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flowers-of-plenty · 17 days ago

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First Meetings Epilogue

Summary: How Jimmy met Grian and Joel.

Warnings: anxiety, and mentions of loneliness

Word Count: 2022

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

AO3 Link

Ha! I lied to all of you! Chapter 3 of First Meetings wasn't the last one! This is one is!

And yes, this was planned since the beginning of the fic. I always planned to have the epilogue be a bit of a surprise. Hopefully it's a good one! I hope you guys enjoy the real last chapter of First Meetings!

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Jimmy really shouldn’t have been doing this.

What he should have been doing was gathering up as much stuff as he could and moving. He wouldn’t move out of the dorm building. He couldn’t. But it was big enough where he could move up a few floors and never have to even be near Grian and Joel’s dorm.

Moving is what he should have been doing.

What he was actually doing was heading back toward Grian and Joel’s dorm, hands fidgeting in front of him as he walked. It had been a couple of days since Grian and Joel had caught him and then let him go. And no matter how hard Jimmy tried, he…

He couldn’t stop thinking about them.

The beginning had been terrifying and he played that part over and over again in his head. The way their hands wrapped around him, trapping him, ignoring his fear, it had all been too much and it still left him shaking when he thought about it. But he also replayed what happened after. How they had stopped and apologized and fed him and let him go.

The more he thought about that part, the more Jimmy realized just how deep his loneliness ran. Because just that little bit of interaction with another person had Jimmy almost desperate for more. He wanted to talk, he wanted someone else’s presence around him. But Jimmy was the only borrower in the whole building. Maybe even in the state, or country, or even the world.

He didn’t know how many borrowers were left. But he knew that no matter what that number was, the likelihood of him ever meeting another borrower was very, very low.

And the more he thought about that, the more that deep buried loneliness of his felt suffocating.

It was mostly that feeling that led him back. He stared at his exit out of the walls, the one that would put him in Grian and Joel’s dorm. He shifted his grip on his bag slung over his shoulder and looked between the door and back toward the way he came. He could turn back now. He still had the chance to. But the more he thought about leaving, the more he realized he couldn’t. The more he realized he didn’t want to. And so he took a deep breath and entered the dorm room.

There was, thankfully, nothing blocking his way in. Grian’s bag was still under the desk but it was placed farther away from his exit. Jimmy briefly wondered if Grian had done that on purpose.

He tore his gaze away from the bag and looked around. Grian wasn’t at his desk but a quick look at the opposite side of the room showed Jimmy that Joel was at his. And from the slight shifting and creaking of the bed not too far away from him, he knew Grian must be on his bed.

It was pretty quiet other than the sounds of Joel typing. Jimmy didn’t know what Grian was doing but he hoped that whatever it was was enough of a distraction that they wouldn’t notice Jimmy right away.

He wanted to get higher up before revealing himself, put himself on a more even playing field. Even if he knew that was more of an illusion than anything, it made him feel a bit better at least.

He adjusted his bag and then ran under Grian’s bed from the desk and went to the edge. He couldn’t see Grian from where he was but Joel was fully engrossed in his laptop. Jimmy felt his heart thud in his chest as he realized he would be taking the same risk he had before. Except this time without the threat of being chased and grabbed.

He hoped.

Jimmy took in a deep breath before running across the room as swiftly and quietly as he could. Thankfully there were no sudden gasps or shouts this time and Jimmy was able to dart behind Joel’s nightstand without being detected. He let himself catch his breath from the adrenaline he just put himself through before carefully leaning out from behind the nightstand to try and catch a glimpse at Grian.

As he thought, Grian was in bed. He seemed to be on his phone, his thumb scrolling every few seconds. Jimmy couldn’t even begin to guess what Grian was actually doing on his phone but whatever it was had him engrossed enough that he didn’t see Jimmy. Which was all the borrower needed.

Ducking back behind the nightstand, he grabbed his hook out of his bag and started whipping it to gain more momentum. He didn’t have a lot of room between the nightstand and the wall but it was enough to let him throw his hook and watch as it snagged the edge of the nightstand. Jimmy gave it a little tug, just to make sure it was steady. It stayed firm despite his tugs and so Jimmy started the climb up.

He made it up the nightstand with no problems, hoisting himself up and onto it. He decided to leave his hook and line where it was as he ducked behind the lamp. From here, he could basically see the entire room and he peered out from behind the lamp to his left to see Joel a bit better. He could see that Joel must be working on some homework, as his screen was full of words that continued to appear the more Joel typed.

Unfortunately, it was at this moment that Jimmy was watching Joel that Joel leaned back against his chair and stretched, turning his head to the side in order to give his eyes a rest from the screen. As his head turned, Joel’s gaze subconsciously landed on his nightstand as something in his peripheral had caught his attention and it was then that Joel and Jimmy’s eyes met.

Jimmy gasped and ducked back behind the lamp just as he saw Joel’s eyes go wide. He pressed his back against the lamp, his breathing coming out faster and his heart rate spiking considerably.

“Jimmy?” Joel called out as Jimmy heard him stand abruptly from his seat.

“Huh?” Grian let out a noise and snapped his attention away from his phone and toward Joel. “Is Jimmy here?” Grian asked and Jimmy could just barely see Grian scrambling out of bed and moving closer to Joel, to Jimmy.

“I-yeah. He’s behind my lamp.” Joel said and for some reason, having Joel actually put into words that he saw him and knew where he was had Jimmy’s heart racing even faster.

He placed a hand on his chest and tried to force himself to calm down. He was fine. He was the one who decided to do this. And Grian and Joel had already let him go once, he didn’t think they would keep him or do anything like that to him now.

It was just so nerve wracking putting himself in the presence of humans again. His instincts, fear instilled into him since he was little, screaming at him to run and get away. But he stayed put and breathed through it.

He wanted this.

Jimmy took his hand off his chest and before he could second guess himself, he leaned back around the lamp, revealing himself to Grian and Joel. He looked up at them, still using the lamp as some sort of comfort as he gripped the side of it and tried to stop his body from shaking. Joel and Grian stared at him with wide eyes and Jimmy cleared his throat, preparing to say something.

“Um…H-Hey.” He winced at the stutter in his voice. Thankfully, Grian and Joel didn’t comment on it. Instead, they just seemed really surprised.

“You came back?” Grian asked, despite knowing the answer. He seemed in awe that Jimmy had come back at all and the question was only said to convey Grian’s shock. Jimmy nodded and with another calming breath he fully came out from behind the lamp, putting himself fully in the humans’ line of sight.

“Yeah, I mean…you did say I was welcome back, er, right?” Jimmy asked, fidgeting with his hands a bit.

“Well, yeah, of course!” Grian answered, putting Jimmy’s mind more at ease.

“Yeah, we just…well, we weren’t really expecting you to take us up on that.” Joel chimed in, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, we didn’t really have the-the best first meeting.”

Jimmy winced as his earlier thoughts were brought up. Good thing he had already thought this over at least a hundred times before coming back here. “Yeah but…it wasn’t terrible. I mean, you guys fed me and let me go…”

He watched as both of their eyebrows furrowed. “Well, yeah, we were never going to keep you here.” Joel said with a small frown. As if the idea of forcing Jimmy to stay had never even crossed his mind.

He said with such confidence too, such casualness, that Jimmy really had no choice but to believe them. That and he had seen them let him go first hand. The more Jimmy stood there on the nightstand without being grabbed, talking to the two humans, the more he realized he hadn’t made a terrible decision in coming back here.

“Speaking of food…” Grian said, glancing at his phone before looking back at Jimmy. “You’re actually just in time for lunch. Did you…want to stay for it?”

Before Jimmy could answer, his stomach did it for him, releasing a loud gurgling noise. Jimmy’s cheeks became red as he realized that was loud enough for even Grian and Joel to hear. The two humans blinked before Grian let out a small laugh. Joel chuckled as well, though he at least had the decency to hide it behind a hand. It didn’t stop the red in Jimmy’s cheeks from spreading though.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” Grian said, tapping some stuff on his phone that Jimmy could only assume was to order said food. “Any requests?”

Jimmy blinked. The only thing that came to mind was pizza, which he would for sure be happy to have again. But a part of him wanted to try something new as well. He decided on shrugging. “I’m okay with anything.”

Grian nodded and tapped some more stuff on his phone. “How do some burgers and fries sound then?” Grian said, looking between both Jimmy and Joel.

“Sounds good to me.” Joel said with a grin.

“Me too.” Jimmy said, barely even knowing what burgers and fries were. He thought he might have had a fry in the past but he couldn’t be sure. And if he had, it had definitely been old and cold. Not fresh like he knew this would be.

Jimmy honestly couldn’t believe he was getting another chance to have fresh and warm food. He also couldn’t believe this was going so well. Here Jimmy was, purposefully putting himself within reach of two humans and they hadn’t so much as reached for him. They actually seemed to be keeping their distance, neither one of them had moved any closer than where they were now. Which was a good few feet away from where Jimmy was.

As Joel listed off his order for Grian to put in, Jimmy found himself relaxing more and more. Maybe being here was against the borrower code. And maybe being here was risking everything he ever knew. But Jimmy didn’t care.

Jimmy sat down, hanging his feet over the edge of the nightstand. Grian and Joel’s sizes were still intimidating and it would take a lot to get over that, if he even could, but he knew there was a line of trust forming. A trust that Jimmy could believe in.

Maybe he was wrong before. Maybe he didn’t have to live in another world where Grian and Joel were also borrowers in order to be friends with them. Maybe, just maybe, they could be friends in this one as well.

Jimmy was glad he came back. Because he, at the very least, now believed they could be.

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flowers-of-plenty · 1 month ago

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First Meetings 3/3

Summary: How Jimmy met Grian and Joel.

Warnings: anxiety, feeling trapped, hunger pains, and fear

Word Count: 6669

Part 1 | Part 2

AO3 Link

It's finally finished! Chapter 3 is here and just as long as the last one. Sorry for the wait but I really hope you guys enjoy!

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Jimmy was more than a little wary at what this ‘better idea’ was. He might be hungry and confused but he was also terrified. Sure, the humans had finally put him down and apologized, which again, was very confusing for Jimmy, but they still had yet to let him go fully.

Jimmy winced as Grian tossed the piece of bacon, the whole reason he was even in this mess, in the trash. Jimmy’s stomach gave a displeased grumble at the sight. He wrapped his hands around his stomach and tried to push down the feeling of hunger. He couldn’t focus on that right now. The most important thing was getting away.

Unfortunately, with how intense he was still being looked at by Grian and Joel, there was no chance trying to run would work. He’d be caught before he even started climbing down the nightstand. He let out a small sigh and hesitantly met the humans’ gazes.

“I…I just want to be let go…” Jimmy said, trying his best to keep the stutter out of his voice. At his words, he saw Grian and Joel’s expression turn sad.

“Oh geez…” Joel muttered with a wince, running a hand through his hair. The two humans then shared a look before Grian crouched down to be more eye level with Jimmy. Jimmy flinched, scooting back a bit, trying to put as much distance between him and Grian as possible. Not that it mattered much. Wherever Jimmy ended up on the nightstand, both humans would be able to reach him.

He tried not to think about that too much though.

“Hey, we’re not going to keep you. We promise.” Grian said and Jimmy’s eyes widened at his words. Out of everything, he wasn’t expecting Grian to say that. Still, he wasn’t sure if he could trust it.

“...Really?” Jimmy asked, a bit of his disbelief getting through in his tone.

Grian gave Jimmy a firm nod. “Yeah, really. But…” Jimmy winced at the ‘but’ as Grian trailed off to look over his shoulder at Joel. There was always a catch. Grian turned back to Jimmy after his and Joel’s silent communication, which was starting to freak Jimmy out a bit, and let out a little sigh. “But we feel bad for how we handled things. So we’ll definitely let you go but maybe you could…stay a little longer? We want to treat you to lunch, to say sorry.” Grian explained, a small hesitant smile on his face.

Jimmy blinked, taken aback by Grian’s words. They wanted to…treat him? To say sorry? What? He decided to voice his confusion out loud. “What?” Jimmy asked, still feeling like this was all some big trap.

It was then that Joel stepped in. “Look, we messed up big time and we want to try and make it up to you.” Joel said, eyes determined. “Besides, you…you must be pretty hungry, right?” Joel asked, eyes flickering toward the trash where Grian had thrown away the piece of bacon. Jimmy ducked his head a bit. Of course it was obvious that he was hungry. He had all but admitted it to them by asking for that stupid bacon piece.

“I’m fine…” Jimmy found himself saying anyway, moving his hands up to hug at his shoulders, turning his head away.

Joel raised an eyebrow and looked at Jimmy skeptically. “Really?”

Grian stood up and elbowed Joel in the side, making Joel let out a small oomph sound. Grian glared at Joel before turning back to Jimmy, his expression softer. “Well, when’s the last time you ate?” Grian asked and Jimmy tensed.

He could lie again. He knows he could but something told him that the humans would just see right through it. He refused to look at them as he spoke. “I, uh…I had a chip yesterday morning.” Jimmy made sure not to mention that it was only a corner of the chip. Though that didn’t seem to matter because either way, as he glanced back at the humans, they seemed shocked.

“Just a chip…?” Joel said, trailing off. Jimmy felt his face light up and he, for some reason, felt the need to defend himself.

“That's all I had. It’s why I was out here borrowing, to try and find more food to bring back with me.” Jimmy explained.

Grian and Joel winced and Jimmy frowned. “Still, yesterday morning is a long time. You’ve gotta be hungry by now.” Grian said, as if urging Jimmy to just admit it already.

Jimmy grumbled and brought his legs to his chest, burying his face into them. “I don’t know why you’re trying to make me admit it. You already know the answer.”

“...Right.” Grian said, looking a bit uncomfortable. He let out a small sigh. “Look, we are going to let you go. I promise. But please just stay for lunch, okay? You can have as much food as you want and then head on home. How does that sound?”

Too good to be true, Jimmy couldn’t help but think. Why would the humans let him go? But at the same time, Jimmy’s stomach growled again and he winced at the ache. He let out a sigh. This was his best bet. “...Fine.”

Grian smiled and turned to Joel. “Great! Joel, wanna order the pizza?”

Pizza?

Joel was already dialing the nearby pizza place. “Of course, what should I put on it?”

Grian thought for a moment, looking at Jimmy and then back to Joel. “We’ll just stick with the classic pepperoni.”

Joel nodded and then called the pizza place, stepping away a bit as he spoke and gave the person on the other end of the line his order. Jimmy, for his part, was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that the humans were planning on feeding him pizza. He thought for sure he’d be getting some sort of leftovers they had lying around or something. Not pizza.

Pizza, in a college dorm, was coveted. Despite Jimmy’s many years living within the dorm’s walls, he had never once found pizza left out. It was always gone, fully consumed by the people or person who had ordered it. The fact that these humans were ordering pizza with the intent of giving him some was…mind-boggling to say the least.

Joel hung up the phone and turned back around. “Alright, pizza will be here in about 30 minutes.”

“Great. Thanks Joel.” Grian said and Joel hummed and placed his phone back in his pocket. The three of them stood there in silence for a long moment, Jimmy squirming a bit at the awkward tension in the air. What were they gonna do for the next 30 minutes?

“So, uh…” Joel started, trailing off a bit as he rubbed the back of his head. Jimmy met his eyes hesitantly. “Would you be okay if we…asked you some questions?” Joel continued with a sheepish smile. Jimmy felt his body tense at that. The last time they had asked him questions, Jimmy felt like he had no choice but to answer. Held within their grip, being poked and prodded as they asked, it was hard to see how he could have said no.

But now Joel was…asking him? Making sure that Jimmy was okay being asked questions by them. It was, once again, a stark contrast from before, where they asked and grabbed with no regards to how Jimmy may have felt about it.

Was he okay with being asked questions? Jimmy’s first, immediate thought was no. He didn’t want to reveal anything more than he already had. Which, thinking back, had been a lot already. But at the same time…what else was there, really, for Jimmy to hide? And if he said no, what were they supposed to do? Sit in that tense silence until the pizza showed up? Jimmy didn’t think he could handle that.

He looked down, fidgeting with his hands for a moment before letting out a little sigh. “I guess…if they’re not too bad.” Jimmy said, adding that onto the end in case he wanted to skip answering some of the questions they gave. He looked back up to see Joel, and Grian, smiling. Though the smiles were softer than before, when they were asking him questions the first time. Despite everything, that difference in their smiles made Jimmy relax just a tiny bit.

“Of course, feel free to skip any question you want.” Grian said and then took a seat on Joel’s bed, Joel not far behind. They could still reach him from where they sat if they really wanted to but at least they weren’t looming as much anymore. “We don’t want to make you uncomfortable again.”

“So…you’re a borrower then?” Joel asked after a moment, getting right into it. Jimmy nodded, remembering how scared he was when they had first asked him that. He then thought back to what Joel had said after and suddenly felt the need to defend himself once again.

“I’m…I’m not a thief though.” Jimmy said, quietly but resolutely. He was scared of what Joel’s reaction would be, since last time he simply teased him for talking back. Degrading him and what he said.

Thankfully, Joel didn’t react the same way. He nodded instead and even looked a bit guilty, probably also remembering his earlier reaction. “Right. Of course.” Joel shifted awkwardly. “Sorry for uh, what I said earlier.”

“Yeah, you’re just trying to survive. We can’t fault you for that.” Grian chimed in, glancing over at the trash can. “Besides, with the things you seem to take, I don’t even think it can be considered stealing even by human standards.”

Right, that was the point. Borrowers only took what humans wouldn’t miss. They didn’t want to be thieves and they were honestly more like scavengers in that sense. Jimmy was just glad they were starting to see that.

“Okay, so borrower.” Joel said again. “You take things you need from humans in order to survive, like food and I’m guessing fabric and stuff like that based on your clothes?” Jimmy nodded and Joel continued. “And based on uh…earlier comments, you were in our room looking for food, right?”

Jimmy nodded. Looks like they got the main points of it. He hadn’t been sure how good of a job he had explained it while being terrified before. Grian tilted his head, looking curious as he sort of stared at Jimmy. Jimmy couldn’t help but squirm a bit. “It doesn’t really add up though. You said you hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning and that you came here looking for food.” Grian said and Jimmy stiffened, realizing Grian was figuring it out. “But we don’t have food or crumbs laying around usually, other than Joel dropping that one piece earlier. I’m sure you would have had better luck trying to find food in a different dorm, so why didn’t you?” Grian asked. Jimmy felt nervous despite the fact he could tell Grian was genuinely asking.

He didn’t really want to reveal he was stuck in the room. What if the humans took advantage of that knowledge and blocked his exit for good? But…at the same time, he was already trapped in the room simply from being caught. Did it even matter if Jimmy told them? Besides, he would have to tell them eventually anyway so they could move the backpack if they did actually end up letting him go. He sighed, coming to a decision. “Well, um, I would have but…” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling more embarrassed than anything at telling them. “I-I got trapped in here pretty soon after I came in here yesterday.”

Grian and Joel blinked, taken aback by that answer. “Wait, trapped? What do you mean?” Grian asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Jimmy shifted again and hesitated for a moment before pointing over towards Grian’s desk, recounting what happened to him yesterday. “My entrance into the walls is down there. When I first came into this room to look for food, you two weren’t here. You walked in while I was in the middle of borrowing and so I had to run under Joel’s bed to hide. I stayed there until you two went to bed, I-I didn’t want to risk either of you seeing me.” Jimmy said that last part a bit quieter than he meant to and Grian and Joel frowned, once again giving each other looks. But Jimmy ignored them and continued. “When you two were finally asleep, I went back over to my entrance into the walls but…Grian’s backpack was in the way. I couldn’t get out. And when I realized it was the start of the weekend…” Jimmy trailed off, remembering the feeling of frustration and sadness that had washed over him in that moment. Part of him still felt like crying, honestly.

Grian looked even guilter than before. “I’m…so sorry.” Grian said, not knowing what else to say.

Jimmy shrugged and looked down, messing with the fabric of his shirt. He picked at a few of the stitchings. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know. You…couldn’t have known.” Sometimes it was easy to blame the humans for all of their misgivings. But they were unaware of borrowers. Everything they did, they did it without the context of beings smaller than them actually being real.

“I can still be sorry though.” Grian said, breaking through his thoughts. “And I am.”

Jimmy blinked. “Oh.” He hadn’t expected that response. “Um, thank you?” Was that a good way to respond? He had no idea. But Grian just nodded and smiled a little so Jimmy assumed it was good enough at least.

“I’ll move it right after we eat.” Grian promised and Jimmy nodded. He still wasn’t sure if he completely believed them but he was definitely starting to, the longer they continued to act like this.

“So, how long have you lived here?” Joel asked and it took Jimmy a moment to think about it.

“Almost half my life I think…” Jimmy said. “I came to the college dorms when I was 12 and have been here ever since.”

Joel and Grian’s eyes widened. “12. That’s…wow, uh,” He shared a glance with Grian before turning back to Jimmy. “I mean, what about your parents?”

Jimmy blinked and felt a sudden wave of sadness hit him. He hated thinking about his parents, hated thinking about what happened to them. “They’re gone.” Jimmy said, more sharply than he intended to. “They…they died before then. It was the whole reason I moved here, actually.”

“Oh…” Joel said, looking like he didn’t know what else to say.

JImmy shrugged, trying to move on. “It’s fine. It happened a long time ago.”

Grian seemed to pick up on how much he didn’t want to talk about it because he asked a different question. “Are there any other borrowers around here?”

Jimmy wasn’t sure if he would have told the truth if there actually had been any other borrowers living within the walls of the college dorm. But as it stood, there weren’t. “No. It’s…It’s just me.” He hadn’t seen another borrower since his parents. Not in the whole time he had been here.

Sometimes he wondered if he was the last one left.

“Wait, so…you’re all alone?” Grian asked, his brows furrowed. Joel, too, didn’t seem to like the thought of that.

“I…” Jimmy really didn’t want to get into his crippling loneliness right now. He needed some way to change the subject. “I think it’s my turn to ask some questions here.” Jimmy said with a slight huff.

Grian and Joel looked surprised at that. “Oh, yeah no, of course.” Grian said and then smiled. “Ask away.”

He…honestly was not expecting that to work. He figured they would want to keep asking him questions. Get the answers they were clearly still itching for. But they listened and were now allowing Jimmy to ask them things. Right, shoot, now he actually had to come up with some questions.

“Um, well…” Jimmy racked his brain for something. He could ask them about some of the human things he was confused or clueless about. Not that he had a lot of those anymore. After spending a lot of time within the college dorms, he had learned a lot by just observing. But there were still a few things that Jimmy didn’t understand.

He didn’t really want to ask those right now though. His lack of knowledge on those things could be seen as a weakness. Or maybe he just didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of the humans. Surprisingly, the latter seemed to be more true.

Jimmy shook his head and tried to come up with something else. And then he thought back to what they were planning on having for lunch and realized he had a question right there and ready. He looked back up towards the humans, meeting their gazes. “Why pizza?”

Now both humans looked confused. “What do you mean?” Joel asked.

Jimmy let out a little sigh. “I mean, why did you buy pizza for lunch? Why not, I don’t know, something you already had?” Jimmy said, doing his best to clarify.

“Oh, well, we wanted to give you something fresh. And everyone loves pizza, so we figured it was a good idea.” Grian explained and then titled his head. “Why, do you not like it?”

Jimmy blinked and shook his head, before stopping and shrugging instead. “Uh, honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never had pizza before.”

Jimmy could tell the humans were trying really hard not to react to that. But they weren’t doing a great job of it. They sent each other looks and tried to wipe the shock off their faces. Honestly, it was a bit funny to watch but Jimmy pushed down the beginnings of a small smile.

“Well, you’re going to love it.” Joel said after a few moments of wrestling with his own expression. He seemed resolute in that fact though and Jimmy couldn’t help but believe him. He saw no reason why he wouldn’t like pizza after all.

Speaking of said pizza, there was a sudden knock at the door. Jimmy tensed, head turning to the door immediately.

“Must be the pizza.” Grian said and walked over to grab the door. As it was, Jimmy was in plain view of the door from his spot on the nightstand, meaning anyone standing there could potentially spot him. He looked around for a place to hide but before he could move, Joel stood up and stepped in front of him, blocking him from view.

Jimmy blinked and looked up at Joel. His back was currently turned toward the borrower as he watched Grian pay the delivery guy and grab the pizza. He hadn’t even had to ask to be kept hidden. They had just…done it.

Huh.

It was only once the door was fully closed and locked that Joel moved out of the way. Jimmy could now see Grian carrying the pizza over, placing it on Joel’s desk. There was no actual table in the room, so Grian moved Joel’s desk out a bit and then dragged his own desk chair over to use it as a table. Grian opened the box of pizza and despite himself, Jimmy’s mouth started to water as the smell reached his nose. It smelled amazing and looked even better.

As Joel brought out some paper plates from…somewhere, Grian came back over toward Jimmy. He couldn’t keep himself from tensing as he was once again loomed over by one of the humans. “Ready to eat?” Grian asked and Jimmy could see his hand already start to rise from his side.

Jimmy swallowed thickly and nodded, but braced himself to be grabbed again. Except, the feeling of a large hand wrapping around him never came. Instead, Grian’s hand stopped in front of him, palm up and waiting for Jimmy himself to get on.

Jimmy blinked at the offered hand, unable to tear his gaze away from it. Honestly, it would have been easier if he had just been grabbed. Because now, Grian was asking him to make the conscious decision to step into his hand willingly. Jimmy could still feel the phantom sensation of fingers wrapped around his body. Could still feel the lingering effects of having been in that hand less than an hour ago.

But Jimmy was in no condition to get to the desk turned dining table by himself. Not with his stomach aching and his throat dry and his fear still clinging in the corners of Jimmy’s mind. If he wanted to eat, he needed Grian’s help.

Jimmy still didn’t move for a good long moment but Grian simply waited there, saying nothing. Jimmy wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than Grian hurrying him. But he collected himself, taking a deep breath and stood up on shaky legs, moving slowly over to Grian’s offered hand. He stared at it for another moment and then looked up, meeting Grian’s eyes. Grian gave him a small, encouraging smile and Jimmy used that to finally step onto the hand.

Going from the nightstand to Grian’s hand was strange. The surface was hard but squishy and it left him feeling a bit unbalanced. He moved to the center and decided to sit down for better safety. “Alright, here we go.” Grian said and that was all the warning Jimmy got before Grian was lifting his hand up. Jimmy braced himself, his hands pressed into Grian’s palm to make sure he didn’t get thrown off. But Grian was careful, a lot more careful than he had been before. Jimmy could tell with the way Grian was moving and the way his other hand was just below the one he was on, just in case something happened.

It was strange but…it wasn’t bad.

He was no less thankful to be let off the hand though, as Grian reached the desk and lowered him down. Jimmy had no hesitation in getting off Grian’s hand, putting a fair amount of distance between him and the human. Grian took his hand away just as Joel came over with something small in his hands.

“Here. I figured you're probably pretty thirsty too.” Joel said, placing a bottle cap full of water a few inches away from where Jimmy was standing. Jimmy was suddenly reminded and aware of just how much that was true. Jimmy practically ran over to it and lifted it up, thankful it was small enough to do so, before taking big, generous gulps of the water. The cool, refreshing liquid slid down his throat and made it feel so much better already.

He kept drinking, barely taking a breath, until there was nothing left in the cap. He took in a breath that almost had him choking, letting the feeling of no longer being thirsty wash over him. “Oh wow.” Jimmy heard Joel say and he looked up, seeing both Joel and Grian watching him with wide eyes. Jimmy shrunk a little at their gaze, so caught up in drinking the water he had almost forgotten they were there. “You really were thirsty.”

Jimmy wiped his mouth and looked away, not up for responding to that. Thankfully, Joel moved on, pointing at the cap Jimmy was holding. “Did you want some more?” Joel asked and Jimmy only hesitated for a second before nodding. Joel's hand came at him suddenly then and Jimmy couldn’t help but yelp, flinching and turning away from it. There was a pause and he could just feel the two humans giving each other looks.

“Hey…I’m not gonna grab you. Again. I just wanted the cap back so I could fill it back up for you.” Joel explained and oh…that made more sense. Jimmy felt his cheeks burn a bit as he opened his eyes and saw that, while Joel’s hand was close, it was palm up like Grian’s had been. Waiting for Jimmy to put the cap back on it.

“Right.” Jimmy choked out and set the plastic cap onto Joel’s fingers. Joel’s fingers then curved in, sending the cap sliding down to settle in Joel’s palm. The hand left Jimmy’s general vicinity a second later and he watched Joel walk away and back toward the bathroom to fill it up with some more tap water.

As Joel did that, Grian leaned over on the other side of Jimmy and grabbed a slice of pizza. Jimmy couldn’t help but watch, captivated by the cheese that kept it attached to the rest of the pizza until it finally snapped as it got too high. He still couldn’t believe he was about to have pizza of all things. He had seen so many college students eating it time and time again and now, finally, Jimmy was going to find out what it tasted like.

Grian put the slice on a paper plate and looked like he was about to slide it over in Jimmy’s direction before pausing, seeming to realize something. “Oh, uh…I guess you can’t really eat a whole slice by yourself, huh?” Grian said with a slight chuckle. Jimmy gave a small smile at that. He could certainly try but no, the single slice was bigger than he was.

“Here, let me just…” Grian trailed off as he grabbed a plastic knife and cut off the very tip of the pizza and then used the flat part of the knife to go under it and transfer it over to another paper plate. This is what he slid over to Jimmy. “There we go, it’s practically your size now. You won’t get any of the crust but that’s fine. What you’ve got is the best part anyway.” Grian said with a grin.

Jimmy had to walk onto the plate in order to get to the pizza and as he did so, Joel returned with the water, placing it a bit away from Jimmy as he reached around him to grab himself a slice. As Joel did that, Jimmy took in the cut pizza. It was still fairly big, considering. But a lot more manageable than a regular slice and something Jimmy could reasonably finish.

Jimmy went to reach for it, touching it to pick it up but he immediately pulled his hand back with wide eyes. “Oh, careful. It’s still pretty hot.” Joel said, blowing on his own piece before taking a big bite out of it. Jimmy turned away from the human, doing his best to avoid seeing that for…reasons.

But at Joel’s words, Jimmy paused. Hot. Right. Pizza was usually hot when it was brought to the dorms. In fact, a lot of things humans ate were hot at first. Or at the very least warm. Jimmy had never had pizza before but he also had never had warm food before either.

His stomach ached again suddenly, having only been temporarily settled by the water from earlier. And now, with food within reach, it was practically yelling at him to eat. So Jimmy followed Joel’s lead and blew on it, watching as his breath swept away the steam. He blew for a moment more before reaching out to touch it. It was still hot, but a lot more bearable now. Jimmy wasted no time in picking it up and taking a bite out of the end of it.

His eyes widened. The warmth on his tongue was a foreign feeling to Jimmy but no less welcome. He shivered as he swallowed, the heat falling down his throat and spreading into his chest and stomach. And that was just the warmth of the food. The actual taste was amazing. It was unlike anything Jimmy had ever had.

“So? What do you think?” Grian asked and when Jimmy looked up he could see Grian grinning, seeming to already know the answer based on Jimmy’s expression alone.

“It’s amazing.” Jimmy said, not keeping out the awe in his voice. “It’s so good. And so…warm. No wonder you humans are always eating warm meals.” Jimmy took another bite of the pizza, savoring it.

But the table had fallen silent and Jimmy wondered if he had said something wrong. He looked back up at the two humans, seeing what could only be described as crushed looks on their faces. “Jimmy…have you ever…had warm food before?” Joel asked hesitantly.

Jimmy blinked and then looked away, face becoming flushed once again. “I…no. Of course not.” Jimmy said, getting a bit braver with how he spoke, though he still didn’t meet their gazes again. “Most food I find has been left out for a while. If it was warm once, it wasn’t by the time I got to it.” And then Jimmy shrugged. “And it’s not like I can cook my own food either.” He could certainly try but he feared that would send the whole building up in flames. It was an unnecessary risk Jimmy was not willing to take.

Joel blinked and shifted his gaze a bit. “Oh…I guess that does make sense.” His eyebrows were furrowed though and it looked like he was holding back in saying something else.

“Well, in any case…” Grian said, trying to move on. “Glad you’re enjoying it.” Grian sent Jimmy a soft smile and Jimmy found his own lips twitching upward at that.

They continued to eat, Jimmy savoring every bite he could, knowing this would probably be the only time he ever had something like this. He tried his best not to look at either human as they were all eating but after a few moments of silence, the humans started talking.

Surprisingly, they seemed to be talking with just each other, about simple, random things. Classes, homework, stuff like that. It seemed, at least to Jimmy, that they were purposefully giving him space as he ate. Jimmy appreciated it but he couldn’t help but listen in, letting the banter of the two humans wash over him as he continued to eat. It was almost familiar to him now, after having spent the last day and a half listening to them.

It wasn’t long before Jimmy had finished his piece of pizza. Grian seemed to notice almost right away, putting his slice of pizza back down on the plate and turning his head to address Jimmy. “Did you want any more?”

The thought of turning down food was ridiculous in Jimmy’s eyes. Borrowers needed as much as they could get. But…for the first time since, well, since forever, he felt full. It was a weird feeling but also a…comfortable one. Along with the warmth that still seeped through his body, Jimmy felt better than he had in a long time. “No, I’m okay. I’m, uh, I’m full.” Jimmy answered, a bit quieter than normal. It was even weird to say it out loud.

Grian blinked but smiled before turning back to his own slice of pizza, finishing it up. Jimmy took another drink of his water, sighing at how refreshing it was. He looked down at his hands, realizing how dirty they had gotten from the pizza. He was pretty sure his hands were covered in something called pizza grease? It was something like that at least. They felt weird, not sticky but uncomfortable all the same.

Joel looked down at Jimmy in confusion, seeing him looking at his hands with a scrunched up nose, before realizing what must be wrong. Joel reached over and grabbed a napkin, carefully sliding it over toward Jimmy. Jimmy flinched a bit at the sudden movement but quickly recovered and blinked down at the napkin. “Oh, uh, thank you.” Jimmy said, eyes glancing up to meet Joel’s gaze for a moment before reaching out and using the napkin to clean off his hands.

He discarded the napkin off to the side and glanced back up at the two humans. Joel leaned back and stretched after he was done. “Man, that hit the spot.” Joel said before resting his hands on his stomach.

Jimmy furrowed his brows, a question on his lips. He decided to ask, feeling braver than before. “Why do college students always seem to get pizza anyway?”

Grian was the one who answered, shrugging. “Well, it's easy, fairly cheap, and well…it tastes good.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure pizza is just one of those universal likes.” Joel chimed in.

“Especially since there are so many different kinds you could get.” Grian said, expanding on Joel’s point. Joel nodded in agreement at that and then Grian looked back down at Jimmy. “And it looks like liking pizza also translates to borrowers as well.” Grian said with a half smirk half smile.

Jimmy blinked. Obviously he couldn’t speak for other borrowers but he for sure, at least, loved it. Though he couldn’t see other borrowers not liking it if they had the chance to try it.

Jimmy smiled a bit, honestly feeling really good. He was full from a meal that was better than anything he had ever had and though his fear still lingered, quite a bit, he didn’t feel as though he was in that much danger anymore. Which was strange.

But speaking of that fear, Jimmy realized they were now all done eating. Which meant it was time for the moment of truth. The thing Jimmy still didn’t fully believe would happen. The thing that could change this somewhat calm atmosphere back to that panic and fear he had felt only an hour ago.

Were they going to let Jimmy go?

Joel and Grian seemed to be on similar lines of thought because they both looked at each other in a moment of silence and then both turned to Jimmy, causing Jimmy to tense, knowing this was the moment. He fidgeted with his shirt nervously and well…there really was nothing else to do than just come out and ask already.

“Um, thank you for the meal, truly. It was really good.” Jimmy said, hoping the question would be softened more if he thanked them first. But also, he really did mean it. “But, um, is it okay if I-I mean, can I…will you let me go now?” Jimmy said, feelings his cheeks flush with how hard he had stuttered. His nervousness and fear were seeping through again.

Jimmy was looking at Grian when Grian’s expression softened and looking at Joel showed him that Joel was matching. “Yeah, of course.” Grian said, standing up from the desk. Jimmy remained tense as Grian stood and walked past him. “Here, let me just go move my bag.” He said, making his way over toward his own desk.

Jimmy’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest as he watched. That was a good sign right? Both their expressions and the fact that Grian was moving the very thing blocking his entrance back into the walls.

The sound of someone clearing their throat brought Jimmy’s attention away from Grian and over back toward Joel. He still wore the softened expression but he also looked…nervous? “I can help you over there. I mean, if you want.” Joel said, before slowly reaching his hand down and offering his hand to Jimmy, just as Grian had done earlier.

Jimmy stared down at the hand with wide eyes, shifting slightly. Once again, they were leaving the choice to him and once again, part of him wished Joel would have just grabbed him instead. But really, he was thankful for the choice. And thinking back to earlier, when he got onto Grian’s hand, well, it hadn’t been that bad. Nothing like it had been earlier for sure. So, though there was still a good amount of hesitation on Jimmy’s end, he at least found it easier to climb on this time.

He settled down at the center of Joel’s palm, copying what he had down on Grian’s. He glanced up at Joel, only to see that nervousness in his expression increase. Jimmy couldn’t help but find that strange. He certainly hadn’t been nervous before when he had grabbed him. The change was more than a little confusing.

“Alright, hang on.” Joel said quietly and then slowly lifted his hand off the table, his other hand going underneath just as Grian’s had done. He then started over to where Grian was waiting for them, his bag already moved out of the way.

Like with Grian, he was not on Joel’s hand very long. Joel crouched down and let Jimmy off on the floor. Jimmy felt relief as his feet hit solid ground but again, the ride over hadn’t been bad at all. He looked over to see Joel still crouched and that Grian had joined him. The two looked at Jimmy with those same guilty expressions as before.

“We just want to say we’re sorry again for…for how we reacted before.” Grian spoke up. “That was stupid of us.”

“Real stupid.” Joel chimed in, though his words were more muttered.

They had apologized so many times. But now, with Jimmy about to actually leave, it hit deeper somehow. Like Jimmy was truly believing their words for the first time.

“I know you probably don’t want to and we completely understand but…just know that you can always come back if you need anything.” Grian offered, causing Jimmy’s eyes to widen. The offer shouldn’t have been all that surprising but it kind of was. Because it made Jimmy realize that the humans really did want him to stay but were letting him leave because that’s what Jimmy wanted.

“...Thank you.” Jimmy said, not knowing what else to say. He knew he wouldn’t be coming back, it was the rules, but he really did appreciate the offer.

“Stay safe out there Jimmy.” Joel said, a small smile on his face.

Jimmy nodded and then turned around and walked up to his entrance. He paused, looking back at the humans who were just watching, making no move to grab him or anything. He turned back to his entrance and found himself…hesitating.

Why was he hesitating?

He shook his head, telling himself he needed to go and without another look back he walked into the walls and disappeared from Grian and Joel’s sight. As soon as he was back in the walls he slumped against one of them and let out a deep breath. His heart still felt like it was going to beat out of his chest and he focused on his breathing in order to calm himself down.

That had been…a lot. But for some reason Jimmy couldn’t think about what just happened too badly. The beginning had been awful and terrifying for sure but it was the second half that had him second guessing everything. He was literally in the humans’ grasp, completely at their mercy. Any other human, at least, all the ones that Jimmy had ever heard about, would have ignored his pleas and cries and kept him or worse.

But Grian and Joel had listened. They stopped and gave him something to eat and then let him go with no strings attached or anything. They even seemed guilty for how they had handled things at first. It was weird and confusing and went against everything Jimmy ever thought about humans.

Grian and Joel were strange for sure. Jimmy had even found that he was enjoying himself a bit at the end there. They seemed like cool people. Maybe, in another world were Grian and Joel were also borrowers, they could have been really good friends.

Unfortunately, that was not this world. And Grian and Joel were very much human. Being friends with them just…wouldn’t work. It couldn’t work.

With a sigh Jimmy pushed himself off of the wall and stretched. With his belly full and his thirst quenched he could afford to worry about getting a supply of food and water later on. Right now, he needed a nap. He felt exhausted after everything.

With one last glance toward Grian and Joel’s room, Jimmy started on the familiar way back home.

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