#human!tommy

Tommy finished loading the cart and took a second to breathe.

He heard the beast shifting around in the dark. "Are you doing okay out there, Sunshine?"

Despite his tiredness, the sweet nickname made him smile.

"You know you eat a lot? It's a pain in the ass to load myself."

He meant it as a joke but silence hung in the air a second longer than it should have.

He cleared his throat. "I don't mind it. I'm compensated."

The beast snorted. "Not enough."

Tommy laughed awkwardly and didn't say anything.

He walked over to the control panel and started up the track.

The cart was big enough to fit a barn, and filled to the brim with various livestock, prisoners of war, and whoever else might have found themselves on the king's hit-list. Nothing sent to the monster was alive. It was a point the monster whined about a lot, but Tommy much preferred it that way. It was already disgusting having to spend hours upon hours piling the cart with bloody meat (sometimes human!) by himself, and the day he was handed a living person would be the day he faked his death and fled the kingdom.

He pressed a few buttons, tried not to cut himself on several rusty levers, and the rail obediently started itself up with a few revs and puffs.

The beast hummed contentedly at the noise.

The cart began to run along the track, disappearing from his view and descending into the inky black cave. He heard the gate creak open and he heard it creak close. And then he heard the beast begin to eat.

They weren't nice sounds by any stretch of the imagination - ugly rips and wet squelches of flesh - but Tommy had been at the job for a while and was long used to it. He settled in and waited for the creature to finish its meal.

"So how was your day, Keeper?"

Tommy hummed. "About the same as it always is. My master told me that the king will be coming in soon for a performance review, but I've no idea when that might be."

The beast paused its munching before hesitantly starting again a moment later. "I - why?"

He shrugged, assuming the monster could see him from the dark. "Something about me holding down this job the longest out of anyone before."

"Hm."

"I don't understand why that would intrigue the king. And no offense to you personally - "

"Uh huh," the monster sarcastically interjected -

" - but this isn't exactly the career path I'd have chosen. If I knew how to transfer I probably would have. Honestly - I have no idea how the others could have quit this job. I was under the impression that this is the sort of thing you do until you die."

It laughed at that.

Tommy sighed.

He was quiet for a few moments, a question sitting heavy on his tongue.

He shouldn't ask. It's impolite.

The monster shifted around. "Spit it out."

He gave the darkness an accusatory look. "I don't know what you're talking about."

There was a huff of laughter. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You're doing that thing where you want to say something but are worried about what I'll think. It would be adorable if I wasn't desperate for decent conversation."

"Fuck you." He said it with a smile.

"Well? Are you going to say or not?"

He scrubbed at his face. Fuck it. "What were your other keepers like?"

The beast went silent for several long moments.

Shit. "You don't have to answer if you - "

"I didn't much care for them."

Tommy didn't say a word.

"The feeling was mutual." It sighed heavily. "You're a much better replacement, Sunshine."

"I'm sorry for asking."

The beast purred. "Don't be, dear. I pressed you. And I don't mind answering." It jostled the cart. "And I'm done eating."

Tommy nodded and powered up the control panel again. The cart began to recede. 

It appeared from the darkness, picked completely clean and shiny as if it never been covered in blood at all.

It scared him a little, how quickly the monster could eat such a large amount, but he dismissed those thoughts as easily as they came. When would that ever affect him?

He checked the clock. He still had a few hours before he had to report back. "Do you mind if I stay with you longer?"

The monster laughed conspiratorially. "Oh, but that's against the rules," it said in a high mockery of his voice.

He flushed.

He had been terrified of the monster when they first met. He gave any excuse to leave the beast as soon as he could, including that the rules specified that spending unnecessary time with it was prohibited. That was true, but no one would have known if he chose to linger. In hindsight, it had been terribly obvious how afraid he was and he's only embarrassed that the monster pretended to believe him.

"You're the worst."

"And you still want to spend time with me?"

Tommy blew a raspberry at the darkness, earning a few laughs.

It was comfortably quiet for a few seconds before the monster spoke again. "Why are you curious about my old keepers?"

He tugged at his fingers. "Do you know how I ended up here?"

"You never talk about it."

He frowned. "And I never will," he responded coldly. It never gave up asking. "But do you know, generally, how someone ends up working this kind of job?"

The monster was quiet. "Yes."

Tommy didn't say anything for a minute. "The king is very angry with me. I don't want to see him again. However the other keepers escaped..." He shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. If the king requests an audience with me, it isn't for any good reason."

~

When the king acquired his monster, he hired out help to feed the thing and keep it under control. He made sure the beast ate lavishly, but now matter what they fed it, it never seemed like to satiate the creature. But it hadn't died of starvation and that was good enough. When its caretakers started to disappear, it wasn't difficult to guess what happened.

But acknowledging the problem would mean addressing it too, and the king simply didn't care. In the end, he realized he had the perfect way to quietly do away with those he needed gone. He sourced this job, with its one hundred percent rate of 'job abandonment' to political adversaries or people growing affluent enough to take his throne.

Which takes him to the present day, and a rather interesting problem.

When some servant boy had spilled a bottle of red wine down his front during a gala several years prior, the king had been so angry that he threw the child in a dungeon and left him there. When the monster's then-keeper inevitably disappeared, the king came to the boy and grimly informed him of his punishment.

He hadn't expected the child to last more than a couple of days. He'd even picked out his replacements.

But lo and behold, the boy remained present at his job post for a week. And then that week became several, and those several became months, and those months became a year and a half.

The king couldn't understand why it hadn't eaten him yet. He was fifteen at this point, certainly the youngest to feed the monster. Was it waiting for him to grow up? Did it want to watch him sprout up before it made its attack? It was perfectly sentient, and the king knew this even though he denied it upfront. Shouldn't the monster trust that the sooner it finished its current keeper, the sooner he would be replaced by another?

Had there been someone who had managed to bring this creature to subservience? If so, then the king took special interest.

And if not, then it was long overdue that the servant boy be put to death.

~

Being a human's lapdog wasn't a dignified experience, but it was a fed one. Driders were megafauna, making it hard to get enough food. It certainly didn't help that the human kingdom believed everything was its rightful property and saw driders as a threat to them owning more than they could eat.

Wilbur certainly didn't enjoy his life, and he was almost always hungry anyway, but at least he was alive.

He lived in a dungeon below the castle, but he wasn't sure what a castle was and he barely understood the concept of a dungeon. He hadn't seen the sunshine in years, and his keeper was his only company.

He liked his keeper. The boy was kind. He didn't threaten to pee in Wilbur's food or throw rocks at him. He asked him how his day was, and even made it a point to handle the meat carefully as he transported it into the cart. He seemed lonely, and made up excuses to stay. He was a cute little thing, and Wilbur wanted to stick him into his brooding pouch and keep him there.

~

The cart rolled into Wilbur's enclosure, and he greedily snatched it up and began to eat.

His keeper sat at a table in the light.

Wilbur finished his food in a few seconds and toyed with the cart. He always made it seem as if it took him longer to eat than it did.

"Do you have a family?"

The boy froze at the question. "Why do you ask?"

Wilbur pouted even though he knew he couldn't be seen. "We've known each for so long. I don't even know what your name is. Can't I know just a little?"

His keeper awkwardly laughed, fidgeting with his fingers. "Oh... I guess you're right."

Wilbur's heart leapt.

"I don't have a family."

"Oh." Shit.

"Yeah."

What was he supposed to say?

"I don't have a family either."

His keeper peered into the darkness. "What are you?"

Wilbur smiled. He skittered to the bars of his cage and leaned against them, towering over the boy, though he had no idea. "Would you like to play twenty questions?"

"You're so lame, seriously, what are you? I don't even know what you look like."

I could show you, he wanted to say.

Coming out of his cage was easy. The king assumed it could hold him but no one actually checked. And aside from his keeper, no one had been in his dungeon for years. In reality, the bars had long been bent open and Wilbur could get out whenever he pleased.

It wouldn't be difficult to come through the bars and present himself to his keeper. Pick the little figure up in his hands and take him into his cage with him.

When he'd eaten his previous keepers, they'd always been replaced. If he captured his current keeper and stored him away in his brooding pouch, then he'd never be lonely again.

It was tempting.

"That's probably for the best," he said. He stepped away from the bars of his cage and curled up on the floor.

He liked his keeper. He wanted him to be happy. Just because Wilbur was stuck in a cage didn't mean he had to be as well.

"Do you think I'd be scared of you?"

Wilbur looked down at himself, at his large stature and eight legs. His fangs came down to his mid chin. "I think you'd be terrified, dear."

His keeper smiled. "I don't think so. I have a suspicion that you're just harmless."

His heart melted. Oh stars, he wanted to eat this kid.

He massaged his aching brood pouch. "You're sweet, Sunshine."

~

The cart was left in his cage while he was sleeping. He woke up confused, spying it in the corner of his enclosure and wondered why he'd been fed overnight. Where was his keeper? His mind jumped to the worst conclusions.

He found him inside the cart. Bound and gagged and looking terrified beyond all reason.

"Oh, Sunshine," he murmured.

His words had the opposite intended effect, his keeper starting to panic and writhe at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, hey... Calm down, okay? I'll get you out of there." He reached into the cart and picked him up in his hand.

Despite the circumstance, his heart soared. This was the closest they'd ever been.

The figure was tiny in his palm, and still struggling.

Wilbur quickly undid his bounds, being mindful of his sharp claws against the human's body. As soon as his hands were free, he was clawing at the gag around his mouth.

"Don't eat me! Please, do not eat me..."

Wilbur's stomach dropped.

"What? Sunshine, why would I eat you?"

The boy continued to sob.

Wilbur cupped him to his chest and headed towards the bars of his enclosure. He expertly clambered through and came out the other side, his skin exposed to the light for the first time in more than a year.

"Dear? Can you talk to me?" He stroked his head with his thumb and brought him eye level. "Why were you in my feeding cart?"

His keeper stared at him in shock, and it was then that he remembered his keeper had never truly seen him before.

A hot wave of embarassment and self consciousness overtook him.

He awkwardly set his little human on his table and receded back into his enclosure.

"Sunshine?" He prompted once back in his cage. "Are you..."

"Could - could you get out the whole time?"

Wilbur's mouth went dry. "I - well, yes, I could but - "

His keeper stumbled off the table and hit the ground with a nasty sounding crack.

Wilbur sprang to his claws and scrambled forward. He popped his head out between the bars and stared down at his little keeper. "Are you okay?"

The human stared up at him with terror on his face and scrambled backwards, running for the door.

"Shit, shit, wait, I'm sorry! Please stay, please, Sunshine - "

The door slammed behind him with a resounding crack and Wilbur flinched backwards.

~ ~ ~ 🕸

i used to love drider aus back in 2020 🕷️🕷️🕷️

just a freaky little guy whose half dude and half Fear. potential off the charts.

my tag list got lost when my computer was annihilated (</3) but let me know in replies if you want to get @'d and i'll make a new one

Shroud knew he wasn't going to make it. His own mother had made that clear to him the day he had hatched, but he had never thought he was going to meet his end this way. It was a cruel life to be born into, but he had managed and now he was fully grown to a good 2 inches tall. All his siblings had long since left the cocoon leaving him to fend for himself. In a world that was kill or be killed, he was lucky he had survived this long. Even if it was through hiding in the unreachable crevices of his old home to avoid being picked off. But without anyone or anything left in the cocoon to provide him nutrients with, he’d eventually been forced to leave and find somewhere that had more food available. 

He’d seen many things on his journey looking for a safe haven to call home. Many terrible and horrible things. He’d watched as helpless other spiders had been snatched up and devoured by birds. Watched as heavy rains drowned other insects and bugs. He’d witnessed how insects and bugs fought others of their own species and eaten the remains of their dead foes. He was lucky in the sense of being a spider hybrid, having the smarts of a person rather than just another mindless prey, but having witnessed such horrors the world could cause, made him ever restless in his search for safety. But even they were nothing in comparison to how he was to meet his end. 

He’d only heard of them in legend. One of the few stories his mother had told him when they went to sleep at night. Out of all the predators in this world, none are more ruthless and terrifying than humans. 100x a spider hybrids size with triple the smarts. While they seem just like them minus 4 arms and a few other features, never mistake: they will only ever bring about your doom. For every way you could possibly think of dying, they had 10 plus more unimaginable ways to bring about your death. They could squish you beneath their gigantic thumbs, use their despicable sprays to poison the air, suck you up and leave you to die in their monstrous machines, trap you in jars and use you for experimentation or perhaps even burn you alive! The humans were creatures that could and would only bring about your demise. And Shroud was trapped in one’s cabinet. 

He didn’t know it was a humans’ home he had stumbled upon. The space he’d been scouting had been clear of any living creature for several hours before he had even dared getting closer and climbing up with the help of his webs. But as he had made his way about looking for food, the loud voices of people approaching could be heard, along with the vibrations of their footsteps shaking the earth as they went. It wasn’t hard to guess what was coming. Shroud didn’t have time to think as the door to the cabinet was flung open. He tried to hide behind one of the boxes on the shelf in attempts of not being seen, but unfortunately for him, it was the very box he was hidden behind that the human grabbed.

 A loud scream filled the air, as did the sound of a box crashing harshly down and onto the floor. “THERE’S A SPIDER IN THE CABINET!!!” The human shrieked. Shroud threw his hands over his ears at the sheer volume the human spoke in. “TOMMY!!!! GET IN HERE AND KILL IT!!!” Shroud froze at the humans’ words. He tried to turn and run, but his legs felt like jelly and he barely stumbled a few steps before falling to the cabinets floor. “TUBBO?!? TUBBO WHAT’S WRONG??” A second humans’ voice appeared yelling in alarm. Shroud continued to try and get away, till he had scrambled into the corner of the cabinet. 

“It's in the Cabinet Tommy. Top shelf! Kill it!! Please kill it! Kill it! Kill it!!!” the first human shouted again. 

A shadow was suddenly cast over Shroud, blocking out the light. He scrunched his eyes tightly shut, as his entire body began to shake uncontrollably. His breathing became short and staggered as he waited for his impending doom. He didn’t want to see how he was going to die. He’d tried so hard to make it. He’d survived with so little for so long. He just wanted to find someplace safe! 

“A spider is not going to hurt you Tubbo so just- oh. Hello.” The human spoke above him, surprise laced in their voice. When nothing happened, Shroud peaked an eye open and was surprised to see not the human ready to kill him, but instead adorned with a soft gentle smile. “Just look at you.” They exclaimed, reaching their hand towards him, their pointer finger outstretched. Shroud shut his eyes once more and buried his face into his 6 arms tighter, willing himself to just disappear from existence.

“Tubbo you d*** head, this isn’t a spider. It’s a tiny spider-human-like hybrid.”

The human began to gently scratch the top of Shrouds head. He relaxed slightly at the contact. No one had ever touched him like this before. “Well just hurry up and kill it Tommy! It’s still a spider!” the other human screeched at its human friend. 

“Tubbo! You can’t say s*** like that!” The human replied as he stopped scratching Shrouds head. Shroud whined at the loss of contact lifting his head as if to follow after the giant appendage. He didn’t want them to stop. 

“Like that huh?” The human said, smirking a little at his display. 

Shroud looked the human over once more. They were like nothing he’d ever imagined. They had blond curly hair and bright blue eyes and were staring at him like he was the most precious thing in the entire world. But that didn’t make sense? Humans were supposed to be ruthless killing machines? Even their friend had seemed desperate for their companion to dispose of him! Why were they being so kind? 

Suddenly the human's hands reappeared and scooped him up off the shelf and into its grasp. He wanted to fight it and get away, but Shroud couldn’t help himself from melting into the warmth beneath him. It was so nice and it felt safe. “Oh you’re such a sweetie.” The human said, raising him up higher to his face to get a better look at him. “What’s your name?” they asked. Oh so quietly, he responded “Shroud.” he said semi trying to hide himself at being so close to the apex predator. 

“It’s nice to meet you Shroud. I’m Tommy.” The human- Tommy said with a smile. “Would you like to get something to eat?” He asked. Shroud gave a very hesitant nod, and Tommy began to walk out of wherever it was they were in and to somewhere new. Not even acknowledging the other freaked out human as they went. 

And it was after that day that two things happened to Shroud. He finally had found himself a safe place to call home, and somehow gained a loving protecting father.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soulmates; for some they’re lovers, for some they’re best friends. Either way they are meant to be inseparable pairs. Everyone’s got one; that one person with whom you’re supposed to spend your life with. They’re tied together with a metaphorical string, fate pulling them closer and closer together until the day they finally meet. Both bear matching marks on their wrists and have the ability to message each other by writing on their arm.

---

Wilbur considered himself a very skilled borrower, a very well-educated borrower. With this information you may be wondering, how exactly did he find himself trapped in the sticky web of a garden spider? It’s a very short story. Unfortunately, this house was not the most ideal for a borrower, but it was his home, and moving was a lot of work. The biggest flaw was that it had children. 

A very loud, rambunctious teenager with an unfortunate fascination with bugs, insects, and mud. Meaning it spent most of its time running around the yard. The yard that Wilbur had to traverse during his day-to-day life.

Now how does this tie in (ha, tie) to him getting stuck in a spider’s web? Unfortunately, the child had just gotten home, yelling at the top of its lungs of course, about its latest school project. Involving insects. And usually said child did all its bug hunting in the backyard. So he knew he had to hurry if he wanted to make it home alive.

But hurrying when you’re in the process of carrying a stack of firewood in your arms usually tends to cause accidents, which is exactly what happened. The brunet borrower couldn’t see where he was going over the pile of sticks in his arms, and ended up tripping over a few rocks and was sent stumbling right into the sticky webbing strapped to the tall gnarled roots of the oak tree in the backyard. Wilbur had been trying very hard to avoid the webs whenever he went outside, knowing the orb weaver it belonged to was not one to be crossed. It wasn’t a particularly massive spider, not bigger than him, not like ones he’d heard stories of. But it was much bigger than any ants or bees he’d seen in the garden. And he knew how bad their venomous bites were.

His little brother had had a run-in with it once, before they’d gotten separated. It had left him unable to move for a few days, and the nausea and fever that followed was awful. Wilbur had tended to him the entire time, and thankfully Tubbo had recovered.

The tall borrower wondered where he was these days, and prayed to Prime that he was safe. Though currently, he was praying for his own safety. Death by an orb weaver was not swift and painless. He’d be paralysed by its painful bite, and then wrapped up in the silky webbing to be eaten later… just like the moth he’d seen tied up in its web the week prior.

‘Oh here it comes now.’ he thought fatalistically as the webbing vibrated, and the bright yellow marked spider started climbing down the large web, its beady eyes trained on the brunet. Wilbur stared up at it with a frown, trying not to let his fear show. It wasn’t like he wanted to die. Quite the opposite. He was actually absolutely terrified, but struggling didn’t work. He’d tried at least a dozen times. The borrower looked down at his chest, glaring down at his ugly yellow sweater before closing his eyes, waiting for paralysis to take him. 

Damn. He didn’t even get to say goodbye to his soulmate… 

He opened his eyes again and stared down at his arm, his trench coat sleeve covering the pictogram on his wrist. It was a picture of a music note, a sword down the centre of the treble clef. Wilbur sighed sadly and looked up at his impending doom with a fierce glare.

“I hope you get indigestion, you yellow menace.” he spat as venomously as the orb weaver’s own poison. The spider hissed in response, pinching its venomous pincers. So apparently, spiders can speak English. Cool. Unless this spider was secretly his soulmate. But Wilbur sincerely doubted that. Never in a million years had he heard of cross-species soulmates. The idea was just absurd.

“Oh go shove a moth in it won’t you? We both know you’d never beat me in a fair fight.” Wilbur snarled out, glaring into the spider’s beady eyes. 

Suddenly he felt the web vibrating more, continuously, but the garden spider wasn’t moving. The orb weaver seemed to pause, going still. If spiders were intelligent, he’d say he could see the gears turning in its head.

“What? Calling your mate are you? Am I a lunch date for the two of you or something??”

Then the spider ran away.

“...Uh… okay… bye then?” 

Anxiety pooled in his stomach as the webbing vibrated more and more, but it wasn’t a spider. The ugly yellow bastard was already scuttling off into the tall grass. Wilbur could feel the tremors travel from the ground to the webbing, he could see the ground shaking. Thunder roared under the earth as something big stomped closer and closer, and before he knew it, he found himself engulfed in an impossibly massive shadow, a pair of giant shoes planted centimetres in front of him. Well, bigger spider could definitely be crossed off the list!

“Where’s that yellow spider… I know it’s around here. It’d be perfect!” a loud voice rumbled overhead, and the brunet hesitantly looked up, and up, worried that his greatest fears were about to smack him right in the face.

And he was proven right as he saw the creature casting the shadow, was none other than that giant blond menace of a human, standing over him, a glass jar in hand. It wasn’t looking at him… yet, instead scanning the tree branches for… the spider apparently. You know what? Wilbur was fine with this. The death traps could deal with each other. The human would probably win but at least it’d be putting the orb weaver out of his misery.

The borrower squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a small startled gasp as the blond suddenly stepped over him obliviously, still looking around the tree for the bright yellow spider. While that was scary… he wasn’t dead! Wilbur slowly reopened his eyes, shuddering as he felt the tremors still. Now was his chance to get free while the giant was distracted and the spider was elsewhere!

Wilbur focused on one arm to start, trying to rip his right arm free from the sticky silk. Then once he got it free, he could pull his knife out of his bag and-

“Woah… what’re you supposed to be?” a voice cut through his thoughts, and the borrower felt his heart skip a beat. Looking down, the shadow had changed. Slowly he looked up, and up, and met the gaze of the massive human. It was tall and lanky, taller than most humans he’d seen in his lifetime, yet had a child-likeness to its face. Massive icy blue orbs bore into his own, and Wilbur felt a shiver travel down his spine, only one word going through his head.

Fuck.

“Well? You can talk, can’t you little man?” the human crouched down in front of him, and the brunet gave it the most venomous glare he could muster despite the fact that he was trembling. The borrower rules, AKA his way of life, said under no circumstances should you talk to a human. It usually ended in getting dissected or something painful like that. But also, fuck the rules, this kid just had such an insultable face. 

“So what if I can? What's it to you, big man?” he spat mockingly.

“Well, truth be told, you’re pretty unusual, and I just happen to be looking for something unique. You’re far more interesting than some garden spider that’s for sure.” the borrower tensed, trying not to show his nervousness as anxiety flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.

“I wouldn’t call myself particularly interesting actually. I’m a bit tied up right now, physically and metaphorically. So how about you help me out and we can just forget we ever met, yeah?” Wilbur tried, starting to sweat a bit.

“Hmmmmmm, nah,” the human gave him a toothy grin. “It’s not every day you find a tiny person in your backyard.” in all honesty, yeah that was understandable. But also fucking shit piss hell fuck shit-

The borrower let out a startled noise and visibly recoiled as a giant hand suddenly reached over and wrapped around his small frame, easily ripping him from the spider web and carrying him into the air. 

“This- okay how about we make a deal?” he tried nervously, and the human raised an eyebrow.

“What sort of deal? I’ll have you know, I’m an excellent businessman and not easily persuaded.” Wilbur swallowed nervously as he was lifted higher up, held in front of the giant face, the kid nearly going cross-eyed to stare at him. 

“Well, I’ll tell you the truth. I’m actually an alien.” he whispered.

“What.”

“That's right, I come from the planet of-... L’manburg…” the borrower said slowly.

“Sounds like bullshit but alright.” the human didn’t look convinced, but Wilbur continued the act.

“Wh- excuse me?? How dare you!” 

“Look pal, I know aliens aren’t real. You’re coming with me, and that's that.” Wilbur’s stomach lurched as the human stood to its full height, and he was stuffed into it’s shirt pocket.

“Just a sec-” the colour drained from his face as the giant started fiddling with the mason jar it’d brought outside with it, and started unscrewing the lid. Wilbur had a feeling he knew exactly what it was for, and his anxiety was suddenly heightened. His heart rate went from one to a hundred in less than a second as giant fingers pinched the back of his trenchcoat and carried him into the air, before unceremoniously dropping him into the glass prison. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-

He slowly scooted back until his coat pressed against the cold, hard wall. The brunet crossed his arms over his chest, hiding how they shook as he continued glaring up at the child.

“Are you aware kidnapping is a crime?”

“I’d hardly call it kidnapping when you’re the size of a mouse.” the human chuckled in response. Wilbur was knocked onto his hands and knees as the container jolted suddenly, and everything started moving. He took one look at the ground far below before yanking his head back and glaring up at the giant once again.

“N-not even going to ask for my name?”

“Would you tell me if I asked?” blondie raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe,” Wilbur crossed his arms. “Will you tell me yours so I can stop mentally referring to you as ‘child’?” 

The human stopped in its tracks, sputtering out an offended string of noises.

“How fucking dare you! I am not a child you tiny bitch! If anything you’re the child!” 

“And how exactly does that logic track?”

“Cos’ you’re short an’ shit.” the borrower raised an eyebrow this time.

“Yes well I think it’s been established I’m not a human. So you can’t hold me to human standards.”

"What are you then? Some weird mutated rat man? Or are you a faerie?" the jar was lifted higher, and Wilbur nearly fell flat on his face.

“Are you going to tell me your name or not?”

“Fineeeeeeeeeeeeee,” the blond rolled its eyes. “It’s Tommy, TommyInnit, the biggest man.”

“Uhuh…”

“What's yours then?” ‘Tommy’ questioned, staring holes into his head with his massive eyeballs. “Wilbur. No title.”

“Got any friends, Wilbur no title?” the human asked teasingly, and Wilbur scowled.

“Not that I can think of…”

“So no one to miss you? Well don’t worry, you and I can be the best of friends.” suddenly the jostling worsened tenfold, and the poor borrower was beginning to feel motion sick.

Fucking hell…

He tried his best to stay upright, sitting back against the glass with his palms pressed to the curved walls.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass.” he bit out.

“Wha- why?! I’m probably- no definitely, the coolest and greatest man you’ve ever met!” Wilbur crossed his arms.

“You put me in a jar, and you’re annoy-ing.” he enunciated the last word. The blond human obviously wasn’t happy with this answer. The stupid child sputtered and scoffed.

“Well- y’know- I- I might seem a little annoying at first- but I promise it’ll grow on you!”

“...I don’t care.” he wasn’t exactly scared of the human anymore… it was more like… a fear for his safety.

Tommy’s face scrunched up in anger, going bright red, Wilbur thought he looked like a tomato- He yelped as he was thrown against the glass again, and he realised the human was swinging the jar through the air… again.

"Can you not??" he grumbled out, but Tommy didn't stop swinging his arm back and fourth as he walked.

"What was that little man? You're so quiet I can't hear you!" the blond replied loudly in an exasperated tone.

"Oh my Prime you are such a fucking child-" he grunted in pain as he was slammed against the glass wall again.

"ALRIGHT FUCK! I'M SORRY!" his stomach lurched and he fell onto his back, but the jar finally stopped swinging.

"Apology accepted."

"Prime, do you humans really feel no shred of guilt?? Empathy??" Wilbur demanded.

"I do but you're being a bit of a dick right now if I'm being honest." Tommy stated firmly, and Wilbur clenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms. He paused, and stared down at his arm. That's right… he had a chance to tell him soulmate his goodbyes now! The only blessing the human boy unknowingly gave him. Quickly he rolled up his sleeve,

'Techno are you there?' he wrote quietly, trying his best to remain inconspicuous so as to not get interrupted by the blond human.

'Hi. I just got home.' an answer appeared on his arm, causing it to tingle.

'I have some…' Wilbur paused, dread pooling in his stomach as he thought about what he was writing.

'Bad news.' he finished.

'Ok. What is it?' his soulmate responded, the message didn't look all too urgent, but Wilbur knew that was just how Technoblade was sometimes.

'I'm… I'm kind of in troubl-' he started to write, when the jar gave another violent shake, and smooth wood appeared below his feet. Looking around, Wilbur realised it was a table, the big one in the kitchen where all the humans ate. An intrusive thought wormed it's way into his mind at the implications of that.

Tommy sat down in front of him, just staring him down with those big blue orbs. Why did blue-eyed people always look scarier than everyone else?

"Well you got awfully quiet." Tommy started, and the borrower gave him a frown of malcontent.

"Apologies, contrary to what you might think,most people don't enjoy making conversation with their kidnapper." he bit out, pausing to look down at his arm as it tingled again.

"Alright, kidnapping is a strong word pal." Tommy interrupted, only to get ignored.

'With the police?' the message read, and he couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him, despite everything going on. The human stared at him like a madman. 

"The fuck are you laughing about??"

"Something my friend said! Is it a crime to want to laugh now?!" Wilbur snapped, giving him a venomous glare. Tommy looked like he was going to yell or something unnecessarily aggressive again, but stopped, a new emotion crossed his features; guilt.

"You mean… your soulmate?" the blond asked slowly, in a surprisingly gentle tone.

"...Yes." 

"Even… tiny people have soulmates?" Tommy asked, as if it was some wildly impossible concept. The brunet stopped himself from glaring, and instead swallowed down his anger and worry.

"Yes… of course we do. Everyone does." 

"Actually, I don't." the blond replied bitterly, and Wilbur gave him a confused look.

"What? Don't humans have them?"

"Yes, but I don't," Tommy held his arm up to show the lack of a pictogram on his wrist. "Dadza said I'll get one eventually, but I don't think that's how it works…" 

"Yeah… you look far too old to not have one…" Wilbur mumbled. He'd had his for as long as his memory dated back, and Tubbo's had appeared when he was only two or three. Wait- right Techno!

'No not the police! I mean a human Techno! This isn't the time to joke!' he scribbled quickly, ignoring how he could feel the human child's eyes burning a hole in his head. The silence that followed while Wilbur waited for a response was painful, but eventually it came.

'Oh. I'm sorry… I don’t know what to do. I hope they're nice.' 

'Techno. Human trouble. Obviously they're not nice!' he wrote back quickly.

'So… is this a last words kind of situation?' the message appeared across his arm in slow motion, and a few tears began beading down his cheeks.

'Yes…'

"Are you… crying?" a voice rumbled above him, and Wilbur remembered exactly where he was. He scrubbed away the tears and glared up at the blond.

"No! Fuck off!" the brunet snapped, despite the fact that Tommy sounded genuinely concerned. His tone had completely shifted, and the look on his face was sympathetic as he laid his head on the tabletop, staring into Wilbur's glass prison.

"Alright, suit yourself. I'm just trying to help." the borrower's brain wasn't paying attention to whatever Tommy said as he watched another human enter the room. A red-eyed man with pink hair, his dark roots stealthily showing his natural colour. The pinket looked nervous, staring down at his arm as he walked behind Tommy towards the cabinet where the cups were kept. Wilbur felt his heart beating rapidly, anxiety and panic pooling in his stomach and spreading through his core once again.

"Hm?" Tommy looked between him and the pinket a few times before he realised what must be going on. Suddenly giant hands wrapped around the jar again and Wilbur felt his stomach lurch once more. Tommy held the jar in his lap and turned slightly, blocking his brother's view of it's contents, but not before the brunet caught a glance of his arm.

Technoblade's arm.  

"Heyyyyy Blade." Tommy drawled out in the most suspicious tone ever.

"Hi…" he replied monotonously.

Wilbur's entire world had just come crashing down.

"So uh… what's going on with you? Why are you out here?"

"I'm making tea… and this is the kitchen." Techno deadpanned.

Techno was a human. His only friend, who made him feel safe and hopeful- and think that there were still other borrowers out there!

"You look kind of stressed." the blond pointed out obviously.

"Yeah… m' just worried about ny soulmate… he said some worryin' things and hasn't got back to me yet…" Wilbur hadn't even noticed the new message tickling his arm. He stared down at it in wide-eyed shock.

'I guess I should tell you something then.' the borrower swallowed nervously.

'That you're a human?' he wrote shakily. 

Technoblade let out a small gasp, before looking around in confusion and worry.

"Hello?" the pinket asked aloud, and Tommy looked at him like an absolute lunatic.

'Help me. Techno I'm here. I'm trapped. Your little brother caught me.' he wrote desperately, panic bleeding into his writing. 

There was a silence, before footsteps started thudding against the floor. 

"Tommy." the pinket started, and held out his hand.

"What? What do you want?" the teen asked defensively, hugging the jar tighter to his person with a defiant glare on his face.

"Give me the borrower." Techno demanded calmly, though his aura radiated an intimidating strength. Tommy looked shocked for a minute, before he sneered and shook his head.

"Leave my tiny friend alone and go find your own." 

Wilbur scoffed. Friendship was not what they had, that's for sure.

"Tommy. Give me my soulmate." the pinket tried again, sounding less patient. The borrower felt his mouth go dry and his heart clench. It really was Techno… and… he… actually wanted to help?

"Your soulmate?!" Tommy exclaimed in pure shock.

"Yes. His name is Wilbur." 

"I know what his name is! But what do you mean soulmate?!" Tommy demanded, haphazardly setting the jar down on the table so he could make wild motions his hands.

"Hes tiny! How can you guys be soulmates when hes not even human?!" 

"Don't know, don’t care." Techno stated dismissively before picking the jar up off the table, accidentally knocking Wilbur over….. again. The brunet pushed himself up and scooted back, a nervous look on his face as he pressed his back against the glass. So big… even bigger than Tommy… scary.

He met Techno's harsh, red-brown eyes, and swallowed nervously. Quickly they softened, but it did nothing to quell the poor borrower's anxiety.

"Well let's get you outta' here." Techno said before he started unscrewing the lid. Wilbur didn't have time to process anything as he was gently slid out of the jar and into the human's awaiting hand. The borrower immediately tensed up and braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the fingers to close around him like vicious claws. But it never happened.

Slowly he opened his eyes again and looked around, hugging himself. Techno was just staring at him.

"Um…-"

"Sorry- I didn't mean to stare… this is just really weird." the pinket put the jar down and took several steps away from the counter, moving his free hand underneath the other for support.

"You… you knew I was a borrower?" Wilbur asked finally.

"Mhm."

"A-and you never thought to mention you were a human??" Techno looked conflicted, before nodding.

"I figured it might complicate things so I kept it to myself."

"You- I- AHG!" he yelled, tugging at his hair.

"...So mind explaining exactly what's going on? I'm still confused" Tommy interjected.

"Nah. The big kids are busy." Techno replied unapologetically before walking out of the kitchen, and headed upstairs, taking Wilbur with him. Nervousness tugged at his gut, and after a minute, Wilbur worked up the courage to ask.

“Um… Technoblade… what exactly are you… going to do... with me?” the tall human sighed, pushing his bedroom door open with a creak.

“I’m gonna put you down, an’ you can do whatever you want after. I’d like for you to stay and talk… face to face, but I can understand if you don’t wanna do that.” he said in an honest voice.

The borrower mulled over the words as Techno walked across the room to his desk. He gently set Wilbur down on top of it, before sitting down in front of him.

“Well… I suppose I could stay for a little bit…” the brunet started hesitantly. 

“Sounds good. Why don’t we start with how the little gremlin caught you?” Wilbur scoffed.

Tommy stared out at the water. He wasn’t the biggest fan of being out in the ocean, but there wasn’t much reason to stay on land. He’d heard that this fisherman was taking people out into the ocean on his fairly big boat, and he wanted to get away from his orphanage, so this was the best option. They left Essempi and were expecting to dock at L’Manburg in a few hours. He sighed, this was the perfect opportunity to get away, he just had to make sure none of the suspicious passengers didn’t stop him and ask where he was going, why he was alone, or why he had a full backpack. He saw someone try to come over and talk to him but excused himself quickly. He didn’t really like talking to people, and people didn’t really like talking to him, so he usually stayed away. He hid in the back of the boat, in between crates holding XD knows what.

He was debating on crawling inside one and seeing where he ended up when a loud crash was heard. It was like a boulder had hit the side of the ship. “What the fuck!” He whisper-shouted as he peeked out from his small corner in between and under boxes, he could hear people shouting before being cut off with a splash. He could’ve sworn that he was scaled in the water as he peeked over the edge, staying close to the floor. Oh, shit, he’d heard the legends of Mers, but he didn’t think they’d actually be real! He quickly hid in one of the crates, practically jumping inside the only open one and sealing it with a lid. He heard a few more shouts, but he ignored them as he closed his eyes and plugged his ears with his fingers…

“Aww, this one’s dead too!” Tubbo informed Ranboo as he circled around the nearly broken ship. He looked over to Boo as he emerged on the other side of the ship, shaking his head. He groaned a bit, “It’s no fun to play with dead ones…” The two continued searching for humans, but they only found more that drowned. “Hm, maybe next time we shouldn’t splash ‘em into the water.” Ranboo nodded, “Well, we could always just sink the boat?” Boo asked, it wasn’t that much fun, but it was something. They turned back to the boat but it was already sinking. The two collectively groaned, “Well at least we could get some food out of these crates.”

Tommy could hear the Mer’s searching through the rubble of the boat. He was thrown around quite a bit as the boat sunk, and was now floating in said crate from earlier, only had one eye hole to peek through at many other crates, floating in the ocean. Oh shit, he was going to die. He could feel himself start to hyperventilate as he drifted. The Mer’s continued to tear apart crates, he even caught a flash of scales everyonce in a while out of the peephole. Then he watched as the water disappeared, getting farther and farther away as the crate he was in was lifted up. “Oooooh…” he made a few noises, oofs, and urgs, all the way.

“Hmm, I think there’s something alive in this one!” Tubbo shouted out to Ranboo as he picked up another crate. This one was slightly heavier than the rest, but it was still extremely light. Ranboo swam over, peering into Tubbo’s palm where the small crate rested, smaller shorter than his pinkie, but slightly bigger in length than it. He reached out, slicing at the crate with his claw, prying it open. “Got it!” He proclaimed as he busted it open. He unceremoniously dumped all of the contents out, it was mostly straw, but then out came a smol human in a red and white shirt. “Ahhh!” It shouted as it fell out onto the palm.

Tommy quickly got to his feet when he landed on the somewhat warm and scaly palm. Holy fucking shit they were big. He gazed up, up, even further up at the Mer, they were smiling a large toothy smile as they stared down at him. The Mer holding (fuck he hated thinking about that) him made a noise, kinda like a shrill gentle screech. The fingers adjusted slightly, pulling him into a grip. “No, no no no!” They curled around him as he was lifted up for inspection. Oh, shit, he really was gonna die, and in such a horrible way. He fully expected the Mer to just eat him. But, that didn’t appear to be the case. He tried to work up the courage to speak, but no words came. He could hear another Mer behind him, but he couldn’t turn his head. “P-p-please…” he lightly whispered. It wasn’t super loud, but it was a word at least.

It didn’t appear like they heard him, they just kept on chittering between the two of them. This was fucking terrifying. They started swimming just in a random direction away from land, so that definitely wasn’t good. They came to a tame spot of the ocean that seemed to have a Coral Reef down below the water. They chittered all the way, making strange noises all the way. Tommy wished he knew what they were gonna do with him, he was surprised that he hadn’t died yet, from everything he’d heard about the legends of the Mer’s, he thought they’d have killed him already. Then something, unexpected happened.

The one holding him, started, counting. It made a noise, waited for a second, made another one, then made a final one a second later. That was when he threw The Human a far distance away. “AHHHHHH!” He simply shouted as he hit the cold water. He stayed submerged there until he spotted both mer’s gunning for him, hands stretched out as they tried to grab at him. They appeared to be fighting each other over who would catch him. As they did this, Tommy desperately tried to get to the surface. Until one clawed hand wrapped around him, it was rough and knocked the air out of his lungs. He was lifted out of the water and took in the air. More chittering was heard. Before another noise was heard from the water.

“Boys! It’s time for Dinner!” Tubbo groaned at Phil’s voice. He really wished they’d been able to play with the human a little more. “What should we do with it?” He asked Ranboo who was holding the human in a tight grip. “You might wanna, loosen that a bit.” He informed him. “Oh, yea.” He shifted the human to rest in his open palms. “Land is a bit too far away, but we could always keep him for a bit.” Tubbo nodded, “Yea, you can store it for a bit, we could continue tomorrow.” Ranboo nodded somewhat eagerly, as Tubbo disappeared to go placate Phil for a sec.

Tommy was glad when he was shifted to rest in the creature's palms. He really didn’t want that to happen again, and he was building his voice back up, as he was lifted high up, close to this Pricks face. “OI BI-“ He tries to shout with all of his ‘annoying’ gusto, but he was unceremoniously shoved into the Mer’s mouth, where he landed on the soft muscle of the creature's tongue. Oh shit. He backed up with urgency, poking himself on one of the sharp teeth. Oh Prime, this was it. He shouted as the wet tongue pushed him around, lathering him in Saliva. This was so gross, but the Mer ended up swallowing thickly, pushing him toward the dark tunnel that lay at the end. He shouted and screeched as he tried to avoid the tunnel. But it was fruitless as his legs got sucked into the tube.

The throat dragged him down deep inside the mer, he tried to fight it with everything he had, but it was far too late. He was gonna die, and he hadn’t done shit with his life. He held back his tears and shouted with outrage as he tried to climb back up, but the muscles forced him further down until he finally landed in a slightly lit-up room. But this wasn’t a room, this was his demise. He lay in there, just in shock at what had happened. This wasn’t how he wanted today to go, nor how he wanted to die. "Oi Prick face!" He shouted as loud as he could, "You better let me out of here or I'll fuck your stomach up!" He tried to beat up the stomach from the inside, prime he hated that word, but it didn't do shit. He resigned to just cryin in the corner, how brave.

The first sign that something was wrong was when all the tv’s in the store switched to Channel 9 News and started blaring the Essempi national  anthem.

The entirety of the shop had fallen silent as they crowded around the tvs to hear what the reporter had to say,

“Just outside of the city limits a giant has been caught and detained….” The reporter continued on as Ranboo looked away and tried desperately to curb his panic.

He looked back to see the usual blonde reporter, Clementine, continuing on about how for the time being all of the city gates would be closing and nobody would be allowed in or out.

That was extremely bad news for the shapeshifter. 

That’s what Ranboo was, a shapeshifter. 

He could grow as tall as a full-blooded giant or become as small as a human’s hand.

Normally however, and when he went on supply runs, the teen liked to stay at his normal size of 6’6 which still slightly towered over most people.

His shifting was very emotion based and he could barely control it. 

Ranboo knew that he needed a place to stay and his lucky break came in the form of His new two neighbors, Tommy and Tubbo.

The two of them had posted up a “Roommate Wanted: Will Split Rent” poster up on the apartment complex’s bulletin board and Ranboo had been the only taker. 

The apartment itself was small with thin walls that were colored a light yellow and an older (but still fairly sturdy) couch. 

It was a tight squeeze with three people now living there but they made it work.

The first few days after Ranboo moved in he avoided them despite how it probably made him seem rude or stuck up.

It was hard to stay silent for long when they both tried to include him in their conversations. Why he didn’t know.

Ranboo tried to keep up his stone cold appearance but it only took him a couple of days to crack and talk to them.

Once he did he found out that, surprisingly, he enjoyed their company. It didn’t take long for him to become friends with the duo.

After that Tubbo and Tommy became almost like brothers to him.

Ranboo wondered if they felt the same way.

However even if Tommy and Tubbo did feel the same way, the size shifter still kept his secret well hidden. 

Until one day he didn’t.

It had just been a normal Saturday where all of the trio hadn’t had to pick up any shifts or cover for anyone else so they were all off work.

Tommy and Tubbo had gone out to the store and had insisted that Ranboo stay home for some reason.

While he couldn’t help but think that that was a little odd, he was grateful for the peace and quiet that followed their leaving.

He tidied up around the small apartment until he deemed it clean enough then flopped down onto the couch to turn on the news.

While watching the news wasn’t the most exciting thing, but Ranboo had always had a belief that it was important to know what was going on in the city. 

After around 15 minutes he was about to change the channel, having thought he’d see enough, when suddenly there was an emergency city-wide broadcast.

As the topic suddenly changed gears images of a sizeshifter that Ranboo once knew flashed across the screen.

His eyes blew wide in panic as he saw the now giant, someone who would’ve never hurt a fly, being detained and imprisoned like some sort of beast.

It made him feel sick and a tell-tale tugging start up in his stomach.

Ranboo felt a dizzying sensation as his emotions spiked and the area between the floor and the couch seemingly shrunk. 

With his ever looming panic it took him a few seconds to realize that the room wasn’t shrinking, he was growing.

All he could do was bend almost in half as he felt another wave of nausea overcome him. Ranboo’s shoulders brushed the ceiling as he backed himself up into the corner where he was less likely to do more damage.

As the shifter was moving his arm accidentally collided with the table and sent it across the room where it hit the wall with a crack.

Now panicking he wrenched himself further against the wall and tears filled his eyes as his back dug painfully into the wall. 

‘What would his friends think? Surely they would come and see him taking up the whole apartment and think he was a giant or ,even worse, a monster.’

The more logical part of Ranboo’s mind told him that maybe, just maybe his friends wouldn’t shun him. Maybe after all of these months things would be different.

He quickly ignored those though because even if they could be true he couldn’t risk it.

He couldn’t risk being turned in to the government because his friends might decide not to turn him in.

Ranboo needed to leave as soon as possible.

All of the exits were obviously out of the question. 

That only left one option.

Ranboo slowed his breathing and tried with all his might to shift back down to his normal size but to no avail.

Just as he thought that things couldn’t get worse, his roommates arrived.

With his now advanced hearing Ranboo could hear their footsteps echoing down the hall, his secret about to be inevitably spilled as they got closer and closer to the door.

All he could do was try and push himself further into the wall, hoping that it would make him magically seem smaller.

‘Like that’ll work-’ The sinister part of his brain whispered to him.

Ranboo quickly shoved those thoughts aside, trying to ignore the choruses of ‘Monster’ and ‘Giant’ that now ran through his head.

With no better options he hung his head in defeat, prayed to any god that would listen, and waited for Tommy and Tubbo to walk in through the door.

---------