Chapter Text
The same storm hit the house with a fierceness that made the frame creak. Everyone came running inside as the stinging rain hit.
“This storm reminds me of one from my youth-” moominpapa mused, shaking the water off of his hat. Mama made a face, passing out towels for everyone to dry off with.
“Papa, you’re getting water all over the floor.”
“Sorry my dearest.” he propped the hat over the stove to dry before wandering off to find the mop.
“Momma, snufkin is out there.” moomin said from under the towel as she roughly dried his fur. She frowned, understanding his worry.
“The storm came up fast, it won’t last long.” her frown deepened, looking out the window as the wind rattled the shutters. Papa returned with the mop, mildly threatening Sniff with it before he could shake water all over the floor. “Papa, Snufkin is out in the forest.”
He muttered something that sounded like a curse, dropping the mop and heading to the door. the wind picked and grabbed it out of his paws. He cursed again, pulling it shut with some effort. “Once it dies down, we’ll go out. As long as he stays away from the river, he’ll be fine.”
Snorkmaiden patted moomin’s arm and shoulder. “He’s used to this sort of thing.”
Yes, moomin thought. But his friend wasn’t himself, wasn’t prepared.
His fur was going to fall out at this rate. He resigned himself to sitting morosely in the corner, mug of tea in hand.
His head broke the surface and he gasped before the water pulled him back under. Twisting, he flailed in the water to find something, anything to hold onto. He was knocked around, trees and debris washed into the flash flood making it all the harder to hold his breath. a long, panicked moment, another before he grabbed something solid he could pull on and bring himself to the surface. It was agony to pull himself up and he nearly slipped back into the torrent, once, twice, before he got out onto the solid bank.
He coughed out a lungfull of dirty water, before taking in an account of himself. His hat was gone (shoot,) he was missing a boot. Something warm was trickling down his face and his hand came away red. At least he wasn’t concussed...well, maybe a little. He was dizzy. His side hurt, a sharp pain that made it all the harder to take in a deep breath.
He couldn’t hear the water in the river.
He could see it, looking over his shoulder as he scrambled for higher ground. It should be loud, he should hear the thunder, the rain as it came down. His skin prickled as lightning hit a tree not that far away from him.
Silence.
He started to shake, shock he told himself. It was a close one. But there wasn’t that exhilaration of survival, just numbness-
He pressed his thumb into his side, letting the pain of a broken rib clear his head. He couldn’t fall apart now, that was for when he was safe in front of a stove.
He kicked off the lone boot he had left, wiped the blood from his face. He needed to get to higher ground quickly, or he’d be back in the water in no time.
When the rain slackened, snufkin picked his way through the forest. The rush of adrenalin from his near-drowning hadn’t lasted long, and the dizziness from the concussion was making it hard to walk in a straight line. But he kept on in the rain, over the bridge that was, thankfully, still in one piece despite the swollen water under it. The relief of seeing the house with all the lights on was so heavy on him, his knees nearly gave out.
Home.
The house was warm and steamy, full of worried people and food smells. He barely made it in the doorway before he was practically tackled to the floor by moomin.
“I was so worried!!” he whimpered, eyes welling up with tears of relief.
“Ow.” his sore ribs were under the troll’s bulk. Moomin was gently pushed aside by his mother, and he found himself wrapped up and toweled off.
“Off with those wet clothes and into the kitchen.” she ordered. He looked at her, missing her words until she motioned for him to take off his shirt.
He ended up in his briefs and a blanket in the crowded kitchen. He was finally home and safe.
The shaking finally caught up with him, he blamed the chill from the rain. A glass of pear brandy was pushed into his hands, steadying his nerves as he sipped it. home and safe? After all, isn’t that why he came here in the first place? To be home, to be safe?
Mama tapped him on the shoulder, motioning for him to raise his head so she could see the cut. It had stopped bleeding a while back, but she still smoothed some paste into it. It wasn’t bad, but he would have a good bruise. Another scar to add to the collection.
She looked at him, then spoke carefully so he could read her lips. She knew. (of course she did, she was quiet and Noticed Things.)
“The flash flood caught me.” he explained, “a tree fell in and took out the whole path.”
“How awful!” snorkmaiden exclaimed, pushing a heavily buttered piece of bread in his hand. She had apparently forgiven him for ruining her dreams of the perfect little cottage life with moomin, staring at him until he ate.
He was surprised he had an appetite despite his exhaustion, and once he was re-dressed into clean and dry clothes they settled into dinner. (his shirt was a complete loss.) As mama has said earlier, these storms passed quickly, and it was soon bright and sunny once again. The sodden ground gently steamed in the sun, and snufkin watched it for a moment through the window until-
“Wait, where’s my tent?”
His muddy belongings (of which there were not much) were scattered on the ground around the house, where the tent itself was nowhere to be found.
Moominpapa’s poor pear trees had limbs ripped off from the wind and half the garden was flattened out by the rain.
“We found the tent!” the snork and sniff came running up the hill. Moomin nudged snufkin and pointed them out as they repeated themselves. It was, as expected with how had his luck had been this year, in the top of a tree. No boots, now no tent. The decision had been made for him.
“Well, it can’t be helped moomintroll. It looks like I’ll be spending the winter here.”
“Really?! I mean, oh, okay.” his paw found snufkin’s hand and squeezed it. “Can we talk somewhere?”
“Yeah. I suppose we need to.” he ran his free hand through his damp hair, the ends sticking up all over. “The cottage?”
They walked in silence. Their cottage was sturdily built, not a shingle out of place. They settled on the half-built porch, side by side.
“Moomin-” he started.
“Your hearing’s going.” he finished.
“I can hear-” he motioned around his ears. “Bits. some loud things. Its muffled.” he slumped. “I didn’t hear the wind picking up or the thunder. But you already noticed…”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“Guess I’m better at lipreading then I thought, huh? I didn’t notice it was going.” he flopped onto his back. “You know I’m going to be miserable to spend a whole winter with.”
They missed the shushing from around the corner as certain girls jockeyed for position.
“I spent half of one with you already. I think it’ll be okay.”
“I’m sorry I’m so useless right now.” he was startled when moomin suddenly hugged him around the waist, burying his face in his chest.
“You’re not! Not at all!”
“Are they going to kiss or what?” griped Little My.
“Shhh, I’m trying to watch.” snorkmaiden pushed her down.
“Don’t tell me they’ve been walking around like lovebirds all this time and haven’t figured it out yet.”
“Shhh!”
Snufkin tapped the top of moomin’s head, then tapped his ear.
“I said- we’re being watched.” he turned to the corner, catching them slipping back around the side of the house. He sighed. “Snufkin, do you want to spend tonight in our house?”
“A night, alone in the dark woods, in a half-built house?”
“I wouldn’t be alone, we’d be together!”
“Alright then.” he said with a soft smile. “First night.”
And that, dear readers, is were we’ll leave you. Until next time.