#human!mark

 Dan raised his eyebrows, still surprised to hear another borrower speak. Despite all his late night researching, it was hard to process a borrower right in front of him. Especially because this one seemed so much calmer.  “She’s right here.” Dan tapped the side of the bowl.

 “I can speak for myself!” Amanda yelled up at him, making sure Allison could hear her.

 Allison’s head snapped back over to the bowl. “Amanda!” She ran over, past Mark’s arms and placed a hand on the bowl. “Amanda, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

 Amanda moved closer to the side, hearing Allison on the other side. “Yeah, yeah I’m okay.” Amanda said a bit breathlessly, relieved to hear Allison’s voice even if the situation wasn’t ideal. “Are you?”

 “Yeah, I’m okay.” Allison looked up at the humans, finding herself glaring at them. “Let her out!”

 Jack blinked and glanced at Dan. He would let Amanda out, but Dan currently had the bowl and he didn’t want to risk hurting Amanda by trying to get it.

 “Allow me.” Mark said, going to grab at the bowl.

 “C’mon, you already have one.” Dan argued, holding the bowl closer to his chest. Mark’s eyes widened, shocked at Dan’s behavior. He didn’t own Allison at all. Allison was just a person too. A… smaller person.

 Allison had not liked the way he had said that. As if she belonged to Mark or something. Which she did not. She stayed silent though, not wanting to risk anything.

 “Dan. Let Amanda out.” Jack said, glaring at Dan.

 “Alright, but you know what’s gonna happen.” Dan gave Jack a pointed look. He grabbed Amanda up in a fist, gently setting her down on the table. Amanda straightened her clothing, not bothering to glare at Dan before rushing over to Allison.

 “Allison!” Amanda pulled her borrower friend close, letting herself enjoy the hug for a moment before addressing Allison in a voice quiet enough that the humans couldn’t hear. “Do you have your hook?”

 Allison enjoyed the hug, before pausing at the question. She nodded, though she was confused. “Yeah, why?” She whispered back.

 “Alright, get it at the ready.” Amanda instructed. “If you don’t feel comfortable, you can give it to me and I’ll take the lead. In a minute we can make a break for it. There’s an exit under the sofa.”

 Allison blinked. “Amanda, wait, Mark said he was going to take us home.” Allison explained.

 Amanda paused, pulling away from the hug enough to look Allison in the face. “What?”

 “Look, I know how it sounds, but Mark is actually really nice. He didn’t even hold me until just a moment ago and that was only because Jack gave him to me.” Allison explained, knowing the look on Amanda’s face and her untrust of humans. Of course, she wasn’t one to trust humans either, but Mark was, of course, different.

 “...Allison, you don’t even know Mark.” Amanda scolded. “You’ve known him, what, a day? Anybody can be nice for a day. Well, most people.” She sent a glare over her shoulder at Dan. “But that’s all the more reason to take advantage of that kindness and escape while we have a chance.”

 “Are they talking about me?” Dan looked at the other two humans, at a loss for what was going on.

 “I...guess. But...You weren’t there but I really don’t think Mark was acting. I think he really wants to help us.” Allison sent a glance towards Mark, it may have only been a day, but Allison really did feel safe with him.

 Jack looked over at Dan and shrugged. “Probably.”

 “And now they’re talking about me.” Mark joked, looking at Allison with a smile when she looked over at him.

 Amanda glared over Allison’s shoulder at Mark, causing Mark’s smile to fade. “Allison, there is no way I’m going to put my trust in that human. He is not taking me or you anywhere.”

 “But...But what about our home? If we don’t go with Mark, we’ll be stuck in England forever.” Allison didn’t want to leave the home they had made for themselves. It was nice and had all of their past borrowings. She didn’t want to start fresh.

 “So?” Amanda shrugged. “That’s the borrower way, that’s what you’re supposed to do. We’ll have to move anyways in California because we were seen, so we might as well move far, far away.”

 “Oy, mind including us in the conversation?” Dan spoke up again, getting a little on edge about all this secrecy.

 Allison tensed at the sound of Dan’s voice and backed away a bit, closer to Mark. Jack turned to glare at him.

 “Hey, they were havin’ a reunion, let them be.” Jack spoke in the borrowers defense.

 “Sorry!” Dan put his hands up to show he meant no harm. “But I mean, c’mon, we are right here. It’s a bit weird.”

 Amanda realized they were running out of time. She took a step closer to Allison, looking at her sternly. “Allison, listen to me. You’re just brainwashed. Let’s get you away from all this craziness and see how you feel in a few days.”

 Allison glanced back at Mark one more time, before sighing. “...Alright.” She discreetly handed Amanda her hook. There was no way she could take the lead on this.

 Amanda grinned, glad her friend had come to her senses. She gripped the hook in her hands, always grateful to have one available. “Okay, so I’ll run over to the edge, hook it and grapple down. You follow down the rope, I collect the hook and we sprint to the exit.”

 Allison nodded, bracing herself for what was about to happen. “Got it.”

 Amanda took a deep breath, nodding once before sprinting to the edge of the table, placing the hook with practiced ease and jumping off.

 Allison was about to follow, just as planned, when Jack’s voice rang out, causing her to stumble.

 “Whoa, hey!” Jack’s eyes widened when he saw Amanda jump off the table with a hook. He practically flung himself down to the ground in order to catch her. Thankfully, he had been quick, and he found his hand wrapping around her small frame. He let out a sigh of relief as he awkwardly got back up.

 “No!” Amanda screeched, kicking at Jack’s hand. The coffee table wasn’t far from the ground so she didn’t fear for being dropped.

 “I told you it would happen again.” Dan sighed, expecting nothing less.

 “Jack, what are you doing?!” Mark gasped, watching Jack hold the struggling borrower. He felt terrible just by association, looking at her trapped by his friend.

 “Well, I couldn’t just let her get away!” Jack said in his defense, but feeling a little guilty. He set her back down on the table next to Allison, but took the hook and placed it in his pocket.

 Allison backed up as Jack dropped Amanda off next her, waiting until the hand was gone to run over to her. “Are you okay?”

 “I’m fine.” Amanda huffed, glaring over her shoulder at Jack. “But that’s why you can’t trust a bean.”

 Jack put his hands up and Amanda’s glare. “I’m sorry, okay? But you can’t just leave. Not when there are still so many questions that need answering.”

 “It’s not my job to sit here and answer your questions!” Amanda turned to face him fully, pointing an accusing finger at him. She felt more protective and brave with her friend around, despite the addition of two other humans.

 Jack wasn’t sure what to do at this point and turned to Mark for help. Mark had seemed to make the other borrower, Allison, trust him. Maybe he could do the same with Amanda?

 “Mark, can you help us out here?” He said, motioning towards the borrowers.

 “If she doesn’t want to talk, you can’t make her.” Mark put his arms around the two borrowers protectively once more. “And she doesn’t have to stay here either. I’m taking them both home.”

 Amanda took a few quick steps backwards to avoid Mark’s arm, turning now to glare at Mark. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

 Allison was at a loss. On one hand, she really did want to go back home and Mark hadn’t done anything that would elicit a negative response. On the other hand, she trusted Amanda a lot more. As her best friend and as a fellow borrower. But really, in a room full of humans, what were they going to do?

 “Amanda.” Allison spoke low, so only she could hear. “What else are we going to do. They’ve already stopped an escape attempt and they’ll stop another if they have to. I hate to say it...but out of everyone here I’d rather go along with Mark.” Dan was most certainly out of the question and Jack...after being grabbed by him earlier and watching him grab Amanda, Allison could say she wasn’t feeling very good around him.

 Mark looked down at the two borrowers, feeling a tiny bit annoyed. He flew across the ocean to help this girl, after all. Still, he could sort of understand her distrust and just hoped Allison could talk some sense into her.

 Amanda glanced between Allison and Mark, uncertain. She still didn’t want to put their fates in the hands of a human bean, but there was some truth to what her friend said. “If you really trust Mark, then we need to use him now while he’s still on our side. I say we get him to help get our hooks back and set us free here.”

 Allison blinked and looked behind her back at Mark. She turned back to Amanda and nodded. “Wait here.” She really didn’t want to leave Amanda’s side, not so soon after finding her, but she was doing this for them.

 She went over towards Mark and looked up at him. “Um...Mark can I talk to you.” She glanced at the other humans in the room. “Er...privately.”

 Mark looked down at Allison, glancing at Amanda. “Uh, okay?” Mark put down his hand, waiting for Allison to climb on.

 Allison tensed as the palm was offered to her. This would be the first time she went into Mark’s hands willingly and only the second time she would actually be in those hands. But she had to do this, she trusted him...right? Man, she hoped she was right to put her trust in him.

 She slowly, carefully, climbed onto Mark’s hand and sat down in the center. She controlled her breathing as she waited for Mark to move.

 Amanda watched with wide eyes as her friend willingly climbed into a human bean’s palm. She could only hope Allison was right and Mark could be trusted. Nevertheless, Amanda sent a warning glare Mark’s way.

 Seeing Amanda’s face, Mark couldn’t help but gulp nervously. He could feel so many eyes on him, and he was scared of breaking Allison’s trust. She was just so small in his hands. But, Mark tried to keep a cool exterior. He glared at Jack and Dan.

 “No funny business while we’re gone.” Mark lectured them. “Leave Amanda  alone.”

 “Okay, mom.” Dan joked, which earned him a hard look. But Mark decided to not waste anymore time, instead carefully standing up while cupping Allison close to his chest and heading into the kitchen.

 Amanda watched the two disappear, now realizing her situation. She was left alone on a coffee table, hookless, with two human beans who already didn’t like her. She tried to focus on staring straight at the kitchen door, waiting anxiously for Allison to return.

 “What’s up, Allison?” Mark asked quietly, not sure if the others could be eavesdropping.

 Allison fidgeted with her clothes nervously, before taking a deep breath and looking up at Mark. “There’s been a...slight change in plans.” She revealed, wincing. “Um, instead of you taking us back, we need your help in getting our hooks back and then…” This was the part she was dreading. She really hoped that Mark would still help them, even though he would no longer be taking them back with him to America.

 “And then letting us go here.” She finished.

 “Wait, what?” Mark frowned, confused. “You two want to go with Jack?” Mark thought that Amanda hated Jack, why would she want to stay here?

 “What? No! No, definitely not. He’s uh...yeah no.” Allison said shaking her head. “I meant, like, we’ll find a new place to live on our own somewhere here.”

 “Where are you going to go?” Mark asked. “Is it something I did? What happened?”

 “No, you have been great so far...it’s just...Amanda doesn’t trust and I hate to say it, but she has good reason. Humans are dangerous for us and even if we had gone back with you, we would have had to move away anyway. It’s the...borrower code.” Allison sighed.

 “As for...where I’m not sure. Somewhere far away from here though, that’s for sure.”

 “You wouldn’t have to move!” Mark assured her. “We could work something out! I promise, I’ll be super respectful. We can do whatever it takes to make Amanda comfortable. I just… I don’t want you guys to go without a plan, I want to know you’ll be okay. I can help you, honest.”

 “I...Mark to be honest, I would love to go back home and stay there. But Amanda...she would never go for that. She doesn’t know you and honestly I can’t see her trusting any humans, especially at this point.” Allison explained.

 “...wait, I have an idea.” Mark said suddenly. “If Amanda’s the one against it, maybe I can just try talking to her. She can see how much I’m not a threat and how I really just want to help!”

 Allison’s eyes widened. “Uh, Mark, I don’t think that’s such a good idea…”

 “Trust me, I know I can get through to her.” Mark assured her. “I’ll be on my best behavior and everything.” He gave her a small smile, turning more serious. “It’s our best chance. You already tried talking to her, and unless she trusts me too something bad might happen to the both of you. I don’t want you risking your lives just because she and I didn’t take the time to get to know each other.”

 “I...I guess it doesn’t hurt to try…” Or it could, guess they’ll see because there was no talking Mark out of this.

 “Trust me, I can do this.” Mark began walking back into the living room. He sat down, setting Allison back on the table.

 “Amanda, will you please come with me?” Mark asked, putting his palm down on the table next to her. Amanda skidded back, avoiding his palm.

 “...no.” Amanda said, glancing at Allison in confusion. Had Allison convinced Mark? Why did Amanda need to go with him then?

 “Why do you get all the alone time with the borrowers?” Dan raised an eyebrow. Mark tried to ignore him. “We’re curious too, you know. Maybe we could all just talk in this room together like normal people.”

 “Stay out of this, Dan.” Mark gave him an irritated huff, taking a deep breath to try and make his face look as welcoming and calm as before. He didn’t want to scare Amanda off.

 Allison sent a pleading look towards Amanda. “Please Amanda, just...hear him out. I promise he isn’t going to do anything.”

 Jack looked from Allison and to Mark, wishing he could somehow get Amanda to trust him like that. Instead, while the two had been away, the three of them had sat in silence. Dan had tried to ask some questions, but Amanda had simply ignored him.

 “He’s going to pick me up.” Amanda hissed out of the corner of her mouth, looking at Mark’s palm with distaste. “And he wants me to walk into his palm so he can do it.” The thought made Amanda’s stomach churn.

 “I promise it’s not like with Jack.” Allison shuddered remembering how Jack’s hand had curled around her body. She shook the memory away. “He won’t close his hand around you and if you want down he’ll put you down. Please, just give him a chance.” Allison put on her best puppy dog eyes.

 Amanda gave her friend a long, hard stare. “...fine.” Amanda tensed at her own words, knowing that while she didn’t always trust Allison’s judgement, she was her best friend. Amanda looked at the palm, deciding it would be best to just get it over with. She jumped up onto it, almost falling over in her haste. One of her hands went down to catch herself, but she quickly pulled away, wanting to keep contact to a minimum.

 “I’ll go slow and gentle, I promise.” Mark spoke softly, pleased to see Amanda get into his hand. Progress already. He stood, returning to the kitchen with the new borrower in hand.

 Allison watched her friend go, hoping things went well with her and Mark. She turned around, only now realizing she was alone with Jack and Dan. She backed up a step.