This takes place during Sparrow's Recovery Arc in my series 'The Warehouse'. It's a short, simple piece, but as the month goes on, more pieces should come out to help shape his recovery journey.
Huge thanks to @oddsconvert for helping me beta this piece, as well as @darkthingshappen and @whumpcereal for being amazing cheerleaders!
TW: Brief mentions of past abuse, previous captivity, recovery whump
Taglist: @mannerofwhump, @honey-is-mesi, @painful-pooch (if you'd like to be added, let me know!
Sparrow didn’t know what brought him to remove the earbuds from his ears, but he was glad that he did. He had only been living with Felix for around two and a half weeks, and while things were moving along at a somewhat slow pace, Sparrow had learned to care about the other, which he didn’t think would happen.
It was around 9:30pm, and according to the routine Felix had, he should have been in his room reading, but Sparrow could hear something else, something that sounded like quiet crying. It was a sound he could easily point out; there were many pets at the Warehouse that cried quietly, hoping not to cause a disturbance in case the Keepers heard, but needed to let out their fear. Over time, it had become background noise to him and he had stopped paying attention, but hearing it now, in the apartment, made Sparrow concerned.
What would Felix have to be afraid of that would make him cry like this?
He set his iPod and earbuds down beside him on his bed, trying his best to stay quiet as he swung his legs over the side, making his way to the door. He turned the knob and slowly opened it, peeking down the hallway in the direction of Felix's room. The door to his friend's room was slightly ajar, allowing the quiet sobs to travel into the hallway.
Sparrow made his way over to Felix’s bedroom, standing outside of the door, listening. Sparrow could hear the pain and fear in the cries Felix was trying to keep silent, the way he’d go silent for a few moments as he tried to suck in any kind of breath before the quiet sobbing would continue.
After listening to Felix for a moment, hesitating on whether or not he should go into his room, he knocked quietly on the door.
“Felix?” Sparrow asked softly, staying on the other side of the door. Sparrow had learned that it was respectful to not enter someone else's room without permission. Plus, Felix always gave him the same courtesy, always staying on the opposite side if he had said no to the other entering.
He heard a quiet squeak of surprise come from inside the room and the frantic rustling of fabric. After a few moments, Sparrow heard Felix respond, “Yeah? C-come in.”
Sparrow opened the door slowly, going to turn on the overhead light since the room was covered in darkness. When he clicked the light on, Felix tried to shield his face from view, but Sparrow saw what he wanted to hide. His face was red and puffy, the cuffs of his shirt wet from trying to wipe the tears away.
“Felix? You okay?” Sparrow asked, moving towards the bed. He highly doubted his friend was okay, it hadn’t sounded like he was, but he wanted to ask anyway. Felix didn’t look up, his breathing still irregular as he tried to stop crying.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine, what's up?”
Sparrow sat on the corner of the bed, looking over Felix before his eyes darted to the covers of the bed. “You didn’t sound okay,” he said, concern lining his voice. “I’ve heard people cry like that before, usually it’s because they’re trying not to be heard but are afraid.”
He lifted his head, trying to catch Felix’s gaze. “What’s got you so afraid that you’re crying like this?”
Felix let out a shaky breath, wiggling his fingers slightly. “I uh, it’s nothing, just me overthinking things I shouldn’t be overthinking.” He looked over in Sparrow’s direction, eyes closed with a smile on his face. A smile Sparrow knew was fake.
“See? I-I’m fine,” Felix told him, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than Sparrow.
Sparrow could hear in his voice how upset he was, the way it shook with the threat of more tears and how his breath hitched slightly at the end of his sentence. He fiddled with his fingers for a moment, not knowing entirely what to do, before he decided on something.
He shifted himself up onto the bed more, moving across it towards Felix in a quick, fluid movement before embracing the other in a hug, a proper hug, holding him tight while burying his face in the other's shoulder.
This caught Felix by complete surprise, his arms slightly out by his sides as he tried to register what was happening. Sparrow never engaged in physical contact and Felix could understand why with what had been explained to him. He was open to it, but he had wanted Sparrow to initiate it on his own time once he was ready and comfortable. While he had a small doubt that Sparrow wasn't 100% ready for physical contact, Felix was quite grateful for the hug.
A second or two passed before Felix returned the hug, tears spilling out of his eyes as he finally let out a loud, proper sob.
“I-I’m just s-so scared I-I’m not pro-providing the help and safety you need,” Felix said in between sobs. “T-that I can’t help yo-you the way you need h-help.”
Sparrow rubbed Felix’s back softly, shaking his head a little, enough for Felix to feel it. He had no idea what to say or do here, but he tried to think of something anyway.
“Hey, hey, it’s alright. I’m okay, aren’t I?” Sparrow asked. “If you weren’t able to help me, why would Alex have suggested this whole thing? He knew you could help, and you have.” Sparrow paused for a moment, trying to push himself to say the next few words.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
It took Felix a moment or two before he broke the hug, but when he did, he looked at Sparrow, who returned the gaze. It was the first time they had held eye contact for longer than a second.
“R-really?” Felix asked.
Sparrow nodded, giving his friend a soft smile. “It’ll be okay, promise.”
Felix returned the smile before going in for another hug, Sparrow happily returning the favor.
The summer night was still hot, but that didn't stop the family from huddling close to the fire and laughing together. A vacation was long overdue for the family. Tiffany was surprised the shelters they had made before were still standing. Work for the kids to be proud of.
The kids had had a blast running through the water and making catching fish all but impossible. Splashing was clearly more important with dinner. Luckily, Seren thought ahead and brought food with him for just such an occasion. As well as something yummy and sweet to roast over the fire.
Tiffany and Seren had to help Lily and Michael get their marshmallows on so they wouldn't fall and Nia wasn't big enough yet to make her own so Tiffany would do that. Not that she complained about having to help her, little girl comfortable in her lap and watching the marshmallow.
Everyone was excited and spinning their marshmallows to keep them nice and even. A nice even brown. Seren lost the first one to the fire and playfully cried out about it. At least there was plenty more where that came from! They’d be full of smores by bedtime.
A night full of laughter, treats, and stories were just what they needed. The kids would fall asleep watching their mother bring stories to life with vivid illusions alongside their father's storytelling.
Lily had been surprisingly diligent about caring for her little rabbit. Her parents were quite proud, and the rabbit seemed happy. It was a pleasant surprise for both of them that all they had needed to do was check in to make sure things had been done or deal with things she wasn’t quite big enough for yet.
Things were going swimmingly. At least until Seren opened the outside hutch to help change the bedding. Things were warming up so it was time to clear out the hutch and give their fuzzy little friend a bit more space. On top of the door a little web had grown. And a small black spider sat in the middle, waiting for a snack.
With a loud yelp, he stumbled back. Nearly landing on his rear. When Lily curiously tried to peek he quickly grabbed her. "Careful, Lily. They could bite you." The last thing they needed was to rush her off for antivenom.
Which only made her more curious. Wiggling in her daddy’s grip, she tried to see what he found so scary. It must have been something terrible to scare him!
While she tried to peek, Tiffany came to investigate the commotion. "What's wrong? Did you find a snake?" She teased her husband while he defensively held their daughter. While there may have been plenty of terrifying creatures that could slip into the village from the tree line, none of them should have been quite so small.
"There's a widow in there!" He yelped. Which turned into a huff when Tiffany laughed. This was serious!
"Scary." Walking over, she peered inside and promptly laughed. "Oh Powers! Seren, it's harmless!" Reaching inside, she carefully pulled them out. "It's a hutch spider. Totally harmless." She showed them both the small spider who sat seemingly stunned to be moved. "It might sting a bit if they bit you, but that’s about it. Good for catching bugs.”
Lily leaned closer and tried to reach for it. Only to have her hand grabbed by her father. Looking up at him, she pouted. Mommy could touch it! Why couldn’t she? That hardly seemed fair.
"Careful, Lily. They could still bite you," he warned. "And it will be a big owwie," he tried to explain. Though the look on his daughter’s face made it obvious she didnt’ believe him. He was just looking out for his little girl!
Tiffany raised a brow and giggled. "They're also very fragile, Lily. Wouldn't want to squish them. Even if they scare daddy." She was absolutely not letting that one go. Never. They’d taken on the Hunters and Holly and so many deadly and terrifying things and he was bravely defending Lily from a defenseless spider. "I'm going to put them in the orchard. Be careful cleaning the hutch," she teased and walked away.
No one actually remembers Walter manor having an orchard on the south side. And no one seemed surprised by it either. Tests were run to make sure everything was safe and seemed edible. Once it was cleared, Arborous was sent with volunteer bots to go and pick what they could before it disappeared. Waste not want not.
With bags and baskets, they headed out. Koutali wanted to join in to make sure only the best ended up in their kitchen. Otterby knew what was useful outside of tree fruits so she wanted to help stock up on things they might miss. And well, mostly Springs just wanted to help, but the more hands, the more food they could give to the humans!
Once in the orchard, it seemed to go on forever. Rows and rows of trees seemed to go on forever. They weren’t sure if it was a trick of the light or blue matter weirdness.
“Don’t go in too far,” warned Arborus as he started picking apples from a tree on the edge. “We don’t want anyone to get lost.”
Something they all agreed with. Everyone at Walter manor knew to always be careful of anything to do with blue matter. Taking up baskets or bags, they spread out only a little to get different fruits.
Things were going well enough, until Arbrus lost sight of Otterby. Trying not to panic, he shouldered his bag of fruit and started looking for her. Hopefully, she hadn’t gone far.
And luckily, she hadn’t. Arborus found her around a large peach tree and sighed in relief. Though when he saw what she was picking, he looked concerned. “Otterby? Those are weeds.”
Her head snapped up, and she beamed widely. “They’re edible!” Holding up one of the plants, a stinging nettle, as she plucked it from the ground. “Humans have to boil them first, but they’re really good for them!” Rather proud of herself, she went back to putting them in her bag.
Arborus wasn’t sure the humans wanted to eat something that made them itch, but like Six had said when he sent them out ‘Waste not want not.’ He let her forage for things he wouldn’t have thought of, someone would appreciate her efforts. Probably.
He went back to start picking plums from another tree just a little deeper in. As he walked, he noticed a lot of fruit on the ground. Were the trees so far along? Kneeling down, he looked them over. Not much for bruising or rot, and no animals had been nibbling on them either. Strange. Looking around, he quickly saw why.
Koutali was standing under a pear tree. Every fruit they picked he brought up to inspect with a critical eye. Turning each piece of fruit, Koutali seemed to check every aspect of it. And then promptly dropped onto the orchard floor.
Something that concerned Arborus was there something wrong with the fruits he couldn’t see? Koutali was more experienced with dealing with food, but everything looked fine, and the humans said it was safe. Curious, he walked over. “Are they off?”
Looking over, Koutali put one in his bag. “In one way or another,” they agreed. “Too small, just overripe, or poorly shaped. I don’t want poor produce in my kitchen.” When he reached for another, Arborus' hands reached out to stop them.
“Please, leave them on the tree if you don’t like them.” He wouldn’t argue with Koutali. It was their kitchen, but dropping them was wasteful. And it wasn’t like they were actually bad. Even if they didn’t like them, someone would have use for them.
Koutali made a face but relented. Even he didn’t want to waste food, they supposed. Animals would at least eat them.
A small smile and a nod, and Arborus left Koutali to it. Things were going well overall. There was plenty of food in the orchard, enough to help with feeding everyone. And everyone was working hard. Arborus had a few bags full before he realized he hadn’t seen Springs in a while. She was a capable bot, but with this orchard being new and something unknown, he still thought it was best to look after the others, just encase.
When she didn’t seem anywhere by the nearby trees, he started to worry. Deeper into the orchard he went looking for signs of the smallest bot. He had warned them to stay by the edges, could she have gotten distracted, or worse? Arborus shook his head. No point in worrying without reason. Springs probably just saw something she thought was worth exploring.
For all his walking, eventually, the trees started to give way to a small clearing with much smaller plants. And he found her there picking yellowish mushrooms that were growing in a large circle around darker grass. “What did you find?” Asked Arborus as he walked over to look the mushrooms over.
Springs looked up with a bright smile and showed off one she’s managed to get from the ground with a bulb. “Humans like mushrooms, right?”
Kneeling down, he looked it over and saw the gills. He was hardly an export, but his momma had taught him a thing or two to help make sure he never picked anything she couldn’t eat “They do, but not death caps. We should probably leave these alone,” he gently warned her.
Springs looked worried at that and suddenly dropped what she had. “Oh no!” Digging in her bag she started to pull out the ones she picked. “Will they poison the other stuff?”
Arborus was quiet a moment while he thought about that. He wasn’t quite as knowledgeable as, say, Otterby about these things. He knew not to pick them, but little else. “I don’t think so. But to be safe, let’s leave those here. I’ll help you pick something safer.” Pulling himself to his feet, he offered her a hand.
One she took, still looking a bit put off by her mistake. “Okay. And maybe some berries? I saw some really pretty white ones along the way!”
Arborus sighed softly and smiled. “We can take a look.” But he had a strong feeling he would have to look at everything she wanted to bring inside. This was a rather interesting adventure just to get the humans some fruit, he thought with a grin, following a step behind Springs.
