blue_ice | snow business

snow business

Seto Kaiba really hated his life at this moment.

What he'd intended to be a quick business trip quickly turned into a frozen hellscape. Meterologists were paid far too much to continuously get so much wrong in their predictions, in his opinion. He'd ended up with one frozen dragon jet, been forced to land it in the middle of nowhere...and not only that, but even his strongest signals weren't connecting with the communication satellites. He was well and truly stranded, and without fuel, the jet was little shelter from the cold.

He sat on the head of the grounded jet, stubbornly flicking ice from his hair. His business relations would simply have to wait---he could only hope his team would figure out what happened, locate him, and end this nightmare soon. The only thing he was grateful for was that Mokuba hadn't been on the plane---thankfully, he was safe at home, probably avoiding his homework. Sigh. He'd have to get on that later.

Seto squinted up at the sky when a dark shape passed overhead. Was that his rescue party already? Huh. He might have to give them a raise after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

"Heh. That's definitely a name."

Seto raised an eyebrow---sure sounded like humans to do such a thing. His inner twelve year old was mildly insulted on the dragon's behalf.

The food passed his test, so he cautiously nibbled at it---he hadn't had a meal since before the flight, and this whole ordeal had taken a toll. Not that he'd ever admit to that, of course. He still couldn't quite wrap his head around the kindness being offered to him, seemingly without an ulterior motive...but maybe he could investigate.

He wrapped his blanket a little tighter around himself and wandered closer, one of the largest still-dry towels in hand. There was no towel in the human world big enough for Skyfire, but...

"Come on. Can't have you dripping out here all night like a dog."

Yes, shockingly, the grouchy human was attempting to dry any egregious spots he could reach with the towel. He frowned to keep up appearances, of course, but his inner twelve year old thought this was amazing.

Skyfire can't help it, his ears perk and he looks relieved at the idea of getting help drying off. He can turn on air blowers, but he still hates the air blowing on his face and ears when he's wet.

"Let me turn on the air driers, it'll make this go faster." He was going to do it anyways, but Seto is likely to notice that Skyfire keeps his head well away from the warm air jets... and that he didn't need to be anywhere near the console for the jets to switch on.

"Thank you..." His ears flick a bit as he puts his head down on the floor where Seto can reach. "As strange as it might sound, I can't stand those driers blowing air into my face..."

"I don't like owing favors," Seto offered as explanation, even as his actions betrayed him. He was certain those scales could handle a lot, but he was still gentle, like he hadn't done in a long time.

Just how did the technology work in here, anyway? He'd definitely have to take notes once they were better acquainted. So, to that end...

That ear was tempting. He reached up and scritched behind the ear, for...curiosity's sake. He was absolutely not hiding a smile.

"You don't owe me a thing. I'd do the same for anyone. If you really feel the need to repay me, donate a few dollars to the rescue groups in the area. They're the ones who helped stock things here for human emergencies." It's clear by the way he says that, Skyfire has no clue whatsoever who Seto is.

Annnd that would be about all the coherent wordage that would come out of Skyfire's mouth when Seto starts to scratch behind Sky's ear. He leans into that scratching and actually starts purring of all things. Ever see a dog or cat just bliss out on an ear scritch? Yeah, that. Overgrown puppycat of a dragon...

That remark draws a small chuckle. He really doesn't know who he is at all, does he? Well, that's fine. It's a good suggestion. He'd just have to make sure they were flush with cash.

For now, though...oh. That was interesting. He'd had no ideas dragons could be so domestic, and yet here they were. Such simple affection had a strange power. It made him think back on his childhood dreams of adopting a dog. Heh. Imagine if he adopted a dragon. Mokuba would flip.

...But he's getting ahead of himself. He resumes his scritching, all while helping the drying along as best he can. Eventually, he lifts his hand.

"Think you can come in yet?"

"Hmmm? Oh... er..." Whoops looks like Skyfire was a little bit distracted by the ear scratching. "Ahem... Yes, I think so... Sorry."

He's careful to give Seto enough time to step back before getting back up himself and giving himself a quick shake to try and get all his fur and hair back into place... Only to groan lightly as he poofs up a fair bit. This was the other thing that annoyed him about the air driers... static.

Trying to distract himself from how silly he must look at the moment... "Now that we're not soaked, freezing or trying to get emergency signals out... My name is Skyfire."

That was so amusing that he had to repress the urge to laugh, restricting himself to a smirk. Who would have thought?

At any rate, Seto drew himself to his full height (still tiny, compared to Skyfire) and nodded. The dragon didn't know his face---hardly surprising, as he hadn't seen any sort of television and there wouldn't be newspaper deliveries out here---but his name might still be recognizable. It was a risk, but one that presented him with other options if necessary.

"Seto Kaiba. It's been a long time since I've met anyone who didn't already know that."

Seto watched carefully for any signs of a reaction. He was starting to consider the possibility that this might not be a trick, and if so...that presented a rare opportunity.

His name gets a slightly puzzled look out of Skyfire, like he knows that name from somewhere. "Your name sounds familiar, but I can't place it at the moment. Something to do with visual technology?"

Skyfire gave a half shrug and dismissed the thought for the moment. "Maybe I'm thinking of someone else. I've been looking through too many technological documents lately..." Alright, so he might have the barest of ideas who he is, but it's clear he doesn't really care... Well, beyond maybe being able to talk about various kinds of tech with. It's obvious he doesn't care about money at least.

"Hand me those wet towels so I can put them up to dry and then we can go see if I can clean up one of the spare rooms for human visitors for you to use while you're stuck here..." He winced a bit. "I... hope they haven't gotten too dusty..."

Well that sounds honest enough. He flounders a little for a response, before laughing lightly.

"Yes, something to do with that. I'm the CEO of the most prominent gaming company in Japan. My Solid Vision holograph system revolutionized Duel Monsters, and as such...my brother and I are frequent targets of dishonest people. That's why I didn't quite believe you."

He handed over the towels, as requested, and the look in his eye was the most apology Skyfire was likely to get. "Tch. You'll have to do a lot worse than dust to take me down. And that can easily be fixed."

Okay, now Skyfire looks really interested and slightly excited as he took the towels and hung them up to dry on what looked like rough patches of rock in the hall. "You mean you actually got 3D holographic imaging to work on a large scale? That wasn't just theory and marketing hype?"

Not that he's accusing Seto of not living up to what he's marketing things as, he's just been sticking mostly to the scientific papers and hasn't realized that something so revolutionary was being marketed as part of a card game. That would teach him... and selling it as part of a game... It was a rather smart thing to do in his opinion, all things considered.

"Don't bet on it... some of those rooms have a hundred years of dust in them..." He admitted sheepishly. "It's hard to find someone to come out here and clean..." Most of his place is clean and tidy, it's just the small rooms he has troubles with. "I think we'll stick with the newer ones."

"It took countless nights to break the new ground, but I'm always working on improving the end result. My latest project is a full virtual reality chamber, no goggles required, and I was on my way to its first unveiling to investors when the storm trapped me."

There's a definite spark in his eyes when he talks about his passion projects, one of the few things that breaks past his usual grouchy exterior, but only for a moment.

"That's fine. I'll just have to return with an industrial-strength vacuum."

Now you've got his attention Seto. Skyfire's ears betray how curious and excited he is. "I'd love a chance to compare notes with you and see if either of us can help the other. I've been trying to develop a similar project, but I've run into the problem of not being able to create small enough components..." He was rather limited by his size after all, but even so, what he'd managed was quite impressive.

"... but that's something for later. We'll likely have a day or two before this storm blows over, so we should get your room sorted first." He did catch the comment about returning with a vacuum and was rather hopeful that meant he'd visit again sometime. "Care for a lift? I won't be flying but..." Skyfire stretched a wing out so that Seto could use it to climb up onto his back if he accepted the offer.

"I saw you controlling parts of your system without the use of your hands earlier. Using that to manipulate moving parts in the way that you would if you could hold the tools would be more difficult, but doable. With a solid virtual space, you'd have even greater control."

His mind immediately kicks into gear---he only has his phone for storing notes right now, but that works. After a few quick scribbles, he looks up, surprised.

Riding a dragon was his greatest wish as a child, and even now, he's interested. He just has to be careful not to look too interested. "Hm. If you're offering."

He keeps his tone aloof, but Skyfire will feel him climb gently and pat his back appreciatively.

The mention of moving stuff without the use of his hands caused Skyfire to sigh just a tiny bit. "It would be great if I could, but the things I accessed were made to operate er 'hands free'. I had to design them to do that in the first place and I'm about at the limit of how much I can miniaturize my own work without smaller tools... Tools I can't make without being able to make smaller items..."

It was the classic 'catch 22', but when Seto finally learns just how complex some of what Skyfire is doing is, he's likely to be suitably impressed. Skyfire already had the knowladge to make 'hard light' holograms, but the power requirements are likely too high for recreational use... well, unless it's installed in a Cybertronian... but he won't be mentioning that any time soon.

"I am." Skyfire doesn't chuckle, but he is slightly amused by how hard Seto is trying to stay aloof. "As long as I'm not treated like a horse or a taxi service, I don't mind giving people rides now and then. You settled alright?"

"My smaller hands might be able to do something about that," he snorted, slumping down a little. The day's events had taken more energy out of him than he'd realized.

He shook his head at the thought. "I'm no fool, though I know a few people who might otherwise be. I do appreciate...all of this," he said, his voice softer than it had been all day.

It was the closest to a 'thank you' Skyfire was likely to get at the moment, but it was a start.

"I'd appreciate the help... but we can discuss that later. You should get a bit of rest first." Skyfire could likely guess that Seto was tired, and rather than bother with a guest room... he decided to just settle him into his own sleeping area until a room was cleaned out.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad I was here to help." Once he's sure Seto is stable, he'll use his wings to act as rails to make sure he won't fall off and then starts walking slowly... which is still faster than Seto walking on his own.

They'll go down another tunnel towards the back of the cavern, and if Seto looks to the right, he'd see a branching tunnel that looked like there was another room on the end they were passing.

Instead of going in there, they kept going down and soon ended up in a much warmer looking room. The temperature isn't any higher, but the walls are decorated with tapestries and there are ledges that are clearly carved into the walls for human access and comfort. It looks more like a rustic living room than a cavern, just really scaled up.

They turned off into a smaller room, that had what looked like a large pad made of moss and several storage containers... but it's all very clean. He starts pulling out a couple of thick blankets and several pillows, all too small for himself, but more than large enough for Seto. The moss pad is already soft, adding the blankets and pillows would make it better too, so it's not like he'd be sleeping on a hard, cold, floor.

"You're likely exhausted... Instead of trying to clean a room out tonight, you can just spend the night in my room. I'll have a room cleaned up and have dug out something better food wise for you by the time you've had some rest..."

"Fine..." His voice is heavy with exhaustion. He'd have to work on learning all these twisted passages later---for now, there's work to do.

It wasn't that he still feared Skyfire would hurt him. Not when Seto had offered him assistance, and he'd be proving his capabilities as soon as possible. It was just difficult to fully drop his guard, especially in such a new situation.

He eases himself onto the ground and blinks up at Skyfire. "All right. I'll see you soon."

Oh, he sits, all right, but his mind stays awake for quite a while---long enough that when his mind finally shuts down, he tips over where he's sitting, half-out of the blankets with one hand curled around his locket.

Really, the tunnels aren't that bad to navigate, just a bit long. They're even labeled at human eye height with little arrows and plaques showing what is where, for the most part at least.

Skyfire dimmed the lights for him and came back later to check on him. Realizing that he was asleep, he carefully scooted anything near him just far enough over that Seto wouldn't roll onto it, then tucked him in a bit better and left him to rest.

If Seto went looking for Skyfire when he woke up, it would be a simple enough matter of locating the 'living room' area to see him half napping on the floor. It might be a bit comical to realize that he'd seemingly been reading a human sized book though.

Waking up was a strange process for Seto. There were a few places he was accustomed to waking regularly: in a chair in the deepest chambers of KaibaCorp's underground lab, slumped over the desk in his main office, and sometimes, rarely, in his own bed. The soft surface beneath him was none of those things.

He sat up, the blanket slipping off his shoulders. Hadn't he been working on creating a virtual workspace for Skyfire? Oh...right. That had happened. He must have fallen asleep. That was a scary thought, but no harm had come to him while he was vulnerable. His things, however...

Mind made up, he tied a blanket around himself once more and set off toward the starting area, making note of the signs along the way. That was convenient, and a quick peek in each direction told him they seemed to be accurate. Soon enough, he arrived in the first chamber, where he made a beeline for his dry clothes. Once he'd dressed and double-checked his deck, he knelt next to the stray book.

"...How did you read this?" He added 'large holographic ebook display' to his mental list of potential inventions, then sat back, passing the time by shuffling through his deck. There were a lot of dragons on the cards.

His things were all fine, at worst just moved around a little so they were either out of the way or set aside so that they wouldn't be damaged.

When he found Skyfire with the book, Sky just shifted a bit so that Seto could see the odd looking forceps like attachments on the ends of his claws. He wasn't so much asleep as he was going over ideas in his head after all.

"Not without a bit of difficulty, but it's nice to read something in the original format. Reading off a screen gets a little tedious after a while."

"That can be fixed," he said with a shake of his head. "One of my virtual projections could exactly match the image and texture of a book, simply scaled up."

His mind was always whirring here---and he found that he liked that. His posture was a little less stiff than it had been the night before. "How's the weather?"

Skyfire chuckled a bit. "Not exactly what I've been trying for..." He hesitates, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Let me show you my workshop..."

At the mention of the weather, Skyfire sighed. "Bad. I managed to boost the receiver enough to at least receive local broadcasts, and we've got at least two days till the wind and snow stops up here."

He looks apologetic, but he has a bit of good news at least. "I did get a room cleaned up for you though, and I found the decent food along with the cooking supplies..." Sure, the food was canned, dried or preserved... but it was able to be made into more filling meals. Better than just dried fruit and meat jerky at least.

"What can be accomplished in two days might surprise you." He was still worried about Mokuba, but he squashed those fears deep down. There was a possibility of more work, and that thrilled him.

"I might have a kitchen staff, but I did learn to prepare some foods on my own." He'd prepared special treats for Mokuba, carefully hidden from their father, so most of what he knew was junk and comfort food...but he could manage.

"Well, then. Shall we get to work?" With his coat billowing behind him, his stride radiated much more of his usual confidence today. He kept up the pace beside Skyfire, mental gears whirring at full speed.

"Two days, two hours or whatever... Don't feel the need to rush. What we get done before you go, is what we get done. I've managed this long without." Skyfire doesn't want Seto to feel like he's trying to force him to stay, but he doesn't want to chase him away either. "I wouldn't mind if you'd like to come back and visit however..."

A nod. "It's been a long time since I've cooked for a human, so hopefully between the two of us it won't be a disaster." He doubts Seto has ever cooked on a wood stove after all, and admittedly, Skyfire hadn't seen the need to upgrade that particular area in a long time.

"Let me give you a lift again? Most of the things in my workshop are scaled to fit me... You, won't be able to see much from the ground..."

"You can't just dangle a challenge in front of me and then expect me not to chase after it," he muttered, a note of amusement in his voice. Yes, that was clearly all it was. A challenge, and not...something deeper than that.

He glanced up at Skyfire, waiting only a moment before answering. "Of course. I'll just have to add a mechanical lift to the list."

His tone was dry, but he approached Skyfire with the same gentleness as before. Trusting like this went against every instinct he'd honed over the years, but nothing would stand between him and intellectual stimulation.

snow business

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Let me know if this needs an edit.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

Idk how well this works, but I tried?

(no subject)

(no subject)