..."

[for_everyone]

She looks up at him, much more slowly than she meant to.

Her shivering is really intense just now.

“All r-right. F-faster is g-good r-right n-now.”

Which is, on the whole, bad.

[notallofus]

Kanan unfolds his arms, his hands still in fists as he tries to limit their shaking. He moves quickly over to her, though his feet pound hard against the metal floor, as he tries to maintain feeling in them.

As much he can, Kanan tries to keep the flight suit wrapped around Hera, so that he only touches her through it. His hands stay pressed into the thick fabric of the suit, fingers even curling into it, but as he lifts her, he had to rest her rest her against his chest. He tries to keep his head straight, so that his neck or face won't touch her lekku.

"All right?" he murmurs, already turning toward the door.

[for_everyone]

She hisses a little as one of her lekku makes contact with the back of his hand, more because it actually feels warm than because it hurts.

"G-good for n-now," she allows, teeth chattering just that bit more.

"Th-thanks."

[notallofus]

It is definitely faster, though getting down to the cabins isn't an entirely easy process. He has to hold her against him with one arm as he lowers them down from the cockpit to the deck below, and the doors get stuck, forcing Kanan to shove himself back against them, prying them open.

Once they've reached the spare cabin, Kanan gently settles Hera down on the lower bunk, yanking the thin blanket up from it and draping it over her shoulders. He's also shaking badly now, but he still turns, stumbling back out of the room, rubbing his hands together and blowing on them has he tries to warm his fingers.

[for_everyone]

"K-Kanan," Hera says a moment later, even as the door starts sliding shut.

"G-get back here b-before you f-freeze, t-too!"

If she has to get up and follow him back out, that's . . . That's not going to work very well. But she'll try.

[notallofus]

Kanan doesn't respond, but he seems to make as much noise as he can, footsteps pounding on the floor and doors slamming. Chopper starts blatting at him, which he ignores as he shoves his way into all four of the cabins, and then pries open a panel in the hall, letting it clatter on to the floor.

Finally, he returns, carrying two square orange packets and three more blankets. Still not speaking, his staggers back onto the bunk next to Hera. Even still, he takes the time to hand her one of the orange packets, and tuck the second under the blanket covering her shoulders.

[for_everyone]

Hera curls herself around the heat packet, pulling the blanket as tight as she can, even as she squeezes over in the bunk to make room for Kanan.

"I n-need help g-getting a b-blanket over my l-lekku."

She holds the one heat packet in her hands for a few moments, glorying in the warmth, then shoves it at Kanan.

"B-before y-you f-freeze, t-too."

[notallofus]

Kanan pushes it back into her hands, draping one of the remaining blankets over her front, and then another over her lekku.

"You n-need it more."

He takes another deep breath of cold air, shivering as he leans back into the bunk, pulling up his feet and wrapping the last blanket around himself.

[for_everyone]

"This l-level of self-s-sacrifice d-doesn't look g-good on you."

Hera shoves the heat pack at his chest, then pushes him backward on the bunk.

"We c-can sh-share, if you're g-going ot be st-stubborn ab-bout it."

Now, should she be facing him, or leave her back and lekku pressed against the heating pad.

She opts to turn her back to him, lekku brushing up against the brilliant orange heating pack.

"S-see?"

[notallofus]

"I'm not -"

But he falls silent when she touches him. Kanan stays very still as she situates herself, even his shivering lessening slightly, his arms tight at his sides. He doesn't try to speak again until she's done.

"All -"

His voice drops again. He waits a few second, and then slowly moves his arms around her, drawing the last blanket over both of them. He still tries to keep his back straight, his face forward, a short distance from her lekku.

"- all - right."

[for_everyone]

"K-keep the p-pack bet-tween yourself and the b-blanket and you w-won't m-make me c-colder."

He seems tentative, motions ginger and wary as if she were fragile.

"Otherwise you w-won't g-get w-warm, and th-that's n-no g-good, either."

She shoves herself back into him a little, then shifts away again so as not to press too much. He's still warmer than her chilled skin, which . . . is very concerning, actually.

[notallofus]

"It-it's all right," he repeats. His voice, already low, becomes slower, even as he feels the warmth from the heat pack, from Hera, he feels drained. His arms around her tighten very slightly, as though he just doesn't have the energy to hold them up anymore, and this pulls her a little closer against him.

"I can -" He takes another deep breath, trying to focus his mind even with the cold fog that gathers in his thoughts. "Maybe I c-can do something."

[for_everyone]

"S-something for you?"

She really hopes it's something for him, because if he gets warmer, at least one of them will be fit to avoid Imperials on the other side of this.

[notallofus]

"Both," he murmurs.

Kanan closes his eyes. Maybe it's a risky thing to do now, as he can already feel the threat of exhaustion seeping through him. But he focuses his thoughts, turns inward. To his slow breath, the deep cold passing through his lungs. The whispered hum, soft light of the Force within him, moving through him, to Hera, to the shifting space around them. And then to his heart, beating, slowly now.

He folds his hands over hers, moving her palm so it covers his wrist. While her fingers touch his skin, his pulse begins to rise.

[for_everyone]

It takes a little, but Kanan's skin where it brushes against -- or near -- Hera's starts to feel less clammy, less chill.

Her shivering increases, which is good.

"S-sorry," she says, as her teeth increase their chatter again.

"'S b-better. N-now. G-getting there."

[notallofus]

Kanan keeps his eyes closed. His head lowers closer to hers, but he shifts, so that he touches only her flight cap.

"Okay."

Under her fingers, his pulse stabilizes, coming to a quick but even rhythm. His eyes stay closed, but he speaks to her.

"Can you f-feel everything?"

[for_everyone]

Hera goes silent and still for a few moments to check. Her toes flex, and her ankles. Her knees are all right, and her hip flexors. Her core is fine. Her fingers are a little stiff, but they bend, and she can even feel the tips (they sting).

Nothing hurts like her lekku do, and for a moment she feels her breath speed up as she considers whether they might be frostbitten.

"M-my l-lekku -- the h-hurt. Wh-which is p-probably g-good, b-but -- "

She hisses a little between her teeth, anyway.

[notallofus]

Kanan pulls back one arm, reaching for the heating packet on his chest and slowly moving it to cover more of her lekku.

"Does it help?"

[for_everyone]

“I th-think s-so.”

Hera hisses again as the heat pack touches her lekku, because it really does make them hurt more as the blood flows back in, but —

“I c-can f-feel then again, wh-which is good.”

[notallofus]

His eyes wince shut again as she hisses, but he keeps the heating pack where it is, leveraging it against his chest before moving his arm around her again. He takes a second to focus on his heartbeat again, ensuring it doesn't slow down again.

And then, "So just... seven m-more hours..."

[for_everyone]

"I'd s-uggest n-napping, b-but I think f-falling asleep would b-be unf-fortunate."

Some of the shivering is easing from her body, stillness moving up from other core. Her teeth are still chattering, and her fingertips and shoulders are juddery, but --

It's better.

[notallofus]

“No.”

The exhaustion has passed, as he’s steadied his heartbeat, and then, slowly, his breathing. His fingers fidget against her, under the blanket.”

“I think my ears are numb.”

[for_everyone]

"Oh!"

She's a little out of it, maybe, because she immediately brings her hands up to cup them over his ears.

"Th-that sh-should . . . . help."

"Um."