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“You’ve been acting weird lately.” Jimmy said, unable to hold it in anymore. He had been noticing odd behavior from Joel for a couple of weeks now. He brushed it off at first, Joel could be a weird guy sometimes and who was Jimmy to judge when he was the same? But there was the normal kind of weird and then there was…whatever this was.
Joel was disappearing for hours on end, which wouldn’t be weird in and of itself but he was gone in the middle of the day . Only a borrower with a wish to be caught would go out when the humans were awake and at home. Not only that but whenever Jimmy asked him about it, he either brushed it off and quickly changed the subject or got a little too defensive about it.
It was starting to concern Jimmy that something was really wrong.
“What? No I haven’t been.” Joel said, taking on that defensive tone that had become all too familiar to Jimmy.
“Joel, I'm just worried about you.” Jimmy admitted, turning to look at Joel, who seemed to be organizing his supply bag. Joel wasn’t facing him but he looked tense. “You keep disappearing in the middle of the day, you don’t seem to be getting enough sleep, and you barely talk to me anymore.” The last one stung more than Jimmy wanted to admit. But along with everything else, Joel was also ignoring him a lot of the time nowadays.
At that, Joel finally turned around, eyes wide. “Wha-I talk to you still! We’re talking right now!”
Jimmy frowned and crossed his arms. “We’re arguing, Joel. I feel like everytime we try to talk it turns into either you leaving or us starting an argument.” He uncrossed his arms, suddenly looking tired. “I just…I want to know what’s wrong. I want to help you.”
Joel searched Jimmy’s eyes and then steeled his own, turning back to his bag. “Nothing is wrong.” He said through gritted teeth and he was now shoving things in his bag instead of trying to organize. When Jimmy saw him swing the bag over his shoulder, Jimmy stood up and tried to stop him.
“You’re running away again Joel, and it’s the middle of the day! What is going on with you?!” Jimmy exclaimed his question, not wanting Joel to leave again.
It didn’t work. “ Nothing is going on with me!” Joel yelled, his voice an octave higher. He shook his head. “I just…I…” He paused for a moment and then shook his head again. “I’ll be back later.”
“Joel!” Jimmy tried but Joel had already run out the door. Jimmy collapsed onto their little makeshift couch and groaned into his hands. He just wanted to understand, to know what was wrong with his best friend. Because no matter what Joel said, something was very clearly wrong.
Jimmy sat up and eyed his own borrowing bag in the corner. Jimmy had never followed Joel before on one of these, because despite his worry he also respected Joel’s privacy. And maybe also because he was a bit scared to go out like Joel did in the middle of the day. But now, Jimmy was certain this was bigger than simply letting Joel have that privacy or letting his own fears get in the way.
So Jimmy stood up, grabbed his bag and haphazardly flung in around his shoulder as he followed Joel out the door.
Of course, Joel was nowhere in sight. Jimmy had taken too long in order to see him anymore but that was a good thing. Jimmy didn’t want Joel to know he decided to follow him, he needed Joel to believe he was just going to stay back home again. Jimmy headed down the path, following where he thought Joel might have gone.
There weren't a lot of places for them to go. The walls, while massive, were also limited in where they went. But still, while limited, it would still take a good guess for Jimmy to realize where Joel had gone.
The first exit out of the walls that came up was into the kitchen. That was the main reason they had chosen to live in this area of the walls. Easy access into the kitchen was essential for borrowers, so they always had a way to get food.
Jimmy wasn’t expecting Joel to have gone through there, not with there being a chance the human was in there, but Jimmy thought it didn’t hurt to check, just to make sure. So he slowly pushed the door open and peeked out, being very wary of any humans that could be around.
The kitchen was empty of humans, but it definitely wasn’t empty of borrowers. Jimmy’s eyes honed in onto Joel, who was just standing there near the edge of the counter. Jimmy wasn’t sure what he was doing but at the moment, he didn’t really care. He exited the wall fully, running over to Joel. “Joel!”
Joel startled at his shout and turned with wide eyes to Jimmy. He looked horrified. “J-Jimmy, what-what are you doing here?” Joel stuttered out, and all but hissing near the end. He met Jimmy halfway across the counter and placed a pair of hands on his shoulder.
Jimmy steeled his gaze and stared into Joel’s eyes. “I told you, I’m worried about you! So I decided to follow you this time.”
Joel shook his head, his grip on Jimmy’s shoulders becoming tighter. “Jimmy, now is not the time. You need to get out of here.” As he said this, Joel forcefully turned Jimmy around and started pushing him back toward the walls. Jimmy did his best to stop the pushing by burying his heels into the floor but Joel was a lot stronger than he looked.
“No! Not until you tell me what’s wrong!” Jimmy yelled, forgetting for a moment they were out in the open, too concerned with Joel’s behavior.
“Jimmy, seriously! You need to-!”
“Am I interrupting something?” A voice suddenly cut Joel off. Both borrowers froze and Jimmy felt his breath hitch in his throat, making him unable to breath. He heard Joel groan, his head falling so his forehead was pressed against Jimmy’s shoulder.
“You have got to be kidding me…” Joel muttered but he was so close that Jimmy still heard it.
Jimmy wasn’t sure what made him do it but he decided to turn his head to look behind him and his worst fears were realized in that moment.
A human was standing there at the edge of the counter, looming over them so much that he casted both Jimmy and Joel in his shadow. He had a mask on and despite the raised eyebrow, it was hard to tell what he was thinking. Not that it was easy to ever tell what a human was thinking.
“Uh, Joel?” The human spoke again and Jimmy didn’t think he could tense up anymore but here he was. The human knew Joel’s name . What did that mean? How did he know? What was going on ?
The grip left Jimmy’s shoulders but he was still too frozen in fear to run. He finally met Joel’s eyes as the other borrower took a step back from him, but was surprised to find they didn’t hold the same fear that Jimmy’s probably did. In fact, Joel looked more annoyed than anything, especially with the way he was pinching the bridge of his nose.
Joel let out a sigh and turned to look up at the human. “Etho, can you give us a second?” Joel said and Jimmy’s eyes went wide even more.
The human, Etho apparently, tilted his head at the request but nodded. “Uh, sure?” He seemed confused as to why but he listened to Joel and left the kitchen.
Jimmy felt like he was going to pass out.
As the human left, Joel turned back to Jimmy with a nervous look on his face. His hands were held out, as if dealing with a wild animal. “Jimmy, listen, I can explain.” He started off with but Jimmy was barely listening.
“The human listened to you.” Jimmy said in shock and a bit of awe. Joel winced.
“Yes, he did.” Joel looked over at where the human had left but there was still no sign of him coming back. “He’s uh…he’s good at that.”
Still, Jimmy was barely listening. And Joel seemed to be able to tell, because he took another step forward, toward him. This, however, finally unfroze Jimmy and replaced his instinct with the overwhelming feeling to flee . “We-Joel-we gotta get out of here!” He grabbed one of Joel’s still raised hands and tried to pull him back into the walls with him.
It was a lot harder than Joel had made it seem though and Joel held his ground firmly, barely being moved by Jimmy’s efforts. Jimmy’s panic was only increasing the longer they were both out in the open like this.
“Jimmy, I need you to listen, please .” Joel said and then pulled his wrist out of Jimmy’s grip with little effort. He then switched it up and grabbed Jimmy’s wrist, keeping him in place and looking him in the eyes.
Jimmy still had panic coursing through his veins, his nerves were on fire, and all he wanted was for the two of them to get back to safety. But the look in Joel’s eyes finally made him pause and he looked down at Joel pleadingly. As if to say hurry it up so they could get a move on. Joel sighed.
“You were right, okay? Nothing is wrong but…I have been hiding something from you.” Joel revealed and Jimmy’s eyes widened.
“Joel, what-?” He was cut off.
“I got caught by the human three weeks ago.”
Suddenly Jimmy couldn’t breathe again.
“It was a stupid mistake on my part but the important thing is, Etho never hurt me. Or kept me. I mean, I kept coming back, didn’t I?” Joel said, prompting Jimmy to respond and say something.
“I-well-I mean-yes, but-!”
“Etho isn’t…like other humans. He’s nice and I enjoy hanging out with him.” Joel admitted, a slight blush on his cheeks.
Jimmy was still confused but less so. Still… “He’s a human though Joel. We can’t…it’s dangerous.”
Joel sighed, running a hand down his face. “I know that. Of course I know that. But Etho has proven himself…that is one of the reasons why I didn’t tell you, though.” Joel looked away. “I didn’t know how you would react. I didn’t really know how Etho would react either. But…yeah, that’s what’s been going on.”
Jimmy tried to breathe, easing himself back into some sort of normal. He couldn’t imagine what Joel had been through, being caught and not telling him. But from what he was saying…it also hadn’t seemed that bad for him either. Jimmy was still very wary and scared of what was going on. This was a human they were dealing with after all. But…Joel seemed genuine and Etho had listened to him.
“So…what do you want to happen then?” Jimmy asked once he felt like he could breathe again.
Joel bit his lip and then met Jimmy’s eyes once again. “Well, now that you know…maybe you could meet him? Officially, that is.”
Jimmy tensed again at that idea but also tried his best to keep from freezing up again. “...So you want to keep this up then? Keep meeting up with Etho? The rules really say we should move.”
Joel shook his head and huffed. “I know what the rules say Jim. But Etho is a good guy and he can help us out. I…” Joel paused for only a moment. “I trust him.”
Well, that wasn’t what Jimmy was expecting. Of course, Joel had to have had some sort of trust in the human to keep coming back and meeting up with him but actually hearing it from Joel himself was another thing entirely. Not only that but Joel didn’t trust easily, so to say he trusted a human of all people…Jimmy couldn’t help but think this human really must be special.
“...Then okay.” Jimmy said with a nod. “I-I’ll meet him.” Jimmy gave a nervous but genuine smile and Joel finally released Jimmy’s wrist.
“Really? I mean, yeah, okay, cool.” Joel’s voice cracked a little, so he cleared his throat. “That’s great. Etho!” He turned to the place the human had disappeared. “You can come out now!”
Jimmy was at first confused. Would Etho even be able to hear Joel from wherever he was. And then he was right back to that nervous panic when Etho came right out once Joel had called for him. Had he just been right around the corner this whole time?!
Etho came closer to the counter and Jimmy couldn’t help but back up a few steps. Joel was right next to him though, a casual hand on his back to make sure he didn’t run back into the walls. Jimmy wasn’t going to, he said he would meet Etho and he was going to stick to that, but he appreciated Joel grounding him.
“Etho, this is Jimmy. Jimmy, this is Etho.” Joel introduced them and Etho tilted his head.
“It’s nice to meet you, Jimmy.” Etho said, giving Jimmy a little wave. Jimmy gave a shaky wave back.
“Um, hi, it-it’s uh, it’s nice to meet you too.''Jimmy said, stuttering thanks to his nerves. “Joel’s told me a lot about you! I mean-well, that’s-that’s ya know, kind of a lie, he uh, he told me some stuff just now and-uh, well, if he’s willing to trust you, I guess I-I could give ya a chance, you know, and I-'' He was cut off when Joel placed a hand on his shoulder. Jimmy blushed when he realized he had been rambling.
“What he’s trying to say is that he’s willing to give you a chance.” Joel spoke for Jimmy, looking up at Etho.
Etho’s eyes went softer. “Well, I appreciate that.” He said as he rubbed the back of his head.
“I think that might be enough for one day though. Sorry to cut this short Etho, but I’m gonna take Jimmy back home and talk to him some more about all this.” Joel said, already guiding Jimmy back toward the wall.
“Sounds good. I’ll see you soon then.” Etho said and then he left the kitchen just as Jimmy and Joel made their way back inside the walls.
As they walked back home, Jimmy glanced over at Joel. “So…how did you get caught anyway?”
Joel sputtered, his cheeks going red. “Wha-it’s none of your business!” Joel said with a loud huff and Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh.