Out of the Frying Pan

Neron

you're so cold
put your hand in mine

Neron raises his eyebrows as they walk, not expecting quite the level of openness from the red-head who had been mostly silent on their journey to the Burrows (not that it bothered him any). He doesn't reply, but that's mainly because he's ruminating on it; what would it be like, he wonders, to only drink from one person for the rest of his life? And who would that person be? A certain Warden comes to mind, and Neron doesn't quite know what to do with that information.

He's drawn out of it by the sudden sound of laughter, the Hailstorm raising his eyebrows and finding himself chuckling, too, to hear what Sam really did for a living. "Well," he says, "I'd not want to keep you from your books. Let's make a quick circuit and get out of here," he suggests. And so they do just that, circling around the caves and finding themselves back at the beginning of their trek in due course.

By then, Neron has had enough of potential death-by-lava, and so they head back out of the Climb, back towards the Tundra.

~FIN

wise men wonder
while strong men die