Brothers

“Ptew!”

Stark perked his ears up, the tiny little sneeze from across the room all too audible to him. He glanced across the little cabin the two had found abandoned. In front of the fire, wrapped up in a blanket, and still shivering, Shirako was rubbing his nose. Within a moment, Stark we kneeling next to him with a rag. There wasn’t anything else to serve as a tissue, but it would do. “I’ll find another in a little bit,” Stark said, worriedly feeling Shirako’s forehead for any hint of a fever. His fur was a little damp, but a towel wasn’t going to help as much as the warm fire. At least the moisture itself wasn’t freezing cold anymore.

Stark got back to his feet and hurried over to the little kitchenette, still shivering himself but nowhere near the state that Shirako was in. On the stove, he had hot milk boiling, with some chocolate on the side ready to stir in.

This wasn’t how he’d wanted to spend the evening with these drinks, but he was really grateful he’d thought to bring them. Otherwise Shirako might’ve been in for a much rougher night. Soon enough, the hot cocoa was made, and he brought it over. Once Stark sat down and handed Shirako the drink, the younger Xero set it aside, and pulled Stark closer, almost forcefully, so that he could toss the blanket around him. Stark couldn’t help but snuggle in and pull the rest of the blanket around him, the heat making him instinctually draw himself closer. Shirako had done a good job of soaking up heat from the fire, and the almost painful relief of the heat made Stark realize he wasn’t faring particularly well either.

“Thank you,” he muttered, though he didn’t make eye contact. At least not until Shirako reached over and booped his snout, snickering quietly. Much as the gesture warmed his heart, looking at him brought his sense of guilt to a head. “I’m sorry for all this. I should’ve planned better, known that-” Pap!

Stark blinked, the brief sting on his nose startling him. Shirako followed up by hugging him with one arm, and using his other to grab the hot cocoa and take a sip. Stark quickly reached over to grab the blanket and save it from slipping off of Shirako’s shoulder.

Stark got the message, and smiled softly. His smile widened when Shirako took another sip before offering the hot cocoa up to his “brother.” Even Shirako recognized that he needed the hot drink almost as much as the younger Xero did. He took the drink, took a little sip, and winced as the heat painfully forced the cold away from his core, a sort of reverse chill searing through his body. But he felt much better for it. “Hope we don’t end up stuck here.”

Shirako made a few twirling motions with his hands. Not quite a clean form of sign language, but for as long as he and Stark had been together, the elder Xero could understand him with ease: We won’t be here very long.

“Maybe. We’ll have to see in the morning. It might not stop snowing, so even if it’s clear in the morning, we might need help to get out.”
Another pap from Shirako. “Stop worrying,” he motioned with his paws. Then he wiggled his nose, inhaled- “Ptew!” Stark snickered, huddling closer to him and tightening the blanket around them. Much as he hated to see Shirako in such a state, the sound of him sneezing was adorable.

“Wait here.” Stark set down the hot cocoa in front of Shirako, who eagerly picked it up to get a sip. Stark shuffled out from under the blanket, and moved over to the little furniture behind them, where they had piled up a bunch of blankets. He grabbed as many as he could.

As Shirako watched, Stark set up a little nest of blankets around them, and the effects were almost immediate. They helped capture the heat of the fire. “Time for bed?” Shirako motioned. Stark’s yawn was enough of an answer. As soon as he plopped back down, Shirako pulled him beneath the blankets.

“Sleep well,” Shirako traced the words on Stark’s paw, the older Xero already closing his eyes and drifting to sleep. He’d exhausted himself caring for Shirako, and finally the day caught up to him. It was Shirako’s turn to watch for a little while.