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"Hey, Scott, do you like anyone?"
Scott froze up, warmth rushing to his face as he whipped around to face Owen, who was currently sat on a crate next to Eloise and Bek.
"W-Why do you ask?" He smiled nervously, his grip on the hoe tightening.
Eloise shrugged, chuckling quietly at the reaction. "Well, according to the calendar, it is nearing February."
Bek nodded. "Most importantly, the day the humans call the day of love!~" They teased, grinning.
"And so we wanted to know if you had anyone in mind," Owen finished, leaning forward.
Scott stuttered, face flushing red. "W-Well, I don't–"
"Is it Jimmy?" The taller rat cut him off, grinning when Scott's face went a deeper shade of red.
"I honestly thought it'd be Martyn," Bek noted, swinging his legs back and forth. "Since they're always flirting with each other."
Eloise nudged them both, staring directly at Scott, who's face somehow got even redder. "It may be both."
"No, it's not!" The farmer huffed, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, it's definitely both," Owen agreed, laughing quietly into his elbow. "Look at him!"
Bek laughed alongside the two. "Oh! Jimmy! I didn't know you were here–"
Scott immediately turned around, grumbling when he found out that he wasn't actually there. His face burned even more when the three laughed harder. "Alright, all of you out."
"Noo, Scott–"
"Out!" He exclaimed, pushing Owen's face away.
"He's definitely in love with those two."
Owen and Bek turned to face Eloise, who'd pushed away her mini canvas.
"What? We're all thinking that!" Eloise retorted, glaring back at their confused stares. "And I also know we all want to get them together! Even you, Owen."
"Alright, fine," Owen rolled his eyes. "But we need to know if Martyn and Jimmy feel the same before we dive in and hurt Scott."
Bek hummed in agreement. "I'll go interrogate Jimmy! El?"
"I'll come with you," She sighed, patting them on the back. "Make sure nothing happens. Owen, you're with Martyn."
"…Fine."
And so Owen was standing at the door, waiting for the tailor rat to notice him. Eventually, he did, causing him to yelp in shock.
"Oh my god, Owen–" Martyn chuckled nervously, clutching his shirt. "That gave me a fright!"
"Sorry, Martyn," Owen laughed quietly, walking in. "I just need to ask you a question."
The smaller hummed, putting away the needle in hand. "What's up?"
"What do you think of Jimmy?" The taller asked, deciding not to get to the point yet. He did want to make sure that those two got along, otherwise he'd risk having his best friend practically torn between the two.
"Safety rat?" Martyn turned towards him. "He's alright, not the safest rat but he does his best. It's also pretty sweet that he constantly calls me hot, though that's most likely just a bit."
"And what about Scott?" Owen continued, stepping forward. "Do you like Scott?"
"Ah, Scott," He hummed. "Farmer rat's pretty kind most of the time, to the point where it was genuinely surprising that he tried to kill the cats–"
"Oh, yeah, the Catastrophe–"
"–But all in all, he's really nice! I have a feeling that he may have been my Secret Santa, I saw him working on it earlier before he shooed me away. And my god, was that present really expensive looking," Martyn grinned, pulling out the diamond knife and twirling it around in his paw. "So yeah, Scott and Jimmy are pretty good in my books."
"No, but, do you like, love him?" Owen pressed, crossing his arms. "Scott, I mean."
"… Love him ?" He mumbled, cheeks tinting pink. "Well… maybe? I feel almost the same about him as I do about Oli, who I'm in love with, but–"
"So that's a yes?"
"Maybe. Why?"
Owen shrugged, doing his best to hide the truth. "Y'know, with Valentine's coming up, he's alone, so I just wanted to see if there could be someone to accompany him."
"Can't you?" Martyn questioned. "I thought you guys were dating, or–"
He was quick to cut him off. "No, no, no! I don't like anyone! Scott's more like a brother to me!"
"Oh. Honestly, I'm kinda glad but also a bit worried."
"Now, if you excuse me, I need to go."
Owen quickly scurried out of the room before Martyn could say anything in response, rushing to El's and Bek's room.
While Owen spoke to Martyn, Bek and Eloise were with Jimmy.
"Scott? He's great! He's actually a really great cook!" The taller chirped, fiddling with the blue orchids in his paws. "He's actually really nice, he gave me this for Ratmas!"
Jimmy patted the caution sign next to the bed. "And this flower too, but that was when we first met."
"Wow, you're really in love with him huh?" Eloise teased, inspecting the flower. "That was months ago. I'm surprised you'd be able to keep something on you for that long."
" In love ?–" He squeaked, face flushing red. "I– I'm not– You've got it all wrong!–"
"Oh really?" Bek grinned, joining El. "Didn't you get upset when he and Martyn were flirting?"
"That was because they're always so–"
"You still laugh about that kinda stuff, but not during that moment."
"Alright, fine! Maybe I am in love with him!" Jimmy huffed, crossing his arms. "But it doesn't matter! He's with Martyn already. And if he wasn't, he could do better than me."
Eloise stared at him. "Wow. You all are idiots, huh?"
Bek nudged her, and without another word, the two ran off, leaving the safety rat confused.
"So, what happened with Jimmy?"
Eloise hummed, playing with Bek's hair, who laid in her lap on her bed. "He's definitely in love. Martyn?"
"Martyn likes him, doesn't mind Jimmy, but also apparently into Garbage Rat as well," Owen replied, sitting down on Bek's bed.
"So, what do we do then?" Bek asked. "I mean, we can't just do nothing with this valuable information we just got."
"Why don't we set them up?"
The three turned to face Will, who stood awkwardly at the door.
"N-Not to intrude or anything, but we could set the four of them out on an adventure!" They continued, sounding more nervous. "Maybe one of us could keep an eye on them to make sure nothing goes wrong, too."
"Will..."
Will tensed up, glancing at Owen.
"You are a genius," The taller rat grinned, patting the smaller on the head. "Alright, what should we set them out for?"
As if it was on cue, an unfamiliar bell rang through the den. The four scurried to the main area to see Oli in the center, holding a slightly confused Martyn by the ear.
"I wanna see if we can tame the wolves," He exclaimed, making the rat next to him stare at him in bewilderment.
"You said that was just a joke!"
"Not anymore! Now who wants to help?"
The group was silent until Eloise spoke up.
"I think Scott should go, he's constantly playing with death," She pushed the farmer forward, raising a yelp of protest from him. "And Safety Rat too! For the sake of safety!"
Scott glared at her, grumbling something incoherent. "Fine. I'll go."
"And hey, if you die to a wolf, then we're even."
"That was all on you, I just said to go on an adventure."
Before Eloise could respond, Owen pulled her back. "Great! Then it's the four of you, right?"
The other rats nodded, not very willing to join in.
"Alright, I guess I'll go to make sure you all are safe," Jimmy grinned, paws on his hips. "Now let's go!"
Scott twirled the bone around in his paw, concerning the two blonde rats.
"Where did you get that?" Jimmy asked, keeping his distance from the taller.
"From a fish," Scott shrugged, making him sigh in relief. "I'm not actually going to use any of my human bones for this."
"Your what--"
"Anyways, I have some dog food too, I wanna see if it works on the wolves," He continued nonchalantly, cutting Jimmy off.
Martyn chuckled, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I can't tell if you having human bones is a bit or you're being genuine."
"I found some in the dumpster once," Oli perked up. "It stunk more than the actual garbage."
"Ooh, fun," Scott grinned.
Jimmy shook his head vigorously. "No, no, not fun!"
The four continued chattering, waiting for a wolf to come by. Then Scott spotted something.
Something big.
"Uh, guys?"
The three turned to face him, seemingly not noticing the creature ahead of them.
"There's a wolf."
As soon as he spoke, Martyn readied his knife as Jimmy tensed up, Oli beginning to cheer and whoop to gain the wolf's attention. Scott grabbed the food in one hand and his sword in the other, glaring at the figure.
It howled, and soon enough, there were two. Jimmy stepped back a bit, and Scott was quick to put an arm in front of him.
"You just keep an eye out, Jimmy," He grinned, turning to face the smaller. "We can handle this."
Jimmy nodded, warmth rushing to his cheeks. He was glad that Scott turned away, otherwise he'd probably notice. He always had an eye for the smallest of details. (Sometimes he wondered if Scott knew how he felt… if he noticed that his face turns red every time the farmer smiles at him…) Jimmy shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. The safety rat turned to look at Martyn, who had a focused and confident expression on his face.
"Come at me, wolves!" He teased, extending his arms and dual wielding knives. "Do your worst!"
That caused the two wolves to growl at him, but he remained undeterred.
Scott did his best to stay focused on the task at hand, ignoring how Martyn could so confidently handle this situation, or how Jimmy looked adorable when he tried to look intimidating. He glanced at Martyn and gestured towards the safety rat, who nodded and stood closer by Jimmy. The farmer took this chance to sneak away, pulling out the food and bone and making his way towards the wolves. He decided he was close enough to one of them, so he held the dog food and stretched his paw out to it. Scott flinched as it turned and came closer, sniffing the item in his hand.
Martyn seemed confident, but god, he was worried . One of the wolves spotted Scott and is now inspecting the poor rat, the other was too busy growling and trying to take a bite out of Oli, and Jimmy was depending on him to keep him safe. He wanted to call out for the taller rat, but he was sure that he had some sort of plan. He always did. At the moment, he had to focus on the other wolf. It was smaller, sure, but it was definitely more aggressive. It kept trying to bite Oli ( at one point Martyn was so sure it did, but it didn't ), and he had to do something about it.
Martyn tossed an iron knife to Jimmy ( who stumbled a little, but still managed to catch it ) before taking out his own diamond knife and ran towards the wolf.
Scott sucked in a deep breath as the wolf nudged his paw. After a bit, it decided to take a bite out of the food. And another. And another. Soon enough, the food was completely gone from his paws as the wolf continued licking at it for scraps. The farmer moved his hand from its mouth and instead to its head, patting its fur hesitantly. The wolf didn't budge, and he noticed that it didn't look like it was considering killing him anymore.
"Hey, it is possible to tame the wolves!" He raved, petting the wolf as he turned to see Martyn, another scar on his arm, trying to fight off the other wolf. "Martyn! Oli!"
Martyn hissed at the wolf, looking over at Scott with a smile. "Hey, that's cool!"
"I knew it!" Oli cheered, sitting inside a hole in the tree.
The other, less friendly wolf leaped towards him again, and he managed to dodge it just barely. He looked down at his arm, rubbing some of the blood off of the large gash across his skin. Martyn glanced back up at the wolf and saw that it wasn't paying attention to him anymore.
It was looking at Jimmy.
Somehow, during all of that, Jimmy had ran to the left of the wolf, from a distance of course, and had thrown a stick at it while he was looking at his arm.
"Timmy, what are you doing?!" Martyn yelled, looking at him like he was insane.
Jimmy huffed. "I'll be fine! Just– Go somewhere safer!"
"Jimmy!" Scott exclaimed, although he couldn't see the farmer anymore. "You're gonna get hurt!"
Jimmy had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He just saw Martyn get hurt by the wolf, which seemed to be pretty determined to attack Scott once it was done with the other. All he knew was that he needed to keep the two safe.
He wasn't really worried about Oli. The trash rat seemed to be able to escape various situations, this included.
He also had no idea what he'd do, now that the wolf had its attention fully on him. He couldn't turn to the others either – Martyn was injured, Scott was nowhere to be seen ( although audible ), and Oli was hiding away in the tree.
Then the wolf leaped at him.
He winced, jumping back and raising his arm in front of his face.
There was a yelp, but it wasn't his voice.
He didn't feel any pain.
He cracked open an eye to see-
Scott.
"Scott! Why–"
A wolf nudged him away from the farmer, the one that Scott seemed to have tamed. But before his vision was blocked by the grey fur of the wolf, he saw Scott, barely standing, feeding the wolf that attacked them. Jimmy's not the kind of rat to swear, but what the fuck, Scott .
Scott sucked in a breath, watching as the other wolf ate the dog food and trying to ignore the pain in his side. He reached out hesitantly and rested his paw on the wolf's snout.
It didn't retaliate! He did it! He whipped around to face the others and–
"Ah– Nope– Need t' sit down for a bit–" He winced as he held his side, sitting down and leaning against the wolf.
He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. That was as tiring as he thought it would be. He's sure they wouldn't mind if he just had a little rat nap.
"Okay, did farmer rat just die?!" Oli exclaimed, scurrying out of the tree.
It was clear that all three conscious rats were panicking, and the wolves seemed to be barking about something too.
"I really hope not," Martyn chuckled nervously, his anxious smile fading. "Owen would kill me."
Jimmy kneeled down next to Scott and, trying not to grimace at the sight of the large, bloody gash on his waist, checked for his pulse.
"He's alive!" Jimmy grinned, scooping the taller up into his arms. Then he glanced at the wolves. "Do you think they'll help?"
"What were you thinking?!"
"Eloise, I don't think he was even thinking !"
Martyn chuckled as he watched Eloise, Bek, and Owen scold the farmer. He couldn't help but feel slightly bad for him, since this was his second scolding for this so far, and he was sure the rest of the rats would join in if they saw him right now.
"Martyn…?"
Martyn turned to see Scott, squinting at him. "Hey, how're you feeling?"
"Tired," Scott grumbled, shuffling closer. "What happened?"
"You jumped in front of me and could've gotten yourself killed!" Jimmy jumped in, glaring at him. "I had to patch you up with Martyn's needle and stuff, which you should be lucky he's been carrying that around a lot, and we needed to ride the wolf home since we're a long way away."
"Her name is Rat!" Oli added, who was sat on the wolf's head.
"I thought we agreed on Lucy?" Martyn raised a brow.
"Nah, it's Rat."
"Oh," Martyn sighed, before turning back towards Scott with a glare. "Anyways, what was going through your mind when you did that?"
Scott blushed, huffing. "Why aren't you saying the same to Jimmy?"
"We already gave him an earful for that, don't worry," Martyn waved it off. "Now answer the question."
"Well…" Scott hummed. "I was worried and kinda just jumped in without thinking."
Jimmy tilted his head in curiosity. "I'm sure all of us, and the other rats, probably wouldn't have done that unless they were like Bek and Eloise."
Scott tensed up, turning redder. "Well–"
"Are you implying he's in love with you or something?" Oli questioned, turning around.
Jimmy squeaked, pink tinting his cheeks. "I– I mean, maybe, but–"
"Fine, maybe I'm enamoured with you and Martyn, so what?"
The ride back home was quiet from then on.
He glanced at Scott and caught him staring, watching as he quickly whipped his gaze away from him. That's when Jimmy came in. And then Oli. The three who were scolding him noticed the other rats and decided to leave, with Bek giving Scott a thumbs up (who responded with a grumble).
Jimmy was the first to speak up. "Hey, are you alright?"
No , he was not alright, Jimmy, he practically confessed his love for you two and then was left in absolute silence.
"Yeah, I'm holding up well," Scott smiled. "Martyn's alright, too."
"So, I really want to ask–"
Oh god .
"You like me and Martyn?"
"Maybe. Why?" Scott looked away, trying not to crumble right then and there.
"Oh, well then…" Jimmy chuckled, his cheeks turning pink. "I knew you liked Martyn, but me?"
"So that's why Owen asked if I could be your valentine," Martyn hummed, grinning when Scott's face flushed red. "And why he asked me about you, too, Jimmy."
Scott groaned, shoving his face into his paws. "Owen!"
"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'll be your valentine, and Jimmy's too, I guess."
What?
"On the condition that Oli also gets to come along because I like him."
The farmer glanced up at Martyn, who was blushing. "Uh– Alright."
"Jimmy?" The bartender glanced at the safety rat, who was somehow redder than the tomatoes he grew in the farm.
"That sounds nice. Just the four of us," Jimmy smiled, sitting down on the bed next to Scott. "Spending the day together carefully so Scott doesn't reopen his wound."
He chuckled sheepishly, patting the bandages around his abdomen carefully. "Don't worry, I'll set up a proper date for us once I recover," He joked, smiling warmly at them.
Oli stepped in awkwardly. "The four of us?"
"Just the four of us, with nobody stalking us !" He raised his voice as he said the last half, hearing Eloise and Bek giggling childishly before running away. "Is that good?"
"Mhm. Sounds good," Martyn grinned, chuckling at the two spying rats.
This went better than he'd initially thought it would go.