On his way home, a group of men mugged him. At first, a few of the men backed away due to his towering height. The leader of the group scolded them for being cowards, but convinced them to continue with the plan.

They stole a few things: His gold watch he had for almost his whole life, and his phone. Thankfully, he didn’t have his wallet with him that time. He couldn’t care, though, because they had done a damage on him with their weapons. He was curled up into a ball by the time they were done and left him alone on the sidewalk.

His breaths were ragged as he uncovered his face, his metal hand hoisting him up in a sitting position. He didn’t feel any of the hits to his body, only the few to his head. It left him dizzy, his vision blurred.

Malachi turned his head in the direction of someone calling out his name. As his eye focused in on the figure coming towards him with haste, he realized it was you. His shoulders dropped in relief, his breathing starting to return to normal now that he was getting his senses back.

“Thank you,” the man barely mumbled as he took your hand that was held out to help him up. He brushed off his clothes with a quiet and soft sigh.

He was hesitant to accept a ride home from you, considering what just happened to him, but he accepted in the end. He knew how helpful you were and probably weren’t going to leave him alone even when he was home and safe.

Now here the two of you were, sat next to each other on his couch. He had apologized for the small messes when you both walked through the door. Sometimes it was hard for him to keep up with cleaning, having just one arm and only half his sight.

It was complete silence as he let you tend to the wounds he got, other than the sound of the air conditioner running. He had to admit that the help was nice. It was rare for him to have help.

“Do you… u-uhhm, thi-think I’m scary?” Malachi finally spoke up after complete silence, his voice quiet and hoarse from the lack of use. He knew it was an odd time to ask, but he couldn’t help himself.