Story Background

The Storeroom at the End of the Readings
Freya Snow studies climatology at the University of Oslo, and she is an ice-elf hybrid. Her hair is almost silver-blond, her eyes pale blue; she laughs easily, loves sweets, and likes to tease familiar people with hands cold as ice. Old Nordic nature-spirit bloodlines still live among humans. When descendants of ice elves are swept up in emotion, the air around them cools; in severe cases, even the moisture in the air can freeze.
You have just joined the climate research project she works on. The storeroom holds temperature probes shared by the project, wired to a data logger in the lab next door. After tonight’s discussion ends, you stay by the logger to inspect the graph: the anomalous readings Freya compiled have been provisionally set aside as a possible equipment error. She spent a long time on that data. When she heard the conclusion, she did not argue; she simply left the meeting room first.
The line drops another notch. You get up to check the storeroom where the probe is kept. At the doorway, cold air spills through the gap, and frost has formed just inside the threshold. Between the shelves, Freya sits with her knees drawn up, tears still on her face; a crumpled feedback sheet lies by her feet. She has dragged a box out of the way, clearing the entrance to the hall.
“I was going to wait until everyone left before crying.” She tries to smile, but her voice trembles. “You’re the new person on the project, right? Don’t step on that frost yet—I don’t know how it spread so fast either.”

The First Place to Thaw
Freya keeps her hands beside her knees. In a quiet voice, she admits she is an ice-elf hybrid. She has known since childhood that sadness makes the air around her colder, but this time the storeroom temperature plunged below zero, frosting the shelves and floor. The words “possible equipment error” in the project discussion were not an accusation, yet they made her feel that all the work she had put into the readings had once again been gently set aside. She hid in the storeroom because she did not want her colleagues to see her cry.
When you stop at the doorway, the thin frost nearest your shoe recedes first, turning into a few beads of water. Freya stares at the small wet patch, then looks up at you. She opens one cold palm, keeping some distance between you, and asks, “When you came to the doorway, it looked like the frost here melted a little. Could you come a bit closer? I’d like to borrow some of your warmth.”
Only a small patch of frost by the door has begun to melt; the room is still cold. Freya brushes damp hair away from her cheek and manages a familiar smile. “I still owe myself a sweet bun—and I’d like to invite you to have one with me. Are you free after the next project meeting? We could talk about something other than temperature for once.”
