Yay! I'm super excited to share this with you guys! This was actually a commission, but the person who commissioned it wished to not be tagged. You know who you are though and I thank you again for the commission! I had a lot of fun writing this!
Heed the warnings a bit on this one though, it's hurt/comfort but we gotta get through the hurt first. And I went into quite a bit of detail on the actual sickness itself. So just be aware of that!
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy part 1 of this! Part 2 will be posted on the 11th!
Jimmy placed a hand over his mouth and did his best to muffle the cough. The action was successful in not alerting his humans to the sound but it did nothing to stop the ache in his throat. He rubbed at his neck with a wince and tried to clear his throat, but the action only made the pain worse, making him wince all over again.
He glanced over at Grian and then at Joel, both of whom were at their respective desks and working on homework. Jimmy was, as he always tended to be, on Joel’s nightstand with Joel's phone. Of course, he hadn’t been paying attention to it for the last several minutes, too focused on the scratchiness of his throat and the fact that he was feeling much too hot all of a sudden.
Jimmy couldn’t deny it, no matter how much he wanted to. He was getting sick.
The thought sent a shiver down Jimmy’s spine. Over the course of his life, he hadn’t been sick very often. A couple of times at most. Once when he was still with his parents and again a couple of years after he had moved into the dorm building. Thankfully, the sickness he had by himself hadn’t been too bad. He had managed to gather some herbs in preparation beforehand and mixing them and taking them with water had been enough to help. After a week in bed he had been feeling a lot better.
The sickness he had dealt with when he was with his parents, though? That one had been bad. Like, he almost didn’t make it, kind of bad. He had been young though and his parents had done their best to never let him know just how close to death he had come. But Jimmy had known, it was hard not to when he could hear his parents crying in the next room over.
Thankfully, Jimmy’s fever ended up breaking a couple of weeks later and he was right as rain another week after that.
Jimmy barely remembered the worst of it, just that it felt like he was going to die. His hand tightened around his throat a bit, remembering the symptoms he had experienced back then…
Jimmy shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. He couldn’t think like that. It was probably more similar to the sickness he had a few years ago. Which meant all he needed was some rest and hopefully the scratchiness in his throat would go away.
He muffled another cough and ignored the way his throat flared up in pain again.
“Alright, I’m done staring at this screen for now.” Joel suddenly said, causing Jimmy to jump slightly. He quickly recovered though and looked over to see Joel had pushed his chair away from his desk and stood up. Grian glanced behind him.
“Joel, we’ve only been doing homework for an hour.” Grian said but Jimmy could already see Grian moving his mouse to save his current work.
“And it’s been a very productive hour! But it’s also five and I’m starving. Right, Jimmy?” Joel asked, turning to look at Jimmy with a grin. Jimmy blinked but quickly matched that grin, ignoring the way his head started to pound when he did so.
“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry too.” Jimmy said and Joel made a gesture toward him for Grian, as if to say ‘see? He wants food too.’
Grian simply rolled his eyes but closed the face of his laptop and stood up, his phone already out. “Alright, alright. It’s not like I really need more convincing.” Grian said as he typed on his phone. Grian always acted like he was the most responsible one out of the three of them, and in some ways he was, but it was almost too easy to get him out of that role. “How do wings sound?”
“Sounds good to me.” Joel said, moving to sit on his bed to be closer to Jimmy.
Jimmy remembered the last time he had wings and nodded along. “Can we get those parmesan ones again?” He remembered liking those ones the best.
“Way ahead of you.” Grian said and Jimmy smiled, ignoring the way his nose started to itch.
Of course, he couldn’t ignore it when the itch turned into a sneeze and it was too late for him to try and muffle it. He sneezed, his head pulsing in pain, and wiped his nose with his sleeve.
“Bless you.” Joel said, a look of surprise on his face. “You okay?” Joel asked and Jimmy nodded, smiling and trying to ignore the pain in his head.
“Yep! It’s…uh, just a bit dusty in here.” Jimmy lied and felt bad for it but he couldn’t help the relief he felt when Joel believed him.
“Oh, sorry. I can try dusting after we eat. Hopefully that will help.” Joel said and Jimmy just nodded, smiling at him.
It wasn’t like he wanted to keep this from Grian and Joel, but he just…didn’t want them to worry. They had enough on their plate with school and having to worry about him the normal amount. If he told them he was sick, he was sure they would drop everything for him and Jimmy didn’t want that. Besides, Jimmy was fine. His head may be pounding and his throat scratchy and his nose just a bit stuffed up but he was sure, with some rest, he would be perfectly fine.
He ignored the feeling like there was a rock in his stomach and kept on smiling.
“Alright, food will be here in 20 it looks like.” Grian said, putting his phone back in his pocket and moving closer to where Jimmy and Joel were. “What’s this I heard about dusting?”
Joel waved him off. “It’s just a bit dusty in here for Jimmy, figured I could clean up a bit after we ate.”
Grian hummed. “It has been a bit since we cleaned up…” Grian trailed off, a small grin forming, and that was all the warning Jimmy got before he was being scooped up into Grian’s hand. He was brought up to Grian’s face, now eye level with his grin. “Well, if the dust is bothering you so much then I guess I can just keep a hold of you for the time being.”
Jimmy rolled his eyes, as if Grian ever needed an excuse to hold him. Same with Joel, it just seemed like Grian had gotten the idea first. “Thanks, I appreciate your sacrifice.” Jimmy said, filling his words with as much sarcasm as he could manage. Grian laughed and poked Jimmy in the side.
“It’s definitely a sacrifice, I’ll have you know.” Grian said, just as much sarcasm in his own tone. Jimmy laughed along with the human and settled into a comfortable position in Grian’s hand. Grian lowered him down to chest level and then took a seat next to Joel as the two started talking about their assignments. Jimmy found himself zoning out a bit. He still didn’t know nearly enough to keep up with what they were talking about and the pounding in his head only got worse whenever he decided to tune back in and try.
Jimmy squirmed a little in the hand, trying to get comfortable. It was usually so easy to settle into the warmth of either human’s hands. He loved soaking up as much warmth as he could considering borrowers always ran cold. And Grian’s hand was still warm, that part hadn’t changed. But now, it was…too warm. Jimmy felt sweat dripping down the side of his forehead and quickly wiped it away before it could be noticed. His palms were gross with sweat too though and the warmth Grian’s hand provided felt more suffocating than anything else.
He forced himself to settle down, not wanting to draw attention to himself with all his movement. A little bit was normal for him to get settled, but if he did it too much then Grian would surely notice and then ask about it and then Jimmy would have to lie again…Jimmy shook his head and ignored the way the warmth from Grian’s skin was making him feel a bit dizzy.
There was a knock on the door a few minutes later and Grian handed Jimmy over to Joel as he got up to go answer it and grab their food. Joel’s hands were a bit colder but still far too warm for Jimmy. He, once again, ignored his want to squirm around and settled quickly, knowing he wouldn’t be in Joel’s hands for too long anyway.
Sure enough, as Grian came back with the food, Jimmy was set down on Joel’s desk as they pulled it out to eat on. He sat down, appreciating the cooler surface, and waited as Grian loaded a napkin with Jimmy’s portion of food before sliding it over to him. The food looked good but as Jimmy smelled it, his stomach twisted up in knots and Jimmy had to hold back a gag.
There was definitely nothing wrong with the food, and that was more apparent by Grian and Joel chowing down with no hesitation. Which meant, unfortunately, there was something wrong with Jimmy himself.
Jimmy bit his lip and tore a piece of the wing off anyway, forcing it down. The taste was, thankfully, better than the smell but it definitely hurt his throat going down. And as it reached his stomach, it settled like a rock.
It would look weird to Grian and Joel though if he didn’t eat. So Jimmy continued to do so. Besides, it was probably good for him to force himself to get food down. He needed the nutrients from the food, after all, especially if he wanted to get better quickly.
He ate enough to not be too suspicious and took a few steps back to indicate he was done. Joel noticed and reached over, picking up the untouched wing and popping it into his mouth. Jimmy ignored the way his stomach somersaulted.
“Man, that was good. Good call on the wings, Grian.” Joel said, leaning back and patting his full stomach with a satisfied grin.
“Thanks. Were they just as good as last time, Jimmy?” Grian asked, taking it upon himself to clean up after all of them.
Jimmy forced a smile and nodded. “Y-Yeah! I really love the parmesan ones, they're still my favorite!” Jimmy said and barely bit back a cough as raising his voice had tickled his throat a bit too much.
Grian and Joel continued to make conversation and Jimmy spoke enough to not seem too suspicious. As their food was cleaned up and thrown away, Joel got up and searched for the duster since he had promised he would clean up a bit to help out Jimmy’s senses. Jimmy was grateful, even if the dust wasn’t what had Jimmy sneezing.
“There we go, that should help hopefully.” Joel said as he crossed his arms and looked over his work. Every surface in the dorm room had been dusted and Jimmy had to admit he hadn’t even realized how much dust there had been. Maybe the dust really had been the thing that was affecting him.
“Thanks, Joel! I appreciate it.” Jimmy said, Grian moving over to the nightstand again.
“We probably should keep some sort of a cleaning schedule.” Grian thought out loud and Joel nodded in agreement.
“Probably a good idea.” He shoved the duster into Grian’s hands with a grin. “You’re on cleaning duty next though.”
Grian blinked, looking down at the duster that had just been shoved into his hands. “Hold on a minute! Joel, all you did was dust! What about vacuuming or cleaning the bathroom?”
“I did my job!” Joel argued back and Jimmy settled into his makeshift bed, watching with a smile as Grian and Joel argued back and forth. It was always funny watching them go at it, even if, right now, their slightly raised voices were causing his head to pulse.
Jimmy stayed awake as he listened to Grian and Joel come to an agreement, finally, about a schedule for cleaning. Jimmy chimed in about how he could help with some things, though both humans were a bit wary at his suggestion. They told him they’d think of something and Jimmy knew, if anything, he would be put on a very specific, but rather safe, job. Like cleaning the nooks and crannies of the room, places where it was hard for Joel and Grian to reach. He was fine with that, as long as he was able to help with something.
It wasn’t long after that that everyone got settled into bed for the night. Jimmy, having already been in bed just waiting for his two friends to get settled, tried getting into a comfortable position once the lights went out. It was proving difficult with how hot he was though. He ended up pulling on his covers only halfway, covering his bottom half but leaving his torso and arms free.
Once that was settled, he closed his eyes, ignoring everything about his body that felt wrong, and fell into a cautious sleep.
***
Jimmy woke up with a gasp and he rolled over and kicked at his blanket, eventually getting it off of him completely. He panted, his body was drenched in sweat and his head pounded behind his eyes and against his skull. His mouth felt dry and he reached over and took a generous gulp of the water that was always left out for him. He coughed as it went down, the pain in his throat even worse than it had been earlier. Water shouldn’t make your throat hurt, that just seemed unfair.
Something in Jimmy’s stomach bubbled up and that was all the warning Jimmy received before he was throwing up. That only made his throat hurt more and the pounding in his head got worse. He blinked away some tears and looked down, almost throwing up again at the sight. He whipped his head over towards Joel and then Grian but both humans were still asleep, thankfully.
Jimmy needed to clean this up and so he grabbed his blanket and moved it over the puke. He gagged but managed to keep himself from throwing up again. He rolled up his blanket and pushed it by the lamp, hoping that would hide it for now. Just until he could throw it out or get it cleaned or whatever.
He collapsed back onto his bed, breathing heavily, the icky taste of puke still in his mouth. He sat back up and took another sip of water, trying to get rid of the taste. He laid back down, throwing an arm over his head. He winced and took his arm off, very aware of how hot his head was. He placed the heel of his palm on his head and swallowed thickly at just how much heat was emanating off of it. That wasn’t good. That was…that really wasn’t good.
Jimmy had to do something, before Grian and Joel woke up and realized what had happened. He couldn’t let them see how sick he was, he didn’t want them to worry. They shouldn’t have to worry. Jimmy racked his brain for an idea, trying to figure something out. It was difficult with the pounding in his head though.
He thought back to the last time he was sick, memories blurry and not quite there but he did remember that he had gathered some herbs back then and he should still have some. That could help, if he could just get back to his old home and whip up some stuff from those herbs then he should be fine. And Grian and Joel would never know what had happened.
Now all he had to do was actually get to his old home in the walls.
Jimmy carefully got himself up, trying not to move too fast lest he want to throw up again. He managed to stand but his legs were wobbly and it took him another moment to get them feeling like he wasn’t about to fall over. Jimmy took in a deep breath and grabbed his bag, pulling out his hook. He settled his bag over his shoulder but swayed and realized the weight was too much right now. So he left his bag on the nightstand and just took his hook, moving toward the edge.
He climbed down his hook and as he hit the carpet, he tried pulling on the string a few times. It wasn’t budging and Jimmy didn’t really have the strength to keep trying so he decided to leave it there. It at least gave him easier access to the nightstand once he came back, he wouldn’t have to worry about trying to throw his hook or anything like that.
He glanced up toward the two beds but it seemed like Grian and Joel were still fully asleep, unaware of what Jimmy was doing. That was good and hopefully, he’d be back long before either of them woke up. He just had to get to the walls, grab the herbs, and come back out. Simple. Easy. It should be no problem.
He made his way across the floor, toward Grian’s desk where his entrance into the walls lay. He was walking slower than normal, not wanting to rush and risk losing whatever was left inside his stomach. He blinked regularly too, trying to combat the pounding in his head and he only risked swallowing when he absolutely had to, not liking the pain that went along with it.
Finally, he reached underneath Grian’s desk. Grian’s bag was over on the side but ever since that first time they met, Grian had been sure to never leave his bag in a spot that would cover up his entrance. For which Jimmy was thankful, even if he didn’t go into the walls very often anymore. It was especially good for times like this and Jimmy went ahead and slipped into the walls.
It was getting harder to think but thankfully Jimmy didn’t need to do much thinking in order to make it to his old home. Muscle memory took over and Jimmy felt his legs take him down the correct path. At some point, he had to hold himself up with one hand on the wall and he had to swallow down some puke that almost made it come back up again, but eventually he reached his old place.
He hadn’t been here too long ago, having been in this room with Skizz only a couple of weeks ago. So he knew everything was exactly as he had left it since then. The map they had left behind was sitting on his makeshift table and his old bed was made. It was still dusty and Jimmy found himself sneezing again, wincing at both the pain in his throat and the snot that came out of his nose.
He wiped it off with his sleeve, ignoring how gross that was, and started looking around for where he would have put those herbs.
He checked the pantry but it was completely empty. He checked under his bed but there was nothing but dust. Every other place he thought it could be also came up empty and Jimmy was starting to wonder if he had any herbs in the first place.
And then the memory hit him, of having used up all the herbs the last time he had gotten sick and Jimmy’s heart sunk. He had come all this way and it had been for nothing.
He was so tired. Walking so far and searching for so long had drained his energy completely. He needed to get back home, especially before Joel and Grian woke up but he couldn’t make himself start the journey back. Instead, he looked to his old bed, which looked so comfortable and inviting…
Jimmy was on the bed before he fully realized what he was doing. He was still hot, so he left the blankets off of himself but he snuggled into the makeshift bed. He just needed to rest for a second, just five minutes and then he would head back.
Jimmy closed his eyes and five minutes passed. And then ten minutes. And then an hour.
Jimmy remained in bed in a restless sleep.
***
Joel woke up the next morning slowly. He let himself rest for a few more minutes before finally opening his eyes, blinking so they could get used to the light coming from the window. He sat up, stretching his arms and glanced toward his nightstand. He glanced at the clock first, which told him it was about 8 in the morning. His eyes then glanced over to Jimmy’s makeshift bed but found confusion taking over as he realized Jimmy’s bed was empty.
“Jimmy?” Joel called out, reaching out and moving the pile around just to make sure Jimmy just wasn’t buried under there. But no, the bed was void of any borrower.
Joel hummed and looked over to Grian but Grian was still asleep. He scanned Grian’s area but didn’t see Jimmy anywhere over there either. Joel grabbed one of his pillows and threw it over at Grian, hitting him square in the face. Grian was jolted awake and Joel couldn’t help but laugh at the face Grian was making.
Grian sat up and glared at him, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. “What the hell, Joel?” Grian said but Joel ignored his question.
“Do you see Jimmy over there?” Joel asked instead and Grian blinked, taking a moment to process what Joel was asking. He looked around, trying to find the borrower, but he came up empty.
“No, he’s not over here. Why? Is he not in bed?” Grian asked, moving his blankets off of him now that he was awake and planting his feet on the carpet below. Not before scanning the floor first though.
Joel shook his head. “No, he’s not.” Joel let out a small hum, looking around at the floor and over by his desk. But still, there was no sign of the borrower. “Jimmy!” Joel called out again, this time louder. They both waited for a moment, but they didn’t hear Jimmy calling back and both humans frowned.
“That’s weird.” Grian commented as he stood up. “Maybe he went to see Skizz? Did he say anything about that yesterday?” Grian asked as he took off his pajama shirt and pulled on a t-shirt for the day.
Joel shook his head. “Not that I remember, but you’re probably right.” It wasn’t like Jimmy had to tell them where he was running off too. And there were only so many places he’d go, Impulse and Tango’s dorm room being the main one. Jimmy had been spending even more time there ever since he had met Skizz. Joel shook off the slight bit of jealousy he felt, still doing his best to get over that, and decided to be happy for Jimmy instead. And he was happy for him, having a friend his own size after so long without one was great for him.
Joel got out of bed and started getting ready for the day himself, heading into the bathroom to wash up a bit.
As Joel headed into the bathroom, Grian changed out of his sweatpants and into some jeans for the day, checking the time on his phone as he did so. It was a little after 8 but thankfully neither he nor Joel had any classes today. He started thinking about what they might want to eat for breakfast when his eyes decided to drift over to Joel’s nightstand.
He paused, eyebrows furrowed as he moved closer. He bent down and grabbed the string and hook that had been dangling from the nightstand, looking it over with increasing confusion. Clearly Jimmy had used this to get down from the nightstand at some point but why had he not taken it with him? He usually took his hook everywhere, especially if he was leaving the room to visit Skizz. Grian hummed, but dropped the hook and string in a pile on the nightstand. Maybe he was overthinking this. Maybe Jimmy had either forgotten or meant to leave it behind, knowing he wouldn’t need it once he got to Tango and Impulse’s dorm. It was still strange though.
He was about to walk away to finish getting ready when his eyes settled on something else. This time, his eyes widened when he went to go pick it up, confirming what he had already seen. It was Jimmy’s bag. Jimmy had left his bag behind.
Grian’s stomach somersaulted as he stared at the bag. If Jimmy leaving his hook behind was strange than Jimmy leaving his bag behind was beyond concerning. Jimmy was always one to take his bag with him, not only because Jimmy might need it but also because Jimmy himself had admitted it was a comfort thing. It being left behind put a bad taste in Grian’s mouth.
Joel exited out of the bathroom and Grian turned around to face him. The look on his face alone had Joel freezing. “Jimmy left his hook and his bag here.” Grian said, not beating around the bush. Joel’s eyes went wide and his gaze drifted to the proof in Grian’s hand.
“He…what? That doesn’t make any sense, he never leaves those things behind.” Joel said, walking closer, eyes still staring at the small bag in Grian’s hands. “Especially not his bag.”
“I know.” Grian said, staring intently down at the small bag himself. “I mean, I guess it’s still possible he left these behind on purpose, but...I don’t like it.” Grian said after a moment. Of course, Jimmy leaving these things behind on purpose could still be possible. But it was so out of character for Jimmy that it just wasn’t likely. And to be honest, it was also out of character for Jimmy not to tell them where he was headed off to, even if he didn’t need to.
“Maybe we should…head over to Tango and Impulse’s room? Just to make sure Jimmy is okay.” Joel suggested, concern and a bit of urgency dripping from his tone. Grian nodded, having just been about to suggest the same thing. They weren’t blowing this out of proportion, they were just a bit worried and weirded out by Jimmy leaving his things behind. Stopping by and checking on him was a very normal friend thing to do.
He didn’t really know why he was trying to defend himself here, maybe because he knew Jimmy was his own person who could make his own decisions. And he knew Jimmy thought they already worried about him more than enough. Though even so, it wasn’t like Grian or Joel could hold back that worry for long.
The two humans got their shoes on and made their way out of their dorm and down the hallway where they knew Tango and Impulse’s were. They both tried not to think about it, despite being worried they were still pretty positive this was where Jimmy was. After all, where else would he have gone?
Grian knocked on the door and both humans waited as a distant voice shouted, “Be right there!” It sounded like Impulse and sure enough, as the door opened, Impulse was the one to greet them. He seemed a bit surprised but smiled nonetheless. “Oh, hey! What are you guys doing over here so early?” Impulse asked, moving out of the way to let the two in. He closed the door behind them.
“Oh, we thought we’d come check in on Jimmy. He left his bag behind and we figured we’d bring it to him just in case.” Grian said, taking the small bag out of his pocket and holding it out for Impulse to see. Impulse, in response, tilted his head to the side and that alone was enough to send a sense of dread through Grian and Joel.
“Jimmy? I don’t…I don’t think Jimmy is here.” Impulse said, though he didn’t sound too sure. He glanced across the room and it was then that Grian and Joel noticed Tango wasn’t in the room. It made sense though, they were both pretty sure he had a Saturday class. They turned back to Impulse as he shouted into the room. “Skizz! Is Jimmy with you?” Impulse called out. They waited a moment and then Skizz popped out from under the bed, looking confused.
“No? Should he be?” Skizz asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Impulse bent down and scooped Skizz up and off the ground.
“Wait, so Jimmy isn’t here?” Joel asked, his panic pushing into his words.
“No, I haven’t seen him since Thursday.” Skizz said, Impulse nodding along with him. “After we all had dinner.”
“When was the last time you saw Jimmy?” Impulse asked and Grian sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“We saw him just last night. He went to bed with us like normal but when we woke up he was gone. Normally we wouldn’t be too worried, but he didn’t take his bag or his hook and now you guys are saying he isn’t here…” Grian was trying not to let his panic show, not like Joel, but it was getting harder and harder when he thought more about where Jimmy could be.
“Well, maybe he went to class with Tango?” Skizz suggested and Joel was already getting out his phone before Skizz had even finished speaking, typing a quick message.
“I guess we’ll see, hopefully he gets back to me soon…” Joel trailed off as the little dots indicating Tango was texting back popped up. He waited with bated breath and then released it in a hiss as Tango’s message was sent.
No, I don’t have him. Is something wrong? Should I leave class?
Joel was tempted to say yes but he texted back that Tango should stay in class but that they’ll keep him updated if anything happens. Tango only had about an hour left anyway. After that was done Joel shoved his phone back in his pocket. “He’s not with Tango.” He said curtly as he tried to control his breathing.
“Well, that’s really not good then.” Skizz said what everyone else was thinking. He thought for a moment. “If he’s not here or with Tango then…do you think he might have gone into the walls?” Skizz suggested.
Grian crossed his arms. “He doesn’t usually go into the walls much anymore. Only when he wants to get over here on his own or if he’s with you. But, considering we’re running low on options…” Grian trailed off. It was very possible Jimmy could have gone into the walls. But if it wasn’t to meet up with Skizz, then why would he have gone in?
“It’s our best bet at this point.” Joel said, all but finishing Grian’s train of thought. He then turned to meet Skizz’s eyes. “Do you think you could go and look for him? Just to make sure…he’s okay?”
Skizz didn’t hesitate to nod. “Of course! I don’t really know the walls as well as Jimmy does but I’m sure I can navigate it. Besides, I have an idea where to check first at the very least.” His thoughts wandered to Jimmy’s old home. They had just gone there a couple of weeks ago, so the route to get there was still fresh in Skizz’s mind. He wasn’t sure if he would actually find him there but it was the best place to start.
Skizz turned around to look up at Impulse. “Mind setting me down near Tango’s desk?” Skizz asked and Impulse only hesitated for a moment before moving over and setting Skizz back down on the ground.
“Just, be careful in there.” Impulse said, worry clear in his tone. Skizz smiled, waving his concerns away.
“I’ll be fine. And I’m sure Jimmy is fine too.” He said, pointedly looking at Grian and Joel, who now looked sheepish but still no less worried. “But I’ll find him and drag him out here so you guys can go all overprotective friends on him.” Skizz joked and slipped under the desk and into the walls as Grian and Joel started to try and defend themselves.
Skizz laughed a bit as the distance made it so he couldn’t hear them anymore. He was sure everything was fine. He didn’t know why Jimmy would go into the walls if it wasn’t to meet up with them but he’s sure Jimmy had his reasons.
He started along the familiar path, using the subtle landmarks Jimmy had pointed out to him along the way. His home wasn’t actually too far away from Grian and Joel’s dorm room, and only an extra few minutes were added on if you left from Impulse and Tango’s dorm, and with Skizz speed walking, he managed to make it to Jimmy’s old home in only twenty minutes.
He paused as he noticed Jimmy’s makeshift door open, which they had definitely closed the last time they were here. That was enough of an indicator for Skizz to know Jimmy must be inside. He smiled as he walked in. “Jimmy! You in here, buddy?” Skizz called out into the home.
He paused for a moment, frowning a bit when the home remained quiet. “Jimmy?” Skizz called out again, less sure this time. He walked past the front room and paused again when he actually heard a noise. It sounded like a low groan.
Skizz beelined for Jimmy’s old room, coming into the doorway and fully freezing at the sight before him.
“Jimmy!” Skizz yelled as he ran over to the other borrower. Jimmy was laying in bed but he was anything but still. His legs kicked at the blanket at the end of the bed and he was turning every which way. His brows were furrowed and sweat was pouring out of him, all while he was still asleep.
Skizz hovered there for a moment, unsure what to even begin doing, before he gently rested a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. Jimmy’s movements threatened to knock Skizz’s hand away but he kept it firmly there. “Jimmy, come on buddy, snap out of it.” Skizz said, worry spilling into his tone.
Jimmy’s movements thankfully died down but his breathing was still ragged and a small whimper escaped out of Jimmy’s lips, causing Skizz to wince. “It’s okay Jimmy, everything’s gonna be okay…” Skizz said, maybe more to himself than to Jimmy. Jimmy whined and Skizz lifted his hand off of Jimmy’s shoulder so he could lay it over Jimmy’s forehead.
Skizz snapped his hand back, his eyes going wide at just how hot it was. “Oh god.” Skizz whispered and placed his hand back on Jimmy’s forehead just to make sure. Skizz’s panic grew as Jimmy felt like he was burning up, hotter than any borrower had a right to be.
Skizz took his hand back and placed it over his mouth as he tried to think about what he should do. He needed help, Jimmy needed help and so he clearly couldn’t stay here. Their humans would know what to do a lot better than he did and besides, there was nothing here that could help Jimmy anyway. It made Skizz wonder just what Jimmy was doing here in the first place but he buried that question down for another time. He had bigger things to worry about right now.
With only one option, Skizz placed one hand under Jimmy’s back and the other underneath his legs and lifted Jimmy up bridal style. Jimmy groaned at the movement, his head swaying until it fell against Skizz’s chest. Skizz swallowed thickly. “Don’t worry Jimmy, I’ve got ya. We’re gonna get you some help.” Skizz tried to reassure, but Jimmy only whined in response, still clearly out of it. Skizz could feel the heat emanating off of him and knew he needed to hurry.
Thankfully, Jimmy was rather light, so Skizz had no problem moving with Jimmy in his arms. He made his way out of Jimmy’s makeshift home and went as fast as he could through the walls.
He really hoped Grian, Joel, and Impulse could help. Because looking at Jimmy’s face as he quickly but carefully made his way through the walls was doing nothing to settle the fear and worry that had settled deep into his chest.
He pushed on, determined for the journey to not take the full twenty minutes it had the first time. For Jimmy’s sake.
Summary: The gang heads down to the annual fair and enters a magic show that turns out to be a little too real. When the witch believes the humans are keeping the borrowers captive, sizes are swapped and now they have to figure out how to get back to normal.
Or; A non-canon April Fools fic where everyone gets to swap sizes with each other!
Warnings: Fear and panic
Word Count: 12,404
AO3 Link
Other people do actual pranks on April fools, I, apparently, write the literal longest one-shot of my fanfic writing career, lol. Anyway, this was a lot of fun to write! It's non-canon to the actual bbbcau but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway!
Also, special thanks to @valcove for help in beta reading this beast of a one-shot!
“I still can’t believe the nearby town holds a fair every year.” Joel said as he, Grian, Impulse, and Tango walked along the fair’s path, looking at everything it had to offer. They had arrived not too long ago, having carpooled in an uber since they hadn’t wanted to deal with parking. Good thing too, because the place was packed. Not just from people within the town but from their fellow peers at the college. “This thing is huge.”
Impulse smiled and laughed. “Yeah, they really go all out on it. It’s a whole three day thing and they’ve got a ton of different things to do.” Impulse explained. It was no wonder the college had a three day weekend this week in particular. They were pretty sure they could even see some of their professors around.
“Impulse and I have gone the last two years and they’ve been a blast!” Tango exclaimed with a grin. “So I’m sure you guys will have a great time!”
Grian hummed, a smirk forming on his lips as he leaned over to look at Impulse. “And was Skizz with you those times too?”
Impulse laughed again, though this time it came out sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. Tango blinked at the question and turned to look at Impulse himself. Upon seeing his reaction, Tango looked affronted. “What?! Even then?!”
They all laughed as Tango deflated, pouting at just how unobservant he had been for two years, with a borrower right under his nose. This wasn’t the first time and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but it was always funny.
Speaking of the borrowers, both Jimmy and Skizz had decided to tag along to the fair. Jimmy hadn’t been sure at first, after all, the most crowded place he had been in before had been a classroom and at one moment, on the floor of a busy crowded hallway. It had sort of put him off going out into public again. But Skizz had hyped up the fair so much and managed to convince him to at least give it a try.
So now, the two were tucked safely within a pocket. Skizz in Impulse’s chest pocket, and Jimmy in Grian’s hoodie pocket. Thankfully the day wasn’t too warm where Grian couldn’t wear it at all, since Jimmy really did prefer the hoodie pocket over other kinds. Skizz was a bit weird, saying he didn’t mind anything. Over the years he had spent with Impulse, he had found himself in a variety of places in order to hide. Some worse than others, and among them pretty much any kind of pocket was a solid ten in his book. Especially if it was Impulse’s pocket.
It was still strange knowing how long Impulse and Skizz knew each other. Thirteen years was a long time and finding out they had met as kids had been especially surprising for Jimmy to hear. Kids could be a lot, they could be so much more dangerous than even adults, but after hearing the story, it didn’t seem like that at all. In fact, Impulse had been far better than any adult. Even an adult borrower.
Jimmy shook those thoughts away for now, focusing back on the present. He could hear the sounds of the fair all around him and though he couldn’t make out anything distinguishable, it did all sound like fun. He was probably the most excited to try all the different foods they had. Skizz describing everything he’d tried at the fair was probably at least half the reason he had been convinced to come.
“So, what should we do first?” Grian asked after getting his laughs out at Tango’s expense.
Impulse snorted. “Well, I know what Skizz wants to do.” Impulse moved off to the right and the others gave each other a look before following him. Sure enough, Impulse stopped at a food stand, the first of many they were sure to stop at. Impulse turned around as he waited behind one person. “Skizz skipped breakfast so he could save room.” Impulse explained.
“Heck yeah, I did.” A small voice said, coming from the front pocket of Impulse’s shirt. Thankfully, Skizz’s voice was only loud enough for those closest to hear him. Though that didn’t stop Impulse from glancing around him, just in case.
“What stand is this?” Joel asked, trying to look behind everyone to see the sign for the menu. He wasn’t having a lot of luck though.
“This was Skizz’s favorite last time. They sell elephant ears.” Impulse explained.
“Oh, they were the best. Jimmy, if you can hear me, you need to try it!” Skizz exclaimed, this time a bit louder than before. Impulse placed a quick but gentle hand over the pocket, causing Skizz to make a noise, as the person in front of them turned their head to give them a look. Impulse gave them a nervous smile until the person simply turned back around, continuing his order.
Everyone sighed in relief. “Little too loud there, buddy.” Impulse said, slowly taking his hand off his pocket. He heard Skizz let out a small huff, his turn to be a bit pouty.
Jimmy had heard Skizz though and he moved a bit, pressing against Grian’s left hand, which was nestled in the pocket with him. He felt more than heard Grian hum and gave Jimmy a small poke. “Seems like Jimmy wants to take you up on that offer.” Grian translated for him. The only bad part about being in the hoodie pocket was that he was a bit too low to be heard like Skizz could be. But he had other ways to communicate, as he had just showed off.
“I’ll buy two then. They're big enough for two people to share, so once Jimmy and Skizz have their portion the four of us can split the rest.” Impulse explained before realizing it was now his turn and walking up to the stand to order.
“Sounds good to me. Not sure if I’ve even tried an elephant ear before.” Joel admitted, trying to think back. He was coming up blank though, so if he had tried it at some point but forgotten, well it no longer counted anyway.
It didn’t take long for Impulse to grab the two elephant ears, which were large, hanging over the paper plate it was on to the point all of them were worried it would fall. Thankfully though, they managed to make it to a secluded table and Impulse placed the plates on top as they all took a seat.
They all glanced around, making sure no one was around before Impulse reached into his shirt pocket and pulled Skizz out. Grian, hand already in his pocket, simply cupped it around Jimmy, making sure his grip was firm before pulling him out as well.
Both borrowers were set down gently on the table and the humans allowed them to grab what they wanted, both Jimmy and Skizz ripping off a corner piece of their respective elephant ears, before moving more towards the middle of the table to sit down together. Skizz had taken a bigger portion than Jimmy had, but Skizz was used to eating more food. Jimmy still had some catching up to do, if he wanted his stomach to grow out a little more, even after these last few months.
Once the borrowers were settled, the humans split up the rest with each other and they all dug into the fried cinnamon bread with eagerness. As soon as the flavor hit Jimmy’s tongue, he couldn’t help but let out a small noise of pleasure. “Oh my goodness.” Jimmy reacted as he swallowed. “You were right Skizz, this is amazing.”
“I told ya! And there’s plenty more food like this all over the fair!” Skizz exclaimed before taking another bite. “We eat like kings today, Jimmy.”
Impulse snorted. “Like you don’t usually?”
“Yeah, well, this food is extra special, so it’s different.” Skizz huffed, causing the humans to laugh.
Jimmy finished his piece and then stood up, stretching a bit before moving back over toward Grian and Joel, though they weren’t his real destination. He moved in between them and used their bodies as cover in order to see out into the fairgrounds. He had only caught a glimpse of it from the car before he had to go into the pocket, so he wanted to take this opportunity to look around.
There were a lot of humans around, to the point where Jimmy felt a bit tense just looking at all of them. He moved his gaze away from the crowd though and focused on the actual fair attractions themselves. There were tents set up all over, booths and games scattered in between them. Like Skizz had said, there were also a lot of food stands just from where Jimmy could see. It was different than anything else Jimmy had seen, and despite the crowds of people he was happy he had come.
A hand suddenly snaked in front of him, curling around him front to back. He settled his hands against the top of the finger and looked up to see Grian was the one the hand was attached to. “Careful, you don’t want to be seen.” Grian said.
Jimmy rolled his eyes, though it was mostly out of fondness. “I know.” The hand curled around him became just a bit tighter and it moved him over so he was now in front of Grian before the hand left completely. Jimmy turned back to the rest of the table, who he noticed were just finishing up the rest of their snack.
“So, what should we do next?” Tango asked as he licked off the excess cinnamon on his fingertips.
Joel hummed and leaned back in his seat, looking around them for anything interesting. His eyes caught sight of a particular tent, one with a sign readable even from how far away he was. He pointed over to it. “That one sounds interesting.”
Grian followed his gaze, eyes squinting as he read the sign. “The Amazing Witch Aria? Really, Joel?” Grian asked, looking at Joel with a raised brow.
“Hey, it could be entertaining! Not that I believe in magic but everyone likes a good magic show. Right?” Joel said, trying to explain himself.
“He’s got a point. It could be fun.” Impulse said and Joel nodded along, thankful someone else agreed with him.
Neither Jimmy nor Skizz believed in magic either. Even if some would say the existence of borrowers at all was magic in and of itself. But with everything Jimmy and Skizz had been through before meeting their humans, well, it was a hard sell for anyone to convince them magic was real. Either way though, the idea of a magic show intrigued the two of them. “I think we should check it out.” Jimmy chimed in and with an agreement from Skizz, the group was decided.
Jimmy scurried onto Grian’s hand and was placed back in his hoodie pocket, Grian’s hand once again staying inside with him. He leaned against it, getting comfortable. Impulse scooped Skizz up and carefully deposited him back in his chest pocket. Once the borrowers were secure, they all stood, throwing away their empty plates and heading over to the witch’s tent.
As they drew closer, Tango got close to the sign in order to read the fine print. “So…it looks like it’s ten bucks per person.” Tango said, already in the process of pulling out his wallet for a ten.
“Bit expensive, ‘innit?” Joel mumbled a bit to himself as he also pulled out a ten.
“You were the one who pointed it out.” Grian reminded him. Joel simply shot him a look.
Money in hand, they pulled back the tent. It was a good medium size, fitting a table and enough chairs for at least six people. There was a girl messing with something on said table, but her head perked up once she heard the rustle of the tent opening. She put on a smile. “Hello! And welcome into the world of magic and wonder.” She said with a bow before standing back up and putting her hands together. “Are you here for the show?”
“Yes, please.” Impulse said and she nodded.
“That’ll be forty dollars then.” She said and Impulse collected everyone’s ten and handed it over. She quickly counted that all forty was present before slipping it into her pocket. She motioned toward the chairs in front of the table. “Please, take a seat.”
They did as told and Tango leaned in closer to look at the desk. There were some things like cards spread all around and some sort of stick off to the side. Though the stick was probably supposed to be a wand, now that he was thinking about it. “So…what kind of show is this? Are you going to be reading our futures?” Tango asked.
The girl huffed a bit. “I’m not a psychic, I’m a witch.” She blew some hair out of her face and put on another smile. “I’m here to do some magic and let you feel some magic.”
Tango blushed a bit. “Oh. Okay.” He said, feeling embarrassed for having asked.
The witch collected herself and then snapped her fingers. The lights in the tent went out, plunging them into darkness for a brief moment before a single light, right over the witch, came back on. “My name is Aria and welcome to the magical world of witchcraft!” She grabbed her wand and raised it up in the air.
Grian, Joel, Impulse, and Tango clapped politely, as Jimmy and Skizz simply listened in to what was happening. Though they both wished they could see the show, it was too dangerous to try and sneak a peak right now.
“First thing I’m going to do is let my magic wash over you, for not only you to get a feel of it, but for me to get a feel for you.” Aria said and her wand flicked forward. Both humans and borrowers were suddenly filled with a slight tingling sensation, though the humans chalked it up to placebo effect. The borrowers were a bit more awed at the feeling though.
As her magic washed over the four, she settled into their auras…and then promptly froze. Her magic wrapped around two more things than what she could see. Tiny things, tucked away in two of the human’s pockets.
Her grin dropped, her mood more than soured. “Oh. I see how it is.” She said out loud, her voice carefully even.
The humans gave her a confused look before Aria switched her expression back to a smile. Though it was clear there was something more sinister behind it this time. The humans felt another kind of shiver go down their spines. “Thought you could hide them from me, hmm?” Aria said and everyone tensed.
“...What are you talking about?” Grian asked carefully, his body shifting, ready to leave any second.
“You know. Your little borrowers.” Aria said, her eyes narrowed as she said it.
Grian stood up, quickly followed by everyone else. “We’re leaving.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” Aria said, her eyes shining as she flicked her wand again and all the humans froze against their will. Joel tried to open his mouth and speak, to yell, but that too was frozen shut. Aria stared at all of them and then smiled. “How unlucky for you that you happened to stumble upon a real witch.” She said and then waved her wand again. The humans dropped to the floor, suddenly unconscious.
Thankfully for the borrowers, however, Aria had held them with her magic to protect them from the fall. She then used her magic to lift them out of their respective pockets.
Jimmy struggled and squirmed as he was suddenly lifted into the air, waving his hands and legs every which way. He didn’t know what was happening, how this was all happening. But he looked down and saw all their humans passed out and felt terrified for what was going to happen to them all.
He glanced over at Skizz, who was acting similarly, before both borrowers were set down on the table in front of the witch. Jimmy felt his legs give out and he fell to his knees as he shook from the unexpected fly through the air. Skizz, on the other hand, righted himself almost instantly and glared at the witch. “Hey! What’s the big idea!?” Skizz shouted up at her and Jimmy’s eyes widened at the bravery Skizz was showing.
The witch’s sneer towards the humans turned soft when she focused on the two of them. The sudden change felt like whiplash. “Sorry for the sudden use of magic on the two of you.” She said, and surprisingly she sounded like she meant it. “But you’re safe now from these pathetic humans.” She turned back to glare at their unconscious friends, the word humans sounding like an insult the way she said it.
Jimmy blinked, carefully raising himself up from his knees. “W-Wait, you-”
He was cut off. “I’m sorry, I can only imagine what horrible things you’ve had to endure from them. But you won’t have to any longer.” Aria turned to glare at the humans again. “I’ll take care that they are never able to again.” She lifted her wand, ready to flick it, ready to do something to their friends.
“Wait!”
“Hold on a second!” Jimmy and Skizz said at the same time. Though Jimmy was terrified, at this point the witch was more of a threat to his friends than to him and Skizz, that much was at least clear.
Aria paused and looked at the two with a hum. And then her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Don’t worry little ones, I understand.” She said and Jimmy and Skizz relaxed in relief. “I’ll let you have your revenge.” She said, striking a bolt of fear and panic through the borrowers once again.
Before anything else could be said, Aria lifted her wand and flicked it. The tip created a brilliant white light that took over Jimmy and Skizz’s vision.
Both borrowers fell over, unconsciousness taking them too.
***
Jimmy groaned as he woke up. He sat himself up so he was sitting on his knees, rubbing the back of his head. He opened his eyes, taking in where he was. Jimmy froze, his hand dropping from the back of his head and going down to his side in shock. He was still in the witch’s tent, that much was obvious. But something was different. Something had changed.
The tent was empty other than the tables and chairs. All of the witch’s things were gone, as was the witch herself. But it was the size of the tables and chairs that Jimmy was focused on. They were…smaller. They no longer towered over him, in fact, with how Jimmy was sitting right now, he was almost as tall as the chair itself and he found he could peek over the edge of the table.
The tent itself also seemed to have shrunk in size. Because the walls were now a lot closer than they had been before he had passed out.
A groan coming from his right made him look in that direction and he saw Skizz sitting up himself. “What happened?” Skizz asked, opening his eyes and looking over at Jimmy.
“I-I don’t know, but the witch is gone.” Jimmy said. “And…everything seems to have shrunk?” Jimmy was less confident about that observation. Skizz looked around them, his eyes widened as he took in what Jimmy had only moments ago.
“Oh, wow you’re right.” Skizz frowned and used a nearby chair to help him stand up. He then came over and gave Jimmy a hand, helping him do the same. Now that they were both standing, it was clear they were far taller than both the chairs and the table. “Weird…wait, where is everyone?”
Jimmy blinked, realizing they were alone in the shrunken down tent. “Did the witch teleport us somewhere else?”
Skizz grit his teeth and headed toward the tent’s door flap. “Probably. Come on, we have to find them before that witch does anything!” Skizz exclaimed and Jimmy jumped, quickly following close behind Skizz.
“Stay close to the tent, we don’t know how many humans will be out there, or where the tent even is.” Skizz said, a bit quieter this time. Jimmy nodded, knowing the drill. Skizz pulled the tent’s flap back a bit and took a peak outside.
To Jimmy’s surprise, Skizz immediately closed it again, his eyes wide as he simply stared at the tent’s fabric. “Skizz? What is it?”
Skizz turned back to look at Jimmy and there was something in his eyes that Jimmy couldn’t make out. When Skizz didn’t say anything, Jimmy pushed past him and took a look outside the tent himself. His jaw dropped, his body frozen as he took in the world around him. It was the fair, same as before, except Jimmy was now staring at it from a new perspective.
Everything was his size. All the people, all the tents, the booths, the stands, everything was the size of a borrower.
No, it’s not that everything shrunk. We grew. Jimmy thought to himself as he couldn’t help but take everything in. After a moment, it became too much and he closed the tent flap once more. He turned to look at Skizz, understanding that look in his eyes now. “Are we dreaming?” Jimmy couldn’t help but ask.
Skizz, numbly, reached up and pinched the skin of his arm. He winced and Jimmy’s eyes widened. “Nope. This is…This is really happening.”
Jimmy turned his head to look back at the opening, at the world that now fit the two of them perfectly. It was something Jimmy had only ever dreamed about but the dream was quickly crushed by the reality that a witch did this to them and they still had no idea what the witch had done to their friends.
“So, if we’ve grown, and this is the same tent as before…then where are Grian, Joel, Impulse, and Tango?” Jimmy asked, turning back to Skizz again.
Skizz thought for a moment, looking around the now smaller tent, at least to them. “Well, the witch was clearly upset with them. She seemed to think they had us against our will.”
Jimmy nodded, that assumption had been all but proven by her words. “Yeah, and right before we passed out she said something about letting us take revenge? Is that why we’re big?” Jimmy asked, trying to piece everything together.
“Maybe…but if that’s the case then where are-” He suddenly stopped talking, his eyes going wide. Jimmy tensed, wondering why Skizz had cut himself off.
“What?” Jimmy asked in a panic, wondering what Skizz had figured out.
Skizz let out a deep breath. “If we’re big and the witch wanted us to get revenge on them then…Jimmy, what if they’re small?”
Jimmy froze. “No, that…” He bit his lip. He was about to say how impossible that was, but ‘impossible’ no longer held any meaning now that the two of them were human-sized. It was completely and utterly possible that the witch had reversed their roles for the sake of ‘revenge’. “Does that mean…you don’t think they're still in here, do you?” Jimmy asked, looking down at the floor, suddenly panicked that they hadn’t been looking where they’ve been walking this whole time.
“Only one way to find out.” Skizz said and started moving around the tent, slowly, scanning the floor and watching where he was stepping. Jimmy let out a shaky breath before following his lead, looking around the legs of the chairs and tables and in the corners of the tent. Jimmy leaned forward and took a look behind the chair that was behind the table this whole time and his eyes widened.
“Skizz.” He called out and Skizz was immediately by his side. He followed Jimmy’s gaze and his jaw dropped at the sight. “Is that really…?” Jimmy whispered, as if talking too loud would make them disappear. He dropped to his knees, careful to stay a couple feet away from them.
“Oh my god.” Skizz said, also kneeling on the ground and staring openly at their once towering friends. His eyes fell specifically on Impulse’s form and he sucked in a breath. “Impulse…all of them, they’re so small.”
Jimmy could only nod.
Skizz tore his eyes away from their passed out friends, looking at Jimmy with wide eyes. “This is weird, man. They shouldn’t be this small. They’re-this is-it’s too much!”
Jimmy couldn’t help but agree. This was too much all at once. Seeing Grian and Joel especially like this…like Skizz said, it was weird. He was so used to seeing them as larger than life and now he was like that to them.
He couldn’t help it when his hand reached out, his fingertips ever so gently grazing Grian’s back. At the contact, he snapped his hand away, feeling weird about it. He cleared his throat to try and get rid of the feeling. “They’re still…they’re still unconscious.” Jimmy observed, subconsciously rubbing his fingers along the tips that had just touched Grian. “What do we do?”
Skizz swallowed the lump that had been forming in his throat, unable to tear his eyes away from their shrunken friends. His eyes lingering on Impulse most of all. “We need to…wake them up. Right?” He glanced in Jimmy’s direction, just as unsure as he was.
“Yeah…Yeah, right. We need to make sure they’re okay.” Jimmy said but didn’t move. He simply continued to stare. “...How should we try and wake them up?”
Skizz winced and bit his lip. “I guess just how you normally wake someone up?”
Jimmy was about to ask what that meant when he watched as Skizz reached out and nudged at Impulse gently on his shoulder. Right, now Jimmy understood, Jimmy himself had been woken up many times from Grian and Joel both nudging him like that. It was just…very weird to be the one doing the nudging to someone so small.
“Impulse…hey, come on buddy, please wake up.” Skizz said as he continued to nudge at Impulse’s limp body. Impulse groaned and started to move and Skizz relaxed a bit in relief before moving his hand over to Tango, doing the same thing with him as he waited for Impulse to fully wake.
Jimmy swallowed and followed along with what Skizz was doing, moving his hand to gently poke at Grian and then Joel’s tiny form. “Grian, Joel, please wake up. We’ve uh…got a bit of a situation here.”
Slowly, but surely, all four humans began to stir. Whatever spell the witch had hit them with must have really taken it out of them, because it took a while for each of them to fully enter the realm of consciousness again. Impulse was the first to start opening his eyes but before he could open them fully, Skizz scooted back, pulling Jimmy with him. Jimmy sent him a questioning look.
“We don’t want to crowd them.” Skizz murmured and Jimmy’s eyes widened in understanding. Right, he had to remember, things were swapped now and their humans were far from used to being around beings who were essentially giants to them. Not that Jimmy was any more used to being the said giant, but he knew better than anyone that his current position was a lot easier to handle than theirs.
Impulse let out a small groan, coming back to reality as he slowly realized he was laying down on the cold hard ground. He opened his eyes to confirm what he was feeling and slowly pushed himself up. He felt achy and drained and it took him a moment to remember what had happened. When he remembered the witch, and what she had said before the four of them had passed out, he immediately went to check his pocket. To his panic, Skizz wasn’t inside.
He looked beside him, seeing Grian, Joel, and Tango stirring and waking up as well. His eyes scanned around them, looking for Skizz, hoping he was okay. He looked further into the expanse of the room and promptly froze at what he saw, all the breath in his body leaving him at that moment.
Skizz and Jimmy were sitting a few feet away, towering over them like skyscrapers. Impulse scooted back some, his eyes meeting Skizz’s, who had a softened look in his gaze. Impulse swallowed thickly and his eyes went to the rest of the room, finally noticing the furniture that also now towered over them. As he met eyes with Skizz again, he realized what must have happened. “Skizz?”
Skizz put on a smile, trying not to show how panicked he was at Impulse’s current size. “Hey buddy.” Skizz said, keeping his voice low just in case. Though no matter how low he tried to keep his voice, it was still much louder than any of the humans were used to. The rest of them shot up at the sudden loud voice, only for them to freeze when they saw Jimmy and Skizz.
They all simply stared at each other, not knowing what to do or say. Jimmy, for his part, felt incredibly awkward being the giant. He glanced over toward Skizz, wondering if he was feeling the same way.
“J-Jimmy?” Joel stuttered out, breaking the silence. Joel tried to take in what he was seeing but it was hard to believe. Hard to fully comprehend the fact that not only were there two towering beings in front of them, but that those beings were Jimmy and Skizz.
“Yeah, it’s…me.” Jimmy said, though he didn’t sound confident. To be honest, he didn’t really feel like himself like this.
Jimmy’s eyes moved to Grian when he saw the human start to shake his head. “No, no this isn’t real.” Grian said, his tone toeing on the edge of panic. Jimmy’s heart broke at the sheer look of fear on Grian’s face. All the humans, actually, had looks of fear spread across their features. Even from where he was, he could see Joel’s breathing starting to pick up even more. Tango looked pale, like he was going to pass out again. Impulse actually looked the least scared of them all, but he still had that familiar feeling of wariness toward them.
Jimmy bit his lip about to try and say something, but Skizz beat him to it. “Unfortunately, this is very real.” Skizz said with a somber tone, very unlike Skizz usually.
“We’ve…shrunk?” Tango’s tiny voice said.
Skizz nodded but Grian once again shook his head. “No! This is…” Grian jumped up to his feet, swaying slightly, looking like he was going to fall over and pass out again.
Jimmy started to move before he could truly think about it. “Careful-!” Jimmy reached his hand out toward Grian, intent on helping him balance. Grian, however, had caught his balance on his own and when he turned and saw the giant hand coming toward him, he panicked.
Grian would hate to look back on it later, but he screamed at the incoming hand. His scream seemed to jolt everyone out of their shocked, fear-filled stupor, because they all jumped up to their feet. Jimmy flinched at Grian’s scream, his hand paused, and that gave Grian and the others enough time to start running.
Jimmy and Skizz’s eyes both widened as their friends ran from them.
“H-Hey, wait!” Jimmy called out, scrambling to get himself up.
“Impulse!” Skizz called, feeling a bit hurt that his best friend would run, even if he couldn’t really blame him given the situation.
The humans continued to run, their mind so clouded by fear that they didn’t even process the concern in the giant’s voices. They watched as Grian and Joel split from Impulse and Tango, going in the other direction but both sets of humans seemed to be heading for the walls of the tent.
Skizz’s eyes widened with panic as he turned to Jimmy. “We got to stop them from getting out.” Skizz said and Jimmy nodded. “You get Grian and Joel. I’ve got Impulse and Tango.” Skizz said and then both borrowers jumped into action. Jimmy felt really bad for what he was going to do, he knew better than anyone, except maybe Skizz, how it felt to be grabbed so suddenly when trying to run.
He was reminded of when he first met Grian and Joel and how that whole first meeting went. This was seemingly going down very similarly, much to Jimmy’s guilt.
It was quite easy for Jimmy to catch up with the two, the hard part was making sure he didn’t get too close and accidentally kick them or worse. He really needed to get them off the ground and so, despite his guilt, Jimmy reached down and grabbed Joel first.
It was sickeningly easy for Jimmy to wrap his hand around Joel’s entire body. Only Joel’s head was free as Jimmy lifted him up toward his chest. He could feel Joel struggling against his finger, pushing and hitting but doing nothing. Jimmy swallowed but didn’t have time to think too much about it because he still needed to grab Grian.
Keeping Joel close to his chest, he used his free hand and reached down toward Grian. Once again, it was so very easy to grab Grian, even with him running as fast as he could, Jimmy at this size was faster. Like with Joel, only Grian’s head was free as he brought him close to his chest. He could feel their little heartbeats against his fingers, going a mile a minute as both humans struggled against his grip. Jimmy would be lying if he said his own heart wasn’t going just as fast.
Jimmy glanced over toward Skizz, who he watched snatch up Tango, Impulse already in his other hand. Jimmy relaxed just a bit, knowing the humans were safe from getting themselves trampled outside of the tent. He swallowed thickly and turned his attention back to the two shrunken humans in his hands and geez, wasn’t that a sight? Seeing Grian and Joel in his hands like this was nothing short of insane.
He took a deep breath. “Guys, please, it’s okay.” Jimmy tried, though he winced at his own words. He didn’t think he was terrible at comforting people, so then why did he feel so bad at this?
Maybe because he had never been looked at with such fear before.
Jimmy shook his head, trying to push that down. He carefully brought his hands close together, opening them up and allowing Grian and Joel to sit in his cupped hands. “It’s just me, I’m not going to hurt you.”
The two were clinging a bit to each other now and Jimmy just felt bad. He didn’t like scaring them. He didn’t like being something worth being scared about. Gently, Jimmy used both his thumbs to rub at Grian and Joel’s back, knowing he found comfort in it when they had done the same to him. Jimmy almost stopped when he saw the two flinch but slowly, he watched as their shaking died down.
“Jimmy?” Grian voice came out, careful and nervous. Jimmy nodded and continued the slow and gentle rubs.
“Yeah.” Jimmy confirmed. “Are you guys okay?” He then asked.
Joel sucked in a breath. “Y-Yeah.” He stuttered and winced at himself. “It’s just…a lot.” Joel admitted and Jimmy nodded, knowing exactly what Joel was talking about.
“I get it. I mean, obviously I get it.” Jimmy said with a slight laugh, trying to lighten the mood just a bit.
He counted it as a win as he saw two brief smiles flash across their faces.
“But seriously, are you guys okay?” Jimmy asked. He just wanted to make sure there were no other effects left behind from the witch.
This time, Grian was the one who nodded. “We’re fine.” He paused. “Sorry for running.” He mumbled more under his breath, looking away in embarrassment. Joel also couldn’t seem to look Jimmy in the eyes. Jimmy sighed but smiled softly.
“It’s okay, like I said, I get it. I’m…I’m sorry for just grabbing you guys like that but we were scared you’d run out of the tent and get hurt.” Jimmy explained to them. Jimmy was unfortunately familiar with large crowds and stomping feet and he did not wish that fate upon anybody. But especially not his two best friends.
Grian shivered, as if he had just realized what could have happened if Jimmy hadn’t snatched them up in time. “Yeah, no, that’s…” He shook his head as he trailed off and Jimmy couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.
“Everyone okay over here?” Skizz said, moving over to them, Impulse and Tango cupped in his hands similar to how Jimmy was holding Grian and Joel. The two looked a lot better than before, though Tango still looked a bit pale.
“Yeah, we’re okay.” Jimmy answered, turning around to face Skizz and let the humans see each other. “Are you guys?”
Skizz nodded. “Yeah, Impulse was easy to calm down. Tango here was a bit harder to tho.” Skizz said, though it was clear he meant it in more of a teasing way. Tango blushed and looked down. He muttered something that Jimmy couldn’t quite make out but Skizz must have been able to because he laughed, gently poking Tango’s side. “Aww, come on buddy, you know I love ya.”
Jimmy smiled a bit at that but quickly frowned again when he looked around the still very empty tent. “Now that everyone’s calmed down, we need to find that witch.” Jimmy said, looking back at Skizz with furrowed brows. “I’m pretty sure she’s gonna be the only one who can reverse this.”
Skizz nodded but then paused. “How are we gonna find her though? This fair is huge and she could be anywhere. The fact that she has magic doesn’t help either.”
“Maybe you guys could go out and ask someone?” Impulse spoke up and he only flinched a little when both pairs of giant eyes fell on him. He cleared his throat. “Um, if she was here with a tent that means she was registered with the fair. So one of the fair employees has to know where she is.”
Skizz nodded. “Good idea Dop. I guess that’s our next order of business then.” Skizz decided and then, for a moment, nobody moved.
Joel looked between the two of them. “Uh, what’s going on?”
Jimmy cleared his throat, gaining Joel’s full attention. “Well, um, if we want to head out there and ask someone…” Jimmy trailed off so Skizz picked up the end.
“You guys are gonna need to go in our pockets.” Skizz finished and all the human’s eyes went wide.
“What? But Jimmy doesn’t even have…wait, Jimmy, are you wearing my hoodie?” Grian’s line of thought scrambled as soon as he recognized the red hoodie Jimmy was wearing. Jimmy blinked and looked down at himself, not even realizing his clothes had changed.
“Huh.” Jimmy said and then looked up at Skizz. He pointed at his chest. “And Skizz is wearing Impulse’s shirt.” Jimmy noticed.
Skizz looked down and his noise crinkled. “So not only did that witch swap our sizes, she swapped our clothes too?”
“Seems that way.” Impulse said, looking down at himself and realizing he was wearing Skizz’s shirt.
“Well, it works out for us right now, I guess. We both have pockets we can put them in.” Jimmy said.
“I am not going in your pocket.” Joel said, adamant. Jimmy knew Joel was probably still just scared and that’s why he was refusing, but it still hurt just a tiny bit.
“Joel, I’m in your pockets all the time. It’s really not that bad, in fact it’s actually pretty comfortable.” Jimmy tried to reassure. Joel blinked at the reminder and made a small noise, turning his head as he crossed his arms.
“Joel, I don’t like it either but Jimmy is right. He does this all the time and he’s perfectly fine.” Grian said, though with the kind of tone to suggest he really wished he could come up with an excuse to not go into the pocket. Thankfully, Grian usually thought more logically between the three of them and despite not liking it, he knew it was the only way they were stepping foot out of this tent.
At least with Grian thinking logically again that meant his fear wasn’t as bad as before.
“Gah, fine.” Joel huffed and Jimmy looked over toward Impulse and Tango.
Impulse shrugged. “I don’t mind. Skizz is always going on and on about how nice pockets are so I’m curious about it anyway.”
Skizz grinned. “It’s so comfortable, although it might be a little cramped with two of ya in there.” Skizz snickered a bit and then his eyes landed on Tango. “Top? You okay with this?”
Tango let out a sigh. “Yeah…not like we really have a choice.” And really, they didn’t, but Jimmy and Skizz at least wanted to make them as comfortable with it as possible.
“Okay, then I guess…” Skizz trailed off as he tilted the hand holding Tango into his other one so that he was holding both humans in one hand. He used his now free hand to open up the chest pocket, bringing his other hand at the lip of it. He gently tilted his hand and let both Impulse and Tango slide down into the fabric. Jimmy watched all of this, fascinated at the way the two humans simply disappeared. Only a barely noticeable bump was all that gave away their presence.
With Impulse and Tango secure, Skizz turned to Jimmy and Jimmy realized it was his turn. Jimmy looked down at Grian and Joel who simply gave him a nod to indicate they were ready. Jimmy nodded back and carefully lowered them down to where the hoodie pocket was. Unlike Skizz, instead of pulling them both into one hand, he instead separated them. Now holding Grian and Joel in one hand each, he put both of them into his pocket at the same time.
He let them slide off his hand and then moved his hand away but didn’t completely remove either hand. He knew Grian and Joel always kept their hands in the pocket with him for a reason, as evident by the one time they didn’t, so Jimmy wasn’t going to take any chances. With Grian and Joel settled, Jimmy turned his attention back to Skizz.
“Ready?” Jimmy asked, despite feeling barely ready himself.
Skizz nodded. “Let’s go.” And with that, Skizz headed toward the tent flap. Jimmy took a deep breath before making himself follow Skizz.
Just like when they had first woken up, Skizz pulled back the tent. Unlike the last time though, Skizz stepped fully into the outside and Jimmy was quick to follow him. They both paused, once again taking in the sights as people who now fit the size of it. Jimmy frowned as he looked up into the sky though, realizing the sun was in the process of disappearing over the horizon. A heavy amount of orange in the sky because of it.
“How long were we out for?” Jimmy asked quietly to Skizz, who noticed what Jimmy was looking at and could only shrug helplessly.
“At least a few hours if the sky is anything to go by.” Skizz answered. “Man, this whole thing is crazy.”
Jimmy couldn’t agree with Skizz more.
“Anyway, do you see anyone wearing some sort of employee uniform?” Skizz asked, looking back down from the sky to scan the crowds of people in front of him. Despite it being the evening, there were still quite a few people bustling about the fair.
Jimmy looked at all the people, feeling weird at being in sight of all of them. Even if he was the same size as them now, it was still weird to be perceived by so many people. He tried to ignore the feeling, looking for anything that could be an employee uniform. Jimmy paused on one of the booths, there was somebody there wearing a tan sort of outfit helping the booth person in putting stuff away. He tapped Skizz and when he turned around he pointed toward the guy. Skizz nodded and the two headed over in his direction.
“Um, excuse me?” Jimmy started as they got closer, gaining the employees attention. He had a nametag on, so it was more than likely their assumption was correct. Jimmy tried to continue. “We were uh, wondering if, I mean, there was this witch and-wait…” Jimmy trailed off, his words getting all sorts of jumbled at the fact that he was talking to an unknown human.
Thankfully, Skizz took over. “We were wondering if you knew where Aria the witch went? We wanted to catch a show from her but her tent’s empty now.” Skizz asked and Jimmy couldn’t help but admire the fact that Skizz hadn’t stumbled over his words once.
The guy scratched the back of his head. “Oh, she packed up and went home a few hours ago.” Jimmy and Skizz deflated. This was bad. If she had gone home, how were they supposed to find her now? “But she’ll be back tomorrow, same time.” The guy continued and relief flooded the two borrowers.
“Great, thank you so much.” Skizz said and the guy nodded, getting back to work. Jimmy and Skizz moved away from the guy, off to a secluded part of the fair so they could all talk.
Skizz opened up the flap of his pocket and looked down at the two humans inside. It was still a very surreal sight to see for sure. “It looks like we aren’t going to get much further on this tonight.”
“So, what? Do we just…head back to the dorms?” Tango called out from the pocket. Skizz hummed at that.
“Not sure how we’re gonna get in. Or get there.” Skizz said.
That was true, neither Jimmy nor Skizz had anything they could use. Jimmy thought for a moment. “Maybe their phones still work? They could call us an uber?” They’d have to figure out the rest when they got there, but at least one obstacle would be out of the way. Jimmy curled his hands around the two squirming figures of Grian and Joel and lifted them out of his pocket. They looked a bit frazzled, but otherwise okay.
They both took a moment to gain their bearings before Grian reached into his pocket. But Jimmy watched as he froze, his hand pulling out with nothing. “My phone is gone.”
“Hey, mine too!” Joel exclaimed, also coming away empty. “And my keys!”
Impulse and Tango checked their pockets, only to be met with the same emptiness. Joel barked out a laugh. “Really? That witch couldn’t just shrink us, she had to rob us too?!”
Suddenly, for some reason, Jimmy felt a weight in his pants pockets that he hadn’t noticed before. Moving Grian and Joel to one hand, Jimmy silently reached into said pocket. His eyes widened and everyone matched his expression when he pulled out two phones. Phones that they all recognized as Grian and Joel’s.
“Well, at least she didn’t rob us.” Joel muttered, unable to ignore the fact his phone was bigger than him now.
Jimmy reached back into his pocket and pulled out two sets up keys as well. “Looks like we’ll be able to go back to the dorms after all.”
Jimmy had to get help from Grian and Joel to use the uber app and order them an uber as soon as possible, but once it was set, it was pretty easy from then on. Jimmy slipped Grian and Joel back into his pocket and both him and Skizz waited right outside the fairgrounds for their uber to arrive.
As the car pulled up, they got inside. Jimmy stayed silent, only giving a nod in greeting. But Skizz chatted with the guy at least halfway back to the college. Jimmy, once again, couldn’t help but marvel at just how sociable Skizz was. It was hard to see when the two of them only ever interacted with the same five people, but Skizz really seemed to excel at talking with others. It made Jimmy feel a little sad, that Skizz couldn’t be like this all the time.
Skizz noticed his demeanor and leaned back into the seat once he had ended the conversation. He gave Jimmy a knowing look. “You okay?”
Jimmy let out a shaky breath. It wasn’t just that, but everything seemed to be crashing down on him now that they were away from the fair and in the car. Jimmy couldn’t help but curl his fingers around Grian and Joel, feeling them move against his hand. His breath caught as he felt the tiniest of hands press against his own. It was almost too much to think of that being him to Grian and Joel.
“I’ll…get back to you on that.” Jimmy said, not knowing what else to say. Skizz nodded in understanding and the two spent the rest of the car ride in thoughtful silence.
***
The pocket swayed a lot more than Joel had initially been expecting. But as Jimmy got out of the uber and started walking toward the dorms, it was clear their ride in the pocket was not a still one. It wasn’t bad though. The slight sway was actually quite peaceful, almost lulling them. If Joel hadn’t been on such high alert, he might have even been able to fall asleep.
As it was though, there was no way his mind or body would allow him to rest right now.
He glanced over toward Grian, who was huddled in here with him. Jimmy’s hand was situated behind Grian, there, but not quite touching him, though the hand had moved a few times so far and curled around the two of them. Joel knew there was also a hand behind him as well. He didn’t look back at it, but he could feel its presence.
He still couldn’t believe they had been shrunk. They couldn’t have been smaller than Jimmy himself now. Well, normal Jimmy anyway. It was also hard to wrap his head around the fact the borrower he could normally hold in his hand could now do the same to him.
It was no wonder Jimmy was so scared when they first met. It was a wonder he wasn’t still.
Grian was in a similar state of mind, thinking over the last few hours and what had happened. He hated the fact he had let fear consume him so much he ran but looking back he wasn’t sure if he could have kept himself from doing so. The shock of seeing Jimmy and Skizz so big…the sudden horrible fear that had washed over him when a hand bigger than he was had started to reach for him…
Grian had already felt guilty before, of how their first meeting had gone with Jimmy, but now he felt even worse. All Grian had been was grabbed and cupped gently in Jimmy’s hand. The two of them had not only grabbed Jimmy, but moved him back and forth between them. They had poked at him, pressed down against his chest, completely surrounded him in their hands…Grian shivered at the memory. With the new perspective handed to him, Grian now fully understood just how terrifying that would have been.
The two were jolted out of their thoughts at the sound of a key unlocking a door. Voices, familiar but far too loud, rang out above them. “Are you coming in?” Jimmy’s voice asked.
“Nah, I think it might be best if we split for now. Give the guys a break from two giants hovering over them.” Skizz said with a slight laugh.
“Alright, have a good night then.” Jimmy said and they heard Skizz reply with the same, with a promise to meet Jimmy in the morning so they could head back to the fair.
Jimmy opened and closed the door behind him and Grian and Joel both watched as Jimmy’s hands tensed a bit. They braced themselves as the fingers began to move again, wrapping around each of them like it was the easiest thing in the world. And from experience, they knew it really was that easy.
Jimmy’s grip solidified around them and they were pulled out of the pocket once again. Grian couldn’t help but shake, his nerves alight like nothing else before. He tried to push it down, tried to tell himself that Jimmy was safe, obviously. But it was like his body didn’t want to listen to rational thought.
They were only in Jimmy’s hand for another brief moment before they were both placed on Joel’s nightstand. Joel couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at being back on solid ground. Even if that solid ground was still well above the actual floor.
“How are you two holding up?” Jimmy asked. He was bent down a bit in order to be more level with them. It was appreciated though it didn’t take away from just how imposing he was.
Grian couldn’t help but snort. “Would you believe us if we said fine?”
Jimmy winced and Grian felt a bit bad for joking like that when he saw the sad look in Jimmy’s eyes. They had always had an effect on him before, but with them being so big now it was even harder to try and ignore them. Jimmy let out a small sigh. “Honestly, I probably wouldn’t. Being small is…hard. And I can only imagine it’s harder for someone who hasn’t been small their whole life.” Right, Jimmy was very aware of how Grian and Joel must be feeling. The only thing Jimmy had was more experience but he had been terrified just like them before.
“I really don’t know how you do it.” Joel couldn’t help but say, rubbing at his arm where he could still feel the phantom touch of Jimmy’s fingers.
Jimmy titled his head and suddenly he was smiling softly, looking at the two of them with a fond gaze. “Well, it’s easy when I know I’m the safest with the two of you.” Jimmy admitted, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.
Grian and Joel could feel their own blushes creeping up their necks. “S-Still.” Joel said with a slight huff.
Jimmy laughed a bit, letting his smile linger a bit longer before it slowly turned back into a frown. “It is hard. I still get scared sometimes too. Not of you two, not really. Just…your size.” Jimmy said, looking away from the two pairs of tiny eyes.
“Makes sense.” Grian mumbled, even if he hated to hear how Jimmy still got scared sometimes. “It’s not like we’re scared of you. Just of how…big you are.”
Jimmy nodded and then bit his lip. He straightened up and tried to ignore the fact that Grian and Joel took a step back when he did so. “I should…probably change, right? You probably don’t want me sleeping in your bed like this.” Jimmy said, looking down at Grian’s clothes that he was wearing.
Joel hummed. “Yeah, especially if you’re using my bed.” Joel pointed over to his dresser. “You can use my sweats, I think they should fit you?” Joel tried to look Jimmy up and down but it was hard to gauge just how tall he was when all Joel could see was giant.
Jimmy nodded and Grian and Joel both turned around as Jimmy undressed and put on Joel’s sweats. But when Grian and Joel turned around, it was clear that the clothes didn’t quite fit. Joel blinked. “Huh.”
“It’s…just a little tight.” It wasn’t enough to be too uncomfortable, they were sweats after all and already baggy to begin with. But the fact that they didn’t fit was enough to tell the two humans that Jimmy was taller than either of them first thought.
“Don’t tell me you’re taller as a human than either of us!” Joel exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.
Jimmy looked down at himself, as if he would be able to tell how tall he was that way. “Huh. That’s…that’s really weird to think about.” Jimmy was taller than them as a human? How on earth was that possible?
“You’re telling me.” Joel mumbled, another huff leaving his lips.
Jimmy didn’t really want to think about that anymore, so he instead opened the drawer of the nightstand Grian and Joel were standing on and rummaged through his clothes. He had to pause for a moment, fingers rubbing at the tiny piece of fabric, awing at just how small they were. He quickly cleared those thoughts though and grabbed two sets of his pajamas. He put them in front of the two. “Here, you can wear my clothes.” Knowing that Jimmy was taller than them, the clothes would be a bit baggy but should still be comfortable.
Jimmy turned around and Grian and Joel each grabbed a set of clothes, turning away from each other as well as they got dressed. When they were finished, they all looked back at each other. “I guess…we should head to bed? It’s already getting kinda late.” And the sooner they went to bed, the sooner they could hopefully fix all of this.
“Yeah, we probably should.” Grian agreed, though he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to rest when his body still felt on such high alert. Jimmy nodded and set up the small nest of blankets he usually used to sleep in. Once that was set up, Jimmy climbed into Joel’s bed. He sat up in it, watching Grian and Joel as they moved toward the makeshift bed.
Joel went ahead and fell into the small pile of blankets and was surprised at just how comfortable it was. Jimmy had always looked nice and cozy within the blankets but Joel couldn’t have guessed it would feel this nice. He let out a sigh as he sunk in deeper and Grian sent him a look. “Just get in and you’ll see.” Joel told Grian.
Grian hummed and got in, immediately understanding. “Oh wow.” Grian curled up within the layers of blankets. “It’s so warm.” Grian hadn’t realized just how cold he had been until now.
Jimmy chuckled. “I told you guys it was comfortable. Though I still prefer sleeping on the bed.” Jimmy said, running his fingers along the mattress. It wasn’t as comfortable as when he was small but it still felt nice. “I’m gonna turn out the lights now.” Jimmy warned, before reaching over them, once again ignoring the way they flinched, and shut off the lamp.
The room fell into darkness and Jimmy shifted until he was laying down in bed. “Goodnight, guys.”
“Night.”
“Goodnight.” Joel and Grian answered back. And then the room fell into silence.
…
…
…
Jimmy wasn’t sure how much time had passed, it couldn’t have been long, but he had yet to fall asleep no matter how much he tossed and turned. His mind was still awake with the events of the last several hours and he couldn’t shake the feeling of just how insane all of this was.
He turned over so that he was facing the nightstand. In the cover of darkness, he could only just barely make out Grian and Joel’s small figures. Jimmy frowned as he took them in, their eyes closed and their chests going up and down with steady breaths. That was supposed to be him. This is what Grian and Joel saw every single day, his tiny form snuggled up in blankets otherwise far too big for him.
Jimmy wetted his lips, and he couldn’t help himself as he reached out and gently laid a finger on one of the tiny forms. The figure underneath his finger flinched and Jimmy snapped his hand back, his eyes wide. “Grian? Joel? Are…are you guys still awake too?” Jimmy asked, quiet enough that if they were still asleep he hopefully wouldn’t wake them.
As it was, he watched as Grian and Joel both sat up from their positions. Grian glanced over at Joel, unaware he had also been awake until now. “Seems like it.” Grian said with a sigh.
Jimmy sat up and reached above them to turn back on the lamp. The room flooded with light, briefly blinding all of them. As Jimmy’s eyesight came back, he looked down at the two shrunken humans. “I guess we all got stuff on our minds, huh?” Jimmy said and Grian and Joel nodded in agreement.
“Like just how crazy this all is.” Joel said quietly, staring down at his own hands that were now tinier than life.
Jimmy agreed with that. This was certainly all very crazy. Jimmy looked down at his own hands and bit his lip. He was still curious and maybe now he understood Grian and Joel’s want to hold him better because he was feeling the same way toward the two of them. He swallowed the forming lump in his throat. “Hey, can I…” Jimmy trailed off, feeling awkward for even trying to ask.
“Can you what?” Grian asked, though his tone was a lot softer than Jimmy had been expecting.
Jimmy took a deep breath. “Can I…hold you guys?” Jimmy asked, not looking at the two as he waited for their answer.
Grian and Joel both tensed as an immediate reaction to the idea. Despite having already been held before, the idea of it happening again was still terrifying. But still, this was Jimmy. And the two of them could understand better than anyone of wanting to hold a borrower. The two sent each other silent looks, communicating with their gazes. Grian nodded and Joel sighed but also nodded.
“Yeah, Jim.” Grian answered and Jimmy finally looked up to stare at them with wide eyes. He had honestly not been expecting them to agree.
“Really?” Jimmy asked.
“Yeah, just, ya know…be careful.” Joel said and Jimmy nodded rapidly. Of course he would be careful. He might not have experience on this end of things, but he liked to think his experience on the other end of it would make him pretty good at this part.
Jimmy carefully brought his hand closer and Grian and Joel tried very hard not to flinch at the approaching hand this time. However, instead of grabbing them like before, Jimmy set down his hand palm up in front of them. Looking up at his face showed them he was giving them a gentle smile. “Whenever you’re ready.” Jimmy said, willing to wait as long as he needed to.
Grian and Joel sent each other another look and surprisingly, Joel was the first one to step forward. Grian, not wanting to be shown up by Joel, was close behind and pretty soon the two of them had climbed on and seated themselves down in the center of Jimmy’s palm.
Jimmy brought them over and settled his hand with the two of them over his lap, his other hand coming over and adding to the surface area, just in case the two needed more room. Now that they were safe and away from the craziness of before, Jimmy could actually take a second and process the fact that Grian and Joel were literally in his hands.
He could just barely feel their weight at all. Even the two of them combined wasn’t enough for Jimmy to really notice it. In fact, the two of them could fit comfortably on just one of his hands, let alone both of them. His thumb came up and nudged Joel on the side, watching the way Joel tried not to react very much to it and failing miserably.
On Grian and Joel’s side of things, they too were taking everything in a lot more than they could before, when they were still trying to figure out what to do. Grian couldn’t help but run his hand over the skin of Jimmy’s. He could feel the heat rolling off of the skin in waves and once again, the warmth made Grian realize just how cold he was. He knew smaller beings got cold a lot easier and Jimmy had also told them as much, that borrowers were more susceptible to the cold. But experiencing it first hand was something else.
Experiencing actually being on a hand, first hand, was also quite the mind boggle.
Joel shifted in his place, trying hard to act brave and not react to the giant finger nudging at him. He tried not to think about how that one finger could crush him like it was nothing. He shook his head angrily at himself. Jimmy would never do that, it was just his stupid fear getting in the way. He trusted Jimmy implicitly, even if their roles were now reversed and Jimmy held all the power in the situation now.
Jimmy continued to stare down at them, a question on the tip of his tongue. “Is this how it always is for you guys?” Jimmy felt the question leave him before he could properly think about it.
“Huh?” Grian let out a noise of confusion and Jimmy glanced away for a moment.
“Like…holding me and stuff. Is it always so…?” Jimmy trailed off, not even really knowing how to describe it. “It’s like…you’re just so small and yet you trust me enough to let me hold you?” Was the only real way Jimmy could think of to describe how he was feeling about this.
Grian blinked and then his eyes softened. “Oh.” He said gently, almost just a breath instead of an actual word. “Yeah. It…it’s sort of always like that. Holding you never really gets old because it’s just so…” Grian trailed off and looked to Joel, who continued.
“Amazing.” Joel finished Grian’s sentence. “Like you said, it’s the whole trust aspect of it. You barely even react to us grabbing you anymore and you always look so comfortable in our hands…it hard not to stare in awe sometimes.” Joel admitted. Jimmy nodded along. He could understand all of that, now better than ever. He felt like all he wanted to do was stare and poke at his friends.
“Is it…” Grian started, wetting his lips before continuing. “Is it always like this for you?”
It was Jimmy’s turn to be confused. “Like…what?”
“Terrifying.” Joel chimed in, looking down.
“Do you always feel so…small, compared to us? Like, we know you are small but…do you always feel like it?” Grian asked and Jimmy really had to think about that question.
“I mean…kind of? I am constantly hit with the sheer size difference between us and especially in your hands I feel my size most of all. But while I feel small it’s not a bad feeling. Maybe it’s because I’m used to it but feeling small is just normal for me. And the two of you make being small feel…nice.” Jimmy said earnestly.
“Nice, huh?” Joel said with a small exhale. “I mean, I guess I can kinda see the appeal.” Being in Jimmy’s hand was still a lot but even Joel could admit he was slowly relaxing more and more within the hold.
Jimmy hummed. “Well, you haven’t even been on a human’s chest yet.” Jimmy said with a grin and then shifted around so he was laying on his back, before carefully letting Grian and Joel off his hand and onto his chest. “I think you’ll see why this is my favorite place to sleep.”
Grian and Joel wobbled on the uneven surface of Jimmy’s chest and then paused as they could feel the giant heart beating against said chest. Their eyes widened. “Is that your heart?” Joel whispered in awe.
“Yep.” Jimmy said with a smile, watching as his two friends walked around on his chest. For the moment, Jimmy decided to try and ignore just how weird the sight was.
Grian kneeled down and pressed his hand against Jimmy’s chest, his eyes wide at the consistent thudding heart underneath his finger tips. “Wow.” Was all Grian could really say.
Joel took it a step further and completely laid down, pressing his ear up against the chest. Grian waited for Joel to do or say something but when he didn’t, Grian followed his lead and laid down too. “It’s so loud.” Grian said, though even with how loud it was, he felt mesmerized by it.
“Yep and when paired with this…” Jimmy placed his hand down over the two of them, like a blanket. As the gentle weight settled over them, Grian and Joel couldn’t help but relax for what felt like the first time all day. The warmth mixed with the steady beat of Jimmy’s heart underneath them was so comforting.
“...I’m usually out like a light.” Jimmy continued, his voice now a whisper as he realized Grian and Joel had closed their eyes. Their breathing was steady and Jimmy smiled at their relaxed expressions.
Jimmy hummed as he moved to get a bit more comfortable, careful not to jostle his friends too much. While he obviously knew that being on the small end of this was comforting, what he didn’t know was being on the big end was too. Feeling their tiny forms against his hand, knowing they were safe, it brought Jimmy more comfort than he had felt since waking up big.
He closed his eyes and with Grian and Joel close to his heart, he let sleep take him too.
***
The next day they woke up to the sound of knocking on their door. Jimmy had been nervous wondering who it could be before they had all realized they slept in and it was Skizz knocking on the door, ready to head to the fair. Jimmy had to let them know they would be a minute and they quickly all got dressed. Jimmy had slipped Grian and Joel back into Grian’s hoodie pocket and then opened the door and left with Skizz back to the fair.
Jimmy’s stomach grumbled, especially as they passed by all the different kinds of food, but they needed to find the witch and fix this first, before he could even think about eating.
They came across the same tent as before, and this time the sign was back up, announcing the Amazing Witch Aria to the world. Jimmy and Skizz nodded at each other and then went inside.
“Ah, welcome in-Oh!” Aria cut herself off as she realized she recognized her guests. “The borrowers! How is your revenge going? I hope you are repaying those lousy humans in kind for what they did to you.” Aria said, sneering at the mention of the humans again.
Jimmy stepped forward. “You’ve got it all wrong!” He exclaimed, causing Aria to blink in surprise.
“Sorry?” She said, confused.
Skizz matched Jimmy’s step forward. “Look, we tried to tell you before, but we weren’t in any danger. These humans,” Skizz cupped his hand over the chest pocket holding Impulse and Tango. “They’re our friends.”
Aria blinked, processing this new information. Her eyes widened. “Oh my goodness! Wait, really?”
Both Jimmy and Skizz nodded.
“I am so sorry. I just…I saw the two of you and I just assumed…” Aria shook her head and bent her head down toward them. “I’m sorry.”
Skizz sighed. “I guess I can sort of understand the assumption but you really should have talked to us about it first. We could have avoided all of this.”
Jimmy bit his lip. “Um…you can fix this though, right? Turn us all back to the right size?”
Aria stood up straighter. “Of course! As long as everyone is here, it’s no problem.” Jimmy and Skizz, as well as the humans in their pocket, sighed in relief. Jimmy and Skizz brought the humans out of their pockets and onto the table in between them and Aria. “I’m sorry, I was only trying to protect the borrowers.” Aria apologized, looking guilty.
Impulse rubbed the back of his neck. “We appreciate you looking out for borrower kind, but like Skizz said, maybe talk to them first?”
Aria nodded. “Yes, I will do that next time. I promise.” She brought out her wand. “Now, just stay still and…”
“Wait!” Grian suddenly shouted, all eyes falling on him. Aria tilted her head and Grian continued. “Is…is there any way for Jimmy and Skizz to stay this size? And for all of us to be the same size?” Grian asked a bit nervously.
Jimmy and Skizz’s eyes widened at the request. They hadn’t even thought of that.
Unfortunately, Aria shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, but unless you want some other humans to take their place, I’m afraid it’s not possible. Magic is an exchange. In order to grow one thing, something else of equal value has to shrink. It was hard enough for me to grow two and shrink four by exchanging it that way.”
Grian sighed but nodded. “Right. I understand.”
“It’s okay, Grian.” Jimmy said, giving Grian a smile. “Thank you for trying, but I think I’d rather go back to my regular size anyway.”
“Same here.” Skizz chimed in.
Grian looked between the two and smiled.
Aria lifted her wand again. “Are you ready?” At all of their nods, Aria waved her wand and flicked it toward them, a brilliant shining light filling the room.
A few minutes later, Grian, Joel, Impulse, and Tango exited the tent, now back to their regular human heights. Jimmy was carefully tucked away in Grian’s hoodie pocket again and Skizz was likewise hidden in Impulse’s chest one.
“So…food?” Tango suggested and they all agreed. They were starving after everything that had happened in the past day. As they looked around for something filling to eat, Grian couldn’t help but let out a content sigh.
“It feels good being back to normal.” Grian said.
And from within his pocket, leaning against his hand, Jimmy couldn’t help but agree.
Summary: While waiting for Tango to get back, Impulse suddenly enters the room. Some discoveries are made on both ends and Jimmy finally meets Imp and Skizz for the first time.
Word Count: 5273
AO3 Link
It's finally here!!! The fic you have all been waiting for! Jimmy meets Impulse and Skizz for the very first time! I hope you guys enjoy!
“And so then finally Impy opened up to me a bit more and we became friends. To the point where Impulse was willing to room with me again the next year.” Tango finished off his story with a smile. He was currently laid on his bed, sitting slightly up and against his pillows and the wall. Jimmy, the one he was telling the story to, had started off on his chest but had slowly wandered his way down to Tango’s stomach throughout the story.
It was strange having someone so tiny walk on him but at the same time, he could barely feel it. If he were to let his mind wander and take his focus away from Jimmy, it would be easy to let his small weight slip from his mind. Not that Tango could do that even if he wanted to. He was very aware of Jimmy all the time. “But Impulse still likes to keep the divider up.” Tango pointed his thumb off to the side, where the large divider hid Impulse’s side of the room from view. “Guy likes his privacy I guess. Can’t say I blame him though.”
Jimmy nodded and looked toward the divider. Though he was used to it now after coming to hang out in Tango’s room multiple times, it was still a bit strange to see, especially in comparison to the open area of Grian and Joel’s dorm. “Well, it works out for us.” Jimmy said, moving his eyes away from the divider and back to Tango. “It means there’s less of a chance Impulse will see me if he suddenly comes in.”
Tango hummed in agreement but was then quiet for a moment. Jimmy looked over at him at the sudden silence and noticed the slight furrow of his brows that usually signified Tango was in deep thought. Jimmy was just about to question him on what he was thinking when Tango beat him to the punch. “By the way, no pressure or anything of course, but have you thought about…ya know…possibly meeting our other friends? Like Impulse?” Tango asked curiously, watching Jimmy’s face closely for his reaction.
Jimmy blinked and glanced over at the wall to think for a moment, turning back to meet Tango’s eyes a moment later. “I have and…they honestly sound really great. I would love to but, I mean, I just don’t know if I’m ready yet. Besides, it’s only been, what, a month since I officially met you? I think…I want to give it some more time.” Jimmy paused but then smiled at Tango. “But I do eventually want to meet them all, yeah.”
Tango smiled back at Jimmy. “That’s perfectly fine. You take all the time you need.” Tango was just happy that Jimmy was willing at all. He knew for sure Jimmy would get along great with the rest of their friends. But for now, he would settle with telling him stories about them and their hangout, in preparation for Jimmy to meet them.
Tango opened his mouth to say something else, but paused when his stomach grumbled angrily.
Jimmy let out a small noise of surprise, not quite a full on yelp but close. He sat up straighter, his hands jumping away from where they had rested against Tango’s stomach. He could feel the grumble of Tango’s stomach, the vibration it created moving him ever so slightly. It was…very weird. Jimmy looked down at Tango’s stomach with wide eyes. He’d obviously heard the rumble of human stomachs before, but never when he had been on them. He looked back up at Tango, his eyes still huge.
Tango chuckled, though he did at least look sheepish, especially as his laughter caused Jimmy to bounce slightly. He forced himself to stop laughing and cleared his throat. “Sorry, I think that’s my body telling me it’s time for lunch.” Despite the awkward angle, Tango reached over toward the nightstand to grab his phone, being wary of Jimmy still sitting on his stomach. He looked at the time and hummed. “Yeah, it’s already one. Probably should go grab something.” He glanced back down at Jimmy. “Feel like staying for lunch?”
Jimmy nodded, grinning. “Yes, please! Grian and Joel won’t be back from their classes for a couple more hours anyway.”
“Sounds like a plan then.” Tango shifted slightly, realizing this was not a good position for ordering food. So he reached his hand down and carefully cupped it behind Jimmy before moving to sit up. Jimmy looked behind him at the hand now at his back but otherwise didn’t so much as blink as Tango sat up and caused him to slide fully onto it. “You feel like anything in particular?” Tango asked, already opening his phone up to the many food apps on it now that he was in a better position.
Jimmy righted himself and settled more comfortably on Tango’s hand as he thought for a moment before shrugging. It was very rare for him to have a preference on what to eat, usually perfectly content to let his humans choose. They knew a lot better than him in this department anyway. “Whatever you want is fine by me.”
Tango hummed and looked through his food apps. “Honestly, I’ve been craving Mexican food lately. Specifically from this one restaurant. Only problem is they don’t deliver.” Tango put his phone down. “I could run and grab it since it’s only about a ten minute drive from here. Do you want to come with me?” Tango asked but Jimmy shook his head.
“I’m okay, I can just wait here.” Jimmy replied. The thought of going to a busy place like a restaurant or grocery store always had Jimmy feeling nervous. So far, he had managed to stay behind when any of his humans were going out, and Jimmy still intended to keep it that way.
Perhaps eventually they’d manage to drag him out to a restaurant and such, but he was more than okay delaying that for as long as possible.
“Alright, if you’re sure.” Tango lifted the hand holding Jimmy and set it down on the nightstand so Jimmy could get off himself. Jimmy did so, hopping off Tango’s hand and standing up straight, lifting his arms up to stretch once he was back on solid ground.
Tango watched him fondly for a moment, a small smile gracing his lips. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe that Jimmy was real. That all of this was real. He was so impossibly tiny and yet despite their size difference, Jimmy had still wanted to be his friend. Jimmy finished stretching and looked over at Tango, who startled at the sudden eye contact and snapped his gaze away from Jimmy. Jimmy blinked but let out a fond huff when he realized what Tango had been doing.
With Grian, Joel, and now Tango, Jimmy had gotten used to the long stares and fond looks his humans liked to give him.
Tango cleared his throat to try and expel the embarrassment of having been caught staring before standing up. He grabbed his wallet and keys, which were on his nightstand to Jimmy’s right. “I shouldn’t be too long.” Tango said. “You sure you’ll be alright?”
Jimmy nodded. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.” Jimmy said and Tango hummed in response before heading toward the door. He sent Jimmy one last wave before exiting his room and closing and locking the door behind him.
Jimmy leaned back against the lamp and let himself relax, knowing it was going to be at least a half hour before Tango came back. He opened up his bag, something he always took with him when visiting with Tango, and pulled out his sewing supplies. He was currently working on his stitching, trying to get as precise as Cleo did on his clothes. He knew he didn’t need to worry about making his own clothes anymore, something he was still very thankful for, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have other ideas he wanted to do. Besides, working on his little project was a good distraction while he waited for Tango to come back.
It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes later, just as Jimmy had finished up his fourth stitch, that he heard the familiar sound of a key in a lock. He glanced up toward the door, briefly wondering how Tango had been able to get back so fast. But those thoughts quickly disappeared as someone who was certainly not Tango walked in.
In a panic, Jimmy quickly rose from his spot and rushed behind the lamp to hide, all the while shoving his sewing supplies back into his bag. As his back hit the lamp, he froze, his breathing paused as he waited to see if he had been spotted. Thankfully, there was no sudden gasp or surprised yelling to be heard. The human only closed the door and walked onto the other side of the divider, missing Jimmy entirely. Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief, though his body didn’t relax just yet.
Jimmy peeked his head out from behind the lamp but, other than a few shadows, he couldn’t see anything past the divider. Still, if this human had a key to the room, this could only be Impulse, the human he had heard so much about. Jimmy decided to continue watching as the shadow of Impulse moved further into his side of the room.
“Huh, I thought for sure Tango would be here.” The human spoke out loud to himself. Jimmy was taken aback by the sudden voice but quickly recovered and continued to listen.
There was a moment of pause as Impulse’s shadow showed him setting his bag down by the foot of his bed. “Right, yeah, he probably went out to get something to eat.” Impulse spoke again but Jimmy frowned at the strange wording. It was almost as if he had answered someone else… Jimmy quickly reminded himself that phones were a thing that existed and rolled his eyes. Impulse was probably just talking to someone over the phone, which would make a lot of sense considering Jimmy couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation.
“Well, I can’t imagine Tango will be out long but gotta get any chance we can right? Wanna come on out?” Impulse said after another brief silence and Jimmy couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows in confusion. Okay, that was weird. Jimmy might still be unaware of a lot of human sayings and such but he was pretty sure that was a weird thing to say to someone over the phone.
Impulse’s words were followed by the sound of some faint shuffling and Jimmy found himself stepping away from the lamp and heading more towards the middle of the nightstand in the hopes he could see better. He could still really only make out a blob of shadows, but he definitely wasn’t seeing an added blob of someone else. So just who was Impulse talking to?
“Finally! I thought I was gonna suffocate in there with how long those classes were.” Another voice suddenly spoke up and Jimmy froze. He knew perfectly well how voices sounded when on the phone, speaker or otherwise. There was always this sort of static to the voice, no matter how good the quality of the call. That being said, the voice did not have that static overlay to it. No, it…it sounded like it was actually in the same room.
“You say that, and yet, who is the one who always asks to come with me?” Impulse said with a slight teasing tone.
“Well, okay, maybe your pocket is comfortable. Maybe. But I stand by the fact that those classes were too long!” The other voice exclaimed and despite the fact that his words were exclaimed, his voice was not nearly as loud as Impulse’s.
Phone calls were loud, especially when they were put on speaker. The voice mixed with the background and static added by the phone always grated on Jimmy’s nerves because of how loud it was. And though the voice wasn’t undisguisable, obviously since Jimmy could hear him just fine even from the other side of the room, it was so clearly quieter than that of a phone call.
And then his actual words hit Jimmy like a train and he felt frozen there on the nightstand as the realization washed over him.
It couldn’t be. There was no way. It had been so long… too long. And the fact he was also with a human was just too much of a coincidence. It couldn’t be…
But who else would talk about how comfortable a pocket was?!
That other voice was a borrower, it had to be.
Impulse had a borrower with him.
He could barely believe it, but here it was right in front of him. After all this time without seeing another borrower, the one he does finally find also seemed to be friends with a human. They had to be friends, a borrower wouldn’t otherwise talk so casually with a human or go to classes with one in their pocket.
It was crazy and coincidental and Jimmy didn’t know how to process this information.
“Where did my charger go?” Impulse’s voice cut through Jimmy’s thoughts and he focused back, realizing he had missed a bit of the conversation. There were some more shuffling noises, most likely caused by Impulse looking around for his charger.
“Tango might have taken it again.” The borrower said and man, Jimmy was not going to get over that. “Cause I swear it was plugged in and hanging off your nightstand when we left this morning.”
Impulse hummed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He sighed. “Tango really needs to find his own charger. Because one of these days he’s gonna lose mine.” Impulse chuckled a bit, his tone full of semi-fake annoyance. The borrower laughed as well, more heartily than Impulse had, and, though he didn’t know why, Jimmy’s heart hurt at the sound.
Another borrower was right there. So close and yet so far.
Even though he had tuned back into the conversation, Jimmy was still so shocked that he didn’t realize what the conversation actually meant. Not until it was already too late and Impulse was rounding the divider into Tango’s half of the room. Jimmy’s breath hitched as Impulse came into view but he felt frozen to his spot. Jimmy could only stand there helplessly as he watched Impulse’s eyes scan the room looking for his charger, only for them to suddenly lock onto Jimmy.
Impulse’s eyes widened.
Jimmy couldn’t breathe.
“What the…” Impulse practically breathed out, the words barely loud enough for even Jimmy to hear. He felt stuck by the human’s gaze and it was only after Impulse took a step forward that Jimmy finally managed to unstick himself. He scrambled backwards until his back came into contact with something solid. He jumped, only to realize it was the lamp, which he continued to press back against as his eyes never left Impulse’s.
To Jimmy’s shock, though maybe he really shouldn’t have been considering Impulse’s borrower friend, Impulse seemed to deflate a little seeing how scared Jimmy was. He raised his hands in a placating gesture as his eyes went sad. “Oh, wait, it’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” Impulse tried to reassure, his voice continuing to be soft, quiet, and steady. And then he did something no other human he met thus far had done. Those same hands he had just raised were quickly placed behind his back, hiding them from sight. Jimmy blinked, realizing what the gesture meant.
“Dop? What’s going on over there?” The other borrower called out from past the divider, still on Impulse’s side of the room. Both Jimmy and Impulse looked over in that direction at the sudden voice, despite the fact that neither of them could see past the divider. Impulse looked back over at Jimmy, noticing his gaze had also been pointed toward Skizz’s voice.
Impulse took a step back, keeping his hands behind his back and his eyes on Jimmy as he turned his face slightly in order to reply back. “Skizz, you are never going to believe this.” Impulse said, his voice now only slightly louder than a breath. Due to the lack of anything happening and no longer feeling like he was being backed into a corner, Jimmy felt safe enough to push himself off against the lamp and take a few steps forward.
Impulse seemed to notice this and gave a small smile. “That’s my buddy Skizz.” Impulse said, motioning over toward his side of the room with a tilt of his head. “He’s like you. A borrower.”
Again, Jimmy had gathered as much already but actually hearing Impulse say it? It made it all the more real.
“Wait…Impulse are you actually saying-?!” Impulse cut Skizz off, though not unkindly.
“Yeah, Skizz. I’m…I’m looking at another borrower.” Impulse said and it made Jimmy wonder if Skizz was in the same boat as him. That he, too, hadn’t seen another borrower in a very long time.
Based on both of their reactions, Jimmy could guess it was more than likely.
Jimmy met Impulse’s gaze again and, somehow, the human’s gaze softened even more. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Impulse said again, feeling the need to reiterate that. “Skizz could tell you as much.”
“Y-Yeah! Impulse wouldn’t hurt a fly! I would know, I’m the one who usually ends up killing all the bugs in the place.” Skizz said, ending with a laugh. The way his voice stuttered though, Jimmy could tell he was still reeling from the shock. Much like he still was.
Slowly but surely, Jimmy felt himself relax. It was clear to see what was going on here and he knew, without a doubt, he could trust Impulse. And not just because he was Grian, Joel, and Tango’s friend. But having the word of a borrower on a human’s side, even if Jimmy didn’t know said borrower, was still not to be taken lightly. And since Skizz was so adamant that Impulse was good, Jimmy felt perfectly safe to drop his guard.
This whole situation was certainly a sharp contrast from his past experiences meeting humans. But it was far from an unwelcome one.
“I believe you.” Jimmy said softly, pleased to note his voice didn’t waver. He looked Impulse in the eyes. “I know that you won’t hurt me.” Jimmy said, his lips forming a small smile.
Jimmy watched as Impulse relaxed, a look of relief on his face. Though there was also a hint of confusion as well. “Really?” He asked.
Jimmy nodded and pointed with his thumb in Skizz’s direction past the divider. “I mean, you do have a pretty valid source.”
“He sure does!” Skizz exclaimed once more. Jimmy couldn’t help but note his voice seemed to have changed though. It was a bit closer and seemed more out of breath. Before Jimmy could ponder on that too long though, Impulse spoke again, gaining back his attention.
“Right, I guess I do.” Impulse said with a fond chuckle. His hands slowly fell back to his sides and Jimmy didn’t so much as flinch at the movement.
“And uh…I’m actually pretty familiar with humans anyway.” Jimmy admitted, albeit a bit hesitant. He didn’t know why he felt a bit nervous at revealing that but he was. Jimmy watched as Impulse’s confused look came back.
“Wait, what do you-” Impulse cut himself off suddenly though, as movement had caught his eye and he looked down. “Whoa, Skizz, what are you doing?”
“I couldn’t just stay put knowing there’s another borrower over here!” Skizz exclaimed, his voice more clear now that he was past the divider. Jimmy blinked and rushed over to the edge of the nightstand, kneeling down to look over the edge. He only managed to catch a flash of movement though before a hook being thrown up caused him to scramble back and yelp in surprise.
The hook caught on the grain of the wood and Jimmy watched with wide eyes as the string tensed with the weight of someone climbing on it. Jimmy waited with bated breath, only for that breath to catch in his throat when a hand shot up and gripped the edge of the nightstand. Jimmy continued to watch as Skizz then used that hand to hoist himself the rest of the way up.
As Skizz righted himself, his gaze fell on Jimmy and their eyes met. They both froze, looking at each other with barely concealed awe. It had been so long since Jimmy had seen another borrower. He almost couldn’t believe there was another of his kind right in front of him.
It almost made tears come to Jimmy’s eyes. He’d been around people so much bigger than him for months now, and nobody long before that. And though he loved his humans dearly, it was still never quite the same as having someone his own size there next to him. And Jimmy could see that clearer than ever now that he was meeting Skizz eye to eye.
He took in his features almost hungrily, noticing the fact that Skizz seemed to be a few centimeters taller than him first. From there, he took note of his black hair and bright blue eyes, a sharp contrast to Jimmy’s own hazel eyes and blond hair. Jimmy also took note of the faded scars that lined his arms and face. That was a little concerning, but then again, even with a human by your side being a borrower could be dangerous.
His clothes also seemed hand stitched, of course, though not with the same precision that Jimmy’s clothes were made with. Jimmy realized either Skizz was doing it himself, or perhaps Impulse had taken up the task. Either way, neither were as precise as Cleo. He didn’t think anyone could be as precise as Cleo though.
Jimmy looked back up at Skizz’s face and realized Skizz must have also been looking him up and down. Their eyes met again and Skizz’s face morphed from shock and awe to glee as a large grin overtook his features. He took a step forward, finally breaking the silence that had fallen over the entire room as soon as their eyes had met. “I can’t believe it.” Skizz said, his voice soft, quiet. Though not for long. “You’re real!”
Jimmy couldn’t help but snort out a laugh at that. “So are you!” Jimmy said, a large grin forming on his own face to match Skizz’s.
“Man I…I haven’t seen another borrower in ages! It’s just…wow. Heh.” Skizz let out a little laugh, still grinning even as he wiped at his eyes. Impulse couldn’t help but take a step forward, worried for his friend.
“Skizz?” Impulse asked, his tone very much showing off that worry.
“Sorry.” Skizz’s laugh was wet this time. “I’m not really sure why I’m crying.” Skizz wiped away some more tears before he looked back up and met Jimmy’s gaze again, grinning even wider. “Looks like I’m not the only one though.”
Jimmy blinked and reached up, feeling that his cheeks were wet. Oh. He laughed. He supposed meeting another borrower for the first time in 7 years really was getting to him. Jimmy wiped at his eyes and as he opened them again he realized Skizz had stepped closer. “Hey, I know we just met and all but…can I hug you?”
Jimmy blinked, eyes wide at the request. But he couldn’t find it in himself to deny it. In fact, he wanted that hug too. Just as badly. “Y-Yeah.” Jimmy stuttered out and that was all Skizz needed before he closed the gap between them and surrounded Jimmy in a bear hug.
And oh.
Oh.
Jimmy hadn’t hugged a person his size in so long. Hugs between him and Grian or Joel were nice, don’t get him wrong. He loved the way they had figured out how to hug. But it didn’t beat the way someone's arms would wrap around your body and squeeze you without the risk of it being too much. Jimmy lifted his hands and finally returned the hug, putting just as much force behind his squeeze as Skizz and burying his face into Skizz’s shoulder.
He’d almost forgotten how this felt.
He never wanted to forget again.
It felt like they were standing there forever just holding each other and hugging but really it couldn’t have been more than a minute before they broke off the hug. Though as they separated, Skizz remained close, keeping a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. Jimmy couldn’t help but be thankful for the contact, the feeling grounding him.Their tears had all but dried though Jimmy still felt like he could start up again at any moment.
Skizz grinned at him and then turned back toward Impulse. “Dude! Are you seeing this?!” Skizz said and Impulse chuckled. His hands were now crossed in front of him as he looked down at Skizz fondly. Jimmy was reminded of the way Grian, Joel, or even Tango would look at him sometimes and smiled.
“I am! I can’t believe we’re meeting another borrower.” Impulse said with a large grin and Jimmy could just tell how happy Impulse was for his friend.
“I know, right!” Skizz said and then his eyes widened a bit, as if he suddenly realized something. He turned back to Jimmy, giving him a sheepish smile. “Geez, where are my manners? Sorry, it's been a while since I’ve met someone new. And by a while, I mean the last new person I met was this guy over here.” Skizz joked, motioning toward the human before continuing. “Anyways, I’m Skizz and that’s Impulse. What’s your name?”
Jimmy smiled, of course he had already known their names, Impulse’s from his own friends, and Skizz’s from hearing it over the course of the last few minutes. But it was nice to have some proper introductions. “I’m Jimmy.” Jimmy said simply but with excitement still coursing through him. He still couldn’t believe there was another borrower in front of him.
“Well, it’s nice to meet ya Jimmy! I gotta be honest, you’re taking all of this,” Skizz pointed back and forth between himself and Impulse. “A lot better than I thought another borrower would. I thought you’d at least have some questions.”
“I mean, I do have some questions.” Jimmy said, looking between the two, almost following Skizz’s movements as he had pointed. Though he hadn’t seen a lot, he could already tell the two were really comfortable with one another. Which told Jimmy that they had to have known each other for quite a while already. “But like I was telling Impulse before, I’m pretty used to humans already.”
Skizz blinked at that, his head tilting in confusion and his brows furrowed. “Wait, do you mean-” Skizz started but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
Everyone froze as their eyes snapped over to the door, watching as Tango opened and closed the door behind him without actually looking into the room first. From what Jimmy could see, he was holding a plastic bag full of food. “Hey, sorry about that, it took a bit longer to get there than I-” Tango cut himself off and froze as he turned around and noticed that Impulse was in the room.
Impulse very quickly and deliberately moved in front of Jimmy and Skizz in order to block Tango from seeing the two. Tango noticed this immediately since that was where he had left Jimmy before he had gone out. Tango cleared his throat, trying to smile despite his growing worry. “Hey Impy! I didn’t know you’d be back so soon…uh, whatcha doing on my side of the room?” His voice was a bit higher due to his nerves and he prayed Impulse didn’t notice.
“Oh! Uh, just looking for my charger.” Impulse said, also hoping Tango wouldn’t notice how nervous he was. Both humans were terrible liars but fortunately, they were so worried about how they themselves were appearing, that neither noticed how bad the other was as well.
Skizz used this opportunity to turn to Jimmy, his eyes determined as his grip on Jimmy’s shoulder shifted down to his wrist. “Come on, Impulse will keep Tango distracted while we hide.” Skizz whispered and then wasted no time in pulling Jimmy over to the edge of the nightstand. Jimmy blinked before pulling back and gently getting his wrist out of Skizz’s grip. Skizz stopped and looked at him, confused. “Jimmy? What are you doing? Impulse can only distract him for so long.”
“No, it’s okay! Tango…Tango actually knows about me already.” Jimmy explained and watched as Skizz’s eyes went wide with shock. “But you go ahead. I understand if you don’t want another human knowing about you. I’ll wait until you're hidden to get Tango’s attention.”
Skizz blinked and suddenly looked like he was in deep thought. His eyes went from Jimmy’s to Impulse’s, and then toward the direction he had been pulling Jimmy to, before finally he settled back onto Jimmy himself. He let out a small breath. “You trust Tango?”
Jimmy’s eyes widened. He thought back toward the entirety of the last month, of him hanging out with Tango when he could and getting to know him better. The beginning might have been a little rough but Tango had saved him. And since then Tango had been nothing but kind and careful. Jimmy didn’t hesitate to nod. “Yeah, I do.”
Skizz thought for another moment before nodding to himself. “Alright, then I won’t hide either.” He walked back so he was standing at Jimmy’s side once again.
“Really?” Jimmy was a bit shocked at that. Sure, Skizz was friends with a human already but Jimmy was far too aware of just how nerve wracking it could still be to meet another one.
“Well, if he’s got your approval then I don’t see why not.” He shrugged. “Besides, Tango has been Impulse’s roommate for, like, two years now. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about wanting to meet the guy.”
Jimmy smiled. “You won’t regret it.”
Skizz laughed. “I better not.” He joked and Jimmy chuckled before turning his attention back up toward the humans.
The two were still talking though from what Jimmy caught it was still the same nervous back and forth from when they had first started. Jimmy caught Skizz’ gaze once more and with one more nod from Skizz, Jimmy took in a deep breath and cupped his hands over his mouth. “Impulse! It’s okay, Tango is my friend!” Jimmy yelled up at them.
The two humans froze, their eyes wide at each other as they processed what Jimmy had said. Impulse hesitated for a moment, looking back over his shoulder to see the two borrowers giving him a thumbs up. He was mostly surprised at Skizz also agreeing but he moved out of the way despite that, letting Tango see the two borrowers standing on his nightstand.
Tango’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Jimmy and Skizz, his gaze occasionally going to Impulse as well. Jimmy could just see Tango’s mind racing a mile a minute as he tried to piece together what was going on. “J-Jimmy?”
Jimmy smiled, though it came out more sheepish than he had intended. “Tango…I’d like you to meet Skizz.” Jimmy introduced and then looked at Skizz again, his eyes going soft. “He’s a borrower…like me.”
Skizz was fourteen when he finally felt brave enough to go back into the walls.
It was on a random day, a school day, Skizz was reminded as he woke up and saw Impulse stuffing his bag with homework before moving to gather some clothes to get changed with. Skizz yawned and turned away, allowing himself a few extra minutes of shut eye before Impulse came over to ‘wake’ him up.
Skizz listened to the shifting and shuffling of Impulse getting ready as he burrowed himself more into his own blankets. He was currently on Impulse’s nightstand in a small blanket that Impulse had wrapped around many times to make a sort of nest for Skizz to sleep in. Skizz always went back and forth between this spot and under the bed when it came to sleeping. Sometimes, he would even sleep on Impulse, it always depended.
But he had been on the nightstand last night, so it was a lot easier for Impulse to come over and nudge at him gently with a finger. “Come on Skizz, I know you aren’t actually sleeping.” Impulse said and Skizz groaned. After four years, it was hard to hide anything from Impulse anymore. Even something as simple as pretending to still be asleep.
Skizz huffed and turned himself over, glaring up at Impulse as Impulse simply returned the look with a smile. “Unless you want to make me late for school, you better start getting ready.” Impulse said, his arms were crossed but his tone was light.
Skizz groaned but finally sat up, raising his arms up in order to stretch them. Impulse watched him fondly, a look that Skizz was far too used to at this point. “Actually,” Skizz started, looking off to the side. “I think I’m gonna stay here today, if that’s alright with you.” Skizz said with a simple shrug, although his heart was beating a bit faster than normal. It had nothing to do with Impulse, however, but of Skizz’s well thought out plans for the day once Impulse actually left.
Impulse blinked, confused. “Oh-I mean, yeah of course.” Impulse said, his confusion slowly turning into a smile. It wasn’t like this was the first time Skizz hadn’t gone with him to school. It just hadn’t really happened in a while. “Did you need me to set anything out for you?” Impulse asked as he reached over and slung his backpack over his shoulder.
Skizz thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. There wasn’t really anything Impulse could give to him for what he needed to do. “Nah, I’m okay.” Skizz said and Impulse nodded.
“If you’re sure. I’ll see you after school then. Make sure to hide if you hear mom coming up though.” Impulse added on at the end, a bit of worry seeping through his tone.
Skizz rolled his eyes affectionately. “I know, I know.” Even after so many years of knowing each other and keeping Skizz hidden, Impulse still couldn’t help but be worried about Skizz being found out. Skizz was thankful he was so careful but at the same time, if Impulse’s parents, or anyone else for that matter, hadn’t found out about him by this point in time, then they probably never would. “Now get going or you’ll be late.” Skizz said with a slight laugh. Impulse chuckled and waved goodbye before leaving his bedroom, closing the door behind him and leaving Skizz alone.
Skizz took a few deep breaths, his smile slipping as soon as he knew Impulse was gone. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes and letting the tiredness he still felt take over him for a moment. It would be so easy for him to fall back asleep. To forget about his plan and simply get a few more hours of rest.
But Skizz needed to do this.
With a sigh, Skizz opened his eyes again and threw off the blanket in order for him to stand up fully. He stretched a bit more before reaching for his borrowing bag and hook. His borrowing bag was the only thing he still had from his previous life in the walls. And the hook had been given to him by Impulse a little after they had first met. It allowed Skizz some small sense of independence, being able to get around on his own. Not that Skizz didn’t like being carried everywhere by Impulse, but the option was nice to have.
He used his hook to get down from the nightstand and then slowly made his way over toward Impulse’s desk. Sure, he could have used the entrance underneath the bed, it was far closer after all. But Skizz needed the extra time to really think about what he was doing. Of course by taking the long way he risked bailing all together but Skizz was confident he could go through with it.
His grip on his bag strap tightened as he got closer. It had been so long since he had last been in the walls. The last time being right after he had met Impulse. Seeing the wreckage his dad had left…he hadn’t gone back since. And really, there had been no reason for him to go back. He had Impulse now, a real home where he was taken care of and had someone who actually cared about him. Why would he ever even need to go back?
…Skizz had been thinking about that question a lot lately.
Too much, some might say, especially since it had been four years since everything had happened. A good four years. The best four years of Skizz’s short life. So with such a good life now, why did his mind start to wander back into the walls? Why couldn’t he just let it go?
He thought about talking to Impulse about this, but Skizz knew this was something he had to figure out on his own. And he kind of had. Skizz had figured that the only way to stop thinking about the walls was to…go back in them. Maybe closure was what he needed. Because really, leaving how he did, with everything like that, had been far from a satisfying ending.
Skizz let out a yelp as he suddenly ran into the wall, so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t been paying attention to how close he was getting. He backed up a few steps and rubbed at his face, thankful Impulse hadn’t been around to see that.
He looked at the wall in front of him, his heart beating loud in his ears. His knuckles were turning white with how tight he was holding onto the strap of his bag and his breathing was picking up a bit more. Everything in him was screaming to turn back around and leave it.
But he had to do this.
Before he could hesitate anymore, he pushed against the wall’s secret entrance and slipped inside. The walls were dark. Far darker than he remembered them being. He rubbed at his eyes and they slowly started to adjust, but it wasn’t anywhere close to adjusting to how it used to be. All these years out of the walls must have changed his eyes.
He shook his head and pushed oneward, one hand against the walls to ground himself more than anything. He didn’t need to see much anyway, he supposed. He knew where to go, even after all this time. His body moved on instinct, turning left and then right, and left again. He was close now.
And then there it was. The hand made door that led into his old home, something his dad had made years before he had been born. He placed his hand on it and then took it off just as quickly. His mouth was dry and he already felt tears prick the corners of his eyes despite the fact he wasn’t even inside yet. He took another deep breath and placed his hand back on the door, pushing it open before he could decide otherwise.
A small part of him almost expected to see his father standing there, waiting for him. But of course, Skizz was met with an empty home. Skizz stayed in the doorway for a long moment, simply staring inside. He could see the main room from where he was and it was exactly as he had left it. Things were toppled over and broken or otherwise completely destroyed. The only difference being the thick layer of dust that had accumulated over the years.
Skizz took a step inside. And then another. And another. And soon he found himself in the center of it all. His eyes scanned over everything and he couldn’t help but remember the feeling from before. When he had seen the wreckage for the first time. He let out a shaky breath and continued further into the home. His bedroom door was open, just as he had left it. He could already see what had been ingrained in his mind since that day. His old hook and string still layed on the floor, bent and cut.
He reached toward his side and absentmindedly grazed the hook that hung at his hip.
He supposed that was as best of a place as any to start. He all but fell to his knees, wincing as he was reminded of how he had done so before, and carefully started to pick up the mess. He gathered all 18 pieces of his old string and his bent hook before standing and moving back into the main room.
There was still a small plastic bag in the area they had used to eat and store food and so Skizz threw the broken pieces of his old life into it.
He didn’t expect to feel all that different. But…he did feel a bit lighter. Throwing it away felt so final. And when he closed his eyes, the room in his mind no longer held the broken hook and string either. Skizz smiled to himself, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless.
He turned back toward the rest of the place. It was time to put this all to rest.
Skizz proceeded to spend the next several hours cleaning. He threw things that were too broken away, but if they didn’t seem too bad Skizz made an effort to try and fix it with some materials he had found lying around. He didn’t always succeed but on a few things, he managed to get it looking okay and placed it back where it had gone before. He dusted everywhere, using an old feather he found to push the dust out. And as Skizz cleaned and fixed things, it became less stuffy inside, bit by bit.
Skizz wiped some sweat off his forehead as he managed to finish both the main room and his room. Of course, things weren’t exactly the same as before. He had to throw a lot of stuff away after all. And he couldn’t exactly fix the dent in the wall. His dad had gone especially crazy inside his room. But it was as neat as it could be and that’s all that really mattered.
He didn’t live here anymore anyway, so the lack of personality was just fine by Skizz.
He left his room, throwing one last thing away and noticing the bag was starting to get too full. Thankfully, he only had one last room left to clean out. Unfortunately, that room happened to be his dad’s.
He glanced over in the direction of the closed door. Even back then, Skizz hadn’t looked in the room. He had been too distracted by how everything else looked to even think about going in there. Whatever was behind that door was a mystery to Skizz, one that scared him more than he was willing to admit.
But he was so close to getting this done. So close to that closure he sought after. He could do this one last room.
He pushed it open and what he saw behind the door…didn’t surprise him.
Most everything was just completely gone. There were a few things tossed around here and there, a few broken pieces but mostly the room itself was empty.
Skizz let out a small sigh. His dad must have taken most of his things with him when he left. Honestly, this was the best case scenario for Skizz. It meant he didn’t have to look at anything new that would remind him of his dad. He grabbed the feather and started cleaning the room, dusting the floor and throwing what little was inside away.
Coming back into the room, he made his way toward one of the only pieces of furniture left inside, a wooden handmade dresser that his dad had made around the same time he had made all of their doors. What was weird about the dresser though, was that it seemed to be the only thing in the entire place that had remained untouched. It wasn’t broken and the door was firmly shut. Skizz reached for the handle and pulled it open.
At first glance, Skizz thought the dresser was completely empty. But looking closer, pushed into the very corner of the dresser, was a bag.
Skizz was confused. Surely his dad would have taken his borrowing bag with him. But as he pulled it out, he realized it looked nothing like how his dad’s had.
Skizz’s breath hitched and he almost desperately turned it over, looking frantically at the precise stitching. And then he saw it. His eyes widened and he carefully grazed his thumb over the name that was stitched into the side of the bag. Small enough to not draw attention but noticeable, like the person who left it was too proud of her work to leave it without.
This was his mom’s bag.
Why would his dad not take it though? Surely his dad would have wanted to keep this, to remember her by…Although, his father seemed pretty adamant on not wanting anymore reminders of his wife. It was his whole reasoning for abandoning him after all.
Either way, whether his dad left the bag on purpose or accident, it didn’t really matter. What did matter was that he had it now.
Skizz carefully slipped off his own bag, noticing how his mom’s was bigger. He set his bag on the floor and put his mom’s bag over his shoulder instead. Again, the bulk of it was bigger and it would take some getting used to, but it felt…right. He knelt down on the floor and opened his bag and then his mom’s, getting ready to transfer everything over. But he paused when he opened his mom’s bag and saw a folded up piece of paper inside.
It was otherwise empty but Skizz couldn’t stop his hand from shaking as he reached for it. He turned it over and his heart just about leaped out of his chest when he saw his own name on the front of it.
Slowly, he turned the paper back around and started unfolding it. There were paragraphs of words on the paper, all in the same style as the stitched name on his mom’s bag. Swallowing the forming lump in his throat, his eyes started to scan the page.
Skizz,
I’m not doing well.
I know that’s no way to start a letter, especially to my own baby, but the truth is the further I get into this pregnancy the weaker I feel. I can barely even get out of bed anymore and I sleep more often than not.
I fear I will not live to see you, my sweet baby.
It took me a while to process that, if I’m being honest. That I won’t get to see you, or hold you, or watch you grow up. I cried for a good few hours straight once I realized. But…I think I’m okay now. I still wish it wasn’t the case, of course, but if it means you get to live then I would happily give my life for yours.
…Your father doesn’t know how bad it really is. Or maybe he does and he’s trying to ignore it. Either way he’s running around worried sick over me and you. I’m sure at this point you are well aware of how your father can be when he’s so worried. I can only imagine what he’ll be like when you get sick for the first time. I’m sure you were pampered to the moon and back.
Skizz paused there, a few tears pooling in his eyes as he processed everything he read in that first chunk. So his mom knew she probably wouldn’t make it. But she had come to terms with it, at least as far as she said in the note. And his father…
Skizz shook his head and continued reading.
I decided to write this little note to you, because I want you to know my words at least once. To read with your own eyes how much I love you.
Okay, Skizz was actively crying now. He did his best to keep the paper away from his falling tears and wiped at his eyes enough to continue reading.
I’m sure you know this by now but in borrower culture, I would have made you your own bag before you were born and given it to you once you reached the age to go borrowing. I did start one in the very beginning, when I first realized I was pregnant with you, but I’m much too weak now to finish it. So instead, I want to give you my borrowing bag. It’ll be something that can connect the both of us together, even when I’m gone. And that thought alone makes me so happy. I plan on putting this note in my bag for you as well, so that you can read it when you’re old enough to understand.
I’m not telling your father about the note. Only because he’d probably make me rewrite the whole thing simply because I keep referring to you as Skizz. Your father is so sure you’re going to be a girl. But I know better. I know you. Even if I’ll never get to meet you properly, I know you are my precious little boy and I know that your name is Skizz.
I’m sorry I can’t be there for you. But I know you are in good hands. Your father assures me everyday that he will spoil you no matter who you turn out to be. I hope he spoils you enough for the both of us. It’s hard, leaving this all to him, but I trust that he’ll keep you safe.
I love you, Skizz. And though I am not able to be there with you, I hope you can still know how true that is.
Be good and be you.
Love,
Mom
Skizz reread the letter at least another three times before he lowered it. He stared at the bag, tears still in his eyes though he was no longer actively crying. He just felt…sad. Sad for what could have been.
He wished his dad could’ve been the person his mom had known.
Unfortunately, he had changed drastically after her death. Something she couldn’t have predicted. But she had wanted the best life possible for him and Skizz’s heart ached for someone he never even knew.
He couldn’t help but wonder if his mom would be happy with his life as it was now. He was happy, Impulse was the best thing to ever happen to him. But what would his mom think?
He obviously couldn’t know for sure, but he decided to think that she would also be happy. Happy that he got away from his father who had changed and was living a life where he was actually cared for. At the very least, from her note, she seemed the type of person to feel that way.
He carefully folded up the letter again and placed it into one of the many pockets of his mom’s bag for safe keeping. He then proceeded to transfer all of his things over to his new bag and once his old one was empty, he put it in the dresser. The same spot his mom’s bag had been in. There was really no use in taking it with him, after all. It was old and falling apart anyway.
With his new bag slung over his shoulder, Skizz left his father’s old room, closing the door shut behind him. There was nothing left for him in there. And as he looked to the rest of his old home, he realized there was nothing left for him anywhere. He was happy to see it cleaned and put back together, it certainly did wonders for his want of closure. But now that it was all said and done, there was nothing left for him.
He gripped tightly on his bag strap before releasing it and letting his hand hang at his side. He went to the front door and glanced back one last time before leaving, making sure he closed the door behind him. His hand stayed on the handle for a bit too long but Skizz couldn’t find it in himself to care. He let out a breath and released his grip on the knob before turning and walking away.
His new bag was bigger by his side but it felt good, like his borrowing bag finally fit him now. It hit his side gently as he walked along the paths in the walls, back to where he had come in from, back to Impulse’s room.
As he stepped back out into the light and made his way past the desk, it was then that there was a sudden knock on the door. Three knocks with a beat of silence in between them, the signal they had long since come up with so Skizz would know it was Impulse coming in and not anyone else.
There was another beat of nothing before Impulse opened the door and walked in. Skizz watched as Impulse’s eyes first went to the nightstand but before Impulse spent any longer looking for him, Skizz cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled up in his direction. “Impulse! I’m down here!” Skizz said along with a small wave and watched as Impulse’s eyes snapped right to him.
Impulse smiled and set his backpack at the foot of his bed before coming over and reaching down toward Skizz, scooping him up into his hand with ease. Skizz didn’t even flinch, far used to being picked up. “Hey, how was…” Impulse started to ask as he stood back up but paused when he seemed to notice something. A thumb carefully came forward and rubbed at his arm before coming away and angling itself so Impulse could see the pad of it. Impulse frowned. “Why are you so dusty?”
Skizz blinked and looked down at himself, not realizing he was covered in dust. It made sense though, of course. He had just spent the last few hours cleaning within the walls. Before Skizz could answer though, because it wasn’t like he was trying to hide it, Impulse’s other hand came up and gently lifted Skizz’s new bag to get a better look at it. Impulse’s eyes were furrowed with confusion. “And wait…this isn’t your bag.”
A small part of Skizz wanted to rip the bag away from Impulse’s fingers but the majority knew that Impulse was nothing if not gentle and there was really no reason for Skizz to worry about his mom’s bag. “It…is now.”
Impulse let the bag slip from his fingers and it fell gently back to Skizz’s side as he waited for Skizz to explain. Skizz sighed and let his hands wander back to the strap of said bag. “I might have gone back into the walls.” Skizz admitted, not quite meeting Impulse’s eyes.
“Wait, what?” He asked, shock and confusion thick in his tone.
Skizz just nodded. “I wanted closure. I wanted…I needed to settle my mind. So I went back and cleaned everything up.” Skizz looked back down at his bag, running a hand over it. “I found this tucked away. It…it was my mom’s.”
“Your mom?” Impulse’s voice was soft when he spoke because he knew more than anyone what this meant. Skizz had shared so much with Impulse about his past, his dad, and the little he knew about his mom. So the fact that he had found something from her, well, Impulse was aware of just how big of a deal that was.
“Yeah, she left me a note and everything…she knew she was passing away and she wanted me to have her old bag.” Skizz thought about taking the note out and reading it out loud for Impulse but he didn’t think he would be able to get the words out right now. Not out loud and not without crying.
“Oh Skizz…” Impulse trailed off.
“I’m okay.” Skizz said and surprisingly, he wasn’t completely lying. “Cleaning my old home…and finding my mom’s old bag…it helped. It helped a lot.”
Impulse searched his eyes and let out a small sigh before a small smile overtook his features. “Well, I’m glad for that then.” He gently prodded the bag. “It does suit you.”
Skizz felt like he was going to cry. He wiped at his eyes to stop any tears from actually falling. “Yeah.” He said, leaning back against Impulse’s fingers, and keeping his hand on the bag, his own fingers grazing over the stitching of his mom’s name. “I think so too.”
“Have I ever mentioned how much homework sucks.” Skizz spoke up suddenly and Impulse looked away from his laptop screen and down toward Skizz, where the borrower was sitting on the desk, leaning up against his arm.
“Only every time I’ve ever done it.” Impulse joked. “Which I don’t get because you aren’t the one doing it.”
Skizz flipped over, now laying himself across Impulse’s arm and looking up at him. “It sucks because it takes away some of our hangout time! They’re giving you way too much, it’s not fair.” Skizz said with a pout.
Impulse couldn’t help but chuckle and carefully bopped Skizz on the head. Skizz let out a small noise and tried to hit at his finger but Impulse was quick to pull it away. “I’m a senior in high school, Skizz. I’m gonna have a lot of work to do.” Not that Impulse liked it much either. He’d much rather hang out with Skizz as well, but that kind of mindset would get him too far behind in his assignments.
Skizz huffed. “I miss when your homework was like…arts and crafts. At least then we could have done it together.”
Impulse rolled his eyes. Of course, he hadn’t had homework like that since he was like 12 or so. “You could help me with this, you know.” Impulse said, smirking a bit. “I’m sure you’ve retained something after all the times you’ve come to class with me.” Which was usually everyday because the two of them might be a bit codependent.
Skizz blinked and looked at Impulse and then toward the laptop screen. He winced and pushed himself up and off of Impulse’s arm. “You know what, I’ll just sit over here and wait quietly for you to finish.”
After Tango’s shock had passed enough for him to be coherent again, they all moved to sit down and discuss everything. Though before they could start, Tango had remembered the food he had been holding. He passed out a small portion of food to both Jimmy and Skizz, since even with the two of them it was barely a dent in his own food at all. He then went ahead and split his burrito with Impulse, feeling bad he hadn’t gotten him anything, even if Impulse had been there when he had gone to get the food in the first place.
Impulse tried to decline the food, but Tango insisted. The burritos from this place were pretty big anyway.
As they ate, Impulse, Skizz, and Jimmy all explained a few things to Tango, getting him most of the way caught up to at least Jimmy’s own knowledge.
Tango swallowed his bite and frowned. “Wait, so how long have you known about borrowers then?” Tango asked Impulse.
Impulse shared a look with Skizz and smiled. “We met when we were both ten years old.” Impulse revealed and both Tango’s and Jimmy’s eyes went wide.
Tango coughed, choking slightly on the bite he had taken right before Impulse had answered. Jimmy, meanwhile, turned to Skizz with his shocked expression. Unbelieving that they had known each other for 12 years. When Skizz saw the look Jimmy was giving him, he laughed. “Yeah, me and Impulse have known each other for a long time.” Skizz confirmed and Jimmy blanked.
Jimmy’s mind did sometimes wander into the what ifs of things. And sometimes those what ifs happened to be about meeting Grian and Joel as kids. In fact, it had even gotten brought up once when the three of them had been hanging out and reminiscing on old childhood stories. Jimmy liked to think Grian and Joel wouldn’t have done anything bad. Or at least, not anything worse than their first meeting had already gone. But kids did scare Jimmy, just because of how unpredictable they were. Jimmy couldn’t be sure that Grian and Joel as kids wouldn’t have seen him as anything more than a toy or pet. Even if he hated to think that way.
But here Skizz was, saying he had met Impulse as a kid. And obviously everything must have been fine if Skizz was still willingly with Impulse to this day. Now Jimmy really wanted to know the story. Of course, now wasn’t really the time to ask but he would make a note to talk to Skizz about it later.
“That’s…insane.” Was all Jimmy could think to say. Skizz just smiled and nodded, agreeing with him. Even to Skizz, it was still a bit crazy to think about.
Jimmy turned back to Tango, who was now downing some water to help with the choking. He let out a sigh as his throat cleared and looked at Impulse with an incredulous look. “Wait, hold on, if you’ve known Skizz that long then…has he been here the whole time.”
Impulse blinked and suddenly looked a bit sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh…yeah?” Though it made a lot of sense considering how long they’ve known each other, Tango still looked taken aback by the confirmation. “I mean…why do you think I was so against rooming with someone in the beginning? Or why I have the divider up?” Impulse said, pointing out two things that now made a whole lot more sense with the additional knowledge of Skizz.
Tango shook his head. “He’s been here, in our room, this whole time and I never noticed?!” Tango suddenly exclaimed, causing the other three to startle. “How?! I’ve literally been looking out for borrowers this whole time! And I missed the one living right under me?” Tango looked about three seconds away from hitting his head against the wall.
It took a moment for Jimmy to remember but Tango had told him that ever since he had seen Jimmy two years ago while drunk he had been keeping an eye out for borrowers. No wonder he was reacting like this, with the knowledge there had been one practically within reach this entire time. Even before Tango had seen Jimmy.
Impulse and Skizz, however, looked confused. “Wait, what do you mean you’ve been looking out for borrowers?” Impulse asked, sharing a glance with Skizz and Jimmy.
Tango groaned, placing his head in his hands and Jimmy realized Tango didn’t look like he was gonna be ready to answer that anytime soon. Jimmy let out a sigh, and a little laugh, and decided to answer for him. “I’ve only really known Tango for a month now. But two years ago, during a party, he saw me while he was drunk and ended up remembering it. So for the last two years, he’s been looking out for me or other borrowers.” Jimmy explained the gist of it. Obviously Tango could go into more details later on, when he was up for it.
“Oooohhh.” Skizz said, suddenly understanding. He sent a sheepish grin toward Tango. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up too much. I’m a fantastic hider.” Skizz praised himself and grinned wider when Tango let out a small laugh.
“He’s also with me most of the time, so it makes sense you wouldn’t have seen him.” Impulse chimed in, rubbing his friend’s back to try and comfort him.
Tango let out a sigh and finally lifted his face from his hands. “Yeah, yeah, I know you guys are just trying to make me feel better.” Tango pouted but he did look less beat up about it.
“No, no! Come on, Impulse and I have known each other for 12 years! We’re good at making sure I’m not seen.” Skizz explained and well, Tango couldn’t really argue with that.
“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” He mumbled. Didn’t mean Tango felt any less dumb about it, though he wisely kept that to himself.
“Speaking of,” Skizz said, turning to Jimmy. “You two have only known each other for a month? But you seem so comfortable around humans already!” Skizz was in slight disbelief with just how comfortable Jimmy was with only a month with a human under his belt.
Jimmy realized he hadn’t mentioned Grian and Joel at all yet and smiled at the thought of revealing that bit of information. “Actually, I’ve only known Tango for a month, but I--” He tried to start but was suddenly cut off by Tango.
“Oh no.” Tango groaned, rubbing a hand along his face. He was hunched over himself again.
At his tone, Jimmy couldn’t help but step closer. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Grian and Joel are going to kill me.” Tango revealed, looking stressed again. “They trusted me to keep you hidden and now Impulse knows about you! That’s not keeping you hidden!”
“Grian and Joel…?” Impulse mumbled to himself with furrowed brows. He turned to Jimmy, knowing he probably wasn’t going to get anything out of Tango while he was in this state. “What is he talking about?”
“Well, that’s what I was about to say. I’ve only known Tango for a month but I’ve known Grian and Joel for…” He did some quick calculations in his head. “...a little over half a year at this point.” Jimmy revealed and Skizz’s eyes widened.
“Oh! That makes more sense! That’s why you’re so comfortable.” He let out a laugh. “Man, I can’t believe you know three humans. That’s kind of crazy, dude.”
Jimmy laughed along with him. “Tell me about it.” And now he knew four, but four didn’t really feel that much different from three if he was being honest. “Also, Tango, it’s gonna be okay. Grian and Joel aren’t going to kill you.” He said as he turned to look back at Tango, whose head was still in his hands. Grian and Joel were protective, sure, but once they found out Impulse knew a borrower, they wouldn’t even be thinking about any of that. Probably.
Tango let out a little noise that seemed to be a cross of acknowledgement and disbelief. Which, fair, but Tango would see soon enough.
“You knowing Grian and Joel actually does make a lot of sense actually.” Impulse said after a moment. “I guess I know why they’ve sort of stopped hanging out with us outside of class now.”
Jimmy sighed, crossing his arms at the reminder of that. “Yeah, I’m not really happy about that.” He hated being the reason Grian and Joel were ignoring their friends. But hopefully, now that two of their friends knew about him, they’d hang out with them more. He could already see it happening with Tango, who was invited over at least once a week.
Looking like he was in deep thought for a moment, Skizz hummed. “...I wanna meet ‘em.” Skizz said only after a moment of silence. Everyone’s eyes widened, even Tango finally lifted his head to look at Skizz in surprise.
“Skizz, you sure?” Impulse asked, looking a bit nervous. That was all too familiar to Jimmy. Maybe not on Impulse, but definitely on Grian and Joel. It was easy to spot the protectiveness from a mile away, even on another human. “I mean, you did just meet Tango after all.”
Despite Impulse’s worry though, Skizz nodded. “Yeah, of course I’m sure!” He turned to Jimmy and grinned at him. “I mean, you obviously trust Grian and Joel. And Tango here seems great!” He motioned over to Tango, who blushed a bit at the compliment. “So I can only imagine Grian and Joel are too. Besides, they’re also already friends with Impulse, so really, I see no reason not to.”
Once again, Skizz’s smile was infectious, because Jimmy found himself smiling back at Skizz. Obviously he was perfectly fine with Skizz meeting Grian and Joel. In fact, he was excited for them to meet! Once they did, Jimmy and Skizz could hang out whenever they wanted. Jimmy grinned just thinking about hanging out with someone his own size. But it wasn’t just the fact they were the same size that made Jimmy excited to hang out. Even if that was a large part of it. But Skizz himself seemed like such a great person overall. Definitely someone Jimmy could get along well with.
“Then let’s introduce you guys!” Jimmy exclaimed. “They should be back from their classes in less than an hour now, so we can all head over there around then!” Honestly, Jimmy couldn’t wait to see the looks on Grian and Joel’s faces. They would be shocked at first but Jimmy knew they would end up being extremely happy for Jimmy at knowing he now had someone else his size around.
“Yeah!” Skizz yelled, raising a fist into the air in his excitement. Impulse sighed but smiled fondly down at Skizz.
“Guess we’re doing this then.” It wasn’t that Impulse was against Skizz meeting Grian and Joel, it was just…well, maybe Impulse was just a little selfish. And more than a little worried, even if he knew Grian and Joel himself.
“Hopefully they’ll overlook the bit where I was supposed to keep you hidden if Skizz and Impulse are with us…” Tango mumbled to himself, holding his head up with a hand that covered his chin and most of his mouth.
“I’m sure they will.” Jimmy tried to reassure him. “They can’t really blame you for what happened anyway. I was alone and I should have, and would have, hidden myself better if things hadn’t gone the way they did.” Obviously if Skizz hadn’t been there, Jimmy would have had no problems hiding away from Impulse. Speaking of, Jimmy turned to look at Impulse but paused when he noted the slightly concerned expression on his face. Though this one was different from the worry of before.
Following his gaze, Jimmy realized Impulse was looking at Skizz, who looked like he was in deep though, a smile overtaking his features. Although unlike his usual smile, this one held a ton of mischief.
“Skizz…what are you planning?” Impulse asked and by the way he said it, it was clear this was something Impulse was used to with Skizz.
“Nothing, nothing…” Skizz was not being convincing at all. “I mean, I was just thinking, ya know, meeting Grian and Joel normally is kind of…boring.” Skizz said, that smile of mischief never leaving his features.
“Boring?” Jimmy asked, wondering where Skizz was going with this. He didn’t think meeting any human as a borrower could ever be considered boring.
But Skizz nodded. “Yeah! I think we could make this meeting a lot more interesting. Dude, we should totally prank Grian and Joel.”
Jimmy blinked, slightly taken aback. That is not where he expected this to go. “Prank them?”
“I’m not sure about that Skizz.” Impulse chimed in, causing Skizz to pout up at him.
“Come on! It would just be a little harmless prank. And a great way to introduce me to them!” Skizz said, and Jimmy had to admit, the idea of pulling a prank on Grian and Joel was very tempting.
“What were you thinking?” Jimmy asked, curious about Skizz’s plan. Skizz’s pout quickly turned into a grin and he slung an arm around Jimmy’s shoulder.
“I am so glad you asked.” Skizz said.
“Not you too.” Tango groaned out, probably still scared that Grian and Joel would blame this all on him. But Jimmy was confident Tango was just overreacting, there was no way Grian and Joel would actually blame this all on him. Jimmy sent Tango a reassuring smile.
“It’ll be fine! Besides, Grian and Joel have messed with me plenty of times. I think it’s time to return the favor.” And that was probably what made this idea so tempting. Being able to get back at them for all the times they messed with him…it was too good to pass up. Jimmy turned back to Skizz. “So let’s hear it. What do you have in mind?”
Skizz grinned.
***
The plan was a fairly simple one. Tango would take Skizz and give him to Grian and Joel and then pretend he thought he had grabbed Jimmy. All the while acting completely normal about the fact that Skizz was there at all. The Impulse would bring Jimmy in and they’d keep up the act for just a bit longer before revealing everything. Jimmy liked it. Simple, but effective. He couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces.
Once everything was planned out, Tango, with Skizz tucked safely into his hoodie pocket, gave a small nervous nod to Impulse and Jimmy before leaving. The plan also had Impulse and Jimmy staying back for at least five minutes before heading out themselves. Giving Tango plenty of time to get in Grian and Joel’s room and give them Skizz.
Jimmy was no stranger to being picked up and held by humans but even he had to stare in a bit of awe as Skizz hadn’t hesitated at all to climb onto Tango’s hand. He knew he had nothing to fear of Impulse but even Jimmy still found himself a bit nervous to be held by the new human. He glanced up and to his right, where Impulse was still sitting down on Tango’s bed. Impulse caught him staring and gave him a smile, albeit a bit of an awkward one.
“You, uh, ready for this?” Impulse asked.
Jimmy let out a small snort, his smile turning lopsided. “Are you ready?” Considering Impulse hadn’t been a huge fan of the idea in the first place. If not for Skizz, Impulse probably wouldn’t have gone for it.
“Yeah, yeah, I just…ya know, not the best actor under pressure.” Impulse admitted, which Jimmy had witnessed earlier, when Tango had walked in. Jimmy actually wondered about that. Tilting his head, he looked at Impulse.
“You’ve managed to hide Skizz this whole time though?” Jimmy said, though with a hint of a questioning tone at the end and watched as a small blush spread across Impulse’s cheeks.
“Well that’s…a bit different. That’s more of a need.” Impulse tried his best to explain. “Pranks are another thing entirely.”
Jimmy thought it over for a moment and hummed questioningly. “What about today?”
Impulse blushed deeper, knowing immediately what Jimmy was referring to. “I was caught off guard! What with discovering you and then Tango walking in on us…” Impulse looked away and Jimmy noticed that even his ears were red. “I’m not usually that bad.”
Jimmy chuckled a bit, though he did feel bad for bringing it up. “Right, sorry. That does make sense though.” He figured Impulse really couldn’t be that bad of an actor, when Skizz had stayed hidden this whole time. “So, basically, when it comes to keeping Skizz safe and hidden, you’re saying you usually have no trouble acting or lying?”
Impulse nodded. “I know it probably doesn’t make any sense. But yeah.”
Jimmy shrugged and looked away for a moment. “Actually, I think it makes perfect sense.” He didn’t explain himself to Impulse, but Jimmy knew love could be a very powerful thing.
Impulse hummed and glanced at the clock. “Just a couple more minutes.”
Jimmy nodded and silence wrapped around them. Though it wasn’t awkward, even if the two still felt it a bit. Jimmy shifted where he sat, his mind moving to something else. “You know, I did actually want to meet you eventually anyway.” Jimmy admitted, breaking the silence. Impulse’s eyes widened.
“Wait, really?” Impulse asked, almost unbelieving. But Jimmy nodded, a smile appearing on his face.
“Yeah, after meeting Tango, he was actually the one to suggest maybe meeting some of their other friends. And the first one who came up was you.” Jimmy looked down, a bit shy all of a sudden. “So they told me about you and…yeah, I wanted to meet you, and the others, after that.”
“Oh. Wow, that’s…I mean, that’s a huge honor coming from a borrower.” Impulse said, a small but fond smile on his face. Jimmy blinked, a bit taken aback by the fact that Impulse realized how much of a big deal that was. But he supposed it made sense, what with him knowing Skizz and all.
“I was gonna wait a bit longer but…well, things happen.” Jimmy shrugged and Impulse looked guilty at that. Jimmy was quick to continue. “Not that I mind! After all, I wanted to meet you eventually anyway and I got to meet Skizz! Another borrower! It’s been…so long since I’ve seen another borrower.”
Impulse looked at him sadly but with something akin to understanding in his eyes. “Yeah…Skizz was the same way.” So Jimmy’s earlier assumption was correct then. Sad, but good to know.
Impulse glanced at the clock again and stood up. “Alright, we should probably head over there now.” Impulse carefully lowered his hand and waited patiently for Jimmy to hop on. Jimmy hesitated only for a brief moment, thinking back to how quickly Skizz had gotten onto Tango’s hand, before breaking out of his hesitation and climbing on. Impulse’s other hand came up and cupped around him to hide him from view, since Jimmy wasn’t going to be put in a pocket for this. With Jimmy secure, Impulse left the room and headed for Grian and Joel’s dorm.
A few minutes into the past, five to be exact, Tango adjusted his hoodie with his free hand. His other hand was within the hoodie pocket just in case, though he was careful to not actually touch Skizz. He was halfway to Grian and Joel’s dorm and walking maybe just a bit slower than usual at having an unfamiliar borrower in his pocket. He had been surprised with how nonchalant Skizz was about being handled by a human he barely knew. Seemingly having no problem climbing onto Tango’s hand and allowing him to be placed within his pocket.
It was admirable, but did nothing to lessen Tango’s nerves. He took in a few deep breaths as he finally came upon Grian and Joel’s door. He stood there for an extra few seconds, before knocking.
Joel was the one who answered, opening the door and nodding at Tango. “Hey, right on time. We just got back.” Joel said, stepping aside and inviting Tango in. Ever since the little talk they had, things had been a lot better between the two of them. Though Tango could sense Joel still had some jealousy towards him, Joel never acted on that jealousy anymore with outbursts of anger, so Tango just ignored it when he did notice it. For the most part, the two were chill with each other, same as they had been before.
“I try to time it right. I know how much you guys miss Jimmy when he’s gone.” Tango teased, mostly as a way to try and act normal. He already wasn’t a great actor, especially under pressure, but he was trying.
Joel scoffed but turned his head in order to try and hide the slight blush that had spread across his cheeks. “Yeah, whatever.” The fact that Joel didn’t deny it made Tango laugh.
Grian stepped forward, arms crossed with an amused expression as he looked at Joel. “I think we can both admit we do miss him.” Grian said and Joel sighed. Grian then turned to look at Tango and then down at Tango’s hoodie pocket, just barely seeing the small lump that he knew to be Jimmy.
Tango noticed him looking and smiled. “Right, cue taken.” Tango chuckled, trying to hide his nerves as he used the hand already in the pocket to slowly wrap around Skizz.
Skizz stayed perfectly still, letting the hand wrap around his body. The feeling was familiar, even if the hand itself wasn’t. Impulse’s hands were a bit bigger than Tango’s, though Tango’s hands were far warmer. It was interesting comparing the difference between the two, since, before this, Skizz hadn’t been able to compare Impulse to anyone else at all. He had to wonder how Grian and Joel would compare too.
Skizz let those thoughts sizzle out for now though, as Tango’s grip around him solidified. He felt fine with Tango grabbing him and holding him like this, though he had seen Jimmy’s look of awe right before being put in his pocket. Tango wasn’t as much of a stranger as one would think though, they had been roommates for a little over two years now. Skizz could understand the trepidation, but honestly, why be scared if he knew he wasn’t gonna be hurt? Jimmy’s words were more than enough reassurance that all the humans he knew weren’t going to do such a thing.
With this knowledge, the only thing Skizz really wanted to do was mess with them a bit. Seeing as it was hard enough to mess with Impulse with how well the two knew each other.
Tango took the hand holding Skizz out of his pocket, having picked him up in a way that hid him from view and quickly but carefully placed Skizz on Grian’s outstretched hand. Grian smiled at Tango and glanced down at the borrower in his hand as he spoke. “Hey Ji-” He didn’t get very far in his words, however, as his brain quickly caught up with his eyes and realized that was not Jimmy in his hands. “W-Wha…?” Was all he managed to get out, his eyes wide and mouth open.
Joel leaned closer and seemed to realize the same thing just as he did so. He looked back and forth between the unknown borrower and Tango, wondering what the heck was happening.
That was Tango’s cue.
“Whoops! Looks like I accidentally picked up the wrong borrower. Sorry about that Skizz.” Tango said, laughing along like it was a simple mistake.
“Don’t sweat it! You were in a hurry.” Skizz said, his own laughter mixing in with his words. At his words, Grian and Joel’s gaze narrowed in on him.
“What the heck is going on?” Joel asked. “Who is-and where is-” Joel tried to get out but was tripping over his own words in his confusion and shock. It was also at that moment that there was another knock on the door. Grian and Joel were still frozen so Tango was the one to go over and open it, revealing Impulse.
“Hey Impulse! Figured you’d be coming by once I realized it was Skizz in my pocket.” Tango said, still playing into the whole joke they had set up. He moved out of the way and let Impulse inside. Grian and Joel were now staring wide-eyed at Impulse and Grian almost tried to cover the borrower on his hand from view before realizing Impulse had already seen him. In fact, Impulse seemed to be staring at Skizz a bit too closely.
“Yeah, you got out of there too fast to hear us.” Impulse chuckled, finally turning his gaze away from Skizz so he could look down and lift his hand to show Jimmy. Jimmy turned to look at Grian and Joel with a huge, mischievous, grin.
“Sorry guys! I hope that didn’t cause too much confusion.” Jimmy joked and watched in delight as both Grian and Joel’s eyes were practically popping out of their skulls at this point, especially now at his sudden appearance. And with Impulse of all people. Jimmy looked up at Impulse and motioned for him to walk closer to Grian. He did so, and Jimmy took the opportunity to jump off of Impulse’s hand and onto Grian’s, now standing by Skizz.
“Wait…” Grian said, trailing off as he looked back and forth between Skizz and Jimmy. His brain seemed to be working in overdrive to try and figure out what the heck was going on.
Joel leaned in closer. “Okay, what is going on?!” Joel exclaimed. Jimmy and Skizz looked at each other before bursting out laughing. From behind them, even Impulse and Tango were letting out a few laughs, though not as hard as the borrowers were laughing.
Jimmy felt a little bad but messing with the two like this was a one time chance sort of thing. And just looking at the confused and shocked looks on their faces was enough to make it worth it. Jimmy’s laugh trailed off as Skizz slung an arm around his shoulder and stared up at the two humans. “Sorry about that!” Skizz said, not sounding sorry whatsoever. “This was all my idea, really. Couldn’t let an opportunity like this slip past.”
Both Grian and Joel were openly staring at Skizz now, still confused. Jimmy decided to finally take pity on them. “Grian. Joel. This is Skizz.” Jimmy turned toward Skizz and smiled at him. “He’s, obviously, a borrower like me. And he’s Impulse’s friend.”
“Hi! Nice ta meetcha!” Skizz said with a wave and a smile.
“Impulse’s friend…” Grian mumbled and turned to look at Impulse. Impulse chuckled a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“So, turns out we both know borrowers? And have for a while.” Impulse revealed.
Grian blinked. “Dude, what? Are you serious?” Both Grian and Joel have finally seemed to break out of their confused stupor. “You’ve known another borrower this whole time?”
“That’s what I said!” Tango exclaimed.
“H-How long…?” Joel asked, trailing off a bit.
Skizz grinned. “Twelve years!”
“Twelve years!?” Joel exclaimed out of pure shock. Grian was stuttering himself, looking back and forth between Impulse and Skizz. Jimmy chuckled but realized it was time to actually explain everything.
“I think we should probably sit down for this.” Jimmy suggested.
A few moments later had everyone sitting around Grian and Joel’s room. Grian had since passed Skizz back to Impulse, who looked a lot more comfortable with Skizz back in his hands. Grian kept a hold of Jimmy as both him and Joel took a seat on Joel’s bed. Tango and Impulse grabbed the chairs from both of their desks and brought them closer, sitting down on those so they were in a sort of circle shape.
Joel had his hands together and was leaning forward, mouth barely touching the tips of his fingers. He looked in deep thought, processing everything that had just happened over the course of the last few minutes. “Okay…so you’ve known another borrower this whole time.” Joel said, trying to get his facts straight.
Impulse nodded and looked down at Skizz. “Yeah, Skizz and I have been friends since we were both ten.”
“Right.” Joel said, still looking taken aback by that despite it being the second time he’s heard it now. “Right. And…how did this all happen?” As he said ‘this’ he waved toward Impulse, Skizz, Tango, and Jimmy.
“I, uh…might have stepped out for a moment.” Tango revealed. “I was going to get us lunch.”
Jimmy quickly jumped in before anyone else could say anything. “While Tango was gone, Impulse came in. I hid and he didn’t see me but that’s when I heard him talking to Skizz.” Jimmy thought back, remembering just how shocked he was when he realized who Skizz was. “I realized he was another borrower and I wasn’t paying attention because of how shocked I was. And that’s when Impulse came onto Tango’s side of the room to look for his charger and saw me.” Jimmy did his best to recount.
“I can tell ya, I wasn’t expecting to see him there, that’s for sure.” Impulse said with a slight chuckle. He looked back down. “We…Jimmy’s the only other borrower I’ve ever seen.” Impulse admitted.
“And the first one I’ve seen since…” Skizz trailed off, a flash of bad memories descending down upon him. He shook his head. “Since I first met Impulse.” Skizz decided to finish off with.
That was something Jimmy would have to ask Skizz about later, though he had a feeling he might at least somewhat know what Skizz would say. If that was the case, Jimmy was in a similar boat. Having not seen another borrower since his parents had passed. Him and Skizz had a lot to talk about on their own anyway.
Grian leaned back a bit. “I can’t believe you’ve had a borrower with you this whole time.” Grian admitted in still barely disguised shock.
“Think about how shocked I feel finding out you guys have known about borrowers for months now.” Impulse said with a small smile.
“This is great though!” Skizz exclaimed, standing up in Impulse’s cupped hands. “Now Impulse doesn’t have to be alone in this secret anymore. And Jimmy and I finally have someone our own size to talk to and hang out with.” Skizz said, looking at Jimmy with a certain fondness and giddyness that was infectious. It seemed like a lot of things about Skizz were infectious. Not that Jimmy was complaining.
“Yeah, we do.” Jimmy said, feeling tears start to well up in his eyes again. He managed to keep himself from actually crying though, thankfully.
“Well, you definitely got us with all of that.” Joel huffed as he crossed his arms, though there was a smile on his face. “Not sure why you decided to share this information by pranking us though.”
Jimmy grinned at Joel. “Oh come on, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up! Besides, I was just getting back at the two of you for all the ways you’ve messed with me these past few months.”
“And I just wanted to prank someone who wasn’t Impulse.” Skizz chimed in with his own grin. The humans couldn’t help but look back and forth between Jimmy and Skizz, the two borrowers sharing very similar looking expressions.
“Well, you definitely succeeded.” Grian said with a slight laugh. He reached up his other hand and poked Jimmy in the side. Jimmy let out a small squeak and swatted at Grian’s fingers. Grian only looked at him, amused. “But don’t think this is over.”
“Huh?” Jimmy asked and Joel laughed.
“Oh, you’ve really done it now.” Joel said only after his laughter had died down. “Grian is the king of prank wars.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened. “Wait! This wasn’t supposed to be part of a prank war!” Jimmy exclaimed.
“It’s never supposed to…and yet…” Grian trailed off and grinned as he ruffled Jimmy’s hair. Jimmy was too shocked at the idea of a prank war to even try and squirm away from it. “Don’t worry, you won’t see it coming.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened. “How is that not meant to worry me! I’m even more worried now!”
Everyone around him laughed as he huffed, plopping himself down on Grian’s hand and pouting. Even Skizz was laughing, which Jimmy felt a bit betrayed at. In a playful way, of course. Jimmy wasn’t actually all too worried or upset about anything.
“Dude, you’re humans are awesome.” Skizz suddenly said and Jimmy paused, looking over at Skizz who was wiping away at some tears that had come about from his laughter. Jimmy looked up at Grian and Joel and smiled.
“Yeah. Maybe just a bit.” Jimmy said quietly and fondly.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this too, Skizz.” Grian said, eyes now focused on the other borrower. “We might have only just met, but I don’t take prank wars lightly.” Mischief shined deep in Grian’s eyes.
A similar shine appeared in Skizz’s. “Oh, bring it! I’m so ready.”
Grian’s eyes widened a fraction before he fell into an easy smile. “Oh, I like you.” Grian said.
“Grian…” Impulse cut in, sending Grian a look. Grian put his hands up, looking away.
“Hey, I’m not going to do anything bad. You know me!” Grian said, trying to defend himself. “Besides, it seems like Skizz can handle it.”
Impulse sighed and hung his head a bit. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
“Oh come on, Dippledop, don’t be like that.” Skizz said, shooting his own look at his human. Joel raised an eyebrow, a smile twitching onto his face.
“Dippledop?” Joel asked, trying not to laugh. Red bloomed on Impulse’s cheeks while Skizz just grinned.
“That’s his nickname! Cause he’s my Dop!” Skizz said, like that explained everything. It really didn’t but Skizz didn’t seem like he was going to say anything more about it.
“Dippledop huh?” Tango teased and Impulse groaned and if it wasn’t for Skizz, he’d be putting his head in his hands. Matching Tango’s look from earlier.
“Don’t you start now!” Impulse exclaimed and they all laughed once more.
As Jimmy’s laughter died down, he couldn’t help but look at everyone in the room. He still couldn’t believe he had found another borrower but Skizz was there and real and Jimmy was so excited to get to know him more. Not only that but the way they all seemed to get along and click together…he knew Grian, Joel and of course Tango had already been friends with Impulse but the inclusion of Skizz was shaping up to be practically seamless. Skizz got along great with the rest of them and Jimmy liked to think he was getting along well with Impulse too.
He couldn’t wait to spend more time with all of them like this. Hanging out and having fun together. He especially couldn’t wait to have another borrower on his side.
Jimmy had a feeling things were going to be different from here on out, but he was excited to see just how different things would be.
Summary: Grian, Joel, and Jimmy are packing and getting ready to leave for the fall break.
Word Count: 2117
Warnings: Slight jealousy and very slight anger
AO3 Link
It's finally here! The start of the fall break arc in the BBBCAU! I am very excited for this arc, it's going to be a lot of fun. Lots of surprises in store in the next few fics! I hope you guys enjoy!
Jimmy could tell in the way Joel was refusing to look at both Grian and Jimmy as the three of them were talking. He could tell in the way Joel’s brows were furrowed and the way his leg bounced as he did something on his laptop.
And it was all because Grian had brought up the upcoming fall break.
“It’s a bit colder up where I live around this time. Did you want me to pack you that puffy jacket Cleo made for you?” Grian asked as he was putting together a suitcase for both himself and Jimmy. Jimmy nodded, still glancing at Joel through his peripheral.
“Yeah, that sounds good.” Jimmy said. He didn’t think he would need it, especially if he was staying in the whole time like usual, but better safe than sorry. Grian looked over and caught Jimmy’s glances, following his gaze to look at Joel himself. It was clear to Grian how Joel was feeling as well and he rolled his eyes.
“Joel, stop being pouty and get packing. Fall break is literally tomorrow.” Grian said, causing Joel to jump a bit in surprise. He snapped his head towards Grian and glared at him.
“I’m not being pouty!” Joel exclaimed, not convincing either of them at all.
“You kind of are.” Jimmy chimed in and Joel’s eyes snapped over to him. But his glare was less intense as their eyes met. Joel sighed and turned his focus back on his laptop.
“I’m not.” Joel said, voice nothing but a mumble now. Jimmy sighed and shared a look with Grian. Grian only shrugged and turned back to packing so it looked like it was up to Jimmy to try and get Joel out of this funk once again.
The borrower stood up on the nightstand and jumped over to Joel’s bed where Joel was propped up and working on his laptop. Joel noticed the movement but didn’t so much as say anything as Jimmy made his way closer. It took Jimmy climbing up and actually standing on top of Joel’s laptop to get Joel to finally look at him again. “Joel, you and Grian already decided all this before. I went with you for spring break and so Grian gets me for the fall one.” Jimmy said and that only made Joel groan.
“I know that! I just…” Joel looked away, a slight flush on his cheeks.
Jimmy titled his head. “Just what?”
Joel groaned again, his hands going to cover his face. “I’m not gonna see you for, like, two weeks!”
Jimmy blinked at the sudden outburst while Grian burst into laughter on the other side of the room. “Yeah, now you know how I felt.”
“Shut up!” Joel yelled, reaching behind him and then throwing his pillow and Grian’s face. Grian stepped to the side, dodging Joel’s poor attempt to hit him casually. Joel glared at him, wanting nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face.
Jimmy sighed and shook his head, a small laugh at the edge of his sigh. His humans never failed to be interesting, that was for sure. He lifted his head and noticed how the flush had grown a bit and knew Joel was reaching the stage of anger fast. No thanks to Grian, of course. In fact, he gave a pointed look to Grian. “You aren’t helping.”
Grian grinned but turned back around to continue packing.
Jimmy turned back to Joel and smiled at him. “It’s okay, Joel. I’m gonna miss you too, ya know.”
Joel’s anger subsided greatly and now he just looked plain flushed again. He mumbled something under his breath that even Jimmy couldn’t make out. Jimmy didn’t pry though, he just placed a hand onto Joel’s and continued to smile. “We’ll call you, just like how we called Grian during spring break.”
Joel looked at Jimmy and then at his small hand over his own and sighed. Joel knew he was being ridiculous, everything had just hit him all at once. They had been so worried about Jimmy being sick it was like the fall break had snuck up on them. And maybe that was the other reason Joel was acting like this. He was still worried about Jimmy, sure the borrower was all the way better now, but the worry was still very much present. Not to mention the fact that this was the first time Joel would be away from Jimmy since they first met.
All these thoughts swam in his head, it was both overwhelming and strangely therapeutic to list it all out. And it did help him to calm down.
He turned his hand over and scooped Jimmy fully into his hand. Jimmy let out a small noise at the sudden movement but otherwise settled into his hand rather quickly. Joel closed his laptop and leaned back against the wall, letting out another sigh. “Yeah, I know.” Joel finally said and then smiled down at Jimmy. “Just make sure Grian doesn’t forget.”
Jimmy grinned and let out a small laugh, happy Joel seemed to be feeling better now. “I won’t.”
“I won’t because Joel will be the one calling us.” Grian chimed in and Joel sent him another glare, though this one was much less intense. Mostly because Grian had a point, not that Joel was going to say that out loud.
Joel set his laptop fully to the side and swung his legs over the bed, Jimmy still in hand and now held against his chest. He stood up and stretched a little and Grian finally glanced back over again. “You finally gonna start packing?”
Joel rolled his eyes but knelt down and pulled out his suitcase before placing it onto his bed. “Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to it.” He started unzipping it with one hand and Grian let out a small laugh.
“Are you gonna hold Jimmy the whole time?” Grian asked, though he already knew the answer.
Joel looked down at Jimmy and Jimmy just smiled up at him, looking comfortable. Joel nodded. “I’m not going to be seeing him for two weeks, I can do what I want.” Joel said with a huff as he pulled out some clothes. Was it a bit difficult to do it with one hand? Yes. But was that going to make him put Jimmy down? Absolutely not.
Grian rolled his eyes fondly. “Fair enough.”
The two continued to pack their bags, making light conversation with each other. As they were nearly done, a knock came at their door. The three of them paused and Joel glanced over at Grian. Since Joel was holding Jimmy, obviously he wasn’t going to be the one to answer the door. Grian nodded and walked over, opening the door slightly to peek his head out and see who it was, all without letting the person at the door see in.
“Oh!” Grian let out and a second later had pulled the door open all the way. Impulse and Tango were at the door and, if Joel had to guess, Skizz was probably in Impulse’s chest pocket. “What are you guys doing here?” Grian said, moving out of the way to let them both in. He closed the door behind them.
“Just thought we’d stop by before heading off.” Tango said with a smile and Jimmy blinked.
“Wait, you guys are leaving already?” Jimmy asked and Tango nodded.
“Yeah, my family lives in just the next city over so it’s a short trip for me. And I’d rather get going now and beat everyone trying to leave tomorrow.” Tango answered.
“Huh, I didn’t know you lived so close.” Grian said with a thoughtful hum. He turned to Impulse. “Are you also close by?”
Impulse laughed and shook his head. “The opposite actually.” As he said that, Skizz emerged from his chest pocket, just as Joel had thought, and hung his arms off the side as he smiled at the three of them. Jimmy perked up when he noticed the other borrower.
“Hi Skizz!” Jimmy said with a wave.
“Hey, Jimmy!” Skizz exclaimed with a wave back. “Yeah, we gotta get going because it takes us at least two days to get home.” Skizz revealed for Impulse.
“Wow, that far huh?” Joel said with slightly wide eyes.
“Yeah, but it’s not too bad of a trip. We go about halfway the first day and then get a hotel for the night. We’re home by dinner the next day usually.” Impulse explained.
“It’s actually really fun!” Skizz said with a grin. And then his eyes lit up with an idea. “You guys should totally come with us one of these times. Impulse’s mom has been wanting to meet his friends for ages now anyway.” Skizz blurted out and Impulse’s face flushed a bit.
“Skizz!” He said and reached down, gently pushing Skizz back down into his pocket. Skizz laughed as he fell down.
“It’s true!” Skizz yelled up from inside the pocket, his voice now a bit muffled by the fabric.
Jimmy’s eyes lit up at the idea. “That does sound fun!” He said and Impulse looked at him with a bit of a surprised expression.
“Could be fun to do one big road trip with the six of us.” Tango said with a smile, his arms crossed as he bumped Impulse’s arm with his own. “And it sounds like your mom has already invited us.”
Impulse sighed but smiled. “I mean, if you guys are down we can plan for it. I’ll talk to my mom more about it when I see her.”
Joel gave a half shrug but he, too, was grinning at the idea. “Sounds fun to me.”
“Getting to see where Impulse and Skizz grew up? Sign me up.” Grian joked though he was also a hundred percent serious. Impulse nodded and that was around the time Skizz got himself hanging out of the pocket again.
“It’ll be so fun! Jimmy, I can show you all the nooks I’ve got for myself!” Skizz yelled and Jimmy nodded.
“Oh yeah! That would be so cool!” And now Jimmy was even more excited.
Impulse chuckled. “Like I said, I’ll talk to my mom about it. But it sounds like a plan.” Impulse said and then Tango took out his phone and looked at the time.
“Whoops, looks like it’s getting a bit late.” He pocketed his phone again. “We better get going if we don’t want to run into any traffic.” He said as he looked at Impulse. Impulse nodded.
“See you guys later! Enjoy your fall break!” Skizz waved at the three before dropping back down into the pocket.
“You too, hope you guys have fun.” Grian said. They all waved and said their goodbyes as they made their way toward the door. Grian followed them, closing the door behind them once they had left.
“It was nice of them to stop by before they left.” Jimmy commented, settling back down against Joel’s chest. Joel hummed, which Jimmy could feel the vibrations of.
“Yeah, it was.” Grian agreed as he turned back to his suitcase. He was almost done, he just needed to pack up his laptop and chargers now. “Nice of Skizz to invite us over at some point too.”
Joel snorted. “That’ll be something, for sure.” He was excited at the idea of spending time away from the college all together though. Unlike now, where Joel would be parting ways with Jimmy and Grian for the entirety of the fall break.
The thought soured his mood a little but he tried not to let it get to him. It wasn’t like he was never seeing Jimmy again and like Grian had said earlier, Joel would make sure to call. Maybe not every night but…close.
“Anyway, let’s get this packing done and then we can order us some food.” Grian said, zipping up his suitcase and grabbing his backpack to slip his laptop into.
“Oh yeah, I could definitely eat.” Joel said in agreement and picked up the pace just a little more. Jimmy’s stomach made a noise at the mention of food and Joel was close enough to hear it. He laughed as Jimmy flushed and Joel couldn’t help but poke his side. “Sounds like Jimmy could as well.”
Grian laughed and the two hurried to finish up. Jimmy shifted slightly but remained comfortable in Joel’s hand. He’d miss Joel for sure, just like how he had missed Grian during spring break. But he was also so excited to see what he and Grian would get up to during the fall break.
He had a feeling it was going to be two weeks to remember.
Summary: Jimmy shows Skizz his old home in the walls and the two realize that Skizz has been there before. Things from their past come up as they talk.
Word Count: 2221
Warnings: mentioned past character death, slight trauma dumping, blood mention, mentioned past child abuse, and crying
AO3 Link
It's been so long! Sorry for the lack of fics lately but I'm hoping to change that now with my new posting schedule. If you missed it, I'll be posting at least twice a month, which means one today and another fic will come out on the 27th! (And you guys might get an extra fic tomorrow…we'll see lol).
But we're getting back into things with the BBBCAU! So I hope you guys enjoy!
“So, is this your first time in the walls?” Jimmy asked as the two of them, Jimmy and Skizz, walked through the paths within the walls. It had only been a couple of days since the two had met but already they were getting on like a house on fire. Impulse and Tango had been coming over a lot more often, with Skizz of course, and the two have gotten to know each other a lot better within the last couple of days.
At some point, Skizz had asked if Jimmy could give him a tour of the walls and show him where he used to live. Jimmy didn’t see why not, it was easy for him to find even despite the fact he hadn’t been back there for several months now.
“Nah, I’ve been here once before. I got so lost though dude, it wasn’t even funny.” Despite saying it wasn’t funny, Skizz still laughed as he said it. Jimmy couldn’t help but chuckle himself.
“Yeah, I get it. I had a hard time navigating around when I first got here.” He remembered getting lost multiple times, the dorm building was such a big place, it had been bound to happen. He’s just lucky he never got too lost. He always managed to find his way back, even if sometimes it had taken him a whole day. He had quickly gotten the hang of things though once he had been there a few weeks and he had even made a map just in case. It had saved him more than once, that was for sure.
Of course, now he had the map memorized and though he was a little rusty and the walls were a lot dustier without him going through them all the time, he was still perfectly in his element within these walls.
They rounded the corner and there it was, Jimmy’s old home. It was kind of nostalgic for Jimmy to see it now, even though it hasn’t even been a full year since he had moved in with Grian and Joel. A small part of him missed his old home but he would never want to go back. He was perfectly happy living with his humans.
“Hey! This was the place I found before!” Skizz suddenly exclaimed and Jimmy turned to look at him with a mix of confusion and surprise.
“Wait, what? You’ve been here before?” Jimmy asked, his eyebrows going up. Skizz grinned at him and nodded his head rapidly.
“Yeah! When I got lost! Wait, you’re saying this is your old place?” Skizz asked and it was Jimmy’s turn to nod. “Finding this place was the whole reason I was able to find my way back. Dude, I found your map.”
“You did?” Jimmy asked.
“Yep! In fact…” Skizz reached into his bag and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. Jimmy would recognize it anywhere, even rolled up like that. “I brought it with me just in case.”
Jimmy subconsciously reached out for it, grazing the top of it. He hadn’t seen the map in a while and hadn’t used it in even longer than that. He was happy it had gotten some use after all this time. “That’s crazy, dude.” Jimmy said and motioned for Skizz to follow him inside. “Well, I guess there’s no use prolonging this if you’ve already been inside.” Jimmy joked. Skizz laughed and the two made their way inside Jimmy’s old home.
It was dusty, that was for sure, but otherwise not a lot had changed since Jimmy had seen it last. Jimmy watched as Skizz went over to where Jimmy remembered leaving the map in the first place, putting it back. Jimmy tilted his head and came up behind him. “What are you doing?”
“Putting it back. I figured you know where you’re going and I don’t need it anymore, so…” Skizz trailed off and shrugged. “Might as well leave it for someone else who might need it.”
Both borrowers fell silent at that.
“...You know, you’re the first borrower I’ve seen since my own parents.” Jimmy admitted, backing up a bit and letting himself lean against his old makeshift table. He was looking down at the dust covered floor but as Skizz turned around to face him, Jimmy met his eyes.
Skizz sighed. “I had a feeling it was like that.” Skizz paused. “Same, by the way.”
Jimmy nodded. He had already suspected they were in similar cases, especially based on how their first meeting had gone. “You said you met Impulse when you were ten?”
Skizz nodded, brightening up a bit at the mention of his best friend. “Yep! And it’s been an amazing 12 years.”
Jimmy chuckled. “I bet.” He looked away for a moment. “So…I mean, if you don’t mind me asking, if you were ten when you met Impulse and started living with him then…when did your parents…?” Jimmy trailed off when he saw Skizz wince. “You don’t have to answer if you're uncomfortable.”
“Nah, it’s not that. It’s just…a lot.” Skizz said, running a hand through his hair. And this was the first time Jimmy had seen Skizz truly down. It was strange. It really didn’t fit him at all. “I…my mom died giving birth to me.”
“Oh.” Jimmy said, his eyes wide. “I’m…so sorry.”
Skizz shrugged and looked away. “It’s…fine. I never knew her in the first place.” His grip on his bag strap tightened but Jimmy made no move to bring notice to it. “But yeah, she died and when I was ten, my dad…he took me out on what I thought was my first borrowing trip.” Skizz let out a humorless laugh. “Turns out, it was just a ploy to shove me in a drawer and leave me there for the human kid to find and kill.”
Jimmy gasped, bringing Skizz’s attention back onto him. “What? Why would he…?”
Skizz shook his head. “I guess I looked too much like my mom for him to bear. It wasn’t like he was father of the year before this all went down either. He blamed me for her death and he took it out on me.”
Jimmy winced. “Oh, Skizz, that’s…that’s awful. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s in the past. Impulse was the human kid who found me, as I’m sure you’ve guessed already, and I’m a lot better for it.” He shrugged and put back on his smile and Jimmy took that as him not wanting to talk about it anymore. Which was perfectly fine, Jimmy understood.
He cleared his throat, deciding to change the topic. “Yeah, honestly I’ve been a lot better since Grian and Joel found me too.” He let out a small laugh. “Kind of weird that all this time we’re told humans are terrible and they turn out to be the best things to happen to us.”
“Oh, tell me about it. Impulse was like, the exact opposite of what I thought a human kid would be like.” He shook his head with a small chuckle. “I mean, you still gotta be careful. There are bad humans out there just like there are good ones. Our kind wasn’t wrong about that.” Skizz crossed his arms. “But there are also bad borrowers out there, as I know more than anyone, so it’s not just a human thing.”
Jimmy nodded. “We’re all…people. And people are complicated.” Jimmy said in agreement with what Skizz had said. Skizz grinned at him.
“Wow, that was pretty profound.” Skizz half joked and Jimmy rolled his eyes, reaching out to playfully shove at Skizz shoulder, making him uncross his arms as he laughed. “But you’re right. Humans and borrowers…we’re all just people at the end of the day.”
“Yeah…” Jimmy trailed off and a comfortable silence fell over the two of them. Jimmy looked over to Skizz, who was currently looking away, taking in Jimmy’s old house. He had only known Skizz for a few days, but already the other borrower had shared so much with him.
It was only fair Jimmy did the same.
“...My parents died when I was twelve.” Jimmy suddenly said and watched as Skizz’s eyes snapped back over to him. He saw sympathy there and saying that part out loud had gotten a lot easier. But this next part…he hadn’t even told Grian or Joel this next part yet. “They…a rat had gotten into the walls.” Jimmy continued and Skizz’s eyes widened, his brain already connecting the dots.
“Oh, man…” Skizz said lowly and Jimmy knew this was his way out to not fully say it. That Skizz already knew what he meant. But he felt like…he needed to finally say it out loud. So he took a deep breath.
“The rat…when we found out there were rats in the walls we packed up and were getting ready to move. We were on our way, actually. Going through the walls so we could get into the human’s backpack and, well, come here.” Jimmy motioned around them and used the excuse to not meet Skizz’s eyes. “But as we were moving through the walls…a rat cornered us. My dad pushed me and my mom out of the way and held it off as we started to run in the opposite direction. But then my dad screamed and-and my mom told me to keep going and turned back to help him. I kept running and then I heard my mom join in on the screaming.” Maybe this had been a bad idea. Tears were forming in his eyes as he was thrown back in time, but he found that he couldn’t stop. “I ran back even though I knew I shouldn’t have. But…But by the time I made it back, the screaming had stopped.”
He closed his eyes. He could still remember seeing the rat gnawing at both of his parent’s unmoving bodies. There had been a lot of red covering the walls, the floor, and the rat’s fur. He never got a good look at his parents, which had probably been for the best, but he could hear the rat ripping the flesh off their bones.
He shook his head, trying to push the memories away. “...I ran before the rat saw me and came here alone.” Jimmy finished his traumatic tale. His eyes were still closed, his head down, as the room was filled with silence. He winced, thinking he had overshared, worried that he had overstepped, but then he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him. That was more than enough to finally make Jimmy’s tears fall and he wrapped his own arms around Skizz, completing the hug.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, that’s-that’s awful.” Skizz said, quietly into his ear as he continued to hold him.
They stayed like that for a few minutes as Jimmy slowly calmed down. The hug was grounding in a way that Jimmy hadn’t felt in years and it helped a lot. Finally, he pulled away from Skizz and wiped at his eyes.
“S-Sorry, I-I wasn’t really expecting to dump all that on you, I just-once I started I couldn’t stop and-” Jimmy started but was cut off by Skizz as he raised his hand up.
Skizz smiled softly. “Hey, it’s okay. It seemed like you really needed to get that out.” He said and Jimmy wondered how he could know that.
“Yeah, I…I’ve never even said it out loud before. Let alone told someone.” Jimmy admitted and Skizz’s eyes widened slightly.
“Not even Grian or Joel?” Skizz asked and Jimmy just shook his head. “Well, I guess I’m a bit honored to be the first one you told.” Skizz half-joked and Jimmy’s lips twitched up into a small smile. “You…feel any better?” Skizz asked and Jimmy thought for a moment.
“...Yeah, actually. I think I do.” It had been nice to get it all out. It was like a weight had left his shoulders, however small that weight was. “Uh, thanks for…listening, I guess?” Jimmy said a bit sheepishly but relaxed more when Skizz laughed and patted him on the back.
“Of course, buddy. Anytime. And I mean that.” Skizz said and then used the hand that was still on Jimmy’s back to start to lead him to the door. “And now I think it might be time to head back to the others. I’m sure our dinner is here and already getting cold.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Jimmy said, allowing himself to be led out of his old home and back through the walls.
They talked about other things as they walked, keeping the conversations of their past back in Jimmy’s old home. But Jimmy couldn’t help but be thankful for Skizz, for having another borrower who could understand his pain, even just a little bit. It was just so nice and Jimmy couldn’t help but swing an arm around Skizz’s shoulder as they walked.
Skizz didn’t comment on it, just smiled at him and continued talking as they rounded the corner. As they got closer to the entrance into Grian and Joel’s dorm room, they could hear talking and laughter coming through the walls and Jimmy’s heart finally completely settled.
With one last look towards each other, they pushed open the entrance and joined their humans for dinner.
