He had started to drift off moment after Kijani ran off in search of the old horse blanket. It was getting harder and harder for Victor to stay awake, and the effort of keeping his eyes open was simply too much without some sort of stimulus. The former soldier couldn’t recall any time in his life where he had been so exhausted. With his back against the wall and the heap of burlap sacks over his body, Victor’s head started to loll forward sleepily. How simple it would be just to sleep… just for a few minutes… That couldn’t hurt, could it?

The sound of Kijani’s voice jerked him awake again, his head snapping up to then wobble unsteadily upon his neck. It took several blinks before he could start to focus on the young woman. The itchy blanket being wrapped about him brought a little more warmth to his ice cold limbs, but it was not enough to fully rouse him once more. Kijani was saying something, that much was clear! But what?

“Story?” Victor finally mumbled. The memory of her reading to him on the hill came floating back to him through the haze of the hypothermia, and he suddenly found himself longing for the sound of her voice. Kijani’s voice was nearly as beautiful as she was. The sweet sounds of her voice were sure to keep him awake; Victor nodded and gasped out, “Y-yes. Story, pl-please? About you. Something.., warm… and nice… in the sun…

Lifting his head to meet her gaze, some remaining spark of rational thought saw her shiver and sneeze beneath the her own collection of burlap sacks. That was not good. Not good at all! He was her host, and he should be seeing to her safety and comfort! Instead, she was freezing as well. Perhaps not as much as he was at the moment, he wryly thought to himself, as she hadn’t been the one to keep pushing herself even after they reached the safety of the mill. But regardless, they both needed warmth. The mill had nothing in which they could build a fire, either.

With a trembling hand, he pulled back one corner of the blanket for her. “G-get under first. There’s enough sacks b-b’tween us… Safe enough…” Victor gave a weak chuckle. “You’re more… more a threat to me… than me to you!”