WWW: Watch Out!

[Event !]

Massive weather events are to Idalia Tsavaris what the fire bell is to Rhea Hartman. She has to get to work to report on the snowstorm, and unfortunately, not everyone is visible in the snow.

Fortunately, this is a near miss.

[Cade Maddox]

Cade hated the snow. Okay, that wasn't fair. Cade wasn't really sure what seasons he liked and didn't. What he did know was that he was freezing, and praying to God that he could manage to get through this snowstorm and back to school before it got any worse.

It was hard to see the edge of the road, and the flurries didn't really make it much easier to see anything. What was he doing on the road, even, dressed in a black coat, squeezing himself so that the snow didn't hit the bag contained within against his chest. Cade had the brilliant plan of choosing today to go get a new book of sheet music for the piano. Now he was just hoping the book wouldn't get wet. He couldn't exactly afford another copy.

All the people at the shop who knew him asked why he didn't know there was a stom coming. And Cade had to repeat over and over, "My radio is dead, and I didn't watch the news this morning." Apparently his lack of use of non-TV screen-based technology was a great shock to their systems...despite the fact that they were all older than him. Truth was, he hadn't watched the news in awhile, it was getting too depressing again.

So now here he was, nearly buried in snow, snow that was starting to glow bri-glow brightly? Cade looked up just in time to see a car racing right for him. He just barely jumped to this side, finding himself buried in a face full of snow.

"Ow..."

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Groggy Idalia was cursing herself for not being more aware. Strange as it may seem, sometimes Meteorologists were sometimes just as caught off guard as the rest of the world. No it wasn’t that she didn’t see the massive winter cyclone spinning its way from the frigid north. She had seen the blizzard and she had thought she had it timed, but it had roared in sooner than she had anticipated and she had been so worried about reporting it to keep people safe that she hadn’t left in time. Ida let Ike out very quickly, the canine was no more interested in being in the snow than she was. She grabbed her sleeping bag and a few changes of close and drove the five minutes to her parents. She dropped Ike off there as she didn’t know when she would be able to leave work again. She ignored her parents as they fretted, she didn’t tell them she’d been up for what was going on twenty six hours.

Luckily her Dad had switched out her tires for snow tires the week before and she was off. She called and spoke rapidly to her fellows. She had had all of them go home and grab their sleeping bags and clothes before she herself had gone. The worse the storm got the more desperate she was to be at work and she pressed to the gas. “I’m about to get through downtown and on the highway, I’ll be there in a few, it’ll be slow going, you know how people drive in the snow. Why does no one listen to us!?” She fumed at her friend. “Alright, I’m gonna go, I’ve gotta get two hands on the wheel…. Right, will do, see you soon.” She hung up and dropped her phone in one of the middle cup holders empty next to her coffee. She grabbed the latter and took a long drink. It was going to be a long night.

Her windshield wipers worked hard and the darkness wasn’t making it any easier. Everything was white. Suddenly she smelled lightning and braced herself, “Shit… no now!” Her vision wavered but she could see the road ahead of her, snow falling heavily and then something black wandered into her headlights. She blinked out of the vision with a gasp and something black appeared ahead of her. “FUCK!” She jerked the wheel. Her front wheels stopped but her back wheels slipped on ice and the backside of her car swung around. For a terrifyingly long time she spun and the terrified woman didn’t take her foot off the brake until she had been stopped long enough to realize she actually had stopped. She lifted her head off the wheel, feeling bruised from her seatbelt. She looked up out the window and saw something on the side of the road.

“Oh no, oh no, no, no!” She threw her car into park and lurched out her door. “Oh God, no, no, please God no!” She raced toward the person slipping once on the same patch of ice that did her car in. She felt tears brimming in her eyes and hysteria rising in her throat. “Oh my God!” She hesitated, afraid that he might not move when she put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? Please say something,” she said frantically. She unceremoniously rolled him out of the snow, or at least onto his back in the snow, desperate to see if he was okay. “Can you hear me?” She shook him once. “Hey!”

[Cade Maddox]

You know that moment when the first snow falls of the year, and you liked to catch snowflakes on your tongue? Yeah, it wasn't as fun when a ton came all at once. Over course he had his mouth open when he went down. After his intial exclamation of pain, his lips ate way more snow than he had ever dared before. And it was cold. Gosh darn was it cold.

Trying to lift himself with his hands was futile, the way he had pinned himself in the very form-fitting snow that he had impacted into. The jacket he wore was tight and didn't exactly help matters any. And then he didn't have to, as a woman exclaimed and pulled his shoulders, to which he shifted slightly in response. When she asked him to say something, he tried to, but his tongue was stuck under snow, so if she heard anything it was a throat sound at best.

Suddenly he felt himself spinning onto his back, landing part on more comfortable snow, and less comfortable snow-covered road. He shook his head and tried to open his eyes only to get some water in them, closing them again. When she shook him, he shook back, moving arms, coughing and gagging, spitting out snow onto his chest and a short distance away, hands moving to his face and trying to remove the snow from it.

"Hey!" He tried to yell in response but it came out as a half-cough, half-groan that merely resembled the word. He tried to sit up with a little difficulty, looking down, spitting out the last bit of snow from under his tongue. His senses were still a little scattered, but as near as he could tell...none of his characters were out, so that was good...unless...dazed slightly still, he looked up and reached forward trying to grab her shoulder or arm or something. "Are you real?"

His brain had been weirding out with him lately, his illusions were coming and going without his permissions and his tactile senses were responding abnormally when it came to them. Coughing one last time he said, "I don't recognize you but then again," He wiped his eyes, "You're just kind of a blur right now..." It wouldn't be the first time his brain picked a character he didn't remember and introduce him for the first time.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Honestly, why was anyone out at a time like this? She knew that she certainly hadn’t given an all clear and she knew her peers at the new station certainly were telling people the same thing. Stay put. She wanted everyone to stay safe long enough for them to play in the aftermath of this strong cyclone. Biting her lip she refused to use the ridiculous naming convention the Weather Channel had engineered. She didn’t care for their methods. But God why was someone out in this weather! The whole time she was praying and wishing that she hadn’t hurt him. Or worse. She didn’t think she could live with the latter. Which is why she viciously manhandled the person, hoping that she could bully him into life if he was going to be difficult about it.

Ida couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the wind in her ears. Luckily for them everyone else had followed her advice but this kid and no one else had skidded into them. The first sign of life was his sputtering and shaking and she clasped his arms and was so relieved that she started laughing. Her laugh quickly died and her expression turned to concern. Idalia let him go and let him wave his arms around, getting the snow away from his face. He looked young, very young. Idalia glared at him, while he couldn’t see her. Young and stupid, was the first thing that came to her mind. She had the severe urge to hit him now that he was proving to be well.

Her annoyance faded and she knelt on the ground next to him, reaching out, but not quite touching him. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked looking into his face and his eyes to see if there was something wrong. She was the wrong sort of Doctor for this kind of thing! Idalia reached out and took his hand when he reached for her. “Am I…?” She started in disbelief then squeezed his hand. Oh man this poor kid’s marbles got knocked around. Guilt filled Idalia and she smiled softly at the boy. “I am real and you’re going to be fine. I’m so sorry.” Without any sort of medical training, Ida was really at a loss, she did the only thing she knew how to do, she started asking questions and trying to figure out the extent of his injuries. “What is your name? Where does it hurt? Can you move?”

Idalia sighed and gave him an annoyed look. “Well that explains a hell of a lot! Maybe if you knew who I was you’d be safe in your bed and not out in this mess,” she scolded, the old mother hen in her coming out and taking this boy as her victim. “Oh dear, how many fingers do you see honey?” She said holding up two of them in front of his eyes. She didn’t know what to look for with a concussion but she was fairly certain that blurriness was not a good sign. Idalia’s heart hammered, she had never hurt someone on purpose and certainly not to this level. Oh God! Why? She was so shaken that she felt the urge to hug him. Instead she squeezed his hand. “Just take it easy, you took quite a tumble, but I’m going to help you,” she said soothingly, her hands fretting to wipe off more snow. “We need to get you out of the snow before you freeze to death. Can you move?”

[Cade Maddox]

Cade couldn't help but think that her hand in his was nice. And totally nerve-wracking at the same time. Who was this woman, what was she doing out here, why did she come to him, was she in the...car(?)...that almost hit him. And best question of all that he was still waiting for her to answer...was that a smile? Cade wasn't sure if that was a good sign.

"Oh...good...because I'd be worried I was having a really painful dream or something..." No sense in broadcasting his powers in this scenario. The less this (real) woman knew about him the better, at least in his opinion. Her plethora of questions came at a time when he was just trying to determine that for himself. Well, except for the name. "Uh...Cade, my name is Cade. Who are you?"

When he wasn't eating all of the snow his mouth could hold, and his face didn't look like he was trying to cosplay Jack Skellington with only snow, he managed to get an idea of what he could move. And he was able to determine that that was just about everything. Shifting his legs and arms, he looked to her and said, "Yeah, I think I...yeah, I can move. It kinda just hurts all over...I thi-" As he started to lift his arms, his shoulders immediately ached and pained sharply. "Agh...shoulders..."

Her scorn didn't really remind him of a mother, more of just a teacher or like every adult he had really known in person. And if TV was any standard, she was either soulless or really nice. Cade couldn't really determine her age, and he wiped his eyes with his hand (bending at the elbow so not to move his shoulders much), "Two, right?" He hoped she wasn't a joker and was holding up more that he couldn't see or something.

Still sort of stunned by the whole situation, he couldn't help but notice (now that his vision was clearer) that the woman was kind of pretty, though he was still kind of out of it. Her squeezing his hand brought him immediately back ito the moment. "Yeah, as long as I don't have to lift anything," His attempt at a joke came out as more of a groan as in the process of beginning to stand his shoulders shifted a bit and pain went through him once again. His thoughts couldn't help but turn to the music inside of his jacket, hoping no large amount of snow was getting to it and reaching the pages. One positive for a tight jacket, he hoped.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

((Sorry I'm so late!))

Oh dear, Idalia thought, her worry blooming. She didn’t remember if she’d felt an impact or if it had been him diving to the side that caused him to end up hip deep in the snow. It was times like this she wished her power would tell her more than just the weather. It was nice, certainly to know if it was raining or snowing, but the brief glimpse she’d gotten of someone walking in front of her was far too quick to reality for her to do anything about it. It was like the vision she’d had of Rio, she never forgot that one. That one had also been far too close to prevent. Not even twenty minutes had passed from the vision to when they got the call. She shook her head dispelling the unpleasant thoughts and focused on the boy.

She smiled, unsure what to think of this kid. “I’m Idalia,” she said warmly, “Cade, that’s a name I’ve never heard before. It’s nice.” The more she spoke the more she hoped he would be able to focus on what was happening around him. Luckily no one had come by and smashed into the both of them, or her car that sat across the street partially on the sidewalk and turned the wrong way. In fact it seemed as if there was no one out at all. Just a crazy meteorologist and the boy that didn’t watch the news. She looked around now to see if anyone had seen it happen or if there was a shop owner she could flag down. No, it looked like everyone had holed themselves up for the day. Staying open as late as possible until the storm finally forced them out. Which made her wonder why this kid was out here.

He started to move and she bit her lip with worry. She would hate it if he had broken something. She winced with him when he groaned. “Okay, okay, don’t try to move more than you have to, Cade.” Okay, well at least he hadn’t said his legs. Idalia considered herself strong, but there was no way she was going to be able to lift him and get him into her car without help. Which could not be found anywhere apparently. She frowned and glanced up at the sidewalk. She turned her focus back to Cade and hoped that his vision would right itself. She breathed a sigh of relief when he told her two. “Good.”

“Okay, take it easy,” she said, ignoring his attempt at a joke. She was still far too flustered to think anything funny. She pondered the situation for a moment. His shoulders were hurting, that pretty much took her hauling him up out of the question. “Stomata. Hold still,” she said sharply when moving made him wince. She tapped her chin and surveyed him and the area around them. “Okay, Cade, we can figure this out in the least painful way possible.” She crouched and put her feet slightly overtop of his, not putting weight on them, more so just holding them down so he had leverage. “Okay, put your arms around my neck and when I tell you to, try to lift yourself up.” With little more warning than that she took a firm hold of his jacket. “Now!” She hauled back with all her strength, hoping that she a) didn’t hurt him too badly and b) that she didn’t fall over herself.

[Cade Maddox]

((And I was late too...no worries!)

Idalia. Neat. Now, all Cade had to do was focus on that name and maybe the rest of his environment would follow. Shaking his head at himself, Cade managed to say, "Hey, Idalia, I want you to know, you didn't hit me. I dove. Guess my legs are stronger than I thought." He nodded toward the impact he had made into the snow. "It's my fault...I'm sorry." Cade couldn't seem to do anything right. He shouldn't have been out tonight and now he put himself and this woman in danger. What if she had crashed because of him? She could've died because of him.

Cade's vision was almost clear, especially with the comfort of knowing he was right on the number of fingers she held. Trying not to move his arms at all was hard though, and he ended up sitting like he was at attention in the military. "Don't freak out, but I'm gonna move a little," He told her, as he shifted his legs to be under him as he sort of pulled himself to a kneeling position. Now he looked like a war prisoner on his knees about to be shot. Cade watched too many movies.

Relieved when she seemed to decide on a plan to get him up, her feet went over his, and she came down to his level. As she explained what she needed him to do, he could manage nothing but nodding, as he put his arms around her neck, and said a weak "Ready."

The sudden rush sent blood into his head? Or was that out. Regardless, his legs thrust up as if he were about to jump to Van Halen. And likely to her surprise, his feet still did leave the ground a little, even with her weight, though her grounding did help. The pain was brief but intense and as soon as they were up, he pulled himself away from her, gasping in pain, "Oh wow, this is worse than my fall off the stage last year." He didn't say that at her, but she likely heard it. Walking around for a moment, a small amount of adrenaline clearly greeting his senses, he took a moment to feel his jacket and confirm that his book hadn't moved before looking to her again. He stumbled slightly, still getting used to standing.

"Wow," he said again with a grimace as the pain in his shoulders flared.

[Idalia Tsavaris]

Idalia couldn’t retain the relief that she felt when he said she didn’t hit him. Honestly, she almost burst out in song. She put a hand on his shoulder, her heart imploring him to understand how much it meant to her that she didn’t hit him. How could she ever live with herself if she had? “I’m glad,” she said but shook her head, “It was both of us, you can’t take blame for the both of us.” She chided gently. After all, if she hadn’t been in a hurry to get to work she wouldn’t have been going so fast and would have been better able to stop. Or even better, she should have thought to buy chains or something. “And what’s done is done, we can only deal with the result.” She said much more calmly than before.

Despite his wish for her not to ‘freak out’ she still shifted with her hands around him, as if she were prepared for him to keel over at any moment. He shifted and when he stopped she paused a moment as if prepared for him to start calling out in pain. That he was moving was really good, she told herself and added that to her check of good things that happened after this. Minor victories. Idalia waited for him to put his arms around her neck and she nodded. She grasped his jacket and pushed up like she was pulling a Power 10 into the finish line of a 2K regatta and she was at the bow ball of the boat next to her. Unfortunately, Cade did the same thing.

As she pulled him upright he surged up much faster than she was expecting and when his feel left the ground he threw her completely off balance. It was a good thing she had at least the little bit of sense to let go before she dragged him right back down along with her. She landed on her rump with a grunt, her fall unfortunately was only cushioned by the ice on the road. She winced and scrambled to her feet, struggling more than she would like to admit on the slippery surface. She watched Cade pace and shook her head. Serious. What was he, part kangaroo or something? She quelled her sour look and smiled at him. “You’re a performer?” She asked, raising a brow, “I’m glad I didn’t break you.” She added as an afterthought.

“Alright, calm down,” she said reaching out as he staggered. “The last thing we want is for you to be back on the ground, huh? Do you need help? I’m gonna take you to the hospital, just to make sure.” She said pacing to stand next to him. At least the hospital was on the way to work. Kind of… well it was in that general direction. She’d have to call them and let them know. “Oh not now…” She muttered as she smelled lightning. Her world turned white and frigid. Cade disappeared from her view and the snow fell at a rapid pace, the snowpack quickly rising, already a foot above where it had been before. She looked around trying to see where she was. Pilot Ridge still, she identified the building to her left. There were the skid marks her car had made. How far into the future was this? Overhead she heard something that every meteorologist spends their whole lives hoping to hear. She blinked and Cade appeared ahead of her again. “Thundersnow!” She exclaimed at him, “Come on!” She dashed toward her car.