Ted placed two plates on the table. A normal-sized one for himself and a much, much smaller one, that belonged to the young borrower he shared his apartment with. It's been almost two months since he officially started to foster the seven-year-old. Becoming a legal caretaker had made a positive impact on his life. One of the many things that changed for the better was that he actually put in the effort to cook a decent meal at least once every day, now that he was responsible for the well-being of another person. He, by far, wasn't the best cook, but he was doing his best, and so far the kid had liked everything he had served him, so he counted that as a win. Though, that most likely didn't have much to do with his cooking skills. His old living circumstances, the fact that the boy used to live mostly from scraps and wasn't picky at all when it came to food, definitely played a major part in that matter as well. The man still liked to think that the kid genuinely liked his food.
Today he had made something simple, mashed potatoes and grilled chicken slices.
Ted opened the drawer and took out two sets of silverware and placed them next to their respective plates. He already dreaded having to clean the tiny fork and knife. He lost count of how many times he had to replace them, after accidentally dropping them down the drain. But well, that was a problem for after dinner.
He walked into the living room area, after calling out to the borrower to announce his presence, and went over to the sofa, where they had been watching TV together, before he had started to make dinner. But when he looked over the back of the sofa there was no borrower to be seen.
"Pip?" Ted called softly.
When the man didn't receive an answer, he carefully lifted up the cushions. Sometimes the kid liked to hide under them and fell asleep. But again the borrower wasn't there. Ted looked around, trying to spot the small boy. It wasn't really a surprise when he didn't. At his size the borrower could be hiding anywhere.
Luckily, his hiding spots were limited to the living room, since the kid hadn't told him that he wanted to leave the room. It was one of the few rules the borrower had to follow. If Pip wanted to enter or exit a room, he had to tell Ted, and vice versa. This way the borrower could move safely on his own, and the man didn't need to watch his steps all the time. Pip knew how important that rule was, especially for his own safety, he wouldn't break it without a good reason, so the chances for him still being in the same room were high.
Knowing Pip the kid was probably laughing at him from his hiding spot, like the little gremlin he was. He might as well just play along.
"Man, I knew that my cooking skills weren't the greatest, but I didn't think they were so bad that you needed to hide from them," Ted drawled with a smile on his face.
When he still didn't get a reply and couldn't hear the familiar sound of poorly muffled laughter, he was getting a little nervous. Usually the kid would have popped out of this hiding spot to "scare" him by now. His little schemes never lasted this long.
Ted stepped around the furniture, now very mindful of each step, and knelt down to look under the sofa and the coffee table, in case Pip fell asleep while waiting for him to finish cooking. When he wasn't there either the man began to check more possible hiding spots. The bookshelf, the dresser, behind the TV.
And every time.... nothing.
With each empty hiding place and unanswered call, the tension in his shoulders began to increase a bit more.
"C'mon bud, your food is getting cold. We can play later if you want."
Yet again, no answer.
He began to wonder. Did something happen? Did he say or do something wrong? Before he had started to cook Pip had been dozing on the back of the sofa, perfectly content. He was aware that sometimes borrowers that were in the room mate or the foster program choose to move back into the walls. Living with a human was the borrower's choice and theirs only, if they wanted to leave there really wasn't anything humans could do about it. But why would Pip want to leave? Ted had the impression that the boy liked living with him, even though he still sometimes wondered why. He wouldn't call himself great parent material and the wish to be one never really crossed his mind, until Pip came along and changed things.
Sure, they had a rocky start, but against all odds Pip had liked Ted from the very start and wanted to live him, even after being given the opportunity to move in with a family that was better suited for a kid his age. And yet the young borrower had wanted to hear none of it, and instead chose to stay with him, as if it was the most obvious choice in this world.
The possibility that he left just like that, without any hints, simply seemed too absurd.
Coming to this conclusion should have been at least somewhat reassuring, but all it did was bring up worse reasons for the borrower's sudden vanishing in his head. Images of Pip being hurt or unconscious and unable to call for help flashed across his mind.
Ted tried calling out again, fear causing his voice to raise, something he normally avoided given the borrowers' sensitive hearing.
"PIP?"
Ted held his breath and listened closely, trying to pick up even the tiniest sound in hope to somehow locate the borrower. At first he feared that only silence would answer him, but then he heard sleepy mumbling coming from somewhere behind him and just a moment later-
"Teddyyy why are y' shoutin'?" Pip grumbled, his voice slurred from sleep.
Ted turned his head to see where the voice was coming from, it sounded incredibly close, though he still couldn't spot the kid even after fully turning around.
He wasn't hearing voices, was he? He frantically looked around, still unable to spot the kid.
Ted almost feared that his mind was playing tricks on him, but then he felt light tugging on his hood and a moment later he could see the kid, rubbing his eyes with a fist, out of the corner of his eye. The man let out a sigh of relief and reached over his shoulder, wrapping the borrower in a loose fist.
"Oh Pip, there you are," Ted whispered as he pulled the boy close to his chest, relishing in the feeling of holding the kid safe in his hands again.
Meanwhile Pip happily snuggled closer to him and latched onto his shirt, always soaking up any kind of affection like a sponge. Yet, as he pressed his head against the man's chest, there was something keeping him from fully enjoying their cuddle session.
"Why is your heart beating so fast?" The boy asked with a frown.
God.... this kid.
If the man still had any hair to turn gray, this kid would be the reason for every single one.
"Why? I couldn't find you and you didn't answer me when I called, that's why."
Ted pulled the small boy away from his chest and held him on eye level. Pip wasn't too happy about their cuddle time being cut short, but didn't make much of a fuss and switched to hugging Ted's thumb instead. Ted met his eyes with a stern gaze, it made Pip avoid eye contact and his tail started to swish back and forth. It was a habit, Ted had noticed, something the borrower always did when he was embarrassed, nervous or anxious.
Good. The kid at least had the decency to feel guilty.
Ted didn't like being stern, but he needed Pip to know that couldn't do something like this again. Or else he would get a heart attack before reaching his 60's.
"I'm not mad, okay?", Ted patiently waited for Pip to meet his eyes again before continuing, "But I was worried about you. What were you doing in my hood anyway?"
"Well uhm... I was tired and... and your hood looked really comfy," Pip looked away again and his next words weren't more than a whisper, "and I wanted to be close to you."
And there went his lecture he had mentally prepared in his head already. Y'know? Like any good parent did.
Just like that. Gone. Poof.
He had always thought of himself as a tough guy, but this tiny kid never failed to make him utterly melt. The man had a hard time suppressing a coo, as he pulled the kid close again. This time he brought him to his face, so he could nuzzle the boy's chest with his nose, who in turn instinctively hugged it.
"How am I supposed to scold you for scaring me half to death, if you are being this adorable?" Ted said more to himself than anything else, Pip still mumbled a quiet 'sorry' back. Seriously, who gave that kid the right to be this precious?
"Just tell me the next time you decide to climb in my hood, 'kay?"
Pip, still being a bit dozy, just hummed. And that was good enough for Ted, who only truly cared about the kid being safe and sound.
A loud rumble coming from Pip's stomach reminded Ted of the reason why he had come to the living room. He had almost forgotten about dinner after all this fuss.
"Come on, let's see if I need to heat up our food again, sounds like someone is hungry," Ted laughed as he made his way to the kitchen, still cradling Pip in his hands.
And if Pip spent the next morning slouching in Ted's hood, while he was making breakfast, and many times after that, no one else needed to know.
Brad laid on his couch and began to rot as he turned the TV on. He wasn’t really feeling too good about himself, so he wanted to pick something that didn’t require a lot to enjoy, he used the remote to reach the video:
‘Jax requiem 1 hour loop’
He clicked on and swiftly fell asleep.
He was woken when he felt tugging on his hair. To his horror, it was a little person.
He screamed.
“Shut up!” Commanded the little person. Brad did as he was told.
The little person got off his head to his shoulder, then to the top of the couch where they could be seen more properly.
“What are you?” Brad asked in awe.
“Doesn’t matter,” the little person said, “just please, please turn that shit off.”
He pointed at the TV, which was still playing the smoking addicted sounding song.
“Congwatuwayyyyshuns all of my fwendsssss”
The little person covered their ears, Brad acted quickly and turned the TV off, freeing them from whatever sore throat sound that was.
“Thank you,” the little person said, “I will finally be able to sleep.”
“Sleep?” Brad asked, “surely you don’t mean you sleep in my house?”
“I kinda do dude, I’m a borrower,” said the little person, “i wouldn’t normally tell any bean but you saved my ears, so thank you.”
Brad felt his masculinity insulted at being called a bean, but the hard wired sense of brocode all guys have overpowered it.
“Anytime dude,” said Brad, “I’m getting edibles later, want some?”
“No thank you,” said the little person, “I’d kinda die.”
“Don’t worry bro,” Brad said, “bye.”
“Bye.”
The little person disappeared into the wall, Brad picked up the remote and tried to find something else.
“What if I turn on KSI-“
“NO!” Brad heard from the walls, finally he settled on Mozart, it was Boring as Hell but at least it was easy to sleep to.
G/t language barrier but instead of the tiny being a fantasy creature who speaks different the human just has broken English
“Why are you making like that?” When the borrower walks funny due to a broken leg or something and it’s not like they can say anything because they are scared out of their minds and the human only knows a handful of English words
