[Synopsis: The ever-essential heating systems on Polus malfunction during a massive blizzard, providing no warmth to the crew stationed there. With the resources they have at hand, paired with their increasingly important camaraderie, the team of ten is going to have to adapt and take necessary risks in order to pull through.]

[Location: Polus outpost]

And thus begins my longest one-shot yet...

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"...Got it...I s-suppose we will...Th-thank you. Over and out."

Blowing into his hands in attempt to warm himself up a bit, TheGentleman stepped out of Communications and fought his way through the wind and blinding snow to get back into the office to break the news to the rest of the crew. He had a solemn look on his face as he opened the doors back up and came face-to-face with his fellow crewmates again...They were shivering like mad, and they all looked pretty miserable.

"Well...It's official," he announced, a chill running down his spine. "Th-the heating systems have been damaged b-by the recent blizzard, and it w-won't be s-safe for HQ to send a repair team out here f-for another three days. We'll j-just have to m-make due."

Everyone answered him with either a huff or a worried squeak...Gnome whimpered and buried herself further into Engineer's hold, and MrCheese wrapped the blanket he had a bit more snugly around himself.

"Y-you can't be serious..." Veteran grumbled. "It's a h-hundred degrees b-below out there, a-and it's gonna d-drop to that indoors h-here eventually. A-and you know a-as well as we do th-that our suits c-can't fight against th-that kind of cold. They're n-not doing m-much against it now...Wh-what are we gonna do?"

"Well..." TheGentleman answered thoughtfully. "Th-there is a gas burner in s-storage, and plenty of spare fuel to p-power it. If we had that, th-then it'd keep the office reasonably warm unt-til the repair team comes our way...Th-the problem is that s-someone would h-have to go out into the blizzard t-to fetch it."

"I'll go."

A vermillion hand rose up into the air from the crowd, and its owner stepped forward and adjusted the beanie on his head.

"Dude...A-are you sure?" Veteran asked him. "It's b-bad out there, m-man."

"Storage is just n-northwest of the Office here, r-right?" Player responded, doing his best not to shiver. "I-I should only b-be a minute or so...Someone's gotta do it."

"Well...You have a point," TheGentleman nodded. "But do hurry. I would not w-want you out in that s-storm for any longer than n-need be."

"Got it."

"Here, Player," Veteran said to him, handing him the blanket he'd just gotten done unfolding. "Y-you're gonna n-need it out there m-more than I do..."

With that said, Player bundled himself up as he approached the east office door, and the rest of the crew piled into the western end of the building; the further away they were from the freezing wind that would blow in when Player opened the door, the better.

They heard a hiss, the fearsome howl of the gale blowing outside, a few grunts, and then another hiss accompanied by the silencing of the wind and sound of the doors shutting.

"Okay..." Mother sighed. "Is everyone still alright?"

"About as a-alright as we c-can be..." Veteran replied. "Heh...I-I'm glad y-you found that s-stash o' blankets under the admin table. W-we're gonna need 'em."

"I'm glad I r-remembered where they were..." she chuckled lightly, though her smile was quick to fade. "...Shame there weren't enough f-for everyone to have their own, though..."

Mother had her two children huddled up with her under the blanket she had, Timmy clinging to her side and Franklin curled up in her hold. She sat down against the wall in order to keep them warm a bit more easily, making sure they were both bundled up...There were only five blankets to go around, so since there were ten of them, they decided they would have to choose buddies to share with. A few of them had already made arrangements; Gnome and Engineer, of course, and then TheGentleman had paired up with MrCheese. Player had decided to buddy up with Veteran after a heated debate between him and Captain over the issue, and the latter ended up choosing PoopyFarts as a back-up option, much to the brown crewmate's delight(Captain was one of the few people who could understand anything he said, of course.) So that'd left Mother and her kids with MrEgg...

But he hadn't been keen on sharing the blanket when she'd first offered it to him, and now the pink crewmate was standing by himself in the far corner, seeming a bit reclusive. For what reason he wasn't seeking out warmth, Mother had no clue; he seemed to be shivering more than any of the others, especially considering the fact that he had no blanket around himself.

"MrEgg?" she addressed. "Are you okay?"

He rose his finger, as though preparing to respond, and his visor started to close...But instead of words, he emitted a suppressed, wet-sounding sneeze. Mother's parental instinct immediately went into overdrive, and she left her two children in the blanket to keep themselves warm as she went over to where he stood; she knew what a sneeze like that signified.

"Oh, dear..." she fretted, carefully analyzing her fellow crewmember's dull, fatigued gaze and rosy cheeks. "MrEgg, this is no way to treat a cold. Why didn't you tell anyone...?"

"I..." he answered, too ashamed to make eye contact with her. "I-I d-didn't w-want anyone t-to have to g-get too c-close to c-catch it..."

"MrEgg, in a situation like this, that's just putting yourself in danger of getting worse," she reprimanded him, though her tone of voice was anything but stern. "If you got something like pneumonia at a time like this, I don't know what we'd do..."

She rose a hand up to his face to check his temperature; he did feel a little warmer than what was normal, but it was nothing serious yet.

"If there's anything good about this, it's that your slight fever will help keep us all a little warmer...I'm not going to have you go off by yourself and make yourself sicker."

"I...I'm s-s-orry..."

His visor started to gloss over with tears, and Mother gently pulled him into a hug as she lead him back over to where her sons were sat, motioning for them to hand her the blanket again.

"It's alright, MrEgg," she whispered as she sat down and wrapped the blanket around the two of them, her two children squeezing back underneath the covers with her. "You know better now, and we're going to make sure you're well looked after and kept warm, right boys?"

Timmy nodded in agreement and huddled up in between the two adults. Franklin was already dozing off on his mother's lap, so he didn't really muster much of a response.

"Say PoopyFarts," Captain said to his buddy. "I think there are some tea and hot chocolate packs here in the upper cabinet...You think that we could heat up some water from the cooler with the gas heater when Player gets back and make ourselves something hot to drink?"

"Thbbbbbb."

"Yes, you're right...We would need a pot to boil the water in."

"Pfffrt!"

"You think there's one in the lower cabinet? Well, let's check and see!"

Both of them started exploring the office cabinets for what they needed, and they rose their heads just a few moments later.

"Huzzah! We got both! And there's plenty to go around! When Player gets back with the gas heater, we can all warm up with a hot beverage!"

"Pfft."

"Ha ha, well..." Captain stammered. "I think of what I can, PoopyFarts, y'know?"

"Pfrrrt."

"Ha! And you say I have good ideas? I don't think you give yourself due credit sometimes," he grinned as he turned to the rest of the crew again and whipped out a notepad. "PoopyFarts suggests that we take drink requests ahead of time so that we know what to make for everyone when Player returns."

"Pthbbt."

"No, no, you take the blanket while you fill the pot up. I'll need both hands to hold my notepad and write down what everyone wants, anyway, so it won't stay on me very well."

"Thbbt?"

"I insist."

Captain escaped from the blanket as he approached his crew, jotting down each of their requests as he went from person to person. PoopyFarts took the pot to the water cooler as he went, estimating as to when he should stop filling it so that there was enough for everyone to make a drink with.

"Okay. So if I have everything straight," the white crewmate finished after a minute or so. "That's decaf earl grey for TheGentleman, peppermint tea for Gnome, orange spice for Engineer, white tea for Mother, and lemon ginger for MrEgg, and everyone else including myself and Mother's kids wants hot chocolate. Is that all correct?"

They all nodded in confirmation.

"Excellent! The pot is filled. Now all we have to do is wait for Player to come back...Wonder what he's going to want?"

"Dunno, Cap," Veteran answered. He was sitting in the corner leaning against MrEgg, trying to take advantage of his slightly higher body temperature. "B-but whatever he wants, it'd probably b-be a good idea to make s-something for him first; he's g-gonna need it more than the rest of us...'Cept for maybe MrEgg."

"Very true..." Captain agreed, rejoining PoopyFarts underneath the blanket. "MrEgg. Mother said you were a little under the weather. You holding in there okay?"

"A l-little better than b-before..." he rasped. "I-I just h-hope I'm not b-being a bother..."

"No, MrEgg, you're not," Mother promised him, reaching out to pull him closer and stroking the top of his head. "As long as we keep you under the covers like everyone else, you should be fine."

"Yeah. I'm not complaining," Veteran agreed, huddling up against the pink crewmate a tad more. "In fact, you're doin' me a favor, MrEgg."

"Well...G-good to know I-I'm doing s-something helpful," he sniffled. "Though I'm f-feeling rather tired. I...I might j-just rest my eyes f-for a m-minute or so-"

"No, hold on, MrEgg," Mother interrupted him, nudging him gently. "I don't think now would be a good time f-for you to fall asleep. In fact, I don't think it would be good for ANYONE to fall asleep right now; n-not until we get the gas heater going when Player gets back and it gets a little warmer in here."

"Mother is right," TheGentleman nodded in agreement. "F-falling asleep only lowers one's body temperature more. And in th-these conditions, that c-could be dangerous...Especially for you, MrEgg, s-seeing that you are also f-fighting off an infection...Besides, I-I doubt you would w-want to be asleep wh-when your tea is brewed, since it would l-likely make you f-feel better."

"...That is t-true, sir," he admitted, trying to pry his eyes open again. "I h-hope Player g-gets back soon, though...E-everything just f-feels chilly and weak."

"Pthbbt."

"We've got stuff like that here in the office too, PoopyFarts?" Captain responded to his brown teammate. "Huh. Figured we'd only have those kinds of things in Medbay."

"Thbbbbrt."

"Yeah, that does make sense. It would be better to have something for milder symptoms in an easier-to-access place."

"What'd he say, Captain?" Engineer asked him.

"PoopyFarts says there should be some over-the-counter medicine somewhere in here, too. Probably in one of the file drawers along the walls just outside the two main rooms. You want me to go look, PoopyFarts?"

"Pffffrrrt."

"Are you sure you won't be cold?"

"Pthbbt. Pfrrrrrt."

"My turn with the blanket, huh? Well...If you say so."

PoopyFarts broke free of the covers and went to search for something to help treat MrEgg's cold symptoms.

"W-wonder when Player's gonna g-get back with the heater...?" MrCheese thought aloud, snuggling up to his associate a bit more. "He's b-been a few m-minutes already, h-hasn't he?"

"Yes, he has been," TheGentleman confirmed. "I must admit, m-my own concerns are on the rise...You don't s-suppose something happened to him out there, d-do you?"

"I...I don't know," Captain responded. "...Do you think I sh-should go out there and check?"

"I-I wouldn't advise g-going out there," Engineer debated. "W-we don't have any l-lifelines here in the office f-for you to fasten to yourself, s-so you could easily g-get lost i-in that blizzard. W-we can't afford t-to lose someone else..."

"Yeah, b-but...If something DID happen, we can't just LEAVE him out there to freeze to death!"

"C-captain's got a point," Veteran nodded. "But if he goes, then someone had b-better go with him so that they can sh-share body heat. G-granted they don't stay out there too long, then-"

A massive gust from outside interrupted Veteran's speech, followed by the sound of something slamming hard against the office wall, just along the corner to the west of the emergency meeting room.

"What was that...!?" Gnome squeaked, burying herself into Engineer. He held her close and wrapped their blanket more snugly around her.

"It's okay, babe. Something probably just got blown into the wall out there," he assured her. "We're safe in here. I promise."

"Pfffrt..."

"What's that, PoopyFarts?" Captain questioned his buddy. The former looked concerned. And when PoopyFarts was concerned, everyone KNEW the situation was serious.

"Thbbt."

"You think something's wrong out there?"

"Pfft."

In an attempt to further communicate his thoughts to the rest of the crew, he traced the outline of a round hat fitted atop his head.

"Player?" TheGentleman asked.

When they got the first part down, PoopyFarts proceeded to conk himself on the head with his hand and fall over onto the floor, giving a visual demonstration of what he thought may have just happened outside.

"You think the wind bashed Player into the wall!?" Captain guessed...When he got a nod in response, his initial worry only grew worse.

"You really think so...?"

"Pffrt."

"A strong feeling, you say? Well...I trust your intuition. Both of us better go see about the situation. That way we can keep each other warm in case we're out there for a while."

The brown crewmate nodded again, lifting the corner of Captain's blanket and fitting himself underneath it.

"Did you find anything for MrEgg?"

PoopyFarts raised a finger at the reminder, and he showed off a small bottle of cold syrup, handing it to Mother.

"Thank you very much, PoopyFarts..." she said to him. MrEgg didn't say anything, but he did give him a particularly grateful smile.

"Okay, everyone," Captain ordered. "Gather by the east doorway so that you stay out of the wind when we open the doors here. Especially MrEgg; he's the last one of us that needs to be washed over with a blast of cold wind right now."

"You got it," Veteran nodded as he and Mother helped MrEgg stand up. "Come on, dude, let's get you over to the other room..."

"I-it sounds like the wind has d-died down a little since that last gust," Engineer pointed out as the group went. "Now would b-be a good time to go out there and s-see if you can find him. But hurry; it could p-pick up again at any moment."

"Noted...Alright, PoopyFarts. Time to face the freeze."

Once everyone was cleared out, Captain and PoopyFarts braced themselves for the impact of the wind, then started flipping the door switches.

The door opened, and they were met with a heavy wave of cold. The winds had started blowing parallel to the doorway, so it wasn't directly pushing back on them as they exited the office, allowing the two to exit more easily. They shut the door behind them as quickly as they could, ensuring that as little of the blizzard as possible was blown into the building.

The snow they found themselves standing in rose almost all the way to the tops of their legs, and the blinding flurry of it that blew in the wind obscured the outside terrain like a thick fog. They wouldn't have been able to see much of anything if not for the light coming from the office, and they were grateful that most of the electricity was still functioning.

I just hope that's not the next thing to go out on us, Captain said to himself.

"Okay, PoopyFarts!" he hollered, his voice muffled by the wind. "The noise came from the north corner! You want to look there first!?"

PoopyFarts flashed a thumbs up in return, and they both started pushing through the thick layer of snow on the ground...The brown crewmember used one hand to hold the blanket around the two of them, and the other to dig through some of the snow in their path and push it off to the side.

"The good news is that if you're right, the snow won't have much time to pile back up in our wake!" Captain told him. "And we'll be able to go back the way we came a lot more easily!"

"Pthbbbbt?"

"No, I don't see anything yet! But even if that wasn't him hitting the wall, he can't be far! He was just supposed to be going to storage, and it's hard to get anywhere quickly in this-!"

Quickly and suddenly, Captain yelped and almost fell over forward into the snow.

"Pffrt!?"

"I'm fine...I-I tripped over something."

"Pfft!"

"Dig it out? Well...It w-wouldn't hurt t-to try."

Both of them buried their hands in the snow as they tried to uncover whatever was in their path...The cold pierced through their gloves, and the fingers underneath them quickly began grow numb and rigid.

"Ah-ha!" Captain finally exclaimed, grabbing hold of what felt like a handle and pulling it up out of the snow to inspect, steadying its considerable weight with his other hand. The light from the office bounced off of the metal and revealed the object's identity.

"It's a propane tank!" he recognized. "I-if that's here, then Player can't be far! Let's keep looking!"

Both of them continued digging through the snow...The winds began to strengthen again, and the two crewmates could barely feel their legs and hands anymore. But still they used them; they HAD to...Otherwise, NONE of them had a chance at making it back safely.

They kept at it for what felt like several minutes...But nothing turned up.

"Player...?" Captain called, though his weakening voice came out as little more than a whisper underneath the howling gale. "P-player, can you hear me? G-give me a sign, please...!"

"Pffffrt..."

PoopyFarts was holding up slightly better than Captain, but not by much. And he knew the situation was growing dire.

"N-no, PoopyFarts. W-we CAN'T turn around n-now, we're so close...We can't...A-and even if w-we were t-to c-come back, by the t-time we did we m-might be...t-too late."

"Pffrrrrt...!?!"

"If it m-means I'd have t-to live knowing I c-couldn't s-save my b-best friend, then yes, PoopyFarts...I WOULD l-like to die out here..." he replied bitterly as he tore apart another snow drift. "If you w-want to go b-back, then go ahead. B-but I'm staying out..."

He paused.

"...Pfft?"

"S-some of this s-snow I just d-dug up...It's red."

PoopyFarts leaned over to look, and surely enough, some of the snow underneath the surface was a pale red instead of white. Curiously, the brown crewmate brought the small amount in Captain's hand up to his visor and took a whiff of it...It was very subtle, and barely detectable in the frigid temperatures, but he could tell from the metallic scent exactly what it was.

"Pfrrt."

"...Blood?" Captain echoed. "Player's blood...?"

They stared at each other for several long moments. The same thought was going through both of their heads.

"P.F.," the white crewmate said to him. "...DIG LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW."

They plowed through the drift faster than ever before. Both the hope that they were right on top of their lost companion and the dread that they might be too late to save him built up stronger than ever, and faster than the falling snow as the hole they dug grew wider and deeper.

"Pfrt-?"

PoopyFarts saw another mass of red in the snow...But when he attempted to dig into it, it turned out to be solid...That wasn't bloody snow.

It had a visor.

And a hat atop its head.

"PFFFRT!!"

"You found him!?!"

The brown crewmate grabbed hold of Player's motionless form and yanked it clean out of the snow drift...At first, he looked completely lifeless; he wasn't even shivering. But as soon as he landed at Captain and PoopyFarts' feet, he began to shift ever so slightly, and his closed eyes pried open just a bit...He was still with them.

"Player! Player we found you, oh my God..." Captain nearly sobbed, falling down beside him and lifting him up into a hug.

"Who...where...what's happening...?"

When Captain pulled away, he noticed the wet sensation on the side of his head. He lifted a hand to wipe it off, and when he took a look at his palm, he saw that it'd been smeared with red. Startled, he inspected Player's head, and found the source of the crimson fluid.

"PoopyFarts, look."

They both took a gander at the gash on the side of his head.

"He's hurt. W-we need to get him back inside."

"Pfft!"

"Wait for what?"

The brown crewmate took another moment to dig around more in the area Player had been lying in, and eventually pulled something else out of the snow.

"Pffffrrt!"

"Ah, the gas burner he went out to get," Captain nodded as he wrapped his red-clad companion up in their blanket and peeled his own blanket(which had been half tangled around his legs and half in the snow, and was now fairly damp) off of him. "We couldn't go back without that, could we?"

They both stood on either side of him and propped him up, and quickly made their way through the rut they'd created in the snow back to the office doors. As soon as PoopyFarts had all of the switches flipped and the doors slid open, they scrambled through the doorway and almost fell inside.

"We got him!" Captain announced. Veteran was the first one to meet them by the door.

"You did?"

PoopyFarts finished shutting the doors just as the yellow crewmate arrived, and the latter's face immediately hardened with concern.

"He doesn't look too good," he remarked, taking note of his injured head.

"I know...At least he's still conscious. Just barely, though...But he'll probably respond to you if you keep talking."

"Mr. Player is back?" TheGentleman said aloud, running out to meet the three, followed by the rest of the crew. As soon as he saw Player, he was taken aback.

"Good heavens, Mr. Player, what happened to your head!?"

"My...m-my head...?"

"You must've slammed your head into the corner out there, Player," Captain explained to him. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm kind of glad that happened; if we hadn't found some of the blood, we might not have found you."

"I...I was...what about...b-blood...?"

"How bad does it look, Veteran?"

The yellow crewmate analyzed the wound on his head. He'd been rammed right into the corner of the building by the wind, so he wasn't surprised that the skin was broken. Fortunately, it didn't look TOO deep, but he desperately hoped that once Player was sufficiently warmed up, he would regain some of his awareness and they could tell how bad the wound was then; he was just barely conscious from the intense cold, so it was hard to tell if it'd done much to his brain.

"Player?" he addressed him. "Can you hear me okay, bud?"

"...Veteran?" Player slurred.

"Yeah, it's me...We're gonna get the gas heater going, and Captain's gonna make everyone something hot to drink. Can you tell me what you might want?"

"I...I dunno...'m so cold, I...just wanna sleep some more..."

"Sorry, Player, but you gotta stay awake a little while longer. You can sleep again once you're warmed up," Veteran continued. "We got tea and hot chocolate. Got a preference?"

"...Chocolate, I guess..."

"Captain, get this guy some hot chocolate on the ASAP," Veteran told him as Player was lowered onto the floor. "I'll wrap him back up and keep him warm. Mother, MrEgg. You two care to help?"

"We're on it," Mother nodded, leading a drowsy MrEgg over to where Player and Veteran were sat. Captain and PoopyFarts got the gas burner going with one of the lighters kept on the office desk by the vitals monitor, and once the flame was lit and going, it slowly but surely began to spread its warmth around the office.

Player was sandwiched in between Veteran and MrEgg, and Mother gently lifted up the corner of his hat and cleaned the injured side of his head with a damp tissue.

"That looks like you hit your head pretty hard..." Mother thought aloud. "Does it hurt?"

"Just...just a lil'..." he sighed, leaning up against the pink crewmate to his left. "Not a lot...'m just cold..."

"Is he shivering at all, you three?" Engineer asked them. MrEgg shook his head in response.

"No...H-he feels cold..."

"Not good...A lack of shivering indicates progression into third-stage hypothermia. Slow breathing, slow heartrate, barely conscious, if conscious at all..."

"That's Player right now..." Veteran confirmed. scooching in a bit closer.

"He's lucky Captain and PoopyFarts found him when they did," the purple crewmate continued. "If he'd been out in the snow for only another five to ten minutes, he might...Well...He might be a lot worse off, to sugarcoat it. The good news is that his core body temperature should start rising again now that he's inside, bundled up and close to a heat source."

"I-I should hope..." MrEgg nodded. "...I'm glad you t-turned out to be okay, Player. I d-don't know what w-we'd have done if...if..."

He was interrupted by another sneeze, and he huddled deeper into the covers.

"If we hadn't f-found you..."

"Hmmm..." Player hummed contently, snuggling up to his pink-clad friend a little more. "...You're warm..."

"Yes, I..." he sniffled. "I'm afraid I'm a t-tad feverish. Caught a chill earlier today...B-but it will at least g-get you warmed up a bit quicker."

"Oh...'m sorry, MrEgg...Hope you feel better..."

"Well, I-I took something for it b-before you got back, and I'm h-happy to say that I've been doing b-better since I've been under the covers. J-just a bit sniffly right now, is all..."

"Well...th-that's g-good..."

Player hissed, then shrank further down into the covers and tried to pull them around himself as tightly as he could, shaking like he was a leaf still out in that blizzard. Engineer let out a relieved sigh.

"Looks like he's shivering again. At this rate, we should have him completely out of the danger zone within another few minutes or so. Especially once he has something to drink."

"H-hope s-so...I j-just d-dont want to b-be c-cold anymore..."

"You're body is heating itself back up properly now, Player. It shouldn't be long...Just hang in there."

"Player!"

The crowd moved aside when the sound of footsteps running towards them drew closer, and they all made way for Captain as he hurried over to where Player was with two foam cups in his hand, PoopyFarts doing the same(as well as balancing a third one atop the toilet paper roll he proudly wore on his head.)

"Is...i-is that m-mine...?"

"Sure is, bestie," he nodded, making sure Player could hold the beverage okay as he passed it on to him. "Careful, though; you don't wanna burn yourself."

"Th-thanks, Captain..."

"Okay, PoopyFarts. Give those two to MrCheese and Veteran. I'll see how the tea is coming along and get the kiddos here their cups o' cocoa."

"Pffft."

Captain turned tail and left again.

"...H-he's b-been busy, huh g-guys?" Player asked them.

"Yeah. Ever since this whole thing went down, it seems like Captain's grown a braincell or two...Or a million. I dunno, they're super small and I don't know how many cells it takes to make a brain. But anyways, he's been taking everything a bit more seriously, and I think he's done a pretty good job keeping everything as orderly as he can and lookin' out for the crew, y'know?"

"Y-yeah...If it h-hadn't b-been f-for him and P-poopyFarts, I-I...I c-could be..."

"Beyond help..." Engineer imagined grimly. Gnome burrowed herself into the blanket they had and frowned at the thought of such a horrible fate.

"So how's the hot chocolate, dude?" Veteran inquired. "Personally, I don't think it's got anything on what my mom makes, but hey. In times like these, a hot beverage is a hot beverage."

All Player had to do was take a small sip for a surge of warmth to course through him, and his curled up, shivering form started to relax.

"Ahhh...Th-that's better..."

"Doin' better already, huh?"

"Yeah, Veteran. It f-feels good to finally be out of-"

He paused, then hissed again as he extracted a hand from the blankets and lifted it up to the wound on his head.

"Ow...Okay, n-now it hurts."

"How badly, Player?" Mother inquired.

"I don't think anything's broken, but it's giving me a headache..."

"Well...Just try to relax and enjoy your drink, and I'll clean it up some more. I'd wrap it up for you, but the cloth bandages are in Medbay...And I don't think now is the best time for you to have any ice put on your head."

Player cringed at the thought.

"N-neither do I..." he rasped. "...Is anyone else tired?"

MrEgg rose his hand.

"N-now that the office is a b-bit warmer than before, I th-think it would be safe for us t-to catch a few winks here soon...I-I could use the rest."

"Mother! MrEgg!" Captain called out as he made his way back through the crowd again. "You're tea is done! PoopyFarts. Would you do me a solid and get Timmy and Franklin's hot chocolate cups on the desk over there?"

"Pfffrt."

"Thanks, PoopyFarts! Here ya go, you two."

"Looks good, Captain!" Mother complimented as she took one of the cups from him. "D'oh, you're doing such a good job for everyone here today, I'm so proud of you..."

"You are?"

"Sure am. And I'm not the only one who thinks so, you know."

"Really?"

"It's true..." MrEgg confirmed as he reached a slightly shaky hand out from the blanket he currently shared with Mother's kids and took the second cup of tea. "Th-thank you, Captain..."

"Well, it's, uh, heh heh..." Captain blushed, flustered at all of the positive feedback he was receiving for a change. "It's no problem. Just doin' my job as captain."

"Yeah, I think we all agree that you outdid yourself today," Veteran nodded. "I mean, you're the one who had the idea to make the hot beverages with the gas burner, which was pretty good. And then you went out into that blizzard with PoopyFarts to look for Player, and you pretty much ended up saving his life out there."

"True, true...But in all honesty, if it hadn't been for PoopyFarts lending me a hand, I couldn't have done half of what I did for everyone today. Ain't that right, P.F.?"

The crewmate in question had just gotten back with the hot chocolate cups for Mother's children, and he turned as pink as Captain at the remark.

"Pthbbrrrt..."

"D'aw, no need to be so bashful. That was far from 'nothing!'"

"Pfrrrt..."

"I KNOW I'm right, PoopyFarts. Now go 'head and hand the kids their drinks. I'll go take care of the rest of the tea, and then we can hunker back down with the blanket. Sound good?"

The brown crewmate smiled, flashed a thumbs up and hopped right into action...It wasn't much longer before everyone had a hot drink, a blanket and an assigned buddy to share it with, and the office had warmed back up to a comfortable temperature.

"I must say," TheGentleman spoke up after a while. "At this point, I've almost completely forgotten what it felt like an hour ago when we had such little heat circulating throughout the office. The gas burner certainly does its job well, no?"

"Well..." Player replied. "The propane should keep it going throughout the night, as long as it stays on low...But at that point, someone will probably have to go back to Storage and get another one."

"I'll go to fetch one with MrCheese on the morrow. If two of us go in the first place, then there is much less a risk of us freezing and/or injuring ourselves somehow."

"Yeah...true."

"But we needn't worry about that right now," the black crewmate reminded him. "I do believe that we're set for the night."

The soft sound of a snore caught TheGentleman's attention, and he turned to look at his orange-clad partner; MrCheese was comfortably cuddled up against his side, sound asleep.

"I know...It's been a rough day, hasn't it?" he whispered as he wrapped their blanket further around themselves, pulled him up closer and yawned. "...Sleep well, beany boy..."

He joined MrCheese in slumber just a moment later...Engineer and Gnome had drifted off at that point themselves, each held tightly in the other's loving clasp.

"Are you feeling any better than before, MrEgg?" Mother asked.

"A lot better, thank you," he rasped, his visor barely open. "The medicine's kicked in at this point, so I should be able to sleep easy."

"~Aww, look at Timmy..."

MrEgg looked down at the mini crewmate in question; he'd fallen asleep in his lap, still hugging him and trying to keep him warm.

"...You know, MrEgg, he only ever does that when he really likes someone."

"Really...?"

"Yep. And I know he didn't say much to express it, but I think Franklin's pretty fond of you, too."

They both looked at her youngest; he was in his mother's warm, protective hold, sleeping like...well...a baby. Because he was one.

"W-well, I...I'm flattered," the pink crewmate replied. "...You've raised them well thus far, haven't you?"

"I don't plan to stop...Let's all try to get some sleep now, okay? I can tell you're tired."

"M-hm..."

Mother gently stroked the top of his head again as he snuggled back up to her and got comfortable.

"Sleep tight, MrEgg."

"Goodnight, Mother..."

"...Seems like everyone's hittin' the hay, huh PoopyFarts?"

"Pthbbbbrrrrrt..."

The undertones of a yawn were laced in with the fart sound he produced, and both he and his white-clad comrade sat against the wall on the far side of the group, right next to Mother. The hand of sleep overtook them almost as soon as they settled down.

"We did good, PoopyFarts..." Captain nodded lightly. "We did good..."

When Captain and PoopyFarts fell asleep, Player and Veteran found themselves the last two people awake.

"...Crazy day, huh Veteran?" the red crewmate remarked, keeping his tone at a whisper to avoid waking up their sleeping friends.

"Yeah..." he nodded, refusing to make eye contact with his best friend.

"What's the matter?"

"Look, I...I dunno, I guess I've been thinkin'," he explained. "With everything that happened with Captain doing all this stuff today, it seems to me like...like he does more for you than I do. Than I've ever done, really...I think you'd be better off with him as your best friend instead of me. You deserve better..."

"What? No, I...Look, Captain's a great guy, but he's not best friend material. I get that he really cares about me, but...We didn't click the same way you and I did, y'know?"

"Come on, Player...The first thing I ever said to you was that you were a huge noob and didn't stand a chance against the pack back when we were playing Fall Guys. Captain took to you right off the bat...I'm a lousy excuse for a friend. If I were half as good as Captain was, I'd have offered to go out there looking for you instead...But I didn't."

"Veteran, just because you weren't the one who had all of those ideas today and got me out of the blizzard doesn't mean you're a bad friend,"  Player assured him. "Captain is more...sibling material, I guess, if you wanna call it that. Yeah, he can be a really awesome guy sometimes, like he was today, but he still gets on my nerves a lot more that you do."

"Guess that's true...But still, sometimes I think that I'm not trying hard enough, or doing something wrong...You're the best friend I ever had, Player. I don't wanna lose you by doin' or sayin' something stupid..."

"Hey. It takes an effort from both sides, right? I wouldn't ditch you just because you did or said something dumb unless you really meant it. And believe me; I can tell whether or not you mean things."

"Really?"

"You kidding me? Ever since the incident with my ex-girlfriend, I've been able to read you like a book."

"That so, huh?"

"Yeah...It'll come in handy next time one of us is an Impostor and the other isn't."

"Oh-HO, so that's how it is, huh?" Veteran jeered. "Guess I gotta think up some new tricks."

"Heh heh...Yeah. Guess both of us do."

"Say, since you were sayin' Captain is more sibling material, tell me honestly. If everything does well with him and Dum, would it bother you if they, like...got married?"

"Psh. Ho, boy. Well, I've, uh...got mixed feelings about that, to say the least."

"At least you'd get cake out of it."

Player snorted under his breath, holding back the urge to laugh.

"That's a plus."

The two of them snickered to one another about the ordeal for another couple minutes before their heads grew heavy and their vision blurred. They barely realized how tired they were until they'd finally gotten the giggles out of their systems.

"Welp...Guess we better turn in for the night, huh?" Veteran rasped.

"M-hm..." Player yawned. "...You're not cold, are you?"

"I got a huge fuzzy blanket wrapped around me and a homie to share it with. I don't think the cold is gonna get past us."

"Heh...Yeah. It'll run screaming if it tries," he agreed. "...G'night, Veteran."

"Right back atcha, dude..."

The snow continued to fall over the Polus outpost the rest of the night, and the winds continued to howl as they swept across the planet's rocky purple terrain. But the crew stationed there was unbothered by the raging snowstorm.

They were warm and snug...And they had each other to thank for that.

____________________________________________________________

The events of this one-shot are loosely based off of my experiences during what I believe has been dubbed "The Great Texas Freeze of 2021," in case anyone remembers. If you don't, and you live within the state like I do, then...I'm sorry I had to remind you of all that. I didn't have much of a good time myself(and apparently, neither did a lot of the sparrows and doves that kept turning up stiff and dead once the snow melted, oof. XD)

On a lighter note, on the second day of the freeze a finch saw me throwing seed on the ground and ended up eating out of my hand and then eventually hopping into it. So that was a wholesome moment. :)