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Soon after breakfast Stretch told Blue about the incoming blizzard situation, Blue’s eyes widening before he nodded and went upstairs to get ready. Fell told Red as well, Red grimacing and glancing at the door that lead to the basement before nodding at whatever else Fell had said.
Putting away what was left of the food, Stretch was careful not to try to listen in on their conversation too much, or trying his best to at least. Sometimes they weren’t exactly quiet when they spoke, but maybe that was because at that point they didn’t care who was listening. The dishes were placed in the sink, the trash in the garbage bin and the last of the coffee poured into his favorite mug, Stretch sipping on it after adding a liberal amount of honey with a solid stirring.
Blue came back down soon enough, Red somehow changed as well in the time it took for Stretch to finish cleaning the kitchen, and as Blue went to pull on his boots Red moved to step beside him.
“I’ll go wi’t ya. Get the supplies an’ whatnot.” he drawled, Blue glancing over at Fell before nodding with a small, tense grin.
“I’d like that, Red, thank you. It’ll make the trip easier, having someone else to carry the groceries.”
The two of them discussed what all they might need as Blue slipped on his coat and headed out the door, Fell locking it firmly behind them before turning to Stretch.
“Do you have any boards or tarps for this kind of weather?” he asked, arms crossed over his chest. Stretch nodded, finishing off his coffee before making his way to the basement door, waving for Fell to follow him down.
“Yeah, it gets pretty nasty sometimes so everybody around here keeps extra boards on hand just in case.” Flipping on the switch right above the stairs, Stretch carefully made his way down, sockets squinting in the poor lighting. He really needed to fix that bulb, or maybe install a few new lights down here, but he hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
From the sound of the stairs creaking behind him, Fell was following along, the red hue of his magic casting a glow over the boxes and random stuff they kept in the large room. The machine was in the corner, ready and waiting for someone to go through it, though the displays were dark and none of the lights were flashing. The machine wasn’t what they were here for though, Stretch heading over to the far side of the room where a large pile of black tarp and wooden boards sat waiting to be used for the next large storm.
Using his magic, Stretch lifted several boards into his arms, Fell bending down to do the same, the entire pile taking a few trips up and down the stairs to the front porch. Once that was finished Stretch got them both a thermos of hot cocoa from the kitchen, before standing in front of the house, hands on his hips.
“If you want, I’ll board up the upstairs ones while you do the downstairs?” he asked, glancing over at Fell. He nodded, almost to himself as he took a sip from his thermos and gave the “sky” above a weary look.
“We should do this quickly.” Bending down, Fell picked up a board and fit it to one of the windows, quickly taking a hammer and nail to its surface. Stretch sighed, glancing up at the two story windows, and raised his hand, another board drifting up along with a few nails. It didn’t take long to finish the front, not with Stretch cheating with magic and Fell being as thoroughly swift as possible, and soon enough the back was done as well. The side balcony was covered with a tarp, tilted over the railing to let the worst of it drift off and to the ground far below.
Heading back inside, Stretch took Fell’s thermos along with his own, ready to fill them back up before they started insulating the windows from the inside, when his phone went off in its pocket. Retrieving it, he rolled his eyes at the caller i.d. and answered with a swipe of the thumb.
“Hey Alphys, what’s shakin’?”
There was an annoyed grunt on the other end, and the sound of metal scraping on metal. It could have been her polishing her armor, it could have been her cooking, but he was pretty sure whatever it was would have the same end result. “I’ve been tr-rying to get ahold of your b-brother, Papyrus! W-where did the b-bastard get off to?”
Filling up Fell’s thermos first, Stretch handed it back to him, pleased with the satisfied look on his face when he drank it. “He’s out getting supplies for the storm that’s itching to get here, Al, he’s being a good big brother. Why, the other guards can’t handle pulling their pants up?” He grinned as a roar of frustration broke the sound over the phone for a moment, Fell glancing at him with a strange look before Stretch waved him off.
“No! Asshole! I just w-wanted to make sure you guys were g-gonna be okay, gosh!” There was a huff of indignation and Stretch did laugh this time, though he smiled.
“Well thanks for that, Alphy, but we’re gonna be okay, not the first time this has happened. Just keep an ear open for how long it's supposed to last.”
She huffed again, “Yeah, y-yeah. Just be careful, punk.” And with that she hung up, leaving Stretch grinning down at his phone.
“Is she always that… intense?” Fell asked, Stretch glancing up before looking back down to the text he was sending Blue.
“Oh yeah, every time. She cares a lot though, and it comes out in frustration most of the time.” With a quick few taps on the keys, he hit send, waiting for the confirmation that it’d sent before putting his phone back in his pocket.
Sipping at his own cocoa, he looked over as Fell cleared his throat, glancing out the window at the snow that was already starting to fall in thick flakes.
“How often do the storms last longer than they’re supposed to?” It was a genuine question, which had Stretch wondering if Fell was worried about getting home or if he was concerned about them. It was a coinflip, really, though he had the machine hooked up to a generator so it would work even through a blackout. Some part of him hoped… that they’d stay until it was over, but he knew they couldn’t.
“More often than we’d like.” He finally answered, only turning to the living room as Blue and Red popped in through a shortcut, both holding multiple boxes of groceries and what looked like water bottles.
Smiling, he went to help his brother unpack, and missed the searching look on Fell’s face.