TW: pet whump, institutionalized slavery, environmental whump
Intro to Jellybean
Side note: jellybeans pronouns are he/they
God knows how long the poor thing had been there. When Toby found the skinny pet, all hung up in a snag of the river, he had assumed they were dead, he was so thin and pale and unmoving. He waded into the water, grabbing beneath his arms to pull him from the water, and was more alarmed that they were warm.
"fuck" Toby stammered, wide eyed, untangling the poor thing and pulling it to shore. He placed a hand in front of their nose, and thank the gods that they were breathing, Toby hadn't the slightest clue how to do CPR.
He checked them over for a microchip, relieved to find that he didn't find any signs of one. He picked up the pet as best he could, and started his trek home.
Jellybean blinked slowly, actually warm for the first time in a few days, since master had thrown them off that ledge into the cold water. They felt hands on them, but were too weak to fight back.
"oh shit- hey- it's okay" a voice reassured the trembling figure.
Jellybean hardly registered it, but when he did, he was shaking and terrified, trying to run away, but he was so so dizzy, and he couldn't even stand.
"I'm sorry- I'm sorry I'm trying to warm you up, you have gnarly frostbite" Toby said "I got you in a bath, to warm you up. I need you to try and drink some water okay?" He tried to calmly explain
"he... Left me" Jellybean sobbed "I don't....I don't think he meant for me to survive" he said, crying tears he didn't have.
Toby didn't know how to respond, but just tried to finish washing him.
"please master, if you plan to kill me, just get it over with" Jellybean begged
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to get you better, healthy"
Jellybean panicked at this. "b-but- but-" oh god he was just going to get them healthy, only to watch them fall apart again.
"hey- I'm going to get you healthy and you're going to stay healthy. I'm not going to sell you or hurt you, I want you to feel safe" he tried to explain "I couldn't just leave you there... Whoever did this to you is a monster" he rambled.
Jellybean shrugged, balling up to stay warm.
Toby sighed, ordering some food from an app and getting him to drink some warm water. Poor thing had been through a lot, based on the scars on their body and the way he flinched away whenever he washed his lower back or hips, or the way he couldn't sit properly without whining. Toby didn't pry, now wasn't the time for that.
Toby took him to a nice warm bed, tucking him in and getting in beside him. "Can I sleep in the same bed? Or do you want me to find a different spot?" He asked.
Jellybean didn't answer, he just curled up close and nuzzled into his chest. "warm" he smiled. And they went to bed that night with a full belly and a warm place for the first time in years.
@rat-father @outofangband @sideblogformindtrash
