Yale, awakened by the unfamiliar silence, opened his eyes and took in his surroundings as he carefully got up from the sofa he was sleeping on. Looking around, he appeared to be alone. Light poured in from a window above the sofa he had slept on, brightly revealing a small, simply furnished living room with a small kitchen next to it.

Ready to defend himself in the unfamiliar place if need be, he quickly rummaged through the kitchen to find the sharpest knife he could find- only to be interrupted by the sound of a doorknob behind him. In his surprise, he had sliced his hand open, so he held the knife with his less dominant hand. Turning around to face the stranger with it, he was greeted by the wolverine that had offered him food yesterday.

Mildly surprised, Monty placed the grocery bags he brought home on the floor carefully without taking his eyes off of Yale, before putting his hands up as calmly as he could to show he wasn't a threat.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Yale demanded angrily, shakily holding the knife out at the wolverine, ready to attack if he felt it necessary. Despite his good reflexes, he was weak. Since he was weak, he was scared, but he had hoped to bluff Monty into thinking he was more dangerous than he really was.

Monty calmly watched him, wholly aware that he was more upset and nervous than he was.

"You looked like you needed somewhere to go," Monty replied, hands still up, unmoving. "and by that I mean you passed out after we had dinner."

Yale did not let his guard down, but he paused to try and remember the previous night.

"We didn't have dinner." If Yale did not remember something, he did not give the opportunity for the other people involved to fabricate something. Instead of admitting he didn't remember what had happened and exploiting his own vulnerability, he denied the night completely.

Monty was keen on the situation, aware that the tiger was scared and aware he probably would jump out the window rather than attack him.

"Yes we did." Monty spoke as calmly as he could. "You accepted my offer for dinner, we went to a restaurant, we ate, you passed out in your food, someone called 911, medics came, said your vitals were good but the food may have put your body into shock. You ate too quickly and too much. They said if someone kept an eye on you you'd be fine. I assumed you'd rather not be stuck in a hospital so I took you home." Monty swallowed- not because he was nervous, but because he was not used to talking so much.

"That's all." He concluded.

"Someone called 911 on me? I owe a fucking hospital money now? Are you crazy? You should have just thrown me back on the street. I've survived far worse than food poisoning or whatever the hell you said." Yale was obviously stressed, but he finally relaxed his arm and lowered the knife. Relieved, Monty lowered his arms but didn't otherwise move.

"Not food poisoning. Apparently you hadn't eaten for days and tried to make up for lost time by trying to pack it in as quick as you could." Monty paused, but not long enough for Yale to continue. "And don't worry, I took care of the bills. You're all squared up with the hospital."


Yale carelessly dropped the knife on the ground and ran his hand down his face. "Great, so I owe *you*? At least the hospital just wants money, god knows what you want. What do I owe you?"

"What? No, you don't owe me anything." Monty was taken aback and flustered by the tiger's reaction and choice of wording, slightly uneasy at the insinuation the tiger assumed he wanted something other than money.

"It wouldn't be right to just leave someone in trouble like that. You don't owe me anything. I just wanted to make sure you had a safe place to crash while you recovered, that's all."

Yale skeptically watched him, eyeing him head to toe without taking his guard down on the off chance the wolverine would turn on him.

"What's your name?"

"Montegue. Most folks call me Monty. What's yours?"

The tiger frowned and paused for a second before answering.

"Yale."

Monty nodded in understanding, slightly nervous, clearing his throat before talking.

"Hello, Yale. How are you feeling?"

Yale turned his head toward the window but kept an eye on the wolverine, ignoring his question as he went over to the window, putting his hands on it and squinting as he looked out into the rural landscape.

"Where am I? Where is this?"

"My house." Monty sighed with relief as the tiger seemed to relax a little. He bent down to pick up the grocery bags he brought home, carrying them over to the kitchen table, carefully taking things out and putting them away as he continued talking.

"Maybe an hour out from where I picked you up. Quiet out here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I don't know how I feel about it. I can hear every little thing. That's crazy to me. Never heard this kind of quiet before. I can hear myself think, for fuck's sake."

"It's easy to get used to. I do construction work in the city, always nice to come back to somewhere I can hear myself think." Monty replied, putting some fish and meats away in the fridge, every so often taking a glance over at the tiger, who was still looking out the window.

"Yeah, I bet it is." Yale paused. "So you work in the city, huh? Do you like it?"

"I love it." Monty smiled and took a quick glance over at the tiger as he continued to put food away. Monty had a feeling Yale wasn't really keen on listening or taking in what he was saying, but instead just wanted the silence to be filled. Monty happily obliged.

"I moved around here not too recently. The city's new to me. I do construction, fixing broken pipes and whatnot. I love the work. I gotta keep busy."

"I see. You mind if I hitch a ride back to the city with you? I don't even know where on earth I am right now. I don't know how to get back."

Monty frowned to himself. "If you want, I guess."

"If I want? Buddy, it's not like I have a choice. I guess I can walk if I know where I am."

Monty sighed and turned to the tiger as he shut a cabinet, done putting the last of the groceries away.

"Well I just mean, where are you going back to?"

"The city."

"I mean, where in the city?"

"Beats me. I just kind of wander."

"Do you like it?"

Yale turned to face him and frowned in confusion. "It's just how it is. That's just life for me. Doesn't matter if I like it, I got nowhere to go regardless."

"You can stay here if you'd like." Monty nervously offered, worried the tiger would take it the wrong way.

Yale let out a genuine laugh and looked back out the window, interpreting the offer as a joke. "Thanks, pal."

"No, I'm serious. You can stay if you want." Monty paused. "I mean there's no pressure. This must be kind of weird for you. You wake up in the house of someone you don't know and they're offering to let you stay. Sorry about all this."

"What's in it for you?" Yale asked, looking him in the eye without expression, as if it were a trick question.

"What do you mean? I don't want anything, I'm just trying to give you an option if you don't want to go back." He paused. "I came from a big family. If something went wrong, we helped each other out. That's just how it's supposed to be, you know? Someone might need help, you offer them help. Now I don't mean to be presumptuous, so I'm sorry if you're happy enough going along doing what you've been doing. But your health doesn't seem so great and you obviously haven't been eating enough. It's just right of me to offer a change if you want it. I wouldn't force you to stay here, or to go, or to make up your mind right now. You do what you want. You don't know what you want right now, that's fine too."

It was a lot for Yale to take in and react to. This sort of unprecedented kindness and concern for his well-being was something he'd never experienced before. Unfortunately, it was overwhelming to the point he didn't know how to respond, so he was left feeling frustrated with himself.

Monty smiled and changed the subject to something more his speed. "I'll make us breakfast."