Harry's eyes slowly opened. He was...dry now...And comfy...Whatever he way lying on, it was comfy... Still half asleep and dead to the world, the tiny boy snuggled closer into the thing he was lying on.
Moka's eyes fluttered open not long afterwards, and she looked around in surprise.
"What...Happened?" She asked softly.
"You're an idiot, that's what happened!" Her inner self snapped. "What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!" Moka frowned...then remembered.
"Oh my gosh! The little boy!"
Harry heard someone speaking, and his head snapped upward, only to be met with the worrying face of Moka, who was looking around for him. Seeing that he was sleeping on a stranger, Harry started to shake and then crawled away from her as silently as he could.
'OH GOD WHERE IS HE!?' Moka screamed in her head, much to her counterparts dismay.
'Will you shut up?!' Inner Moka snapped in irritation. 'You're giving me a headache!'
Outer Moka pouted. 'But I have to find-" Moka was then interrupted when she saw something moving.
Moka breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the little boy from earlier, trying to weakly crawl away. She quickly rose to her feet and approached him at a brisk pace.
Harry flinched when he heard foot steps, and looked up as Moka came up to his side.
The pink-haired vampire smiled warmly at the little boy and bent over, putting her hands on her knees. "Hello, sweetie." She said gently. "What's your name?"
Harry flinched from how close she got to him. "H-H-Harry." He replied as he started to shake in fear.
Moka closed her eyes, tilted her head and giggled. 'He's so cute.' she thought to herself. "Hello Harry, my name is Moka. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"H-Hi, Miss Moka..." Harry replied.
"Aw, you're such a cutie." Moka said, patting the child's head. "Harry...Why were you all alone in that storm? And why aren't you dressed for that kind of weather?" Harry looked down at the ground.
"Well...Um...I...I..."
'That stuttering is getting on my nerves.' Inner Moka said, an irritated undertone in her voice.
Outer Moka adopted an annoyed expression with tick marks. 'Will you be nice?! He could have died out there in that awful cold!'
Inner Moka opened her mouth to retort, but thought better of it. She didn't mean to say terrible things that hurt others' feelings, she just spoke her mind. Nothing wrong with that...right?
Moka, for her part, turned her attention back to Harry, placing a hand on his cheek. "It's okay, sweetie. Go ahead and tell me why you were out there." Harry sighed and looked at the ground.
"M-My aunt and uncle didn't want me anymore..."
Outer Moka gasped. "What!? Why wouldn't they want you anymore?!" She asked him. Inner Moka stayed silent, curious about the reason why they would abandon the child in front of them. Harry looked down sadly.
"I-Its because I'm a useless, ugly freak that no one would ever love or care about." Harry admitted to her, closing his eyes in preparation for her to reject him too.
Moka raised a hand to her mouth in shock, tearing up slightly. Inner Moka's eyes widened upon hearing those words.
'...Maybe I SHOULD be a little more tolerant of him...' Inner mused quietly.
Outer Moka slowly reached towards the little boy...then, she snatched him up in her arms and held him tight.
Harry was shocked by her sudden hug assault and tried to struggle. However, her grip was so strong, it would be impossible for him to escape. After awhile, he gave up on struggling and realized how comfortable her hug was. 'It...it feels so nice...' Harry thought as he placed his head on her chest and listened to her heart beat.
Moka was teary eyed after hearing what Harry said. 'What kind of evil people would do something like that to such a cute, sweet, innocent boy...?' She thought, a few tears streaming down her face.
Inner Moka remained silent. She would never admit it...but she did have some sympathy for the little boy in her outer form's arms.
They stayed like that for a few minutes...Then, Harry sneezed three times, and sniffled.
"Oh no! The storm last night made you sick!" Moka said as she picked him up and placed him on the couch. The vampire sprinted out of the room, then came back almost instantly and tucked the child under a thick blanket. "I'll get you some things for that cold and I'll be right back!" Moka said as she walked out of the room to get something to help him get better.
Harry watched as the pretty pink-haired woman left the room, then snuggled into the thick blanket. He let a small smile grace his features. He liked the pretty woman. She was nice.
Moka was currently looking through her medicine cabinet for something to give to the sleeping child to ease his cold.
'Why do you care so much, anyway?' Inner Moka asked. 'It's not like it's our problem.'
Moka sighed at her other self. 'He needs our help. And I'm not about to let the cute little thing fend for himself out there.' Inner Moka's eyes widened. What was she implying with that? Outer Moka took some cold medicine out of the cabinet, then went into the kitchen, and opened the cupboards. She smiled with relief. 'Oh good, we have some chicken noodle soup...That might help.'
'Why do we have that again?'
'Just because you don't like human food doesn't mean I don't.'
She set to work preparing the soup, and as it cooked, she went into the living room to find Harry happily lying on the couch. She smiled warmly, then took a seat next to him and pulled out the box of cold medicine she had taken from the medicine cabinet.
"Okay, sweetie, this medicine should help with your cold, okay?"
Harry nodded as Moka took the cap off the medicine and poured some of it into a small, plastic medicine cup. She handed it to Harry with a smile. "Here you go, drink this and you'll be better in no time...though it will taste a bit bitter." Moka told him as he took the cup and nodded in understanding.
He looked at the purple liquid nervously before putting it to his lips and chugging it down in one fell swoop.
Harry grimaced, not liking the taste of the medicine one bit. Moka put a hand over her mouth and giggled.
"I told you it'd be bitter." She said, smiling warmly. "Don't worry. I have some nice hot soup on the stove, so you'll have that taste out of your mouth very soon."
"...Why are you being so nice to me?" Harry asked softly.
Moka looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Why would you help an unlovable freak like me?" Harry repeated, his head hanging low.
Moka gave him a sad smile as she hugged him. "Because everyone deserves a chance for happiness." She told him gently. "Besides, you're so adorable!" Moka said happily as she started to nuzzle his face.
Harry flinched at the nuzzle at first, thinking she was going to headbutt him, but then leaned closer into it when he realized it didn't hurt.
The embrace was interrupted by a loud whistling sound. "Oh, the soup is ready!" Moka rose to her feet, placing Harry back on the couch. "Just wait here for one second, sweetheart." Harry nodded, and the young woman left the room.
She dashed for the kitchen and to the stove where the whistling soup was. She quickly turned off the stove and carefully took the pan off the burner. "Looks like I made it just in time." Moka said as she examined the soup to make sure that it didn't burn on the bottom. She walked over to a cabinet and opened it up to reveal nice looking bowls, which she took one of and closed the cabinet.
She went back into the living room carrying a big bowl of soup, then placed in on the table and sat on the couch next to Harry. She smiled, then grabbed the spoon and blew gently on the hot soup to cool it, then moved it towards the little boy's mouth.
"Open wide!" She said cheerfully. Harry obediently opened his mouth, and Moka placed the spoon inside it, allowing him to slurp up the spoonful of soup.
His eyes opened wide after he had that first taste of chicken noddle soup. Moka saw his expression and looked worried. "Are you okay Harry? Was it too hot for you?" Moka asked him, only for him to shake his head no before looking at her.
"No Miss Moka, t's just that...it's the best thing I ever had." Harry admitted.
Moka gave him a sad look. This simple bowl of chicken noodle soup was the best thing he'd ever had? Just what kind of life had he been living before she found him? Placing the spoon back in the bowl, the vampire gave him a hug.
"Later I'll see if I can find something even better, okay?" She knew she had some ice cream in the freezer, and he would love that...
"You don't need to do that for me if you don't want to." Harry told her. "I love your soup, I don't need anything else."
Moka smiled warmly and placed a hand on his cheek.
"Yes, Harry, I know I don't HAVE to...I'm going to do it because I want to." And then, she leaned down and planted a tender, loving kiss on the boy's forehead.
Harry didn't know what to say. All he could do is stare in shock from how much affection she was showing to him in so little time. "Th-thank you." Was all Harry could say to the pink haired lady that was doing so much for him at the moment.
Moka retreated from his head and smiled. "You're welcome..." She said softly. She gently fed the little boy the rest of his soup, then smiled lovingly at him. "There we go. All gone. Feel better?" Harry smiled and nodded, feeling slightly better. Moka smiled. "Well then, now for that treat I was talking about." She said before getting up and walking around the couch and heading back to the kitchen. "I promise you'll love it." Moka called out as she walked further away.
Moka hummed merrily to herself as she fished the ice cream from the freezer and went to get another bowl.
'Don't you think you're getting a little too attached? I mean, we can't keep him forever.'
'Why not?'
'...What?'
'...I've decided I wanna keep him.'
Inner Moka was shocked by what she just heard. '...You want to KEEP him?'
'Yup, and you're not gonna change my mind.' And with that, the pink-haired other went back to humming cheerfully. 'I hope he likes peanut butter and chocolate ice cream... She thought as she scooped the frozen dessert into a bowl. She picked the bowl up, and cheerfully strode into the living room. "I hope you like ice cream!" She sang.