Chapter Text
Aesop was laying down in his bed until he was awoken by the bustling sounds of the people outside his room door. He jumps up in surprise and ends up falling off his bed.
"Huh...? Where am I? I was just with Mr. Jerry..."
He rubs his eyes.
"W-What is this place?"
He slowly stands up and goes to the bathroom and looks up at himself in the mirror.
"Oh no.. I still have this mark on my face. Moms gonna be angry if she knows I haven't been telling her about the mean kids at school... Hopefully I can get out of here soon and go back with mommy."
He grabs a stool in the corner and goes through a medicine cabinet behind the mirror to look for any bandages. Unfortunately, there's no bandages left to cover the mark. He walks out of the bathroom and sits back on the bed where he finds his old, tiny stuffed animal.
"You're here too!"
He hugs it. His stomach grumbles.
"Oh yeah, I should go brush my teeth now before I head out to eat."
After brushing his teeth, he walks up to the door and places his ear next to the door. He doesn't want to bump into any scary people or get caught up in what was happening because it sounded loud. He never liked loud noises. They scared him. Jerry always told him to be careful of others. He decides to wait for a few minutes to pass by and let everything get quiet. He plugs his ears, waiting for it to settle down.
Once everything had gotten more bareable to listen too, Aesop pushed open his door open gently. He tightly grabbed his tiny stuffed animal and started to wander around the huge manor, looking for a cafeteria or a lunch room where he could eat something. He looks at all the doors with people's names on them. Hopefully they're not mean people. He hears loud footsteps from the staircase and runs towards a plant to try and hide. Its a man. A tall man (to Aesop anyway). A man with a green hoodie and bandages around his arms. He has a food tray in his hands. He suddenly stops and looks around as if suddenly unnerved.
"I feel like I'm being watched."
The man says. Aesop jolts up.
"Come out now, whoever you are. I don't wanna have to find you on my own, too much effort."
Aesop thinks to himself for a moment. What should he do? Turn himself into the scary man? He's suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when he feels a hand grab at the back of his shirt.
"There you are!"
Aesop is startled as he gets lifted up into the air by the hooded man.
"P-Please don't hit me, sir!"
Aesop feels tears prick at his eyes. He covers his face with his hands. He can't have another bully already.
"What the... Who are yo-"
Naibs eyes widen. It can't be...
"Aesop??? That's you???"
Aesop begins to cry as Naib lets him down onto the carpet floor.
Scary. Loud. He can't breathe. He feels suffocated here. He wants to go back to his room. Back home with Jerry and his mom. He cries into his small hands while Naib tries to wrap his head around the situation.
"Hey- uh- little guy..? Please don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry. I just hate being watched is all."
Naib pats his back and pulls out a tissue from a plastic casing along with a spork flying out of it. Those things were always trash anyways. He hands the small tissue to Aesop. Aesop wipes his face with it and blows his nose.
"Are you feeling better?"
Aesop gives a small nod.
"Alright, then let's go."
He reaches out his hand, waiting for Aesop to grab it. Aesop takes his hand.
Naib walks him down to the cafeteria hoping to get the little guy something to eat and to make up for what just happened.
Aesop squeezes Naibs hand more as he sees more people who are focused on him. 'Stop looking at me!', is what he wanted to say, to scream at them. Like before, when he was crying, he felt suffocated again with so many people. They all turn to him in awe. The once unsettling, unapproachable Aesop was now not only a child but was shaking in fear behind Naib. Naib seems to take notice to everybody staring.
"Yes, guys, it's Aesop. Stop staring at him like that you’re scaring him."
Eli stands up and walks over to them. He kneels down in front of Aesop and gives him a hug.
"It's gonna be okay tiny Aesop! Nobody here is going to hurt you."
He pulls back from the hug and gives him a smile. He picks up Aesop and puts him on his back. Aesop's face lights up. Eli takes him to where he was sitting with Patricia and Fiona. The two women look at each other in shock for a minute then turn their attention back to the small child and Eli.
“I really can’t believe that’s him! He looks so cute!” Fiona says.
“I wonder where he got that mark on his face from. It looks like it’s still bleeding.” Patricia adds on.
She leans over into her small purse and pulls out a bandage. She passes it over to Aesop who then immediately unwraps it and puts it on his face.
"Sooo... What should we do with him?"
"We should probably get him something to eat. They're gonna run out of breakfast meals soon."
"Oh yeah! Good idea, Eli."
Fiona gets up from her seat and walks over to where Aesop is.
"Aesop! Come on, let's go get something yummy to eat!"
He looks at Fiona, scared. Is she a mean lady? Eli puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Aesop, don't worry, it's gonna be okay."
And with that, he gets off his seat and goes behind Fiona. He grabs the back of her clothing as they walk to the counter where breakfast was being served.
"What do you want to eat?"
He mumbles his answer, Fiona can't hear him all too well.
"I can't hear you if you speak like a little mouse!"
"I can't see." He blurts out.
Fiona takes a minute and then starts to laugh. Aesop looks up at her with a confused look.
"I forgot you were so small! I'm so used to you being taller! Come here!"
Fiona scoops up Aesop and holds him out to see. She couldn't help but let a laugh out. Nobody could ever believe that Aesop was now a tiny child who needed to be picked up to see what was on the counter.
"Fruit."
"You want fruit? That's it?"
"Yeah... It's healthy."
"Alright! Let's get you a tray of fruit then."
After grabbing the fruits, Fiona places it on a tray for Aesop. He looks down at it and sees orange slices, apple slices, strawberries, blueberries and cantaloupe. He likes them, they're small, taste good, and are healthy.
'Mom would be happy that I'm eating healthy.'
He thinks to himself. Then he remembers. His mother. Where was she? He can't go without his mother, she was waiting for him. He stands still with his tray of fruit.
'Where's mom? I need to go back to her. I can't leave her. She's the only person I have left besides Jerry. I don't even like Jerry that much anyways!'
His thoughts loudly scream at him. He drops his food tray.
"Aesop? What the... I just got that for you!"
She hears a small hiccup from him. Aesop had started to cry again.
"Oh no... What happened, Aesop??"
"M-My mom."
His small hiccups turn into small sobs. Fiona's expression softens. She picks up Aesop again and brings him back to the table. Nobody questioned what had happened, they already saw. She sits him down on her lap and starts rubbing circles on his back. Eli and Patricia look over at him with sympathy. He missed his mom.
He fell asleep on Fiona after crying, his eyes puffy and red.
"We should take him back to his room or to somewhere he's comfortable."
"Yeah, as usual, good idea Eli."
"Fiona, give him to me, I'll take him back to my room, he seemed to be comfortable around me."
"Alright."
Eli puts Aesop on his back and makes his way back to his room. Maybe this would help him calm down a bit.