Gentle Winter

1.3

"Okay, honey. I'm just going to put you on the couch- is that alright?" You asked him softly as you made your way into your warm home. When you first stepped in you winced at the sudden warmth, and the short man next to you let out a little moan. His shivers increased, which was still a good thing.

"Yeah, that's.... that's good." He replied, leaning more towards you as he grew more tired. You could also tell he just wanted to get off his feet, they had started to blister due to the snow, and he already had scratches on them before that, not to mention the swollen ankle he was sporting.

As you deposited him on the couch, he let out a small pained noise. The room was immediately filled with the sweet meow of Drax, who had come out of his hiding place to see what was going on.

"Drax, hey bud." You said to your companion, wanting to lighten the air. The freezing stranger seemed to like the idea of Drax, so you wanted to keep the topic going. "Come say hi to our guest, hm?" As you said this you brought your grandmothers quilt from your arm chair over to the stranger. Drax followed without hesitation.

"I'm going to put a blanket around your shoulders, okay? And then I am going to leave for a moment to get some supplies that can help you feel better, and I'll be right back." At the man's small nod, you wrapped him delicately in the quilt, pulling it over the jacket and scarf he had on, making sure he was completely covered. His wet clothing needed to be taken care of eventually, but you were going to take it one step at a time.

You made your way to the linen closet in the hallway past the living room and grabbed all the blankets you had as well as a few towels. You then stopped by the laundry room and shoved them all into your dryer, setting it at twenty minutes, just so everything would be warm for your patient. After that, you headed to the bathroom to gather all the supplies you'd need to help this man.

___

"Hi... Hi, Drax." You heard the soft voice of the man say as you walked back into the room with all your supplies, including a change of clothes for him. You weren't sure if he would want to take a bath because he would obviously need your assistance with that, but you thought you could at least get him into dry clothes.

Your heart clenched at his timid voice, and Drax meowed before jumping up on the couch next to him. He wasn't able to pet him due to being wrapped up, but Drax didn't seem to mind too much; he had pushed his head against his body in an attempt to get the man to pet him, and then settled down next to his covered thighs, purring.

"I told you Drax would like you," You said to announce yourself, and his head jerked in your direction. His milky eyes were fully open at that point, and you took them in breathlessly. He's blind, your mind stated the fact like you didn't already know it. It was still a shock to you.

"He's nice." The man responded, and at the sound of it you concluded he was more of a boy rather than a man. He was swimming in your grandmother's quilt, hair laying flat on his forehead, slowly dripping with melting snow. His cheeks had a shadowed, sunken in look to them, but he held a very young physique. The scratches on his neck and cheeks made him look even more like a child, as did his height and size. He was fairly small all together, and it made your heart clench even more. Just how old was this boy? And where had he come from? Where were his shoes... his jacket? He had no form of guide for his blindness, and he obviously didn't know where he was due to your conversation outside.

How did he end up here? Your house was at least a good ten miles outside of town.

"He is really nice. I adopted him about three months ago because I was a little lonely. He's my best friend, now," You informed him in response, taking a knee in front of him. The man didn't respond because he heard your movements. You saw his feet move backwards, and his toes curled in on themselves. At the looks of them, you concluded they needed to be addressed first.