#runty bittybones

(This drabble is for @piethecreator for purchasing the Cherry amputee from otomecrazy. Thank you so much!)

Warning: Non-graphic bitty injury

Taking out the trash never used to be a chore you looked forward to, but things changed one night when a scrabbling noise interrupted you midway through cramming an overstuffed bag into the container. You glanced around, worried that an unfriendly skunk might be lurking nearby waiting to blast you with stink.

You hear the scrabble again, close to the ground, and a piece of escaped trash moves slightly. You lean in to investigate since the scrabbler is clearly far too small to be a skunk, and a small bitty darts out from under the trash and runs away. You watch the little bitty crouch in the shadow of some bushes, watching you suspiciously.

The tiny skeleton is dirty and clearly frightened. He must be scavenging trash for food, so you doubt he has an owner. You reach out a hand to him.

“It’s ok,” you tell him. “I won’t hurt you.” The bitty takes one look at your hand with his round red eyelights and scurries deeper into the bushes.

It breaks your heart to think of the bitty eating literal garbage, so you start taking food outside in the evenings. At first, you don’t even see the bitty, and though your food offerings disappear each night from where you place them under the bush, you can’t be sure that they weren’t simply eaten by the local wildlife.

You finally catch a glimpse of the bitty again, peering out at you from behind a low-hanging leaf. You set down the food you brought for him- a little square of cheese pizza- and back away. Keeping a wary eyelight on you, he zips out from his leafy shelter, grabs the snack, and quickly vanishes again.

The sighting is all of the encouragement that you need. You continue to place food out for the stray bitty, but now you wait until you see him take it to leave. He gets more daring as time passes and you make no move to grab or hurt him. You eventually start talking to him, which startles him at first, but he soon grows used to your voice.

For the short-term, you’re satisfied with the progress you’ve made, but you worry that the bitty won’t have adequate shelter when the cold weather sets in. You hope that you can convince him to come live with you before that happens, but you don’t want to push him since he is still extremely nervous around you.

Little by little, he allows you to come closer. You decide that today will be the day that you hold your hand out to him again. You’ve actually been practicing the motion to make sure that it is smooth and unhurried. You don’t want to scare the bitty away, after all. You’ll offer your hand at a respectful distance and invite him to approach you.

It’s a good plan, a great plan even, but like so many great plans, it is almost immediately derailed by unforeseen circumstances.

The second you step outside you hear a shriek of pain and terror. The sound is coming from an all-too-familiar bush, a bush that is shaking furiously as a large dog tries to infiltrate it. You charge at the dog, so concerned about your bitty friend that for a moment you forget to be afraid of the dog. The dog jumps when you yell at it, dropping something that it held between its alarmingly sharp teeth… the bitty!

Sobbing, you kneel down in the grass to inspect the damage. He’s alive; his wails of agony are proof of that. His bones though… his poor little bones are badly damaged. You don’t know what to do. You don’t want to hurt him worse and break his trust by picking him up, but he needs medical attention now. With a litany of whispered apologies, you make a pouch from the bottom of your shirt and scoop him into it. It’s the best you can do to avoid grabbing him outright.

Running like you’ve got the Olympic gold in your sights, you burst through the doors of the closest bitty center, calling for help. A bitty vet rushes to your side, guiding the precious cargo you carry to an examination table. The bitty vet frowns.

“I don’t think we can save his limbs,” she says sadly, “but your quick action has saved his life.”

She reaches for the bitty, but he squeals in fright and tries hopelessly to move away. You touch him then, for the very first time. You just rub your finger lightly along his skull. His terror ebbs. He relaxes into your touch.

As the bitty vet gets to work administering medicine and preparing for surgery, you murmur softly to the bitty. “It’s ok. I’ll take care of you.”

First Impressions

The little Coral lamia bitty with the silver fangs couldn’t believe his luck. He’d finally found an owner, someone who appreciated his unique look instead of giving him a pitying look and moving on to adopt a normal Coral. He vibrated with nervous energy as you brought him into your room to introduce him to your other bittybones.

Cherrbear, your Cherry bitty, ran to greet you as soon as you came through the door, babbling excitedly about his day. Kitten, as you decided to name the new Coral bitty, glared at the Cherry bitty. How dare that pipsqueak try to steal away all of your attention! Kitten slithered down your arm, ready to confront Cherrbear.

The first angry hiss had barely escaped from Kitten’s silver-fanged mouth before the Cherry bitty burst into tears and fled. Kitten blinked. He wanted to chastise Cherrbear and assert his place in the home, not terrify him and make him cry. To make matters worse, you scolded him for being a bully! Not only did Kitten feel extremely guilty, he was now the bitty non grata in the home!

Kitten had to set things right before you decided to return him! With his mind made up, Kitten quickly slithered off in hot pursuit of Cherrbear, following the frantic pitter-patter of tiny running feet and the sound of sobs and sniffles. Every time Kitten rounded a corner and got the Cherry bitty in his sights, the little guy would squeak in fright and run away even faster!

A few twists and turns later, Kitten managed to corner Cherrbear underneath a dresser. Every time Cherrbear tried to dart past him, Kitten blocked the way. The Coral just needed the Cherry bitty to calm down and listen, but Cherrbear was hysterical. Kitten growled in frustration, and shoved Cherrbear against the wall, pinning him, intending to hold him still so he would have to listen to Kitten’s explanation of his behavior. Instead, Cherrbear screamed, a high-pitched and deafening shriek.

A Beta Gaster bitty appeared, responding to Cherrbear’s cries for help. He quickly separated the two bittybones, and Cherrbear darted behind him to hide, pointing a tiny accusing finger at Kitten.

“B-bully!” he stammered, clinging to the Beta Gaster’s legs.

“Am not!” protested Kitten. Everyone would hate him now. Kitten wilted, and he felt the unwelcome sensation of tears pricking at his own sockets. It just wasn’t fair! He wasn’t a bully! He just didn’t want to be forgotten and neglected because of other needy bitties! He never meant to scare Cherrbear at all!

Lord, the Beta Gaster bitty, patted Cherrbear’s little skull comfortingly. The Cherry bitty’s tears dried up, and Lord turned his attention to the Coral bitty. Lord saw the Coral’s pout and his struggle to hold back his tears, and he knew that this tsundere little Coral bitty would become one of his personal darlings.

“Come along,” ordered Lord, speaking to both the Cherry bitty and the lamia. “I’ve prepared new outfits for both of you, and they need to be fitted.” Kitten pretended to ignore Lord, but Cherrbear slipped his little hand into Lord’s and followed the much larger bitty to his nest. Kitten slithered aimlessly back and forth, somehow ending up at Lord’s nest anyway.

Soon Lord had both of his darlings dressed in cute handmade outfits with plenty of ribbons to make each of them feel adorable and special. Kitten grumbled during the entire fitting, but Lord noticed him running his little hands along the edges of the soft fabric and glancing at himself in the mirror.

Cherrbear rushed off to show you his new clothes, but Kitten lingered, enjoying the pampering that Lord gave him. Blushing, he uttered a quickly hissed thanks to Lord who smiled a knowing smile. Like the Cherry bitty, this Coral lamia bitty would need Lord’s careful handling to flourish, and the Beta Gaster had no problems giving it to him.

You called out to Kitten, telling him that you wanted to see his new clothes too. Kitten slithered out of Lord’s nest, eager to receive your compliments though he acted like they didn’t matter to him. You didn’t sound angry, and you picked him up along with Cherrbear for cuddles.

Maybe life here wouldn’t be so bad with other bitties like Lord around to pamper him.

An unexpected hug of apology from Cherrbear only sweetened the prospect. Kitten made sure not to hiss or pull away. He didn’t want a repeat of their earlier encounter.

In fact, his arms somehow found themselves wrapping around the Cherry bitty and hugging him back.