Winter always comes with surprises. Sometimes it brings you the joy in the form of solitude, other times it comes with a snowstorm that buries your old cabin in a thick snow mountain that has you trapped until Springtime. You had believed that you w...
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You wake up in the morning to the peculiar sounds happening constantly, echoing through the walls.
It comes in the form of a series of 'swift-hit-thud' sounds on repeat, coming from somewhere outside of the cabin.
Stretching out, you are surprised to find yourself lying down on the sofa with a thick blanket covering you. It takes a while before you could recover and finally remember what had happened last night and how you had ended up sleeping out here instead of snuggled up under the blankets on your warm and comfy bed.
Last night, after having another long heart-to-heart talk through dinner with your guest and new cabin mate, Jin, you had sat down by the fireplace together the same way you did when you sat there through dinner with him in his bear form the other day. Accompanied by a couple of cups of hot chocolate and a full plate of your homemade bread rolls, you talked about everything that came to mind—from sharing the good, old memories to help forget the painful pasts to talking about all the mundane things that you both love to do in your day to day lives. It felt so peaceful and comfortable to be sharing the moment with him that you embraced what you could. You were pleased to find that you finally had what you had wanted—a chance to get to know him better while letting him in and for him to let you in while he takes his time to recover.
The conversation and the comfortable companion had all made you feel so pleased that it barely registered how much time had passed while you were sitting there in the warmth together. It wasn't until midnight when you started to feel exhausted. You must have drifted off to sleep in the middle of talking to him that you could only move to the sofa—unless he had been the one who did that for you—and had him tuck you under the blanket to let you rest for the night.
The first thing you realise the moment you wake up is the fact that you had managed to sleep without having any nightmares haunting you. Even if the premonitions have yet to return, you still feel blessed to have a good night's rest. It doesn't even matter if you had to sleep in such a tight space, when your deep sleep had won over the discomfort you felt.
The sounds coming from outside continue, growing slightly stronger by the minute. Once your mind finally clears out of its thick fog, you begin to recognise it as the sound of an axe hitting and cutting off wood. Looking around in the empty room, you realise that it must be Jin tending the firewood, just as he had promised he would.
For the past few days, while he is still getting used to being a human, he has been doing the most to help you around the house.
Whenever the weather gets too hard for either of you to go outside, he would stay in and make it better. He would always be the one to attend the fireplace, while he would sometimes be the one taking the risk of getting out in the cold to grab extra firewoods and other necessities that you would need for the day when you couldn't do it yourself. Whenever you are busy dealing with the cabin, and sometimes, your rituals, he would lend a hand by cleaning around the house and even taking turns to cook.
