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There were ups and downs of living in a lodge that only got used maybe twice a year. For one, there was a lot of privacy, which was probably the best thing 5-inch-tall Chris could get. On the other hand, food was very scarce. The borrower always had to worry about where his next meal was coming from.
Here's a hint, he thinks bitterly as he kicks a can of green beans that's as tall as he is to the side. It's probably stale crackers and canned veggies that take an hour to prepare.
He pulls open the box of saltines with a grunt, dragging out 3 crackers. He shoves them into his bag, which is actually just a dice-bag. He trudges back to the canned green beans and begins to roll it toward the stairs. The can thumps down the steps, and Chris turns to the rope that leads down to the basement. He hates this rope; he's working on finding other ways down the stairs.
He slides down the rope, his fingerless gloves protecting most of his hands from rope burn. He hisses in pain when he angles his hand incorrectly, dropping down the last few inches or so. He groans, and hears the solid thud of the green beans hitting the floor.
"What the hell was that?!"
Chris can hear his heart pounding in his ears as he lays on the ground. They aren't supposed to be here! When did they get here?!
Chris stands up slowly, abandoning his crushed crackers, and looks around. Seeing nothing, he sprints across the basement, dashing to his "home" as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, his face smacks into a solid glass surfaces, and he can feel the warm trickle of a bloody nose. He starts to hyperventilate; they saw him, he's been seen--
The ground beneath his feet is being moved, and he's being pushed backward. Yep, those are tears on his cheeks. His feet are being pushed at, and he falls backward onto the new cardboard floor that's been inserted beneath him. He kicks the glass, panicky and weak, and his stomach gets left behind on the ground as he's lifted upward.
His capturer has beautiful brown eyes and tan skin, and oh, fuck my life, why'd he have to be hot?!
"Holy shit...what are you?"
"What the fuck does it look like I am?! Let me go!" Chris screeched, kicking indignantly at the glass.
"Woah, woah, calm down, little dude--"
"You try calming down when some cute ass giant traps you in a jar!" he blurts. He flushes, covering his mouth with his hands.
"Well, for the record, you're fucking adorable." Chris honestly can't deal with this right now. He’s been trapped, broken about 50 rules regarding being fucking inconspicuous so this doesn’t happen, and he’s generally having a really shitty day. He really doesn’t want the giant to think he’s adorable because that means that maybe he’ll want to keep him or something, and God, Chris just wants to go home.
He must’ve said all of this out loud because his captor is staring at him like he’s the most fragile, amazing thing, and there’s guilt in his expression. He doesn’t want the small man to be trapped, he just doesn’t want him to go. “What’s your name? I’m Josh,” he asks, softer this time.
Chris is stunned. He mutters his name softly, and Josh smiles. “Will you come back if I let you go?” Josh doesn’t mean to sound like he’s blackmailing the poor guy, but he just wants to know if he’ll come back. Chris knows that it’s not very likely that he’ll come back, but a small part of him wants to come back. Wants to stay with Josh.
“If you let me out of this jar, I’ll stay for a little while.” Josh beams at him and lifts the jar off of the cardboard that Chris is seated on. Momentarily, Chris forgets about the second person in the house.
"Josh? What'd you find?" Josh curses under his breath.
"Uh, nothing, Sam! Just a, uh..." he glances around the room quickly, "rogue can of green beans that rolled down the stairs!" Chris scoffs.
"But, what about the groaning?" Josh curses again.
"What--What groaning?" Suddenly, Sam is rounding the corner too quickly for Josh to have time to hide Chris.
"Woah! What is that?" she yells excitedly. Chris yelps as he's ripped from his perch, and is experiencing some serious vertigo as Sam runs up the stairs.
"Sam! Sam, wait! God damn it!" Josh chases after her, but it's too late. She's already got Chris on display in front of the rest of their friends. Mike has him dangling by his leg, examining him. "Hey! Put him the fuck down!"
"Dude, look at this thing!"
"Mike! Put. Him. Down." Josh gets up in Mike's face, and, as gently as possible, pries Chris from his fingers and pulls him to his chest protectively. Chris pushes himself up against Josh, wanting to be far, far away from Josh's friends.
Everyone's looking at him curiously, and at Josh worriedly. Josh is pissed, to put it simply. He storms off with Chris up to his bedroom.
“I, uh...thank you for that,” Chris mutters awkwardly. Josh breathes heavily, setting the borrower down on the bed. He paces for a minute, trying to get his anger under control. “Are...are you okay? I'm fine, he didn't, like, hurt me or anything. Traumatized me, yes, but I'm not hurt.”
Josh settles down on the floor in front of Chris, making him at eye level. “Sorry, I'm just...I don't know, Mike’s a dick. And Sam, she means well, but...I know them, and I know that even though I'm the least sane of us all, none of them are the type that you'd want to be discovered by.”
“Guess I got lucky then, huh?” Chris grins. Josh reciprocates, laughing breathlessly.
“That's one way to put it.”
“Hey, man, we've all got issues. Just ‘cause you've got more than others doesn't make you any less human.” Josh smiles softly at the borrower.
“So what exactly are you doing in my cabin?”
“Um...living?”
“Where? I've never seen you before.”
Chris rubs the back of his neck nervously. “You, uh...you have, actually. When we were little. We were, like, 6 or 7. You--well, your sisters--um...killed my parents.”
Josh's eyes widen. “They...what?!”
“Well, they were a little older than us, but...they thought that my parents were mice or something, and, well...they threw them outside. They...they froze to death. I was lucky--I was a bit preoccupied with you.”
“With...with me?”
“Yeah, you uh,” he chuckles, “you found me in your room, reading a book. You asked me how I got such small glasses. You trapped me under a cup and didn't let me go for hours because you were afraid I'd leave. I did.”
“Yeah, I...thought it was just a dream.”
“Yeah. I, uh...it was really hard, going home and not finding anyone. I had to learn how to survive on my own, and, well, food is scarce in a cabin that only gets used a few times a year.” Chris averts his gaze.
“I'm so sorry. I never knew…” Josh mutters, still in shock. “I promise you, you don't have to do this alone anymore. I'm gonna help you.” Chris raises an eyebrow.
“How?”
“I'll bring you food, and keep you company. Maybe you could come live with me in my apartment, instead of in this empty ass cabin!” Josh suggests enthusiastically. Chris pales.
“I don't know…”
“Oh, come on, it'll be a lot better than here. Besides, I won't let anything happen to you, okay?”
“...Fuck it, I'm in.”
“Really? Awesome!”
“Man, what am I about to get myself into?”
“Josh, babe, I know you love me and all, but can you not, like, suffocate me? I prefer to breathe,” Chris struggled to say into his boyfriend’s flannel.
It's been almost a year since the borrower had been discovered, and he has since then met all of Josh's friends, moved in with him, and, somehow, become his boyfriend.
“Nah, Cochise. If you can breath, you can protest my kisses,” Josh responded, lifting Chris up to plant his lips to the borrower’s face. Chris laughed, pushing at the lips with his hands.
“Dude, you're covering me with spit, gross!” Josh laughed, lowering his boyfriend onto his shoulder.
“Hey, so, Sam and Hannah want us to come over, and I think that Matt and Mike are going. Jess and Emily are on some vacation, and Beth is off with her boyfriend at the cabin.”
“You know, normally I would protest going, but we haven't seen them in a while. You better let me nap in your shirt pocket though, bro, because I'm tired as hell,” Chris said, leaning against Josh’s neck.
“You know I will, babe. You're cute when you sleep.”
“Fuck you, you're cute all the time.”