A Tiny Problem

Chapter 2: A Small Conversation

"Hello."

The voice that escaped from the human in front of me was... surprisingly quiet. Nothing like the loud, bombastic tone I had heard countless times in the Yelling Room.

"Are you the one peekin' into my videos?"

I felt the color drain from my face. It took a moment to find my voice. "V-Videos? I thought-- Doesn't Robin--"

"He does. And he was really fuckin' confused who you were." He shifted, which made my precarious position swing a lot more then was entirely comfortable. His other hand started coming closer. I squealed in surprise, trying to wiggle my way away. Jack froze. After a moment's hesitation, he lowered his hand and gave me a bit of a pleading look. "You won't disappear if I set you down, right?"

At that moment, I hadn't been sure if my legs even wanted to work. All of my instincts had been trained to avoid this situation if possible. That if I was Seen, that was the end. I'd be exterminated, or thrown out into the cold, or any number of things that usually resulted in my death.

But the curiosity in the man's eyes ahead of me was both baffling and comforting, in a way. If a bit uncomfortable. Finally, I nodded. My descent was much slower then the ascent from the bag had been. When I touched the counter stop, my prediction proved correct, and my legs collapsed under me. I sat back and tried to swallow whatever wanted to remove itself from my stomach. Which wasn't much since I hadn't eaten yet. My appetite wasn't exactly with me at the moment, though.

Jack lowered himself so his eyes were still even with me. There was a bit of a silence between us. The longer it went, the more uncomfortable the curiosity made me feel. My voice cracked as I spoke.

"You... aren't going to hurt me, are you?"

He jolted back at the question. "What?! Of course not, Why-- Who would--" He cut himself off with a grimace. A bit of a dark expression crossed his face for a moment before he looked back at me with a sincere smile. "No. I promise I would never."

I didn't mean to, but the words made me relax. I leaned back a little as he offered me a pinkie.

What?

"I'm Seán."

Oh. Right. Handshakes. At least, I think that's what they were called. Dear lord, human beans were weird. Still, I put my hand on his fingertip, and he gently moved his pinkie up and down before retreating. He looked expectant.

Right. Me.

"I'm. Ani."

"Aw! That's a nice name. If you don't mind me askin', yer voice--"

I threw up my hands in confusion. "I don't know. I thought I was just going from one town to another which usually happens and somehow that trip ended up being far longer then it had a right to and now I'm here."

"Heh, bit crazy how that kinda stuff happens, huh?" He glanced at my pack, then back at me. "Didja want more then that fry? You could join me for dinner. Gets a tad lonely around here when Signe's visitin' her family."

There was a bit of an ache in my chest at his smile. It felt familiar, in a way that ... is difficult to describe. A loneliness that eats away at you. One that had kept me from running, now that I could finally talk to someone again.

"I'd like that," I finally said. "Not like anyone is waiting on me, either."

I scooted away when he tried to offer a hand for me to climb on. After a bit of discussion, I opted to return to the paper bag that had the food. Apparently it made it a tad awkward for Seán, as he didn't want to close the bag while I was inside (though most of the heat had escaped anyway during our conversation). But, we eventually made it to the table, and he pulled over the center piece as I got out of the bag. He seemed somewhat conscious of the fact he was looming over me, and it took some convincing to keep him from killing his back with bad posture. I opted just to sit on the centerpiece. It didn't put me much past chest height, but it was better then the table for conversation. He eventually slouched a little to put us more face to face ... so to speak.

He offered me an entire sampling of his meal, but I just went with a tad bit of beef between some lettuce. As I munched away, he asked his first question.

"So what are you?"

I stared at him in thought as I finished up my bite. "I'm a Borrower."

His eyes flickered to my belongings. "Didja plan to return any of it?"

I felt my face turn red as I pinched my lips together. "That's not-- I know beans use it to mean something you'll return, but we--" I stopped and stared at my food. "We only take what won't be missed."

Seán ate while I rambled. I briefly looked up to talk at him, but couldn't keep up eye contact. The way his mouth was moving while eating was... uncomfortable, to under state it.

"Nice to know yer puttin' it to use."

"You... are taking this quite calmly," I muttered, though I was thankful for it. Not that I was going to tell him that.

He offered a toothy grin. I flinched back, and he settled it to a simple smile. "Came from the land of Faefolk. There's always someone in the walls ya gotta make sure ya don't piss off. And, as I said. We saw you in the videos."

Oh. Right.

"So! No hands. Anythin' else to know about?"

"I prefer moving on my own if convenient. Previous bag trip excluded."

I was happy to see him relax at that. A small spark of hope lit up in his eyes.

"So, you'll stop sneaking around now?" He rubbed his eye a bit while waiting for my response.

"Old habits," I murmured. "But I'll try."