[A series of emotions runs through him, obvious on both his face and if she's reaching out to sense him - a conflict between feeling like he's invading this private space and a desperate longing for something like this to belong to, gratitude at her kindness but still a fear that she'll be hurt because of him, a desire to sit by the fire and get dry but also to clean up in the bath so he won't get her house any dirtier, the accompanying headache from thoughts flying a million miles a second and trying to process everything happening to him with very little context for it all, and above all the emotional exhaustion of dealing with the past few hours.
Cleaning up is a nice, simple way to start, if he can figure it out.]
Thank you.
[He loosens his grip on her hand so he can step into the deep bath, gasping a little at its warmth and then quickly immersing his whole body - no need to undress, as he isn't wearing anything. He'd picked up a bit of a chill from the rain, but it normalizes quickly in the water. Some of the larger chunks of mud and plant matter begin to drift loosely off, but he doesn't seem to recognize what the soap and washcloth are for.
He closes his eyes and lets himself breathe in the warm vapor for a few moments. When he speaks again, the words are still a bit slurred, but noticeably better than they were before.]
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Cleaning up is a nice, simple way to start, if he can figure it out.]
Thank you.
[He loosens his grip on her hand so he can step into the deep bath, gasping a little at its warmth and then quickly immersing his whole body - no need to undress, as he isn't wearing anything. He'd picked up a bit of a chill from the rain, but it normalizes quickly in the water. Some of the larger chunks of mud and plant matter begin to drift loosely off, but he doesn't seem to recognize what the soap and washcloth are for.
He closes his eyes and lets himself breathe in the warm vapor for a few moments. When he speaks again, the words are still a bit slurred, but noticeably better than they were before.]
Why are you helpin' me?