Chapter Text
Thomas found that he enjoyed watching the humans go about their daily lives. Even if it was dangerous to do so. Usually, a borrower only really watched the humans long enough to get a feel for their schedule or as a quick check in to see if they were asleep so they could go out and borrow. But Thomas had found the four humans living in this building too interesting to simply stop watching them.
Right now, he was looking through a vent that was right above Virgil’s bed. The human who lived on the first floor of the complex. Thomas found himself watching this human the most, only because he was at home the most. Only going to go to classes or sometimes he would go hang out with the other humans in the building as well.
Virgil was currently in bed, on his laptop doing…something. Thomas couldn’t actually see what it was. He leaned in a little closer, in order to try and see the screen better. Thomas frowned when Virgil’s head moved right in front of the screen and leaned closer accordingly.
Thomas’ eyes widened as he kept leaning forward against his will and soon the vent was gone. Replaced by the open air below. He closed his eyes and landed with a hard ‘oof!’ Thankfully, whatever he had landed on was pretty soft, so he shouldn’t have more than a few bruises.
He froze, when he realized the only thing he could have landed on was…He looked up, body going rigid. The human, Virgil, was staring at him.
Virgil let out an strangled noise of surprise, throwing his laptop to one side and throwing his body to the other.
Thomas let out a similar noise as he found himself thrown off of Virgil and landing at the foot of the bed. He groaned as he laid there for a moment. It hadn’t hurt too bad, but if he wasn’t sure about that bruise before he was now.
“What the heck was that?!” Virgil scrambled to his feet, panicked at he tried to find the tiny thing on his bedspread again. His eyes locked onto it, and Virgil was relieved he didn’t have to deal with the paranoia of it going missing.
Thomas lifted up his head, eyes going up and locking with Virgil’s. Oh, this wasn’t good. He had to get out of there! Thomas pushed himself up all the way, now standing on the uneven ground he did his best to make a run for it. He wasn’t sure where he was trying to run to, he just knew he had to get as far away from the human as possible.
Oh geez, it’s fast. Thinking quickly, Virgil looked around for something to catch it. Spotting a cardboard box on his desk, he dumped the contents on the floor before turning it over on top of the creature.
Thomas stopped when darkness fell over him. He blinked as his eyes adjusted quickly and frantically looked around. He put his hand against the wall, recognizing the material as cardboard. And a rather sturdy piece of cardboard at that.
Thomas put his head in his hands. This was it. Virgil had caught him.
…Was this where it ended for him?
Virgil took a deep breath. He could do this. Adults took care of creepy things in their houses all the time.
Slowly, Virgil lifted the box up to check if it was still there.
As light flooded back and chased away the darkness, Thomas once again caught a glimpse of the human. The borrower backed away, shaking with every step.
Virgil’s eyes widened, only now getting a proper look at what had fallen onto him earlier. It was some sort of…little person, no bigger than his hand.
“…no way.” Virgil spoke in a quiet breath, reaching his hand out to grab it.
Thomas’ eyes widened as he saw Virgil’s hand coming towards him and without thinking, he put his arms out in front of him and yelled, “No!”
The yell startled Virgil so much that the human yanked his hand back, dropping the box back down as well.
Virgil held his hand close to his chest, looking almost contemplatively at the box. “…you talked.”
Thomas winced, no longer able to see Virgil but hearing him loud and clear. He had spoken, hadn’t he? Broke one of the borrower rules…well, several at this point.
Thomas sighed, maybe if he kept this going, he could convince Virgil to let him go?
…At the very least, maybe Virgil wouldn’t kill him. “Uh…yeah.” He called out, hoping it was loud enough for Virgil to hear.
Virgil lifted the box with both hands this time, completely revealing the tiny as he stared wide eyed down at him. “You just did it again.”
Pushing back his fear, Thomas nodded. “Yeah, I can uh…do that.” The borrower said, a bit lamely.
“I.. who…what are you?” Virgil tossed the box aside, inching closer to the bed as he sat on his knees.
Thomas bit his lip. It might be a bit too much to tell Virgil what he was. But telling Virgil his name should be fine, right? “You can call me Thomas?” It came out as more of a question.
“Thomas.” Virgil tried it out for himself, before realizing he should introduce himself. “I’m Virgil.”
“I kno-” Thomas stopped himself, realizing that could go over badly. “I mean uh, cool.” Thomas bit his lip and looked off to the side, feeling a little awkward.
Virgil frowned, squinting suspiciously down at Thomas. “…why were you on my bed, Thomas?”
Thomas tensed at not only the question, but Virgil’s gaze and tone. “Um, I didn’t mean to be! I mean, I hadn’t planned on falling on you or anything I just kind of…slipped.”
Virgil looked up and around his bed, spotting the vent just above his head. Virgil turned back to Thomas, looking annoyed. “Were you spying on me?”
Panic settled inside of Thomas and he took several steps back. Should he lie? It was technically true, but Virgil seemed very annoyed right now. Which was just one step away from being angry and an angry human was the worst kind to be around. “I, uh…” Thomas trailed off before getting another idea.
He turned around and started running again.
“Hey!” Virgil all but launched himself onto the bed as he grabbed Thomas up with no hesitation this time. He glared down at Thomas, bringing him up to his face. “You were spying!”
Thomas struggled within Virgil’s grip but of course it was useless. The fingers surrounding him weren’t going to give in. “Okay, okay! Yes, I was, but I didn’t mean anything bad by it! I watch everyone in the building!” Thomas’ eyes widened when he realized saying that wouldn’t exactly help his case. “I-I mean, well, I do but again, not in a bad way. I do it for uh…survival.” Thomas couldn’t stop shaking. Why couldn’t he have just kept his mouth shut.
“Survival?” Virgil repeated. “What are you talking about?” After all, Virgil was just your average college kid who ate too much ramen and didn’t get enough sleep. There was nothing especially extraordinary about him, which made the idea of a mini person watching him through the vents all the more creepy.
Well, now Thomas had a choice to make. Should he reveal that sort of information? Or die keeping it to himself?
…Yeah, he was gonna go with that first option.
“Okay. I…live inside the walls of this building. I borrow things from humans in order to survive and I watch all of you so I can see if it’s safe for me to…get things. It’s-we’re not supposed to be caught, it’s dangerous.” Thomas pushed against the fingers again to make that last point.
“So, let me get this straight.” Virgil’s voice went dangerously calm. “Not only have you been stalking us, you’re also a thief as well.” He gave Thomas a slight squeeze.
Thomas gasped as the grip got tighter for a second. He looked up at Virgil with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, just please don’t kill me!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil growled. Of course, looking down at Thomas Virgil knew he could never, ever do it. Virgil was too much of a wuss to even kill a spider. And he understood that sometimes people down on their luck occasionally felt the need to turn to a life of crime.
That being said…this was Virgil’s home. His safe space. The idea that someone had been trespassing and taking his things was deeply unsettling to Virgil, and he wanted to ensure it never happened again.
Thomas’ eyes widened and he found his struggles ceasing. He’s actually going to kill me. Thomas had been hoping Virgil wouldn’t be like that, he had seemed nice enough but…of course you could never know for sure. Humans acted differently towards his kind because they saw them as lesser beings. Some treated them like pets, others like pests. I guess I’m just a pest to Virgil.
With downcast eyes, Thomas just barely held in his tears. “I-I don’t know…I just don’t-don’t want to die…”
Virgil paused, realizing he might have gone too far. He felt Thomas shake in his hand. “Aw, hey, come on…” Virgil winced, bringing his other hand up to try and awkwardly pat the top of Thomas’ head.
“Ah!” Thomas tried his best to duck as he felt something come in contact with his head. He didn’t want this to be it. He didn’t want to die! “No, please! I’ll do anything, please don’t kill me!” Hot tears fell, staining his cheeks.
“Calm down!” Virgil held Thomas as far away from his body as possible, looking frantic. Oh no, what do I do… “I’m not going to kill you!”
Thomas froze, slowly looking up at Virgil with tears still falling. “W-What?” Was this some sort of trick? A lie? “B-But…I-you-the spying…and-and…”
“Yeah, I know, but…” Virgil groaned, rubbing his free hand across his face. “Look, I’m still mad about that stuff, but I’m not going to kill you over this. So just…calm down. Please.” Virgil really didn’t know how to handle other people’s emotions. Or his own, for that matter.
Thomas bit his lip. “Y-You promise? This isn’t some trick and you aren’t just going to kill me anyways?” He knew humans to be cruel and loved to play what they thought to be jokes, but was really just a cruel form of torture.
“No!” Virgil made a face at Thomas’ suggestion. “Ugh, no. I’m not trying to deceive you or anything, I promise. Really, I may act scary but I wouldn’t hurt a fly.” This also had to do with the fact that flies tend to fly fast and Virgil was an inherently lazy human, but he didn’t mention that.
“O-Okay.” Thomas didn’t know why, but he believed him. It was true, that out of all the times he had watched Virgil, the one time he had seen him interact with a fly had been of opening a window to let it out.
So, that was good. Virgil wasn’t going to kill him. But that still left a very important question. “Then, what are you going to do?”