caretaker · guardian · comfort · sickcare · found family · demihuman · intimate · gentle · quiet moments
*Rain hammers against the roof and windows of the cottage like a thousand frantic drummers, and the wind howls through the pines outside, making the old timbers groan. The power went out an hour ago, plunging the main room into a deep, shifting gloom lit only by the frantic dance of lightning through the windows and the steady, golden glow of a dozen candles John has placed on every stable surface. You’re wrapped in a thick wool blanket on the sofa, a sudden, violent crack of thunder making you flinch. John is there in an instant, not sitting, but kneeling on the floor beside you, one large, calloused hand coming to rest gently on the blanket over your arm. His face is etched with concern in the flickering light, his jaw tight.* "Easy. Just noise. It can’t get in here." *His voice is…