Borrower!anon verse: Matt and Alfie, life at the Motel
Three miles away and fifteen hours later, Matt is bored. Working the night shift at the front desk at the Maple Hills motel didn’t pay too much, but minimum wage for doing practically nothing was nothing to scoff at. He sits behind the counter and gets to do whatever he wants on his laptop. Sometimes it’s homework but it’s mostly shows or movies. One night out of five someone will come to book a room, But otherwise he’s alone. At least it looks like he’s alone. He keeps a well worn bluetooth in his pocket for that reason.
He’s not surprised to feel two small tugs on the hem of his pants. Without looking down he gently lifts his toes and taps the floor in an acknowledgement. One more tug confirm his thoughts, Alfie is bored, same as he is. He doesn’t even look down, knowing his friend is climbing underneath the check in desk and will emerge from a knot in the wood in 3…2…cue the borrower stepping out of the hole.
The desk has a huge overhang that protects him from being seen by any passerby or guests, but still, safety precautions were taken, and that’s why Matt slips on the familiar bluetooth and switches on the tiny blue light.
“Urgh!” Alfie announces, throwing his arms up.
“What’s it this time?” Matt answers, knowing that his irritable teenage friend is always looking for the chance to complain about something or other. Not that his life was too bad, living in the long forgotten and hidden basement of the motel allowed Alfie and his clan of borrowers to live in peace and prosperity. But teenagers are teenagers, so the college student allows his friend to rant about his annoying sisters and the fact that his dad was bugging him to learn a trade, like leatherworks, or food production. A few windows hidden by shrubs gave the basement sunlight enough for them to grow crops.
It was Alfie who Matt had found, seven years ago when the tiny nine year old had snuck out on his own and gotten trapped in eleven year old Matt’s laundry pile. The two were scared of each other at first, but grew to be fast friends. They kept their friendship secret for months from both their families Alfie got caught sneaking out and confessed his friendship. It was agreed upon by the village leaders that Matt was allowed to know about the rest of the borrowers in the motel and where they live.
Since then, Matt has kept his friend’s secret, making sure they stay safe. Alfie visits most nights when he’s on the night shift. Matt nodded as his friend rants about his life, fueled on hormones and teenage rage. He was surprised to feel another tug on his pants. Looking down to see blond hair and a scowl Matt grinned.
“Where’s the up button on this elevator” Balthazar yelled up at the human. Matt folded himself over in his seat to offer his hand to one of the village leaders. Balthazar had an old leg injury from when they trekked to the motel all those years ago, but he was also a lazy bastard when it came to anything physical so Matt lent a helping hand whenever he came to visit.
“Long time no see Balth.” The mouthiest third of the counsel looked tired.
“Yes yes, I’ve been up for sixteen hours helping other people with their problems and I need a place to sleep uninterrupted. Goodnight.” He turned on his heel and limped slightly to a pull-out drawer that everyone else at the motel thought was stuck but instead just needed borrower fingers to undo the tiny latches. Inside, was a square of memory foam and a few blankets that Alfie slept in when he got tired during a late night visit.
Balthazar, along with Hanna and Anna were the leaders of the borrower community. Balthazar was good at helping people solve issues. He’s watched far too many hours of judge judy but hannah admits it has helped his decision making process. The three of them make the major decisions, like crop rotation and the job pays. Most borrowers learn a trade, those who don’t go out into the empty rooms for finding whatever they can. Sometimes it’s food, or lost clothing. Once it was a large topaz earring! They decided to deliver it to Matt who contacted the couple who was staying in the room. The two women thanked him profusely for finding it and gave him a monetary reward which Matt gave back to the borrowers. They instead decided to use the money to buy new seeds.
The borrowers grew more food than they needed.(one zucchini was larger than most of their houses) so they traded the excess with Matt for other goods. Matt had searched online and found several old mini-televisions that he tinkered with and hooked up to the motel cable supply.
Currently, Matt was enrolled in a few classes in the nearby community college, but was planning on going to a four year to learn business management. He was going to inherit the motel one day and wanted to know how to let it prosper and keep it that way. Business had already increased since he fixed up their yelp page and created a nice website with help from a friend working on computer graphics.
Alfie’s rant soon ran dry. He wasn’t really angry, but just wanted someone to listen.
“I’ve been painting more.” He fished out a small roll of paper out of his backpack and unrolled it for Matt to see. Matt gave him a water painting set for his last birthday, and the kid was taking to it like a fish to water. (watching bob ross on youtube helped) Matt held his breath as he leaned in closer to the smaller boy. Alfie brandished the painting over his head. Matt could make out gradient shades of blue and purple.
“Getting better.”
“Bob Ross says you do the best job when you do something that makes you happy. This makes me happy.”
“Why don’t you look into painting rooms? I’m sure that some people in the village would love painted rooms.”
“You think so?” Matt folds an arm and rests his chin on it.
“I know so. When Balthazar wakes up, Talk to him about using some nearby walls for practice. Aaaaaand-” He pases to pass a slip of paper three inches tall and six inches wide rolled up into a thin tube to his diminutive friend.
“Your first commission! I want a painting, and in return i’ll get you something new to draw with.” He thought of the good crayola crayons he picked up at the 99cent store. Something that could easily be shared with the other kids. Alfie takes the paper with a smile.
“What do you want me to draw?”
“Something that makes you happy.”
“Will do.”
An hour later has Matt sending his smaller friend back home to his bed because Balthazar was taking the spare. Matt works on his homework, does some late night blogging and catches up on a magical boy cartoon. Twenty minutes before he knows Gary, the early morning shift front desk guy will come in, he wakes Balthazar, who requests a ride to the basement. Matt easily agrees and drops off the small blonde man four feet away by the nearest vent, which is about a half an hour walk for the small man to get back to the village.
At 5:30 Am Matt drops into his bed, ready to sleep till noon. He falls asleep wondering what Alfie might draw.
#1 it was morning when the symptoms started. Castiel felt hot and his throat was a little itchy, thinking it was a cold he downed a pinch of crushed motrin (supplied by the winchesters) down with breakfast. it was later when he got too hot did he realize something was wrong but he was far too fatigued and tired to think of what to do other than take a drink and sleep. it was hours later when Dean came by with a late dinner when he noticed Cas hadnt taken any food today. he knocked on the big
door, knowing that Cas could feel his footsteps anyway. "I brought pizza." he announced in a sing-song tone, knowing that Castiel was enamored with the dish. "cas?" he taps at the little door, seeing the light on. "I know you're home. I see the light on." he gets a little worried when he gets no reply. he sets the plate in his hands down on the floor, settling himself down. "you dont have o have it if you dont want, I just want to know that you ate and drank something today."
when no answer is forthcoming, then Dean really starts to worry. "Cas, buddy, you alright?" he can barely hear a small moan from inside the house, making him freeze. tiny, heavy footsteps walk to the door, "deeeeeaaann" Castiel moans. "I'm sick." he plainly states, leaning against the wall. a sudden heavy coughing fit has him sliding down to the floor. a giant, green eye is pressed against the nearest window seeing the tiny form on the floor through the thin curtains. a flick of fingers
breaks the door and three fingers snake their way inside to pull out a still wheezing Castiel. even though he's too hot the warm hand is comforting. he's annoyed at what Dean did to his door, but grateful, because he wasn't sure he could have gotten up. a finger rests on one side of his head for a moment. "you're burning up man, you need a cold bath asap!" he stands and takes a step before he realized what he was doing. he looks down into his hands and the passenger they cradle.
"Cas, can I-" "yes! please!" Castiel cuts him off, desperate for relief. he closes his eyes, trusting the human holding him to take care of him. Dean rushes to the kitchen, filling a shallow bowl with cold water and quickly lowering Castiel into the water still on his hand, making sure to keep his head above. Castiel awakens with a shock. "we gotta cool you down man. you're too hot." he relaxes minutely, Dean is helping him. after a while Dean lifts him out of the water and into a clean
towel, wrapping him from head to toe. then he's being carried again, cradled against Dean's broad and safe chest. he finds what he's looking for in a bathroom mirror. Castiel is gently placed on a counter while Dean pours out the smallest drop possible of nyquil. Dean helps the borrower sit up and tells hit to only take two swallows of the medicine. dean panics that he doesnt have anything better to treat his sickness but Castiel drinks diligently and falls back asleep. but his cough stopped.
can you please add the tag eating disorder to the last post? also, what's up with the captcha and the "wait an hour before sending another ask" ? borrower!anon
Added! And what? Rude! Good if I was being harassed, I suppoooose, but I am not.
That ever happens and it makes you wait too long just come off anon and inbox me, that should work? I’ll answer it privately, no worries.
okay, I'm done for the moment. can you post 1 and 3 and I'll write what was missing and then you can take it down and then put it in order please? (borrower!anon)
#3 as they talk, Dean cups a hand around Castiel's back. at first the borrower flinches at the intrusion to his personal space but grabs a hold of a finger when it moves away. he leans back against the palm behind him, glad for the back support. (he's not as young as he used to be) also Dean is very warm around him. even though its only fall, the cold wind gives Casiel a runny nose. he's glad he's not constantly blowing his nose around dean. Dean seems to like clean things.
