Prompt: Hypothermia

Focus Agent: Yoru
Featured Agent: Phoenix

Timeline: Yoru's excursions to S22

Summary: Sent by Brimstone to fetch his teammate, an irritated Phoenix finds a stubborn Yoru in Icebox, nearly frozen.

Fire and Ice

Despite being a fire Radiant, Phoenix was not immune to the cold. His breath froze in puffs of ice. The air nipped his cheeks and caused steam to rise from his heated skin. Snow crunched beneath his shoes.

  "Why did Brimstone send me of all people?" Phoenix groaned. The wind whistled in answer. "It's not my fault Yoru won't leave this place alone!"

Although he and the rift-walker developed a rather competitive friendship since Yoru's initiation, Phoenix was not pleased to be summoned to Brimstone's office to be given a retrieval mission. Ever since he stole the Samurai mask embedded with radiantite, Yoru made frequent visits to S22 in order to study it and the Japanese warship trapped in the ice. He didn't share much of his findings with anyone but Brim, but he claimed the Samurai armor found there belonged to his ancestors.

Phoenix stomped around the abandoned site. He should have been more stealthy due to this place being a popular Omega earth target. His first mission with Yoru was here. The two of them took out three VALORANT Legion members and stopped a spike detonation. Both had been a little rough around the edges back then, especially towards each other. Yoru was still as prickly as ever, but his jabs and insults were more fond now rather than scathing.

The British agent searched for two hours without spotting a blue jacket or stripe of hair.

  "If you're rift-walking around me, I'm going to kill you, man," grumbled Phoenix. No one could tell when Yoru was in his rifts, though he could feel a strange, tingling sensation from behind when Omega-Yoru would sneak up on him.

He was just about to give up and go home when he turned a corner and very nearly ran into the man himself.

  "Yoru! I almost shot you, bruv. Where the hell have you been?"

The Japanese agent's eyebrows lowered, his own hands clutching his Classic. Phoenix was reminded of how Yoru nearly shot him on their first mission together.

  "What are you doing here?"

  "The big man sent me to drag your sorry arse back to base. Boss is royally pissed off that you disobeyed orders and came here anyway."

  Yoru huffed and put away his gun. "Yeah, well, I have questions that need answers. I'm not going to get them at HQ."

  "What's so important about these Samurai?" asked Phoenix. He followed his friend indoors. It was still freezing, but they were out of the wind.

  "You don't get it, do you?"

  Phoenix rolled his eyes. "That's why I asked, bruv."

  Yoru glared, but answered calmly, "Every suit of armor is embedded with radiantite. This means that radiantite has been on earth since even before the First Light and my ancestors have been using it thousands of years before Kingdom."

  "Okay, I get that. It could be big. But what I don't get is why you care about this. KJ maybe, but not you. You're not a scientist, so why is this important to you?"

  The other agent hesitated as if unsure of the reason himself. "I think... I care more about the Samurai than I do the radiantite. The mask helps breathe in the rift. It's like a part of me now. Then I learned that these Samurai were my ancestors, my family. I guess I just wanted to know where I come from."

  Phoenix cocked his head, a twinge of sympathy in his heart. "You don't know?"

  Yoru shrugged and looked away. "Don't really have anyone to ask."

Stunned to silence, Phoenix numbly followed his fellow Radiant through the complicated maze of S22 into the kitchen by B site. Phoenix shuddered as the open doors and windows let in the chilly air and a thin blanket of snow on the floor and surfaces. He almost ran into Yoru when Japanese agent suddenly paused and braced himself against the wall.

  "Yoru?" Phoenix circled around to look at his friend's face. The other man's head was lowered.

  "Sorry. Just got dizzy for a second." Yoru raised his head, blinking away dark spots. That's when Phoenix noticed the unhealthily paleness of his skin and the blue of his lips.

  "You okay, man?"

  The rift-walker scrubbed his face with his hands. "Yeah. 'Mm fine. Just tired and cold." He pulled his jacket more tightly around him. "Shit. It's freezing."

Without thinking, Phoenix reached toward him and gripped Yoru's wrist. The other sent him a strange look, but Phoenix was too distracted by the coolness of Yoru's skin to notice.

  "Dude, you're freezing."

  "Yeah. No shit."

  "No, I mean you're literally freezing. I think you might be getting hypothermia."

  Yoru raised an eyebrow. "You mean that sickness Sage lectured all of us about when we started getting missions here?"

Phoenix immediately removed his flame jacket and threw it over Yoru's shoulders. The young man bristled and started shrugging it off. If he wasn't so cold, he might have been flushed with embarrassment.

  "I don't want your–"

  "Just take the damn coat. It's warmer than yours and I can keep myself warm just fine."

Frowning—very nearly pouting—Yoru begrudgingly tugged Phoenix's jacket more tightly around him.

  "Come on. Let's get back to the Vulture."

Even with the extra warmth of Phoenix's jacket, Yoru was shivering uncontrollably by the time they reached Phoenix's Vulture. He was about to approach the one that Brough him here when the fire Radiant grabbed his elbow and steered him away.

  "Oh no you don't. You're in no condition to fly alone."

  "Brimstone will kill me if I leave a ship here," Yoru managed through chattering teeth.

  "I'm sure he will, but that's your own fault, yeah? We'll get it later."

Once the ramp shut behind them, the Vulture was already much warmer inside than the research facility. After Phoenix got the bird in the sky and punched in the coordinates for autopilot, he went to the back to check on his sick friend.

Yoru had already taken things into his own hands. He had taken the emergency blankets out of storage and was eating a heated ration. A bit of color was returning to his cheeks and the blue was fading from his lips. 

  Yoru tossed his flame jacket back to him, which the fire agent caught. "Thanks... for the loan." His words were casual, but his tone held a deeper gratitude.

  "No problem." He slipped his signature coat back on, relishing its comfort. "You should have Sage check you over when we get back, though I think we caught the hypothermia early."

  "Lucky me."

  "And then when you're all better, Brimstone is gonna chew you out for disobeying orders."

  Yoru rolled his eyes. "You know I'm still going back to S22, right?"

  "Oh, I know. Just don't expect me to come and pick up your sorry arse ever again."

  "I didn't ask you to."

  "Then we're in agreement then."

  "Yep."

  "Good. You still owe me one though."

  "Kusotare."

  "What was that?"

  "Nothing."

  "Right."

Translations:
Kusotare - "asshole" used in this context (Japanese)