The boy remained silent as Artemus swaddled him with a quilt and brought him to sit by the fire, he pressed a mug of hot cocoa into the child's hands, cupping the boy's hands in his own around the warm ceramic to chase away the chill settled into the boy's skin.
Artemus kept an eye on the child as he retreated to his bathroom to draw warm water, not hot, Artemus knew how damaging hot water could be against winter bitten skin.
He caught the boy sipping the cocoa slowly, his expression, a look of bliss as the sweet, creamy drink warmed his belly. It was probably the sweetest thing the child had ever had…
Artemus took the boy to bathe only once the mug of cocoa was emptied and the cold of winter was chased from his bones.
Artemus wasn't surprised to see just how pale the young lad was. Fair skin was a most common enough trait in the city, with her long winters and cool summers, the sun was often considered a myth.
But the contrast between how dark the filth clinging to the boy's hands, and the paleness of the flesh below was jarring for the young Keeper…
The child didn't struggle as Artemus stripped him out of the filthy rags he wore, he didn't flinch as he was made to step into the warm water, he didn't make a sound, though he did cry as Artemus began to scrub and lather his too thin, too frail body with soaps…
Artemus could only imagine the horrors the boy faced out in the streets. Guilt chewed at the Keepers bones as he drained the blackened water, refilling it anew while the boy sobbed silently and allowed the strange man who had taken him to continue his task…
There was fire in the boy's eyes, it burned and flickered with wrath and hatred and fear… But there was something deeper too. Something dark and knowing.
Artemus took no pleasure in the child's fear, thought he could imagine many other, horrible, horrible monsters who would… Who most likely had.
There was surprise in the boy's eyes when Artemus offered to cook him a meal while he finished cleaning himself.
Though there was no verbal response, the boy nodded, gratitude and unfathomable relief flooded the child's expression as Artemus removed himself from the side of the bathtub.
The first meal Artemus served the boy was warm and light, filling. Comforting…
The boy continued to sob as he ate, his hands quaking as he brought the spoon to his mouth and sipped the soup… He was well mannered for a street rat Artemus found himself thinking as he watched the child wipe his mouth with a napkin…
When all was said, done and consumed, Artemus gathered their dishes and offered the child his bed.
The boy hiccuped a sob, a single gasped, half-choked noise as his legs shook. His eyes fell to the floor as his hands shakily began to unbutton the shirt Artemus had found for him.
The Keeper knelt before the boy and took his hands, halting their quivering actions silently.
"I will sleep on the chair." The young Keeper said quietly, reassuringly. "I want nothing from you young one… Nothing."
The boy offered no words, but his eyes flickered.
'Everyone wants something…'
Artemus knew the look regretfully well, and not even he could deny the statement…
Still, he brought the boy to his bedchambers, tucked him into the bed, the bed which seemed to swallow the young boy whole.
Artemus took a seat at the edge of the bed, just beside the child's hip, he reached out slowly to press his palm to the child's forehead before he tossed another log into the fireplace and left.
Leaving the door ajar as he vacated to the chair by the other fire.
He dozed the entire night, never falling too far into slumber lest the boy need him… And lest the boy attempt to slip away in the dead of night.
It came as no surprise that Artemus awoke… 'Awoke' before the child.
When the young Keeper peered into his room come morning, he found the boy curled up with the quilt he had wrapped around his shoulders, snug and warm beneath the short sofa near the fire.
Dead asleep.
Artemus was more surprised by the fact that the boy hadn't tried to escape and despite his desire to return the boy to the bed, Artemus knew he would risk waking the boy.
He let him be for the time being.
Breakfast was a quiet affair, the boy slunk from the bedchamber, quilt still draped over his shoulders, the too big shirt Artemus had found him hung to his knobby knees, just as Artemus was about to rouse him to see if he was hungry.
The young Keeper spoke to the boy softly as he ate, attempting to draw a response from him…
Other than brief flickers of eye contact, a nod or shake of the head, the boy gave Artemus little to work with…
"I must return to my duties…" The young Keeper finally admitted once the dishes were cleaned and put away.
The young you looked up to Artemus, eyes wide and dark and afraid.
"I will return at noon." Artemus continued, he couldn't tell if his words brought comfort or not…
"I… I will be locking the door once I leave so you do not wander."
A glistening look of betrayal flickered across the boy's dark, dark eyes.
"Believe me when I tell you that you are safe here." Artemus sighed, "You… You should probably rest more…"
The young Keeper reached out to the boy, slowly, slowly, pausing as he flinched at the initial contact of Artemus' hand.
"I'll be back…" Artemus promised softly, squeezing the small shoulder gently.
"I'll be back."
Artemus stayed with the child whenever and for however long he could for the first few weeks, even going as far as to drag his duties to his bedchambers whenever possible.
Though, unfortunately often, his tasks tore him away from his chambers, and consequently the boy, for long, seemingly endless hours. But even then, he always made sure to check up on the boy, he was after all Artemus' responsibilities, and the Keeper would damn him if he allowed his new charge to go hungry...
Their first bout of separation, the brief time Artemus was forced to stand before his superiors and receive his penance for not only shirking his work, but also abandoning his partner, had been jarringly successful.
Artemus had returned at noon, just as promised, to find the child curled up in Artemus' armchair, smothered in his quilt, cozy and warm…
They sat together, quietly, and ate lunch, the boy was silent and no sooner had Artemus began to collect their dishes did the boy return to the armchair and snuggle down once again…
It took nearly two weeks before the child spoke.
Artemus had returned to his chambers late one eve after a grueling day out in the library searching for some ancient tome some student had carelessly misplaced.
A late dinner from the main hall in his hand and an apology at the ready as he unlocked his chamber door. He maybe expected his charge to be sat at the armchair or perhaps back in his bedchambers already asleep. What Artemus was not expecting was the boy ready and waiting at the door.
Artemus expertly balanced the plate holding their supper in one hand as he snagged the boy, not by the scruff of the long cloak he was wearing, stolen, Artemus' mind supplied, but by the hem of the shirt below.
He tugged the boy back into the room, kicking the door closed behind him before asking where exactly the young boy thought he was going.
The child paused at that, not because he was caught off guard by the question but because Artemus had unwittingly called him Sámhach, the name Artemus had been calling the boy in his head for the past few days…
Quiet was what the boy was, so quiet was what Artemus had named him.
"My name is Garrett." The boy hissed coolly, his voice rough with disuse, his eyes burning as he looked up to the Keeper.
Strength, resilience.
Both fitting for such a child.