A Tall and Small Collection | Soren

Bottlecaps and Borrowers

The four days that followed were tense, but manageable. She evidently was able to work from the apartment as she saw fit, and so was more present than Soren initially anticipated. He suspected there were times she was in the apartment when he was borrowing, which was somewhat unnerving.

Thankfully, she didn't hover Soren was able to spend time resting quietly and Ashlynn kept to herself except during meals when she brought Soren part of what she prepared for herself.

His original clothing was in disgusting, unrecoverable tatters, so Ashlynn had brought him some fabric pieces so he could fashion a new shirt and pants which were easier to maneuver in with his cast. On one of the days, she brought a bowl of warmed water and a towel so he could clean himself – something he was immensely grateful for.

During these four days, Ashlynn took advantage of asking him questions; however, the questions were random and seemingly meaningless. Ashlynn asked simple things like his preference of food and if he liked his current sleeping arrangement on the soft bundle of cloth. She asked if he needed any supplies to keep him occupied or if he would rather be placed somewhere else other than her bedside table.

Soren was reluctant to utter any other words to Ashlynn after their deal – at first – but he could find no reason to refuse after the first day; and being asked simple seemingly meaningless questions in some way reminded Soren of his younger brothers. There was nothing revealing about borrower kind by telling Ashlynn his favorite color was a pale mint green. Their conversations were minimal, but still present.

He hated to admit it, but speaking to someone felt nice and he noticed the tremor in his voice and shaking in his torso dissipating gradually. He maintained his guard and refused to take anything for granted, but his breath wasn't hitching the way it used to – for better or worse.

Also during those four days, Soren had something on his mind; a dangerous question he wanted the answer to and yet he was wary of what answer he may receive. Did Ashlynn already know about borrowers? And, if so, how?

Each time Ashlynn came into the room for something or another, Soren felt the urge to ask; yet refrained every time. Perhaps it was a lingering apprehension toward humans; or maybe he didn't want to know the answer.

It wasn't until dinner on the fifth day that Ashlynn sighed after giving him several long, passive stares and directed her full attention to him.

"What?" she asked with a touch of indignance. Soren, who hadn't realized he was staring, looked down at his thimble quickly. "Naw, don't give me that. You've been staring for days like you want to say something. Did I break one of the rules? Am I in trouble? What?"

Soren, hearing some tension in her voice, felt a nervousness creeping back over him. He knew he didn't like to be watched, but it was a strange realization that a human could be unnerved with the same action. Feeling like he didn't want to make circumstances worse, he cleared his throat and elected to ask his question.

"It's..." Soren readjusted, finding it hard to find the right words in the moment. "It's just that you don't seem that... surprised at seeing someone... like me." Ashlynn's brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment.

"Like you?" she asked.

"Yeah, like me. You know, a B..." Soren caught himself before he said the word "Borrower." He took a breath as his chest tightened. "A tiny. Someone my size." He hated to call himself "tiny," but it was the first thing he could think of that described his form next to Ashlynn. For a moment, Soren worried that Ashlynn wasn't taking the information well and that, possibly, she thought he was implying that she had done something to a Borrower in the past; but, before he could explain, he watched her features soften.