#oc lilac

Anon were you looking at my drafts?😯😏

Thank you to @guaxinimraccoon for this art! You did a wonderful job! (I commissioned them! Just look at my babies!)

Species Swap AU: What if Briar was a human (named Bruno) and the kids were borrowers (named Lilac and Juniper)? Read other parts here: (part 1) / (part 2) / (part 3) / (bonus AU comic here)

Main story “A Borrower at the end of the World” can be found here!

Word count: 4,600ish

***

The early morning sun shined through the windshield and woke Juniper up. It was cheerfully bright, he groaned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stretched. When he sat up and let his vision finally come into focus, his heart stopped. 

A massive lump of flesh sat just out of reach. He had never been so close to a bean’s hand. He could feel the heat radiating from the skin. Juniper was shaking like it was freezing. 

A gigantic hand lay beside him, connected to an arm as thick as a treetrunk, which extended up and over the plastic armrest which concealed most of the bean’s body.

Too close! Too close! I have to get away! Juniper shakily tried scooting away from the large hand. Juniper was just about to start screaming and running when he remembered Lilac.

He looked around desperately, where was his sister? In his panicked mind he almost missed her. 

Then he spotted two little arms wrapped around one of the titanic fingers.

Ice ran through the boy’s veins as he crawled his way to Lilac. Every cell in his body told him to run away, but his need to protect his sister took over any rational thought. “Let go of her, you gigantic oaf! You monster!” Juniper shouted as he pulled his sister out from under the giant’s hand. 

Lilac whined as her brother forced her to let go of the warm finger and yelped when Juniper pulled her into his arms. She was fully awake now, and thoroughly confused. 

Bruno was so startled by the sudden noises beside him and feeling tickling sensations on his hand. He reflexively pulled back his arm and sat up. The giant unfortunately sat up so quickly that he smacked his head on the car roof. He emphasized the impact with a quick shout, which made Juniper jump at the sheer volume of the exclamation. 

The air around the giant hand was sucked along with it as it was pulled away. Juniper wavered in his stance, almost tripping in the process. Still the boy backed up, holding the squirming five year old in his arms. He fervently looked for a way out. They were trapped in a car with a bean and there was no escape.

Lilac looked around, startled and unsure of what was happening as her brother backed away from the giant staring at them, trying to recover from his own rude awakening. Juniper didn’t realize he was getting too close to the edge of the seat and was about to fall off. 

“Woah, woah, careful–” Bruno reached out at the edge of the passenger’s seat, blocking them from falling. If they did get closer to the edge, he would have caught them. 

Juniper panicked as another gigantic form loomed behind him and over corrected, running forward and immediately tripping on the uneven soft surface. Juniper fell onto his shoulder with a shout. Lilac screeched as she tumbled out of her brother’s arms, landing on her butt. Her head spun as she looked up at the towering giant above them, who had his hands up like he was just as surprised as they were and didn’t know what to do next. 

“What was that?” Bruno asked, wide eyed. 

“What do you mean ‘what was that?’ Do you have rocks for brains? You tried to grab us!” Juniper was on his feet immediately, shouting at the giant and pointing an accusatory finger towards Bruno’s titanic face. 

“You were both about to fall off the seat–”

“— Because you grabbed her–”

“—I did not–”

“Did so! You were holding my sister in your giant, monster hands!”

Bruno froze. Memories of the previous night crashed into his mind. “I didn’t– No…well, I did, but I-I was just— She– your sister, was about to have another night terror and I was trying to calm her down– and then she grabbed my…” Bruno looked at the fuming boy, red in the face, ready to hurl more insults the bean’s way. Then he looked down at Lilac, she stared back at him with wide, innocent eyes. She had no fear in them, just confusion, like she didn’t know what he was talking about. That shut the giant up before he dug his own grave any further. Bruno pulled himself as far away from the children as possible in the tight car,  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have– I shouldn’t have touched you, Lilac, I won’t do it again.”

“You better not,” Juniper snapped. 

Bruno ran a hand down his tired face, “I-I’m gonna go outside for a bit…” He grabbed his glasses that were resting on the dashboard and used the hand crank to roll down the window a few inches. “If you need me, you can always–”

“We won’t,” Juniper muttered, but Bruno still heard it. The giant’s face turned into a frown for a split second, before becoming neutral again. But it was long enough to startle the borrower boy into shutting up. 

Bruno sighed and turned his back to the kids. He grasped the car door handle and sat there for a moment. The subtlest shiver came to his shoulders, like the tension was building in his monumental back. The giant man opened the door, his shifting weight rocked the car as he left, and closed it as softly as possible. He tried his best not to scare the kids, but it seemed much too late for that.

When the bean’s thumping footsteps faded away, Juniper finally found the ability to breathe again. The tension in his small body lessened and his heart was almost a normal rhythm. 

“Junie?” Lilac’s soft voice cut through the fearful haze in the boy’s mind. 

Juniper was instantly brought back to reality and rushed towards his baby sister, almost tripping in his hurry.  

Juniper landed on his knees in front of her and cupped her face in his hands, “are you alright? D-did he hurt you?!” He pulled at her arms and legs, checking for broken bones, scratches, bruises, anything, but found nothing. “This was all a mistake,” Juniper was suddenly on his feet and began pacing and pulling at the roots of his hair, “A very bad, bad mistake. We shouldn’t have come. I shouldn’t have let you or that behemoth convince me to let us come. We don’t even know where the hell he is taking us!” He was spiraling now, thinking of every possible horrible thing the bean could do to them. “This must be his master plan, to trap us and keep us like pets or eat us—“

“Junie!” Lilac pulled at her brother’s sleeve, forcing him to stop, “it’s okay! I’m fine!”

“How can you say you’re fine?! He was holding you in his gigantic hand! He could have crushed you!”

“He was?”

“You don’t remember?” Juniper couldn’t believe it.

Lilac shook her head, “not really.” She paused for a long time concentrating, “I don’t know, but I remember feeling… warm. Warmer than I have in a long time.”

Juniper huffed, exasperated, “Of course you felt ‘warm,’ that giant freak practically radiates heat all the time!”

Lilac scoffed, “You are so mean to Mr. Runo.”

“Wha— I am not—“

“Are so! You call him mean names all the time.”

“I do not--”

“You called him stupid.”

“Well—“

“You said his feet could destroy a whole borrower house yesterday.”

“So–”

“You called him a monster today. A few times.”

“Why are you keeping track?”

“And I heard you say that he has an awful voice that shakes the earth.”

“Well, it’s not like I don’t say things that aren’t true.”

“But it’s not true!” Tears filled the child’s eyes. “He’s nice, Junie. He’s so nice.” She shook her head adamantly, “all he’s done is help us.” She began to cry. 

Juniper paused, “Hey,” he bent down to her level and wiped away her tears, “Lilac, d-don’t cry–”

“You are so mean to him.”

“But–” 

“No, butts!” Lilac huffed, “Mommy always said, ‘if you got nothing nice to say…”

“…Don’t say anything at all,” Juniper finished lamely. He sighed and scratched his neck. Maybe he had been too harsh on the bean— Bruno. Lilac wasn’t hurt and that’s all that really mattered. 

“You have to tell Mr. Runo you’re sorry.”

“What?! No way—“

She pulled at her brother close by the shirt, he could feel her hot breath as she whispered into his ear, gritting her teeth, “You will apologize to him when he comes back or else.”

Juniper got a chill up his spine as he pulled away, she spoke with the same cadence and irritation as their mother once used when threatening punishment for the kid’s misbehaving. (Though her voice was much higher.) 

“O-okay…” When Juniper pulled away, he half expected to see their mother sitting there, but instead Lilac was doing her best attempt at a glare. He let out a hesitant laugh as he looked at his little sister, “when did you become so bossy?”

“When you decided to be a big butt-head,” Lilac countered with a giggle and a quick shove in the chest. 

“Oh yeah?” A devilish smirk grew on his face as poked her in the stomach, eliciting a series of giggles until she breathlessly begged for him to stop. Juniper looked up towards the window Bruno left open. “Where is that bean anyway?” he asked, “The guy’s been gone a while.”

“Do you think he’s lost?” Lilac worried. 

“No,” Juniper rolled his eyes, “how can you lose a guy that big anyway?”

***

Bruno never wandered far from the car. No matter how angry the children were. No matter how much they hated him, he made a promise to keep them safe. 

He locked the car door behind him, not to keep them trapped, but as a cautionary move. There probably weren’t other beans out there, but he didn’t want to risk someone hijacking his (stolen) car and finding two tiny, defenseless children in the passenger's seat. 

The windows were left slightly open for three reasons. One, so they could call out for him. Two, if they really needed to get out of the car, they could use their hooks and climb out. Juniper had tested that out the day before they officially left because he didn’t like the thought of being fully trapped in a confined space with a bean. The third reason was just to give them much needed fresh air, since the air conditioning was broken in the truck. 

Bruno sat in the dirt beside the car, leaning up against the tire. His head down and his arms resting on his knees. His body refused to move from the spot, unsure if he should take a walk into the woods to relieve some of the tension in his body or just get back in the car, get back on the road. He just froze and wallowed in his misery.

The man felt like shit. He probably looked like it too, if the constant smell of BO (from lack of bathing) had anything to do with it. His clothes were tattered and torn. His shoes and socks had holes. His long, curly hair was twisted in matted knots. He slid a calloused hand down his jaw and felt his stubby patches of beard. He hadn’t shaved in a while either.

He definitely looked like the shell of the man he once was. He felt like it too. Bruno used to have everything, money, fame, now look at him. A man long past his prime, just trying desperately to get home. Praying that his family would survive long enough for him to see them again. There was so much uncertainty in the world now. Who knows how long it will take for him to get there, they were going to run out of gas soon and would have to abandon their (“borrowed”) truck, find a new one. Or have to walk the rest of the way there, Bruno’s legs ached at the very thought. 

Then a thought occurred to him: I’d have to carry the kids. Bruno gulped. 

Juniper’s terrified eyes and shouts echoed in his mind. Over the past few weeks the boy’s insults were really getting to Bruno. The almost constant accusations of being a monster. Juniper’s worries that Bruno might suddenly turn on the children or hurt them accidentally, was really getting to the bean.

How can I help or even protect them if they don’t even want to trust me? He lamented to himself.

He knew on some level, this was a bad idea. Traveling with beings smaller than his hands could be dangerous to them. Not just him posing a threat, but the entire outside world too. Bruno wanted nothing more than to help them, his intentions were pure, but it seemed that every action he took was wrong. It was one screw up after another. 

Bruno grasped at his arms, digging into the skin with his nails. He took two children away from their home. He forced them to trust a man 40 times their size to keep his promise of protecting them. He was taking them to a place they had never even heard of. No wonder they were terrified. 

Maybe instead of taking them with him, he should have helped them search for other borrowers. Who knows, if he found borrowers once, maybe he could do it again? Or at the very least he could have stayed in that abandoned house with them until another borrower came along. 

The bean looked to the sky for the right answer. He should just turn around, use what’s left of the fuel to bring them back to the house where they first met and search for someone else their size who could take care of them. 

Bruno absentmindedly rubbed his pinkie finger. The ghost of Lilac’s two inch figure lingered there, wrapping her little arms around the digit. 

The man was selfish. He knew it was selfish, to want something that just wasn’t possible. He wanted to be trusted. He wanted to be helpful. He wanted the kids to want to be with him, to maybe even stay with him. He wanted to be a hero. 

He should have made Lilac let go of his finger when he had the chance, even if that meant she would cry, at least her brother would have woken up and taken care of it. Then they wouldn’t be in this mess of a situation. Their alliance was precarious enough as it was. Now he was sure he broke all the trust either kid had left in him. He broke one of the first rules given to him: don’t touch the borrowers.

His stomach hollowed out and he curled in on himself, leaving a big pit in his chest. 

Those kids will probably never want to see me again. Bruno buried his face in his moon-sized hands, and I can’t blame them… I could never blame them.  

Bruno was used to being seen as a villain. But never a monster. 

***

“Mr. Runo!” Lilac cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her small voice, “We need you!”

“Don’t shout,” Juniper tried to shut her up, “He’ll come back eventually! Stop!”

She twisted out of his grasp and yelled louder, “Mr. RUNO!

It sounded like a barely audible whisper, but the second Bruno heard Lilac’s call, his spine instantly straightened. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end as he shot to his feet. Moving faster than he had in years. 

The kids could see his large frame casting a shadow on the window. They could hear as he fumbled for the car keys at his hip, cursing in Spanish when he nearly dropped them in his urgency. 

He finally unlocked the door, but he pulled it open so quickly the air in the car moved with such force that the children almost fell over.

Juniper worried the door might get pulled off its hinges. A terrible reminder of the power this creature— bean held over them. Yet they chose to trust and spend their time with him.

“What is it, what’s wrong?!” Bruno’s wild eyes scanned each child for injury or distress. Juniper had the same nervous features as usual and Lilac was more wide eyed, but unharmed. 

“We’re fine,” Lilac squeaked. 

Bruno released a hefty sigh and sat down. The car rocked at the entrance of the 6’7 man and the suspensions creaked. Both kids tried to stay steady on the chair as the whole world around them jostled. 

Juniper started sweating, this was just another reminder of the weight under Bruno’s giant shoes. One wrong step and the kids would be nothing but a stain on the floor. Juniper tried to shake that horrible thought out of his mind.

Bruno rested his head on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t take much more of this stress so early in the morning. 

“Are you alright, Mr. Runo?”

“Yes, yes I’m fine. I just need to catch my breath.” Bruno sat up a bit and waved them off, “you just scared me is all.”

“Sorry,” Lilac looked down guiltily.

Bruno turned to face the children, shaking his head, “there’s nothing for you to apologize for. In fact…” he licked his lips and looked towards Juniper, who stiffened under the scrutiny. “Listen, Juniper, I’m–”

“I’m sorry,” Juniper shouted. 

Bruno’s jaw went slack, that was the last thing he ever expected to hear.

The boy waited a moment for any response back. But upon seeing their giant’s dumbfounded face, he continued, “I-I shouldn’t have shouted at you earlier.” Lilac elbowed her brother. He grunted, but continued, “And I didn’t mean it when I called you a monster. Or an oaf. Or said you were stupid. Or that you could squish us under your fat boots. Or that you smell worse than a horse’s as–”

“It’s okay!” Bruno stopped the boy before he dug himself into a deeper hole, “I understand. You were just trying to protect your sister, I’d be pretty scared too if I were you.”

“Really?” Juniper was sceptical. 

“Of course,” Bruno said seriously, “I’d freak out too if I woke up next to “moon sized hand.” Bruno smirked as he repeated Juniper’s words from two nights ago. 

The boy grimaced and looked down in shame, “I’m sorry about saying that too.”

“No. No, I should be the one apologizing." Bruno took a deep breath and looked at each of the borrower children in earnest, “I’m sorry, Juniper. I’m sorry Lilac. I overstepped your boundaries. I won't do it again.” 

“It’s okay,” Lilac said.

“It isn’t really,” Bruno muttered. “If this is too much for you, either of you, just say the word and I will drive you back to that house. I’ll help you find other borrowers or a permanent living situation. You’ll never have to see me again.”

Juniper looked down and shrugged, “There’s nowhere else for us to go.”

Lilac nodded. “Mommy said we might be the last borrowers out there… before she died.”

“And our father has been missing for three years now. He’s probably dead too.”

The kids weren’t normally so open about their lives before the bean came into the picture or about other borrowers, so Bruno hung onto every word.

Bruno sighed out all the stress and worry in his body. It looked like the kids were going to stick around a bit longer. “Can we start over?” He asked. The man really wished he could rewrite how they met. No terrifying the kids. No pissing off Juniper or his name calling anymore. Start off right and not deal with the consequences of their fear for no reason other than his stature. But time machines were not readily available to them, so he settled for this. 

“Huh?” Juniper looked at the bean like he had sprouted a second head.

“You know, pretend like nothing happened this morning that was scary or awful. Say that we woke up right now and are starting the day just right. How’s that sound?”

“I guess we can try,” Juniper rubbed the back of his head. He thought this was a dumb idea, but figured he’d at least play along to appease the bean and for Lilac’s sake. No matter how much they pretend all the shit didn’t happen, it sure as hell did. The terror of it all was still fresh in his mind.

“Okay!” The young girl smiled, “Mr. Runo, you gotta put your hand here, just like this morning!” Lilac pointed at the spot where his hand was the previous night. A large indent still permeated the blanket that once held the hand’s weight.

“Uh…” Bruno didn’t anticipate this request, he was so caught off guard that his brain seemed to stutter. Before he fully registered what he was doing, he quietly guided his large hand to lay beside the children. He gave them a wide birth of space between them and the appendage, waiting for what came next. He eyed Juniper to see if he’d protest, but the boy didn’t move.

When Bruno fully rested his hand where it had been that morning, Lilac squealed and bounded towards the huge appendage.

Juniper tried to grab her, “Lilac! Get back here.” He wasn’t quick enough. 

She stood beside his thumb and placed both hands on the joint. Lilac began shoving and pushing on his thick skin, “Flip your hand, Mr. Runo! Flip it!”

Just like the night before, it seemed Bruno couldn’t help but adhere to the whim of this two inch child. He carefully turned his hand so the palm was up. 

Lilac then did something neither Juniper nor Bruno would have ever expected, she climbed up onto the massive hand. She had a bit of trouble doing so, but as soon as she put her full weight on his palm, Bruno was completely frozen. Too scared to move or risk accidently hurting her. 

It didn’t help that she began exploring his hand. Tracing his life lines with her minuscule fingers and testing the squishiness of his palm. It tickled, but not in an unpleasant way. 

Bruno was frozen, he looked between the two kids for what to do next. Juniper felt like he was going to be sick. Lilac laid out on the wide palm, she was attempting to make little snow angels in his skin. Even with her arms and legs stretched out as far as she could reach, she didn’t make it to either end of the palm. 

“Come on Junie!” Lilac waved her brother over and patted an empty spot on Bruno’s skin next to her, “Come up here!”

“N-no, I’m okay.” Juniper shook his head.

“Please?” She used her best attempt at puppy eyes.

"You don't have to if you do want to," Bruno finally spoke up in his defense.

"He's not gonna do it ‘cause he's scared."

"I am not!"

"Are so!"

"Shut up," Juniper shouted at his sister as he marched over to the giant hand. Before he could really think about what he was doing, he jumped onto Bruno's palm. He almost tripped on the unexpectedly squishy surface. His arms swung round to keep balance. Lilac giggled at her brother’s struggle till he glared at her, immediately shutting her up.

Bruno stared in amazement, he currently held two lives in his hand. They (on some level) trusted him enough to hold them. His heart almost leapt for joy out of his chest. 

They had only been on his palm for a few minutes before…

“Up!” Lilac said as she raised her short arms, grasping by motions, “pick us up Mr. Runo!”

Bruno looked at Juniper, “is that okay with you?”

Juniper numbly nodded.

“Okay,” Bruno seemed skeptical that Juniper was really okay with this. “You can stop me at any time and I’ll put you down immediately, I promise.”

Juniper nodded again. He just wanted to get it over with.

Vertigo gripped Juniper's stomach as the passenger's seat dropped away. He let out the softest of gasps as they rose higher. The world spun slowly as the giant carried them up and over the arm rest. Then they stopped in front of his titanic frame. Bruno held them at chest level, and raised his other hand just below their platform as extra protection in case one of them fell.

“Closer,” Lilac commanded. Bruno did as he was told, guiding his palm to just below his chin. The bean had to cross his eyes to see them properly. 

Juniper might have laughed at Bruno’s ridiculous face behind his glasses if the boy wasn’t so nervous. He had never been picked up by a giant before and he had never been so close to a bean before, he wasn’t sure how to feel. He fidgeted with his hands and tried to think of anything other than the fact they were being held so close to the giant’s mouth. The bean could eat them right then and there. 

Bruno noticed the boy’s weary glances at his mouth, now that they were so close he could properly read his worried expression, he raised them a little higher and closed his mouth. 

Juniper felt a little better when they couldn’t see the bean’s mouth. He focused on the large eyes staring back at them. Juniper never realized how startlingly beautiful eyes could be, it was especially apparent when they were on this scale. He could see the golden flakes scattered in Bruno’s green eyes and watched the pupils dilate. The long lashes that could be used like rope, moving with every blink. 

On Bruno’s part, he had never gotten the chance to see the kids this close before. He saw that both of their eyes were brown and they had splashes of freckles along their cheeks and arms. He noted the way their boots just barely left little indents in his skin and the bulky stitching on their clothes that could have only come from them “borrowing” bean made thread and cloth. 

Lilac smiled from ear to ear. She stood on the squishy surface and attempted to walk towards Bruno’s face. 

Juniper stayed where he was standing, fidgeting with his hands. He was still nervous to be held by a bean, but it wasn’t as bad as he originally feared it to be. 

Bruno’s eyes widened and every muscle in his body froze completely. He even refused to breathe or risk accidently pushing Lilac down. 

Then two tiny hands grasped at his crooked nose, she patted it for a moment before extending her arms and giving her best attempt at a hug. 

Suddenly, the spell the giant had been under broke. Bruno let out a sigh he had been holding, the breeze from his nose rustled the kids' hair and clothes.

Lilac laughed with her sweet musical giggle as she wavered a bit in her stance, but she held fast to his nose. She was exactly where she wanted to be. She nuzzled the bridge of his nose with her own nose, a common gesture among borrowers to those they cared about. 

All the worry and sadness Bruno had felt over these past weeks washed away. To think these children, only a few inches tall, would trust him enough to hold them after everything they had been through told him everything he needed to know.

If Bruno could bottle up the sound of Lilac’s laughter, the joy he felt, or the trust Juniper was giving him, he would. He would do anything to keep this feeling. For these little moments. 

He would do anything for these kids. 

***

I'm alive! I finally had a bit of time to finish this chapter that had been rotting in draft hell for too long.

I also got my first adult paycheck and you know what I did instead of buying myself a nice dinner? I commissioned the lovely @guaxinimraccoon to draw art for this chapter! 😍🤩🤩🤩🤩 I love it so much I literally can’t stop staring at it! 🥹🥹🥹

year one and the first 50 pages of Croak are coming to a close so I went back and collected my favourite panels from this year (including a preview of next week)! It’s been. a learning process lmao

Bruno wanted to do that trend with his borrower kids, but didn’t realize it would turn into a full on sibling fight 🫩 lol amateur hour, siblings will fight over the pettiest of things. Juniper (11) and Lilac (5) are borrowers and Bruno (late 40s) is human.

Read this AU part 1 here & part 2 here & part 3 here!

What if Briar was a human (named Bruno) and the kids were borrowers (named Lilac and Juniper)? Read otherparts here: (part 1) / (part 2) / (part 4) / (bonus AU comic here)

Main story “A Borrower at the end of the World” can be found here!

This is also a late hug a giant day, whoops. I miss it every year! 😅😭💀 Also did I say I’d post this on Thursday? Noooooo… you must be crazy! 🫥🫥🫥

Word count: 2200ish

***

It started out so softly that Bruno thought he was imagining it. 

Then the sound started to materialize in his mind, it was like a distant whimper, slowly gaining in strength. 

Bruno opened his eyes. It was still dark outside. The only light source came from the silvery moon above the forest. It illuminated various parts of the truck. The ceiling. The wheel. The dashboard. And the folded up blanket where two little borrowers slept the night away, though it seemed one was having a more restful sleep than the other. 

Bruno stretched out his stiff back as best he could, though it was a fruitless battle. The driver's seat was too tight, his knees were constantly hitting the wheel or the dashboard. On particularly rough bumps, he even hit his head on the ceiling. His body was so wide the seat belt holder was digging into his thigh most of the time. And as he slept, even though the seat was leaned back as far as it could go, he still wasn’t comfortable. His 6’7 tall frame just wasn’t meant for smaller trucks like this one.

At the height of his wrestling career, Bruno was making enough money to afford specialized vehicles to accommodate for his tall and large stature. He missed those cars. They were long gone by now. It was a miracle that he even was able to fix up this old car and travel as far as he did. Beggars can’t be choosers, this truck was getting him home so he had no reason to complain.

But he wasn’t the only one traveling. 

Bruno looked to his right, there in the passenger seat were his two sleeping companions.

The whimpering sound steadily got louder as his brain finally pieced together where it was coming from. 

Lilac. All of five years old and two inches tall. The small child was starting to cry in her sleep. She curled up and shook like she was cold as her sweaty forehead glistened in the darkness. 

Bruno sighed, unsure of what to do.

***

The night before, Bruno awoke to the most horrifying sound, sudden blood curdling screams.

Though it was considerably quieter than a human child’s wail, it still startled him awake and shattered his heart.

“What is it?” Bruno sat up so quickly that he accidentally hit his head on the car ceiling, but that didn’t matter. In the darkness he could just make out Juniper gathering his sister in his arms. “What’s wrong?!”

“She’s fine, it’s just a night terror,” Juniper spoke over her screaming and crying. He held her close, clamping down her arms at her side so she didn’t hurt herself. 

“N-night terror?” The bean was at a loss for what to do. 

“Yeah, she’s had them for a while now.” Juniper touched her face and saw her eyes were wild and unfocused as tears streamed down her cheeks. “She’s still asleep.” he said with a sigh, “I didn’t catch it early enough. Just gotta let her ride this one out.” Just as he finished talking, Lilac landed a well placed elbow to her brother’s stomach. He sucked in air and hunched over holding his middle, he let out an involuntary choking noise. Bruno recognized that sound as the boy trying his best not to wrench up his dinner. The ex-wrestler knew that sensation all too well. 

The moment Juniper let go, Lilac wiggled out of his arms and began crawling on the blanket like she was looking for something. She grasped desperately at the fabric and pulled herself along, all the while incoherent cries streamed from her mouth. 

“W-what can I do to help?” Surely Bruno could do something. Right? If she kept crawling like that, she’d fall off the blanket and might hurt herself. Bruno began to reach out across the arm rest. “Maybe I can–”

“Don’t!” Juniper shouted as he ran and gathered his squirming sister in his arms, pulling her away from the edge. Juniper held her more firmly to his chest, though she still wiggled, Lilac was secure until her fit was done. Juniper looked up at the giant in the darkness, “If you want to help, then stop looming and get your moon-sized hands away from us.”

Bruno pulled his body as far away as the tight car would allow and immediately sat on his ‘moon-sized’ hands for good measure. The bean had yet to touch either borrower child with his hands and they had been traveling together for almost a week and it seemed like Juniper was in no rush to break that streak. 

Eventually her screams died down and she stopped fighting her brother’s hold. She made a constant gasping whimpering sounds, but her eyes were half lidded instead of wide open.

Juniper was whispering calming things in her ears and rubbing her back. He cradled his sister in his arms, slowly calming her down. Her breathing was still erratic, but she was much better. Juniper was clearly exhausted, but his movements seemed to be so robotic and practiced. Bruno thought there must have been many late nights the poor kid had to stay up with Lilac until she calmed down.

When Lilac was completely quiet and still, Juniper gently set her down and laying down beside her. He cradled her in his arms, pulling her close to his chest.

Then he promptly fell asleep himself.

Bruno was beyond bewildered and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep so soon. The sound of her screaming echoed in his mind, a sound he’d never want to hear again if he could help it.

***

All that happened yesterday. Now it seemed like the start of another night terror. Juniper mentioned something about catching it early, this must have been what he meant. 

The bean could see the rising tension in the 2 inch tall girl’s body and her whimpers steadily grew in strength. 

Bruno looked to the other borrower, who was fast asleep, completely oblivious to what was happening. Juniper was a heavy sleeper, that was something Bruno came to learn quickly, so the kid probably wouldn’t wake up till she started having a full on screaming fit. 

The giant thought about waking Juniper up and letting him deal with Lilac, but he wasn’t sure how to do it. If he used his words to wake up the 11 year old borrower, Bruno might unintentionally scare the kid. He didn’t want two tiny, freaking out children on his hands. Even though the giant had met the kids weeks ago, Juniper seemed to jump at every syllable Bruno uttered. He also liked to complain that the giant’s deep baritone voice was too much for his ears or that the world vibrated when Bruno spoke. Though Lilac never seemed bothered by his voice. 

The bean considered tapping or poking the kid awake, but quickly dismissed that thought. The kids, mostly Juniper, made it very clear they didn’t want to be touched by his giant hands. When Bruno offered to ferry them to different places, Juniper would blanch and decline rather rudely, usually adding an insult to the bean’s intelligence or capability to be careful or mock his large size at the end. 

Bruno found the insults amusing at first, but after weeks of those comments, the large man grew weary. Self conscious. Even embarrassed by them. He stopped offering to hold the kids entirely. 

Instead of carrying the kids by hand, Bruno was using an old mesh cat carrier to transport the kids. They climbed in, but they weren’t trapped because Bruno never zipped them in or they could cut the mesh on the sides and climb out.

The bean snapped out of his wondering thoughts as Layla let out a loud shutter. He noticed Lilac was shaking. Maybe from the building stress in her body or the cold? Bruno wasn’t sure. His heart ached at the sight. 

The giant sighed. He didn’t want to hear her cry like the previous night. She gasped for air like she was drowning. Eyes wide open, unfocused like she was seeing a horrifying sight. Screaming like she was about to be murdered. Kicking and fighting like she was possessed. And yet when she awoke the next morning she had no memory of her terror and Juniper was so used to her night terrors that he didn’t bother to ask anymore. 

With no other ideas, Bruno slowly brought his ‘moon-sized hand’ over to the passenger side seat. He accidentally cast the children in shadow and gulped. He didn’t want to disturb them, and he hoped what he was about to do wouldn’t bite him in the ass by freaking the poor girl out more. 

The bean gently grabbed and pulled a corner of the large blanket over Lilac’s small form, burying her further in the soft folds. This will keep her warm, Bruno justified. 

The bean didn’t realize it at first, but his large pinkie finger accidentally brushed along her back as he pulled the fabric over her miniscule body. 

In the haze of the child’s sleeping mind, she reached up and grabbed the thick digit. 

The giant froze as Lilac wrapped her miniscule arms around his finger and pulled it closer. Bruno let her guide his hand to where she wanted it, of course Bruno had all the strength to easily pull away from her with just a twitch of the wrist, but he would never do that at the risk of accidentally hurting the child. 

She pulled his finger close, wrapping her little arms tightly around it, her hands couldn’t even reach around the digit. Bruno’s breath hitched as she buried her face in the finger pad, in her sleep she let out a shaky breath. 

Bruno watched in amazement, his smallest finger was still bigger than her entire body and yet she seemed to have all the power here. He couldn’t bring himself to pull away when she clearly needed this. He set his hand fully on the blanket beside her, careful to give enough space.

He could feel her little face was dampened with tears against his skin. Bruno felt like crying himself.

Feeling bold, Bruno stuck out his thumb and gently touched her back. He made small –to him– circular motions like he saw Juniper do the night before to calm her down. If the giant really wanted to, (which he didn’t,) he could pick her up, sandwiched between his pinkie and thumb. 

This seemed to calm her body down enough to stop shaking, but she was still whimpering. 

Then Bruno remembered Juniper muttering calming words to his sister, a slight blush came to his giant cheeks. He was never any good at encouraging talk or whispers.

A distant memory called to Bruno, a comforting voice, a poem his Abuelita would sing whenever Bruno or his siblings were sick or upset. She would recite the poem in Spanish and rub an egg on their bodies, starting with the heads and making her way down to the feet. She believed the egg would cleanse their spirits and take away any evil eye placed on them. She was a believer in Curanderas and their ritual practices. As a child, Bruno found most of her superstitions to be odd at best and annoying at worst. Now that he was grown, he realized all her weird quirks were just a way for her to exert some form of control over her life and a manifestation of how much his Abuelita really cared.  

Bruno distantly wished he had an egg, but then thought against it when he realized the egg would be bigger than Lilac’s entire body.

He began mumbling the Spanish poem to the best of his ability, though he was having trouble remembering it. He knew Spanish as a child, but after his Abuelita passed, he didn’t really need to speak it. Nearly 4 decades of English only will do that. Yet her calming voice seemed to speak through the bean. 

“Sana, sana,” He didn’t really understand the words he was saying and he was probably butchering it, but it didn’t matter. “colita de rana, si no sana hoy, sanará mañana.” By the third repeat of the chant, the little borrower seemed to calm down and her breathing evened out. 

Bruno smiled. He did it. He caught her night terror early enough and was able to comfort her before she panicked. 

Only one problem left, his hand was stuck.

He gently tried sliding his pinkie finger out of her grasp, but she whimpered and held on tighter. Bruno froze. Nothing happened. He tried again and she whined louder. He froze again, she grasped at his thick digit again and buried her face in the pad. Eventually, she went still again. 

The bean didn’t know what to do. He stared into the darkness hoping for answers. Nothing came to mind. He couldn’t bring himself to pull away when his presence seemed to be helping. Maybe it was the warmth from his hands? Maybe it was the fact she was able to hold something tangible and real in her sleep? He wasn’t sure why she needed him. All that mattered was that she did. 

I guess I’m stuck here till she lets go or till morning. Whichever comes first, Bruno thought.

The bean put his head on the arm rest while still maintaining his hand position with the borrower safely tucked in the fleshy cave. He tried to get as comfortable as possible in the already too small car with his arm bent in a weird position. 

He felt her little heart beat in her chest, so faint yet so powerful. 

Something grew in Bruno’s chest that night. He had already promised it before to Juniper, but this cemented the promise to himself, he would do anything in the world to make sure nothing bad ever happens to either of these kids. He would be there to protect them as long as they needed him. And he meant it.

***

Want more? Click here!

ABATEOTW species swap AU Part 2

Happy birthday Anon! 🎉🥳🎊

Word Count: 2700ish words

Part 1 here / Part 3 here / Bonus AU comic here /

Main story here!

What if Briar was a human (named Bruno), while Jace and Layla were borrowers (named Juniper and Lilac)?

***

A week or so passed, the tension in the abandoned house seemed to lessen a little. 

The relationship between Bruno and the borrowers was strained, but cordial. Bruno and Juniper would acknowledge each other's presence in passing, and they just went about their business. 

The bean even kept his promise of not talking to Lilac, much to her annoyance. If he ever saw the girl around, and she tried to call the giant over, he would wave politely and leave the room. She started pouting and complaining to her brother, saying he wasn’t their dad and he had no right to make the bean promise not to talk to her. Or something like that, Juniper largely tried to tune her out. Though that was easier said than done with her gratingly whiney voice.

Bruno tried to be extra nice to the kids. He even offered more concha (sweet bread) to Juniper, which thoroughly seemed to piss the kid off.

“I’m perfectly capable of getting food myself, you insensitive bean,” the boy would say. It seemed this borrowing business was a matter of pride for the kid and so Bruno immediately dropped the subject. 

Bruno still noticed his food and things going missing, but it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. He didn’t mind sharing his food, it’s not like the kids ate much, it just bothered him they never asked. He would have given the food any way. It’s a matter of principle. They just stole from under his nose, or “Borrowed” if you asked Juniper.

One day Bruno ‘accidentally’ left his snack bag in an easily accessible place for Juniper to ‘borrow’ from. The level of irony that came with that name was not lost on the bean, but he chose to ignore it. 

It didn’t take long for Buno to realize it was just the two borrowers in the house, which felt odd to him. Lilac couldn’t be older than six and the boy looked like a preteen. Where were their parents? No matter how much he wanted to ask, he knew Juniper would be pissed at the bean inquiring and sticking his (giant) nose in places it didn’t belong. 

***

Two weeks ago, Bruno was in such a rush to hide in the abandoned house, that the fact that there was a car in the garage barely registered in his mind. It wasn’t until a week later that he finally pieced this together in his scrambled mind. He would have noticed sooner if he wasn’t so preoccupied by running for his life from monsters and the discovery of two tiny children living here in the house. 

The previous tenants of the house had apparently left in such a rush that the key to the car was still hanging in the garage. Whoever they were, they were most likely dead, so if no one was going to use the car, it might be Bruno’s ticket home. 

Just before the world fell apart, Bruno had received a call from his twin sister, telling him that she and her family were going into hiding outside Laredo, and to come find them. That was the last thing he heard from them.

Bruno had accepted most of the human population had died, but he held out hope his family was still out there and he was determined to find them. Even without the whole apocalyptic world, they were still separated by nearly 900 miles. An almost impossible feat to travel by foot, so this car was a perfect alternative. It would get him a good portion of the way there. Then he could find another car or something. He just had to find them.

The car left in the garage was an old 1970's truck.

Who ever had lived here before clearly loved this thing, because it was still in almost working condition, with a full tank of gas. Bruno just had to make a few adjustments under the hood and the undercarriage. 

So here he was, stretched out on his back under the truck, with various tools he'd need scattered out on the concrete. He had to manually open the garage to get light since electricity was one of the first things to go when society collapsed. 

Bruno’s hands moved with practiced care. Memories of another life flashed before his eyes, guiding his fingers as he tightened screws, checked for damages or inconsistencies. In his youth, Bruno had helped his Pa fix up old cars. They practically rebuilt most of them from scratch. That was how he and his Pa bonded, fixing busted-up cars and making them like new. His Pa was a mechanic by trade, it paid most bills, but the man started fixing older sports cars as an extra source of income. 

Feeding their ever growing family was hard, Bruno even got a job as a farm hand at 13 to help keep food on the table. He had to lie about his age too, saying he was 15. His boss probably knew he was lying, but they needed the extra help. That’s also where Bruno learned about plant cultivation, farming, hunting, catching, skinning or growing his own food. For the longest time that didn’t seem like useful knowledge to a man who eventually lived in big cities. But here at the end of the world, this knowledge might just mean life or death. 

Bruno was lost in his own little world, fixing the car. He felt more at ease than he had in a long, long time. 

“What are you doing?”

A soft voice startled Bruno so badly that he tried to sit up quickly. He promptly smacked his head on solid metal and punctuated the metallic thud with a strained “Ack!” Bruno dropped the wrench to his side and held his forehead, rubbing the growing bump. A slew of Spanish curses almost made their way out of his mouth if he hadn’t bitten his tongue first.

Bruno looked to his left, for the source of the voice, there was the borrower boy. He was standing under the car, just out of arm's reach of the bean. 

“What the– Juniper?! What are you doing out here?”

“Trying to see what’s all the racket.” The kid huffed, “And I asked you first.” 

Juniper had been disturbed from taking— borrowing food by a constant, annoying metal clanging sounds for the past hour. It was driving him nuts not knowing where it was coming from. Juniper even tried yelling for the bean, Bruno, who didn’t answer. Curiosity and irritation lead the boy out through the wall entrance to the garage, he normally only came here when looking to borrow tools or screws. 

There, he saw a pair of titanic legs and gigantic boots sticking out from under the metal monster. To Juniper, this behavior was beyond bizarre. He didn’t know much about what that metal thing was, he knew the old beans of the house would crawl inside of its body and it would roar to life, leaving nothing but a cloud of horrible smelling hot air in its wake. Juniper didn’t understand why beans would need such a creature to get around, they already towered over everything, he figured with those skyscraper legs, they could get anywhere by walking. How far did beans need to get to anyway?

Juniper didn’t know much about this metal monster. But he knew it only awoke when the beans were inside it. So it would remain asleep for now. The only real, immediate danger was the bean before him.

The pain in Bruno’s forehead finally stopped throbbing. He looked back up at what he was adjusting, “I‘m checking that there’s no leakage down here, fuel or coolant, things like that.”

“What?” Juniper looked up to where Bruno was gesturing, but couldn’t decipher anything under the mess of pipes and metal work. It just looked like a bunch of bean made rubbish to him, “Why?”

“I’m trying to make sure this thing still works.”

“Why?”

“Well,” Bruno picked up his wrench again and got back to work, “Once I get this car up and running, I’m riding this baby out of here.” He ended that sentence with a grunt as he finally finished tightening the rusted bolt he’d been fighting with. He put the wrench down with a satisfied sigh and looked back over to where the borrower stood.

Juniper was looking away. That was a first. Normally when he was in the same room as Bruno, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the giant man. Usually, glaring at Bruno to make sure he didn’t do anything nasty to either borrower.

Instead, Juniper stared over the bean, past the car, to outside the open garage door. A nice breeze blew through the room, but the boy shuddered. He couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or fear. Maybe both. 

Something in the chipper voice of the Giant made Juniper's chest hurt in a way he didn’t understand. Wow, this bean must really hate this place to want to get away so badly. He must hate… us.

The world out there was so… big. Even for gigantic beans it was big. Why would a this man want to leave, especially if the world was as dangerous outside the house as Bruno told them. Full of monsters worse than beans and death. 

"Why can't you..." why can't you stay here? Juniper almost asked the bean to stay, but he held his tongue and refused to finish. Why would he even think about asking the giant to stay? A borrower’s life was always in danger with a bean present. They are dangerous. No matter how nice they seem.

Well, who needs that stupid bean anyway? Juniper thought bitterly, He’s just leaving– Like everyone else… Juniper’s frown deepened as he watched two birds happily fly past the house, tweeting and singing in the sunshine. As a borrower, he would never get the chance to play in the sun, not without the fear of being killed by some animal. There would be no safe escape for Juniper and Lilac. Leaving to find other beans to borrow from was a gamble he wasn’t willing to make. 

Juniper was at a loss for what to do. Despite it all, he didn’t want Bruno to leave, the thought of the bean leaving terrified him. But so did the thought of him staying. 

He had no right to ask a giant not to leave. It was like asking the sky not to rain or to try and change the current of a river. An impossible task a borrower couldn't hope to do.

Juniper never wanted to admit it to anyone, not even to himself, but he was scared. Really scared. He was just one child, a three and a half inch one at that. He had to take care of himself and his little sister, practically raising her. He didn't get a choice.

He had heard tales of borrowers who lived outdoors and lived off the land. Maybe they could try? But the thought of being out in the open and trying to survive was terrifying. He may be the oldest, but he was still only 11 summers old. He had never been outside without a parent, and now he had no one to watch out for him.

His face grew hot as his eyes landed on the giant laying on his back staring at him. You stupid, gigantic oaf. Oh yeah, Keep rubbing in how the world is at your fingertips. You can leave without fear. You can pick up immovable objects and not fear being eaten by a stupid bird. Beans like you are actually free... We can never be.

Bruno could clearly see the boy was getting upset, his shoulders tensed and his face looked red. He didn’t know what got the boy so riled up, but the beans figured this might be time to bring up something that had been on his mind for a while. 

Bruno turned on his stomach as slowly as possible, not just to keep from scaring the kid, but also to avoid hitting his head on the undercarriage again. He finished easing himself to the ground with a soft grunt, but Juniper still heard it. The borrower stepped back a little now that the Bean’s full attention was on him. The boy was eyeing the giant hands before him, anticipating some foul play from the giant, but Bruno slid them under his chest to ease the boy’s fears. 

“Listen kid,” Bruno didn’t know where to start, so he figured he'd just come out with it. “Will you… do you and Lilac want to come with me?”

Juniper took another step back, clearly nervous. 

Bruno continued, “No pressure. Really, I mean it. I’d never force you or your sister to come with me, but I just thought I’d offer. I can’t leave you both in good conscience without at least telling you that you have the option.”

Juniper hesitated. The world outside was a scary and dangerous place for borrowers, but what if they had a giant on their side? That would take away a lot of the dangers, but also bring in a whole host of other problems. Is this bean– this man truly trustworthy with Juniper and his sister’s lives?

As if reading Juniper’s mind, the bean spoke, “I promise you and your sister will always be safe with me. I’d never let anything happen to you.” Bruno’s face was serious. When he made a promise his word was his bond.

Juniper stared into the bean’s large eyes, there was no lie in them. No depiction. He hesitated, but spoke: “I– I’ll think about it.”

“Please do.” Bruno smiled. “A-and I’m not leaving immediately, maybe in three days or so. I still have to pack and finish fixing the car.”

Bruno said his peace, he turned onto his back and continued working on the truck and grabbed the wrench. He was expecting Juniper to run back to the safety of the walls. The giant was giving Juniper an open invitation to slunk back into the shadows unwatched. The kids didn’t like being watched while entering the walls, afraid if a bean knew where the entrances were he would take advantage of it. Bruno understood that and thus turned away. 

There was a long moment of silence as Bruno searched for other loose bolts to tighten when a soft voice reached his ear, “What’s that?”

Bruno froze and slowly looked to the side, Juniper stood a little closer than before, and he was looking at the large metal object in the bean’s hand, roughly 4 times the kid’s height. 

“It– uh, it’s a wrench,” Bruno blinked.

“What does it do?”

“I’m using it to tighten these,” he gestured at the various bolts and mess of metal above them that Juniper couldn’t begin to understand.

“Why?”

“To make sure there’s no leaking.”

“Leaking? Is this thing full of blood?”

“No, not at all,” Bruno chuckled. He set the wrench down and turned his head. The giant went on a tangent about the different things that could leak under the car like engine oil, transmission fluid, or coolant. He pointed to various places where they were stored or ran through and their functions in making the car move. As Bruno explained the various aspects of the car in so much detail that to the borrower, the metal titan seemed less intimidating. Almost non threatening, other than its size. It turned out trucks didn’t eat the ground up bones of borrowers. Just like this bean didn’t either. Hm. 

At some point Juniper’s small voice piped up, “What’s the engine?”

Bruno’s eyes lit up, “You want to see? It’s up top, under the hood.”

The boy hesitated for a moment, he looked towards the wall, safety and darkness beckoning him. Then he looked back into the bean’s eyes, there was nothing that indicated ill intent. In fact over the past week, Bruno had been nothing but kind and respectful. Maybe it was time for Juniper to return the favor. “S-sure.”

That was all Bruno needed, a smile stretched across his face as he slid out from under the car. He slowly got to his feet, with a strained grunt and creaking in his knees. Juniper peaked out from behind the tires as a pair of large work boots stepped off to the side and Bruno pulled up a small (to a bean) wooden table up beside the front of the car. 

When the earth stopped shaking, Juniper looked up into the eyes of the giant who gestured for the boy to climb up onto the table, knowing full well the borrower would never agree to being picked up by Bruno.  

Juniper nodded and ran to the closest wooden leg, pulled out his hook and threw it up in the air till it latched to the top of the table. It took Juniper a couple of minutes to make it to the top, and he was pretty winded, but his curiosity kept him walking to the edge to overlook the engine. He was in complete awe of the seemingly inexplicable mess of intricate machinery. Juniper sat on the edge of the table top as Bruno got to work, checking for leaks and making adjustments as necessary. 

Juniper was beyond amazed, questions began pouring from his mouth about the various twists and curves of metal, what they were for, how the car ran, where it could go, etc. Bruno was happy to answer all the boy’s curious questions and he explained them to the best of his ability. He wasn’t an expert by any means, and he often found himself parroting the facts and tricks his own father had taught him decades ago. 

A lot of the answers went over Juniper’s head, but it was nice to talk about something other than survival for once, so the boy didn’t seem to mind. Bruno had an untapped well of knowledge of a world the borrower had never even considered. The life of a bean seemed so complicated and simple at the same time. It was almost thrilling to learn about a different way of being. 

For the first time in a long time, Bruno felt… pride. Joy even, if you could call it that. He felt the return of youthful smiles as he spoke to Juniper, watching the boy finally start to open up. He definitely wasn’t as skittish as when they first met. He even heard the borrower’s faint laugh a few times. Bruno’s heart seemed full to burst. He was proud of Juniper for being so brave. Brave enough to stay around a giant and do something as mundane as talking. He didn’t imagine he himself would have the courage to do something that crazy. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon like that, enjoying each other's company. No danger befell either person as the sun set. The world seemed to give them a much needed break. 

Here on this day, they could live in a world where it was normal to talk to a person the size of a hand and a towering giant.

***

I literally don’t know anything about cars, so sorry if there’s any inconsistencies. My Tio is a mechanic, but I sure as hell wasn’t gonna ask him 💀 LOL 🫠 Let me know if there’s any mistakes I can fix

***

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