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tinyundercover · 2 months ago

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cassie!

a one-shot about a young borrower girl in the pepper & felix universe <3

you don’t need to have read pepper & felix to read this! :)

word count: 3.3k

Exhaustion hung from Cassie’s small frame. Her boots dragged along the dusty wood beneath her, wobbling with each uneven step. A miserable noise escaped her, and she hugged herself.

The insides of the walls towered over her. Barely nine years old, Cassie had never ventured this far into such an unfamiliar place, especially not on her own.

She whimpered before she could control it, and suddenly the wall besides her slammed into her shoulder, sending a sharp pain rocketing through her body. It took a few seconds for her to register that she had fallen against the wall, and she winced in response, rubbing at the soft sleeve of her pale dress as she stumbled back to her feet.

A distant rumbling sound found its way into the air, and Cassie’s lips tightened. Although she had spent most of her life living outside, she would recognize the sound of human footsteps from a mile away.

She supposed she had ventured her way into some sort of human living-space, but she hadn’t exactly had a choice, considering the thunderstorm that had descended upon her outside.

As long as I stay in the walls, I’ll be fine, Cassie thought decidedly, although the aching pain in her stomach offered some objection.

Within thirty minutes, Cassie stumbled her way into a secluded gap in the walls, large enough to fit multiple borrowers comfortably. Dust coated the floor and walls in a thick gray layer, but it wasn’t anything that the young borrower wasn’t used to. With a swell in her chest, Cassie dropped to her knees and began to unpack her satchel.

She didn’t have much. A blueberry, a thumbtack, a fraying quilt, and a loose hoodie were all that she retrieved, but she immediately felt more comfortable with her belongings laid out in front of her. The child wriggled into her hoodie— a thick, gray article of clothing that her mother had sewn for her a few months ago— and pulled the hood up, concealing the light curls of her short hair.

After taking a nibble of her blueberry— not too much, of course, her mother had drilled into her just how important it was to ration her food— Cassie wrapped herself in her quilt, pulled her thumbtack into arm’s reach, then laid against the hard, cold floor. The nine-year-old’s lashes fluttered as she quickly fell into an uneasy, dreamless sleep. She wasn’t used to being alone like this, but she was strong. She was almost ten years old.

She’d be okay.

—

Two days had passed, and the thunderstorm outside failed to cease. Cassie was, inevitably, trapped inside this building.

The walls had become a lot more daunting the longer she spent alone. Cassie shivered, leaning against the wood frame. Thoughts of her mother drifted through her mind, but she firmly shoved them away, despite the anxiety gnawing at her chest. She could do this. She could wait just a little longer for the thunderstorm to pass— then, she could venture back outside and return to where her mom would be waiting with open arms.

It had been entirely an accident, when Cassie had become separated from her mother. She didn’t mean to wander off, and she certainly didn’t intend to trap herself inside this building, where the giant, echoing footsteps of the humans surrounded her constantly.

Her blueberry had quickly vanished within a day, and her hunger continued to gnaw at her. Cassie chewed her lip, hugging her thin stomach.

The humans would have food, right?

Almost immediately, Cassie scolded herself, shaking her head until her light brown curls bounced. If her mother had taught her one thing, it was that humans were bad. There was absolutely no reason Cassie should ever put herself close to one… even if it was just to grab something to eat, before the humans even noticed her.

The rumbling footsteps passed by again, and Cassie trembled, pulling her hoodie tight around herself. Once the storm passed, she could go back outside and forget these humans existed. She’d be okay.

—

Cassie was, unsurprisingly, not okay.

Her hunger had been difficult to fight, and with a heavy, terrified heart, Cassie stumbled her way through the walls again, her thumbtack gripped tight in one pale hand. She knew that the thumbtack would be absolutely no match against a human if she were to be caught (a sickening thought), but even the smallest weapon brought her some comfort.

When she finally came across a gap in the walls— a thin, barely noticeable crack reaching from the base of the floor to an inch above Cassie’s head— the borrower halted, twirling her thumbtack nervously. She waited for a moment, and when no stomping sound of human footsteps greeted her, she gathered enough confidence to peek through the crack.

An enormous space greeted her. A ceiling stretched high above her head, so high that the yellow light fixture seemed a tad bit blurry. Unfamiliar pieces of furniture surrounded her, some of which she vaguely knew the names of— a bookshelf, a long blue couch. Everything surpassed her in size, and Cassie suddenly felt very, very out of place.

The borrower chewed her lip, heart pounding. She hadn’t even come across a human yet, but icy fear was already gripping at her wrists and threatening to drag her away. Was this even worth it?

Her stomach whined, weak and painful, and the nine-year-old rocked nervously on her feet. Her decision made itself, and she squeezed through the gap in the walls and stumbled out into the wide open space of the apartment.

She immediately froze in place, as if a human might descend upon her at any moment, but the apartment seemed emptier than ever. Silence greeted her, and with a nervous flutter in her chest, she walked forward.

Almost immediately, the floor shook with distant footsteps. With a wild gasp Cassie scrambled backwards.

The sight of a real, live human entering the room sent cold terror spiraling down through Cassie’s thin ribs until it settled into a cold rock at the base of her stomach. She stiffened.

This human was tall, unbelievably so. From down on the floor, Cassie could barely make out the definition of their shoulders and face, impossibly high above her, positively towering. They moved with an enormous elegance, walking across the room, and Cassie suppressed a startled noise.

The emptiness of her stomach long forgotten, Cassie spun around and darted back into the safety of the walls.

—

Cassie understood that being caught by a human meant that she would be killed.

Her mother had drilled that knowledge into her from the moment Cassie was born, and Cassie had spent her entire life avoiding humans. She had grown up outside, in a beautiful garden with her mom, living off of berries and rainwater. An elderly human woman would occasionally appear to tend to the garden, but Cassie and her mother ignored her, for the most part.

Now, her small hands shook with both fear and hunger, clinging to her thumbtack, while she backed herself into a corner.

Having gone three days without eating anything, Cassie had finally mustered up the courage to explore the human’s apartment again. She had wandered her way into a kitchen, and while she had been surveying the towering counter, trying to figure out how to climb up to the tantalizing fruit bowl which almost seemed to mock her— the floor had rumbled beneath her.

The human— the tall, enormous, terrifying human— had entered the kitchen through the massive front door, and Cassie had scrambled into the corner, where the cupboard met the wall. She was mentally berating herself for not having a proper escape plan, heart racing with terror. Her mother would be disappointed with her— if, of course, she ever managed to see her mother after this.

She felt dizzy. The human didn’t seem to have noticed her yet, despite how close he was to her. He was doing something on the countertop, out of sight from Cassie. Her heart continued to pound, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the human’s towering legs. Two enormous shoes taunted her. If the human barely glanced to his right and spotted Cassie— would he even hesitate to stomp on her?

A weak whimper escaped her lips, and she slumped further into the corner, her thumbtack threatening to slip from her trembling grasp. The hunger was almost more overwhelming than the terror, gripping at her chest. She had never been this close to a human in her life, let alone by herself. A sob grew in her throat.

When the human turned, an enormous shoe approaching, she couldn’t stop the shriek from escaping her.

The shoe halted. Cassie suddenly found that she couldn’t contain her tears— and as the human shifted, a pair of startled blue eyes landing on her, her knees buckled and she collapsed against the wall, sobs wracking her tiny shoulders.

The human made a noise akin to an “oh,” but Cassie barely processed it. She could hardly breathe, icy panic tearing its way through her body, seizing her muscles. Her vision blurred. She couldn’t back away enough from the enormous form standing in front of her.

She let out a choked noise as one of those massive knees suddenly bent, and suddenly the human was kneeling down, bringing himself closer to her, and icy fear shot up into her throat.

“No, wait!”

The words escaped her before she could control them, and suddenly Cassie was lost to begging and pleading, her voice catching in breathy sobs. Her shoulders pressed into the firm wall behind her. “Please, wait, don’t—! I don’t— I don’t want— please don’t kill me, I— I— please!”

Her vision instantly filled with water and blurred. She couldn’t handle being this close to such a massive being. He was too big. His presence overwhelmed her, overpowering and terrifying, and he was going to grab her at any moment. Within seconds, Cassie would be dead, or trapped in an unrelenting fist, or— or—

“Oh, no.”

Why hadn’t he snatched her up yet? Cassie’s breath hitched, and she peeked her eyes open, only to flinch back. The human took up the entirety of her vision, a blue sweater hovering over her, two enormous hands resting on massive knees. He was speaking, his voice quiet and startling soft, but Cassie barely processed a word that left his mouth. Do humans eat borrowers? Oh, god, please, no. Cassie sobbed.

“Please, just take a deep breath, I’m not gonna hurt y—”

The human’s hand moved, and before Cassie could think, she bolted.

She didn’t exactly have anywhere to go; while she would have preferred to sprint away from the terrifying human, she had no choice but to stagger along the wall, towards the doorway. Her legs moved slower than she would have wanted, due to the hunger ebbing at her body, but she hoped that she would be fast enough to somehow escape the human in time.

She was not.

The human said something, a quick rush of startled words, and suddenly Cassie was being swept up into a hand.

A hand.

“No!” Cassie shrieked, panic coursing through her body like electricity.

Her arms lashed out in terror, and the human flinched as soon as the point of her thumbtack made contact with his palm, leaving a red streak in its wake.

Unsurprisingly, her thumbtack was useless against a hand three times her size. Despite the initial wince and the soft “ow” from above her, it took no effort for the human’s other hand to descend upon her, gently pinching the scarlet blade of the thumbtack just as she was preparing to slash again. Cassie let out a strangled gasp as her only weapon was tugged effortlessly from her grasp, and she wept, tears pouring freely down her face.

“I’m sorry,” she wheezed, crumpling back into the human’s enormous, powerful fingers. “I’m so sorry, I’m so— please don’t hurt me, please, please, I’m sorry, I don’t want to die, please—“

She felt like a fool for attacking him. The human had trapped her in his hand, and the very first thing she did was give him more reason to hurt her. She could barely handle this human looking at her; there was no way she’d survive him being angry. Her stomach lurched.

“Please don’t hurt me,” Cassie choked out, burying her hands in her loose curls. “Please. I’m so sorry.”

“Wait,” the human said, voice hushed, and Cassie flinched back. It was difficult to even meet his blue gaze as it searched her tiny trembling form. “Wait, don’t apologize. It’s okay.”

“I’m— I’m sorry.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Cassie was very aware of the fact that she was being cupped in two powerful hands, both of which greatly surpassed her in size, but they hadn’t snapped shut on her yet. She was on the verge of blacking out, her weakness and hunger and terror overwhelming her.

“I promise you’re safe,” he continued, and vaguely Cassie wondered why he seemed so worried. Surely, he wasn’t scared of her.

He could do anything he wanted to her. He knew that, right? She certainly did.

Cassie took a deep, shuddering breath, desperately scrubbing at her wet face. The human merely shifted his shoulders and she flinched, then broke off into choppy breaths.

The human’s gaze flickered with worry. “How… old are you?”

If she didn’t answer his question, would his gentleness disappear? Cassie swallowed thickly. She supposed she should be lucky that he was holding her so delicately, the way a human would hold a trembling baby bird.

“I’m nine.”

“Nine?” The human echoed in surprise, his large shoulders jerking. “Oh, no.”

Cassie stayed silent, hugging herself. An enormous blue gaze scoured her small form, seeming hesitant. If Cassie didn’t know any better, she would think that this human appeared to be afraid of her. The massive hands enveloping her form shook slightly underneath her.

“What’s… your name?” He continued after a moment of chewing his lip. “I’m Felix.”

She blinked up at him, heart racing. She was still expecting him to turn on her at moment, but instead of flattening her or shoving her in a jar, this human was offering his name?

“Cassidy,” she said weakly. His head inclined towards her to hear, a strand of blonde hair falling between his eyes, and Cassie’s stomach dropped. Fear continued to crawl up through her ribs, and she shrank into herself.

“Cassidy,” the human echoed. “That’s pretty. You… you’re a borrower, right?”

Any semblance of safety crumpled completely. Cassie’s shoulders jerked back, alarm bells shrieking in her mind.

He knew about borrowers. He must have experience with borrowers. Terrifying images whipped through Cassie’s mind, of borrowers being trapped in cages, experimented on, snatched up between hands. Her throat tightened, and she flinched back, shoulders jerking into the large fingers cupped behind her.

When her blurry gaze refocused on the human above her, his face had softened, blue eyes searching her anxiously. “Woah, hey. It’s okay.”

“Please don’t kill me,” Cassie sniffled, and his brow knit worriedly.

“I’m not going to.” His voice was quiet. After a tense moment, he asked, “would you feel better if I put you on the counter?”

“Wh-what?”

“I just… I… I feel uncomfortable with you down on the floor. Is the counter alright?”

She wasn’t really sure what he was asking, her mind fuzzy with fear and hunger, so she simply nodded. The human paused, taking in her trembling reaction for a moment, before he slowly shifted back.

“I’m gonna stand up now, okay?”

His words sent a tingle of panic down Cassie’s spine, and she stiffened, gaze dropping to the enormous palms below her. When the human’s enormous body moved, knees shifting, she could barely contain a whimper, squeezing her eyes shut.

The sheer power of the human in front of her made her want to cry. She had known that humans were big and scary, but this was absolutely terrifying, how easily he could snatch her up and move her around without a second thought. Perhaps she was lucky that he seemed too fond of her to kill her, in a strange, stressful way.

Her eyes snapped open as soon as the hands below her tipped, and suddenly she was stumbling off onto a smooth counter. Her knees buckled immediately, and she collapsed, hugging her heaving chest.

He had set her down. She wasn’t exactly sure why he had brought her up closer to eye level— but she was grateful to finally be on a solid surface, away from his overpowering hands.

He stood in front of her, large hands resting delicately on the edge of the counter. She took a few deep, shuddering breaths, which he was clearly willing to let her do before he spoke.

“I’m sorry for grabbing you,” he began gently, and suddenly his hand returned, a thumbtack pinched carefully between his fingers. A jolt of surprise found its way up Cassie’s spine. “Here. I wasn’t gonna keep it, I promise.”

Cassie took a few more uneven breaths, staring up at him, before she cautiously reached forward. Her hands were so shaky that she could barely wrap her palms around the thumbtack, but after a few seconds she had her weapon resting assuredly in her lap, and the human’s hand retreated.

“I know I’ve said this before, but I’m really not going to hurt you.” The human paused, brow furrowing in concern. “I promise. My… my friend is a borrower, too. I wish he was here to talk to you, but he’s visiting his sister right now, and I…”

He trailed off, chewing his lip, and Cassie only blinked. This human considered a borrower to be his friend?

He could be lying, Cassie reminded herself. He’s probably just making this up. Probably.

“Do you have– I mean, are you… are you alone?” The human asked, hesitating with his words. “Are your parents around?”

Cassie’s lip trembled, and she dropped her gaze. The fight had left her body a long time ago, and exhaustion now dragged her down, weighing heavy in her chest. “My… my… my mom.”

It felt disgusting, to reveal something so personal to a human, but her stomach was aching so badly and she could barely think anymore. As terrifying and overwhelming as he was, this human had offered her a shred of kindness, and after three days of solitude she was desperate for anything.

The human remained quiet, expression open and inviting, and after a shaky breath Cassie continued. “I lost my mom somewhere. I came in here to hide from the storm. I…I’m sorry for intruding. I just… I’m sorry.”

Concern crossed the human’s face. “The storm started… what, three days ago?”

“I think so,” Cassie sniffled.

“You’ve been alone for three days?”

“Yeah.”

The human paused, blue eyes shining with genuine worry. “You’re nine.”

Cassie nodded helplessly. The human seemed especially agitated about something, but her terror prevented her from asking what it was.

“Have you eaten anything?”

Cassie hiccuped. The onslaught of questions made her head spin, but she was just grateful that the human would rather talk than kill.

“Not really,” she responded weakly, fingers digging into the fabric of her dress. Her vision darkened again, a stark reminder of how empty her stomach was. “I– I came in here to look for food. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean to bother you.”

The human stayed quiet for a moment, blue gaze flickering with an indecipherable emotion. Cassie’s breaths were small and wobbly.

“Let’s find you something to eat,” the human finally said, voice softer than ever. Cassie’s head jerked.

“Huh?”

The human’s large hands approached the fruit bowl, and his attention briefly turned away from the borrower. “You’ll feel better if you ate something,” he said kindly, plucking a grape off of the vine. “I promise.”

Cassie blinked, eyes wet, as Felix turned back towards her. With a swell in her chest she took the grape from his offered hand, and it wobbled between her small palms. “Thank… thank you.”

-------------------

I didn't really intend to create a new character, but Cassie just popped into my brain a few weeks ago and I needed her to meet Felix raaahhhh

I hope you enjoyed this!! I am so happy to be back and I can't wait to start posting writing and art again :P

#pepper & felix #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #borrowers #g/t fearplay #unintentional fearplay

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