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Ice Bath (2) : Rainfall is rare in Destiny City during Winter; there have been a few light showers between the occasional snow but it’s never been enough to be significant. In some places, it’s just enough for a thin layer of ice to cover the ground and make it a little slippery, but ultimately it’s not enough to worry about. In an inconspicuous place in town, you step into one of these icy puddles and the thin layer of ice shatters. The hole itself seems maybe three feet wide and if you’ve ever been in the area before you know it’s just a pothole a few inches deep at most. Except, when the ice shatters, you fall, plummeting into it as if it were a lake of icy water. It’s pitch black around you and only pale blue lights shimmer above you. The darkness is never ending and you can’t make out the details of anything except the shrinking hole above you. Maybe you remember how to swim and pull yourself out, maybe you black out and feel someone else pulling you out--either way, your frozen, soaking body is pulled from the puddle. The chill is immense, but if you look at the hole after being pulled out, all you can see is the ground below. There’s no sign that what you just experienced is real--except for the fact that you’re still soaking wet.

Rafayel was out again, this time at a club he knew Blaise might be at. While he hadn't exactly stalked the man, he'd gotten an idea where he might find them with the university closed for the winter break.

That damned Desiree had tracked him down to his home and pushed him through a mirror after messing with that henshin thing of his. It meant more bugs, more of that mold, and even after showering and scrubbing until his skin was red from it, he still felt dirty.

So what if he went out and slept around? Maybe he could try getting with Blaise, though that would complicate things. The thought swirled around in his mind as he popped one of the pills from the tin in his back pocket. It helped mellow things out, but this time, as he saw the Frenchman standing outside the club, it didn't really dull the edge he was on.

It had been a few months since he'd seen them, not that he'd really tried to go out since he'd run from them after whatever the ******** that had been that night after the hellish board game.

"Hey," he said as he headed over and waved slightly.

It was easy, so easy, to let the lie slip out and that easy smile to cross over his face. "Good enough, but looking to have it get better. You heading back in or looking to hit up the next club? I think the one down the street is having a special on drinks."

It would be better anyway if he pulled them along, so easy to drop something in their drink as he'd done before. That little bit of him hesitated, though, knowing this wasn't exactly a stranger. Not anymore, at least.

The crisp air had goosebumps popping up on his exposed stomach, given that he hadn't decided to wear more than a short jacket over his usual clubbing attire. Blaise looked warm, though, probably because of how busy it was in there or how busy the man had been with someone somewhere inside.

"It's been a while, though, hope you've been well."

Looking at Blaise, he could agree with their sentiment about the right person making a night, or more often than not breaking one. That's how his luck had been lately anyway, on top of all the bad luck of the magic bullshit coming after him now that he'd been pulled into all that and apparently promoted for surviving it.

"Yeah, that's true. I can say it's at least less obnoxious since we bumped into each other." There was that stress still bleeding through him, that wonder if something magical might pop up out of nowhere and ruin his night, but that had just become the state of things. It wasn't worth bringing up; that much was clear given the goals of the night.

"Liquid has better drinks; they don't use the rail stuff as often, so I prefer them, and they have backrooms free sometimes. For VIPs, of course, but that's never been a problem for me." Gesturing vaguely towards the direction of the other club, he then stretched a bit to try and move and warm up some more. Standing still didn't help with the cold.

"Let's head over?"

"Yeah, makes it go down better anyway, at least. I think I saw one time that they did a New Year's special with gold leafing. Looks aside, it tasted pretty good." It was a bit sweet for his liking and probably worth his entire day's calories, but it was a one-time thing, so he let it slide.

"Well, with people reserving them, yeah, but as I said, it's not hard for me to get into one." Which meant he could play things his way without much interference as long as there wasn't a body to clean up. Even then, he supposed some people got away with that, but he didn't push things that far. While he might not care if he saw some of his flings again, he certainly didn't like the idea of them passing out for good.

Taking the hint, he smiled and started down the street at a decent enough pace that they could catch up to him and walk in step. "It'll be fun, trust me." Depending on things, maybe more for himself than them, but only time would tell.

The sidewalk was a bit icy still, though as he walked, he avoided the patches with little issue until he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. Looking back, as he reached for it, gave things enough time for him to miss seeing one of the ice patches. His foot broke through it, as if it had been the thinnest thing, and he plunged below it.

That mask he'd had on broke as the utter horror of the situation hit him even before he finished plunging through the ice, golden eyes looking up at the other as he'd tried to reach for them as he hit the icy depths below.

It was cold, colder than he'd ever felt in a long while, and his mind couldn't get moving fast enough as he gulped in a mouthful of that freezing water.

Why does this ******** city suck so much?

The passing thought as he felt his lungs burning from the water he'd swallowed and now couldn't cough back out just yet. It made his eyes burn as he tried to reach back up, but the hole he'd fallen through seemed too far away.

Something had grabbed him, and for a split second, Rafayel almost pulled back from it, afraid that it was some monster or creature lurking in the dark water. That thought passed as he swallowed more water and felt the darkness closing in even as something pulled him out of the water.

Everything felt muffled, and his black hair stuck to his face even as he started to cough up water onto the ground. If the other had said something, he couldn't tell, but his focus was pulling his feet away from the ice patch as he coughed more water up between gasps.

"What... the ********> It came out more broken than he'd intended, but he still felt out of it, so that was to be expected.

Bracing his forearm on the ground, he tried to heave himself up as he looked down at the ground, water dripping from his hair even as it started to freeze in the cold wind.

Sleet Tempest Snape

Rafayel struggled as Blaise hauled him up, his feet scrambling on the ground as he tried to figure out what was going on again. It was too cold, and even though he thought maybe he was done coughing up water, his head still spun from things.

"Wait, what?" Were they bringing him to their place? Just like they'd tried last time when s**t hit the fan? He didn't get to protest much as he felt himself getting pulled through a mirror; that feeling that came with it was something he really didn't like when it boiled down to it.

Looking around, he recognized the street where he'd run off last time when something had been chasing them both. His feet dragged as they hauled him along; most of the fight drained from him due to the cold. The last thing he wanted was for them to see him under their terms and not his.

This didn't seem like the same person, at least not based on the impressions he'd had otherwise. Which made him more skeptical of things, even if he couldn't do much about them right now.

"Fine, yeah, let's get moving. I feel like my piercings are freezing solid." The ones on his face and ears already felt far too cold for his liking; the rest he wasn't going to mention.

It wasn't a bad place, more decorated than his own, but that was due to work more than anything. He used to decorate when he had people who actually wanted to come over, before the whole thing with his family blew up. It was just easier to leave things as they were now and just enjoy whatever decorations and things were set up at whichever client's home he was working at for the week.

With the warmth of the home helping, he leaned into them a bit more so he could pull his wet phone and tin out of his back pocket. Popping it open, he groaned as he saw the pills had turned into a slurry. It wasn't going to be fun to replace all those, but he'd deal with it later. The phone, on the otherhand was wet but didn't seem too messed up.

"Can you put this in rice, and get a ziplock for this?" Showing them his phone and then the closed tin that had a little card clip attached to it as well.

Letting them take his phone and tin, he closed the door and made his way to the bathroom. That was when the hard part started, getting out of his wet jeans. It wasn't fun or easy, and he had to jump to try to roll them down. Before he did too much more, he closed the bathroom door and locked it just in case. The last thing he wanted was them walking in as he finally freed himself from his jeans and let them plop to the floor with a wet slap.

The shirt and fishnet top beneath it came off with some struggle as he tried not to catch any piercings in them as he went.

Sleet Tempest Snape