When Lori woke up from empty dreams, she found that in her sleep someone had started banging loudly on her door to wake her up. After lying in bed trying to ignore it and go back to sleep, then debating whether to bury them in the snow for their impertinence, she finally sighed—though it probably came out more as a growl—arose from her bedroll in a terrible temper and angrily activated the lightwisps on the ceiling. The only think keeping her from stomping as she made her way to the door was the fact that her feet were bare and the floor was stone.

She unlatched her door as she muttered darkly about going back to sealing off the passage to her room, then all but flung the door open. "Who died?" she ground out, glaring at, of course, Rian.

"No one died, Keyyara just went into labor," Rian said. He looked half asleep, and his hair was tousled. He was already wrapped up in his winter robe.

"Who?"

"A pregnant woman!" Rian snapped. "Sorry, I'm not fully awake yet. Riz and I are going to get Shana, we need you to start the air jets."

Lori looked at him blearily. "Can't it wait until morning?"

"It is morning. The sun just isn't up yet."

"That's not morning," Lori grumbled but sighed. "Fine, fine, come on." She pushed past him, stomping down the stairs. Then she winced, turned around, and went to put on her boots.

"At least you can go back to sleep," Rian said as she sat down on her bed and put on her socks and footwear. "I have to stay awake, and not have any breakfast."

"This was all your idea. You have no right to complain anyway."

"Everyone always has the right to complain. Whether something happens to them for doing so is another matter."

Her socks and boots on, Lori got up to stomp outside. Rian followed after her, yawning and muttering to himself. She was halfway down the stairs when she paused, turned around again, and started stomping back up, her lord barely getting out of her way. Going back to her room, she headed towards the containers where the beads were stored.

Reaching inside one, where the largest ones were kept, Lori pulled out a handful of beads. Since they were on average two and a half yustri wide, some even as wide as three, it was awkward, so she dropped them into the jar she used to bring back beads from the edge of the demesne. She also grabbed the flattened rocks that she'd bound firewisps too, then proceeded to drop them because they were too big and wide for her to pick up properly

"Rian, pick these up and carry them," she said as he got to her door. "Now!"

"What fo— oh! Warm rocks! Yes, please!" he said, suddenly sounding more awake and enthusiastic as he recognized them. He pulled off the towel wrapped around his face and quickly fashioned it into a small, improvised sack. Really, why hadn't Rian asked her to prepared any of this in advance? He of all people should have been aware of how cold it was out there!

Between the two of them, they managed to bring down the flattened rocks and the jar of beads downstairs, even though Lori sometimes swayed, still sleepy and really awake only because of a burning, molten annoyance as she rubbed sleep sand from her eyes. Downstairs, she heard sounds of activity in her Dungeon as she came down the stairs. People were awake in the second level, and at the kitchen someone was boiling water, the lone pot looking absurdly small by itself where the larger stew pots were normally used. Beyond that, the kitchen was still empty.

In the passageway leading to the Dungeon, they found Riz waiting next to the sled, which was already packed next to the snow melter. Lori didn't know if it was kept packed specifically for this situation or if Riz had simply moved quickly. She was holding a pair of gloves and smiling triumphantly.

"Here," she said holding the gloves out to Rian. "I finally managed to borrow a pair from—"

The detail of whoever she had borrowed them from was lost as Rian started kissing her all over her face in a mildly nauseating manner. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you…!"

Lori ignored the giggling and byplay as she knelt next to the sled. On the top of each of the air jets, recently added, was a cup-like structure fused to the bone and sealed with a wooden stopper. Pulling off the stoppers revealed… well, a cup-like recess, at the bottom of which was a wide disk of copper. Lori dropped three beads into each recess before stoppering them closed, pushing the wooden stoppers down tightly so they wouldn't come off. While the binding was still heavily imbued, she didn't know how long they might be made to wait in River's Fork as the people there would likely also be surprised by the timing of the pregnancy. That didn't even include how long it would take to climb up to where Binder Shanalorre probably lived and wake her up, explaining the situation, and them waiting for her to rouse herself and get dressed. The beads would ensure that the bindings would have all the imbuement it needed, and she could give Rian more when he came back. It wasn't a true bound tool, but it would suffice for this.

The air jets loaded with beads, she turned to Rian and Riz, and grimaced at what she saw. "Stop doing that, you two," she snapped.

The two separated to infantile giggles. "Sorry, your Bindership," Rian said cheerfully, not sounding particularly sorry at all. "Just, ah, rousing ourselves awake, that's all."

"Rian, I know enough to know wakefulness is not what is aroused by that," she said irritably. "Get those stones secured under your clothes so I can bind some firewisps to them, and be quick about it. It's bound to be colder out there at night, and you'll need to stay warm!" Really, why hadn't Rian prepared any of this in advance? He of all people should have been aware of how cold it was out there!

"Uh… we should probably get inside for this," Rian said, trying to keep from dropping any of the rocks, which were probably starting to grow warm. "And have something to secure these with." He glanced towards the Dungeon.

"Back home. We can use chest wraps to tie them into place again," Riz suggested.

Rian nodded, swaying slightly, though he glanced at Lori for a moment.

"What are you looking at me for? Get moving! You're in a hurry, aren't you?"

"Yes, your Bindership, " Rian said, pulling Riz and heading past Lori down the tunnel in front of the Dungeon's entrance, presumably towards his house.

Naturally, Lori followed, stomping on the cold ground, and remembering to bring the jar with only a couple of beads left inside it with her. After all, she had no intention of just standing around here, and someone had to stop her two idiots from getting distracted by their lusts.

Rian's house was brightly lit when she opened the door, the glowing rock she'd given him resting on his table—oh yes, she'd need to give the sled lights, wouldn't she? With the snow, there was no guarantee any of the moons would be visible to provide light. On Rian's bed were Mikon and Umu, the latter sleeping deeply—making Lori twitch with jealousy at other people getting to sleep—while being held in the former's arms under a thick pile of blankets. The pink-haired weaver cracked an eye open slightly as Lori entered before closing it again and going back to sleep, or at least feigning it to be comfortable. She was surprised both were clothed, or at least wearing blouses.

Rian and Riz were in the middle of undoing their winter robe and coat as quietly as possible, and both glanced up when she entered. "Lori?" Rian hissed.

"Don't mind me," Lori said blandly, picking up on of the stones and reaching for the firewisps among the smoldering coals of the fireplace. "I'm just here to warm these stones. Carry on." She imbued the firewisps into a binding, making heat emanate from the fireplace so she'd have more firewisps to work with. As the air in the house began to warm, she began claiming firewisps out of the air and binding them to the stones systematically, imbuing them slightly but leaving them deactivate for now.

With a slightly awkward and aggrieved air, Rian and Riz continued what they were doing, loosening their clothes enough so they could take the warming stones and secure them to arms, legs, and around their torsos under their clothes. The stones were secured in place with chest wraps, and Lori briefly wondered if there'd be any left for the sleeping pair when they woke up.

Once the last stone had a binding on it, Lori started imbuing them all, which was a bit difficult to do consistently because she was still sleepy. Still, once she set it properly the binding wouldn't take much imbuement. She resisted the urge to chide them to hurry, aware there were sleeping people nearby. Well, one sleeping person at least. She was annoyed at losing sleep, but not annoyed enough to start inflicting it on others. She might have become so if Rian and Riz had taken their time and continued flirting, but fortunately with her in the room they moved quickly and methodically even if it was obvious both were still trying to wake up. Rian was excitedly pulling on the gloves he'd just been given and somehow not managing to do so successfully in his hurry. Riz had to help him put the gloves on, showing him how to secure their cuffs shut to keep the air out.

Once they were dressed again, Lori had to take a moment to activate one of the warming stones and adjust it until it was a comfortable temperature, then applied those adjustments to all the warming stones they were carrying on their persons. "All right, you're both ready," she said irritably. "Last chance to say it's too warm. No? Then come on and get to the sled so I can go back to sleep."

"Yes, your Bindership," Rian said in a voice that made it obvious he was being patient. "Thank you for bothering to wake up at all."

She glared at him and stomped off.

Riz and Rian pushed the sled outside of the tunnel, pointing it downriver as Lori added bindings of lightwisps to the sled. She had to anchor them to the bone of the air jets, since the front of the sled was made of wood, binding the lightwisps to cast their light forward instead of in all directions. It created a stark white path in front of the sled, even as everything around it remained dark. The two got into place, Rian sitting in front with Riz holding on to his waist behind him as Lori activated the air jets.

There was a blast of air that actually made Lori feel cold as snow was blown away from the back of the sled. The sled began to slowly move forward, accelerating as it became a moving speck of light in the dark.

Lori was already walking back to her Dungeon, sleepily trying to imbue air jets, lightwisps and warming stones as she stumbled her way back to her room, closing the door shut behind her. She barely remembered to take her boots off as she as she lay back in bed and deactivated the lightwisps above her.

Angrily fluffing up her pillow in place under her head, Lori went back to sleep.