to keep me warm at night

[sizeofyourbaggage]

Who| Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers / OPEN to anyone staying in the caves or dropping by
What| it’s freaking cold, Sam’s done with sleeping alone. Also, making use of Valentine’s Day sponsor gifts by making dinner and potentially giving out fuel to be weaponized
When| Valentine’s Day and the week after
Where| the caves
Warnings/Notes| mostly platonic cuddling, likely mentions of PTSD and violence


Valentine’s Day (for Bucky -> Steve)
With the way he’d lost Steve in the last arena, Sam’ll admit to keeping a little bit of an eye on him. Not all the time, of course, but when they’re together, even if it’s just in the cage, he keeps Steve on his radar. So he’s noticed, the fact that Steve’s barely sleeping, that he spends most nights up on watch. Sam hasn’t commented, aside from occasionally staying up with him and being there, just in case - but it’s starting to get a little ridiculous.

Especially because he’s been kind of keeping a similar eye on Bucky, and more often than not, he’s sitting right up there with him.

It’s late, and it’s freezing, and someone else is on watch, but yet, there Steve is. When Sam spots Bucky probably moving over to join him, Sam heads over to intercept him.

“Hey, Bucky. Can I talk to you a minute?”



It’s freezing okay
Honestly, Sam’s kicking himself for not doing this sooner. It’s not like it’s the first time he’s ever used body heat to stay warm while trying to get some sleep, and he knows it’s only going to get colder.

Part of him knows what his hesitancy was. He’s avoided sleeping with people, for the most part, since coming back from Afghanistan, after a couple of pretty spectacular nightmares. And the couple of weeks they’d had between arenas had brought a lot of that back up. But he’d talked it out a little, and he’s actually been functioning better here, probably out of necessity. Curling up with Steve and Bucky had gone fine - fine and really warm - and Sam isn’t planning on going back to trying not to freeze while he sleeps.

He’s also not above broaching the topic with the rest of his allies in the cave. He’s not saying they have to warm up with him, necessarily, but there’s enough of them here that doing it with someone isn’t a bad idea. Especially if the gamemakers keep amping up the cold.

So when there’s time, he’ll head over to strike up a conversation.



It’s got actual flavor
He's actually a little pleased, that the sponsors listened to him and sent him a stove and a good assortment of seasonings. Not only because it makes cooking easier, but because it's an extra source of warmth - and because he's betting someone can come up with an alternate use for the fuel, in a pinch.

But he's definitely going to use it for its intended purpose at least once. Might as well have a decent dinner, since he's got the supplies, and he'll ask anyone who wants in what kind of meat they prefer. He'll also take anyone who might want to help.

He can also be found later in the week, seasoning the thin strips of meat he's slicing up for jerky, or rationing out the amount of fuel he has left in the stove or his kerosene lantern, trying to decide if it'd be better off being used for its original purpose or if he should hand it over to someone who might be able to weaponize it.

Comments

[a_minute_younger]

Success! Gary only just manages to rein in a victorious pump of his fist, although the toothy grin is much harder to hide. Good food! What an excellent development! Surely Sam understands Gary's excitement, and won't be too put-off when the teen trots into the cave like the world's been lifted off his shoulders. At least, Gary hopes he does. He's in Sam's territory now--things could get very ugly very fast if Sam doesn't share his optimistic point of view.

But Gary tries not to think about that.

"Don't mind if I do," he murmurs, delicately settling into a crouch by the fire. There's something odd about how Gary holds his left side, like his hip is locked and he's trying not to bend anything too much, but the movement is subtle, enough that Gary doesn't realize he's doing anything strange. "Wrestling, dancing, same thing! Did they send the other guy anything, you think? You know, 'A for effort' kind of deal."

[sizeofyourbaggage]

Honestly, Sam knows better than to assume that just because he's a kid it automatically means he's less dangerous - but he kind of does, anyway. He can't really help it, he has an automatic soft spot for kids.

"They did send him some alcohol. Maybe they were trying to tell him something," he jokes. Although actually, it wouldn't surprise him if the sponsors were trying to make a point.

After a moment's consideration, he gives a nod towards the kid's side. He's not sure how well he'll take Sam drawing attention to it, but he can't just ignore it. "You injured? Don't worry, I'm not asking because I'm looking to take advantage or anything. I got a kick ass med kit in here and I was pararescue back home."

[a_minute_younger]

Gary laughs back because, yes, alcohol is funny, and the more he laughs at it the less embarrassed he'll feel about the last Crowning. Entertainment, he thinks. It's all just entertainment. And if he's laughing with them, they're not laughing at him.

Interestingly, what was a somewhat uncertain smile becomes more genuine when the subject is changed. Discussion of physical injury is preferable to discussion of social injury--Gary's priorities are definitely in the right place. "Ah, don't worry about it!" he insists with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's already patched up. See?"

Without further provocation, Gary rolls up the bottom rim of his parka to show off the damage underneath. It seems that his one-piece snowsuit has been torn into two pieces, the top removed and the bottom tied for easier access to the bandages wrapped around his waist. There's a clump of sterilized cloth secured to the left. The wrappings are old, dirty and wet and torn in places, but there's no visible signs of bleeding.

This seems like a perfect time to continue casual conversation. "Pararescue, huh?" Gary whistles. "Military?"

[sizeofyourbaggage]

Oh, Sam can’t help but notice that. It’s pretty much exactly the opposite of what he was expecting - a lot of people in here have gotten defensive or tried to change the subject if he brought up signs of their injuries.

Apparently alcohol is a touchier subject than that for this guy, Sam’ll remember that.

He leans in a little to take a closer look at the bandage, but yeah - it looks like he’s got it pretty well in hand. So Sam nods, turning his attention back to the stove.

“Yeah, air force,” he agrees, flashing a pleased grin. “Seems like a lot of people I’ve met here don’t have an equivalent back where they come from.”

[a_minute_younger]

Gary pulls his parka back down and thinks nothing of it. There's some fleeting bit of paranoia bred from previous Arenas that nags him to be more careful--but why should he be? This guy said he was used to patching people up. There's no reason not to trust him. Everything's fine.

"Neat," Gary breathes through an open-mouthed grin, settling back to stare at the stove. "Yeah, we've got those!" Probably. Gary's never heard of them, personally, but they sound like military and his world definitely has an air force. They should exist, he figures. "I don't think they get out much--the military guys, I mean. Maybe also the other people." Gary chuckles at his own joke. "It's all pretty peaceful, you know? Except for, like, some of the rebellion stuff that happens around here. But I don't think Panem even has a military."

This, coming from the kid who hasn't quite put together the whole 'alternate universes' thing. It's all still his world, in his mind--just some strange, uncharted section of it. Gary has to do a lot of mental gymnastics to keep that view afloat as long as he has. He's very good at that.

[sizeofyourbaggage]

In this case, Gary happens to be right. But that’s still a hell of a dangerous attitude to have, in a place like this. Sam’d hate to see what happened if he took the wrong guy at his word.

His response makes Sam’s brows furrow a little. All right, he has to work through that one for a minute. He’d thought the kid was talking about where he was from, but then he’d launched into the rebellion and Panem. If Sam didn’t know better, he’d assume that the kid was from here - but there weren’t any current Tributes that didn’t come from somewhere else.

And that isn’t even touching how hard he’s gonna have to avoid the rebellion thing.

“Panem has the Peacekeepers, seems like that’s both military and police for them.” There, that seems like a safe enough answer. “My branch of the military, we did search and rescue more than combat. We got out a lot more, even when things seemed peaceful.”

[a_minute_younger]

If Sam's worried about Gary's attitude before, it's about to get a lot worse. He waves a hand in as exaggerated a dismissive gesture as possible. "Peacekeepers," he groans, rolling his eyes. "They got some tech, but they're like, mall cops. You know? A lot of bark, no bite. Well, some bite."

Only there does Gary show some restraint, some recognition that, yes, maybe he's speaking a little too out of turn here. He's been punished before. Not severely, but enough to hurt. He has a lot of bravado, but he doesn't want to go through something worse.

Gary decides to drop that subject. "--Ah, yeah, search and rescue! I know that one." He puts on a boyish grin. "Search for a good take-out place, rescue food. I've done some of that myself. Times were tough, man."