Chapter Text
Fruit's eyes lock with Grian's, sharp-red eyes meeting with wide, golden ones. For a few moments, it is completely silent in the loft.
Pete feels dread build in his chest when he catches the cat-hybrid's hand, unconsciously reaching for the dagger at his belt. The other grips the rungs tighter, a faint creak coming from the wood.
Before his voice finally speaks, sounding breathless. Anger is barely restrained in his tone as Fruit's eyes narrow.
"Pete, who the fuck is that?"
He opens his mouth to reply, but nothing comes out. His voice catches in his throat, and he swallows, feeling uneasy. He doesn't hear a rustle from behind him, he knows the avian-hybrid is frozen in place.
No answer came from him, no words escaped his lips. Fruit's eyes kept flickering from Grian, to Pete. Another wave of silence passed between the three of them.
Before the cat-hybrid turned swiftly and scrambled up the ladder, and Pete acted on instinct, reaching for Fruit's ankle.
He nearly yanked him to the ground, lime-green hair hitting against the rungs. His hand skipped a few rungs on the way down, and Fruit yelped as a sharp pain shot through his wrists once his hands clamped down on a random one to stop himself. He tried to free his leg, his other one kicking into Pete's shoulder. And wearing boots didn't help in his favor, the heel digging deep into his skin. Pete seethed through gritted teeth at the burning sensation, but he didn't let go.
"Pete, let go." There's an edge to his tone, and Pete knows Fruit isn't messing around. When in the right headspace, he could beat him in a fight by a landslide, specifically in close-range. It didn't matter if either of them had weapons or not; the cat-hybrid could throw scary good punches, or he'd snatch a weapon out of his own hands and use it against him.
"And why should I? You're going to tell all of them, aren't you?" Pete shot back, voice quieter than the former's. His heart was beating loudly in his chest, face pulled taut.
The red hue in Fruit's eyes grew stronger, patience weakly laced in his demeanor, nearly ready to snap apart. Pete's grip loosens, ever so slightly. And Fruit yanks his ankle out of his hand, dropping off of the ladder to the floor. His boots land lightly against the stone.
Pete hears shuffling behind him, and he turns around to see Grian stepping back, his wings raised slightly, hand trying to reach for the small gap in the wall. Fruit's eyes catch him, and he starts towards him, fingertips curling around the handle of his dagger.
"Fruit, please- we can talk about this-"
"What is there to talk about? I see the problem right in front of me." Pete stepped in front of him, but didn't seem to make any moves to start fighting him. Yet Fruit didn't let up too much, by now he was holding the small blade in his hand.
Grian kept trying to leave the room, eyes still dead-set ahead of him, at the struggling Red that was by now held tightly in Pete's grasp. And thrashing.
"And you're just going to let him get away like that?" Fruit's volume was nearing a yell at this point, eyes flaring brighter, trying to jab the dagger towards Pete's arm. Yet the other held him tightly, becoming a bit more panicked at how pent-up his friend was getting.
"Fruit, he's-he's not going anywhere, okay? You're scaring him-!"
"You're just lying so he can get away, aren't you?"
“What do you think he’s going to do? Kill you?” Pete shot back, and he would’ve shown more confusion than panic if it weren’t for the blade being dangerously close to his arm, near ready to stab into his skin. He wasn’t wearing armor—none of them were—and the last thing he wanted was for anyone to hurt themselves.
“Either that or stealing information, how can you be so dense?”
It took all the willpower not to shoot a look of bewilderment towards his friend. Although an anxious puff of a chuckle was able to escape his lips, resulting in Fruit turning back to face him, anger growing, although now it was more out of embarrassment.
“Fruit, what is he going to tell them, exactly?”
“…I don’t know, and that’s the issue.” He huffed, turning back to eye Grian. He hadn’t left, more of just frozen in place, wings lowering ever so slightly. Golden eyes stared back at him, fear written all over.
“Just- can you just put the knife down, please?” Pete asked nervously. “I’ll tell you everything, I just don’t want you to stab me in the arm or anything.”
Fruit hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder to his friend; "You promise he's not going to do anything?" He muttered quietly, patience waning fast.
"If he was going to do anything, I would've been dead by now," he reassured him, loosening the grip on the other. A small smile made its way onto his face, if anything a little unsure. "He's probably more scared of you than you are of him."
Fruit yanked his arms out of his hands with a scowl, ears twitching; "Who said I was scared?"
"...What I meant to say was 'overly cautious'-"
"Forget it," Fruit waved it off, crossing his arms. He gestured over to the avian-hybrid, "Talk. Before I tell Geo you've been keeping a Yellow here for-...I don't know if I want to know for how long."
"A week and a half, I think?" Pete finished for him, Fruit covering his face in his hands.
"Oh my Void..." he groaned, voice muffled.
"Maybe a little longer?"
"Pete, he's been here since the fucking raid we pulled off?" He said incredulously, head snapping up in disbelief. Grian's wings unconsciously wrapped around him, as he turned his gaze away, a bit of guilt in his expression.
"It's, uh- kind of a long story?"
"I think I know enough, no need to tell me," Fruit sighed, glancing over at Grian for a few moments, before back to him. "So...what are you going to do with him?"
"We'll probably go to the border. He needs to get back home-"
"Are you being serious?" He eyed him, a flicker of worry in his gaze. Pete's confusion only grew at that, and hesitantly, he nodded.
"Uh, yeah? Is there something wrong with that?" He asked, a bit nervous now that it seemed like the wrong question to ask.
"Hasn't Harvey talked about this to you already?"
"Talk about what?"
"So I'm guessing he hasn't..." Fruit sighed, running a hand through his lime-green hair. "Of course he hasn't, with you avoiding us so often..."
"Is it bad?"
"It's...complicated," Fruit glanced upwards to the trapdoor, before adding, "We should probably head over to HQ for it."
"S-Sure, we can do that. Just us both or-?"
"Probably you and him." Fruit gestured to the avian-hybrid, Grian glancing up at him being referred to. Pete's brows furrowed.
"...Are you sure that's a good idea?”
“As much of a good idea as you hiding him here,” he replied sharply, already starting towards the ladder. “What’s so bad about sneaking into HQ? You’re welcome there, anyways.”
“Fruit, there’s fucking cameras everywhere-”
“Then I’ll go turn them off for a bit, but you better be ready at the door by the time I get back.” He shot back, patience once again thinned, albeit frustration only slight, as he popped open the trapdoor above him, before climbing out of the loft and slamming it shut with the heel of his boot.