ABATEOTW Crossover Episode (Part 1)
Species Swap meets the main story (Not cannon on either side). This was a request from @Bunni-08, hope you enjoy! Thanks for this fan animation!
Word count: 2400ish
All Chapters AU and non
I was heavily inspired by this anon post!
***
“I spy with my little eye, something green.”
“We’re in a forest, Lilac, everything is green,” Juniper frowned at his sister.
“Nu-huh! Not everything,” She said while sticking her tongue out.
Bruno tried to stifle a laugh at the fruitless kid’s bickering. The children certainly felt a slight shake in the fabric floor below their feet, but they had been traveling with this giant long enough to ignore the odd and exaggerated actions of his enormous body. Currently, the borrowers hung from a makeshift pouch across the human man’s chest, leaving the kids high off the ground, but secure. The pouch kept them close, here Bruno could hear, see, and (occasionally) feel the kids during their travels.
Six months, eleven cars and nearly 900 miles together got them into a decent routine. Bruno watched every step, always conscious and aware of his two passengers. The kids trusted him to keep them safe on their travels.
Trust. Bruno smiled to himself, what more could he ask for when he was so big compared to both of them.
None of them were alone on this journey, and that was all that mattered.
Bruno taught the borrowers human-bean travel games for their long trip which led to some very amusing conversations.
Juniper guessed the ‘green’ object almost immediately, “that was a dumb one.”
“Was not!” Lilac whined at her brother.
“Whatever. It’s my turn anyway, I spy something grey–– Hey! Bruno!”
The giant stopped in his tracks and looked down to find the boy hanging halfway out of the pouch. The man grimaced, not liking how comfortable the children were with heights, even before he met them, he cautiously brought a hand beneath the pouch opening in case the boy fell out. “What is it, chamaco?”
Choosing to ignore the nickname, “I’ve seen that rock before,” Juniper pointed. “I spied it two rounds ago.”
“No, that can’t be… I could have sworn that I…” Bruno frowned at the rock. Then it’s surroundings. Was everything familiar, or was Juniper just trying to be funny again and mess with Bruno the only way he really could? Psychologically. Using his free hand, Bruno rubbed his face. Nope. There was that tree up ahead that he almost ran into earlier.
Mierda.
“Face it big guy,” Juniper shrugged, “You got us lost.”
Lilac poked her head out beside her brother, eyes wide with worry, “We’re lost?!”
“No, Chiquita. We are not lost,” Bruno said as he fiddled with a compass in his free hand.
“Oh, yes we are!" Juniper sighed dramatically at the five year old, "we are completely, hopelessly and utterly lost!”
“Mr. Runo!” Lilac’s eyes filled with tears, before quickly disappearing back into the pouch. Bruno felt her run right to the wall of his chest and cry into the warm fabric.
“Juniper, knock it off, you’re upsetting her.”
Juniper modeled mock offence and scoffed. “Who? Me?”
“Move aside,” Bruno said.
Juniper shrugged and did as he was told.
The boy had finally gotten over his initial fear of the human bean, which Bruno was grateful for. He didn’t miss the fearful glances when he entered a room and came anywhere near either child. But now Juniper teetered strongly in the opposite direction, becoming over confident with the giant. And after Juniper lost his overprotective streak his sister had revealed more chaotic and teasing ways of messing with her, leading to Bruno on more than one occasion having to physically separate the children to keep them from fighting.
Bruno’s large, calloused hand began to reach into the pouch, intent to pick up and comfort the child.
A snap of a branch caused everyone to freeze.
“Mr. Runo?” Lilac called from inside, his hand eclipsing the light outside of the pouch. She could feel the heat radiating off the appendage. So close, but his fingers became rigid.
“Shhh,” Bruno breathed, scanning their surroundings for any danger. More leaves rustling, he turned and spotted something red and a rather short run through the trees away from Bruno, “was– is that a kid?” He hadn’t seen a living human in months, not since he started keeping borrowers as travel companions. “Hold on.” That was the only warning Bruno gave before taking off after the human child, shouting: “Hey, stop!”
“Are you insane!?” Juniper practically screamed when he almost fell out of the bag. Lilac wasn’t faring much better, shrieking her head off the whole way.
All the bean did in response was place his hand on his chest, cupping the kids through the bag and making their ride a little steadier as the man continued to call out to the child. “Little girl?! Are your parents around here? Hey!”
The girl didn’t slow down her pace and didn’t scream for help. Instead she made loud and high pitch bird calls, echoing across the forest.
Bruno didn’t have time to think or question that as an old house came into view through the tree line, that’s where she was running off too. Finally, he could see other humans again. Maybe he could ask for directions or trade something for supplies.
Before he could think of anything else, something hit Bruno in the stomach. Hard. He quickly fell to his knees.
Thank goodness the borrowers were cupped in Bruno’s hand higher on his chest and not hanging any lower on his torso or they might have been crushed.
Bruno fell over, curling up into a protective ball, not just for his internal organs but for the two lives held in his palm. He briefly glanced up to see a young boy wielding a stick like a weapon as he hit Bruno again in the back. The boy had red hair to match that little girl’s and fear in his eyes.
At the next strike, Bruno cried out and loosened his grip on the children long enough for Lilac to escape the pouch and ran just past the bean’s arm out into the open. Juniper’s shouts for her to come back were lost under Bruno’s pained grunts.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Lilac shrieked as loud as her little lungs would allow, “You’re hurting him!” Tears streamed down her cheeks. From the ground, the human boy seemed almost as large and intimidating as Bruno. Her legs shook with fear as she stared down the giant who was hurting her bean.
“¡Mi hija, no!” Bruno immediately pulled her back in with a cupped palm and held her close. His other hand clutched her brother, still in the pouch.
Upon seeing the borrower, the boy dropped the stick, face turning pale. He took a shaky step backwards before yelling, “BRIAR!” And running inside the house.
Bruno began to unwind from his curled position, scanning the area for any other threats. He didn’t want to risk putting the children in any more danger than he already had. If the way the boy initially reacted was any indication, whoever this ‘Briar’ was was probably bad news.
Juniper hopped out of the bag and into the giant’s palm with his sister. He cupped her face, "Lilac! Are you alright?!”
She nodded and sniffled.
Juniper's face turned red hot, "what the hell were you thinking?! Don't you ever do something so foolish and stupid as running out and yelling at a giant! What part of 'never be seen' do you not understand?!"
"But-- but," Lilac began to whale, "He was hurting Mr. Runo!" She pushed her face into her brother's chest and cried.
“Oh, Come on,” Juniper hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. "Please don't cry."
Normally, Bruno would have tried to also comfort her, but he wanted out as much as that human boy seemed to want him to go away. He struggled to his feet.
“Mr. Runo,” Lilac now hugged his pointer finger, “Are you okay?”
All he could do was grunt in return and attempt to walk away in the other direction.
“Stop!” A new, distinctly softer, male voice called out from behind.
Bruno didn’t bother looking back as he staggered away.
“You have a borrower?”
Now Bruno froze, as did the kids in his hands.
“Where is she?” The voice demanded. “What have you done to her?”
“Now wait just a damn minute,” Bruno spun around, “you better watch your mouth, I haven’t ‘done’ anything to her.” He held the children close as he scanned his surroundings for the source of the voice.
The only person there was the human boy who had hit Bruno earlier. But it wasn’t him who was speaking, the voice was low, like a grown man.
Movement on the boy’s right shoulder beside his scarf caught their attention, and Bruno's heart stopped. Juniper and Lilac’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“You…” Bruno started, but the words died in his throat.
“A Borrower?! Another borrower!” Lilac was practically bouncing in Bruno’s palm. Tears long since forgotten.
“Bruno, put us down!” Juniper banged on the pad of Bruno’s thumb. “Put us down!”
The giant man hesitated. On a normal day, he wouldn’t think twice to let them roam if they asked but the appearance of these strangers, especially after he took that a few hits from the boy, he wasn’t so sure. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Chamaco,” Bruno muttered as he pulled them closer, taking a step back.
“So you don’t listen to your prisoners.” The borrower shouted across the chasm between the beans.
“They are not my prisoners,” Bruno snapped.
“Then you won’t mind if I speak with them.”
“No, of course not.”
“Alone.”
Bruno hesitated. Borrower or not, this man was a stranger to the children. He looked down at Lilac and Juniper who each had pleading puppy dog eyes. Please. He sighed, “fine.”
“Take us towards the house.” The borrower said to the human boy whose shoulder he rode upon.
***
If Bruno listened hard enough, he could have sworn he heard Lilac’s high pitch squeal of joy. That was as good a sign as any that they were at least enjoying this man’s company. This borrower.
Bruno looked down at his hands, touching his palms where the children once stood. He could almost feel their weight if he focused hard enough.
“I am very sorry for hitting you, sir,” Jace said as he sat beside the man. He introduced himself after the borrower, Briar, left. “I was just trying to protect my little sister,” he handed Bruno a wet cloth.
“Don’t worry about it, kid.” Bruno took the cloth gratefully and washed away the dirt caking his body. “I understand, I have sisters of my own. Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same if someone was chasing them.”
Jace sucked in a breath looking at Bruno’s scraped knees, “does it hurt?”
Bruno shook his head, “I’ve felt worse fighting in the ring.”
“The Ring?”
Bruno nodded, “yeah, I was a–”
“You were a wrestler?” Jace said at the same time.
“I was a lot of things, but mainly, yeah I was.” He smiled shyly.
Jace’s eyes widened, “what was your wrestler name?”
“Bruno the Beast.” At Jace’s blank stare, Bruno chuckled. “Ah, I’m not surprised you hadn’t heard of me. I wasn’t a household name in these parts, but I had a good career as a heel. Kept the lights on and food on the table.”
“Did you ever go up against any big names?” Jace pried.
Bruno thought for a moment, “I fought the Leopard once or twice.”
“No way!” That elicited an excited squeal from the pre-teen, “Did you ever get any injuries from the ring? Or is that too personal to ask?”
Bruno shook his head before recounting getting accidently close lined by his fellow heel. Or the first time he learned how to safely fall from a great height and accidentally fracturing a bone.
Jace’s eyes shone with stars as he listened intently. Something in this human boy reminded Bruno of Juniper, but maybe it was their shared hair color.
The hair on the back of Bruno’s neck stood on end. It was a feeling of knowing when he was being watched, he had developed over the years. When he was a (semi) public figure, fans or photographers would spot him in his everyday life, maybe they would ask for pictures or continue to stare. On one of the worst occasions they followed him around as he was shopping in a grocery store. It became useful when a certain couple of little borrowers decided to spy on him. He looked behind him.
“Hm?” Jace turned to follow his eye line and frowned. “Layla, it’s rude to stare.”
Hiding slightly behind the doorframe stood the little girl Bruno had chased earlier. She clutched a brown bear to her chest and silently watched them.
Bruno blanched at the sight of her. Guilt more painful than his newly formed bruises. She seemed uneasy about this stranger. How could he blame her?
“I,” Bruno began but hesitated when she shyly hid her face. “I’m sorry for scaring you… As soon as my borrowers come back, I’ll leave. Is that— will that be okay?”
Layla shrugged.
Jace sighed, “she’s acting so weird because you are the first bean we’ve seen in months.”
“I see.” Bruno nodded and let out a quiet laugh. It seemed Jace had picked up the borrower colloquialism for the human species. “You both are the first I’ve seen too. How did you two end up living with a borrower of all people?”
“We could ask the same thing about you,” Jace quirked an eyebrow, as if saying ‘you first.’
Bruno nodded, “I found Lilac while hiding out in an abandoned house. She was terrified of me at first, but she got over that quickly. Infact, she decided to share some of the bread her brother stole— i mean — borrowed from my supplies. Her brother on the other hand hated me the first time we met. He was as wound up like a rattle snake, but his heart was in the right place. He only wanted to protect his sister.”
“I get that,” Jace nodded.
“They came with me when I left because they had no one else to turn to. There were no other borrowers.” Bruno paused and looked at the hole in the wall where three borrowers were. He gulped and looked down at his hand that couldn’t even push into that hole without getting stuck.
“Where are you trying to go?”
“Home. I’m trying to make it to my family home down south. My sister will be waiting for me there.”
Jace slumped, “how do you know that she is still alive?”
Bruno paused, “I don’t really know, but I can hope. At a certain point that’s really all we have.”
Jace nodded somberly, “We don’t have anyone other than Briar.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Bruno sighed, “how did you meet a borrower yourself?”
“Really he met us first,” Jace let out a breathy laugh, “he started bringing us food in the middle of the night so we couldn’t see him. We were starving. He saved us more times than I can count.” He grasped his scarf, feeling its constant weight on his shoulders. “Eventually he appeared to us, though he really didn’t want to. He taught me how to hunt and live like a borrower.” Jace saw Bruno quirk a brow at that statement, but continued, “He is the reason we are still alive. We owe him everything.”
“I see,” Bruno nodded, “he sounds like a good man.”
While they were speaking, Layla stepped out from behind the door frame. Holding the stuffed bear behind her back, she tip-toed closer. Tilting her head, never taking her eyes off of Bruno.
When Bruno realized how much she was scrutinizing him, he became nervous.
Now she stood within arms reach, scrunching her nose as if trying to put a puzzle together. The five year old girl with messy, red hair didn’t seem afraid anymore. Just cautious and curious.
She got up on her tip toes and into Bruno’s face. He pulled back in surprise, but she pushed closer. She squinted her eyes and turned her head slightly. Bruno began to nervously sweat as she stared into his eyes.
Suddenly, a gasp escaped her lips and her eyes widened in recognition. She broke into an ecstatic grin, showing her missing baby teeth, followed by a sweet giggle.
Bruno was completely taken off guard by this almost 180 degree change.
Then, Layla pounced on the man, causing him to fall back a little, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. She nuzzled her cheek into his shoulder. “It’s you!” She declared.
Bruno furrowed his eyebrows, “Uh, yeah, it is me?” He looked to Jace who was just as confused if not more confused. Jace had never seen Layla warm up to strangers so quickly, even before the end of the world.
Bruno hesitantly returned the hug, with a shaky arm across her back. It was nice to finally hold someone close to his size. He leaned into her touch and held on as long as she wanted.
She melted into him, whispering, “It is you.”
***
All Chapters AU and non
I was heavily inspired by this Anon post!
