MARLENE MCKINNON + CHUCK HANSEN
MARLENE DOES THE POLAR BEAR PLUNGE
G? | COMPLETE
Chuck didn’t spring for grand pronouncements like some people on the network. As much as he was sure Atlantis could use him, he thought the idea of living quietly and keeping the home fires burning was something that had been earned from a lifetime of eating, shitting and sleeping the PPDC ideology. And so he took himself the first stroll of the year, planning to let the air burn his face as he burnt off some of the energy that had kept him from sleeping the night before.
It was when he noticed a group of people emerging from what he could only assume was freezing water (given the temperature and the amount of ice bobbing along the surface) that he paused for a moment to whistle out his appreciation for their apparent stones.
The holidays had been a good dose of depressing for Marlene - her very first without her family and still not quite feeling at home in her own skin here. But she’d made it through and was determined to start fresh (and mental) with the new year. Sure enough, she did feel new, as she came shouting out of the water soaking wet and shivering down to her bare feet. New like a newborn who hadn’t yet figured out how to walk, that is. The whistle snagged her attention anyway, and she pushed back her hair to give Chuck a grin.
“You’re l-late if you want in on this.” Marlene stumbled forward a few feet, teeth chattering. “But I’ll be more than happy to ch-cheer ya on if you wanna go all by your lonesome.”
“ … that’d be a no from me.” Chuck’s Aussie blood might have made him near to fearless, but that didn’t mean he was ready to plunge into icy water. Even if a pretty girl was making the suggestion. “But my hat’s off to you, Marlene. And my coat, if you need it.”
He paused. “Say. Don’t you magic types have charms and such to keep you warm in these situations?”
“Aw, a little d-disappointing, I must say,” Marlene teased. She was tempted by the coat offer, but it also felt oddly soothing to be freezing her arse off instead of thinking about her family. She gestured towards her boots, wringing the worst of the water log out of the edge of her skirt. “I have my wand, yeah, but that w-would defeat the purpose. You ever do anything mental just to give your poor brain a rest, Chuck?”
“Plenty.” Chuck pursed his lips in consideration of Marlene, who seemed all too content to shiver and let herself be carried out of her head by the physical exertion of it all. It reminded him of all those times in the conn-pod when one more bleeding Kaiju meant he might not feel the loss of his mother so desperately. Even for a moment. He gave her a little half-quirked smile.
“You wanna start a club?”
“A club for nuggets who do stupid sh-shite like jump in fr-frozen water?” Marlene laughed. The longer she stood still, the more her teeth chattered and the icier her skin felt. She pushed her hands through her hair, squeezing water down her back, and tip-toed over to her boots. Tugging them on with shaking hands, she finally flashed him a embarrassed grin.
“You sh-should know, if I were sure you wouldn’t hate m-me for it…” Marlene pocketed her wand, still too bloody stubborn to waste this distraction. “...I’d be clinging to you like a wet b-barnacle right about now, leaching all your body heat.”
“Favourite thing to do?” he said said after a beat, his mouth drawing up in an awkward half-smile as he gathered the words. “The bases I grew up on had a lot of pools and therapeutic hot tubs. I’d jump from one to the other just to shock myself and see if I could rough my heart up a little. Stupid shite is right,” was slow and rueful. But what she said after? It sounded like permission … so he tried something he wasn’t really used to doing.
Feeling gallant, and not a little feared for the blue tinge to her lips, he unzipped his coat and stepped forward, wrapping it and his arms around her. “I couldn’t hate you, Marlene. We’re just acquainted and I …” he shrugged. “I couldn’t.”
She hadn’t wanted to get him soaking wet, but she probably should’ve figured him for the reckless type. Now that she was pressed up against somebody warm, she was extra aware of how bloody cold she was anyway, so she was too grateful to be noble.
“A th-therapeutic hot tub sounds sublime,” she mumbled. “But I’m beginning to s-suspect you’re a bit of a masochist, love.” Pulling back a bit, she flashed a self-deprecating grin up at him. “Utterly realising this is a p-pot, kettle situation. But if you’d care to be the better person and tell me why you needed to rough up your heart instead of calling me out, that’d be just fine.”
He grinned, looking out past her for a moment as he considered the reasoning behind why he did all of the stupid shit he ever did. Some of it was about control. Some of it was about being powerless. Most of it was about just how desperately he wanted to bring his mother back. But finally, turning back to her, he offered up a shrug.
“Hey, pot. I think I couldn’t stand my own brain and it was the only thing that made sense.”
Knowing the feeling well these last two months, Marlene smiled crookedly and gave a little nod. She had a habit of throwing herself into things to avoid her own thoughts, rather than calmly working through them. Polar bear plunges were just one of many symptoms.
“Oh, that’s right.” Her shivering was tapering off but her face still felt numb. “You’re supposedly a pill. I have to say, mate, I am not convinced.”
“I know my limits and that includes a polar bear plunge. Top marks for bravery, though. I’d fit you for a drivesuit so we could fight monsters.”
Not a pill? He snorted and ignored that last part as studiously as he could. It was nice, being seen. But sharing it seemed a different story entirely. Smiling, he leaned in and rubbed his palms up and down her arms. “Why don’t you use your magic skills and transport us somewhere with a fire? You’re making me cold.”
Marlene raised her eyebrows sky high at him and laughed. She was still a bloody iceberg, but she took a step back anyway. “That’s why I was trying to spare you in the first place, you prat.”
Reaching down, she pulled her wand out of her boot and flicked it in an intricate little motion, mouthing a quiet drying spell. The damp spots her clothes and hair had left on his person were dried instantly.
“And while I’m sure this whole rugged bad lad charm you’ve got going can get you next to a whole lot of fires, I actually have somewhere to be. Next time, hm?” Marlene smirked and took a few steps backwards, not bothering to dry her own clothes. The cold air felt sharp and welcome on her skin. She lifted her wand in a salute of a goodbye. “Later, handsome.”
With his knuckles balanced on his hips, he shook his head at her and couldn’t help the smile that sprang up crookedly. “My hero.”He liked her contrast -- and he had to admit, he liked getting called out -- and was gentlemanly enough to take his cues from her.
“Maybe I’ll see you once again?” But he let that question hang in the air as he turned to stride away.