Moonsong Glacier In Berlin

The process of stumbling to a safe place was something he would not remember the next day, but the offer of hospitality was taken with gratitude. He followed the woman, still wondering how the hawk-eyed guardian had come to befriend a bird. Along the way, he thanked Ariadne with slurred but honest appreciation. For all of his fumbling and stumbling, he was at least a friendly drunk. 

The man reappeared, and Leith lapped up the water from the shell, and the cool liquid slipped like silk down his raw throat, and while it agitated his stomach for a moment, it calmed as the water warmed to his body temperature. He did as he was instructed, drinking with slow, careful laps. His eyelids began to droop as soon as he settled down onto the ground. "Thhank you," He said, for the umpteenth time. 

He lifted his chin for a moment to gaze toward the man with the thick pelt. "Crap-hic-babbles," His eyebrows raised and he chuckled, surprised at the word his drunken mouth had concocted. "Crab-applesss," He reiterated, speaking more slowly so he might pronounce it right.