December 19th - 1
December 19
The snow had started much earlier and much heavier than I had expected it to, but those weather forecasters were so full of it anyway. It was hard to see with all the snow blowing in my face, but thankfully I had my panda hat – a gift from my own mother, of all people – protecting the majority of my head along with my scarf. Every step I took chilled my bones, and despite the fact that I was wearing my thick boots, my feet were starting feel the bite as well, seeing as there was already almost a foot of snow blanketing the ground.
Seriously, it was just that cold. A huge storm front had been angling its way over towards the east coast for the better part of the last week, and it had arrived in our area now, its entrance unfortunately heralded by an intense blizzard. The news said something about it being like ten degrees Fahrenheit, with the wind chill putting it at almost below zero.
And now here I was, making my way through the mess.
To get cake.
“I can’t, cannot believe I forgot to get her a fucking cake. Present? Yes. Dinner? Yes. Cake? Nope!” I groused. Really, I felt like a Wheatley-grade moron.
My best friend, Veronica, had turned twenty-one today, and I wanted to do something nice for her. On top of that, we had just finished our fall semester, much to our relief, so some celebration was in order. We were renting out an apartment together near our college – we’d figured that it’d be cheaper than dorming – and she had to work a bit later than usual tonight, so that had given me some time to spruce the place up a bit and scrounge up a nice dinner for her.
Everything was set: the food was ready, my gift for her was wrapped up neatly on my desk, the apartment looked a hell of a lot tidier than it usually did – it was perfect.
But then I realized that I had forgotten to get a cake.
Fortunately for me, there was a small bagel place only a convenient seven-minute walk away (but unfortunately for me, with the weather and increasingly low visibility it was more like fifteen minutes). It was actually a small bakery run by a father-daughter team, both of whom I knew quite well after over a year of being a regular customer since moving into the city. They had a variety of pastries and cakes available, but mainly specialized in bagels because of the crowds of morning and midday commuters, such as myself. Veronica didn’t seem to like the store for some reason, which made me sad; they had really good bagels.
It was also a Saturday, which meant that they would be open until nine, and it was still only six-fifteen by the time I was within sight of it, which meant I had more than enough time.
Encouraged by the sight, I walked as fast as my stiff legs would allow me to, pushed open the door, just about slammed it shut, and shivered in appreciation as a comforting arm of warm air caressed my popsicle of a face.
“Damn, bro, ya look like hell now, don’tcha?” a rough, feminine voice commented with a whistle.
I turned to see Sidaine Zagel, the daughter of Marcus Zagel and the co-owner of Zagels’ Bagels – that really was the name of the store – leaning over the countertop. Her dad was a really relaxed and casual older man, though still spry, in his late fifties, while she herself was a few years older than Veronica and I at twenty-seven. I didn’t see Marcus, so I guessed that Sidaine must’ve sent him home once the weather took a turn for the worse.
Sidaine, like her name, was a bit unusual (along with Marcus, to an extent). The first thing one would notice about her would be her often outrageously colored hair. I had no idea what her original hair color was, seeing as she changed hair colors every month or so. The first time I met her, her hair had been bright orange. It was such a garish color for hair if you asked me, but she somehow managed to pull off and still look good. For December, she had chosen an interesting shade of tropical blue. The other noticeable thing was that she always wore contacts that were a darker shade of purple, which coincidentally happened to be one of my favorite colors. To be honest, she probably wouldn’t have looked too out of place in a store like Spencer’s or Hot Topic.
Her personality tended to be dynamic, though she was predominantly like a cool big sis type of person . . . except that this big sis was really beautiful and always flirted with customers – especially me for some reason – even in front of her dad, who somehow took it in stride. (Sometimes I even had the feeling that Marcus liked to see his customers flustered by his attractive daughter. It probably brought in more regulars or something.)
Like I said, unusual.
“Hey there, Sid,” I greeted, slightly out of breath from the cold. I ruffled myself to shake the accumulated snow off of myself, and a whole bunch of the stuff fell onto the welcome mat. “It is damn cold outside. I’m actually surprised you’re still open.”
Sidaine gave a shrug in answer, and then giggled as I took off my hat. “Ya got some really bad hat-hair, Panda,” she snickered while pointing at my head, causing me to roll my eyes. When I had met her last year, I had also been wearing my panda hat because, appearances be damned, it got really cold in this city. Since then, the shopkeeper had taken to calling me ‘Panda’.
In retrospect, Sidaine was probably why Veronica didn’t like to come here; the few times that I’d managed to get her to come with me, she always got angry at Sidaine, who would then proceed to infuriate my best friend even more with her naturally teasing personality. Veronica got especially pissed off whenever Sidaine called me her ‘Panda-bear’, though I could never figure out why.
“I’d rather have bad hair than freeze my ass off, dude,” I grumbled, shaking my hat as well as patting down my hair. I set it down on one of the few chairs in the shop, along with my gloves and scarf, and walked over to the counter, staring at the glass display for baked goods. “Anyways, you got any decent cake?” I inquired directly, a little too irritated by the weather at that point for pleasantries.
Sidaine snorted and waved her hand. “Ya see it here,” she announced with a half-hearted gesture to the display, “we probably got it. Was a slow day today, though that ain’t a surprise with the shitty weather an’ all, y’know?” She scrunched up her nose in disgust.
I gave a commiserating look. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. But at least I’m here, right?” When she gave me a surprised expression, I realized what I’d just said and hastily tacked on, “To buy something! I’m here to buy something.” There was an awkward pause. “. . . from your store,” I finished lamely.
Sidaine, as I half-expected her to, suddenly grinned slyly. “Ya know I’m always down ta see ya, my Panda-bear. Now if only ya’d show me yer bamboo stick . . .” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Despite the corniness of that old come-on, I had to raise a hand to my face to hide my blush and stifle my groan. “Sid, please. I’m not in the mood for this. I just want the damn cake.”
“Oh, I’m always in the mood,” she pouted with a breathy sigh and an impish glint in her eyes. “But fine. What kinda cake didja want?”
“You got any red velvet cake?” I asked.
With some amount of hope, I watched as Sidaine scanned the shelves and then disappeared into the back of the store. When she returned a moment later, clicking her tongue and shaking her head, I felt that hope die.
“Sorry, we’re all outta those, bro,” she said apologetically.
“Damn,” I groaned. “Is there anything else you have similar to that then?”
She tapped her chin thoughtfully, leaning forward on the counter with her arms folded. “We do have a buncha red velvet mini-cupcakes I saw, if those’re okay with ya,” she offered with an innocent shrug, which caused my eyes to gravitate towards a certain well-endowed area as they were squished together.
“I’ll take the boobs,” my mouth said immediately. “I mean – damn it, Sidaine!”
She snorted then burst out laughing while I tried to hide my face again.
XXXXX-XXXXX
A minutes later left my wallet fifteen dollars lighter with a dozen cupcakes in hand and a blush only partially from the cold on my face.
. . . Stupid, sexy Sidaine.
At least she and Marcus had been giving me friend prices recently. Red velvet cupcakes, even the minis, usually went for like twenty-five dollars to the dozen, because they were red velvet and gourmet cupcakes are usually expensive in the first place. But forty percent off? I was definitely willing to bear her teasing for that much of a discount. They must’ve really liked me.
That, or I really amused Sidaine just then. If that was the case, it must’ve been a pretty boring day at the bakery. Really, it wasn’t my fault she always wore her shirts with the top buttons undone.
. . . Stupid, sexy Sidaine.
I sighed and shifted the package in my hand, trying not to shiver. I hoped that I would get home before Veronica. And before I froze to death.
“Remind me why I went out to get cake, I mean cupcakes, in the middle of a blizzard?” I complained aloud. “Oh wait, it’s because I’m a fucking idiot. Twice over now for this. I really should’ve gotten a cake earlier.”
Grumbling a bit more, I mustered up the strength to walk a tiny bit faster, but my legs were still stiff. I debated for a moment on whether or not to cut through the park across from the apartment complex, as there was over a foot of snow already and would be a bitch to get through, but when a gust of wind cut at my face, loosening my scarf slightly, I immediately turned to the park.
“Screw it, I just wanna get home,” I growled. “This storm’s getting worse anyway.”
Trudging through the snowed-in park, it was also a good thing I’d memorized how to get home because I could barely see anything, it was all powdery white. The lamps were helping somewhat, if only to see where the next one was so that I could find my way. They lit a clear path to an entrance right in front of the apartment complex, so all I had to do was follow them.
Just as I was nearing the entrance, I paused as I spotted a suspicious mound in the snow near the next lamp. It wasn’t a park bench or a bush – it wasn’t the right shape or height, for one – and I very highly doubted somebody would be stupid enough to make a snowman in this weather.
I glanced further up ahead and faintly saw the front of the apartment complex through holes in the swirling white blanket. Again I debated internally for a moment, but my stupid sense of curiosity won and I begrudgingly went over to investigate. Besides, I figured, home is right there anyway.
I was hoping it was nothing, but as I grew closer, a feeling of horror washed over me.
Outlined there in the snow, I could see two figures partially covered in snow. Their faces were the most visible, but it was quite obvious that they were unconscious.
“What the fuck!?” I cried, nearly dropping my package in shock.
I couldn’t believe it. What in the hell could have caused these two to be out here? I rushed forward to see if they were still alive, and tried desperately not to panic.
Setting the package down nearby, I urgently brushed the snow from their bodies. That urgency turned into alarm when I discovered that they were women . . . and that they weren’t wearing any clothing. As in, none whatsoever. And they were shivering pretty badly.
“You have got to be shitting me,” I mumbled, almost deliriously. “I might be dealing with near-dead, naked hobo prostitutes here.”
My hands ungloved themselves and went straight to the first one, an older-looking woman’s neck and wrist. Her pulse was weak, but still there nonetheless. That was a start. I checked the younger-looking one. She was in the same state.
Alarm soon gave way to momentary confusion. “Okay, now I’m relieved and all, but how the fuck are you two still alive? You guys should be dead.”
I was no expert in treating illnesses, and I’d never known anyone with hypothermia, but as far as I knew, it was impossible to survive in zero degree weather with absolutely no clothes on. Perhaps that had been an indication that this had happened recently, even mere minutes ago. But if that was the case, then why did they look like they’d been out here for at least half an hour, judging by the amount of snow on them . . . ?
I stood up, paralyzed for a second about what to do, and absently started to reach for my cell phone before I realized that, in my haste to go to the store, I’d left it on my desk.
Biting my lip, I glanced between the two women, who were starting to shiver profusely, and the apartment complex. It wasn’t that far away, and they didn’t look all that heavy . . .
I shook my head – my indecisiveness was costing us all precious time.
“Damn whoever did this to you,” I murmured with a sigh to the unconscious women. “And damn me for being such a nice guy.”
I put my gloves back on, grabbed the package and haphazardly shoved it as best as I could into my largest coat pocket. With that done, I crouched down and lifted both of them at the same time around their torsos. I was partially right – they weren't that heavy, and were pretty petite, but their combined weight made things a little bit tougher.
I winced to myself. This was going to be fun, I could tell. With a resolute grunt, I slung both of them over my shoulders, which cried out at the weight, and shakily stood up. My already stiff body protested against my new cargo, but I ignored it dutifully.
Now I just had to cross the street, and I did so, making sure to keep an eye on the two women or any potential passersby. As I neared the entrance, I was thankful for the automatic doors, which made things much easier, not to mention that the entrance was deserted.
This would have looked really awkward if I had been seen. Not only that, but this entire neighborhood, and even my apartment complex, though somewhat high scale for Downtown, had some pretty shady characters I’d seen skulking around, and these two poor souls were not going to suffer whatever fate they would have been left to had someone else found them. Not if I had anything to say about it.
With an aching leg, I kicked the elevator control, and one elevator opened immediately. I stepped in and again kicked in the number to my floor. A tense minute later, I stepped out into the hallway, shuffling rapidly to my door. I grimaced for a second; I’d probably have to set one of them down to get my keys.
Quickly I did just that, setting the older woman down and unlocking my door. I moved swiftly inside the apartment, and as gently as I could, I set the younger woman down on the couch before going back for her companion.
With both of them safely inside and my neighbors none the wiser, I breathed a sigh of relief. ‘How Not To Be Seen,’ indeed. That entire ordeal had been a miracle in and of itself.
Now that that was over with, I observed them in the light of my apartment; I’d been too busy panicking to really get a good look at them, and what I saw startled me.
They definitely were not hobo prostitutes.
AsI looked them over, I noticed that the older one was about Veronica’s height, which was around five foot six, while the other looked to be four inches or so shorter. They were, to put it bluntly, incredibly beautiful – I purposefully looked anywhere but their rather large . . . well, anywhere but their front areas in general – and the only thing I could think of was ‘regal’ for some reason. Both women also had strange tattoos on their either side of their upper thighs; the older woman had a depiction of the sun while the other had a crescent moon.
But what really caught my eye was their hair. The older woman had long, flowing locks of pastel multicolored hair, while the younger had a deep, dark, possibly midnight blue hue to hers with white dots splattered about. I looked at the latter’s a bit more closely; that wasn’t residual snow on her hair, but something to the effect of sparkles or stars. Both of their hair also seemed to be moving from some breeze, despite the fact that there was no breeze in the apartment. And it all seemed natural, because I couldn’t see the normal pigment discoloration from dyes or bleach that I usually saw on Sidaine on either of them. Not to mention that in the quick glimpse I had allowed myself, the carpet definitely matched the drapes.
This was not normal. Not at all.
A quiet whimper came from both of them, and I realized that they still had hypothermia.
And it was getting late and Veronica wasn’t home yet.
Just to top things off, there was a sudden series of loud knocks on the door.
“Yo, Panda-bear, Veronica, you in?” a voice exclaimed. “I got my hands on a brand-new hookah set that’s pretty sick!”
“ . . . Shit,” I hissed to myself. “It’s Katie.”
Katie was our apartment complex’s friendly neighborhood drug dealer who had inexplicably befriended the both us when we first moved in. She also evidently knew Sidaine, because she’d started calling me Panda as well, not too long after I’d met the shopkeeper. She actually reminded me strongly of James Franco’s character from Pineapple Express and liked to ‘Blue Skidoo’, as she so endearingly called it, into other people’s apartments from time to time to chill, usually whenever she was as higher than a satellite in orbit. Ours especially so because, as a going away present from my dad, I owned one of the only fifty-two inch TVs in the building – a fact Katie never failed to remind me of every time she came over – and a copy of Adventure Time from my sister lying around somewhere.
Though Veronica was more amiable, I was initially understandably more than a little annoyed by Katie’s behavior. But after the first few times when she didn’t jack any of our stuff (only our food) while we weren’t looking, I let it slide. She occasionally even bought us Chinese take-out as a sort of apology, and ever since we told her that we liked hookah she usually brought over her personal set for a session, so for the most part it evened out in the end.
When I’d asked my neighbors as to why they didn’t kick her out of their apartments either, they’d told me that she didn’t do anything suspicious and that it was hard to dislike her anyway. I could see that; she was certainly overly friendly enough. There were times though that I wondered when we had gained another roommate, she was over so often.
But now was really not a good time.
Moving closer to the door, I said so aloud. “Really not a good time, Katie. I’m a bit busy.”
“C’mon man, I just wanna show this to you real quick!” Katie whined through the door.
I could feel a vein pulse in my forehead. “Please, Katie. Not. Now,” I ground out, glancing wearily at my two new tenants.
“Psh, alrighty then,” she scoffed. “I’ll come back later, after you untwist your panties, dude.” Her footsteps shuffled by my door then began to fade down the hallway.
I breathed deeply. This was not how I expected this night to go.
Shaking my thoughts away, I went into the bathroom to get some towels to wipe them down and dry them off.
(I hated to say it, but this wasn’t the first time I’d dealt with unconscious women covered in snow – or worse. I’d thrown a few house parties back in high school, and long story short, as the ever helpful host, I once had to give a girl a bath after she’d showered my floor with puke and then passed out – in the puke.)
When that was done, I moved the two women one at a time into my room and onto my bed and arranged them so that they were side by side. I was absently surprised that they were petite enough for there to be extra space; my bed wasn’t exactly large. Afterwards I moved over to my desk, nearly tore off my laptop’s screen upon opening it, and immediately googled ‘how to treat severe hypothermia’.
“C’mon, google-fu, help me out here,” I mumbled, keeping an eye out on the two.
When the search results loaded, I opened the first link I saw. “‘First thing to do is prevent–’ Yeah, no shit. Blah, blah, blah . . . Okay here we go: ‘Remove wet clothing’. They’re naked,” I deadpanned. “Blah, blah, blah . . . ‘Skin-to-skin contact’? Uh . . .”
I blinked. The thought had honestly not occurred to me.
“That’s . . . kind of awkward. Any alternatives?” I scrolled down some more. “‘Use an electric blanket’. Okay. Okay, I can do that.”
Veronica and I had an electric blanket from her mother that we shared on colder nights back home or whenever the heater acted up here in the apartment. We usually kept it in the closet by the front door, where I snagged it and made a beeline back to my room, pausing only to get a few more towels from the bathroom.
I quickly plugged in the electric blanket and draped it as best I could over my two impromptu patients, tucking their arms and legs underneath it. Above that, I placed my thick comforter as an extra layer and folded the towels to cover the tops of their heads.
After a few moments, I checked on them again and sighed again in relief. One good thing was that the two strange women weren’t shivering as badly as before, and their breathing was more normal instead of the previously shallow breaths. It meant that, according to the website, CPR wasn’t necessary.
The site had also said that gradual warming was needed – hence the electric blanket – especially around the more central areas of the body, namely their torsos, and keeping the head covered would help keep in body heat. Warming their extremities first would cause shock and immediate warming overall would cause heart arrhythmia. The first would suck because I wasn’t a damn nurse, and the second would suck because I did not want to have a Hisao-case on my hands and I wasn’t the damn Nurse.
I would have gone to the hospital for them, but for one thing, Veronica was the one with the car, not me, and for another, I couldn’t afford to dish out money for an ambulance ride. Seriously, they’re expensive. And besides, I had managed to get them stable and warm now, and they were out of immediate danger of failing health as far as I could tell. Maybe once the storm died down, I’d ask Veronica to take us there.
“Shit. Veronica!” I slapped my forehead, returning to my desk and fumbling for my phone. I immediately called her off of my speed-dial and waited tersely while glancing at my patients.
The line connected. “What’s up, Panda?” Veronica greeted calmly. Despite her nonexistent friendship with Sidaine, even she had gotten into calling me by that nickname, much to my amusement.
“Oh good, you’re alright,” I breathed in relief. “I thought that you might be stuck out in the middle of the road or something.”
“Nah, I’m fine. Sorry I’m taking so long, there was a bunch of people in line buying supplies and stuff at the store,” I heard her chuckle. “Since I’m twenty-one now, I picked up some booze for tonight that I just finished getting into the car. Right now I’m warming it up and waiting for the trucks to finish clearing the roads, then I’ll be home in a little bit for a party~” she sang with a giggle.
I grimaced. “Yeah, about that . . . something’s come up,” I stated seriously.
There was a pause before she spoke again. “Giovanni, what’s wrong?” She only called me by my full first name when we were having a serious conversation, which this definitely qualified as.
“I went out to buy a cake for you from the bagel place, because I’d forgotten to get one before. On my way back, I cut through the park, but then . . .”
“Then?”
I exhaled and glanced again to my two patients. “I found two women, two naked women, in the park. Veronica, they were unconscious and nearly frozen to death.”
She gasped. “Dude, are you serious? Are they alright!?” she asked worriedly.
“Severe hypothermia, as far as I can tell. They’re still unconscious, but a bit more stable now. They’re really lucky I found them,” I said bluntly. “I have them in my room right now, warming up underneath the electric blanket.”
“Wait, what the hell were they doing out there?” Veronica asked again, this time in a slightly less urgent tone.
I shrugged, despite knowing that she wouldn’t see. “Fuck if I know. But, moving on, can you do something for me?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Since you’re still out, can you get some heating pads? I think those’ll help. Oh, and some tea? I also know we’re all out of chicken noodle soup, and when they wake up, they’ll need some of that stuff too. Pretty much anything to help them warm up will do.” I scrubbed at my hair in exhaustion. “Can you get those? Please?”
“Yeah, of course,” she quickly agreed.
I sighed in relief yet again. “Thanks, Veronica.”
“Don’t you worry your fluffy head, Panda,” she returned, and I could hear a slight grin in her voice. “Now go on and play doctor for your patients.”
Despite the situation, I couldn’t hold back a snort. “I thought I was already doing that.”
We spoke for another minute then said our goodbyes and hung up.
But as soon as I put the phone down, it vibrated then played the ringtone for when I received text messages. With a raised eyebrow, I picked it up and opened the message.
gio, remember when i said i was coming to stay with you guys for christmas? well your mother’s making me leave early because her, your sister and veronica’s parents will be leaving for that cruise, so i’ll be driving over there in the morning. i should be at your apartment at 11 or so. you me n veronica can get brunch or something.
dad
p.s. i hear it’s snowing pretty badly over there. you said your apartment’s heater acts up sometimes so i’m bringing over an extra space heater for you guys. :)
For a long moment I stared at my phone, then at the two strange women wrapped up in blankets and sleeping fitfully on my bed, then at the squished package of mini-cupcakes I’d taken out of my coat pocket earlier, then at the almost forgotten neatly wrapped box that was Veronica’s birthday present sitting on my desk.
Groaning, I sank onto my chair and covered my face with my hands.
This was really not how I expected this night to go.
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I don't normally take interest in human stories of any kind, but this one caught my eye. Keep up the good work!
:D love it !!! Keep up the awsome work !
So far nothing bad has caught my eye. Good so far.
Now I can't wait for what's in store!
Awesome work, man! Next Ponyfall: Majestic Royalty? Yes! Keep it up!
this looks promising
can't wait til' the next chapter!
Ah like it so far.
Stupid, sexy Sidaine indeed. Ah, this is going to be a funny one.
I can tell that this is going to be quite interesting. Please update soon.
Thanks for your kind words, everypony.
2369600
Ponyfall? Nah, this is unaffiliated with that group. It is for the most part a very similar idea though.
2373050 Well, either way it's one of the best PoE stories I've read for ages. Keep it up, bro!
The entire chapter I thought
dafuq
dafuq
dafuq
dafuq, etc.
But yet I am being pulled toward a strange green thumb and star like icon...
EDIT: Who drew your cover art, it looks awesome!
The only gary-stu in this is Google, and that is totally ok. Google knows all.
2375378
I must be doing something right then!
And believe it or not, I actually just screen captured my cover pic from this...eheh
...Japanese hentai dress-up game that I found a few months ago. 
Really, I did. I was messing around with it all morning and came up with that picture, plus some post-editing in photoshop.
"The first would suck because I wasn’t a damn nurse, and the second would suck because I did not want to have a Hisao-case on my hands and I wasn’t the damn Nurse."
DAT KATAWA SHOUJO REFERENCE!
2377343
I was wondering when someone would catch that.
I like it......wanna see where it goes!!!
2378101 He stole what I was going to say!
Also it will be interesting to see what will happen when these two mysterious women wake up...
Since they used to be ponies, Celestia and Luna probably won't notice they're naked. It wouldn't make sense for them to wake up, then suddenly scream and slap the first guy who sees them (which is what ALWAYS happens in situations like these)
2369707 if mother earth likes it then I like it (see wat I did there)
Was not expecting to see a Katawa Shoujo reference here
2382729
Hanako and Lilly
Dude, take showers more often and make em longer, godammit! And don't think that way!!
Katawa Shoujo reference Hell yes