#tiny joel

 The avian couldn’t help but smile as he watched Jimmy try to solve the mixed up rubix cube. He was deeply focused, his tongue even sticking out a bit as he continued sliding the colors around. He was so cute and Grian was reminded that this was the reason he was putting himself through all of this reading and clicking through pages.

 He wanted another human.

 Which was kind of crazy, considering Grian hadn’t even been all too sure about getting a human in the first place. Jimmy hadn’t been planned, nor had he planned on getting any human for that matter. But he had been reached out to specifically from the Human Resource Facility and asked to take on a human.

 Though he hadn’t been sure about owning a human at first, he had found humans interesting enough to study them while he had been in school. He even had a minor in Human Resources, though he had never really planned on using it much. But it was that reason that Grian was picked out and asked to take on a human. And while Grian hadn’t been sure, he really couldn’t say no. After all, less and less people were qualified to take care of them. And even some of the qualified ones didn’t want to. Something about humans being too difficult and annoying to take care of.

 Grian had no idea what they were talking about, taking care of Jimmy was so easy.

 Sure, there had been some rough patches in the beginning, but nothing that Grian hadn’t been prepared for. He knew Jimmy would be scared in the beginning and unwilling to listen but over time, Grian had won him over and now Jimmy was relaxed in his presence and more than willing to do what Grian said. After those initial hurdles, taking care of the human had been not only easy, but fun.

 It made him want another one, not only for himself but as someone who had studied human behavior, Grian knew that humans were very social creatures. And while Jimmy had him, and had gotten to know some of Grian’s friends, Grian thought it would do Jimmy some good to have another human around.

 And thus, he found himself putting an application in. It had only taken a day before he received the acceptance email and a separate, non-automated email about how happy they were that Grian had decided to take on another human.

 Unlike last time, however, Grian had a choice on who he wanted to take home. Jimmy had been given to him specifically, so he hadn’t seen all these pages last time. But this time, in the email, they were sure to include that Grian could choose whichever human he wanted from their database. Grian had, at first, been excited to take a look and choose. That excitement had quickly turned to despair and boredom though, as he sat here reading long texts and clicking through so many pages he was starting to get a headache.

 It was a nice break to just simply stare at Jimmy for a while, watching him play around with the rubix cube. He must have been staring a little too long though, because Jimmy paused in what he was doing and looked up at Grian. “Can I help you?” Jimmy asked, huffing slightly. Grian laughed at the haughty remark and reached down to ruffle Jimmy’s hair. Jimmy squeaked and dropped the cube in order to fix his hair as soon as Grian had taken his hand back.

 “No, just letting my eyes take a small break.” Grian answered. Jimmy hummed as he picked back up his rubix cube, glancing at Grian’s holo screen with confused eyes. Grian chuckled to himself. Though Jimmy had a chip in his head that allowed them to communicate verbally, there was still no way for Jimmy to read the words on the screen in front of him. Which was great in this moment, because Grian hadn’t yet told Jimmy what he was up to.

 “...That’s a lot of words.” Jimmy commented and Grian snorted at the attempt.

 “Yeah, tell me about it.” Grian said and continued with clicking through. He wanted to make this decision sometime today, after all.

 He wanted an interesting human but he also wanted one he thought would get along with Jimmy. That was a harder combo than Grian would have first thought. Jimmy was quiet but over time he had opened up to show that he also had a bit of a snarky side, as he had just demonstrated. So he needed one that wouldn’t be too bothered by it and, if possible, maybe even give some snark back…

 Of course, a lot of these descriptions didn’t go into that much detail, but based on the observed behaviors listed, Grian was pretty sure he could make a good guess on how they would be. And a lot of these humans were quiet and meek and kept to themselves as far as the caregivers stationed at the facility had observed. Of course, Jimmy had started out much like that, so maybe he shouldn’t be taking those observations into too much account…

 He stopped, hand hovering over the next page button. His eyes had caught something interesting and so he went back to the start and read the description properly.

 Name: Joel Beans

 Pronouns: He/Him

 Appearance: He has brown hair and eyes, though he has a few strands of green in his hair where it lays on his forehead. He is 5 foot 8 inches tall and is a fully grown adult male.

 Observed Behavior: Joel has exhibited signs of hostile behavior towards his caregivers. The hostile behaviors exhibited are both verbal and physical, though not much damage has been done. This behavior does not seem to extend to the other humans. He keeps to himself for the most part but has been seen interacting with some of the other humans in a positive way.

 Grian paused in his reading, his lips turning up into a smirk. Now that sounded interesting. Sure, he would be a challenge but Grian was confident in his own abilities. Besides, it was pretty clear that the human was acting this way because of his fear. Perhaps, in a calmer environment with limited alien interaction and another human by his side, Joel would be able to open up more and let go of this hostility.

 Grian clicked on another tab within Joel’s page and a photo of the human popped up. It was a face photo, only showing from his chest up. Grian studied it, a bit surprised to find just how green that streak in his hair was. He looked angry, even in the photo, and it was only solidifying Grian’s decision to pick him.

 “Is…is that another human? Why are you looking at another human’s photo?” Jimmy’s quiet voice suddenly spoke up and Grian blinked out of his thoughts, looking down at the human who was looking at the screen. Whoops, Grian had forgotten why he hadn’t been looking at pictures until now. Oh well, he had been going to tell Jimmy eventually anyway.

 “Because I’ve decided to take him in.” Grian said, making the decision right then and there that Joel was the one he wanted. In fact, he switched to his email and wrote just that, making sure to put in Joel’s database numbers along with his name, just in case.

 “Wait, what?!” Jimmy exclaimed, moving to stand up, and Grian paused. He knew Jimmy would be surprised. After all, he had never talked about wanting to get another human before. At least, not to Jimmy. But he wasn’t expecting Jimmy to be so utterly flabbergasted from this reveal.

 “What? What’s wrong with that?” Grian asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He watched as Jimmy bit his lip, fidgeting again with the cube in his hands. Though this time he was simply sliding it back and forth, not trying to solve it.

 “I mean, n-nothing really, I guess, but…” Jimmy trailed off, looking off to the side and avoiding Grian’s gaze.

 Grian hummed, trying to figure out why Jimmy was reacting like this. And then, it hit him. “Oh. I get it.”

 Jimmy’s head snapped back to his face, his eyes wide. “Y-You do?” He asked, almost too quietly. Grian nodded.

 “Of course. Jimmy, you have nothing to worry about. You aren’t being replaced.” Grian reassured and watched as Jimmy’s tense shoulders fell.

 “O-Oh?” Jimmy let out after a small moment of silence. Grian nodded, grinning.

 “Yeah, come on Jim, I wouldn’t just replace you like that. No, Joel will be as much for you as he is for me.” Grian said but that only seemed to get him another confused look. Grian let out a small laugh at his face. He had gotten used to that look of confusion over the year Jimmy had been with him but he never got over how cute it was. “I know humans are social creatures and sure, you have me, but I figured it would do you some good to have another human around as well.”

 “...That makes sense, I guess.” Jimmy said quietly, almost more to himself than to Grian.

 Grian hummed as he finished up the email. “I think another human in the house will do you some good.”

 “And what about you? Another human…that’s a lot of work, isn’t it?” Jimmy asked and Grian felt a little touched that he was thinking about stuff like that.

 “Nah, not at all. You’re so easy, Jimmy. And fun. I figured another human would be as well. Even if this one will be a bit more of a challenge.” Grian said as he clicked the final button to send off the email. Now all he had to do was sit back and wait. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms high.

 “A challenge?” Jimmy questioned and Grian nodded, having forgotten for a moment that Jimmy would have had no way of knowing that.

 “Yeah, his description claims he’s a bit hostile. But not really to other humans, so you should be fine.” Grian said before pushing his chair back and standing up. He scooped Jimmy up into his hand and poked at his chest, grinning. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the two of you will get along great.”

 “Y-Yeah…” Jimmy said, trailing off again. Grian hummed questionally but decided not to ask. Everything would be fine. He knew Jimmy was probably just nervous about another human coming into their space. With time, Jimmy would get used to having the new human around, just like he got used to living with Grian.

 He heard a ding coming from his holo later that night and as he checked over the email, he grinned. His choice had been accepted, of course. And within the next few days, someone would be over to drop Joel off, just as they had done with Jimmy close to a year ago now.

 Grian couldn’t wait.

***

 Joel glared at the new alien through the mesh of the carrier. As he did so, he quickly took in the alien’s features. Feathers peppered his skin almost like freckles across his arms and face with some of those feathers forming into wings that came out of his back and the sides of his head. Looking a bit further down showed Joel that this alien’s lower half looked like that of a bird’s, completing the look alongside the feathers and wings. And, of course, he was a giant, just like every other stupid alien Joel had met so far.

 Joel hadn’t expected any of this when he had crossed the border into the Forbidden. Giant aliens with various different features that treated humans like pets? It sounded like a bad sci-fi movie. And yet, it was now Joel’s very real life.

 The only good thing was that they hadn’t hurt him. He supposed being seen like some sort of pet gave him that privilege. Instead, he had been kept in a facility and observed while they had taken care of him. Joel hadn’t been a huge fan of any of it, not the condescending tones the aliens would use when speaking to him or the way they ignored him whenever he yelled about not wanting to be treated like a pet.

 And Joel knew very well that they understood him, knew that they had done something to him while he had been asleep that allowed them to communicate with each other. Though Joel really did wonder what the point of making it go both ways was, if they planned on not listening to anything he had to say.

 He’d been in the facility for around a month and hated every moment of it. But compared to a lot of the other humans in the place, he hadn’t been there very long. So it was certainly a surprise, a very unwanted one, when one of the aliens came up to him and told him he was getting adopted.

 The female alien had had a huge grin on her face, as if this was the best news Joel had ever received. But Joel had felt his stomach drop and the pitied looks he had received from the other humans around had only made it worse. He seemed to have been told at the very last minute too, because it was the very next morning that Joel found himself being placed into some sort of carrier and taken out of the facility for the first time since he had arrived a month ago.

 And now he was here, staring at this new alien that came across as some mix between a human and bird, who was supposed to be his new ‘owner’.

 Joel wanted to scream.

 “Here he is, Grian. And once again, thank you for taking in another human. The applications we receive seem to be dwindling with every passing year, so it’s honestly kind of a relief you were willing to take in another one.” The alien holding him said, though they weren’t holding him for much longer as he was passed over to the bird alien, Grian, apparently.

 Joel paused as the words caught up with him. Another human? Joel wasn’t his first one?

 He didn’t know how to feel about that.

 “Of course! I love these little guys, they’re so fun.” Grian spoke and Joel winced at his words. That didn’t sound foreboding at all. Grian continued, moving the carrier a bit to get a better handle on it, though Joel remained steady throughout the movement. “And I’m excited to get to know Joel here.”

 “Just be careful. I’m sure you’ve read his file, but he can be a bit…difficult.” The other alien said and Joel snorted. Was that what they were calling it? So voicing the fact he didn’t want to be a pet and fighting back whenever they grabbed him was considered being difficult? Alright then, he saw how it was.

 “I know, but I’m not too worried.” The casual air of smug confidence coming from Grian was really starting to grate on Joel’s nerves. Oh, he was going to make this guy regret ever choosing him.

 “Well, that’s good to hear. I’ll leave you to it then, have a nice day.” The alien said, nodding his head slightly and then turning to leave.

 “You too!” Grian exclaimed back and then closed the door, leaving Joel alone with this new, unfamiliar alien. Though, maybe not completely alone, if the other alien’s words were to be believed. There might just be another human in here somewhere.

 Unless the other human was dead and that’s why Grian felt the need to get another one. But even Joel knew that was probably not likely. Again, despite how dehumanizing it was being treated like pets, they at least seemed to be very protective of them.

 Like a dog. Or, well, given the size difference, a very well loved hamster.

 Joel didn’t know why he was comparing himself to a hamster.

 Grian turned around and Joel only just saw the table before the carrier he was in was placed down onto it. Joel remained on guard, which is why he totally didn’t flinch when Grian’s head suddenly popped into view through the mesh of the front. Grian’s lips curled up a little and Joel glared at him.

 “There you go, now you look more like your picture.” Grian teased, catching Joel off guard for a moment but only making him angrier in the long run. What right did this alien have to tease him like that? He didn’t even know the guy! They literally just met a second ago! Joel’s glare dropped only because of how incredulous he was feeling. But Grian seemed to take this as a sign of something else. “There we go, don’t worry, you’ve got nothing to worry about here. I’m not going to hurt you.”

 Joel rolled his eyes. The amount of times he had heard that particular phrase in the last month alone was enough for a lifetime. It’s so far proven to be true but Joel would much rather hear ‘I’m not going to treat you like a pet.’ Not like that was going to happen though, based on how things were going already.

 “I’m sure you’ve heard already, but I’m Grian.” Grian properly introduced himself though Joel could really care less. Still, despite his glare coming back, Grian continued. “You want to get out of there?” Grian asked and then before Joel could answer, not that he was going to in the first place but still, Grian unzipped the front of the carrier and opened it up. Joel tensed, thinking Grian was going to just reach in and grab him, and prepared himself to dart out of the way. But Grian’s hand remained at his side.

 It took Joel a moment to realize that Grian was waiting for him to come out on his own and he huffed, staying firmly planted where he was. He wasn’t going to just take being a pet. If nothing else, he was going to be as stubborn and as difficult as he could be. If Grian wanted him out of the carrier then he’d have to reach in and get him himself.

 …Not that Joel really wanted to get grabbed. But he’d rather do that than willingly listen and give into the idea of being a pet. That was never going to happen. 

 After a few moments of Joel not moving, Grian hummed. “That’s okay, you can stay in there as long as you like.” Grian said and stood up, his face now replaced by his torso. Now Joel was confused. He wasn’t going to force him?

 “But, if you want to meet the other human I have, then you’ll have to come out eventually.” Grian said and though he could no longer see his face, Joel could just hear the smirk on his lips.

 …Dang it. Joel had to admit, he was curious about this other human. He was wondering just what kind of state they were in. Though he had a sinking feeling they might have just given in and accepted all this, he still wanted to see for himself, no matter how saddened he would be by the sight.

 But that meant he had to leave the carrier.

 As Joel was debating with himself on what to do, Grian started walking away. “That’s alright, you can always meet Jimmy later I suppose.”

 Jimmy. Joel briefly wondered if that was his actual name or if Grian had chosen it for him. Though, based on the fact that Grian hadn’t done the same to him so far, it was most likely his actual given name. Hopefully.

 For some reason, Joel started to panic a bit as Grian started to walk away. He didn’t know why but he felt himself stand up because of it and move to the front of the carrier. As he poked his head all the way out though, he realized Grian hadn’t actually gone too far at all. Only moving until he had been out of Joel’s sight from within the carrier.

 Joel realized he had been tricked and this was made even clearer when Grian grinned at him. That stupid, smug looking grin really made Joel’s blood boil. He thought about turning right back around out of spite but he had already made it this far…and he really was curious about the other human.

 He swallowed down his anger, for now, as he stepped the rest of the way out of the carrier.

 “I thought that might entice you.” Grian said with a small laugh and Joel threw another glare at him.

 “Whatever.” Joel spat out, very aware those were his first words to Grian. He didn’t deserve anything more. “Now where’s this Jimmy guy you want me to meet so bad?”

 Grian chuckled and seemed nothing but amused by all of Joel’s attitude. It was starting to pool together a feeling not unlike a rock in his stomach.

 “I’ll go get him. He’s been excited to meet you too, you know.” Grian said and no, Joel didn’t know. But before he could get himself to say that out loud, Grian left, disappearing from Joel’s sight down the hallway.

 It was almost weird, being left alone. He hadn’t been truly ‘alone’ the entire month he had been in the care of these giant aliens. He was always either being watched by one of them in the facility or around other humans. Not having any eyes on him or a presence nearby was making him feel…itchy, for some reason.

 He pushed that feeling way deep down and tried his best to ignore his growing anxiety and enjoy the slight reprieve of Grian’s presence.

 It didn’t last very long anyway, as Grian came into sight once again a few minutes later, his hands cupped together. Joel could only assume that was where Jimmy was currently being kept. He shivered slightly at the idea of eventually being in those cupped hands himself, helpless and fully reliant on the alien.

 Joel tried not to think too much about the fact that he was already most of the way there even without being held like that.

 Grian grinned as he approached and slowly lowered his hands until they were touching the table. Joel braced himself for what he was about to see as Grian spoke. “Joel, this is Jimmy.” Grian said and then finally opened his cupped hands to reveal a blond-haired, and rather lanky, human. He was sitting in the cupped hands, his own hands braced on either side of him as his palms pressed firmly into Grian’s for support.

 Joel took him in and immediately noticed the nervous expression on his face. Now was that expression because of Joel? Or was that a normal expression he wore around Grian? It was honestly hard to tell.

 “Jimmy, this is Joel.” Grian said and Joel could tell Jimmy was taking him in too. He gave a small smile and waved a little but then yelped as Grian suddenly nudged him forward with a finger. “Come on Jimmy, go say hi properly.” The alien teased and Joel just watched as Jimmy winced but listened. Scooting the rest of the way off the hand and moving to stand on the table.

 Grian took his hand away and Jimmy stepped forward until he was close enough for Joel to reach out and touch him. Jimmy cleared his throat and stuck out a hand, an attempt at a smile on his face. “It’s nice to meet you, Joel. Like Grian said, my name is Jimmy.” Jimmy introduced himself. Joel looked at his face and then at his hand and decided to give the guy a break and take the offered hand into his own.

 “There you go! You two are already getting along!” Grian exclaimed with a grin. Joel glared up at the alien but Grian’s stupid smile didn’t falter for even a moment. Joel let go of their hands first, his arm coming to rest at his side again. Jimmy’s also returned to his side, his eyes still taking in all of Joel.

 “We’ve literally just said hi to each other.” Joel bit out and Jimmy’s eyes widened a bit.

 “Well-“ Grian started but was interrupted, surprisingly, by Jimmy.

 “He’s right, Grian. There’s still a chance we become sworn enemies.” Jimmy said, his voice light and joking, which surprised Joel more than anything else had so far. He couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh.

 “I’d say it’s a solid fifty-fifty at this point.” Joel said with a small smirk, crossing his arms. His smile grew as Jimmy laughed, his hand coming up to try and muffle it with little success.

 Grian gave them both a deadpan look. “Maybe this was a bad idea.” He said but the small smile still tugging at his lips showed he wasn’t serious. At least, Joel hoped he wasn’t. Though based on Jimmy’s reaction, which hadn’t changed much, he figured he was right. “I’m hoping Jimmy can be a good influence on you. Not the other way around.”

 Joel’s smirk grew, determination set in his gaze. “We’ll see about that.” Joel said as ominously as he could and Grian let out a small laugh.

 “Alright, well, I’m sure you both are hungry. I’ll start on something for breakfast while you two get to know each other a bit more. Let me know if you need anything, I’ll just be right here.” Grian pointed over to the kitchen that was literally just right behind them before walking over and started pulling some stuff out of the fridge and pantry.

 Joel simply watched him for a moment, weirded out by the familiar movements on such an unfamiliar being.

 “I’m sorry.” A quiet voice spoke up and Joel turned back toward Jimmy, who suddenly looked a lot sadder than just a moment ago. Joel could figure out what Jimmy meant, but he still tilted his head a bit and frowned.

 “You don’t have to apologize.” Joel said, matching Jimmy’s volume. A quick glance toward Grian showed that he couldn’t hear them like this. “It’s not your fault.”

 Jimmy looked down. “I know. I’m just…I’m sorry you’re in this mess too.”

 Joel glanced back at Grian, the giant’s movement keeping him alert to his presence at all times. “Is Grian really that bad?” Joel tried to say it in more of a joking tone, though he truly was asking.

 Jimmy bit his lip but ultimately shook his head. “He’s really not. He can be a bit much sometimes and he obviously sees us as pets but…he’s not…bad.” Jimmy said, fidgeting with his own hands as he spoke.

 Joel let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and nodded. At least he didn’t have to worry about some things. “Okay, that’s…good.” Joel winced at his own words. Nothing about this situation was good but he knew they were both trying to find the silver lining in all of this. Grian not being as bad as he could have been just happened to be one of them.

 “He cares about me.” Jimmy admitted, even quieter this time. But Joel was, once again, surprised to see that Jimmy really did seem to believe it. “And it seems like he’s starting to care about you too.”

 Joel didn’t say anything, wasn’t really sure what to say. Because Grian could care about them all he wanted, but that didn’t change how he saw them. 

 “Breakfast is almost ready!” Grian announced, cutting into the silence that had taken over the two of them. “Jimmy, go ahead and show Joel how we set up for meals, okay?”

 “Okay!” Jimmy answered back, his voice loud. He glanced back toward Joel, lowering his voice again. “We can talk more later. I better show you what to do, before Grian decides I’m taking too long or doing it wrong and takes over.” Jimmy was joking at that last bit but something in Joel’s gut twisted anyway.

 Jimmy started to walk along the table, more toward Grian, and Joel was helpless to do anything but follow.

 Maybe Grian wasn’t as bad as he could be, maybe he even truly cared for them, but Joel still refused to give in. He’ll follow Jimmy along for now, listen as he explained where they kept the human sized plates and silverware to grab for themselves, but he wouldn’t be listening to Grian anytime soon.

Martyn dropped himself in the seat next to Scott as he explained further, "We found them earlier today. I guess one of them slipped into the sink and the other was trying to get him out? I think they've been living in our walls."

Scott wrinkled his nose, "Kind of icky, don't you think? Like rats. Imagine if we had set out traps and one of them got caught in it, I wouldn't want to find a little squished person. Plain nasty."

"They- um- they look like they would know better than to step in a mousetrap," Jimmy replied, almost reaching for the jar. "We should probably set them outside now though, right? Obviously they have better places to be."

Scott scoffed, "And let them just wander back in to continue scavenging our cupboards?"

"Yeah, Tim, don't be stupid. We have a really big find here! Imagine what we could do with these two- at the very least I think we could make a few bucks selling them."

Jimmy blinked owlishly at Martyn, "Sell- Sell them? Are we looking at the same thing? Those are people! You can not be suggesting we just offer up two guys on Craigslist for a few bucks."

"I think "people" is a bit of a stretch, Jimmy," Scott said patiently- condescendingly, "They're more like mice or... dolls! Oh, that's a fun idea. You think I can keep one to make little outfits for?"

Martyn laughed at that, "Yeah, sure. I'm sure they'd love that."

Jimmy grit his teeth together, hands white-knuckled at this side. He stared down at the two guys in the jar. The two of them were doing the same thing, both staring up at him with expectation.

He took a deep breath, unclenched his hands, and chuckled along with Martyn. "Well, I guess that are kind of dollie-like, aren't they? They're barely half the size of my sister's Barbies."

Out of the corner his eye the two guys' expression fell.

They spent the rest of the night brainstorming what to do with them. Scott was going to keep one, for sure. Martyn was thinking of making a few short films with the other, maybe including the both of them sometimes, before selling his to whoever had the most interest once he made them famous. Jimmy nodded along for most of it, throwing out a few ideas for stories and agreeing with outfit ideas. He eventually ordered a pizza and got Scott and Martyn to step away from the kitchen to watch a movie. The three of them fell asleep on the couch.

Well Martyn and Scott fell asleep. Jimmy dozed a bit, shifting and moving around to make sure that when he got up, no one would get up with him. When he was sure that his friends maybe friends probably not friends were not going to wake up he made his way back to the kitchen.

The jar was exactly where they had- Well, no, the jar was several inches to the right of where they had left it. Closer to the edge of the counter. Not close enough, but Jimmy winced at the idea that they had been trying to scooch off the counter at all.

The two guys were both still awake when he approached, and they pressed themselves together and as far from him as they could. He certainly didn't blame them for that. He carefully plucked the jar off the counter and was out the front door.

He practically held his breath all the way to his car, setting the jar in the cupholder and pulling out of the driveway, barely remembering to put his seatbelt on as he did. He tried not to drive fast, he was tired and getting home quicker wasn't worth getting in a car wreck.

Once he was on the long road back he reached over and popped the hole-poked top of the jar. "I- I am so sorry for all of this," he said, shakily.

"Sorry for what, exactly?" One of them growled. It took a lot of resistance to not slam on the brakes, surprise and shame filling him to the brim that they actually spoke. It was the one with the dark hair, he thinks.

He knew they were people from the get-go. He knew they understood just from their reactions alone. He... hadn't known if they could speak. It made sense, but actually hearing him? Hearing that little voice that was so human? He couldn't believe he had even played along with Martyn and Scott for even a second. Ever considering these two as anything other than people seemed impossible to him.

He wet his mouth, his tongue feeling heavy and tacky, "I'm sorry Martyn and Scott ever found you. You two- The things they were saying. I- I can't believe I was ever friends with them."

"You were saying an awful lot too," the dark-haired one grumbled. Jimmy tried to keep his eyes on the road. There was a shout and then- "Don't bloody elbow me!"

"Shut up." That was the other one, with sandy hair. The new voice was quiet, he barely heard him.

Jimmy gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter, "I know. I'm sorry for that too. I didn't want them kicking me out. I- I'm heading back to my place right now, but- but is there someplace else you'd rather go? I don't- I don't think going back to Martyn and Scott's is on the table, but anywhere else-?"

"You're not planning on keeping us?" The sandy-haired one asked.

"Gosh no! No. You're blooming people. If I wasn't so scared of you getting tossed around the car I'd let you out right this minute. We'll be just another moment before we get back to my place. I'll let you go wherever you want, just say it and we'll be there."

There was a small hesitation as the little guy spoke, "Your place is.. fine."

Jimmy nodded, "Okay. Great. We'll figure it out there. I'm Jimmy, by the way."

"Grian."

"Joel."

"Nice to meet you fellas," Jimmy said.

 But calling pest control would only get the poor thing killed, probably. And Lizzie wasn’t really sure how to set up a trap or go about finding one that was humane enough. And a trap meant she would have to deal with the mouse herself and despite her not wanting to hurt the poor thing, she didn’t really want to handle it either.

 She figured she’d leave it alone. It wasn’t doing anything bad, just trying to survive.

 Though, for some reason she couldn’t shake the feeling it wasn’t a mouse. That something else had managed to find its way into her home and was taking her things.

 But it had to be a mouse. What else could it be?

***

 Lizzie had just wanted a drink of water.

 It was the middle of the night and she was half-asleep and all she wanted was to grab a glass of water from the kitchen and then go back to sleep.

 She was not at all expecting to see a tiny person already there, dropping into her junk drawer and rummaging through it. 

 Lizzie, now much more awake, backtracked back around the corner and pressed her body against the wall to hide, not wanting to scare the tiny person off. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest at the thought of what she just saw. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things in her half-asleep state. But as she peeked back around the corner, the tiny person was still there.

 She couldn’t help but watch them in awe. She couldn’t make out much from the distance and the dark but the window was open and shining faint moonlight onto the countertops, giving her just enough light to make out that the figure seemed to be male.

 She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him, watching as he climbed out of her junk drawer and used what appeared to be a hook and string to try and close it. He sent the hook end over the front, hooking it into the wood before pulling on the string. Though it seemed to be giving him trouble as he struggled to pull the drawer close.

 “Come on you bloomin’--ah!” Lizzie perked up as she heard the faintest of voices coming from the little guy. He was muttering but his voice still seemed to carry within the still and quiet night. He cried out when the drawer suddenly moved closed, smoother than he had been expecting, and he fell backwards on his butt.

 Lizzie clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle the sudden giggle she let out. The tiny guy just seemed so embarrassed, even though he thought he was alone. It was…cute.

 He got up and dusted himself off, a faint shade of pink on his cheeks that Lizzie could just barely make out. “Totally meant to do that.” He muttered to himself. “Stupid drawer.” He continued with a glare towards the drawer in question. Lizzie smiled behind her hand, which she still kept pressed against her mouth to stop any noise from escaping and risk her being seen.

 She then watched as the tiny guy adjusted the bag around his shoulders and went over to the wall. Now, Lizzie had always assumed that her walls were fairly solid. That was until the tiny guy marched right up to it and pushed, revealing a door that matched the tiny person’s size perfectly. Lizzie could only watch in awe as the door closed behind the guy, going back to being a plain wall. Once again, no sign that there even was a door there. 

 And with that, he was gone.

 Lizzie waited another moment just to be safe, before walking back to her room, water all but forgotten.

 She laid awake, staring up at the ceiling as she thought about what she had seen.

 The tiny guy lived in the walls. Walls that were clearly hollow, at least in some places…that would explain the tapping she heard. No wonder it had been so hard for her to pinpoint where it had been coming from. 

 She couldn’t believe there was a tiny guy in her walls in the first place. And a cute one at that. Lizzie felt a slight blush settle over her cheeks as she thought that but it wasn’t like she could deny it. She had eyes. And the tiny guy was cute.

 She had wondered what he was. A fairy? Though she hadn’t seen any wings on him. A leprechaun perhaps? But she was pretty sure they had red hair and wore green outfits. An Imp? But then where were his horns and tail?

 She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as guess after guess went through her mind. Look at her, thinking these mythical creatures were even plausible.

 But she couldn’t deny what she saw.

 She wondered what his name was.

***

 Over the next couple of days, Lizzie tried to see the little ‘may or may not be a fairy’ guy again. She staked out the kitchen in her same hiding spot for a few hours, only for nothing to come about it. Did he know? Had he seen her waiting for him and was already long gone?

 But no, because each night, despite not seeing him, she still saw the signs. Food missing, junk drawer slightly ajar, tapping within the walls…

 He was still here, Lizzie was apparently just really bad at catching sight of him when she actually wanted to.

 She sighed and decided to give it a rest on the third night.

 And it was that night that she woke up to a faintly familiar voice.

 “-why does the tissue have to be in her bedroom for goodness sake…” 

 Lizzie cracked one of her eyes open to see that the tiny guy, the one she had been wanting to see again for days now, was standing on her nightstand and trying to pull out one of the tissues from her tissue box. He was muttering to himself and Lizzie couldn’t help but think that, if she hadn’t heard his voice before, she might have stayed asleep.

 But she had been waiting to see him again. And his quiet voice had been enough to disturb her rest. 

 She watched as he took the tissue and started folding it up, probably in order to fit it in his bag. He was facing the other way, which gave Lizzie full advantage to stare openly at him. He was so small. She had seen how small before, of course, but that had been from far away. Seeing him up close like this? Maybe Lizzie hadn’t realized quite how small, but the guy was tiny. He’d fit in the palm of her hand, no problem.

 She couldn’t help but overthink that, just a little. The fact that he could fit in her hand. She flexed her hand for good measure, still trying to wrap her head around the concept.

 It was then that she saw him start to turn around and Lizzie shut her eyes closed, trying her best to even out her breathing. There was a tense pause and Lizzie had to stop herself from opening her eyes to see if the tiny guy had noticed her looking. But the tenseness passed as the tiny guy spoke again.

 “I’ve never seen a human with pink hair before.” He mumbled to himself and Lizzie had to fight down a blush at the idea that he was admiring her. She almost wanted to touch her hair in response but she stopped herself.

 There was more silence, to the point where Lizzie had to figure he was gone now. She was just about to open her eyes when he suddenly spoke again. “Okay, Joel, you’re being a creep, stop staring at her…” He said, still quiet as ever but it rang loud in Lizzie’s ears. The blush was now fighting even harder to be on her face.

 Joel…his name was Joel.

 She just had to move her head further into the pillow, burying the side of her face into it in the hopes that it hid her expression. She also hoped she did it right, in a way that Joel would hopefully assume she was still asleep and just shifting for no reason in particular. 

 She heard a quiet sound, like an intake of breath, and then he spoke again, even quieter, which Lizzie hadn’t thought possible. But she heard it anyway. “Cute…”

 The blush finally bloomed on her face.

 He thought she was cute.

 He thought she was cute.

 “You think I’m cute?!” Lizzie blurted out, sitting up on her elbows and looking over at the nightstand. Though to her surprise, she didn’t see Joel there. Her eyes wandered down, only to realize he had since moved to stand on her bed. Though her sudden reaction had caused him to stumble and fall and he was currently looking up at her from his now fallen position. 

 The room was still dark but Lizzie’s eyes had since adjusted and having Joel so close, she could see his features much more clearly. He was definitely cute. She might even say handsome.

 He also looked really scared.

 Whoops.

 “Um, I mean…” Lizzie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, thinking up ways she could fix this. “I-I think you’re cute too.” The blush was still very prominent on her cheeks and despite his fear, Joel also seemed to be blushing. “Anyway, goodnight!” Lizzie said and then flipped herself over and buried her head into her pillow, trying to calm her beating heart.

 She hadn’t meant to blurt all that out like that but at least now she was giving him a chance to leave. Lizzie’s heart broke a little, knowing she would probably never see him again after this. She was pretty sure, whatever he was, that he didn’t really want to be seen by humans. So it only made sense.

 She expected him to leave, so when she heard his voice again she almost jumped. “Wha- you can’t just call me cute and pretend you didn’t see me!” Joel exclaimed and Lizzie froze, mind now fogged up with confusion. 

 She didn’t move, still staring at the wall as she answered him. “Oh…well, I just thought…I mean, you seemed scared.” Lizzie said quietly. “I’m sorry for scaring you. You can go, I won’t…I won’t tell anyone about you.”

 “You won’t…oh.” Joel said, quietly trailing off. Lizzie expected this to be the moment he left but he spoke up again. “It’s-It’s fine. You humans can’t really help it.” Joel said and it was like Lizzie could tell he was trying to put on some sort of fake bravado. Though even she could hear the slight shakiness to his voice.

 “Um, did you…mean what you said?” Joel asked and Lizzie tilted her head, but otherwise remained still.

 “Mean what?” Lizzie asked. She had said a lot of things in the past few minutes, though she had meant all of them.

 “That you think I’m cute.” Joel asked shyly. Lizzie could just picture the red dusting his cheeks and the image brought her own blush back.

 “I did, although…maybe handsome is the better word.” Lizzie said, bringing out her best flirting voice. 

 “Y-You can’t just say something like that!” Joel exclaimed and Lizzie shifted a bit as she giggled but remained focused on the wall in front of her.

 “Well, I don’t want to lie.” Lizzie said as her giggles died down. Only for them to start up again when she heard Joel let out a few sputters that didn’t translate to any sort of word. She was certainly glad he hadn’t left yet. Maybe she even had a chance… “Joel?”

 Silence followed her word and it was long enough to where Lizzie started to panic slightly that Joel had up and left. Had she said or done something wrong? But then, Joel spoke again. “H-How do you know my name?” He said, and Lizzie could tell it was supposed to be more demanding but it definitely came off more skittish. Lizzie hummed in realization.

 “Oh! Sorry, I overheard you talking to yourself earlier. And you said your name.” Lizzie’s explanation fell a bit flat at the end and she hunched in on herself a bit. “Um, I’m Lizzie! If that helps?”

 “Lizzie…” Her name on his lips was breathy, almost in awe, and it made Lizzie’s heart beat just a bit faster. “Um, what did you want to ask again?”

 “Huh?” Lizzie asked, not remembering what Joel was talking about. Still too lost in the way Joel said her name.

 “You know, when you first said my name?” Joel said and Lizzie thought about it before suddenly remembering.

 “Oh! Right, um…” Now Lizzie was feeling a bit nervous. “Is it okay if I turn back around?”

 “Turn…around?” Joel asked slowly, though Lizzie couldn’t tell how he was feeling about her request.

 “Yeah, I…I would like to see you again.” Lizzie said, fidgeting a bit with her blanket as she admitted that to Joel. She hoped and prayed that Joel would let her turn around but she would also understand if Joel said no. She would respect it if he did.

 But to her surprise, Joel said yes. “Um…yeah, that’s fine, I guess.” He didn’t sound super confident but Lizzie wasn’t going to let this chance slip from her fingers, so before Joel could change his mind, she carefully flipped herself over to her original position. Her eyes went wide once more as she laid eyes on Joel. He had stood up at some point, though he now had to crane his neck a bit more to look up at her. She lowered herself a bit, hoping it might help.

 “Hi.” She said simply, a small smile appearing on her face.

 Joel was tense, it wasn’t hard to see that. But Lizzie could see a small smile of his own tugging at his lips. “Hi.”

 Though her eyes had adjusted to the dark, she still wanted to get a better look at him. Her eyes flickered over to her bedside lamp but she figured she should ask about that first too. “Can I turn on the light?”

 “...Yeah.” Joel said and so Lizzie reached over and turned it on. She closed her eyes as the sudden light blinded her before squinting and blinking, trying to get her eyes used to it. Once her eyes no longer stung, she opened them fully and looked down again at Joel. To be fair, it was not much different than seeing him in the dark, but it still somehow awed Lizzie to be able to fully make out every tiny detail about Joel.

 He was wearing clothes that Lizzie could just make out the seams of, leading her to believe he must have made them himself. It was a simple pair of brown trousers and a white top, but both seemed to be made out of different patches of brown and white. He was also wearing a brown vest that went over his white shirt and seemed to be carrying a bag that wound around his shoulders.

 But the thing Lizzie really couldn’t take her eyes off of was his face. It was still a bit hard to make out but he definitely had brown eyes, eyes that hadn’t moved from looking at her since before she turned on the light. Her eyes moved to his hair, which was brown and a bit fluffed up but that wasn’t the most notable thing about it.

 “I’ve never seen someone with green hair before.” Lizzie said in awe, parroting what she had heard Joel say earlier. “It’s really cool.” She said as she carefully reached out. Her fingers grazed the top of Joel’s head, feeling the softness of his hair for just a moment before Joel tensed and let out a little yelp like noise. Lizzie’s eyes widened, realizing what she was doing, and quickly snapped her hand back. “Oh, sorry! Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

 Joel had backed up a few steps but he at least didn’t look like he was about to run, which Lizzie was thankful for. Joel was looking at her in sort of a strange way, his head tilted and eyes wide. Lizzie watched quietly as he slowly relaxed his body. “It’s okay.” He said and ran a hand through his hair. His hand then traveled down from the top of his head to cup at the back of his neck. “Um, your hair is…really pretty.”

 At this point Lizzie didn’t think the blush would ever leave her cheeks. She smiled and let out a little laugh, her hand subconsciously going to her hair and running her fingers through the long strands. “Thank you.” She had been complimented on her hair plenty of times before, pink really was an uncommon color for people to dye their hair as, but it felt different coming from Joel.

 She looked over at her clock, seeing that it was nearing midnight. She should really be getting back to sleep, she did have to work tomorrow after all, but she couldn’t bring herself to end this meeting of theirs. Not yet. She had so many questions and part of her was still wary that Joel would never come back once he left. If that was the case, she wanted to savor this meeting of theirs just a bit longer.

 Her eyes wandered back to him and she focused on how thin he seemed to be. From what she had gathered, he took things from her in order to survive. Including food. He probably didn’t get a lot to eat and Lizzie realized now was the chance for her to fix that.

 “I know it’s a bit late.” Lizzie spoke, trying to keep the shyness out of her voice. Why did she feel so nervous asking this? “But…I mean, if you want, I could make us something to eat. A little midnight snack. And we could talk more too. While we eat.”

 Joel was silent for a long moment, looking up at Lizzie with wide eyes. Lizzie was getting nervous at the lack of response and started taking her words back. “I mean, you don’t have to. If you want to leave you can, I won’t stop you.”

 Somehow, Joel’s eyes got even wider. “No!” He exclaimed, causing Lizzie to flinch a bit, having not expected it. Joel blinked and looked away, his cheeks flushed. “I-I mean, I…I think a midnight snack sounds like a great idea.” He said with a firm nod before meeting Lizzie’s eyes again. “I would…really like that.”

 Lizzie grinned and that little wary feeling in the back of her head went away. She was starting to think this was the start of something new. Something…special.

 “Joel, you’re hurt. You don’t have to pretend like you aren’t.” This was not the first time Jimmy had said something like this to Joel. Joel seemed to always lie about how he was feeling, mostly physically but Jimmy was starting to suspect he was also lying about how he felt mentally and emotionally at times as well. Jimmy had no idea why though.

 Of course, Joel really had been able to hide his injuries well enough before. They had never been this bad. Jimmy could see, even with Joel trying to hide it from his sight, that Joel’s arm was bent in a way that had Jimmy feeling a bit sick. It was broken, no way around it and Jimmy was not about to let Joel continue to be hurt because he had some weird thing about others seeing him hurt or vulnerable or whatever it was.

 “I’m not pretending. I’m fine.” Joel repeated through gritted teeth, not looking Jimmy in the eyes. 

 “Joel-”

 “No! Just leave me alone, I can take care of myself.” Joel bit back, cutting Jimmy off. His eyes widened for a moment at the sudden anger that was now being directed at him.

 Jimmy closed his eyes, a sinking feeling filling his chest. He always tried his hardest to never do anything Joel didn’t want to do. He hated the idea of forcing the human to do things like that. He considered Joel his friend, maybe even his best friend, and treating someone like that was not the way to maintain that friendship.

 All that being said…this was something Jimmy couldn’t ignore. Joel’s arm was broken. If they didn’t do something about it, it would heal all wrong or not heal at all. They needed to get it checked out. Joel would never agree to it though and that’s what had Jimmy feeling bad. Because despite Joel’s thoughts on it, Jimmy was really left with no choice.

 “I’m calling Grian.” Jimmy said, making up his mind and already pulling his phone out. Joel was startled out of his anger, whipping his head to face Jimmy and wincing again when that action pulled at his shoulder and arm. 

 “What?! No! I-I’m fine! You don’t have to call-” Joel’s face went pale as Grian picked up the phone, his voice coming out of the speaker.

 “Hello?” Grian answered.

 “Hey, Grian, sorry to bother you but would you be able to come over? I think Joel might have broken his arm.” Jimmy explained, quick and to the point to hopefully counteract any of Grian’s normal teasing.

 There was a bit of silence on the other end as Grian processed what Jimmy said and then he snorted. “Seriously? How did he manage that?”

 Jimmy frowned. “He fell off the coffee table.” Jimmy glanced at Joel, only to see the human was starting to move away. Jimmy bit his lip but moved and cupped his free hand around Joel, effectively stopping him from any sort of escape. Joel let out a yell of surprise and banged his fist, the one connected to his unhurt arm, against Jimmy’s hand but Jimmy barely even felt it.

 “Of course. Alright, I’ll be over in about an hour. I gotta go get my tools.” Grian said and Jimmy didn’t miss the way Joel shivered when Grian mentioned his tools, though he was confused by it.

 “Thanks, Grian. Appreciate it.” Jimmy said.

 Grian hummed. “Yeah, just make sure Joel doesn’t do anything that would hurt it further. I don’t really want to perform an amputation on a human today.” Grian was very clearly only joking, though that didn't stop Jimmy from feeling another shiver from Joel.

 “I know. See you soon.” Jimmy said, wanting this conversation to be done with.

 “See ya.” Grian said and with that, Jimmy hung up the phone.

 “What the hell, Jimmy?!” Joel yelled and Jimmy moved his hand a bit in order to see Joel better. He was still pale and shaking even more now and Jimmy wasn’t so sure it was all due to the pain. “I told you I was fine! I don’t-I don’t need Grian to-” Joel kept cutting himself off, stuttering and throwing out Grian’s name like the word itself was poison.

 “Grian is gonna help you. That’s all he wants. That’s all I want.” Jimmy said, trying to be reassuring. He had no idea why Joel had this apprehension toward his brother but it was starting to concern Jimmy a bit too much.

 “I doubt that’s all he wants…” Joel mumbled to himself though Jimmy clearly heard it.

 “What?” Jimmy asked but Joel just huffed.

 “I told you I never wanted to see him again!” Joel shouted.

 “And I still don’t understand why.” Jimmy said back, more confused than anything. “Obviously you were always gonna have to see him again. Not only is he my brother but he’s your primary doctor.” Being a certified human expert, Grian had several humans under his charge and Joel was only one of them.

 Joel hunched his shoulders, ignoring the pain that came with doing that. He remained silent, refusing to meet Jimmy’s eyes again.

 Jimmy sighed and carefully scooped Joel back up in his hands. “Alright, don’t tell me then.” Maybe Grian would have some sort of idea why Joel seemed to not like him. “Come on, let’s prepare for when Grian gets here.”

Then, something shifted, a whole side of a cave column seemed to come loose. Joel could only see the shape in the darkness, it leaning forward and he anticipated the sound of the crash (even if he'd never seen stone collaspe like this, not something as big as that so suddenly), but instead of crashing the whole shape straightened out.

His blood ran cold as something enourmous stood over them, nearly nine blocks tall, then crouching down like a predator ready to pounce. This wasn't anything he had seen before. This wasn't anything he could fight.

It reached forward and he flinched away, covering himself and Jimmy with his shield. He could here Jimmy gasp underneath him, the clambering of his sword as he either dropped it or struggled to bring it up off the stone.

There was burst of wind over them, the creature swiping it's great arm over the area. Joel held his breath, waiting for the next swipe to actually hit them this time.

"Oh, guys-" The creature spoke. His breath caught in his throat. That was Grian's voice. "Guys, I'm not going to hurt you."

Joel slowly lowered his shield. For the first time he noticed the sudden lack of mob noises and he looked to the right, noticing the rather large pile of drops and XP. All the monsters were dead.

He swallowed and slipped the sword into his inventory for a moment to place a torch down in front of them. Immediately light was shed across the creature. For a second it was unrecognizable, big purple wings sprouting every which way, several on their back and face and even one on each arm- which did not seem very anatomically possible, but neither did the size of this thing -and bright glowing eyes and feathers covering half their face.

Then the actual facial features registered, the eye shape and nose and familar furrow of their brows. "Grian?" Joel asked, blinking rapidly, like it would dislodge the image of his friend off this creature; or at least make it make more sense.

"Grian!?" Jimmy repeated, albiet louder, pushing himself fulling up to look around Joel, "Grian! Dude! What happened to you?"

Grian gulped, slowly bringing himself down to sit criss-cross, not that it helped much with the height thing, "You were never supposed to see this."

""-Never supposed to see this"? "-Never supposed to see this"? Grian, you're a blooming giant! How on earth did this happen? How were we not supposed to see this?" Joel asked, waving his hand around to gesture at the whole of Grian.

"I was hoping I could get a handle on it before you saw," Grian replied, mostly under his breath, and pouting slightly, "I told Tim not to follow me."

"He didn't follow you. I came looking and he followed me. Completely different," Joel answered, crossing his arms.

"Yeah! Completely different," Jimmy shouted, also crossing his arms, "Now explain mister! I think as your team mates we deserve an answer for.. this!"

"I-" Grian started and stopped, growling lowly for a second. That something that Joel usually found funny when it was coming from someone the same size as him, but now it vibrated through him, like thunder overhead, "I shouldn't have to tell you anything... but fine. Just- Later. I'll explain later."

Joel wanted to argue, but when Grian set his mind to something there was nothing to do to change it. "Fine-"

"What?" Jimmy squeaked, turning to Joel, "We're just gonna accept this?"

"Yep," Joel popped the 'p', putting his shield away as well.

He walked up to Grian, whose eyes widened and tried to lean away. "Joel, what are you doing?"

Joel didn't answer and instead found the lowest point on Grian, with his legs crossed that ended up being his ankles, and started to climb.

"Joel?!" Grian repeated, hands hovering over him. Joel paused at the sight of them, Grian usually had little hands, but now they were big enough to wrap around his entire torso. He didn't though, didn't even bring a finger down to poke or push him off. Joel smirked and climbed up his knee.

Jimmy seemed to catch on and was right on top of Grian right after, climbing up the other knee, grinning madly as Grian started whining profusely.

"Guys! Don't- Why?" He pleaded.

"Cause it's funny, in'it?" Joel answered, settling in on Grian's thigh, leaning against his chest. Jimmy did the same on the other side. "Not to mention, we spent so long searching for you, we're tired now."

"No-"

"Yeah, Grian, caving is hard. We need a nap," Jimmy added, hands behind his head as he closed his eyes.

"You two were are way too ready to be menaces about this," Grian grumbled, leaning back himself against the cave pillar behind him. "Almost wish I scared you off instead."

Joel hummed but didn't say anything in response. Grian sighed above them, and he could feel the movement all around him. He was sure the moment Grian gained the confidence to touch and grab them he'd be getting his revenge- if whatever this was wasn't handled before then. Either way he and Jimmy would regret it later.

 “Are you sure?” At Grian’s nod, Scar bit his lip. “Well, maybe they're like us?” Scar tried, wanting to give the benefit of the doubt. But his already uneasy smile dropped when Grian shook his head.

 “He was in a cage.” Grian said, his voice cracking a little. 

 Scar winced. “Oh. Yeah, that’s not good.”

 “That’s not the only thing though.” Grian continued, fidgeting with his sweater.

 “What do you mean?” Scar asked, wondering what else there could be. Grian looked him in the eyes, his expression pained. It sent Scar’s heart plummeting.

 “I think…I think I know him.” Grian admitted. He hadn’t gotten much of a good look at the borrower himself but…well, Grian would recognize that green streak anywhere.

 “You…know him? Like, he’s a friend of yours?” At Scar’s question, Grian simply nodded. A friend of Grian’s…Grian had never mentioned any friends before. He was very secretive like that. So for one of them to be here…

 “What did the human who has him look like? Where were they?” Scar asked, expression serious. 

 Grian blinked and tried to think about the brief moment he saw. “The human was wearing a black suit…and had slicked black hair…and he was over in the far corner, in a section that wasn’t very crowded.” Scar nodded along to Grian’s description. He then brought Grian close to himself, hiding him while Scar looked around the corner, trying to see where Grian described.

 …There. Grian had been right. In the back corner, in the VIP section, sat a man wearing a fancy black suit and a smug smile. On his right, in plain view, was a cage with a borrower trapped inside. The thought made Scar’s blood boil. Borrowers were people too, he couldn’t imagine ever putting Grian in a cage like that.

 Scar needed a plan.

 He backed back into the corner and looked down at Grian. “Do you trust me?”

 Grian was taken by surprise. “Wha- I mean, I…” Grian took a deep breath and sat straight up, looking Scar in the eyes, determined. “Of course I do.” He didn’t think he trusted anyone more.

 Scar smiled at that, touched. Hopefully, his plan didn’t ruin that. “Then follow my lead.”

***

 A quick bribe to the bouncer let him into the VIP section of the casino easily. He played the part of walking around, checking out the games, trying to look like he belonged.

 It wasn’t very hard, honestly.

 He casually passed by the man with the borrower, his eyes honing in on the little guy naturally. He stopped, gaining the man’s attention. “Pardon me, but I’ve got to say that is quite the catch you’ve got there.” Scar said, voice as smooth as honey.

 The man huffed but Scar could see the ghost of a vicious grin on his face. “Move along buddy, I don’t think you can afford a game with me.” He laid a hand on top of the cage and he saw the borrower inside flinch. “Especially not with this as the prize.”

 “Hey!” A voice suddenly shouted, startling Scar briefly out of his act. He looked down to see it was the borrower who had spoken. “I’m not some prize to be won!”

 “Shut it!” The man hisses, banging his hand against the cage and making the borrower inside fall over. Scar contained his own flinch, remaining stoic. But he almost broke seeing the borrower cowering after all that.

 “Actually,” Scar started, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do. “I think I can. Afford it, that is.” Scar reached into his pocket, his hand wrapping around Grian, firm but gentle. He felt Grian squirm against his fingers, tiny hands trying to push at them. He bit the inside of his cheek, carefully letting one of his fingers run along his back, trying to settle him. Thankfully, Grian seemed to get the message and he was still by the time Scar pulled him out.

 At the sight of another borrower, the man’s eyes went wide.

 “So, you’ve managed to catch one yourself.” The man said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. 

 “Yep. And I would love to add that little one to my collection.” He pointed at the other borrower, who glared at him. “Of course, if you end up winning, I suppose you’d be adding another tiny to your prize pool.”

 Scar could see the other man thinking it over. Looking between the borrower he had trapped and Grian. Finally, he motioned for Scar to have a seat across from him. Scar grinned and took it.

 “We’re playing this the right way though, so prizes in the center.” The man said, tapping on the cage. Scar frowned at that but not enough to put the other man off. He was loath to let Grian out of his grasp but he didn’t want to push his luck.

 “Alright by me.” Scar said with a fake but convincing smile. He glanced down at Grian, who glanced back up at him. He gave a tiny, subtle nod and Scar let out a breath.

 The cage was pushed to the center of the table and the man opened the cage, making sure the borrower still inside couldn’t escape. Scar reached in and placed Grian inside as well and the cage was shut and locked once more. Immediately both borrowers huddled together and Scar could just make out faint whispers. Hopefully Grian was explaining everything to him.

 The cards were passed out by the dealer and Scar took a peek at his hand. Not bad, all things considered. But definitely on the lower end of his chance to win. No matter, he wasn’t a scammer at heart for nothing. With quick hands, as Scar saw no one looking at him, he slipped one of the cards into his sleeve and replaced it in less than a second.

 It had taken him a lot of practice but it had all been worth it when Scar took note that no one had noticed. Perfect.

 The cards were revealed and the dealer announced Scar as the winner.

 The man sneered at him as Scar stood from his seat and reached for the cage in the center. “Well, my good man, it seems I’m adding this little one to my collection after all. Sorry about that, but all's fair in love and war and all that.” Scar said with a wink, grabbing the handle of the cage.

 Unfortunately, they weren’t out of the woods yet as the man’s hand went over his own to keep him from taking his prize. “Double or nothing.” The man growled out, practically spitting in Scar’s face. Scar used his free hand to wipe it away, glaring at the man. He tried to reign in his anger to a normal amount but it was starting to get difficult. 

 “Sorry but no. I’d like to just take my prize and go now.” With that said, Scar slapped the other man’s hand away and brought the cage close to himself. 

 The other man looked like he wanted to jump him but thankfully, security had already been called. Scar sent a thankful look to the dealer, who nodded and went back to work. Scar watched in glee as the man was taken away and escorted out of the building for making a scene and not abiding by the rules.

 “And that’s how it’s done.” Scar said to himself, proud his plan had worked.

 Scar slipped out of the VIP section into a secluded back corner of the casino, trying very hard to hide what was inside the cage. He didn’t need anymore people seeing the borrowers, after all. He found an empty table and took a seat.

 Once he was sure no one was around, he placed the cage onto the table and unlocked the door. “I swear Scar, you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” Grian said as he walked out of the cage, the other borrower not far behind but a lot more hesitant.

 “It worked though! And you never had anything to worry about.” He pulled up an ace from his sleeve, showing it off with a wink. “I always come prepared.”

 Grian rolled his eyes and then seemed to remember they weren’t alone. He moved out of the way, giving Scar a better view of his friend. The other borrower seemed to be a bit shorter than Grian, which he hadn’t thought was possible. He also had a distinct green streak in his hair and Scar wondered if he had dyed it or not. And if so, how?

 “Scar, this is Joel. Joel, Scar.” Grian introduced and Scar did his best to bow from a seated position. 

 “Nice to meet you, Mr. Joel.” Scar said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

 Joel still seemed unsure but he gave a little wave before quickly putting his hand back down. “Grian said you were trustworthy so…I believe him. And you did save me so…” He looked at Grian.

 “I told him as much as I could when I got into the cage.” He smiled at Joel. “Don’t worry, Scar would never hurt us or keep us trapped.”

 Scar nodded in total agreement. “Yeah, we’ll get you back home…or wherever it is you need to go.”

 Joel nodded. “...Thanks.”

 Scar grinned. He knew it would take a while for Joel to warm up to him and to the idea that Scar, despite being a human, wasn’t planning on keeping or harming them. After all, it had taken Grian a bit of time to get to that point too. But either way, Scar was more than willing to help. After all…