Chapter Text
Tim trudged through the knee deep snow, for once cursing his armor. The heavy layers of leather and metal were perfect for blocking stray sword strikes and have saved his life on more than one occasion, but in this moment, he had to admit that the extra weight was a burden. Even if it helped keep him warm, the joints were starting to build up ice and he kept having to stop to hack at chunks of frozen snow just to keep moving.
There wasn’t much he missed about his childhood, but right now? A roaring fireplace with plenty of wood was at the top of that list.
Unfortunately, the life of a knight was not that luxurious outside the big palaces, and Tim had to pick up contracts wherever he went just to keep himself fed. Which brought him to today—trudging through two feet of snow on the rumor that a dragon kidnapped some poor village girl.
Dragons were rare these days, preferring to stay high up in mountain ranges, far away from nosy people who get curious about their hoards. For one to linger in the wooded hills was unexpected—even if it was off the beaten trail. As for the kidnapped girl? Tim didn’t put much belief in that. Rumors spread and twisted and changed quickly, and it was far more likely that she’d run off with a secret lover than for a dragon to have snatched her. Dragons were notoriously picky about their meals, after all.
Tim paused for a moment to knock the ice off his boots, grumbling the entire time. It was past midday, and if it got much later without any signs of the dragon, he’d have to set up camp and continue tomorrow.
An hour later found him doing exactly that. The copse of evergreens provided some shelter from the heavy snow and cutting wind, and he was able to hack off some of the lower branches to make a rugged lean-to.
Finding dry kindling was impossible, so he pulled apart one of the cotton bandages from his med kit and created a nest of tarry-sap and fallen needles. He just hoped the cotton would burn long enough for the rest to catch.
It took four tries to get some of the smaller sticks to actually stay alight. By the time Tim actually had a fire, he couldn’t feel his fingers.
Dinner was a simple fare that consisted of him chopping his now-frozen salt pork into bite-sized pieces, melting enough snow to fill his metal cup, and adding his meager collection of herbs in hopes of creating something that mildly resembled soup. The end result was something hot and salty, and he couldn’t really complain about that.
Falling asleep was a bit too easy. He was exhausted and cold, and the fire was only just enough to keep him from freezing to death. Tim kept jerking awake throughout the night, afraid of the embers dying down, afraid that he wouldn’t wake up.
It was a long night.
Morning dawned cold and grey, and Tim was absolutely miserable. He spent a long moment debating on just turning back now, but the money was too much to give up if he could prove he’d convinced the dragon to leave— how he was going to do that was still up for debate. He’d only really gotten as far as ‘find the dragon’ in his plan.
There was just enough heat left in the embers to warm up a cup of weak tea, then Tim focused on stomping around and shaking the blood back into his extremities. The prickling feeling in his toes was awful, but a relief. It’s when the pain stopped that he would have to worry again.
With the fire burned out, he left the rest of his campsite intact in case he needed it again that night, then started trudging through the even-deeper snow.
He used the faint outline of the sun to orient himself West, where the trees grew denser and the forest blocked out even more of the meager winter light. The wind had blown the snow into thick drifts over the night, making some areas easy to traverse and others completely impossible, forcing him to take long detours in order to continue onwards.
His hands and feet were numb, and Tim was seriously considering turning around and giving up when he crested a hill and spotted the top of a tower peeking through the trees. Well. That was something at the very least. If nothing else, he could get out of the wind for a bit, but hopefully it would offer some clues about this possible dragon too.
What he had not considered, however, was the fact that the tower was apparently inaccessible. Sure, he might have been able to scale the stone walls, maybe, if his hands weren’t about to freeze solid and fall off his body. But as far as he could tell, the only opening in the whole thing was the shuttered windows three stories up. The walls were solid all the way around, as if whoever built it had started at the top and worked their way down, closing off the entrance in the process.
Huddling down at the base, Tim tucked his fingers into his armpits and curled in towards his knees, trying to conserve some body heat and squeeze some warmth back into his fingers. He was absolutely exhausted, and more than a little dejected by how fruitless his search had turned out so far. He just needed to rest for a minute, and then he could get back up and continue…
Everything was cold, and he was just so tired he couldn’t make himself move. He knew he needed to, damn it, but he was so exhausted…
He wasn’t feeling quite so cold anymore. Tim was relieved. Maybe a little rest really was all he needed.
A dark shadow passing overhead pulled him back to consciousness for a moment. Just long enough to think of the irony about the fact he was going to die from exposure instead of fiery inferno like he’d thought. Then he passed out again.
Waking up was a bit of a surprise, first and foremost because Tim hadn’t really expected to wake up at all, not with how profoundly stupid he’d been. It was surprising secondly because, well, he was warm. Really warm. Not the false warm he’d felt earlier when he’d been so cold he’d stopped feeling cold.
He was also completely, entirely naked; a realization that trickled in slowly, and only because the heavy furs keeping him warm felt incredibly soft against his skin.
Blinking his eyes open, he found himself looking at exposed beams and a high, arching ceiling. There was a roaring fire in a stone fireplace to his right with a soft-looking couch angled towards the flames, and a bookcase filled to the brim and overflowing on the wall to his left. The room was homey and rustic, and it honestly felt a bit otherworldly. It was also completely and totally unfamiliar.
He sat up, letting the blankets fall down to his waist as he glanced around the room, trying to pick out any identifiable details now that the initial shock had worn off. There wasn’t much more to see, though. A dresser next to the bookshelf, two closed doors, and a small chest acting as a nightstand. Actually, there was a stack of folded clothes on top, and Tim took that as a sign that he should make himself less naked.
The trousers were far too long, and the sleeves of the shirt more than covered his fingers, but he was able to fold and roll the hems until he wasn't at risk of tripping and falling on his face. That left him barefoot yet clothed, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. His host hadn't appeared, and he debated between sitting and waiting or tracking them down, but in the end Tim had never been one to sit and twiddle his thumbs.
The door to the left of the dresser led to a small bathroom that consisted of a wooden tub, basin and pitcher, and a latrine*. The door on the right, however, opened into a room just as large as the one he'd come from, and just as occupied.
On the other side of a small dining table, a dark-haired man was crouching by the fire, stirring something in a pot that smelled divine. The width of his shoulders and the length of the legs folded beneath him suggested that this was also the owner of Tim's new clothing.
(ID: Tim wearing oversized clothing leaning against an open doorway. Across from him is a man in a red shirt doing something out of frame. Above his head hangs fresh herbs, and there is an open book on the table between them. On the ground is a section of chain.)
He was clearly invested in his task, not noticing Tim's entrance, so Tim cleared his throat to get his attention before it could get awkward.
His head whipped up, freezing Tim in place with intense green eyes. "Oh! You're up. Sorry, wasn't sure how long you'd be out and I didn't want the stew to get too thick." Pushing himself to his feet, he wiped his hands on his trousers.
"It's fine. I… thanks." Tim fidgeted awkwardly. "I don't remember a whole lot, but I'm pretty sure you saved my life. I'm Tim, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Tim. I'm Jason. And don't thank me yet, I'm pretty sure you're gonna be stuck here for a while." Jason gave him a wry smile, stepping around the table and chairs.
It was then that Tim noticed a strange sound, almost like Jason was dragging something behind him. And he was.
Tim's eyes widened as he caught sight of the manacle around Jason's ankle, and the heavy length of chain trailing behind him into the shadows of the room.
“Oh.” He dragged his eyes back up to Jason’s face, noting the tightness of the other man’s smile. “I’m… is this a very fancy prison?”
Jason barked a laugh, shoulders relaxing as he pulled out one of the chairs to sit down, gesturing for Tim to take the seat across from him. “It is for me. You can technically leave, there’s just the issue of having to scale down the sheer side of the tower while it’s icy, snowing, and the wind is trying to blow you left and right. There’s no entrance or exit besides the windows that I know of.” He gestures to the shuttered window across the room, in mirrored placement to the one Tim remembered in the bedroom.
“Wait. We’re in the tower?” Tim had honestly thought he’d been whisked away to some secret cabin, not… hefted into the apparently not-abandoned tower? He looked around, taking in the way the walls arched and had no distinct corners. “Shit. How did I even get up here?”
Jason shrugged, getting up to serve them both a bowl of stew. “The dragon dumped you in through the window. No idea what was going through his head, but apparently he thought I needed some company.”
“The dragon…” Tim trailed off, gaping at him. “Can I please have some context? ‘Cause I was out here looking for a dragon that grabbed some village girl, and now I’m here and very concerned.”
Jason threw his head back and laughed as he set the bowls on the table. “Yeah, no village girl here that I know about, but there is a dragon around just to guard the tower during daylight hours. I pissed off a fae years ago and got myself cursed, so now I’m stuck here until it gets broken—and no, I can’t tell you how to break it. The dragon got roped in on accident, so he’s stuck here too and pretty mad about it. Makes for shitty company, especially since he can only be out in the daylight and I can only be out at night.”
“Damn.” Tim sat back heavily, staring at the steaming bowl in front of him, mind churning. “Do you mean out as in, like, awake? Up and doing things? Is sunlight the specific factor that restricts you both? And how do you get food here?”
“Kind of. There’s a lower part of the tower I have to go to during the day, and I usually sleep because it’s pretty boring. I’ve honestly only seen evidence of the dragon. Not the beast itself. As for food? Magic. It literally just appears every few days, and I try not to question it. Same goes for clothes when they get too worn out.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.” Tim bit his lip, stirring his soup thoughtfully. “So what can you tell me about your curse?” Fae were notoriously fickle creatures, and while he had only had the misfortune of encountering them a handful of times, he knew how dangerous it was if they felt slighted.
Jason sighed deeply through his nose, setting down his spoon while he chewed. Swallowing, he said, “I can tell you that I can’t see or touch sunlight—that if I don’t go down to the base of the tower on my own, the chain will shorten and drag me there. I can’t leave, the chain can’t be broken, and if I try to say much else it will come out as literal gibberish.”
“Wow.” Tim stared at him. “That is… not much. How long have you been here?”
Jason gave him a self-deprecating smile. “Far too long. Time… passes differently for me. It’s hard to tell if it’s been a decade or a century, but I’m either stuck here for all eternity or I’m aging very slowly.”
“That sucks.” Tim’s mind was whirring at the puzzle of it all, trying to see the big picture in an image that was more gaps than pieces. “If you can’t tell me the rest, what are the chances that me snooping around would uncover more?”
Leaning back, Jason looked at him with wide eyes. “You’d… do that? Aren’t you in a rush to get home, now that you know the dragon isn’t a threat to your village?”
Tim shrugged. “I mean, not really? I legitimately almost froze to death earlier, and I’m not exactly a fantastic climber even when it’s not a sheer icy surface. The way I figure it, I’m stuck at least until the next thaw. Might as well try to help you out while I can.”
“Oh.” Jason blinked rapidly. “In that case…” He chewed on his bottom lip, before slowly saying, “I enjoy reading in my spare time. You might enjoy it too.”
The pointed look he was giving Tim was clear, and Tim’s mind flashed back to the full bookcase in the other room. He could feel a spark of excitement growing in him at the promise of a new mystery, one far more interesting than he’d been faced with in a long time. “I’ll have to peruse the texts while you’re stuck in the basement then.”
“You shall.” Jason’s grin slowly brightened. “Okay, now eat your stew because it’s getting cold, and that’s the last thing you need right now.”
Tim laughed, picking up his spoon again. “You know, I think I’m not going to mind being snowed in with you. This is already the most interesting thing that’s happened to me in years.”
“Glad to entertain,” Jason said with a smirk. “Now, eat fast. I’ve only got an hour before daybreak and I might just leave you with the dishes if you’re too slow.”
“Ooo, scary.” Nonetheless, Tim did as he was told and dug into the—admittedly delicious—stew. By the time he was done, he felt heavy with exhaustion and was glad he’d have the rest of the day to rest. Still, it was a bit odd to have Jason give him a jaunty wave, lift up the trap door previously hidden by the shadows, and vanish down below, leaving Tim to sleep in a stranger’s bed. A stranger’s very comfortable bed.
Oh well.
Tim had done weirder things before.
Probably.