Work Text:
I don't want to set the world on fire
I just want to start a flame in your heart
Everything around you was dark and hazy. Slowly but steadily, you noticed your conscience was returning to you and that you were lying down in some place, what place exactly, you couldn't clearly say.
You tried to recollect your thoughts. You were rather prone to blacking out and waking up in god knows what place soon after ever since you arrived in Hope County with your squad. You tried to remember the reason for the most recent one. As you searched the back of your head, you managed to piece bit by bit back together: Jacob Seeds hunters somehow managed to tranquilize you from afar and had dragged you off to… Somewhere. Wherever they took you, you couldn't say. But it wasn’t a nice place. You remembered being tied to a chair and being shown slideshow images of wolves tearing away at other animal carcasses. The room they kept you in was very dark and two other people were there with you, tied up to chairs just like you. You remembered Jacob himself being there, holding speeches and anecdotes about the scariest things. About the strong and the weak, about culling the herd. All while you were still partially delirious from the tranquilizer-arrow you took straight to the leg. You remembered the pain that shot through your body after finding out your chair was electric… And the “trial” Jacob made you go through soon after. The most prominent thing you remembered was just two words, etched onto the walls of the room, repeating over and over inside your head: “Only you.”
But after all that horror, there was something else. Other people that came into the room they had placed you in had found you. It must’ve been days later, you remember having fallen over with your chair, likely from your spazzing motions. The strangers weren’t from the cult, possibly the resistance? Did they come to get you out? You definitely remembered them helping you out of that damn chair and trying to haul you away, a lot more gentle than the Peggies did before. So whatever this place was, it must’ve been where they took you.
You opened your eyes. Your view was still blurry and unclear so you tried blinking a few times, which didn’t really help. You tried to lift your upper body to take a look at your surroundings, but the attempted movement sent a lightning bolt of pain through your body. Everything still hurt, your back, your limbs, your head. You ended up merely wiggling around a little and grunting when realising how much pain your body was still in. You managed to lift up one of your arms to rub a hand over your face. Your hearing was dulled, but it was slowly getting better, and you started hearing a voice from further away, possibly another room. It was slightly distorted, probably a radio call of some sort. You also noticed steps approaching. Quickly, someone had stepped next to you and started talking to you.
“Take it easy, you’re okay.”, they said. From the low voice, you assumed it was a man. Whoever he was, he must’ve noticed your movements. With one hand he grabbed you by the shoulder and helped you sit up. You were glad to receive some sort of help, but as you rose you felt a burning headache creeping up from your neck-and-shoulder-region. You probably should’ve expected this. The man was holding something in front of your face you made out to be a water bottle of sorts.
“Need you to drink this.”, he said. You shot the bottle a suspicious look, for all you know there could be anything in there. You tried to resist the urge, but just now you realised how thirsty you actually were. You didn’t know how long Jacob had kept you prisoner, but it must’ve been days at least. The man held the bottle closer to your mouth and you took a few generous sips, once you found the liquid was indeed just water. And it felt damn good. A few drops made it down the wrong pipe and made you cough slightly.
As you swallowed, your vision was slowly starting to get clearer. The sitting up and the drinking must’ve given your body the boost it needed. The man who had helped you was lowering the water bottle and took a few steps back, you had already moved one of your arms behind you for support, now strong enough to hold your body up. It still hurt, but this seemed to work. You took a few breaths and tried to take a look around.You were in some sort of room, but this was all you were able to make out. The walls were made of steel and concrete, you figured you must’ve been inside another bunker. A shelf was standing on the wall across from you, a trash can and a full trash bag. On the wall itself hung a single poster. Just then, a woman was storming through an entrance to your right, took a brief look at you, and went to storm straight on.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?”, she yelled at someone to your left. You turned your head to let your gaze follow her, and there was indeed someone else standing there, busy in what seemed to be a built-in kitchen. Now that you had turned your head, you noticed you had been laying down on a couch this whole time, the backrest obscuring parts of your view.
The person being addressed, another man by the sound of it, responded to the woman's yelling, facing her quickly, “Now hold on. Wheaty and I agreed-”
“Oh, you agreed?”, he was cut off, the woman now facing your direction, speaking and pointing to the man who had just offered you some water. Quickly, he was back by your side, holding up his hands in defense. “Whoa whoa whoa. I was at best an impartial observer.”, he stammered.
‘Fucking coward.’, you thought, yet you couldn’t deny that you found this display kind of amusing. Had you not been so exhausted, you’d probably find yourself laughing.
The woman took a big step towards Wheaty, pointing at you this time.
“This is stupid and this is dangerous. You both know better.” You figured she must’ve been talking about you. The anger in her voice had slightly faded, taking on a rather scolding tone now. The man from the kitchen had stepped next to her. “What was I supposed to do?” he asked. The woman gave him an elaborate shrug. “Leave ‘em to die.”, she suggested. The man rolled his eyes at her and started walking away from her, towards the end of the couch your head was pointed at. “Tammy…”, he muttered, which must’ve been the woman's name. The way she spoke to the two guys made you think she was probably in charge around here.
“They’ve been in that room for God knows how long. I’ve seen what it does to people.”, she started again, “You haven’t. You can’t trust this one.”
The man slowly turned around to face her again. “That’s what everyone said about you! But luckily, I didn’t listen. This is not up for discussion. We need ‘em. That’s all there is to it. Understand?”
‘Damn.’, you thought. Maybe she wasn’t in charge after all.
There was a short pause, Tammy look a few steps back, shot you an angry glare, and then stormed out of the room the same way she came in. Wheaty, who had moved behind her during this conversation, was looking at her leaving, slightly worried. “You’re right. She took that real well.”, he mockingly told the other man, who was now intently looking at you. “Out.”, he barked with a slight gesture of his head. Wheaty did as he was told, visibly frustrated. “I didn’t even do anything…”, he muttered while walking away.
You then found yourself alone with the stranger. For the first time, you were able to take in his facial features. From what you were able to make out, he had shoulder-long, black hair, a thick beard and was wearing green camo-clothes. His rolled up sleeves revealed several tattoos. He slowly started walking around the couch, not taking his eyes off you. You didn’t think he meant any harm to you from the way he talked about you, but his previous display of dominance and inherent posture left you feeling intimidated either way, slightly making you move back a few inches on your couch. It’s not like you were in a position to defend yourself right now if it came down to it.
“I meant what I said, we need you.”, he started, speaking in the lowest, gentlest voice as possible, and it had its desired effect. Your tense muscles started to relax a little, but this tiny surge of nervousness was already too much for your body to handle. As the man approached you, you felt the world around you starting to spin and fade again, your hearing became dull and your limbs started to get weak. It must’ve been obvious, since the man quickly reached down to support you. “Let’s get you some rest.”, he said, slowly guiding you to lie back down. Your head fell to the side, facing the wall to your right as you slowly started to drift back into the darkness.
----------
You awoke once more to muttered sounds around you, this time feeling how they pulled you out of your dreamless slumber back into the waking world. Slowly, the sounds started to become clearer to you and you were able to identify them as voices. Not too long after, you could make out words.
“...and that’s exactly why I’d prefer Chuck Norris as a principal of my school over Putin, hands down. Just makes sense.”
You recognised that voice. You opened your eyes, seeing how your face was still facing the wall across the couch, just as you had fallen asleep. Your body however seemed to had turned to the same side while you were out. The voices came from the other end of the couch, so you lifted your head to take a look at who was talking. Doing just that, you noticed how your headache still hadn’t gone away completely. Before lifting it all the way, you pinched the space between your eyes with the thumb and index-finger of your right hand, which you had pulled close to you while you were asleep. It didn’t help the heachache much however, so you just lifted your head completely to take a peek over your shoulder.
On the wall you had faced the last time you were awake, you saw two men standing next to each other, talking. That is, one seemed to be talking, the other one was listening with a crooked expression on his face. The one talking was none other than Sharky, holding a bottle of beer in his hand, seemingly proud at the remark he just made. Seeing him made your heart jump, finally someone familiar.
The other man stared at him in disbelief for a while, before leaving the room, shaking his head. Sharky watched him walk away, then shrugged and took another sip of his drink. After turning his head and lifting the bottle to his mouth, he saw your lifted head and stopped drinking mid-sip. He lowered the bottle and gave you a wide-eyed grin. “Well, look who’s finally up!”, he remarked cheerfully.
You went to lift your upper body supported by your arms, to get a better look at him. Your body was still sore, but the pain was far less than it had been before. While raising your body, you noticed how you were still a little drowsy, so you went ahead and rubbed some of the sleep out of your eyes. “Sharky…? What the hell…?”, you started. Needless to say you were damn confused on how Sharky had gotten here. You didn’t even know where you were yourself.
“Dude, I thought you were gonna sleep forever. Don’t go ‘round scarin’ me like that.”, he said, walking over to your couch. You pulled your legs closer to you, as to make room for him to sit on. Midway, you decided to sit up entirely, now sitting up properly and facing the wall across from you. A TV table was standing pushed to the wall, resting a TV and a few different books on top of it as well as a turned on radio, which you only noticed now. The volume was turned down, but some rock music was playing. To your right, an Arcade Machine was standing against the wall, blinking with colorful lights.
You leaned into the backrest, letting out a silent, but weary sigh. You moved your head back, laying it down on top of the backrest. Your neck made a low cracking noise at that, so you raised your head back up and turned it up, down, to all sides a few times, in order to get it back working. The entire time, it sent shockwaves of pain to your head. Damn, your shoulders were stiff… You felt the seating cushions shifting and looking back to your left, you saw that Sharky had now taken a seat next to you.
“You doin’ good?”, he asked.
“Yeah, I… I think…”, you answered, trying to collect your thoughts. You lifted one of your arms in an attempt to massage your sore shoulders while speaking. “What the hell are you doing here? Where were you? And where the fuck are we, anyway?” The questions suddenly blurted out of you, realising how you didn’t know a single thing about your current situation.
“Wow, you really don’t know shit, do ya'?” Sharky asked with an amused but surprised expression. You wanted to snap back at him for that, but he followed straight up with the next question. “What do you remember?”
You threw your head back again, lowering your hand and trying to grasp at the memories in the back of your brain.
“Well,”, you started, inhaling deeply, “you and I were busy hunting Peggies, I remember that much, when I took an arrow to the leg and Jacobs hunting party scooped me up. And then…” You closed your eyes, trying to concentrate. Memories of your time in Jacobs captivity flashed before your inner eyes and your mouth started to get dry. That room, the slideshows, Jacob himself talking to you and coming so uncomfortably close to you… The people he made you kill, and those electric chairs. Thinking back, you still felt their electric sting on your back. It made you shudder slightly. You didn’t want to tell Sharky about this, in fact, you didn’t want to talk about it all, with anyone. You swallowed hard and opened your eyes back up, darting for a bit before you opened your mouth to continue your answer. “I… I don’t know. I don’t remember much from when I was with Jacob.” You inhaled once more and pulled your head back up before going on, “And some time later, these people came around and got me out. Thank god, who knows how long I’d have lasted in there.” With your left hand, you reached out for Sharky's drink, but he moved it away from your grasp.
“Nooope. For now, just water for ya’.”, he said and reached down to the ground, where a water bottle was leaning next to the couch. He grabbed it and moved it into your reaching hand. You grunted audibly, but since you were thirsty in general, you decided that regular water was just as fine. For now. You took a few gulps, essentially emptying two thirds of the bottle, satisfyingly exhaling once you removed the bottle from your lips. Sharky watched in awe.
“Man, you thirsty, girl.”
“Is that so surprising? How long was I gone, anyway?”, you asked while closing the bottle back up and putting it back down on the ground. Sharky thought about that one for a moment.
“About a week, I’d say.” Your eyes widened at that.
“A whole week?!”, you asked, looking back at Sharky. He seemed to be taken aback by that reaction and tried to explain.
“Um, well... Yeah. I mean, there was the day they took ya’, and I’d just like to emphasize one more time that it’s a bad idea to just rush ahead like that, because, well, you saw what happened. I mean, seriously. when me and Peaches caught up with ya' they were already busy haulin’ you off! And at first I thought ‘Aw c’mon, this is Po-Po we’re talkin’ ‘bout, she’s managed to escape John a couple times, how hard can it be to do the same with Jake?’, but after two days there was still no sign of you, and I got worried. So I started diggin’ around for ya’ with the Resisi, which also took a few days. Didn’t keep track. But eventually, I heard you were squattin’ with the Whitetails, so I moved my ass over here, which took another half day or so, and then I had to convince ‘em to let me stay here to keep an eye on you. Fo’ some reason they didn’t really trust me at first, which is weird, because, honestly, who can resist this face? Anyway, I hadn’t slept in a while at that point and you were also still out so they let me crash here for a good while. Dunno how long that’s been, but I’ve been up for a few hours already, sooo yeah, I’d say about a week sounds about right.”
While he was going on about all this you watched him with raised eyebrows. You were ready to give him some shit for not helping you, for not coming after you right after Jacobs hunters took you, but apparently, he did. It just seemed to have taken a while. Still, you were surprised how he just assumed you’d be fine all on your own. And whoever those Whitetails were, they seemed to be involved with the Resistance in some way. What threw you off was the way Sharky was talking about it all. The way he did, he was apparently genuinely concerned about you. The thought alone made the corners of your mouth curl up, and you let out a hearty chuckle.
“Aww, you were worried!”, you teased him. He frowned upon that, shifting in his seat and turning away from you, loosely crossing his legs and pulling down his cap a little, probably an effort to hide his flushing cheeks from you. It didn’t help.
“Well I’m sorry! Next time I’ll just get wasted as fuck at home and sleep through the entire time until you’re back, that sound better? ‘S not like I didn’t have better stuff to do, anyway...” He took another gulp from his drink, meanwhile you just chuckled for a bit. It was good being around him, his presence always had a soothing effect on you. You were also relieved to see he was alright and that Jacob's hunters didn’t get him as well.
The two of you sat in silence for a while, just listening to the radio and the buzzing of the ceiling lamp above you. When suddenly, Sharky started talking again: “Anyway, I went lookin’ after Peaches while you were gone, but she didn’t have her usual Peggy diet for a while now and she’s startin’ to get fidgety. I don’t want my junk claw’d off, so we’d better get back out there for some retaliation shootin’ soon. Ain’t nobody takin’ my friends like that without takin’ a hit back!”
Listening to his words made your heart drop into your stomach. He wanted you to go back out there? So soon? Flashes from the past replayed before your eyes, the most recent ones including the time you spent with Jacob, and the times John had you in his grasp, the time you spent with Faith and all the times you were so close to Joseph but couldn’t do a damn thing. Your mouth dried up and you swallowed hard. The only thought running through your mind at this time was ‘No. Not again. I can’t.’
You found your breathing was getting harder, as if someone was choking you. At this point, your fantasy just ran wild on its own and imagined it being either one of the Seed brothers. Still, you tried to gather all your courage and speak up. “Actually… About that…”, your voice was weak, your hands had started shaking slightly so you intertwined your fingers in an attempt to make it stop. You didn’t look at Sharky, but you felt him turn his head to look at you. You were staring at the ground, trying your best to keep your racing thoughts under control and form a sentence.
“I… I was thinking that… I should maybe just stop with that. I mean, the Resistance is strong enough on its own, they don’t really need me. I didn’t do that much to begin with, I think at this point, they’ll be just fine without me.” You felt your jaw clenching and also slowly trembling when you tried to speak, so you left it at that and didn’t elaborate further. You felt tears swelling up in your eyes, but you did a good job in repressing them. This wasn’t the time to show weakness. You turned your head to face Sharky again and he gave you the most puzzled look you had ever seen. “Say what now?”, he blurted.
He didn’t understand and it made you nervous. Your eyes couldn’t hold his gaze, you wanted to keep on explaining, but you were unable to form words. So you just looked back at him and nodded a few times, forcing a smile to your face. “So you’re telling me that everythin’ that’s happened, all the work you’ve done so far, would’ve happened without you? Don’t talk shit, Dep, those guys need ya’ as much as you need them. And what about all the fun we had burnin’ those Angels to a crisp? I had fun, and I know for a fact you did, too. I’m not buyin’ it. What did Jacob do to you to make ya' say those things now?”
The thought that Jacob might be responsible for what was happening right now made you feel even worse and finally sent you over the edge. You threw your head back onto the couches backrest once more and covered your face with both of your hands so quickly it made a slapping sound, releasing a sigh. You didn’t know what to tell him, you didn’t even know what to tell yourself. “I don’t know, Sharky!”, you yelped, your facial features crumpling under your hands. Your head darted back up, you removed your hands from your face and the first tears started rolling down your face.
“Earlier you asked me how I was, and I said I’m good. But guess what, I’m not!”, you started lashing out at Sharky, who was surprised at the sudden outburst, shuffling away from you a little.
“I’m terrible, Sharky! Do you know how much shit I had to go through since I came here?! This was supposed to be a simple in-and-out-job, get to Hope County, detain Joseph Seed and be back home for dinner. Fighting Cultists and leading a fucking resistance to liberate the place was NOT part of the plan! Heck, I shouldn’t even BE here! The Deputy who was supposed to come on this trip had plans so I covered him and volunteered, which was apparently the worst decision I ever made! I’ve been hit on the head and tranquilized, then dragged off to god knows where so many goddamn times, I’ve lost count! It seems like around every corner, someone is waiting to hit me on the head with something and send me back sleeping! Do you even have any idea what I had to go through every time I was hauled away?! When I was with John I was nearly drowned, I was scarred and tattooed against my will,”, while saying this, you ripped open the first two buttons of your flannel shirt, hands too shaky to unbutton them, unveiling the huge WRATH that was now written under your collarbone, “Faith fucking drugged me, multiple times, and Jacob’s no tad better, oh no! Have you ever sat on a fucking Electric Chair? Because apparently, I just have for an entire week! All while I was forced to watch images of wolves eating any kinds of animals and listening to this sick Fuck talk. Hell, I was fucking STARVED.” Up until now, you had shouted angrily at your friend, but the anger was now starting to fade, having explained yourself more or less properly. The anger that had fueled you, made you yell and gesture around you, now started to leave your body and you arms dropped to your crotch, now leaving you with only the feeling of helplessness and shame, having exposed yourself like this. You started sobbing, still not being able to breathe properly.
“I just can’t take any more of this. I don’t want to do this anymore.” You pulled your legs closer to you and buried your face in them, wrapping your arms around your head. After a few seconds of no reaction at all, you felt Sharky moving next to you.
“Aww shit, man, I’m so sorry, I - I didn’t mean to-” You heard him put his bottle on the ground and move closer to you, wrapping one arm around your shoulder and pulling you closer, out of your fetal position and into his arms. His other arm soon flung around your other side, and nestling his chin on the top of your head he now held you close and tried calming you down any way possible. You leaned into him and sobbed into his sweatshirt, grabbing his chest to get a hold of something as you felt like you were sinking down into an abyss.
“Look, I don’t really know how to deal with these kind of things,” Sharky started, his voice audibly uncomfortable, nervously trying to find the right words. You’ve known him for a while now, but you didn’t really have to to know that he was really bad with handling such situations. “But I’m really sorry if I said anythin’ that crossed the line, I swear I didn’t mean that! Serious!” His right hand had started to gently rub your back and feeling the rumbling of his voice in his chest you were leaning onto did indeed manage to calm you down a bit. It didn’t take long until your sobs slowly started to turn into a general heavy breathing.
“I mean, I know this is awkward,”, Sharky started speaking again, “but you’re, like, one of my best friends, Dep. Shit, maybe my only friend! I’d never want to say anythin’ to make ya' sad or whatever, that sucks! I wanted to make ya’ feel better, I thought Peggy Huntin’ was fun to you!” He stopped talking for a while, likely noticing how your sobs had quieted down. Regaining control over your body, you now felt his other hand had been rubbing your right upper arm the whole time.
“Look, I promise I won’t make you do anythin’ you don’t want to. If you don’t wanna go Peggy Huntin’ we won’t go Peggy Huntin’, that’s fine with me. But I still think you should give yourself some more credit. I mean, fuck dude, you’re strong as hell! You’ve made it through all of Johns sick sadistic tricks and even survived Jacobs treatment without a scratch, that’s hella impressive, girl! Not to mention all the stuff that Faith did! You’ve already done so much for this tiny community, and fuck me if ya’ can’t actually find a way to bring Joseph himself down, too. Just punch him right in the dick, that’s what ya’ should do.”
As he stopped talking, you noticed by now you were just numbly lying in his arms. Your sobs had stopped entirely, replaced by light panting. You still had your face pressed to Sharky's chest, one side of your face anyway. You had opened your eye on the free side of your face, not looking at anything in particular, just staring straight ahead. This eye is particular was burning a lot right now. Your tense body had relaxed, and you realised that the panic attack you were going through just now had been over. You were trying to regain your composure, meanwhile Sharky was still busy stroking your back with one hand, and your arm with the other.
“And listen, if you ever feel like it’s all too much for ya’ and ya’ need a break, ya’ know where to find me. I’ll let ya’ crash with me as long as ya’ need to and if anyone’s looking for ya’, I won’t say a thing. They can sure as hell keep resisting on their own for a while at least.” As his words came through to you, they warmed your heart and it was the first thing you were able to feel again. You couldn’t contain a chuckle at that and had trouble not to start crying again, this time out of happiness. Hearing you chuckle, he looked down at you, asking “All good now?”
You smiled and lifted one of your hands to your face to wipe away the tears on your cheeks, nodding and sniffling as you did so. You started to raise your body back up, and found that it was harder than expected to drag away from him. In his arms, you felt warm, safe and secure, and although your overwhelming sense of dread had passed, you couldn’t help but think that this whole ideal felt rather nice.
Wiping off the last of the tears, the snot, and the drool you had spilled on your face, you quietly started talking. “I’m sorry.” Your voice was still shaky, this time from weakness and exhaustion instead of bottled up feelings.
“Sorry for what? I’m the one who messed up.”, he asked.
‘For yelling at you. For lashing out at you. For being mad at you, for expecting you to know how I feel.’ You thought of a whole list. In general, you just felt sorry for putting him in this situation, knowing he’s not very good with them. As your eyes looked back to his green sweater, you decided to go with the following though: “Mostly for drooling all over your shirt.” Sharky looked down and noticed the big, dark stains on his sweater, which were most likely tears. He moved his left hand, which had rubbed your arm before, across his upper body in an attempt to wipe it off. It didn’t work and he made some disgusted noises at the sight. It made you laugh once more.
Hearing you laugh made him smile and he looked back at to you. His right hand was still resting on your back, and once done with his wiping motion, he put his left hand back onto your arm, your exposed forearm this time. His touch was warm and soft and made your heart flutter. Surprised at the sensation, you slowly looked back up at him, his face now mere inches away from yours. For the first time, you were able to see his eyes clearly, without being obstructed in any way by his hat too much, and they were the brightest blue color you had ever seen. While making this observation, you felt your cheeks flush. Hypnotised, half closing your eyes, you slowly moved your face closer to his in an attempt to close the gap between the two of you. To your own surprise, he let you.
Just as you started feeling his breath on your mouth, the radio on the TV table, which you had drowned out completely this entire time, started to play Only You by the The Platters. Your eyes ripped back open. You remembered this song. ‘Oh no.’
When the first lyrics started to set in, a piercing pain started to tear through your skull. You jerked back from Sharky's face instantly, grabbing your head and trying to suppress the pain. “Yo, what’s goin’ on?!”, you heard Sharky ask as you inhaled sharply and moaned as lightly as possible due to the pain, trying not to be too obvious. “Hey Dep, talk to me!” He had grabbed one of your shoulders in an attempt to support you. You took a few deep breaths before looking back at him, your head still throbbing.
“It’s - It’s fine, I just… I think I need some more rest, I’m still kinda worn out.” You shot him an apologizing look while trying to push back the pain. You saw it in his face, he was worried and he called your bullshit. But he decided to go with it this time, and you were thankful. “...Right.”, he said and got up from the couch. “You go get some more rest, I’ll just, uh… Wait outside until you’re better.” He started walking out of the room, but you stopped him before he was gone. “Could you, um… Could you maybe turn the radio off, before you go?” He stopped and turned around to look at you while you spoke, after you were done he weakly smiled at you and walked back to the TV table. “Sure.”, he said.
As the radio was turned off, the throbbing pain in your head stopped. There was still a good amount of pain left, but you felt like someone had removed a knife from your skull. You exhaled in relief and let your body drop back into the backseat of the couch, closing your eyes. You thanked Sharky for turning the radio off, but when you opened your eyes again, he had already left the room.
For a few seconds, you stared at the empty doorway he just exited through. Something inside you was aching for him to come back, you wanted to run after him and ask him to stay with you. But he likely had questions, and you knew it. Questions you didn’t want to answer. You already spilled more than enough information.
You sighed wearily and slowly lowered your body back down. As you let your head sink down on the cushion and relieved your neck of the weight of your head, you already felt your headache fade. You closed your eyes and your body then remembered how much it exhausted itself earlier and it didn’t take long until you slowly but steadily drifted off into slumber. Before you did however, you noticed someone walk into the room. Soon after, a thin blanket was spread on top of you, making sure you didn’t have to stay cold. You smiled and mouthed the words Thank You, too tired to speak up.