At least this cold is good for something.  Peek over her shoulder?  He shrugs his way out of his own jacket, leaves it on his shoulders, rolls up his own sleeves, and wraps his arms into Sara's tum.  Shriek in three...two...one...

She manages to restrain herself to a quiet, "Squee..." this time! 

And then, once his hands have warmed, she can actually examine the rock.

"Mmhmmmm..."

It really just looks like a generic rock with some orange streaks, though one almost as big as her head, granted. It is, for related reasons, quite heavy.

"May I have a little strength, Tim?" She could move it without, but she doesn't want to do anything too strenuous right now. 

"You already have some.  You can feel my backlash tick up, right?"  I know I can.  "I never use my power on myself while, er, holding someone, unless they're also augmented.  Well.  Until you came along, I guess."  Smooth.  "Anyway!  Yes."

"Oh." Yes she does feel it now he mentions it. She's somewhat disoriented, in general, but she probably should have noticed how light the rock felt when she picked it up in the first place. 

That said, she rotates it carefully above her lap, examining the streaks and probing it with her stonesense in very brief intervals. 

"There is a good amount in here. I can get it out, though I won't be able to smelt it any way but the normal one." 

"Well, it's not like I know anything about smelting copper.  Are you planning on sneaking it back across the Canadian border?"  Little shiver.  It's getting a little chilly, and his power isn't really designed for this kind of thing.  Prevent frostbite, sure.  Keep warm?  No.

"I was thinking of keeping it in your house," she informs him. "Maybe we can figure out how to smelt it at some point, or hire someone to do it. It would be fun to make something out of stones and ore we found and made ourselves, wouldn't it?" 

"It would be, actually.  I don't think I remembered to mention it, but I picked up a jewelrycrafting kit and some gems to give us something to play around at some point, and then, well.  You walked in the door with eighty million dollars' worth of your own gems.  I should have known."  Tim shouldn't be embarrassed about it.  It was a good idea before he had full information and if he's turning red it's because his stupid brain is dumb.  Maybe his father had been white after all, if he'd just turned out with darker skin he wouldn't have to deal with these stupid visible blushes.

On the other hand, it might have made growing up in rural Vermont trickier.  The more you stand out, after all...

She giggles, "You know the most expensive jewel ever sold was only around seventy million dollars, right?

"But that's good, though we'll still need to figure out the smelting part."

...she shivers, lightly. 

"Mm, Can you get at my backpack?" She'd dropped it before going up the rock pile earlier, and it's just out of her reach, now. "There's a survival blanket in the bottom of the main pocket." 

If they have to sit here for a while, they might as well be warm while they do it. 

"Yes'm.  I'll be back, don't go mining for anything while I'm gone, okay?"  Slightly chilly disentangle, grab the backpack, and set it between Sara's thigh.  Then back to the snuggle mines for Sara!  "Hope these clouds clear up soon, might not be a good night for stargazing after all."

"The weather said the afternoon should be more sunny," she says, absent, as she digs through the more frequently used supplies to find her blanket. Once found, it swiftly finds its way around the both of them.

She leans back into him, then, releasing a long, slow sigh.

"There, that's better." 

"Yeah.  It is."  Slooowww tilt backwards.  He's going down, and he's bringing Sara with him.  Eh, I don't have anywhere to be.  Maybe a light doze would be fine, so long as she doesn't decide to try for another rock and try to climb the mountain for fresh air.  Thoughtful silence.

Snuggly thoughtful silence. 

"...I am sorry," she says into the quiet. "I did not mean to panic you." 

"Ah, no.  It's alright.  It was very cool - just."  Tim stumbles for words for a second.  A few seconds.  Ten.  "I've done powertesting to failure, and it felt like you were - testing to failure.  I was afraid you'd try to climb the mountain to get some fresh air."

"Oh." She squeezes his hand where it rests over her stomach. "I- I would not have done something like that if you were not here. I knew I would be guided right away- and I would have stopped if something unexpected happened. But, I should have told all of that to you, so you would not worry." 

“My instructor says that you only get good if you’re willing to fuck up a lot, and then do something different next time.  As long as we manage the second part, I think we’re okay.  Besides, I had my hooks in.  Even if you had overreached on backlash, you couldn’t have hurt me or gotten anywhere.”

She nods.

"I will tell you, in the future, the dangers of what I am attempting. Or I will try, at least."

She takes slow, steadying breaths, continuously reminding herself that she can, in fact, breathe just fine, whatever her brain tells her. Her brain is not exactly reliable, in times like this.

"...it is relieving to know you could stop me from trying to climb the nearest tree. I- mm.

"I started my hellweek by attempting to climb to the roof of my school, falling several flights, and then attempting to crawl up again on several broken bones. 

"I don't remember much of that night, but I do remember the- the feeling."

The feeling of her bones shifting unnaturally, the pain of the shards cutting into her flesh from the inside, the heat of pooling blood, the fluid filling her lungs. Exactly how painful it was, she couldn't quite say, but the sensations, she thinks, might never leave her mind. 

"It is a relief to have a partner who can stop me from doing something so self-destructive." 

He can tell she's not...quite all the way here, right now.  Maybe she needs a reminder.  He wraps his left leg over her thighs.  His right knee goes over his left ankle.  To break his grip, she'd have to push his right knee off his left ankle, then escape the left ankle.  His hands bridge the gap between themselves and clasp each other.  "You're trapped here, now.  You won't be able to climb any mountains while I've got you."  Wow, that sounds terrible.  "Er.  But in a good way."

Some might find being locked in place like this stressful, but Sara only relaxes more.

"Mhm. Though, I am only getting less likely to try to climb a mountain. Well," she considers their future plans, "This evening excepted." 

Oh good, I read that one right.  What a first.  "Strictly recreational mountain-climbing for us."

"Yes. For stargazing, not attempting to escape Earth's atmosphere." 

"I don't think Earth's atmosphere is going to get you much in the way of better oxygen.  Not that it helps backlash to know it.  Um.  Does your backlash work better if you don't know about countermeasures for it?"

"Yes, well, it is Up, though. In some senses." 

She hums.

"It... Can? It depends on the countermeasure, and on what stage it is meant to work on. Early on, like now, I will cooperate with countermeasures as I am able. Later I will not, but I may not be able to recall them, or might simply be caught off guard in the moment."

"Well.  I don't want to strain your trust in me, but I had an idea last night.  Would it be okay if I ran it by your agent to see if it might be a good fit for your backlash?  Cognitive dissonance is a survival skill for dealing with psychological backlash.  Or uh, so I've told."

"Em, yes, go ahead. I'm very curious now, though, you should know. This is a very cruel thing you have done," he can't really see her smile due to their positions, but her voice is teasing.