Thane gently holds my hand as Fern walks in with a cup of hot "tea". I take it will a grateful smile and blow on it. The old man snacks on cookies as he yells out "You have to drink it while it's hot." We all turn to look at him with a mixture of emotions.
Thane's eyelid twitches as he bites out "Anything else we should know, old man?" The old man shoves the last bit of the cookie into his mouth as he makes a "thoughtful" expression. He thinks for a minute and shrugs before going back for another cookie.
I struggle not to laugh as I lift the cup and quickly down the whole thing. It burns all the way down but the burning soon fades into a comfortable warmth. The warmth flows all the way to the tips of my toes and fingers. I hadn't realized just how cold I really was until now.