It wasn't a long trip up to the mountains, just a quick flight from NYC up to Manchester, NH. Then it was a little bit of a drive up into the mountains, but Kellan had taken care of everything. There was a car to pick them up at the airport and rentals of all the equipment they'd need for their little ski getaway had already been procured. It was just a matter of settling into the car and enjoying the scenery. While there was only a little remnant of snow around the city, as they approachted the mountains, the snow on the peaks was still there, for those last few weeks of end-of-season skiing.
Vic frontloaded his homework so he could come along guilt-free. "I always love the scenery when we get out of New York," he says. "I can't believe I never left the city before you know. It's like there's a whole other world out here." He grins over at Kellan. "Do you think we'll get the slopes to ourselves?"
"Probably not," Kellan says with a grin. "There's probably still some locals who are going to be up on the slopes, glad that most of the tourists are gone so that they can enjoy the last lingering snowfalls for themselves." He chuckles just a little bit and slides over to lean against Vic comfortably in the back of the limo with the privacy screen up. The driver knows where they are going.
Vic leans in turn, and he takes Kellan's hand in his. "Here we are to ruin that for them," he says fondly. "We'll be good tourists, nice and polite, and when I break my leg on the slope, we'll just have to stay in our room for awhile." Not that a broken leg would last all that long.
Kellan chuckles and says, "Well, we're not particularly loud and rowdy. I don't think we're going to offend too many people." He smirks and thakes his head and says "You are not going to break your leg. I won't allow it, even if I have to make a net for you out of a half dozen of me." He grins a little, teasingly.
Vic grins. "At least it won't be that big of a deal if I do," he says. "Just help me set the bone and wait awhile. Now you have to stay safe. No broken bones or even bruises." He nuzzles at Kellan's hair. I need you in one piece and healthy."
Kellan grins a little bit and says, "Okay," though he doesn't outright promise. I mean, it's skiing after all — hurtling down a mountain with boards strapped to one's feet. There is some inherent risk there. When they arrive at the lodge, it is quiet. There are people milling about, coming and going, but it's clear that the season is ending. Most of the events posted are on the weekends now, nothing really during the week, but the snow blowers are still spraying the hillsides with fresh powder to agument what is still up on the mountain. The keys to their cabin are ready for them, and it isn't a terribly long walk to the private cabin with a deck that looks out onto the mountain.
"I wonder if any of them suspect we're not going to use the second bedroom," Vic says as they get to the cabin. He admits, "It's hard not to hold your hand or just… I don't know. Show you I love you." He keeps his voice low. He also handles the luggage like it weighs nothing. "It's beautiful out here, though, isn't it?"
"Who says we're not going to use the second bedroom?" Kellan asks, glancing over his shoulder at Vic and raising both brows, then grinning a broad grin. "We'll have to make use of both, you know, to justify having rented the whole cabin for ourselves." He moves over toward Vic once the luggage is set down and the room is cleared out and it's just them, and slides his arms around his waist, leaning up to catch his mouth in a soft kiss. "It is. The view's nice too."
Vic laughs and says, "Fair enough. We'll pick the one we like best after we try them out." He slips his arms around Kellan in turn and returns the kiss. Resting his brow against the other man's, he murmurs, "Imagine. We're all alone. We're so far out in the woods no one will hear a peep. I don't think we've ever had this much privacy."
"Exactly," Kellan says with a grin, smiling as he rests his forehead against Vic's. "Mhmn, all the quiet we could ever want. I was thinking tonight, room service, warm bath, relax.. then tomorrow we can get up late, go out, and try our hand at skiing."
"That sounds perfect," Vic says. "We'll sleep as late as we want, have a nice, easy morning, and hit the slopes. We'll do one of those starter slopes together, just to see how hard it is." He laughs quietly and says, "I think Vic was genuinely afraid of skiing."
"Yeah, just one of the bunny hills, to get the feel of it, slow and easy," Kellan agrees. "I'm not some sort of all star downhill skiier either, so I'm not going to be dragging us down any double black diamonds any time soon. Nice green circles and bunny hills for you and me." He grins and runs his fingertips through Vic's hair. "Vic was a city boy through and through, huh?"
"They call them bunny hills?" Vic says. "That's adorable." He strokes Kellan's back, tugging him closer. "Yeah, he never even wanted to try doing things like this. It's kind of nice: this experience will be all mine, not a reflection of something else he did."
"Yep, bunny hills, bunny slopes," Kellan says with a grin. He slides in closer when he is tugged, letting his arms loop around Vic's neck lightly. "Well good, then, this will be yours alone. We're going to find lots of things that Vic didn't do or didn't even know about, and we're going to go out and do them." He runs his fingertips through the hair at the back of Vic's neck. "We managed ice skating alright. I'm betting that skiing will be just the next in a long list of adventures."
"We'll do fine," Vic says gently. He kissess Kellan sweetly. "He never went camping or hiking, or anything out in nature. He never did anything like going to the opera or seeing a play. It wasn't his style. Those are all things I'd do with you if you were game. This is just the start of stuff we'll do together."
"I am definitely game," Kellan says with a broad smile. "I like outside stuff. My dad used to take me hunting a lot when I was a kid. Sometimes it was actual hunting. Sometimes it was just an excuse for him to hang out with the guys and drink and camp out away from my mother, I'm pretty sure." He smiles a little lopsidedly. "But I did learn that I liked doing outside things, things that got me dirty. Things that Kaleb wouldn't have any interest in."
Vic's brows lift when Kellan says 'things that got me dirty.' Yeah, his mind goes there. He grins as he says, "I don't know if I want to kill a deer, but I'd like to be out in nature, maybe taking pictures instead of shooting. I'd go fishing, though. It would be easier to deal with the fish."
"We mostly hunted for quail and ducks," Kellan says with a little bit of a grin. "Fishing's good, though. We'll go fishing when it warms up." He laughs a little at that look though and shakes his head, smiling. "Photography is cool, too. We should get you a camera, then we could take pictures of all the places that we visit."
"That's so strange," Vic says. "Just like that, it fell into place, wanting to take pictures. I think I'm still learning what I'm like." He grins at Kellan. "I hope I'm good at it, because I'm feeling this rush of… of purpose." He takes a deep breath and says, "It's this Alpine air. It clears your senses."
One thing the alpine air also does is whistle and whine through the trees, which it currently does, the sound becoming a bit louder and punctuated by, voices? Something. One might not notice if it they weren't paying particular attention. Kellan grins and says, "Good. That's what I want to help with. Find all the things that you like, do all the things that you want to do, help you find.. you."
Vic kisses Kellan's forehead. "I like you, that was a no-brainer," he says. "And studying history. Photography sounds really neat. Maybe I'll become a photo-journalist. I think Kaleb might even actually approve of that." He grins, because surely Kaleb's approval is his deciding factor here.
Kellan laughs a little bit at that and says, "I'm sure that Kaleb would approve of whatever you decided to do so long as it was what you wanted to do and you took hold of it with enthusiasm and passion. He respects people pursuing their freedom and their dreams. You know, as long as they matter to him. Which, you do." He grins at the kiss to his forehead.
Outside, the sounds begin to become a little louder, and then there's the sound of a thundering crash nearby, a shaking, though not of their own cabin, something in the ground, meaning it was close. Then there's shouting outside.
Vic leans into the kiss, and he says, "Yeah, but I still make him nuts when we look for art." He smiles, maybe proud in his own wry way. At the sound of the crash, he immediately snaps to and heads toward the window, putting himself between Kellan and the source of the crash. He's harder to hurt, after all. "What was that?"
Kellan is startled by the sound of the crash and he immediately moves toward the window with Vic, though he does allow him to take the lead. It's not that he wants Vic to be hurt, but he isn't too proud to let him help protect him, either. "No idea," he says and then when they get to the window he blinks, speechless for a moment.
The cabin next to theirs is now the proud owner of a very large hole in the roof, circular in nature, and whatever crashed through it seems to have left snow and ice all around. "I'm not sure if staying inside or going outside is the safer choice, here." The noise continues outside, shouts, and then the sound of a voice going "Here comes another one!" followed by a resounding crash a bit further away.
Vic makes his way toward the door. "Someone might be hurt, though," he says. Safety? What is this 'safety' people talk about? There are people in need! Danger to thwart! He doesn't even try to talk Kellan into staying. Not when an unseen something could crash through the roof at any moment.
"True," Kellan says, and reaches for his coat, tugging it on and then moving for the door, careful to look outside for oncoming projectiles before he makes his way out into the snow. When they get outside, they can see what is going on and the chaos becomes more apparent. High up on the mountain top, giant balls of ice and snow are coming hurtling down the hillside and crashing into the cabins at the bottom. There's no sign of how they're coming down, but it's very clear that everyone in the cabins are in danger.
Vic tells Kellan, "Clear the cabins, I'll try to control the ice." He peers up the mountain. What in the actual… But he's got telekinesis and can move up to a ton. So when he sees another ice ball come hurtling down, he tries to divrt it hamlessly into the woods.
"Okay," Kellan says. He's good with taking direction, and that seems a reasonable thing to do, so he starts grabbing people that are gawking and instructs them to help him get people to safety. They run off down the way, hitting up the cabins that have been crushed to try to get people out, and telling people in the others to get to safety.
Vic is able to catch the oncoming ice ball and divert it into the woods where it crashes through the trees and lands among the densely packed but bare trees, away from people. That doesn't, however, stop more from coming down.
Vic makes a run for the hill, and he is fast. Not as fast as his uncle by any stretch, but even slogging through the snow, he makes progress. Except when he stops to divert the ice balls. It's slow going, but damn it, he's going to get up there and scold someone. Or something.
Down at the bottom, Kellan splits into a total of four separate reflections which all head to different cabins, working to get people out and directing them back toward the Lodge which is further away and thus far more safe than the smaller structures that seem to be in more immediate danger.
It does take some time for Vic to make his way to the top of the hill. It's not one of the little bunny slopes but one of the taller ones, where the top is hard to see from the bottom, and so figuring out what is going on up there takes some doing. When he gets there, however, is where things get interesting.
There seems to be an all out battle going on between two teenage boys, one of whom is dressed in the uniforms that the lift attendants wear — their matching jackets making it obvious that they are there to help the tourists. The other appears to be in some sort of a racing uniform. It is he that is creating these giant balls of ice and snow, spears of ice, and whirling tornados of snow. The other seems to be creating a thunderous storm with lightning striking all over. There are people trapped on the gondolas going up the side of the mountain because the machinery is not currently in operation. Most of those at the top have fled or are hiding in the small structure at the top of the hill.
Vic slogs up and calls out, "Hey! Knock it off! People are going to get hurt!" He continues approaching, red-nosed and apple-cheeked. He knocks another ice ball out of the way. He nudges his thoughts toward Kellan, hoping he can pick them up at this distance, just a reassurance that he's okay.
Neither of the boys seem inclined to stop what they are doing. In fact, neither seems to even notice Vic's approach or his calling out at first. They are both far too intent on their destruction of one another. Lightning hits the electronics that moves the gondolas up and down the mountain and the machinery suddenly roars to life. People in the gondolas cry out as they sway dangerously and lurch into motion far more quickly than they were designed to.
"They never just stop," Vic mumbles. He approaches the man in the racing outfit — since he's the one throwing the actual ice balls — and tries to bodily hurl him away from the other man. He doesn't mean to hurt him, and he hurls him toward snow to land in. Just gotta break these two up!
There's a sudden oof as the kid throwing the snowballs goes flying through the air with Vic having tackled him and lands in the side of a snowbank. There's an explosion of powder around them that goes into the air and a cheer goes up from some who are watching nearby. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to stop the encroaching storm or the sudden enormous clap of thunder that can be heard. It's what happens next, though, that is truly concerning. There's a sound from higher up the mountain. The employees know it first, and the kid beneath Vic says, "Oh shit…"
Vic sits up and says, "Get everyone to safety." He springs to his feet. He just moves so fast as he, with a wave of his hands, moves a lot of snow in storm guy's direction. The direction of his face parts. It's not enough snow to smother him, but it's a mini, sideways avalanche to bowl him over.
The trouble at this point, is way more the actual lifesized avalanche that is beginning at the top of the mountain, than the miniature one that knocks the kid generating the storm to the ground. "Avalanche!" the first kid screams, pointing up the hill. There's a whole lot more screaming going on from the people in the gondolas, which are moving too rapidly for them to disembark, and so those at the bottom who could get free are having to jump, causing a pile up of people who are beginning to get trampled as frantic tourists try to get off of the crazy merry-go-round ride.
"Nuts," Vic says. He can't stop people from trampling each other further down the hill, not right now, but he can slow the gondolas. Maybe. The first thing he tries is just switching it off and, failing that, trying to stop the speeding cables with brute strength. He can take up to two tons of pressure. Even if he can just slow it so people can get off…
While the electronics seem to be fried, the physical mechanism within the gondola house seems to be still operating normally, and Vic is able to actually bring it to a slow and a halt, allowing people to be able to disembark. It will take some time in order to get all of the people down and let them get off safely, and there isn't much time.
The snow begins to come down the mountain while snowmobiles and other evacuation vehicles are rapidly fleeing. Vic is able to get the people off of the gondolas, and while there are some injuries at the bottom, there are people rapidly helping with the evacuation at the bottom. All that is left is to get down, himself.
While the avalanche wouldn't kill him permanently, death is so unpleasant it spurs Vic into motion. The one thing he stops for is to make sure storm guy is safe. He'll scruff him if he has to, and he takes the mountain slop in long steps, sliding as much as he is stepping.
It's a race to the bottom of the mountain between Vic and the avalanche, but Vic manages to make sure that storm guy and ice ball guy both manage to make it down. Some people have fled into the lodge. Others have taken off down the road from the mountain in their cars. Since a car brought them, it's unlikely that Kellan had left, and so the most likely place to find him would be inside the lodge.
Vic tells storm guy, "That's enough of that." He gives him a stern look. Beware, evildoer! Er, stormdoer! Then he speeds for the lodge, unable to wait another moment to see if Kellan is there and in one piece. Or several pieces that are all intact. He's not picky.
By the time Vic has come into the lodge, people are huddled up in the great hall toward the center, away from the walls, and near enough to the doors that they can try to get out depending on what comes next. What does come next, is the thunderous sound of the snow coming down the mountain, bringing with it tons of ice, and rocks, and uprooted trees. Kellan is inside, trying to help keep people calm with the hotel staff. He's back to single-reflection mode by the time he runs for Vic and hugs him.
Then there is the crash of the first snow and trees and rocks to hit the lodge. The sound goes on and on and it grows dark inside as windows higher and higher up are engulfed in snow. Cars are pushed across the parking lot outside before the view is obscured. The power goes out as rocks and trees take out the power lines connected to the building. It gets dark, and people are frightened, but the building holds. It goes on what seems to be an impossibly long time, and when it finally stops, there is no way to see from the lobby what has gone on. Many windows have broken, though, and snow and bits of tree and debris have come through into rooms along the outside slope-facing side of the building.
Vic hugs Kellan, too relieved to care if people see. They've probably got thieir on shit to think about right now. As the snow begins to hit, Vic draws Kellan to the floor, protecting him with his body. It's just instinct: protect the boyfriend who is, let's be honest, squisible. It's only when there's nothing but silence from outside and the quiet sounds of people inside that he lifts his head. "Are you all right?" he asks Kellan.
Kellan is squishable, and finds himself on the floor being protected. He is still, listening to the sounds of the rumbling above them and around them. Only when it stops does he look around and says, "Yeah, I think I'm okay." There are flashlights going on in the silence, flickering here and there, as people begin to explore the building a bit to see if they can get out, or at least see what sort of destruction there is. "Yeah," Kellan says, giving Vic a hug, "I'm okay. You?"
Vic hugs Kellan to him. He's cold from being outside, damp from snowmelt, but he's solid and unbroken. "I'm fine," he says with a tremulous little laugh. "Cut it a bit close." Lifting his head, he calls, "Is anyone hurt?" In the dark, he steals a quick kiss, his lips icy.
Kellan returns the quick kiss while the lights are out and the flashlights are largely elsewhere and then he begins to get to his feet and says "There are people from the gondolas who got hurt. We got them into the lounge. There were some medical folk in the building from a conference. They're looking at them." He then takes a few deep breaths. "We might need to help find a way for people to get out through the snow though." He looks up "Maybe an upper window… unless we can clear a tunnel or something out one of the doors.. but if it's too high it might collapse.. it depends on how much snow is around the other side of the building."
Vic nods, and he says, "Oh, good." He won't bother the medical people doing what they do best. He looks around as best he can in the scant flashlight glow. "We have no idea how deep it is," he says. "Are the phone lines cut?" He doesn't sound terribly optimistic there.
"If the electric was cut, the phones probably were, too," Kellan says, just guessing, mostly. He has no real idea. "We can try going up the floors, see if we can find windows that look out over the snow?" He glances over toward Vic to see if he's up for looking with him.
Vic looks around for any sign of daylight up above. "Yeah," he says. "Let's go up and see what there is to see." What he doesn't say is how big of an avalance that was and how close, too. They could be buried but good. Nope, he stays positive, and he pulls out his lighter. It's not a great source of light but it beats nothing!