The Follies of the Forest @folliesoftheforest - Tumblr Blog

A Lunch Run Gone Wrong

In which Shop learns something new about SD's workplace- (Content warning for peril and profanity)

SD's phone lit up with a quiet buzz, not that anyone in the small auditorium would have noticed, seeing as they were all busy chattering amongst themselves and comparing notes and discussing research. He picked up the phone, momentarily adjusting his glasses to see that Shop had sent him a text, opening it to read, 'You forgot your lunch man!'

SD rolled his eyes with a chuckle, realizing that's what he had forgotten that morning as he rushed out the door for work. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before sitting back in his chair to respond with 'In the middle of a lecture right now. You can drop it off by my office if you have the chance.'

'Are you gonna be in there?'

SD chuckled again, 'Not until I get a break in my classes today; Cyprin should be hanging out in there though.'

He could just see how Shop must have rolled her eyes when it took her a moment to respond, finally answering 'Fiiiine, I'll hop over and drop it off, might swing by to see what you're teaching today!'

SD shook his head with a smile on his face. Being a mythology professor was ironic on its own when you house a mythical being yourself, but ever since that night, Shop would drop by to sit in on some lectures, usually when SD would mention that he was going to be using visual aids or artistic depictions in a lesson. Nonetheless, he set his phone back down to attend to his students as they began to finish up their discussions.

~~~~~~

Wanting to make a quick trip of this impromptu lunch run, Shop threw on a simple, faded hoodie, shorts and some flip flops and headed out the door. She would have loved to hang out in one of SD's lectures, even just to people watch, but if she had to interact with his Teaching Assistant, Cyprin, she might reconsider it. She didn't much care for them; they just gave off bad vibes to her, whether it be the way they glared at her or their overall grouchy disposition. Shop never really paid them much mind, she never really needed to, but for now, she shook off the thought of an awkward interaction in favor of focusing on the road, seeing as she had to remember how exactly to get to the university.

Parking where she could, Shop bounded towards the vistor's entrance with a hum. She texted SD to let her know she was on school grounds, but quickly frowned when she remembered that the campus had a tendency for bad connection, save for a few spots. She waited a minute or two until finally her message went through, ringing the intercom to be let through.

"Hiii! I'm just here to drop off Professor Braddock's lunch for him!" She chimed into the old speaker before she was greeted with a voice that crackled through the worn device. Soon enough, she heard the door in front of her unlock. She walked through, giving the receptionist a wave as she passed. They waved back, having recognized her as she walked by.

Bzzt bzzt-

Shop had a bit of pep in her step as she felt her phone go off, whipping it out as she strutted her way down towards SD's department.

'Lecture almost over, you know where to go?'

'Of course! See you soon!' Shop quickly replied back, knowing that she would likely make it to his lecture hall before the message could finally send.

While SD waited for Shop to come around and for his next class to come in, he walked just down the hall to his office, knocking on the door before entering to Cyprin hunched over some papers they were busy grading, grumbling to themself whenever they had to mark a question wrong.

"Just to give you a head's up Cyprin," SD began after he cleared his throat, "Shop is going to be stopping by in a moment to drop off my lunch, would you mind making sure to bring it in, since my next lecture will be starting soon?"

"Tsk, sure thing Mr. Braddock." They sneered. SD raised an eyebrow while glaring them down, which earned him a worried look from the TA, who tried to blow it off. "Professor. Professor Braddock." They corrected themself, sneering mockingly as SD turned to close the door and return to his coming class. They hated when SD would use his glare on them, but, the class was easy enough to TA and they got free coffee out of it from time to time, so they would grin and bear it for the credit they needed.

On the other side of the building, Shop was starting to get the creeping feeling that she was getting lost, her chest starting to feel tight. The fluorescent bulbs overhead suddenly seemed way too bright, the sounds of students and faculty chatting amongst themselves way too loud, and the walls and halls seemed to begin to stretch on forever. The sensory intake was overwhelming, and Shop could start to feel her heart beating faster as her anxiety spiked and her mind began to race; but this didn't feel like a normal panic attack. She pressed herself against a wall, shut her eyes, and begged herself that what she was feeling was just her imagination.

"Hey-" a voice called in her direction. "Are you ok?"

Shop snapped her eyes open to a worried looking student, who seemed to be leaning down to talk to her. "H-huh?..."

"Are you ok? You look like you're having a bad time there…"

"O-oh, no, no, I'm ok, just uh, frazzled… um… you wouldn't happen to know how to get to uh, Professor Braddock's class, w-would you?" Shop managed to stammer out.

The student stood back, an understanding smile on their face, "Oh yeah! I just came from there, just head down this hall, then make a left and then a right, can't miss it!"

They called after Shop as she thanked them and gathered herself to start walking again. "Oh hey by the way! I love your ears, those are some dope prosthetics!"

"What?..." Shop mouthed to herself as she sheepishly waved back, raising her hands to her ears and rushing into a bathroom to see what they had meant. Her eyes went wide when she saw her ears had turned pointed, and her heart leaped into her throat when it dawned on her that she did not come up to her usual height in the mirror.

Her hands fumbled for her phone as Shop nearly ran out the door again, following the kind student's directions as people began to file into class, leaving Shop alone in the halls. 'SD!! I think something's happening to me!?' She shakily texted before chucking the phone into the lunch bag without a second thought. If she could at least get to him and somehow hide until the end of the day, that would be ideal, no matter how nerve wracking it became for her.

The university?? Of all places?? Maybe it's not a lot, Shop thought as she turned the corner, but it must be enough to make something happen to me. She didn't want to entertain the idea of what she could be turning into, but she deduced it couldn't be some small cosmetic change when she ran up to the door to SD's room, and could easily stand under the door handle without it touching her head.

Recognizing she couldn't just waltz into a room full of people in her current state, Shop ran over to SD's office, practically dragging his lunch bag behind her. The thought did come to her that she didn't seem to be changing much beyond her now obvious lack of height, and truthfully, her curiosity was piqued over what exactly she could be becoming. But of course the adrenaline and anxiety mixed into a potent cocktail for Shop, suppressing any curiosity as it pushed her into survival mode. She had barely dragged the lunch bag to SD's office door, no more than a foot tall when her heightening senses picked up shuffled steps coming up to the door. Trying to look for a quick escape, Shop scrambled over her elongating feet into a nearby open service closet, ducking behind the lip of the door as Cyprin opened the office door, knocking it into the now abandoned lunchbox.

"What the-, ugh," Cyprin picked up the bag in mild disgust, "Huh. Must've just missed her; good riddance, don't have to deal with little miss sunshine." Cyprin mocked Shop with an exaggerated grin before slinging the bag over their shoulder and walking down to SD's class. Shop was too panicked and in shock by the vastness of her new perspective to even be mad as she watched as Cyprin stomped off, taking her only way to communicate with her friend with them. She failed to notice as changes increased, making her smaller still, with whiskers and patches of short, velvety fur that began to sprout, as well as a long, slender, yet muscular tail that grew out from her spine and forced her to lean a bit forward. Shop was solely focused on trying to figure out how to get into the classroom, her mind so clouded from the adrenaline rush that everything began to seem hazy, like a dream. 'I'm fine. I'm fine! I just need to get to SD. He'll be able to help, just need to get to him.' She repeated in her mind, trying to will herself out into the bright, empty hallway.

~~~~~~

"What do you mean, it was just, 'there'?" SD asked quietly after pulling Cyprin off to the side when they stepped into the room, dropping the lunch bag on SD's desk.

"I don't know what else it could mean," Cyprin snarked back, gesturing to the bag. "She wasn't there; must've gotten distracted by a butterfly or something, I dunno-"

SD pursed his lips and wrinkled his nose as Cyprin bad mouthed Shop, he knew something was up, but he still had classes and wouldn't be able to do much for now. He glanced to his side, causing a few students to quickly duck their heads back down to their tests; SD sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, displacing his glasses momentarily.

"Alright, alright, fine," He began with an exhale, "Go ahead and leave it in my office for now, please." SD waved Cyprin off, who rolled their eyes with a scoff as they left with the lunch bag, returning to the office and kicking their feet up.

Meanwhile, Shop was still trying to build up the courage to make a run for the classroom when Cyprin walked back past the door, drawing her curious gaze. She watched them disappear back into SD's office before her sensitive ears caught wind of a small, echoey sound, coming from inside the service closet with her.

"H-hello?..." she cautiously called out into the dimly lit space, trying to see what could have made the sound, or if it was her imagination. Her attention was spread so thin with everything happening that she barely registered how the hallway had begun to fill up with students again.

One such lumbering giant of a body came walking very close to the door Shop was currently cowering behind, her itty bitty hands nearly getting crunched off when the door came swinging shut, surprising Shop as she was plunged into darkness, staggering backwards in shock. She tripped over a newfound tail and right into the metal leg of a cabinet, slamming the back of her head onto the hard surface and promptly knocking her out as she fell to the ground with a minute thud… She was indeed right to believe that someone, or something else was in the room with her, but they were still a ways away from where she now laid.

In his class, SD was the one staring at the clock, ready to dismiss his current class to message Shop. Something told him it was serious, but he hated cutting his lectures short, especially since he would have a break after this. Soon enough, the time came and everyone promptly left the room, seeing how SD had more or less ushered everyone out before closing the door behind him and marching to his office, practically slicing through the sea of people.

"Wow, you look REALLY worried." Cyprin commented when SD closed the door behind him. "So what's really going on?"

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, you look like you have something on your mind, what's going on? I'm guessing it has to do with your little friend~" Cyprin cooed with a cheeky grin.

"I would appreciate it if you kept any ill-willed comments about my friends to yourself next time, Mx. Bacardi." SD stated firmly as he readjusted his jacket. He knew they hated it when he addressed them so formally, as evident by the way they sneered and crossed their arms with a glare.

"But yes," SD admitted, "it does seem out of character for Shop to just, up and leave, but I'm sure she had her reasons. I don't much appreciate you trying to stick your nose into other people's business though." He walked around to his desk, seeing all the graded papers. "Did you get all the tests done?"

"Tsk, yeah, of course I did." Cyprin hissed.

"Hm. Good, good. I only have one more lecture after this, so if you'd like to head home for the day, you can." SD offered.

Cyprin's eyes lit up at the prospect, not questioning it as they gathered their stuff without another word and bolted, happy to be out of there. SD rolled his eyes with a knowing smirk as he sat down, organizing his papers to make room before he felt his phone go off, opening it to see Shop's last message, his eyes going wide in realization. Clutching his phone, he quickly typed, 'Where are you right now?' staring at the phone screen as if that would strengthen the connection and send the message faster. What he wasn't expecting was to hear a buzzing come from his lunch bag. His heart dropped to his stomach as he reached over and opened it up, his breath seizing up as Shop's phone lit up with his message to her.

'She left her phone??' That was DEFINITELY out of sorts for her. SD planted his elbows on his desk as he dug his hands into his hair in growing worry, trying to think of what he should do. If she had sent that message at the beginning of his last class, 'she must have turned into something by now-' SD hypothesized, taking off his glasses to rub the growing pang of anxiety from his face. 'If she always turns into something fitting for the environment…' SD thought, starting to think aloud, "What the hell would be fitting for a university campus?!"

~~~~~~

Back in the darkened service closet, a small creature finally mustered up the willpower to approach the vent it was hiding in to peek out and see if anyone was out there. They had heard a faint 'hello', and that, along with the door slamming shut, was reason enough for it to wait a while, lest they risk revealing themself over trying to gather some toilet paper and paper clips, but it was always a fairly safe go-to for trading in the marketplaces that littered the underbelly of the campus. Having waited enough to believe that the coast was clear, the creature pushed the vent cover, making it go up with a small squeak, to which it held its breath. Not hearing anything that would be cause for alarm, they let out a sigh of relief, and stepped out into the small gap between the wall and the towering cabinets. The figure adjusted the pack on their back, using its tail to gently lower the vent cover back down before walking around the corner closest to the doorway.

They would normally prefer the high route over the ground level, but it led to the easiest and quickest way to climb back up to the supplies that were needed. This time, however, they stopped dead in their tracks with a gasp when they saw a small figure laying sprawled out on the ground, and quite out in the open at that. They stepped forward, wanting to check on the fallen being, but quickly retreated when they heard thundering footfalls pass just outside the door. They took a moment to recollect themself when the phenomenon faded before venturing back out to the body, scared for what might have happened to them.

The creature crept up to its side, examining the best it could from a respectful distance for any outward injuries. They quickly realized this was a rather young borrower, possibly similar in age to themself; maybe they were attacked by bandits? That would explain why they were alone the way they were and without any packs or satchels. Feeling more comfortable, the borrower continued to creep forward, their tail tense and curled, ready to be out of the way in the event that it needed to bail.

Hoping they were wrong, they exhaled when they saw the body breath faintly, with their wispy whispers occasionally twitching. And seeing as they currently weren't being ambushed, they assumed that this borrower was in need of help, and set down their pack, moving some stuff around to make it easier to carry the unconscious stranger.

~~~~~~

Having made up his mind, SD hastily sent out a message to his last class to tell them that their lesson was canceled for the day 'due to unforeseen circumstances' before he stormed out of his office and down to the Administration office. He knew that there were security cameras around, and while he would rather not have to deal with the repercussions of Shop turning on camera for the world to see, he'd rather risk that and know what happened to her than the alternative.

Scanning his ID, SD readjusted himself before walking into the Security office, where two uniformed guards sat on their phones, relaxed as can be.

"Oh hey, Prof. Braddock, how goes it? How can we help ya?" One guard sat up to greet the man, who exhaled to get his story straight before responding.

"I'm alright I suppose. Is there any way I might be able to access the campus' security cameras?" SD cut straight to the point while remaining as vague as possible.

The two guards shared a look before turning back to SD with delightfully confused looks. "Why would ya need to do that, if you don't mind me asking?" One asked, with a bit of cheeky smirk on their face.

SD sighed, trying to come up with an excuse on the spot, rolling his eyes with a groan. "Because I think someone may have stolen my lunch bag…"

"Tsk, ooooo, tough luck there sir," one guard started.

"Yeah, unfortunately I doubt we'd be able to do much for ya there." The other continued.

"Wait, why's that?" SD asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Well, ya'see, tons of the cameras have been down for ages, and the rest that DO work, aren't really even that good a-quality." One guard explained while the other nodded in agreement.

"Sorry to hear about your lunch though sir!"

"Wha- ugh, it's fine," SD said halfheartedly, "I'll manage, thanks for the help anyway."

"Don't mention it!"

SD walked back to his office, grumbling to himself about budgets and security. He sat down in his chair, taking his glasses off before shoving his face into his hands.

"Where did you go Shop?..." He only let himself worry for a moment though, psyching himself up with the possibility that Shop could have already found her way back home, although he suspected her car would still be in the parking lot. Grabbing his keys and bag, SD decided to head home and take a cab back to the school to pick up Shop's car, not wanting anything to happen to it overnight.

~~~~~~

When Shop finally began to come to, everything felt hazy. The adrenaline had left her system, leaving her exhausted despite sleeping the past few hours away. As she began to stir, she could feel a blanket laying over her and a warmth coming from ahead, so she propped herself up with a groan, stretching to pop her achy back.

"Oh, hey, you're finally awake." An unfamiliar voice said to her as she opened her eyes.

"Hmm, g'morning-" Shop froze, her eyes growing wide at the sight before her. A small, makeshift lantern sat before her, and beyond that, a lanky man with a scruffy looking mohawk. They seemed to be sitting on something, but Shop couldn't take in all the visual information before they spoke again, a hand pressed against their cheek.

"Ah it's uh, actually the middle of the night, you've been out for quite a while." He said, quite sheepishly.

Shop scrunched her face up in confusion, bringing a few light bundles of whiskers down into her view. "What the?..." she questioned as she tried to look up at the wispy hairs, as a slender, velvety furred limb snaked around Shop's leg, spooking her. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" She shrieked, tossing the blanket to the side to try to figure what was grabbing her as it coiled up and away from her body. "WHAT IS THAT?! Is that a tail oh my god I have a tail OH MY GOD IT'S MOVING ON ITS OWN???"

The stranger looked on at the strange reaction; to him, Shop looked like any other borrower, and by all intents and purposes, she was. He felt bad for whatever must have happened to the poor thing, standing up to step over to Shop, who shuffled back a bit, her tail swinging around her to create a barrier between them.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." He reassured, taking a seat next to the shaken borrower. "You must've hit your head pretty bad to forget you have a tail huh?"

Shop stared, confusion etched in her face as she took deep breaths, gripping at her hair, trying to calm herself down. She knew exactly what had happened, but, she didn't exactly know what she was, and quickly figured she would have to play along with what this creature thought of her so far.

"My name's Ian," they started, pointing to himself before opening his hand towards Shop. "And you are?..."

"S-shop…" she shakily replied, taking the extended hand up in a small shake.

"Shop? Well ain't that a nice name," Ian began with a soft handshake before letting go. "I ah, don't mean to bother you with so many questions just after you've just woken up, but, what exactly happened? You were knocked out cold when I found you…"

"I uh…" Shop had to think of something to say, and all things considered, she didn't think coming out and saying that she was actually a human, or that she tripped over herself, would have been very good for her. "I was uh, trying to deliver some food to a friend-"

Shop rubbed her hands together anxiously, trying not to freak out over the fact that she now only had four digits on each hand, her eyes drifting to her feet to stare at the way the three clawed toes wiggled. Ian seemed intrigued by Shop's response, trying to help her fill in the blanks. "Did you happen to get attacked by anyone on your way?"

"Huh? W-why? Does that happen a lot?"

"Eh, I mean, it depends, but if you were carrying alot of food on you, that would definitely make you quite the target for bandits." Ian responded, stepping back over to his side of the lantern. "So… uh, where are you from? I don't recognize you from any of the markets around here…"

Shop pursed her lips, running her fingers through her hair as her tail twitched. "Oh, um, well…" She fidgeted more, trying to skirt around the question. "I'm uh, I was just uh, visiting."

"Huh." Ian exclaimed plainly. "Us borrowers don't really just go about visiting others outside our communities… but I guess there's always the odd exceptions…”

'Borrower??? I'm a borrower??' Shop thought to herself as Ian talked, not really listening as she played with her whiskers and rubbed the soft short fur covering her nose and forehead. 'Guess all those books and movies got the looks pretty wrong then…'

"Shop?" Ian leaned over to get her attention.

"Huh? Oh- sorry, lost in thought…" she responded sheepishly.

"It's ok," he said with a small smile. "I was just saying we ought to get moving, I'd feel better if you came with me, if you want we can grab some supplies and get you some things if you needed to travel again."

"O-oh! I suppose that would be good…" Shop started to remove the blanket more to fold it up before she paused. "Wait, what do you mean, 'if' I needed to travel again?..."

Ian looked up from disconnecting his light from the coin battery that powered it. "Well, we aren't really nomadic folks... I suppose I've heard tales of wild borrowers, but," he gestured to Shop, "guessing from your clothes, you're no wild type."

Shop looked down at her clothes, not even realizing that she was wearing the same clothes she was earlier, just, smaller, and without shoes, though she had no way of telling just how much smaller she was now. As Ian turned away to repack his bag, Shop set down the blanket and realized she still had not stood up. Nervous that she might not find her balance at first, Shop pushed herself up in a push up formation, tucking her feet in towards her chest as her tail stuck out like a counterbalance. She stood up a bit too fast, stumbling backwards, but she didn't fall over.

Instead, her tail had instinctively stiffened and propped her up, her surprised look earning a small laugh from Ian. "Looks like you're doing good over there- Mind handing over the blanket? It's the last thing I need to pack up."

Shop blushed a small bit in the darkness, coming to realize that her vision was still fairly clear without the light from the bulb. She tried to walk to the blanket with her whole foot, almost tripping over herself and readjusting to stand low on her toes, walking over to Ian with the blanket in her arms.

"Ah, thanks!" He chimed as he took the item from Shop. She rubbed her arm and looked off to the side. "I just realized I haven't thanked you for helping me out back there… so, thanks for that."

Ian blinked, closing his pack and placing it on his back before standing, reaching a whole head taller than Shop. "Ah don't mention it, us borrowers gotta look out for each other!" He said with a grin before leading the way. Shop hesitated, flexing her hands and tail, but quickly followed Ian, jogging after him to catch up.

"Hey, I have a question…" Shop began after walking in silence for a minute, stepping up to walk next to Ian.

"Hm?" He looked down, his expression bright and curious. "Sure, what's up?"

"Well, uh," Shop rubbed her hands together, trying to figure out how to pose her question in a way that would seem most natural and wouldn't sound odd coming from her. "Don't us borrowers usually ya'know? Borrow together in groups? I mean, that feels safer, doesn't it?"

Ian's expression turned into a frown, but not one directed at Shop. "Well, yeah, most borrowers do," he started, his tail coiling a bit as he grew tense. "Some decide to go it alone, for their own reasons…"

"What's your reason?"

"W-what?" Ian perked up, confused.

"What's your reason?" Shop repeated innocently. "Obviously I'm uh, away from home, but I assume you found me on your own, so, why are you a lone wolf, so to speak?"

Ian took his time mulling over the answer, biting his lip. The two came to an apparent dead end, but the wall was textured enough with cracks and crevices to be climbed.

He nodded towards the wall, leading Shop upward. "I uh, used to work with some others, but admittedly I worked a bit too slow and cautiously for their liking, so I just, drifted off to another part of the campus and well, here I am! I borrow things to trade in markets and get what I need that way, it's honestly not too bad a life if I do say so myself!" Ian chuckled before looking back down to see Shop falling behind as she struggled to find footholds. He climbed down a bit, extending his tail to her for support. Shop silently took up the offer, pulling herself up to a more grippable ledge, following Ian's path to more effectively climb up to the landing above.

"I dunno what I'd do without my friends in all honesty," Shop mentioned through gritted teeth as she pulled herself up onto the landing after Ian, dusting herself off between pants. "I mean, I do enjoy some alone time here and there, but overall? Company just feels so much better." Ian nodded solemnly in agreement, poking his head around the corner as he went into full borrowing mode, lowering his voice to a hush.

"From here on out we need to be careful ok? We only have about an hour or so before the morning beans begin to make their rounds."

Shop caught on quickly to Ian's tone, sucking in a breath as her heart seemed to instinctively begin to beat faster. Was this adrenaline? Was it panic? Shop couldn't quite tell as Ian led the two down a narrow ledge, making quick work of the path and occasionally turning his head back to make sure Shop was ok. She stumbled a bit at first, but as the two continued to climb down, she began to trust herself more, even if it seemed untrue as her tail wavered and wagged, seemingly sporadic in nature.

As Ian and Shop shimmied down a pole, Shop took a moment to take in her surroundings and realized that the room they were in looked familiar, although to be fair, it seemed to be a run of the mill supply closet.

Shop was just about to open her mouth to ask something as she stepped onto the cold cabinet surface when Ian whispered, "I hope you don't mind me taking us back in here," He continued as he walked to save time, "I can't imagine you'd really like to be back in the place you got knocked out, but there are some really good supplies up here, and not everyone is keen on risking getting caught when it's so close to morning, which means it's a bit safer from any possible crossings."

Ah, so it was the same closet, Shop noted, catching up to Ian with a new spring in her step. That meant she was back in the same hall as SD's office! The hard part, Shop figured, would be trying to get away from Ian without arousing suspicion or breaking his heart.

'And he seems like such a nice guy…' Shop sighed, aimlessly walking into Ian's pack with a muffled squeak.

"Oh hey, woah-" Ian softly exclaimed, turning back around to face Shop as she awkwardly stumbled backwards. "Heh, you space out a lot, don'tcha?"

"I- uh, sometimes, I'm sorry," Shop stammered out, embarrassed. "I just, have a lot on my mind, trying to get home and stuff…"

"Ah…" Ian nodded his head upward to lean back and turn, walking past some towering bottles of hand sanitizer. "You seem pretty adamant about getting back, it's admirable."

Shop gawked at the size of the bottles as she walked by them, wondering just how small they were, before hopping to keep up with Ian again as he used some loose string to swing down the level under them.

"Well, it's not really too far for me to go…" She commented, following his lead and staring curiously as her tail helped her maintain balance as she slid down.

"Hm, that's fair I suppose-" Ian whispered as he pushed past rolls of unused toilet paper, squeezing through to one in particular in the back that had already been opened rather delicately. "But any travel for us can be pretty difficult, even if we did it solely under the cover of night."

He gestured to Shop to come over and help him pull up a square, silently counting down before tugging with all their might, successfully pulling out a perfect square. Shop let out a little triumphant huff, earning a warm affirming smile from Ian as he set down his pack, making room for the item.

Shop made herself useful by folding the toilet paper, Ian's statement mulling in her mind as she decided to try to carefully prod.

"Obviously traveling isn't, impossible, y'know?"

Ian looked up, perplexed. "No, no of course not, it's just that not alot of borrowers do it with intentions of, well, returning to their original place."

"Would I be the first?" Shop inquired, curious.

"Well, the first I've met at least." Ian responded honestly, taking the neatly folded paper from Shop and squeezing it in his pack, standing up to offer something to the borrower.

"Here, I ah, well I want you to have this, it was taking up space anyway, and I figure we can start trying to get you some new gear now!" Ian offered, secretly hoping that he could dissuade Shop from leaving. There was a growing sense of comradery; finally having someone who wasn't trying to run off on him and leave him behind, or worse, and he didn't want her to leave so soon.

Shop tried to play off her hesitation of the gift as best she could, knowing she couldn't stay forever. "Ian, I- are you sure? This looks like you've had it for a long time, a-and I couldn't take that from you!"

He practically pushed the small satchel into Shop's arms, beaming in the dark. "That's because it's sturdy! Besides, it's gonna take you a while to gather enough stuff to barter to be able to even start trying to go home, and I-"

"NO!" Frustrated and a little flustered, Shop shoved the satchel back into Ian's arms, tears welling up in her eyes as she balled up her fists, trying to remember not to raise her voice in the dark. "You're not getting it! I can't- I don't belong here! I have to get back, I have my life out there! My friends, my love! How am I supposed to get back to them, hell, how am I supposed to explain where I am if I'm stuck here like this!!"

She gestured to herself aggressively, freezing up with a small gasp when she realized how pointed she was getting.

Ian had all but seized up, his body language was tense, hurt, and closed off. He stared at Shop, trying to process her words. Eventually, he pulled himself out of his shock with a twitch of his nose, turning silently to finish packing, abandoning the gifted satchel as he retraced his steps to leave, coldly pushing past a regretful Shop.

"I-Ian?" She stammered, nervous when he didn't even look her way. "Ian, please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She scooped up the satchel and slung it onto her back, the worn material soft against her as she squeezed her way out to follow Ian, who had taken up a brisk pace to put distance between them. "Ian! Come on, I just, I'm sorry, I'm just, frazzled and, and-!"

She scurried up the rope with surprising speed, practically running to Ian to grab him by the tail to stop him before they got back into the walls. "Ian, please, I can explain…"

"Then let's hear it." He replied, a hint of anger to his voice, trying to disguise the way it oozed of sadness.

"I, uh, I just, um…"

Ian only stood still for a moment, tapping his foot before he grew impatient, not wanting to be hurt any more. Shop hesitated to follow the borrower, unsure if she'd get another chance to escape and get to SD, but feeling guilty for snapping at Ian.

Just as he turned the corner to climb back up to his entry point, the door lock clicked before it creaked open, a hand reaching in the feel for the light switch, flicking it with a quiet click and flooding the room in bright florescent light. Shop gasped, her sensitive eyes screaming at the sudden intake of light as she clapped her hands over her eyes and backed away from the edge and into whatever plastic surface was behind her. Ian scrambled up the pole, making a mad dash for the small hole in the wall that they had entered through, his heart pounding in his chest as a bean of impossible stature shambled in.

~~~~~~

SD had gotten very little sleep that night after realizing there was no sign of Shop anywhere at home.

He was worried sick about her and where she was or what she could be trapped as, but eventually he had to get up and start his day. As he poured himself a tall, dark mug of coffee, he plotted out his day.

'I only have three classes today, all early, I'll just have to roam around afterwards and try to find her.' He glanced over at Shop's abandoned phone, messages buzzing from overnight and the morning from different message groups, but he only bothered with one really, her girlfriend, Terri.

Shop always boasted about the two of them, and was fairly open when it came to talking to SD about the two of them and their escapades, but he always kept his distance out of respect for both of them. Now though, the thought of her partner getting worried that Shop hadn't returned any messages in a day pained him, knowing how much the two would go back and forth until they met in person for dates. He sat down with breakfast and his coffee, holding the phone in his hand to try and remember how Shop unlocked her phone. After a few tries he got in, and immediately opened to Terri's messages.

'Hello, this is SD, Shop hasn't been able to' He hesitated, pausing to think before continuing. '-use her phone for a little bit.'

Almost immediately, Terri responded, 'SD? What's wrong with Shop?! Do I need to come over?!'

'No, no, it's nothing serious,' SD fibbed, biting his lip. He certainly wasn't the lying type. 'She got overzealous and thought she could stomach pork, again, and ate quite a bit for lunch yesterday. I'm afraid she has a pretty bad stomach ache, and now is complaining about a bad headache, so I took her phone away because she kept insisting to talk to you, even if it made her head feel worse.'

He hoped this would appease Terri, waiting in silence for a response. Not long after, Terri replied, 'That definitely sounds like something she would do, heh… thanks for looking out for her, can you let her know to text me back when she feels better, please?'

SD relaxed and exhaled, smiling warmly at Terri's thoughtfulness. 'I will, don't worry. You have a good day Terri.' He texted, adding a smiling emoji. He set the phone down and put his head in his hands with a groan, silently praying to whomever listening that he could find Shop sooner, rather than later.

Finally arriving at the university, SD parked in his usual spot, sitting in his car for a moment to gather his thoughts and run through his plan again. He just had to get through his lectures and then he could go searching, that's all he could do anyway.

"Phew… ok, here we go." He told himself, stepping out and scanning his ID to let himself in, making his rounds before ending up in his office to wait for Cyprin to show up so he could busy them with tasks. He needed room to think and sometimes even he found his TA's attitude to be too much for him to balance with everything else going on.

Soon enough Cyprin trudged in with their usual doom and gloom look about them, muttering a " 'morning." to the professor. SD sat up straight at his desk, putting on his best poker face.

"Good morning Cyprin, I hope you had a good evening; before I have you work on today's papers, I just have a few tasks I need you to do while I have classes."

Cyprin grumbled under their breath as SD sent them on their way, grabbing a coffee for themself from the nearby cafeteria before they set off to start on their list of menial tasks SD had set them to complete. First off was for them to get some hand sanitizer from the nearby supply closet so they could refill the nearby dispensers. They had grabbed the keys from SD's office after setting down their cup of coffee, sighing that they couldn't sit and enjoy the beverage in the moment. Still, they went over, unlocked the door, and lazily snaked their hand into the room, turning on the light in the small room.

Cyprin perked up momentarily when they thought they heard something shuffling about, but chalked it up to the pile of old brooms and dustpans sitting in a corner as they rolled their eyes and looked for the hand sanitizer, spotting it on a shelf second from the top.

For someone as, vertically challenged as Cyprin, this posed a bit of a problem. "Whoever built this cabinet must've built it for giants." They said through a scowl, looking around for anything that could boost them up even a little bit.

On the shelf they were trying to reach, Shop stood frozen in place, her legs locked in the fear of being found out. She wanted to scream and call for help, but she immediately recognized the voice below her and wanted nothing to do with them.

'Maybe if I just stay up here and don't move, they'll leave.' Shop figured, holding her breath. Ian was still at the entrance of the hole, catching his breath from the scare before looking around. Sure what Shop said had hurt, but she meant no ill will towards him, and not seeing her anywhere, he knew she must still be out in the open.

"Ah!" Cyprin exclaimed, holding up a bucket. "Well, it's not a stepladder, but whatever." They shrugged, setting it down upside down so they could step onto it, their hands peeking over the edge to reach out for the hand sanitizer, which was good enough for the TA, who would have to rummage around blindly.

Shop now found herself paralyzed in fear of the giant hands that seemed to materialize from under her. She managed to snap herself out of the freeze up, running up to one side and scurrying back as mighty wrists twisted and turned like some kind of stiff kraken. Shop soon realized she was boxed in, a hand sanitizer bottle to her back, and arms on either side of her. Soon, the hands grasped the bottle behind her, and dragged it, and her, forward. Shop attempted to stop this from happening, but to no avail. Her whole chest pounded harder and harder the closer to the edge she got, until the floor seemingly gave out beneath her, and she fell with a cry.

"WHAT THE-?!" Cyprin yelped as a tiny figure fell towards them, letting go of the hand sanitizer at the edge of the shelf as the creature screamed, muffled as it fell into their jacket and tumbled onto the ground in a tizzy, losing its teeny tiny satchel in the process. It stood up with a shake of its head, panting hard before it looked back up at the human, eyes wide and full of fear.

What Cyprin did not notice was another, similar creature rushing to cautiously poke its head out from the very top of the shelf, shocked and scared for the other's life.

Shop only stared up at Cyprin for a moment in absolute terror of the behemoth before she realized the door was wide open, and scrambled to her feet to make a run for it, but she was not fast enough as she was plunged into darkness, Cyprin slamming the bucket they were standing on over her, their eyes wide in confusion and wonder.

"Wh-what? What the fuck? What are you??" Cyprin breathed with oozing curiosity. They couldn't let this thing escape, oh no no, but they also wanted to get a good look at it. Putting a foot on the bucket so the creature had no chance to squeeze through, Cyprin looked around the closet for anything clear that they could trap their find in.

Shop was trying, and failing, very hard not to panic and break down in the total darkness, fearing for her life at the sudden realization of just how small she really was compared to everything else. Soon, a crack of light came through the bottom rim of the bucket, and not thinking twice, Shop made a mad dash out, and right into an old vase, ramming into the bottom of the glass with a dull thunk before she felt the world turn, tumbling her over onto her back as she was raised up to Cyprin's face, a wild, almost crazed looking grin on their face that struck fear into the little borrower as she scooted herself as far away as she could, pinning herself against the far side of the glass.

Cyprin had found some old abandoned flower vases, and figured one would be great for holding and observing their catch. They stood on the bucket again to grab a vase, quickly dusting it off with a corner of their jacket before placing it down flat as possible and opening the bucket just a smidge. They beamed when they found their plan worked like a charm, marveling at the tiny creature cowering in their presence as they lifted the vase up to their face.

"Oh ho ho, what in the fairy tale fuck are you?..." Cyprin whispered to the creature curled up in the glass.

Shop was shaking from how still she was trying to keep herself, her tail coiling around her to try to act as a barrier, unable to peel her eyes off of Cyprin in the very likely case that they might try to grab her.

Cyprin scoffed and shook the vase lightly, "Come on! Talk! You look like you can anyway! Why else would you be wearing tiny clothes like that?" They quickly grew impatient with the seemingly mute creature, looking around before setting the vase onto a more accessible shelf, tucking their find behind some random debris so no one could take it.

"You can sit here until I can come back, but you're coming home with me for sure." Cyprin grinned with a small snicker before leaving, turning off the lights and closing the door in the process.

As soon as she heard the door close, Shop immediately began to attempt to escape, jumping up towards the neck of the vase to try and get any sort of grip to climb up, every attempt being more and more desperate and tiring before Shop's spirit began to sink. Eventually she gave up, curling up to tuck her head to her knees, holding back tears to the point of shaking. Soon she heard some rustling, and sucked in her breath, thinking it was Cyprin. But, it ended up being Ian, who had watched the whole ordeal from the safety of the top shelf.

"I-Ian?!" Shop hiccuped, her voice hushed and muffled a bit by the glass prison. "Ian, you need to get out of here before they get back!"

"Not without you." Ian bluntly stated as he tried to look around for anything he could climb to get closer to the lip of the vase.

"Ian, please, it's not worth it…" Shop pleaded as she tried her best to watch as Ian climbed around.

"Of course it is!" He shouted in a hushed voice as he turned a corner. "Why in the world would you say that?"

Shop couldn't bear to hold it in anymore, she needed to come out for his own safety. "Because I'm not a borrower!!" She exclaimed, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

Ian poked his head out and glared at Shop, confused. "What're you going on about?..."

Shop stood up on shaky, fearful feet, propping herself against the glass. "I'm not… really a borrower Ian… I was cursed by a faerie king to turn into… well, whatever, when I get close to wells of magic…" She started, pressing her head against the glass in shame. "I'm really, a human… once I get off the campus grounds I'll start turning back, but until then…"

"You're stuck like this." Ian finished as he walked up to Shop. She shot up, surprised that he was in front of her, not to mention how he had finished her statement, though she quickly ducked her head back down, not wanting to look at him.

"I, I'm sorry I didn't tell you…" She started, her hands balling into fists. "I was scared that you wouldn't help me if I told you the truth when you found me, or that you'd think I was insane, or…" Shop looked up and Ian was gone; saddened, but understanding, she sunk down to her knees with a sigh, accepting her fate. Soon she heard some tapping come from the glass around her, and she looked around, confused before looking up to Ian, who had climbed atop some clutter to the opening of the vase with a coil of rope, tossing one end down to Shop.

"Well come on!" He encouraged when Shop just sat there, staring up at him in confusion. "You can't get back to normal if you're stuck in here, can you?"

Tears bubbled up in Shop's eyes at the borrower's kindness, taking up the rope and beginning to scale the vase when the door lock turned, slicing through the silence. Shop and Ian both perked up, the door swinging open with a creak.

"Ian, get out of here!" Shop hissed, dropping back down.

"B-but, what about-?"

"Nevermind me! I'll find another way, I promise, now get going!"

Ian hesitantly nodded as Shop sat back down in her prison, quickly coiling his rope and hopping down to hide again as the lights turned on. Cyprin, having drank the rest of their coffee, practically skipped into the room, pushing aside the clutter to reveal their prize still sitting in its place, though it seemed to wear a fearful scowl in place of the terror it had before.

"Looks like someone's a bit pouty~" Cyprin mocked Shop with a laugh as they picked up the vase.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight, so you can watch me work before we go home and have some real fun!" They snickered in their excitement over their discovery, hopping in place for a moment, which jostled Shop around. It wasn't the greatest feeling in the world, but she could at least breathe easy knowing the real borrower was safe.

Cyprin peeked out into the hallway, which was mostly devoid of people. But just to be safe, they balled up their oversized jacket and used it to conceal the vase, effectively closing off Shop from any clear visual or auditory information that she might've been able to use to escape.

Even if the office wasn't terribly far from the closet, Cyprin still wanted to be safe, not wanting anyone to take their discovery from them. After looking around, Cyprin did their best to act casual, marching along till they got to the office door, nearly getting smacked in the face as SD opened the door.

"Oh! Cyprin, I'm sorry, I didn't realize there was anyone outside my door."

"That's ok Prof.!" Cyprin chimed with uncharacteristic jolliness.

SD stood stunned in the doorway, if only for a moment, since Cyprin pushed past him to get inside.

"I'll take care of those papers you wanted me to!" They exclaimed, "You just focus on teaching your lessons!"

Cyprin closed the door on the man, leaving SD in the hall, confused.

He was definitely going to have to figure that out later, since he had to rush over to his room to get the next class all set up, leaving no time to ponder over Cyprin's odd behavior.

In the walls of the hall, Ian made quick work of trying to follow Cyprin, listening intently to their echoing footsteps. As he maneuvered around, he thought about how everything was clicking in place for him. Shop's strange reactions and questions, her unwillingness to answer him beyond vague responses. Even if she wasn't truly what she said she was, she still looked like him and was nice, and that was reason enough for him to try to help her, even if there wasn't much he could do that wouldn't put him at risk of being seen. Ian snaked his way around pipes and wires, overhearing Cyprin talking to someone. He waited until he heard the door close before beginning to scale up and down along the inner walls to see if anyone else had made entry points into the room.

As soon as Cyprin got inside, they ran over to the desk and plopped Shop and the vase down, rattling her into a small daze with little time to react when a hand descended down onto her, gripping her. She squeaked in surprise as the ground left her, her tail instinctively reaching for anything to anchor her, in this case, any one of Cyprin's fingers as they held Shop up to their face, staring her down as they turned her this way and that.

"You're so small, I could probably break you easily-"

"N-no!!" Shop shrieked, quickly pursing her lips, regretting the outburst.

Cyprin's unobstructed eye widened in wonder, creeping Shop out more than anything. "You can talk!!" They shouted, making Shop wince from the volume; people were so much louder when you were about the size of their finger.

"Oh ho, you're just getting more and more interesting by the minute, aren't you~" Cyprin cooed, sending uneasy chills down Shop's spine. They toyed with her for a few minutes, rolling her between their hands without a care. Soon, Shop got fed up with the nauseating action, and did the one thing she could think of to try to escape.

Putting her hands down against a finger to brace herself, Shop leaned back and bit down into the flesh in front of her, doing her best to dig her teeth in to inflict as much pain as she could. A warm iron taste filled her mouth before she suddenly found herself being shaken off, her coiled tail thankfully stopping her from being launched immediately, giving Shop precious moments to try and aim her descent, using Cyprin's momentum to swing herself on the desk, taking a rather hard tumble, but one she'd rather deal with than the drop to the floor.

Cyprin yelped as they instinctively shook the creature off their hand, their finger growing a tiny streak of blood as it flowed out of their bite wound. "Agh! Goddamn- you bit me??? You bitch-" Cyprin insulted as they held their hand, watching as the creature began to try to stand up, dizzy from being flung. Cyprin took advantage of this dazed state to take the vase and flip it upside down on top of Shop, who jumped in surprise before whipping around, angrily baring her now bloodied teeth in a snarl.

Before she could even attempt to lift the lip of the vase up, Cyprin slammed a textbook on top of the base to weigh it all down, crouching to be eye level with the pissed off creature. "I have to go wash my hands off to make sure I don't get any diseases from you, but when I come back, you're gonna regret biting me."

The way Cyprin's voice oozed with malicious intent before leaving the room was enough to scare Shop into shutting down. She couldn't help that her mind began to roll through loads of possible ways she could be tortured, but she wasn't about to quit. Gathering her thoughts, Shop ran up to the glass and tried her best to push, knowing Cyprin wouldn't be gone long. When it wouldn't budge, she resorted to attempting to ram into the glass to shove it forward, pushing with her side. This ended up with her hopping back in pain, rubbing her shoulder.

"Argh… definitely not doing that again…" She muttered to herself, trying to think of other ways she could try to get herself out that would be less painful. Suddenly, she remembered how she had used her tail to stop her from falling over, and wondered if she could use that as leverage to push with her legs, rather than her arms. Even if she was still a little creeped out by the limb and the way it seemed to move around on its own, it was still worth a try.

It took a few tries, but eventually Shop propped her tail against the ground, anchoring her enough to place her feet against the glass with her knees tucked inward. "Ok, alright, here we go-" She took a deep breath and began to push, tuning out the sound of glass scratching the wooden desk underhand as the vase began to move towards the edge of the desk.

Shop was so focused on the task at hand, with her eyes shut, that she didn't notice Cyprin coming back into the room. Their brows went up in shock that their catch was trying to escape, and they quickly ran over to hold the vase in place. Shop struggled, continuing to try to push until she finally looked up to see Cyprin's grinning face looking down at her. "Nice try mousey, but you're not going anywhere!" They removed the textbook and lifted the vase, snaking their hand towards Shop as she tried to run away, gasping when she felt her tail get grabbed and pulled before her body followed. Cyprin yanked her up and into the air, suspended by the fifth limb as they swung her this way and that.

"Man, you must be a tough little bastard to be able to hang by your tail like this!" Cyprin teased with an airy laugh.

"S-stop it!! Put me down!!" Shop squeaked, her head starting to swim from the constant rocking motion as she tried to pull herself up.

"Ooooooo! It talks again! How interesting," Cyprin hummed. "But no dice, I can't just let you go, unless…"

They used their free hand to rub their chin as they thought. "You tell me if there are more of you, hm? With a creature as small as you, I can't imagine you'd be the only one~"

Back inside the walls, Ian was listening for where the bean's voice was coming through the loudest, his heart sinking into his stomach. That was the biggest worry of being discovered, and he had no idea what Shop would say in response. He would soon find out though, as he shimmied against the ground floor and found a meticulously cut out piece of molding.

'Oh thank goodness-' He thought to himself as he slowly pulled the molding towards himself with the makeshift handle he found, with oversized but well oiled hinges helping to open it a crack, placing the borrower behind a bookcase; a perfect place to enter without being seen. He left his pack just outside the hole so he could scout ahead, poking his head out to see the bean dangling Shop by her tail, with her looking worse for wear.

"I am…" Shop finally responded. "I-I am the only one here." She used her sinking feeling of helplessness in the grasp of Cyprin to play up the fib. "I was trying to look for a new place to live, I'm… I'm the last of my kind…" She let herself hang dejectedly to sell the lie, which seemed convincing enough to Cyprin, who's smile seemed to grow impossibly wider. Ian on the other hand, let out a tiny sigh of relief, internally thanking Shop for keeping all the borrowers a secret, though he seemed confused when the bean seemed to giggle in excitement, equally confusing Shop.

"Oh ho ho!! This just keeps getting better and better!!" They exclaimed.

"W-what?!" Shop cried as she was pulled up more by her tail and placed back into the vase that Cyprin had turned right side up.

"I don't expect you to understand with such a tiny little brain, but you're going to make me rich! The last of your kind? You know how much people would pay to see you?!" They stomped their feet lightly in excitement over the idea as they picked up the vase, twirling in the office chair.

While Ian and Shop were both horrified by the proposition, Shop was more worried about what would happen to her when Cyprin eventually saw her change back. 'That's gonna make me even more of a get rich quick scheme to them!' She thought, doubly dreading the idea.

Little did she know, with despair setting in, that the cavalry was on its way as SD wrapped up his last class of the day. He decided to have a small break before beginning his search, trudging over to his office with an uncharacteristic somber attitude about him. He turned the doorknob and paused for a moment when he heard some shuffling from inside, but opened the door after remembering that Cyprin was inside. Immediately his gaze was drawn to the random, empty vase on his desk, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"Cyprin? What's with the vase?"

"Hm? Oh! That ah, well, it was supposed to be a surprise buuuuuut, I was going to go get you flowers!"

"Flowers?" SD questioned.

"Yes yes!" Cyprin nodded, trying not to move their hands much in their pockets, which was getting increasingly hard with Shop squirming so much, trying to figure out which way was up and where she could bite them again. "You're always doing such amazing work for your students, and I figured, why not give you some flowers!"

"Cyprin." SD started coldly, setting his bag on the ground before placing his hands down on his desk, looming over them, even from the other side where he was standing. "Since when have you ever cared about what I do for my students, let alone what I even teach?"

Cyprin was caught off guard by SD's tone, mostly knowing the man to be quite content and dare they say, jolly. This change in attitude was something completely new to the TA, who stammered over their words until they took a deep breath and tried to get out of the situation. "I'll uh, I'll just see myself out then, heh-"

"And what happened to grading these tests, Mx. Bacardi?" SD asked. Cyprin could swear that the professor's voice seemed to growl, but it must've been their imagination. They laughed nervously as they side stepped around the desk, unnerved by SD's following glare. While he had begun to suspect that Cyprin was hiding something, he was truthfully just stressed between having to keep up with his lectures and trying to find his friend, and Cyprin wasn't helping on either accounts.

He did find it curious that their hands were shoved in the pockets of their coat, since normally Cyprin had their arms crossed. His suspicions grew ten-fold when a tail flopped out of one of the pockets, writhing and wriggling before Cyprin swiftly tucked it back in, eliciting a small, squeaky yelp from the same pocket.

SD's eyes snapped from the pocket and back up to Cyprin, who was nervously grinning now. "Cyprin…" SD began, attempting to soften his voice. "Was there, by chance, another reason for the vase?..."

"Ah well, you got me Prof.-" Cyprin started, maybe if they showed him the creature, he would let them go with their discovery, he was always an honest man anyway. "I found something scuttling around in the supply closet, but you can't tell anyone! It's mine!" They exclaimed. Capturing SD's curiosity, the man walked over to sit down at his desk and gestured to Cyprin to go ahead and show him what the big fuss was about. They stood up straight, reaching over to the vase with their free hand before dropping Shop back in the now very familiar prison with a dull thunk. Tired from fighting Cyprin's hand, she just laid at the bottom in an exhausted heap. SD leaned in, his eyes growing wide behind his glasses. "Oh my god…" he breathed.

Cyprin hopped, excited, "I know right?! It said it was the last of its kind, so, uh, obviously I wanted to take it home and give it a long, happy life-"

Having watched the entire interaction unfold before him, Ian scoffed at the lie, standing his ground as the new, even bigger bean looked over Shop. This was all he needed, another over curious human to fight over the poor thing.

"Hm…" SD hummed as he listened to Cyprin. It was was so painfully a flat out lie, but he figured it was time to play a game of Keep Away. "Well, as you know, I do teach Mythology and not Biology. But, would it be alright if I kept them here for the night, to try and figure out what exactly they might be? That way you can know exactly what you need to look into, to, best take care of them?"

SD, holding his best poker face, held his breath as Cyprin mulled over the offer. They definitely were suspicious, but eventually they caved and nodded. "Yeah, alright, that would help, but you only get one night!" They reinforced.

"Oh of course, of course," SD waved his hand dismissively. "You've nothing to worry about, they'll be in safe hands with me."

Cyprin scoffed at SD's reassurance, but walked out the door, followed by SD, who had stood up to walk them out. "You go have a good rest of your day!" He called after them before they waved him off. SD let out a relieved exhale as he closed the door and returned to the vase and the creature inside.

His hand was too big to fit inside the neck of the vase, so he had to resort to pouring the seemingly comatose creature out and onto his hand. Immediately he could tell they were frightened stiff, their heart pounding with the only movement in that moment being the whiskers shuffling and tail twitching. "Hmm…" SD hummed quietly as he leaned back in his chair. "You poor thing, I'm sorry you had to deal with them… I wonder if you know my friend Shop, hmph, you look like you have the same wild hair…"

Ian's attention snapped to the bean with the mention of Shop. From what he had seen so far, this man didn't seem any more friendly than Cyprin. But at the very least he seemed more gentle. Of course, Ian was still cautious as he began to inch his way out, wanting to climb the bookcase he had been hiding behind to get a better look at Shop and this new situation.

SD lifted his other hand to try and roll the creature over, but as he did, Shop blindly lunged, only hearing the pounding of her heart in her ears, and once again, sunk her teeth into flesh, assuming that she would be dropped and could then make a run for it. But all that happened was the muscle under her jaw tensed as SD took in a sharp breath, tensing himself specifically so he wouldn't drop the poor, undeniably scared being.

Shop's eyes welled up with tears as she let go of the finger in her jaw, shivering as she began to sob, assuming the worst of her situation. She felt air rush by her before she was gently tumbled back onto the wooden top of the desk, SD simply wiping the small trickle of blood off on his pants before he scooted back and leaned forward to set himself eye level with the currently unfamiliar creature. "I'm sorry if I scared you, you seem like you've been through quite a lot…" He apologized softly. Coming out of her blind panic, Shop propped herself up, pushing her hair out of her face to stare in shock and awe of her friend, tears of despair turning into tears of joy. "O-oh my- my god…" she hiccuped. "I-it's… you!" She tried to smile, wiping away her tears with the back of her hands. Ian paused his climbing to look back down to Shop, his brows scrunching in confusion, quickly deducing that she must know this ginormous bean, seeing as he mentioned her by name.

"Yes, well, I'm always me, er, most of the time-" SD commented, unsure of what to make of the little creature's broken revelation.

"SD, it's, it's me!" Shop stood up with wobbly legs, growing more confident as she realized she was safe.

The man paused, daring to lean in a bit, looking over Shop through his glasses. She felt a bit strange being so close to eyes as big, if not bigger than her head, especially as they widened in realization. "Oh my god, Shop?!" He exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down. Now that he knew it was her, it seemed obvious that she was, well, her. SD sat back in his seat in disbelief, not believing that she had been here all along.

"What, are you?" He questioned out of curiosity.

"Well, uh, believe it or not," Shop started with a nasally chuckle, sniffling as she rubbed her nose with the back of her hand to get the last bit of tears out of her system. "I'm a borrower!"

"Really?" SD mused, rubbing his cheek with a hand. "I suppose all those books and movies got the looks pretty wrong…"

"That's what I was thinking! Although the core ideas are still true." Shop chuckled, pausing as her mind reminded her of what she had done; "WAIT OH MY GOSH I'M SO SORRY I BIT YOU I DUNNO WHAT I WAS THINKING AND I-"

"Hey, woah, woah, slow down," SD urged. "It's alright, you were freaking out, I can't imagine you had a very fun time with Cyprin… besides, look, I'm not really bleeding or anything." He calmly lowered his finger to Shop so she could see for herself.

Assured that she did nothing wrong, Shop let out a relieved sigh before she looked back up to SD, just now noticing Ian scaling the bookcase behind him. She tried not to draw attention to him, turning back to SD, missing what he had said. "What was that?" She asked, having not paid attention.

SD smiled warmly; this was definitely his friend. "I was just asking, how did you do overnight?"

"Oh! Well… I did alright…" Shop put a hand on her cheek, debating whether or not she could tell him the truth. "I did have some help."

"You did?" SD asked, noticing how Shop's eyes seemed to drift behind him. He turned around, but all he saw was his bookcase, same as usual. Ian had ducked behind a loose book, holding his breath.

"Yeah, um, actually, can you give me a lift?" Shop sheepishly asked, with SD graciously complying as he opened his hand to her. She hesitated to step onto the open palm, given her experience, but stepped on and sat down before SD lifted his hand to his face, the spectacle taking Shop's breath away; he silently nodded to Shop to let her tell him what she wanted to do. "O-oh! Sorry, can you uh, take me up to your bookcase?"

SD hummed and lifted Shop up without a word, watching in wonder as she hopped off, the slight difference in weight on his palm mesmerizing. She stuck her head behind some books, whispering words that were too quiet for SD to hear.

Eventually, Shop stepped back, and a lanky, very nervous looking borrower peeked out. "SD, this is Ian! He pulled me over to safety when I uh, well I tripped over and knocked myself out, heh."

"Oh my…" SD breathed, recognizing the anxious nature of the borrower and staying where he was. "Well, thank you, Ian, for helping my friend stay safe overnight. I'm glad to see that not everyone is out to get us." He added with a small chuckle.

Ian looked over at Shop, his concerned expression asking her what he meant. "Oh! Well, see, he's cursed too. And we haven't really had good luck in meeting fae folk that aren't aggressive towards us for, well, ya'know. Reasons." She explained, Ian's brows going up in concerned acceptance. Seeing that SD was staying put, Ian dared to step out a bit more into the open, against his better judgment, to ask something of SD. "You're not, you're not going to tell anyone about us, are you?"

"Oh goodness no!" SD exclaimed, scaring the borrower with the bombastic response. "Apologies, but no, your secret will be safe with us, I swear." He held up his hand and laid the other over his heart to solidify his sincerity, which seemed to calm Ian down as he took a deep, relieved exhale before turning to Shop. "I guess you have to get going…"

She rubbed the back of her neck, all the aching joints and bruises starting to take their toll on her as she laughed, thinking partly at the many ways she imagined SD might try to smuggle her out of the building. "Yeah… gotta start getting back to normal… but uh," she paused to mull over a thought. "That doesn't necessarily mean this has to be goodbye, y'know? We'd just have to, well, plan it out very carefully."

Ian perked up at the offer, but politely declined it. "That would be nice, but, after that Cyprin character? I think I'm going to make my way elsewhere, I'll spread the word to avoid this area, I mean! no offense to you Mr. SD!" Ian quickly added to SD, who chuckled warmly.

"None taken, it's for the best anyway."

Ian relaxed, even giving the man a small smile, before looking back to Shop. "Well, guess this is it then…" he held out his hand for a handshake, but Shop instead went in for a bear hug, squeezing Ian before he returned the gesture, even if his hug was a bit more dainty than hers. They shared the hug for what felt like a while, until Shop began to let go, giving Ian a lopsided smile.

"Good luck out there." She said with a sense of finality, lightly punching his arm.

"Thanks, uh, you too." He returned, watching as a hand raised up to carry Shop down to her friend, who turned to Ian as well.

"I wish you the best out there; may you thrive." The well wishes seemed to reenergize Ian, who nodded warmly before beginning his descent back down, giving the odd pair one final wave before he disappeared behind the walls.

"Well." SD started, "I think you and I have had enough adventure for the day."

"Ugh… you're telling me… all this?" She gestured to SD in general. "Is super overwhelming still. I can't even tell if it's me or the borrower instinct, ya'know?"

"You know, I really don't, but I'm sure you'll tell me on the drive home."

"Oh my god, driving!!" Shop exclaimed, shoving her hands into her hair. "My car!! Is it-"

"I already took care of it, don't worry, same with Terri-"

"TERRI OH MY GOD THEY MUST BE WORRIED SICK!!" Shop interjected, her tail swinging from side to side anxiously.

"Hey, hey, breathe." SD directed, setting Shop back down on his desk. "I told them that you ate a bunch of pork and were too sick to text them, it's alright."

"Oh my god, you did not," Shop snorted, unable to help the smile that blossomed across her face. "Oh gosh… thanks man, for covering for me…" She sheepishly thanked as she idly scratched her arm.

"Of course Shop, but you know you can't-"

"Ah puh puh puh!!" She shushed him, "I don't want to hear it right now, ok? Let's just, go home and see how long I'm stuck like this."

SD sighed, but nodded in agreement, looking over his outfit to see what would be best for Shop. He opened his jacket, examining the inner breast pocket for space. "Well ah, I think this might be the best spot for you, so you're not being jostled as much?"

"Oh yes please, I've been shaken like a cocktail all afternoon and lemme tell ya, it is not a good time."

SD showed some concern through his expression but decided not to press for questions, just grateful to have found Shop. He opened his palm to her, the sensation of her hopping on still leaving him tingling. It was one thing to grow larger, but to be so small? It must be insane. Carefully, he lifted Shop up to his chest, moving close to the inner pocket and holding steady as Shop gingerly tested the space, sliding in awkwardly with a gasp. "Shop? You ok?" SD asked quietly, getting his response in the form of some ticklish shuffling, followed by a thumbs up from the borrower. "Phew, alright then, let's go home…"

~~~~~~

The next day, Cyprin bounded down the hall and opened the door to SD's office, only to find that the vase was gone, and SD was peacefully sitting at his desk, grading papers. The happy grin on Cyprin's face quickly faded as they approached SD, slamming their hands on the desk.

"WHERE IS IT?!" they yelled. SD looked up from his papers, glaring up at Cyprin.

"Well. Good morning to you too Cyprin."

"Don't you play coy with me, I said where is it?!" Cyprin hissed.

"What? The little creature you found? They escaped overnight." SD stated plainly.

"IT WHAT?!" Cyprin cried. "How could you let it escape?!"

"I didn't. I said they escaped overnight, while I wasn't here."

Cyprin knew there was no point in trying to fight SD over the situation, trudging out of the room and simply leaving for the day, much to SD's delight.

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