Hushed (Yaoi/BoyxBoy)

VI. The New House Mate and Helping Him Overcome His Fear

*Part of what goes on in between the time skip of several weeks in the last chapter*

*Some triggering effects towards the end*

Ryuichi's POV

Recently I have picked up a few new house mates, and by a few, I mean five of them. Three of the five are giant wolves, while one is a cat and the other is some supernatural being. I told them they could stay so I could make sure Snow's wounds were getting treated properly. And to make sure they were getting enough food.

Generally, I'm use to living alone in a house that I am hardly ever in. But now, my house is never empty. Now I wake up to breakfast most days and come home to a pretty much spotless place.

Snow, the supernatural being living with me that I named, is defiantly rather odd and different than the people I'm use to dealing with. I took a couple days off from work here and there to help him get use to things...

As I've observed him over the past couple weeks I realized he has never experienced simple little things. Watching him, I began to notice all the little things that I take for granted...

It took Snow awhile to warm up to Yuko but even longer to Kuno. I get the feeling he does not like doctors very much. But in due time he grew to enjoy their company.

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Snow and the others have been here for several days now. They tend to stay in the backyard quite a bit, because I won't let him leave the house right now. I'm paranoid of what other people would do to him...

Would the ones looking for him, find him if he went out and try to take him back? Would others notice he's not human and want to capture him? We don't think he is a child, but he looks like a young teenager, who is rather stunning to look at. What if someone saw him and wanted him for themselves?...

I look up from the newspaper I'm reading as the side door, that is a glass sliding door leading to the backyard, closes. My eyes land on Snow who is covered in dirt, his tail just has clumps of dirt sticking to it as it drags behind him on the ground. He also has a smell coming from him.

Suddenly I come to the realization that, he hasn't showered or taken a bath since he got here. Kuno, Yuko and I clean his wounds but he's never had a full on bath since he's been staying here. I get up and walk over to him. "You need a bath, you're filthy and reek," I say to him as I grab one of his hands and lead him to the main bathroom.

Once we get in the bathroom he looks at me with his head tilted, looking confused. I hate to admit it, but its kind of cute when he does that... I turn on the water making sure its hot but not too hot, running my hand under it to see. Plugging up the drain to let the water fill the tub, I turn to Snow.

He's looking at the tub filling with water, and he begins trembling at the very sight of it. His ears flat against his head and his tail tucked between his legs, wrapped around one of them and squeezing. He takes a few steps back and then just vanishes into thin air. I hate when he does that. Whenever he gets scared he just vanishes... He doesn't go far but I still have to look for him. After I turn off the water I go to look for him.

I find him in the dining room sitting under the table, clutching his knees to his chest and hiding his face...

I sit on the floor in front of him and pet his head. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to let anything hurt you. But you need to take a bath, you can't go around covered in dirt and stinking forever. Don't you want to feel clean and refreshed?" I say to him calmly and reassuringly.