Beta'ed by 'xlinnex' aka 'AmbiguousThoughts.'

x x x

Chapter 4

After he had spoken, he watched as the hybrid jumped into a sitting position, beautiful glasz colored eyes moving to where he stood as its ears perked forward and its tail stood straight and bristled. When he made no sign of moving or intending to speak again, he noticed that the hybrid started to relax a little. It seemed to look him over curiously before shivering lightly.

Instinctively he moved forward to wrap it back up in the blanket only to be startled a second later when the poor thing reacted on its own instinct and tried to quickly scramble away from him only to then tumble off of the other side of his bed with a frightened yelp. A worried frown creased his brow as he waited to see if it was okay.

When a few minutes had passed and the hybrid had neither resurfaced nor gave any sounds of distress or pain, he tried calling out to it. Again receiving no response, he took a quick, calming breath before slowly moving to the end of his bed so he could get a better view. He found it curled up on the floor, eyes closed and trembling. At least until it seemed to hear his approach. Its ears twitched at his footsteps, eyes shooting open before it quickly sat up again. Catching the sight of tears filling those wide eyes, he quickly stopped moving and held his hands up in a surrendering gesture.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just...," he offered in a low voice while slowly reaching for the heated blanket then kneeling on the floor. Their eyes stayed locked on each other as he pushed at the blanket, sliding it across the hardwood floor until it landed against pale feet.

It jumped at the touch, wide eyes falling to the blanket now at its feet.

"It will keep you warm," he offered, sure that it knew what a blanket was for, but feeling that he needed to say that not only to encourage the hybrid to use it, but to show what his intentions were as well. He only wanted to help.

Glasz eyes moved from the blanket to his face and then back again. After one more glance at his face, it slowly reached down to the blanket, cautiously pulling it up and snuggling into it. He couldn't help the relieved smile that fell over his face at the sight. It turned slightly amused when the hybrid released a surprised trill after it seemed to realize that it was electronically heated.

Watching it for a few minutes, he was reminded of some of the things he had brought from his kitchen when he heard a hungry tummy growl loudly. At the pained wince the hybrid gave, he got quickly to his feet, only pausing when wide eyes shot to him in alarm. Right. It was best to move slowly.

Gingerly making his way over to his nightstand, he grabbed a couple of the boxes he had placed there and went back to the spot he had been in, kneeling down before placing the boxes on the floor. With wide eyes watching him curiously, he carefully moved one of the boxes forward before pushing at it so it too slid across the floor until it bumped against blanketed feet. It didn't jump this time, just stared.

"Drink it. It will help your tummy," he said gently when it made no move to touch the Pedialyte he had passed it.

It didn't reach for it at all nor did it look back at him again. He was about to comment on it before deciding to try something else. Getting slowly to his feet he quietly left the room to go to his kitchen. Maybe it would drink it when he wasn't there, staring at it. He could also get it some of the chicken noodle soup he had specially made for it.

Gathering three small bowls that was more broth than noodle and chicken, he set them up on a tray, adding a warm glass of milk as an after thought, before picking it up and going back to his room. Another smile found him when he saw that his idea had worked and he couldn't help the small chuckle that found its way through his lips when he took in how it had decided to drink it. Instead of fighting with the straw it had simply punctured the box like a vampire.

He instantly felt bad when it dropped the box at his laugh, shrinking away from his approach. Sighing, he knelt again and set the tray down in front of him. Grabbing the other box of Pedialyte, he pushed it forward then moved to sit, crossing his legs.

"Drink that and you can have some of this," he said lightly while waving a hand over the soup.

A small whimper rose from the hybrid's throat as it just stared at him for a minute before wary eyes turned to the juice. It took a few minutes more but finally a pale hand escaped the warmth of the blanket and picked up the box, bringing it to chapped lips so sharp fangs could sink in. He kept his gaze fixated on the soup while it drank and when he heard the empty box touch the floor, he smiled and took a bowl from the tray before carefully sliding it over.

When the sounds of light slurping reached his ears, he smiled again and leaned back on his hands. This was really starting to work out well.

"My name is Cooper Anderson," he offered to the silence, figuring it was only polite to introduce himself now. "What's yours?"

Their eyes met at the question, but the hybrid didn't answer, looking away shyly a few seconds later. He let it go. He didn't need an answer though it would have been nice.

"I work as a vet. I find it very rewarding," he continued speaking, laughing a little when he received a questioning look. He understood where the confusion lay. "It's a type of doctor—an animal doctor. My field lies in hybrids like yourself."

Understanding filled those unique blue eyes as the now empty bowl was lowered from broth-slicked lips and set gently on the floor. He took in how the hybrid looked a little more lively now with approval and slid over a second bowl of soup. It stared at the second bowl with surprise before reaching for it and bringing it to its lips.

Silence fell over them, other than the slurping, for a few minutes until that too became silent. He was just about to ask if something was wrong since it was too soon for it to be finished when he was surprised by the silence being broken by something else.

"Kurt."

The voice was lighter and higher than he had expected but that didn't matter. Because it had finally said something! Looking over at the hybrid he felt something tug at his heart when he took in how shy eyes looked up at him through long lashes and how there was a piece of noodle stuck on a pale chin.

"Sorry?" he whispered, wondering if he could get it to speak more.

"Kurt." It simply repeated. But that was fine. Because at least he now knew its name.

-Chapter 4 End-