Chapter Text
Chimbley sighed as he took the cigarette out his mouth and put it out on his wrist as Climber came by, knowing he'd be scared by the fire. He hissed out in pain, the ten year old clenching his teeth tightly before looking up to be met with Climber's drawn on yet concerned eyes.
He didn't exactly put out cigarette on himself just for a free ashtray, he could've put it out on the floor or the wall, but he decided to burn his skin, only adding to the collection of burn marks and scars on his arms. "Er, hey.. Climber." He mumbled, and Climber reached out for his arm. He's been here long enough and has learned a lot more things about humans, and he knew that burning yourself was painful!
"Chimbley! Are you okay? Why would you do that?" He didn't sound angry, thankfully, just concerned for Chimbley. "I'm - I'm fine! I jus' put it out so you wouldn't get scared or whatever." He mumbled as the puppet searched both his arms for more wounds, and more did he find indeed. He tried to sound like he didn't care about Climber, but it was too late.
"Aw, thank you..but I really think you shouldn't be doing this to yourself...I'm bringing you to Annie and Ginger!" He says, still holding his arm before grabbing his hand and walking in a direction, much to Chimbley's dismay. He struggled in Climber's grip but knew it was no use. He was gonna have to deal with this cause when Climber set his mind to something, he was determined to do it.
He was brought to a doorstep, and Climber rang the doorbell. There was a distant - "Come in!" From inside of the house, probably Annie, so Climber had opened the door and walked inside with Chimbley as his side.
"What is it that you need, Climber?" Ginger asked from the living room couch, not looking up from whatever nerd book he was reading at the moment. "Er, I need help with my friend, actually! I'm not sure you've met him, but this is Chimbley!" Chimbley ignored the fact that that wasn't his real name, shrugging it off. Ginger finally looked up from his book and noticed the other boy by his side, grimacing at his appearance. "Ah.. I see. Well, nice to meet you, Chimbley. I'm Ginger." He introduced himself, and Chimbley looked at Climber, then back at Ginger before pointing his finger at him.
"Is that cos' you're a ginger?" He asked bluntly, finger pointing to his hair, and Ginger sighed, ignoring the question. "Alright, Climber, so what about this..child do you need help with?" Climber perked up before faltering a bit. "Well..he has a lot of burns and scars on his arms, and I'm afraid it might get..um..infected!" Climber continued to explain what had happened earlier to Ginger. Meanwhile, Chimbley just kicked at the hardwood floors with his dirty worn-out shoes.
Ginger then seemed to look back at Chimbley with a sympathetic look after Climber had explained everything. "I'll get Annie and tell her, and get the first aid-kit too while I'm at it.." He mutters under his breath as he wanders into the kitchen. He comes back with Annie trailing behind him and a med-kit in hand.
"Alright, Chimbley, you okay staying here by yourself?" Climber asked with a small smile. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm not a dumb kid!" He huffed out angrily to Climber. "Sorry.." He whispered immediately after, and Climber smiled. "It's okay. I'll leave you here for now, but I'll be back soon." And with that, the puppet left the house. Chimbley turned around to look at Ginger and Annie.
"So..hi." He said awkwardly, and they simply smiled at him. "Hi, come sit. We need to examine your arms." Ginger explains, patting the couch with his hand, and Chimbley came over and climbed on it, sitting as he kicked his legs back and forth. Annie held her hand out for his arm, and he sighed, offering it out to her, as to which she pulled up his sleeve and grimaced. "Yeesh kid, who did this to you?" She asked, looking up from his arm to meet his eyes.
"Myself?" The brit answered and was only met with pitiful looks from the couple shortly after he had answered.
"Oh." Annie mumbled, and they began to clean his wounds, putting burn cream on the burns before bandaging them over. This continued for a while, each person working on one arm. It was kind of awkward considering Chimbley barely knew these people, but he trusted Climber, and if Climber trusted these guys, he would too.
"Do you... know what self-harm is?" Annie had asked after a while. "Er, innit jus' being hurt by yourself on accident?" Annie shook her head. "No, it means when someone hurts themselves because they think of it as a coping mechanism, or that they deserve it, or sometimes they might hurt themselves without realizing it."
"Well, 'at's stupid." Chimbley muttered under his breath, ignoring the way those words had correlated with him on a personal level. He was met with a glare from Ginger. "It's not stupid. It's a serious thing, and you might be doing it unknowingly." He explains, voice stern. Chimbley shut up as soon as his attitude changed. "Sorry." He quickly says. Ginger sighs and pulls away from his arm. "No, I'm sorry. I should've known you wouldn't be educated on the matter and shouldn't take what you had said as being rude." He says, and Chimbley nods. "Um.. It's okay."
They're sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence now, all three of them on the couch as Annie finishes up his other arm, acting as if she hadn't heard the whole conversation Chimbley and Ginger just had. "Okay, I'm done. Do you have any other wounds?" She asks sweetly, and Chimbley bites his lip and contemplates telling her everything. She seems so...motherly.
Eventually, he shakes his head. "No, 'at's...'at's all." He says, giving a hesitant smile to the both of them. "Um, thank you. I should get going now, I need ta..uh.." He didn't go on, just jumping off from the couch and heading towards the door. Annie gets up to follow him, but he's already halfway out the door before she can get to him, nickels and pennies scattered on the floor as Chimbley left, a payment of a whole 15 cents for their generosity.
This wasn't the first time this would happen, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.