I am currently cooking some food for Skeppy and I to eat. He is in the bathroom right now, taking a shower. This gives me some time to collect my thoughts. It is clear that Skeppy is quite uncomfortable talking about himself or what happened that got him in the situation that I found him in. Also, in the short time that I've been interacting with him, I've noticed that Skeppy's behavior is a bit... peculiar. He almost acts like he's emotionless, with his eyes that look almost empty, barely any light in them. The only emotions I've seen him clearly display are fear and discomfort, but then it quickly dissappears and is replaced with numbness. I have a suspicion that he is scared to even speak.

Back when I put the clothes that I got for Skeppy into the bathroom and showed him all the materials that he needed, he just stood there staring at the shower for a few moments. The look that he was giving the shower was like it was foreign to him. After staring at it, he looked at me, and for a split second, it seemed like he wanted to ask something but quickly decided against it. So he just nodded as if stating that he understood, but I had a feeling that it wasn't entirely true. So I asked if he needed anything else, which he quickly denied. Not wanting to push on it, I just accepted it and left him in the bathroom, closing the door on my way out.

So now I'm just waiting for Skeppy to finish his shower. I finish cooking and start serving food for Skeppy and I on plates. I then go ahead and put the plates on the dinner table. The table itself is small, but it is exactly big enough for two people. Upon getting the table ready for dinner, I almost didn't catch the small shuffle of footsteps. I look up to see Skeppy awkwardly peeking out a corner from the hallway, looking straight at me. I offer him a soft, inviting smile, and with my hand, gesture him over to me. I say, "Come on, Skeppy. Dinner is ready."

Skeppy is hesitant for a moment but then comes out of the corner and starts to slowly walk towards me. For a moment, I look over his appearance. He's wearing some old clothes that don't fit me anymore. A simple t shirt along with some sweatpants. He has his arms wrapped around himself in a timid manner. He stops in his tracks once he spots the food on the table. He observes it carefully, almost as if he expects the food to somehow move and start attacking. It makes a nervous feeling come up my spine. I take turns from looking at Skeppy and then back at the food, trying to figure out what's wrong. After a moment, I ask, "Is... there something wrong with the food? Do you not like it?"

Skeppy snaps out of his intense, staring at the food, and then looks at me nervously. He says, "Oh- um, nothing's wrong. Sorry..."

"It's fine. Now, come and sit down. The food will get cold if you wait too long."

Skeppy nods and walks over to a chair. I get to the other one and sit down on it, Skeppy sitting on his own chair soon after. We stay there sitting for a few seconds in awkward silence. Skeppy still has his arms wrapped around his body and is just staring at his food, occasionally glancing up to look at me. Meanwhile, I'm just staring at him, waiting to see if he'll eat. But I quickly realize that maybe he feels too awkward to be the first one to start eating right now. Maybe if I start eating, he'll get comfortable enough to do the same.

So, I grab my utensil and start to eat. I notice that Skeppy watches me eat, but I decide to act oblivious to his staring. After a moment of carefully watching me eat, it seems to give him some confidence because he unwraps an arm around himself and grabs his own utensil to bring the first piece of food to his mouth. He stops for a split second before he puts the food in his mouth, holding the utensil halfway in the air. But then quickly decides to take his first bite of food before he loses confidence.

After a split second of him chewing the food in his mouth, he suddenly freezes in place, his eyes widening. After his sudden lack of movement, I started to worry that something was wrong. Does he not like the food? Is he actually allergic to something in the food? Dang it- I should have asked if he was allergic to something. I should have known that when he started to stare at the food, something was wrong- Suddenly, my panicked thoughts get cut off at the sound of Skeppy letting out a small whine. My brain shortcircuits at the sound. You see, normally whines are sad, mildly annoying, a form of protest, and are meant for complaining. But for some reason, the whine that Skeppy made just sounded almost... happy, as if filled with relief.

I look up to see Skeppy with a face that could be described as him being pleasantly surprised. Suddenly, Skeppy starts moving again. He chews on the piece of food that is in his mouth and swallows it. Quickly, he gets another piece of food and puts it in his mouth, making a sound of appreciation come out of his mouth. It almost sounds like a squeak. The fact that he made these kinds of sounds because of the food is considerably weird. But, if you ignore the part that it is weird, then these noises are kind of... cute, to be honest. I watch for a moment as Skeppy munches on the food with newfound energy, not noticing that I'm staring. Honestly, the sight brings a smile to my face. The view is a nice change from the gloomy and timid Skeppy that I've been seeing so far.

Without saying a word, I just look back down to my food and pretend like nothing happened as I start to munch on my own food. After a while, we finish our plates of food. Even though I served Skeppy a smaller portion of food since he is so skinny, I honestly thought that he wasn't going to be able to finish all of it. Maybe he likes the food a lot? After a hesitant moment, I ask, "Did you like the food?"

Skeppy immediately nods his head and says, "Mhm! It was very delicious!"

For a split second, I thought I saw Skeppy's eyes have a bit of light in them, a sparkle if you will. It looked endearing. I barely caught sight of it as it quickly went away after it appeared. After I watch for a bit as Skeppy calms down from his surprising excitement, I tentatively ask, "Hey, Skeppy... do you have anywhere to go to? Or someone you know whom you can go to?"

Skeppy gets stiff at that. He stays quiet for a moment before sadly shaking his head. I raise an eyebrow at that. I say, "Really? You don't have a home or something?"

Again, he shakes his head. Well, that's a problem. I was going to take him to his home once I made sure that the head injury won't reopen, but how can I do that if he's telling me that he has nowhere to go to? I stay quiet to think for a bit. I then make an important decision. I slowly say, "You know Skeppy... if you really don't know where else to go, then you can stay here with me at my house for as long as you need until you can properly get your life back together. Whatever happened to you... I know that it must have been traumatic, so you need some kind of support before you are ready to take care of yourself fully."

Skeppy perks up at that, looking just a tad bit hopeful. He says, "...Really? You're willing to do that for me?"

I suck in a breath at that. This is quite an abrupt decision, isn't it? It probably isn't the best idea to let some random stranger live in my house. Especially considering how I'm not much of a people person. Even though I'm a doctor, I like to have my privacy and solitude. It'll be a bit hard with someone else living with me. It's going to be a bit of a sacrifice for me, but I think I can handle it. After all, Skeppy seems to be harmless and rather helpless. Who knows what the guy has been through. I'll just have to hope that he'll be able to collect himself together, figure things out, and heal himself both physically and mentally as fast as possible so things can go back to normal. Cause I don't think I can afford to have someone live with me for too long. I give Skeppy a reassuring smile and say, "Yes, I'm sure."

Skeppy looks like he wants to cry, but he is able to hold back any tears from forming in his eyes. He looks down and says in a small voice, "Thank you... so much."

I would lie if I said that that didn't pull on my heartstrings a bit. We stay in silence for a moment. I watch as Skeppy continues to have his arms wrapped around his body, occasionally rubbing his hand up and down. After watching the action, a thought occurs in my head. I ask, "Are you cold?"

Skeppy looks up at me and mumbles out, "Yeah..."

So that's why he's been having his arms wrapped around himself. I thought that he did it because he's timid. God, I'm such an idiot. I get up and say, "Wait here for a moment."

I quickly go over to my bedroom and search in my closet. I rummage deep into one of the cabinets, looking for something specific. Where is it- oh! I take out an old cyan hoodie that I don't fit in anymore. It looks relatively new since I didn't wear it much. It might be a bit too big for Skeppy's skinny figure, but I'm sure he won't mind, right? Plus, if he's really cold, then he can cover more of his body with the hoodie in order to stay warm, right? I nod to myself, satisfied, and head out of my room. I walk back to Skeppy, who is still sitting down, waiting patiently at the dinner table. He looks up at me once I stand next to him. With a warm smile, I hand him the hoodie and say, "Here, this is for you."

Skeppy gently takes the hoodie from my hands and stares at it for a second before his eyes furrow in momentary confusion. He looks up at me and says, "For me?"

Ah, right. I didn't exactly tell him that he could keep these clothes. I say, "Yeah, it's yours now. Along with the other clothes that you're wearing. I haven't worn them in a long time. So they might as well be put into use."

Skeppy slightly widens his eyes in surprise. He then looks back down at the hoodie, and my stomach drops, but in a pleasant way, at what I see next. Skeppy has a small, half smile across his face, kind of like the mona lisa. Small but genuine. A pleasant sight. And for the third time today, Skeppy says, "Thank you."

He then goes ahead to put the hoodie on. The hoodie is indeed a bit big on him. The sleeves almost cover his whole hand so he could easily make sweater paws if he wanted to. He doesn't have his arms wrapped around his body anymore. His hands are now lying steadily on his lap. He isn't smiling anymore, but he doesn't look uncomfortable either like he has been looking most of the time that I've known him for. Right now, he looks comfortable and grateful. Perhaps even peaceful. If this is how easy it will be to make him happy and comfortable, then it might not be so bad to have him around for a while. Because if I'm being honest... seeing him relaxed instead of scared and tense is kind of nice.