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It has been a long day of work in Stratts Vat, leaving an exhausted Ryland Grace to have to present various slideshows and attend dozens of meetings. He slowly dragged himself out to the open deck, immediately being hit by the frigid air outside. Grace of course did not care and trudged to the edge of the deck, leaning on the railing before sliding to the ground.
The wind bit at his cheeks and nose, causing him to shudder. He shifted uncomfortably at the cold steel deck underneath him, but made no move to stand. He was drained. Grace thought that if he came out onto the deck to try to wake himself up, maybe he would have enough energy to go to the last meeting he was required to attend.
Of course his plan hadn’t worked, and now he was slumped against the railing in the cold trying his best not to fall asleep. He tried to stand, but his muscles refused to cooperate. He shuddered again as more wind blew right through his thin shirt.
His exhaustion had began to cloud his thoughts as he sat there, unaware of the snowflakes now falling from the sky slowly. He curled up, pressing his cheek to his knee and folding his arms, pulling the sleeves of his cardigan over his chilled hands.
He must admit, a nap sounded amazing right now. Maybe a few minutes of shut eye wouldn’t hurt. Grace quickly drifted into sleep, unaware of how much time he would spend outside.
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Stratt looked at her watch again, eyes narrowing slightly. Grace hadn’t shown up for the meeting he was supposed to attend. He was over 5 minutes late now. Stratt contemplated looking for him, before deciding against it. She would deal with him later. She had more important matters to attend to, such as the meeting she was in for another hour.
As the time passed, she could not help but feel a bit uneasy the longer she waited for Grace to turn up. No word had been given of his presence. She looked up from her tablet as the meeting was disbanded, before quickly rushing out of the room to look for her top scientist.
She first went to his room, peaking inside only to see it empty. She sighed and made her way to his lab, only to find it empty as well. Now she was beginning to feel a bit more uneasy as she made her way to the cafeteria. No sign of him there either. Eventually, she asked around to see if anyone had seen him, but came with no such luck.
Stress was now pumping through her veins as the search continued. Eventually, she ended up on the deck, shuddering slightly from the bitter cold. Snow sparkled on the deck as the sun set in the distance, leaving the air more chilled than usual. Fat snowflakes slowly drifted down from the gray clouds overhead, settling gently on Stratts hair. She scanned the deck and was about to turn around and head back to the lower deck when she saw him.
There was Ryland Grace, curled up in a ball leaning against the frost covered railing. He was dressed in a pair of well worn jeans and a thin t-shirt with a periodic table of elements on it with the words above saying ‘I wear this shirt periodically’. He was wearing his iconic fox cardigan, though it seemed to not do much due to the visible shivering she could see.
She rushed forward, coming to crouch next to Grace. He was pale and shaking like a leaf, snow settled on his hair and stuck to his clothes. Stratt reached out to tap him on the cheek, only to pull away at the feeling of ice cold skin. His breaths came out in puffs of visible air, his face relaxed. He would have looked peaceful if it weren’t for the red tint that was on his cheeks and the tip of his nose that signaled frost nip as well as the violent shivering.
Stratt felt a pang of worry before she shoved it down and quickly began to tap him. He stirred slightly, his frost covered eyelashes fluttering open. He looked dazed and exhausted, his eyes glossy.
“Grace, wake up.” The scientist in question looked blearily at Stratt, eyes still unfocused. It took a couple seconds for them to focus as he stared at her. “S-Stratt?” He croaked out.
His shaking hadn’t gotten better, and if anything had only began to get worse. Stratt watched as Grace tried to pull himself up, only to stumble, forcing him to use the railing as a crutch. Stratt stood, quickly grabbing onto his arm and hauling him up.
He looked close to passing out, his soaked clothes clinging to his icy skin. Graces eyes were still foggy, not processing what was fully happening around him. Stratt observed him, brow furrowed. She hadn’t seen him since 3 PM, and it was now 8, the sun nearly gone down. He had been outside in the cold for five hours.
“Come. You need warmth.” Stratt stated, beginning to pull Grace along. He stumbled, slumping slightly against Stratt. She shuddered at the feeling of his cold body pressing against her. God he was freezing. Stratt pretty much dragged him inside, rushing him to his room. He stumbled along like a baby horse, barely able to keep up. Stratt opened the door, closing it softly and locking it behind her before quickly pulling Grace over to the bed and sitting him down.
His mind was still lagging behind as he looked at Stratt with unfocused eyes. Grace slumped forward, forcing Stratt to catch him. She looked down at the scientist to see snow still clinging to him desperately and frost still coating his eyelashes. She quickly brushed the snow off of him before taking his slightly damp cardigan off. She tossed it to the side as Grace slowly rubbed the frost off his eyelashes before she reached to take off his pants.
That had apparently woken him up from his daze. He jumped, immediately scrambling away from Stratt. Despite his skin still being ghostly white, a bright red flush glowed on his cheeks. “Uh, I c-can do t-that.” Grace stumbled out, turning away from Stratt before peaking over his shoulder to make sure she had done the same.
She had indeed done the same, giving the man some space as he shakily changed out of his snow soaked pants and changed into a warm clean pair of joggers. He quickly changed out his shirt as well, pulling on a hoodie. Stratt turned back around to see Grace once again curled up in a tight ball, shivering uncontrollably.
Stratt sighed before reaching into her breast pocket and pulling out a thermometer. She climbed onto the bed and scooted over to the shaking ball before gently grabbing his chin and shifting his head up. He blinked in confusion, opening his mouth to question what Stratt was doing before she suddenly shoved a thermometer underneath his tongue.
He winced, but let Stratt take his temperature. She pulled the thermometer out after a second, clicking her tongue at the reading. 86° Fahrenheit or 30° Celsius. He was in the second stage of hypothermia. She found him just in time before his shivering would stop.
She didn’t have time. She had one decision to make, and it would be comfortable for either of them. “Change into shorts and a t-shirt. We don’t have time.” She said, cutting him off as he tried to protest. She rushed out of the room and nearly ran down the hallway to her own room that was not exactly a room for sleep but rather an office. She quickly tore through her closet, yanking out a t-shirt and some shorts. She changed and darted back to Graces room.
When she entered in, she saw him fumbling with the t-shirt unable to pull it on. He let out an embarrassed squeak, pulling the shirt over his chest. Stratt resisted the urge to roll her eyes before pulling the door closed and locking it. She stepped over to the bed, yanking the shirt out of his hands.
Grace made another squeak, his hands now suspended uselessly in front of him. He was still shaking violently, which pushed Stratt to act faster. She tossed the t-shirt away before suddenly grabbing Grace and enveloping in a hug.
She suffered at the feeling of his frigid skin against her own. Grace sat there, rigid. It seemed his mind had blanked. Stratt was hugging him. Stratt. He had been hugged before many times and every time it had been uncomfortable, but for some reason this wasn’t.
He melted into the warmth, curling up into her. Stratt couldn’t help but smile softly, watching as Grace savored the warmth. Her eyes traced his frame, noting the slightly visible ribs and spine under lean muscles.
She knew Grace had been very sensitive about showing his chest, uncertain of how people would react to his top surgery scars or the fact that he was more feminine than he seemed. Stratt had immediately noticed his discomfort the first time someone gave him a hug, noticing the tension in his shoulders.
She had flagged him down after a meeting and asked him for confirmation on any medical things she should know. She had already known he had a procedure done on his chest, and knew of his diagnosis for autism as well as ADHD, and as a result had brought a large amount of medication to help him.
He had told her that he was not biologically male, and had flinched when she nodded. Stratt remembered asking him if he wanted any testosterone treatments so he could be comfortable. She had watched the man quite literally melt to the ground and sob in relief. Ever since then, she made sure no prejudice proposed itself during the project.
She was abruptly brought back to the present by Grace nuzzling his face into her stomach. She smiled softly again, bringing a hand to card through his still slightly damp hair. She didn’t understand what she was feeling, the warmth in her heart causing slight panic, but she pushed it aside for now. Just for today, she could let go. She trusted him. And apparently he trusted her enough to fall asleep on top of her.