The journey out of town after all of... that, had been rather hectic. The lot had to make a rather hasty retreat, leaving them scrambling into the wilderness just a bit less prepared than perhaps they should have been. Gail had initially guessed they could make it to Sentinel's Rest in the space of a day, but Haija clearly had other plans for the bunch.

A few hours out of town, about halfway still to Sentinel's Rest, the weather had begun to shift. What started as gentle snowfall collecting on the party's shoulders turned to oppressive, thundering, freezing rain as the group made their way south. Eventually, the storm they had clearly crossed paths with became too intense to brave further, and their only option became clear: shelter in place and wait out the storm.

Between Gail and Vernon's survival skills, setting up camp in such brutal weather proves a surprisingly painless task aside from the biting cold steadily soaking into their clothes. Everyone hides from the rain in the tents Gail and Darcy typically travel with, but there are only three... leaving Gail and Vernon occupying the same tent.

Gail has stripped down to his underwear, just a pair of black boyshorts--how lucky it had turned out that Gail simply didn't have any clean clothes to change into. Vernon had been forced to leave some of the clothes he'd brought behind in the commotion, leaving him in much the same dilemma. Gail leaves his clothes to dry by the warmth of a Winterward Stone, a small, magically inscribed stone that radiates a considerable heat and a warm light, quickly heating up the tent for the two shivering travellers.

Vernon tucks into his corner of the tent, still quite cold after getting caught in all that. He seems... a touch nervous, as Gail wiggles into his place under the sole blanket the two of them are meant to share. He takes heating his hands up by the stone as a good opportunity to procrastinate climbing into bed with the bat, who watches him curiously, a little smirk on his muzzle.

He tilts his head, and asks: "You looked real tired a minute ago~. Somethin' up?" Gail is pretty comfortable dressed down--being in some state of undress around strangers is merely a natural part of travelling through the woods at times, though he is admittedly a bit bashful in Vernon's presence; he clearly wasted little time burrowing into the covers to hide his body from the dog. Vernon huffs, shrugging.

"Uh... n-nothin'. Don't worry about it." He digs his claws into his cheek, scratching nervously as he hunches over the cast of the stone. Gail rolls his eyes, his smile spreading a bit more across his muzzle as he scoots over to Vernon, still wrapped up in the blanket, and reaches out to take his hand.

"Looks like you're real cold, huh? Well, tell ya' what... it's nice n' toasty under this blanket, too. C'mon." Gail tugs his paw gently, and Vernon lets out a quick little snort, a faint smile breaking through on his face as he rolls his eyes and obliges the investigator. Gail lays back, giving room for Vernon to climb under the covers as well. Vernon keeps as much distance from Gail as he can, settling into the other half of the blanket, but the tight confines of the tent and relatively small amount of blanket put them very nearly touching.

The first hour passes uneventfully; the two boys shut their eyes and seem to start to drift off to the sound of the rain pattering against the tent, the waning, comforting light from the stone keeping the winter at bay. Gail, however, finds himself unable to sleep... he stirs gently besides Vernon, before turning over.

Vernon feels an arm slowly string over him. His nerves urge him to jolt, but just this once he clamps down on them--and he reacts gingerly, as though he's afraid of scaring the moment off. His hand finds Gail's under the covers, soft paw entwining with Gail's. Gail nuzzles his face into the back of Vernon's neck, snuggling up close to his back, and Vernon can feel the investigator smiling into the fuzz of his neck.

"W-what uh... what're you up to, huh...?" Vernon laughs quietly, clearly stunned by the sudden display of intimate affection. He feels Gail shrug behind him, a little sigh coursing over Vernon's neck.

"Dunno'. Thought you could use a hug, yeah? Kinda' thought that since we first met, almost." A warm laugh comes from Gail, who punctuates the sentiment with a sweet nuzzle into the back of Vernon's neck. Seems Gail's as good at reading people as he claims--though Vernon hesitates heavily, suspicion creeping through him, he tugs Gail's arm over him tighter and tucks it under his own, clearly craving Gail's fuzzy, caring embrace.

The two spend a few moments together that way, just listening to the rain; two big ears pointed up towards the roof of the tent. Then, though, Vernon turns around in Gail's grip, wrapping his own arm around Gail and pulling the petite bat close. Gail titters gently, pressing as close to Vernon as he can, entwining his body with the dog's and holding him as close as possible. Vernon's hand caresses Gail's side, up over his shoulder and nestles into the silken fur of his mane, little disbelieving laughs spreading through the both of them.

Vernon can tell Gail wants something, but he's just ever so slightly too anxious to provide it--his snout hovers close to Gail's...