Howell took one ginger step and whimpered as his boot sank into the snow and his weight sank onto his definitely-not-broken ankle. He did not know how a whimper could sound loud and feeble, but maybe it was magnified to his own ears, or in the snow. Howell did not look at Sandow. Sandow had better not have heard that. (And if he had, he had better go to his grave pretending he hadn’t.)

“Keep moving,” he growled, gritting his teeth as he took some more steps. There – he could drag that foot along behind him, if he half-limped, half-hopped, in a pathetic, awkward way. He would not be as fast as Sandow – but hopefully Sandow would not fight him on this, and they would find the goddamned dragon. “I’m right behind you.”

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Raj hesitated when he thought he heard a whimper from behind him. He could not tell for sure because the storm was also filling his ears.

"If you end up losing a foot, I am fastening pink ribbons to everything you own with a Permanent Sticking Charm," he said despite continuing to obediently move forward.

  

Howell growled.

“I’ll take that risk,” he answered, and whatever percentage of his huffing was not pain and exertion was annoyance. Obviously if Sandow did any such thing, Howell would have to sack him, and possibly kill him – but that risk was his to take in turn.

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Raj snorted indelicately in response to the others words. Though the sound was likely swiftly swallowed up by the raging storm. They had reached the caves now though and thankfully the blizzard had not reached deep into the cave. "Never thought I'd be so glad to be somewhere dark and dank," Raj murmured in jest as he took out his wand and performed the wand-lighting spell. Only it didn't work. He tried again. "Howell, is your magic working?" It was a little concerning if both of them would be out magic-wise. Was it perhaps the blizzard messing with his magic somehow?

  

What kind of question was that? Howell frowned in the shadows of the cave. “Lumos,” he tried gruffly. Nothing. Not even a flicker.

“What,” he said flatly. Where in the bloody hell had their magic gone? And what if a dragon was stuck in this cave with them? What were they going to do about it, without magic to help corral it?

And never mind that. Even with no dragons successfully located, the thought of making their way back to the cottage in the snow alone, precisely the way they had come seemed, like an impossible feat in itself. Howell blew out a breath and, in temporary defeat, sat heavily on a jutting rock to rest.

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"Do you think its just the cave or something more afoot?" Raj asked the older man curiously. He shivered against the cold and wrapped his arms around himself as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the relative darkness of the cave. The blizzard outside was no help, further obscuring any light as it was. "Do we continue going forward since we might as well?"

  

“Afoot,” Howell thundered under his breath, worried Sandow still thought this was a good time for foot-related jokes. Maybe not. Maybe Howell was just too aware of the pain he got from each trudging step.

“More dangerous without magic,” Howell warned, about venturing deeper into the caves. If there was a rock fall – or indeed a dragon sheltering in this network – they might be in trouble. And however much he wanted to say you go on ahead, however much he wouldn’t mind a moment’s peace and quiet in this dank place – he sighed. “But maybe we can feel our way through. And watch your feet.” Even without a layer of snow and ice to contend with, the cave floor was still uneven ground.

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Raj was quite accustomed to earning his bosses animosity so he paid no heed to the under the breath thundering. He found himself to be hilarious.

"Another possibility is staying put until the worse of the storm is over. I might end up having to carry you like a princess." What a sight that would be considering that although they were almost the same height Howell was of sturdier build.

  

“I’m surprised if you could lift more than a feather,” Howell grumbled back, not taking kindly to being called a princess, even when no one else was around to hear it.

But he was struck by the horrible possibility that he was too tired to carry on, so – for the sake of his pride, more than anything – he suggested, “We’ll stay put here a while.” This part of the cave system was bound to be relatively sturdy above them and there was a great echoing through the caverns. (Howell could almost still hear the word princess bouncing off the rock.) “If one of the dragons is down in these tunnels we might even hear it from here.” Maybe they could even attract it with some soothing music?

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"If I can wrangle a dragon, I can wrangle you," he retorted. Though he would rather wrestle with a dragon than with Howell Howell. The dragons had better temperaments.

"Good plan, boss man," Raj said, purposely a bit sing-song. "Should I try getting a small fire going somehow?"

  

Well, if he could have picked any of his dragon keepers to spend a blizzard trapped in a cave with... nope, Sandow was definitely one of the most annoying options.

Howell sighed. “Be my guest.” The cave was big enough, and they were near enough the entrance that there was cold air from the outside that they wouldn’t get smoked out by it – although he didn’t have an abundance of faith in Sandow managing it without magic. A couple of these rocks might be enough to make a spark, but they’d need something to burn. Howell eyed a few dry leaves and twigs that had gotten swept in this place, hoping that would be enough to last them out the storm. “Just keep it angled that way.”

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To his credit, Raj was able to successfully start a fire. Not much but enough to provide some light and a modicum of warmth while they waited for things to blow over. Raj entertained himself and his boss by singing random sea shanties that he happened to know. Quite vulgar ones.

And then the storm seemed to have stopped. "I think it is safe to go," Raj said not yet knowing that the blizzard would start up again in about thirty minutes. By then, they'd have made it safely back to the hut even with Howell Howell's injury though.

  

Howell honestly wouldn’t have minded if a dragon had charged through and swallowed Sandow whole to spare him the singing – but no such luck. “Let’s bloody go,” Howell agreed, in the pained tone of a tortured man. (Better to die in the blizzard out there, anyway, than spend any more time alone in here with Sandow.)

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