“What,” Kiem said. “Jainan, you f-fought off a bear.” He tried to shove his hands back into his pockets; one of his nearly numb fingers caught on the fabric, and he suppressed a grunt of pain.

A complicated mix of emotions had risen on Jainan’s face, but that wiped them away and replaced them with concern. “You should get inside.”

Out of habit, Kiem said, “We should eat out here where there’s space—”

“Inside, ” Jainan said, with an edge to his tone that Kiem hadn’t heard from him before. Kiem half grinned through another convulsive shiver and did as he said.

It was no warmer in the tent, but the two sleeping bags Jainan had laid out covered the floor and made it look so inviting, Kiem’s tiredness was suddenly

impossible to fight. He gave up wrestling with the door flap and fell from his knees facedown on the cushioned fabric. It was damp with melted snow. He didn’t care.

Behind him, Jainan was politely trying to move Kiem’s feet so he could fasten the door flap shut. Kiem groaned because moving seemed like a mountainous effort, but he recognized he was being a pain. He managed to roll over, sit up, and make a half-hearted tug at his boot. His hands still weren’t working; it slipped out of his grasp. The friction hurt. That was when the tired misery he’d kept at bay tipped into something like panic.

“Let me.”

Kiem opened his eyes from his frustrated grimace to say, What? but Jainan was already crouching over his feet and freeing the fasteners. His hand slipped around Kiem’s ankle and held it while he tugged the boot free. Every movement was gentle.

You don’t have to do this was on the tip of Kiem’s tongue, but he couldn’t say it. He’d be in serious trouble if Jainan had decided not to come along on the trip in the first place. He couldn’t even make his bloody fingers work properly, and if he didn’t warm up soon, he was in the danger zone for frostbite and hypothermia. Instead he said fervently, “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Jainan stopped momentarily in the act of setting Kiem’s boots aside. Kiem worried he’d just offended him, but Jainan’s glance at him was thoughtful and somehow pleased. “Mm,” he said. “You’re not going to get any warmer lying on top of the cover.”

Kiem took the hint. He managed to strip off his wet trousers and underlayers himself—it hurt, but there was no way he was going to make Jainan feel he had to do that. Besides, pain was probably a good sign; at least his hands weren’t entirely numb. His legs felt like lead. He climbed into the sleeping bag and zipped it up behind him through sheer force of will.