Pocket Dad (G/t) (Discontinued)

[1]

Anthony never thought he would ever in his life be pacing around a box and wonder how he could move a human baby. One thing was sure, he needed to be quick. The human was getting disturbingly quiet, and he himself wasn't much more invulnerable to the cold slipping under his skin. He wouldn't hold on much longer.

With great strength, creativity and lots of patience, he could probably push the box somewhere safe. But he wasn't strong, nor creative, and it would take much more time than the kid could handle. No, he needed to find a fast way to warm it up... But he didn't have many options aside from using a blanket he had back in the building he slept in. There was only one major problem: while the task would have been easy for an adult human, it would be tremendously hard for an adult tiny like himself. The walk was long and the blanket was too heavy, but did he have any choice? The small, strangled cough coming from the box was his answer.

He sprinted back to the building and proceeded to drag his small baby blanket outside under the deluge. If he wasn't fast enough, the blanket would be dripping with water by the time he reached his destination. And so fast he was- well, as fast as he could be while dragging a thick piece of clothing hundreds of times bigger than him.

The next ten minutes felt longer than half his life, and more than once he checked left and right in hope -and apprehension- to see any human coming this way, which of course he didn't see. Eventually, after painful moments, he managed to get the blanket in the box and cover the baby as much as he could and as far as he reached.

He would have hoped for anything, any little sign of it getting better and all warm, but he got none. If anything, the baby had gotten sickeningly quiet and still, besides its chest rising and falling slowly. This wasn't enough, Anthony still needed to get it somewhere dry or else all he did would have been for nothing.

After a lot of brainstorming and pacing around, it occurred to him that he'd seen some elephant-ears leaves not far outside, and when he didn't find any better idea in the next minute, he made his way out through a crack in the wooden fence and went through the dark woods to find the plants nearby.

One leaf would be enough, and he could hold it up with... After having a clearer image in his mind, he got to work. With his pocket knife, he cut off the largest leaf, then gathered some long enough twigs on top. In the following few minutes, he had made his way back and gotten the top of the box covered well enough with the large leaves and secured with twigs. He only hoped the wind wouldn't suddenly get any more brutal and ruin his poor work.

The blanket was mostly wet, but it wasn't dripping and still was somehow dry on the inside -the good part of it being so thick and heavy-, so that was a bit of accomplishment.

His legs and arms terribly ached, so he sat down in a corner and took some time to rest. The human shivered in its cold and wet clothes, so Anthony got up and tried to dry it off however he could, using the drier parts of the blanket. He found its skin slightly hotter than normal for a human infant, but not enough to worry him- although he didn't know much about human health.

As he felt he had rested enough to at least stand up for some time, he hoisted himself up on the edge of the box, ignoring the wood shards that pierced through his skin uncomfortably, and tried from the new high point to stay on watch for someone who would come by.

While staying so still for a long time, all the heat of his previous exercise left, and he was left shivering uncontrollably in his soaking and freezing clothes.

After making sure plenty and plenty of times there was still no one anywhere in the distance, he got back down and went to the blanket to try to dry off. He didn't want to take too much time, but he was too drenched and cold to tear himself off the warm cover and even warmer human.

When at some point he sneezed, he decided it wouldn't be too bad to try to take a bit better care of himself, so he reluctantly got back up and took another peek outside. There was still no one, and by then he wasn't keen on believing anyone would come by. Besides, they were covered and hidden behind a high fence, so he really doubted anyone would find them.

With the little reassurance of that thought, he went back and found a warm enough spot close to the human. He breathed out and sank in the warmth, still slightly shaking. He figured a few minutes in there wouldn't hurt so terribly.

A long time later, he found that he was warm and dry enough to get back to watching duty. But he found that no matter how hard he tried to will himself to get moving, his body didn't obey his unreasonable orders anymore.

He fell asleep.