Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cas sauntered onto the kitchen counter from their door behind the knife block. Their oblivious human had just rushed out after leaving a half eaten banana next to their cold toast piled with cheese and eggs. Honestly, that human was the best thing to happen to them. Leaving out messes to clean later, giving them plenty of time to take what he wanted from the kitchen, or anywhere else, really. This little single-human home was a goldmine of supplies and food, mostly thanks to the human’s unobservant and oblivious nature.

He’d been forced into this house when a storm hit when he was moving out of his parent’s, and was nervous at the thought of only one human. One human usually meant they would notice little differences in small items or ‘nibbled’ on food.

But this human was stupid, or truly blind without their glasses, or just so preoccupied with their important human life that they never noticed the frankly hilarious amount of paper clips and rubber bands he’d taken over the past four months. 

Casper’s walls were decked out with pulleys and stable pathways, and this human was none the wiser. He stuck his nose in the air in pride as he approached the banana. This human was a health-nut compared to his former human family. They kept their junk food in a cabinet, way out of his current reach, as he hadn’t made steps up the inside of the wall yet, but he was beyond satisfied with all the fruits and veggies he got to eat. 

Even cold scrambled eggs were better than the bread crumbs his family would eat sometimes when he was younger. He sat on the edge of the plate after cutting some of the banana off for himself, and happily dug in. 

Tremors reached his perch, and he looked up in time to see the door fly open. 

What?

No way, they’d just left!

Cas dropped their food and ran to the nearest cover, something huge and purple with zippers and straps-

A bag!

Perfect.

He climbed up the side in record time and slid into an open inner pocket right before the thundering footsteps arrived at the threshold of the kitchen.

“Of course I left it right there,” the human’s annoyingly sweet and innocent sounding voice rang out in relief, but Cas felt nothing but an awful, primal fear creeping up their spine.

Left what where?

There were a couple more earthquakes because humans were big clumsy lumps, and suddenly the space around him moved faster than he was in any way prepared for. They choked on a yelp and curled up tight, clutching their borrowing bag to their roiling stomach as the bag they had hid in was apparently found.

Stupid human, what was this bag even for? It didn’t really matter, not if Cas was able to remain undetected in this little pocket, which he desperately hoped would be the case. The bag was swaying and bumping against the human’s side occasionally and was overall the worst experience they’d ever had. Worse than that time an old dog had picked him up and tried to treat him like one of its pups. Cas didn’t know if humans or dogs were worse, but after a while the bag landed hard on the ground, and as he quietly gasped for air he decided it was humans by far.

He heard some humans speaking far away, and the ground was still for a minute or two before his human returned and opened the bag. They held their breath, peering through the sliver of light above them at the huge arms blocking his view of the world beyond. They took out a water bottle from the sounds of it, and took out something with a wire. Those were the earbuds they rarely used at home. Why were they using them here? Cas had thought they weren’t good.

The bag stilled again, and he felt their footsteps stop just a few feet away. Then there were sounds he’d never heard before, like a pulley more powerful than anything he could build with rubber bands, but the sound repeated over and over, rapidly. 

He took a big gulp to clear the anxious knot in his throat and stilled his trembling hands. Slowly, careful not to shift the bag too much (but the outside material was thick and wouldn’t move from his climbing, he reasoned), he climbed to the top of the pocket and stayed still just beneath the lip of the bag. One pull, and he’d see where they were that was quiet but had loud things their human was using. Was it their job? Maybe they worked alone in a big space, or it was too early so everyone else came later.

Was he stalling? No, he couldn’t hear any other humans around now, and Cas didn’t procrastinate out of fear. They never had. 

They poked their head out of the bag, gripping the zipper teeth tightly. When they saw what their human was doing, their grip tightened to the point their fingers felt numb. But they couldn't look away from it, from the human, who was pulling thick wires towards their feet and moving the whole chair-thing they sat on so quickly he could feel the slight breeze of it from there. 

There were weights on the chair, too. Like the ones the dad in his old human family would use to work out at home.

A lot of weights.

Their legs and arms, which he’d apparently only seen relaxed before, were suddenly bulging with muscles as they pulled their entire body using the huge machine. The strength required to do that was immense, he knew that because he literally scaled human furniture and traversed inside walls to live, but this human had never shown this level of fitness at home.

The couch, the floor, their bed, all placed they usually were when not at their desk playing online games. He’d only seen them jump when they couldn’t reach something from a high shelf. 

He didn’t know them at all. Who was this human? Wearing skin tight work out clothes instead of loose sleeves and pants that flared out at the ankles. 

They breathed heavy and deliberately, their hard gaze was focused directly in front of them, their core was strong and unmoving. 

Their human was more powerful than they’d thought possible.

His heart was cracking against his rib cage, it was beating so fast, when had his hands started sweating?

Bean jesus, he’d been living with this human for months and treating them like some oblivious couch lump. 

The speed, the perfect form, the light green-gold eyes that were more terrifying than he’d ever seen them…

If he made it home, he was never going to borrow from the human’s popcorn bowl while they were sleeping on the couch ever again. 

Every repetition of the movement was graceful, filled to the brim with strength he couldn’t even comprehend. All humans could open doors and move furniture and appliances around at will, but he’d only seen a few humans move with this kind of power. And he’d stayed far, far away from those ones.

The truly dangerous ones.

Their human suddenly released the machine, their hands landing on their knees with a force so great the sound reverberated in his head for a moment. He was too terrified to move, to flinch, as they leaned back and caught their breath. Their chest rose and fell with measured breaths, their limbs remained tense and strong, even though they were reclining. They’d never noticed their human be so aware of their own body, even when they shifted their legs to release the tension, Cas could feel the heat and energy radiating from them. 

As if their strength was so great their mere presence suffocated him. 

If they saw him-

Before, he’d never imagined he couldn’t outmaneuver his stupidly clumsy human. The petite (compared to other humans), slim (they’d always worn oversized clothes, making it hard to tell), and lazy human hadn’t been a threat, not in the slightest. 

If they saw him, he was done for. 

His hands slipped off the plastic zipper, and he fell back into his pocket with a little yelp. He clapped his hands over his mouth, chest heaving at the sudden silence outside. As if the human had stopped breathing. 

“Huh?”

A short huff, a confused noise, but it meant Casper had fucked up. 

They’d heard him, the human had heard and would come investigate and he’d be in their disgustingly strong hands which would squeeze him until-

“Ellie! Good morning, sorry I couldn’t let you in, my kids woke up early today, for nefarious reasons, but I’m glad I caught you!”

Their human, ‘Ellie’ apparently, was quiet. Were they still thinking about their bag, the noise Cas had made? Was this new human’s arrival not going to save him?

“Ellie, you okay?”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry, I thought I’d heard a mouse in my bag! The kids were up early huh? What were they scheming?”

The other human laughed easily, not terrified by the mention of a mouse, unlike the borrower who’d gone deathly still. “Fred’s still home making French toast, so their little early morning ambush was successful. They’ve figured out Monday mornings are slow at the gym, they’ve been trying for weeks to get us to make special breakfasts, which we make on weekends anyway.”

Their human, Ellie, laughed, and Casper curled up further at the bubbly sound.

How many times had he scowled when they were laughing above him on the couch at their phone, waiting to steal a fallen chip as the springs above his head didn’t even make noise from their light human weight? It didn’t sound annoying anymore. Neither did their voice anymore as they responded. Everything about them was terrifying.

The muscles ripping under their skin, the intense focus in their eyes, which were usually so bright and unconcerned…they couldn't shake the image of those eyes looking at them . 

Both humans laughed about something, and Cas shivered so hard they feared it would be visible through the wall of the bag, which was actually pretty flimsy and soft. 

He hated himself. He hated his stupid, cocky behavior that got him here.

If he hadn’t seen their human at the gym, would he have ever realized how dangerous they were? How much danger he was in every time he went out while they were still home?! Were the fresh chips and slightly stale popcorn even worth the risk?!

He felt the other humans footsteps walk away. 

“Sorry you have to leave before the rush, you’re my favorite customer!”

Another, lighter, but no less ground-shaking set of steps walked closer to their hiding spot. “I remembered I left the oven on during my set, so I’ll be back tomorrow to make it up! See you then, Rokka!”

“Bye!”

The bag was hoisted into the air, and Cas nearly screamed. Why would the human pick up a bag with a mouse? Why weren’t they looking inside? They just started walking, very quickly, and he heard the jingle of the door before they started jogging. 

The bag was held pretty still, but that only made him feel worse. 

He had to get out of there. 

He climbed up through the shaking of the world around him, and saw no light except for the ambient glow that seeped through the light fabric of the bag. 

The human had zipped the bag shut and they hadn’t even noticed. 

Oh god.

What were they going to do? How could they get out of this without being seen?!

Casper, in their animalistic desperation to not get caught , climbed out of the pocket and let himself fall into the main compartment. He landed on a towel, little blessings, and immediately crawled towards the other end of the bag. He reached where the towel touched the side of the bag with the hard inner lining or whatever, and used the shakiness of everything to slide between the towel and the weird synthetic material the bag’s lining was made of. They sighed in relief when their feet hit the bottom of the bag, which was also reinforced with what felt like cardboard beneath his feet. 

The weirdness of this bag did nothing to calm his racing heart or trembling limbs. He sank down as far as he could, barely able to breathe pressed against the towel but not having the luxury to care. 

The human was onto him, he knew it. 

Their steady jog hadn't sped up or slowed down the whole time, so not only were they insanely strong and fast for a human, they were patient.

He was so utterly screwed. 

Cas tried not to, but it only took seconds for him to start crying. They stifled their sobs and used the towel to soak up the tears, praying to whatever human gods were there to make it out of this alive. 

They’d left the walls this morning so confident about how stupid this human was. 

It wasn’t even funny how they felt more stupid than anything else in the world. An idiot, through and through, an idiot who wouldn’t get to say goodbye to his family. Moving out had been a goodbye, but he’d promised to visit in six months to see them all again. 

That would be in two months. 

They probably wouldn’t even make it to tomorrow. 

The bag pitched into a different motion as Ellie’s footsteps pounded up their front steps. 

Casper wasn’t ready for this. 

The door slammed shut, and shoes were thrown onto the floor. One more sickening rush of movement, then the bag was set down and everything was quiet. 

Casper curled up as tight as they could with their eyes wide open. He hoped he looked every bit like the mouse they thought was in their bag. And above all, he hoped they really had left the oven on.

Chapter Text

Casper managed to hunker down further as the human started moving again. Mercifully not towards the bag, their footsteps rumbled away before the sound of drawers and cabinets being rummaged through reached them, and somehow their fear multiplied. Was the human finding something to hold him in? Maybe they’d put him in a cardboard box with holes in it, like the ones rodents from pet stores were brought home in. 

Would they give him to a pet store for money? Maybe they’d sell him to a rich human who’d keep him like an exotic pet. At least then he’d be able to “behave” and escape eventually. This human hadn’t ever seemed to want a pet, and he’d never seen how they dealt with pests or rodents beyond leaving a room entirely at the sight of a spider. 

Cas had no idea what to expect. 

His heart hadn’t calmed down at all in the few seconds it took before the earthquakes got closer and closer, it cracked harder and harder against his ribs with each step the human took. 

Something made a dull clink, the sound of a glass being put down on wood. That meant he was on the coffee table. Who brought a bag with a mouse in it into their living room? Who in their right mind-what kind of human was this? 

He shuddered and shook with held back sobs, wishing with his entire being that the human was just going to turn on the tv and-

“Alright, alright, I got this.”

The human was muttering, as they often did, and as Cas often ignored, but this time it was the only sound he could hear. It was soft enough that their heartbeat was louder in their ears, but it felt like their voice pressed against the walls of the bag, putting more pressure against him where he hid. 

The bag shifted slightly, and the sound of the zipper ripped through the air. 

The human made a disappointed noise, and Cas heard them go into the pockets, but all of their silent pleading must have worked, because the rummaging ceased and the bag stilled once again. 

“No way, I know I saw something…”

Oh. That was even worse. 

“Maybe it went in deeper.”

This was it for him. Fabric crinkled outside the bag, then the towel above him shifted testingly, as though they were waiting for another noise from the stowaway they had apparently seen . 

Cas would never see his family again. 

They were practically gift-wrapped and labeled for the human to find them, why had they hidden in this stupid bag? All his speed and strength meant nothing to a human with reflexes like he had seen at the gym. The human’s speed and strength already trumped his on a lazy day, but fresh from the gym-an apparently cut short session-he had no chance of dodging anything, or outsmarting anyone. 

Brains weren’t too useful if he had cornered himself for a human fit beyond what he would have ever guessed. 

Should he have paid more attention? Maybe they’d done little things at home, smaller displays of dexterity and strength he hadn’t cared to observe because he’d thought it would be a waste of time to watch this human. 

The towel lifted off of them entirely, and they sprang into action. 

Cas uncurled in an instant and leapt up, grabbing onto the edge of the towel as it lifted out of the bag. The human’s gaze was searching inside the bag, and he wasted no time swinging his legs and using the momentum to land himself on the side of the bag. 

Good news: they’d made it.

Bad news: the human was staring at them with the widest eyes they had ever seen.

Cas tensed to run, but the next thing they knew a shrill scream had them hunkering down and something heavy muffled the sound as it fell on top of them. It wasn’t heavy enough to knock their hold on the bag, and as he desperately searched for an exit, he realized they had thrown the towel over him. 

Either to trap him or from surprise. The lingering ringing in his ears said it was definitely out of surprise. 

Cas kept going in the opposite direction of the human’s loud breaths, knowing if they wasted a moment the human would snap out of it and snatch them up. 

“H-hello?”

They froze. Then they shook off their surprise and kept moving towards the sliver of light they could see. 

“Um, you’re a little person? Like, a tiny person? Not a mouse, and in my bag for-um, how long?”

Cas felt their chest tighten with each word that filled the air. They were rambling nervously, but Cas couldn’t care less about answering the human’s stupid questions. He paused just before leaving the cover of the towel, afraid to be out in the open with a human who could snatch him mid-stride and would probably squeeze him like a squeaky toy in the process. But he had to do it, or else he was a sitting duck under a stupid towel being stared at by a stupid human. 

The human hadn’t moved, he couldn’t hear fabric shifting or feel tremors from them shifting their weight. 

They were sitting completely still, and somehow that was terrifying. 

“Can you talk? Would I even be able to understand you? Do you sound high-pitched and squeaky like in movies? It’d make sense, you squeaked pretty loud earlier, you must’ve been scared by something! I’m sure we can figure out how to communicate, squeaky or not-“

“I am not squeaky!” 

They hadn’t meant to shout at them, or speak at all, actually. They blinked in shock and mentally slapped themself for doing that. Why the fuck had he done that?!

“Oh! Wow! You sound normal! Well, you sound kind of far away, since you’re so small, but you’re not high-pitched and squeaky. Okay, that’s good, that’s actually really good.”

He wasn’t sure who the last sentence was directed to, but he had to move now before the human decided he was keep-able and trapped him so they could “talk to him” or whatever twisted human plans they were forming.  

Now or never. 

Cas threw the edge of the towel up and bolted for the edge of the coffee table. Luckily this height to the ground was nothing to a borrower, and the landing wouldn’t slow him down, but the human shouted in surprise, and he stumbled. 

He kept going, nearly making it to the edge before a wall-a hand-slammed down an inch in front of him. He tried to turn around, at least to avoid touching the human, and he succeeded in that. He also twisted his ankle and fell onto the wood with a pathetic whimper. Shit, they were gonna touch him now with their stupidly giant hands. 

The long, delicate fingers (relative to other humans) twitched and hovered for a moment before pulling away entirely, and where the hand had been was replaced by huge, wide, green eyes with rings of gold around the pupil. 

Staring at him from way too close. 

“Are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to fall trying to get away from me, but I guess I did more harm than good, I’m sorry. Do you need ice for that? Um, I have a first aid kit, let me go get it…will you try to leave again?”

Their eyes were so big, not even a foot away from where he lay on the table, searching his own eyes with a distress he hadn’t expected. The human was probably glad he was injured now, it’d be easier to keep him here with an injury. Would he try to leave again? Yes, he would. They would do so without hesitation, but they weren’t about to say that out loud. 

They weren’t going to say anything out loud. Their first slip up would be their only one. 

The human’s face fell, and their eyes fell to their twisted ankle and filled with guilt. “Well, my name’s Ezhil, but if you can’t pronounce that, you can call me Ellie, like most people do. She/her, my pronouns I mean, if you don’t know what that means…Um, I hope you don’t disappear on me, I’d at least like to help you get home, you were in my bag and I'm pretty sure you weren’t in there before, so I’m sorry if I carried you off without knowing. Um, I’ll go get the kit. I hope-um, it’ll only really take me a second, please don’t run off?”

Casper just stared back at her (what did he care for a human’s pronouns? Why’d she even share them with him?), unable to mask any of the suspicion and surprise on their face, but definitely not about to answer. 

“Okay,” she mumbled, backing up a couple feet before quickly standing and running down the hall. 

There it was again, the speed they’d never seen before suddenly on full, terrifying display. 

They’d barely managed to limp a few inches away before the tremors made them fall back to the table.

“Shit, was that my fault? Oh! You’re so small I’m shaking the table too much, aren't I?” 

Stop saying small , Cas clenched their fists against the wood, hating the human with a passion but schooling their face before flipping onto their back. 

He wished he hadn’t. 

The human, Ezhil or Ellie or whatever, was still standing, and the coffee table only reached their knees. Cas swallowed hard, their eyes trailing up her body, still wearing those stupid form-fitting clothes that hid nothing. Every lean, defined muscle was on full display as she shifted uncomfortably. 

They wished she would at least throw on one of her usual oversized sweatshirts. For reasons he hated, seeing her actual body now made him feel even smaller than he’d ever felt before. This human was small compared to other humans, and that fact used to mildly amuse him. 

Now, it didn’t matter how small she was compared to other adult humans, because she was no less strong. From what he’d seen, she was actually a lot stronger than average. 

Stronger, faster, more agile, and staring at them with stupid pitying eyes they wanted to throw their needle into. 

But that’d put them in deeper shit, and their strongest throw wouldn’t send the needle nearly as far as it would need to go to reach her face. 

“You’re shaking,” she said softly, and as she kneeled down and got closer once again, Cas could feel that they were in fact trembling like a frightened mouse. 

They tried pulling themself back, away from the sympathetic eyes that wouldn’t stop staring, but their arms felt like paper. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to take deep breaths, but it wasn’t working because now he was angry. This wouldn’t end well, he knew that, but he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Stop! Stop looking at me like that!”

The human flinched back, and it almost made them happy to see that. “Oh, um, I’m sorry-“

“Shut up!”

She did, and that in itself nearly made them lose the rage fueling them. But it didn’t. 

“Leave me alone! You-what’s your goal here?! Help the poor little injured mouse to make yourself feel better? I don’t need your help! Go away!”

She blinked at them, processing what they just yelled at her. It hit them that they’d seriously done that, and their arms suddenly felt like the strongest arms in the world. 

Cas pulled themself backwards, terrified that he’d upset the human who was still staring-

“Wait!”

They froze, meeting her stupid eyes again and hating that she didn’t look upset. Her voice hadn’t been loud, but the command had made them flinch and start shaking again anyway. They hated feeling like a shivering rodent caught by a being whose power over them was too great to think about without breaking down completely. 

She licked her lips nervously, and they almost screamed at her for that too. What the fuck was she nervous about? She didn’t have the right to be nervous! What did she even want them to wait for?!

“I’m sorry for upsetting you, and scaring you, and if you want me to stop looking at you I can do that. Please, just, don’t go?”

Cas stared at her like she was crazy and stupid, because that truly was the craziest, stupidest thing they could’ve been asked in that moment. 

Her gaze slid away in embarrassment, and she slowly set the bright red first aid kit down on the corner of the table. “Yeah, stupid question, but at least fix your ankle before you run off, yeah? You know how, right? I don’t, but I can look it up-“

“Of course I know how!” They spat, incensed by the mere notion that they didn’t know something so basic. “Give me that shit, I’ll show you!”

She immediately slid over the box, and they were shoved back into reality quick enough to scramble back. The box stopped moving, and she leaned in closer with that familiar distress back in her eyes. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-“

“Shut up!” Cas curled over their legs, clutching their head because that had been fucking embarrassing . “Stop apologizing, and stop being so close!”

“Right, sorry,” she whispered, before the shadow covering them lifted away. “I’ll um, open it for you…”

She sounded like she would’ve kept going, but thankfully the next thing he heard was the latches clicking open and the lid coming off. He tentatively looked up, and appreciated that she was staring at her fidgeting hands on the edge of the table. At least she listened. 

After a couple deep breaths, Cas got to their feet. Ezhil’s eyes darted in their direction, but quickly focused back on her hands, which slowly lowered off the table and out of sight. 

Huh.

Cas didn’t think about it, they didn’t care why, they had to focus on closing the few inches to the first aid kit, wrapping their ankle, and getting the fuck back into the walls somehow. But that would be impossible with a sprained ankle and a human right there. So, one thing at a time.

They made it to the box and bent over to grab what they needed. The scissors and bandaids were in reach, but the gauze was back by the hinges and they’d have to climb inside for it. They dropped their stuff behind them and climbed in, crawling on the dividers to the gauze and throwing it to their pile. There were tongue depressors too, so he took one under his arm and crawled back over the other stuff and carefully got back onto the table. 

They released a breath and looked to make sure the human hadn’t seen that, but when their eyes met Cas felt their cheeks turn red. 

“Sorry-“

“I told you not to look!” They fumed, pointing at them accusingly. “Since you’re so eager to help then, you can break this in half for me.”

He threw the tongue depressor towards her, turning away before it even landed right where her hands had been fidgeting before. To distract himself from the anxious thoughts in his head and the sound of snapping wood behind him, he dealt with his ankle as efficiently as he could. 

Turning their back to the human in embarrassment and spite had been a horrible, anxiety inducing mistake. They finished wrapping their ankle in a cut strip of gauze, lamenting  human sized strips were way too big and hard to handle. Then he turned around to face Ezhil, and was startled to see the tongue depressor neatly snapped into four pieces and stacked right behind him. 

He looked at her with no small amount of fear, at her hand resting on the edge of the table, apparently having gotten so close to him. She smiled hopefully as if she was waiting for a pat on the back for a job well done. 

Cas cleared their throat and tried to stop shivering. “Thanks.”

Ezhil could’ve grabbed them at any point. Her hand had been right there and Casper hadn’t noticed it in their self-pity and anger. 

They kept making stupid mistakes, and this human kept being a human all wrong. 

He used the tape and wood to make a splint on his ankle, thinking about how he was supposed to escape now. Their injury would slow them down too much to hope to out-maneuver Ezhil. Who, from their reaction time earlier, did not even seem out-maneuverable. 

This sucked. 

They supposed they could ask nicely to be let go. That might work. 

It also might make them feel like the stupidest borrower ever, so maybe they’d just be stupid and quiet this time. 

Can’t dig more holes if he puts away the fucking shovel. Right?

“Can I put the stuff away?”

Her quiet voice startled them, and they nodded quickly before scooting a solid six inches away from the mess they’d made. She watched them move, but after a sharp glare she muttered an apology and started carefully cleaning up. Her hands moved deliberately, slowly, clearly trying not to scare them any more. 

Well, Casper wouldn’t be scared anymore. Not if this human was going to be how they normally were, even after finding him hiding in her bag. 

Right, she didn’t know when he’d gotten in there. Maybe she wouldn’t be upset if she thought it was an accident, and that they didn’t live in her walls.  

Shit, they needed to escape. 

Slowly, very incredibly slowly, they moved towards the adjacent edge of the table, grinning when they made it there and she was still focused on scraping a tiny piece of tape off the table with her short, yellow-painted nails.

Thank the human gods Cas had left that there after cutting it too small. 

They took their hook from their belt and dug it into the table, letting  the attached rope fall to the rug below and feeling like a star when it hit the ground. Now, to get on the rope without putting weight on their ankle or moving too much and attracting attention-

“Where are you going?”

This human ruined everything. Casper’s vision blurred, because they were so close to escaping, or, they had been. They yanked their hook from the table and threw it towards the human in frustration.

“Nowhere! I’m not going anywhere! Happy?!”

Ezhil stared at the fishing hook, then at the hand-woven rope Cas realized looked like string to her, then her eyes were staring at them again. “That holds your weight? Sorry-not what I-um-I really was just asking where you were going. I’m not, well, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m not trying to…actually, what do you think I’m going to do? You’ve been really upset…”

Casper’s teeth clicked shut and their eyes went wide. This stupid human- Ezhil - which sounded like what their old humans would’ve called “ethnic” (that used to confuse them, names were names) was being so unexpectedly normal about this. Where was the grabbing? The trapping? The endless, intense interrogation about what they were and why they were in her bag?

Cas didn’t know how to deal with this at all. No one taught them what to do if the human wanted to have a fucking conversation with the tiny thief who stole their shit every day. 

He really had done that, and now he was facing the human he’d stolen from, and she thought he was lost and away from home. He couldn’t tell her to take him back to the gym, he’d be stranded in an unknown place with none of his stuff. Sure, they only needed a hook and needle to get around usually, but lying and being taken “home” would probably end up with him killed by an animal or caught by another human. 

This morning he’d left most of his tools back home, because he had never needed more than a bag for bringing food back with this oblivious, air-headed human who hadn’t been a threat. Now they had only their hook, an empty satchel, and a needle to their name. 

Their name. 

If the human knew their name, they’d be more like another human to her, right? She’d get attached, and maybe they really could ask to be let go if they made nice with this terrifying being in front of them.  

Ezhil shifted uncomfortably from being stared at so long, which Casper enjoyed seeing in a petty way. “Um, you good?”

Casper locked their lips and cleared their throat. Operation befriend-human-to-escape-human was a go. “My name is Casper. You can call me Cas. It’s sure been a meeting, Ezhil.”

Her eyes lit up. “You got my name right! I mean, it’s nice to meet you too Cas! Ah, wait, that is not what you said…” her brows furrowed, and her expression fell. “You want to leave still, why are you-never mind, I think I know why.”

“Uhhh,” Casper laughed nervously. “What? I’m, um, I’m introducing myself, what do you mean-“

“You’re still scared,” she said bluntly, and this time the lack of eye contact wasn’t forced. “You’re scared of me, and you want to leave. I can take you home now, if you’d like. Was it the gym? It’s the only place I put my bag down…the gym, right?”

She looked at them with resignation and something like disappointment. And no, Casper didn’t feel bad one bit. This was good, really good, just not quite what they needed to happen. “Um, well, the gym isn’t where I’m from, no.”

Why wasn’t their brain working fast enough? Ezhil had said herself she hadn’t put her bag down anywhere else, how could Cas lie their way out of this? They saw Ezhil’s eyes widen, and knew it was too late to try and lie now.

Shit. 

“Oh! I brought you to the gym, didn’t I? You got in my bag here? Wait, oh my god, you live here ?”

Her voice got louder, and the last question was basically a shout. Cas covered their ears against the sudden increase in volume, and they could feel their hands shaking against their head. 

“Oh, sorry,” Ezhil’s voice dropped back to a whisper, but that wasn’t even on Cas’ mind anymore.

She knew. She knew and there was nothing he could say to convince her otherwise. ‘Hey, actually I’m a fairy and I flew into your bag while you were walking’ wouldn’t work at all, would it. 

“Actually, I-“

Cas shut their mouth before the word fairy could tumble out. Why was he even trying anymore? He was done, there was nothing else to do but wait and see what the human decided. No one liked intruders in their home. No one liked feeling lied to and spied on, and from the realization dawning on her face, he knew she was realizing exactly what him living there meant. 

“Um, how long have you…been in my house?”

There it was. 

Casper shook his head and finally lowered his hands, opening his mouth to answer then running for the opposite side of the table. 

“Seriously?” The human groaned, their voice coming from the same spot. “Please stop running, I’m not upset-well I am a little but-okay seriously stop running!”

Cas did not stop, even when the ground started shaking, and even when hands fell in front of them again, but much farther away this time. They tried veering for the cover of the gym bag, but it was shoved off the table so harshly that they flinched back hard enough to fall onto their butt. He slowly looked up at the human, who was leant over the table and staring down at them with a hard look in her eyes that put rocks in his stomach. 

This really was it, huh?

They blinked, and tears rolled down their cheeks. “I’m-I’m sorry,” they whimpered, trying to convey through their wide eyes that they didn't deserve whatever she was about to do to them. “Please-I-I-don’t-“

Crap, the tears weren’t stopping, and now they were begging, weren’t they? 

Their shoulders were shaking, and the rest of their body was too, and they’d never felt as small as they do now. Not in the gym, not when she’d been standing fully, not ever before in their life . Not even when they were eleven years old and their pet spider had crawled across the counter and gotten squished by the human dad at their old house and they’d watched it happen. They hadn’t been stupid enough to run out after it, of course, but now they felt like a stupid bug too. Crawling in the open, no thoughts beyond finding food, which he had, and then he’d jumped into a bag to hide from the human who was staring at him again. 

“ Please, stop ,” they sobbed into their hands, feeling like every bit of the idiotic failure they were. 

“Wait, no,” the human sounded distressed again, and the shadow blanketing them receded, followed by the ground shaking as she sat down on the floor. “Please stop crying, I just want some answers. I didn’t mean to-but I guess it doesn’t matter what I meant, huh?”

Cas shook their head in agreement, relating to the self-deprecation in her voice. 

She sighed, and the table shook lightly, startling then enough to look up. She’d put her head on her folded arm, and all Cas could see was the top of her head. The dark roots were growing back, pushing the soft pink further from her scalp. It was a shame, they’d always envied her pink hair and how long and thick it was. She took great care of it, and every morning she’d sing during her bathroom routine, which was always when cas would check the living room floor for dropped chips from the night before.  She watched a lot of tv at night, and never without snacks. But they were always stale in the morning. 

Her hair was bright and shiny, and his was well taken care of too, but it always felt grimy from living in the walls. It was always the one thing he was jealous of. Humans had so many cool ways to care for themselves. Hot water at the twist of a handle, warm food with the press of a button. 

Pink hair when her natural hair was black, but either way it was luscious and beautiful. 

This stupid human had everything he could ever want. Why was she upset that he had to steal scraps to live? The honest to human god audacity of her to be upset that he lived in the walls of her home. In the dark, dusty, and frankly depressing walls. That was his home. Not the part with windows and ventilation and nice rugs she’d brought from wherever she moved from. 

“Why are you even upset?” They asked quietly, carefully watching the top of her head for when she inevitably looked at them again. She was a human, and they were trapped. They had to be careful with their words now, no more blind rage. “What answers do you think you deserve?”

Her head shifted, then it lifted to reveal a very troubled, and a little offended, expression. 

Not good. 

Mercifully, thank bean Jesus, her voice was measured and calm. “I think I deserve to know why someone’s been living in my house? Is it really so unfair of me to be uncomfortable with that?”

“Yes! No! Maybe!” Cas winced and shook their head at themselves. This was pathetic. “Okay, fine, I’ll tell you what you want to know, just, please…”

Their throat clogged up, and their stupid lip started quivering again. 

“Please what?” Ezhil asked gently. There was no pity in her tone, which they took as a win. 

“Please let me go? I’ll answer anything, and-and I’ll be honest, and I’ll move out as soon as I’m home, but please let me go when this is over?”

They dragged their wide, pleading eyes up to meet her wide, guilty ones, trying to look pathetic enough for her to agree. At this point though, they didn’t think that would even work. 

Ezhil sighed and her gaze fell. “I’m not-I’m not going to keep you here. Is that what you think? I’m going to trap you and keep you around like a little-um, like…”

“A pet?” he finished for her, not appreciating the tip-toeing, but at the same time glad she hadn’t said it. 

Her face scrunched up in distaste. “Yeah, that.”

Cas looked into his lap, at his calloused, dirty hands that smelled faintly like bananas. “Honestly? Yeah, that’s a-um, it’s definitely a thought in my head. No offense.”

Ezhil laughed suddenly, softly, and raised her brows at them incredulously. “No offense? You’ve been terrified of that from the start, haven’t you? Ever since I opened my bag…or…how long have you lived here? Where do you stay that I haven’t noticed? I guess I don’t pay attention sometimes, though.”

He shifted uncomfortably, his throat suddenly the driest it had ever been. He did have a canteen in his satchel, but it felt dangerous to take it out and clue the human in on how he lived. How his whole kind lived. 

It didn’t matter, they knew that, they’d already promised to tell her everything . Bean Jesus, he was an idiot. He’d never been an idiot before, but it was his own cockiness that had led him here, and now he was suffering the consequences. What would happen if she decided to keep him anyway, as some twisted form of human punishment for intruding in her home? 

“You’re spiraling.”

“I’m what?”

Ezhil had moved so her chin was on the table, her mouth hidden behind her arm that hadn’t moved. “You’re thinking about things that could go wrong. ‘What if’ and ‘if I had’ thoughts, right? I can see it in your eyes.”

“No you can’t!” Casper seethed. How dare a human even try to know how they felt right now-

“I do it all the time.”

Oh.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I…don’t want to tell you anything,” Casper admitted quietly. “I don’t trust you to let me go even if I told you everything you want to know. Does it matter that I live here? You’ve never seen me, I don’t spy on you beyond when I need to get certain things at specific times. I’ve never seen you naked, or done anything to you. I just steal left out food and desk supplies, and water sometimes when the pipe’s too slow to give me enough a day.”

Casper paused and wiped the tears from his face. “I have been in rooms with you, but only this one, and only to get chips and popcorn you drop when you watch tv. I don’t-I know humans consider that a crime or whatever, but the only person who I ended up hurting was myself-“ he gestured to his ankle. “If I’d been better, none of this would’ve happened, and I would be-“

His throat closed up again, but pushed the words past it. “I would be safe at home.”

Ezhil was silent, as silent as a human could be this close. He could still hear her breaths and feel her heartbeat faintly through the table. She wasn’t talking, but her heart was steady, and her breaths were steady, and maybe she wasn’t upset about it all. Cas took a deep breath and looked at her face, freezing when he met her eyes, half-lidded and deep in thought and staring again . 

He looked at his ankle, glaring at it as if it would heal faster through sheer willpower alone. 

“Well,” she paused, and it was excruciating to be subjected to such suspense. “I don’t like the sneaking around my house, it’s creepy. But I don’t want to make you feel like you have to leave.”

Cas frowned. “Seriously? A second ago you chased me down for living here secretly, and now you want me to stay? What kind of sick human game are you playing?”

Ezhil looked away, biting her lip anxiously. “I mean, I’m still uncomfortable about it, but I don’t want to…look, this is super weird. You never thought you’d get caught, right? Well I never thought a tiny person would be living in my home and living off my leftovers. I think we can salvage this, you don’t have to leave your home, and I won’t feel weird about it once I know what you’re up to, right?”

Cas immediately shook their head, scooting back an inch before leaning forward to hold their head. “No no no,” he looked up at her in fear, “there is no ‘we!’ I can’t stay here, especially not after this! Humans can’t know about u-me, you shouldn’t know, I shouldn’t have spoken to you in the first place! I know it’s creepy as shit, okay? I know how my life is perceived by humans, so think whatever you want, but there is nothing to salvage, and nothing we will be doing about anything!”

They shut their mouth when they realized they’d yelled at her again, and almost forced themself to apologize. Thankfully she spoke first, and thankfully she didn’t seem upset. She seemed…sad.

“Please, Casper, hear me out? I…I’m being selfish, but you don’t have to leave your home-“

“It’s my home now, huh?”

Her eyes narrowed at his petty interruption, and he was sure he’d upset her this time. She sat up from the table, and he regretted not hearing her out. She was much higher up now, straight-backed and looking down at him. He found he much preferred it when she’d been on the table too. On his level, feeling less like an unreachable human and more like a human that felt things just like he did. 

It was a stupid cognitive thing, Cas knew she was the same exact being however she decided to sit, but now they were trembling again. He didn’t even realize he had stopped. What happened to making nice and being friendly then escaping? They botched that plan a million times over now, hadn't they?

“You’re so scared,” she breathed, definitely to herself, but as soon as the words left her lips she closed them in regret.

Cas looked at her sharply. “And you’re so observant! You want to know how long I’ve been here? How long you’ve had no fucking clue I was even living like a pest in your walls?! Four months! I’ve barely finished my home and now it was all for fucking nothing because the most unobservant human I’ve ever seen forgot her gym bag, and I make stupid decisions!”

She mouthed ‘four’ in astonishment, meeting his eyes again with something akin to respect. But that couldn’t be it, so Cas huffed and looked into their lap. 

“Pest, huh?”

He looked right back up, alarmed that that was what she decided to talk about out of everything he’d just said. 

She smiled wryly, leaning back on her hands, and the slight increase in distance helped him relax. “If I’ve learned anything ever, it’s that no one should feel like a pest in their own home.” Something sad and resigned settled in the soft lines of her face. “I guess I am selfish, because I don’t really care that you live here, I care that I feel like I could’ve had company here, but that’s not very realistic of me, I get it now. I just…I’m lonely here, and for a second I hoped I could convince you to stay.”

Cas’ chest was tight again, and from the wetness in her eyes, hers probably was too. 

“This is pathetic,” Cas chuckled with a shake of their head. “You are insane.”

Ezhil’s smile widened. “I’ve been called crazy more times than I can count, insane is actually an upgrade.”

He smiled too, but only briefly before the situation slapped him in the face. “Look, Ezhil, of all the things that could’ve happened, this is actually not the worst, so I’ll give you credit for that.”

“But?”

“But you’re a human, and no matter what, I can’t stay somewhere a human knows about me.”

“Why not?”

“Huh?”

“Well, why can’t you? Do you have a family here? I won’t hurt anyone, again, or go looking. I swear.”

She looked so serious, and desperate, and too genuine for him to bear. 

“Why do you want me to stay so bad? Don’t you have human friends to hang out with? That human at the gym liked you, go be her friend. I’m not…for being friends with.”

“Rokka’s my friend, but she has a family and a gym, so we only talk at the gym, it’s not…I do have other friends, at work and from school, but I don’t see them outside certain times or places, and I guess I think it’d be cool to be friends with you. I mean, you already live here, and you clearly don’t need me for anything, so why not have someone to talk to? No offense, but you seem kind of alone here.”

“How would you even know!” 

“Just a guess!” Her hands shot up in surrender, probably in response to them pointing an accusing finger, but Cas flinched back at the sudden movement and her face fell again. So did her hands, slowly, into her lap to fidget. “I guess that’s why we can’t hang out, you’re still…”

“Yeah, I am.”

She stared into her lap. It was pathetic how she was practically begging them to stay, but it was even more pathetic that they were starting to agree with her. 

It would suck to have to make a new home. To have to find another good one in the first place. He could make this work, he knew he could. 

All he knew for sure was that he’d worked too hard on his home here to abandon it now. 

Cas sighed loudly, hoping she’d look at him, but she somehow hunched over further. As if she was expecting pain. 

Cas sighed again, but when it didn’t work a second time they spoke up. “Fine, I’ll stay. But not to be your friend, and don’t expect to see me anywhere ever.”

She peeked up at the initial statement, and for some reason didn’t look upset at all by the following one. “I won’t! I’m just glad-“

“No being glad,” he snapped, but she didn’t stop smiling. “And stop smiling, it’s just too much work to build a new home. Since I’m staying I have rules, and you won’t even know I’m gone if you break them.”

She nodded excitedly. 

Cas scowled. “You’re too happy about this, it’s suspicious.”

“What? No, I just, um…yeah, I am.”

“Why?” they demanded. “You won’t see me, I’m not going to be your little roommate, so why the fuck are you smiling like an idiot?”

Her smile grew bigger. “Maybe I’m just an idiot?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Cas huffed. “Whatever, my rules are simple. Don’t look for me, don’t try to find me in the walls, don’t talk to me because I will not respond and you’ll look crazy, don’t act like you know I’m here, don’t expect anything from me ever, don’t-“

“This seems kind of unfair,” she said, still smiling. “I can’t act like I don’t know about you. I’ll be paranoid that I’m being spied on. Are you sure you can’t just say hi when you’re eating stale crumbs off my floor?”

Cas’ jaw dropped. “You’re making fun of me?” Her smile turned wicked, and she turned her head away to hide a laugh behind her hand. “Bean Jesus! You’re making fun of me!”

“No, no,” she faced him again, trying and failing to keep a straight face. “This is kind of silly though, isn’t it? I know about you, you’ve decided to stay, and you’re just going to keep running around in secret? It’s unrealistic to think I won’t always be keeping an eye out for you, and a little mean to make me live like that in the house I’m paying for. I get it, you’re scare-“

“Don’t say it,” Cas seethed. “Seriously, I’m not! How could I be scared of a ridiculous human like you!”

“You were a minute ago.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s not a minute ago is it?”

She grinned again, and he worried she’d predicted that response. “So if I’m not so scary anymore, why would you hide? I’m a very fun person to hang out with.”

“No you’re not! You chased me down twice! You threw a towel on top of me!”

She looked away sheepishly. “Okay, this wasn’t my greatest first impression, but I swear I don’t chase people down normally. Imagine you were me, you would’ve been so cool about everything?”

“Yeah, I would’ve,” he crossed his arms. “I’m cooler than you any day. I would’ve-well, maybe not, but that doesn’t matter because you’re the human and you weren’t cool about anything.”

“Are you sure?” She leaned a little closer with a knowing glint in her eyes. “I imagine many people would’ve done a lot worse to you. I know people who would’ve.” 

Cas swallowed nervously. She wasn’t smiling anymore. 

She leaned back again. “My point is, if I wanted to actually hurt you, or trap you, or whatever else you can think of, I would’ve already done it. It wouldn’t be hard.”

They looked down, suddenly unable to meet her serious gaze. Why was she saying this? Did she like reminding them of the power difference? That they were stuck on a table with a sprained ankle and she was a big strong human? Their heart was hammering against their chest again. Maybe he shouldn’t have chosen to stay. Was there time to change that decision? 

“Hey,” her voice was soft again, worried. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

Cas shook their head and squeezed their eyes shut. It didn’t matter what she meant. 

“I’m sorry, please look at me?”

He shook his head again, trying to at least take deep breaths before looking at her and seeing a human who could do all those things to him. 

“Casper, I’m not going to do any of that to you. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. I’ll leave now, I have to get ready for work soon anyway. Just…I’m sorry, okay? I’m really-“

“Shut up,” he grumbled, finally looking at her again. And as he expected, she looked pathetic again. Guilt and regret filled her eyes, and her shoulders were hunched in. He had a feeling she would flinch if he said something mean. He wasn’t sure why he cared, but it seemed like she’d been hurt before. Enough to make her this afraid of him lashing out at her when she was the big strong human. 

Sitting like that, she didn’t look so big and strong. 

He sighed. “I mean, you’re right. Why do you think I tried so hard to escape? We expect humans to be awful to us. Hiding keeps us alive, and who in their right mind would want to ever find out what a human would do if they captured us? You tried to keep me here, which was expected, but the whole time you spoke to me like I was a person, which was…less expected.”

Cas took a deep breath. “You were actually a pretty decent human to be caught by, and if I hadn’t been a cocky bastard, I would never have gotten stuck in your bag. So I guess it’s my fault for putting you in this situation in the first place. I’ll stay, but don’t remind me of what you could do. It really fucking sucks to hear.”

“Yeah, I’m-“

“And stop apologizing, just don’t do it again.”

She smiled, and her shoulders relaxed. “Got it.”

“Good.”

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.