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Jimmy had noticed a lot of things about the little farmer rat the more time he spent around him. Such as how soft-spoken the farmer was normally. Jimmy had yet to hear him raise his voice even once. If anything, he seemed to go through a lot of trouble to stay quiet. Scott was also very small, much smaller than most rats that lived in the attic. Small to the point where Jimmy had his questions about what had happened to make it so he couldn't grow as big as the others.
Scott was actually serene most days. He just quietly went along with whatever someone said to him, usually while still doing whatever he liked. It was an odd thing about him, and he was sure that there was a reason behind his actions, but he didn't really want to pry. Scott was just a sweet little thing, and he enjoyed being around him. Then there was how Scott was with Owen, and Jimmy wasn't sure if he should be jealous or not.
Scott seemed to adore the other rat, but he wasn't sure if it was just friendly or if he was in love with him. Scott was just so friendly that he couldn't tell. It was ridiculous how nice he was to everyone.
There were a few things about Scott that made Jimmy wonder, though. More than just how much smaller he was than most of the rats in the attic. Scurrying around and hiding more than fighting when something happened. He wasn't one for conflict, and Jimmy wondered if it was in part due to him being so little.
So Jimmy had taken to visiting the other and spending time with him. He was constantly watching him, and he wondered if he was going to be able to get even closer to him. Except Scott had no problem being nice to him. Making food and giving it to him or letting him sit nearby while he tended to his indoor crops. Especially since the snow had killed all of the outdoor ones.
He let out a quiet whine when he realized that he couldn't find Scott in the attic when he was looking for him.
There was some sort of commotion off to the side of the attic, though, which had him scurrying over to see if Scott had somehow gotten caught up in the chaos. Scott did tend to like to know what was going on after all. As he got closer, Jimmy started to hear more and more of what the others were saying, able to slowly puzzle out what was happening.
The main things were 'Scott', 'mouse', 'liar', and 'find him'.
Jimmy paused a short distance away, seeing Owen staring tiredly at them as he continued to try and calm them down. The others were yelling though and couldn't seem to hear that Owen was trying to calm them down.
Jimmy thought he understood what was happening, but it made him more nervous than he'd like to admit. Scott was a mouse, and he was in trouble with the attic rats for lying to them. Jimmy twitched, standing there and staring wide-eyed at how many of the others seemed willing to get violent about it. He didn't like being lied to either, but it wasn't like Scott deserved to be harmed because of this. If anything Jimmy though Scott deserved a little more consideration because he took care of them all when he could.
Scott was nice, he helped them out so much, and Jimmy didn't want him to be hurt because he wasn't a rat after everything he'd done for them. After all of the food he'd grown and meals he'd cooked to help them out. All so that the humans wouldn't look for them even more desperately.
He found his eyes snapping to Owen suddenly, blinking as his tail twitched and he motioned again. Still talking to the others, but now trying to get his attention.
He realized that he was mouthing something to him, hesitant to be caught. Jimmy struggled to understand, but eventually made sense of it.
'Go find Scott' , at least that was what Jimmy thought he was trying to say.
Jimmy paused before he scurried off for the stairs. He should check the garden first to see if he was there. All tucked away behind the planting plots that were now dead. Scott was from outside originally anyway, so there was a chance that he'd run outside at the first sign of danger.
Jimmy managed to avoid the butler on his way out, muttering about how annoying it was that he was so focused on catching them. He scampered for the back door to the garden and nearly panicked when he almost got snatched up by the gardener.
He ran faster, ducking into the nearest safe space. Eyes wide and mumbling as he moved around for a minute before he risked leaving to go and start his search. He started searching for the other when he couldn't find him with the empty plots and then ducked towards where the wheat field was.
He scurried around, searching his scarecrow and everything. Hoping that he'd be there trying to keep warm.
Jimmy couldn't find Scott outside, though. Struggling to find any sign of the small male at all. Scott was small enough to duck into places that Jimmy couldn't get to. It was hard for him to find Scott if he was really hiding because he was so small. He decided to go back inside and try to find where Scott might be there. He was obviously not in the attic, but it was hard for him to imagine that Scott had actually left yet. He was probably still in the house and hiding from everyone out of fear.
Jimmy tried to think of another place that Scott would be, but it was hard to imagine where he might be. He lowered his head as he hid under a table, and he tried to figure out where he was supposed to be going. He frowned and stared, his eyes wide as he slowly started to scamper off again. Realizing that there was at least one more place that Scott might be.
He made his way to the grandmother's room. Squeezing past the mother when she nearly saw him and running in until he was able to start to run around the room and start to look for signs of Scott. He scurried around, knowing that grandma didn't care about him being there. She liked them, so it was safe for him to go and search for Scott all he liked. His eyes got wide when he saw something blue behind the shelf, and he bee lined for it. He dashed forward and was quick to follow the other into the little room and stare as Scott tucked himself behind some of the wood and stared at him with wide eyes. Jimmy sat in front of the exit, hoping that Scott wouldn't panic and make him feel bad for trying to find him.
"Hi Scott," Jimmy murmured, "I was looking for you."
Scott didn't answer, but he did shuffle a little so that Jimmy could see his face. He looked terrified, and he felt worse that he'd scared him. That he had to feel afraid of all of his friends turning on him because they hadn't realized that Scott wasn't a rat.
"I didn't lie," Scott said quietly.
Jimmy paused, settling down at the opposite end of the room to stare at him, "You didn't lie about what Scott?"
"I never said I was a rat," Scott said quietly to him.
Jimmy paused and tried to think back to any time that Scott would talk about being a rat. Except Scott was right; he was sure that the other had never said anything about being one. If anything, he had avoided talking about how he was a rat. He also never talked bad about mice; he just existed peacefully with the attic rats and called them his friends without question.
"You're right," Jimmy said, keeping his voice soft, "You didn't lie to us. We just didn't realize on our own, and now they're all being very judgmental about it. You don't deserve that. Also, Owen sent me down to find you. He's worried."
Scott was twitching at that, staring wide-eyed at him, and he hesitated as he slowly started to step forward. Hesitantly working over to him, he stepped closer until he was much closer to him. He blinked and held out his arms to the little mouse and watched him hesitantly scurry over to him and into his arms. He pulled him into a firm hug, smiling as he held him there. He let out a soft squeak, nosing against his shoulder, and he mumbled. Softly rocking until Scott seemed much calmer.
"Scott, can you tell me what happened?" Jimmy risked asking.
Scott didn't make any noise for a while, just leaning into him. Jimmy almost thought that he wasn't going to get an answer at all when he heard him start to speak quietly. Voice shaky and clearly not wanting to talk too much. Not that Jimmy blamed him, the other members of the rattic weren't exactly sounding calm when he heard them. They had seemed like they were all but out for blood. So Jimmy was happy that he was willing to talk to him about it at all.
Eventually Scott started to talk quietly, explaining that he had just wanted somewhere safe to live. He hadn't even meant to end up in the house, much less in the attic. He had worried that admitting that he was a mouse and not a rat would make everyone hate him. He had still wanted to help everyone if he could, carefully able to keep everyone from questioning him as he grew crops and fed the attic. Because everyone meant a lot to him and wanted to help them as much as possible. That's all that Scott wanted, and he was happier to know that they thought of him as a friend too.
It was... sad when Jimmy thought about it. Knowing that Scott thought that way about everyone because he had no proof that any of them would be safe to tell this secret.
Jimmy had heard how some of the rats talked about mice; it was... less than pleasant, but it didn't affect him or anyone, so he never said anything. At least, he hadn't thought it effected them, but Scott had likely heard just as much, if not more, in the attic.
Jimmy stared hesitantly at him after he finished, wondering if he was going to be able to help after that. Scott didn't seem upset about the things they said, but he didn't think that was entirely true. There was a chance that Scott was simply not bringing it up because he didn't want to see him look at him with pity or something else.
He was leaning into him, and he found that he couldn't quite convince himself that he shouldn't go and yell at everyone to get them to listen to him for just a few seconds. He didn't really think it would help, but it was hard to imagine that they wouldn't be startled enough to at least listen to him. So it was tempting, but right then, he had something else to do, which was make sure that Scott felt okay.
"I'm sorry," Jimmy said to him.
"You didn't do anything," Scott said quietly after a moment of silence; "You were one of the few who never even got rude about those kinds of things. You also didn't join in when everyone realized."
"Why would I want to hurt you?" Jimmy asked, keeping his tone calm but serious, "You're my friend. You're important, and you do so much for the attic. I'm sure that Owen can get them calmed down and talk to them long enough that they'll realize that they're being horrible just because they don't understand."
Scott didn't say anything about that, but Jimmy leaned against him as well. He knew that Scott was stronger than his size would suggest and that Jimmy's weight wasn't going to take him out.
They sat in silence for a while before Jimmy turned to look at him and waited until he glanced up at him before speaking.
"Want to go and see if Owen's controlled that crowd by now?" Jimmy asked.
Scott didn't answer right away, just staring at him. There was no sign of worry like Jimmy was going to do something and turn on him, but he was looking like he was considering turning him down. Jimmy would accept it too, because he deserved the chance to turn him down and say that he couldn't do it.
"Let's go," Scott said instead.
He helped him up and took his paw without a word. Scott didn't say anything either, which was enough for him to start to lead him off and hope that Owen had the others under control and was scolding them for considering Scott a threat when he'd only ever been their friend. Jimmy didn't think that he could stand it if someone tried to say something to him once they were up there.
But Jimmy just went with him anyway. He knew that he wasn't going to talk Scott out of going back up to the attic now that he was calm and already on his way. He had avoided it just because he was nervous, which Jimmy understood. There was no way that he wouldn't be after everyone was being loud and clearly angry about finding that out. So Jimmy was planning on staying close in case something happened and hoped that Scott could get away from the others without any danger.
Scott took them back to the path to the attic, however, both climbing until they finally made their way up. Jimmy wanted to tell Scott to let him go up first, but he found himself scrambling after him and hesitantly looking around. He was worried, but it seemed like all of the ranting and yelling had stopped. There was an exhausted looking Owen who was quick to turn at the sound of someone entering the attic and looking relieved as he caught sight of the other.
"Scott," Owen said, standing to scamper to them, "Thanks Jimmy."
Jimmy got up and nodded, "Yeah, I can see why you sent me out to find him."
"I'm sorry," Owen said to Scott, looking truly apologetic, "I was trying to get them under control, but things got out of hand really fast."
Jimmy watched them, glad to see that he hadn't been wrong about Owen worrying over Scott. The other rat constantly seemed the type to try and keep things calm and not too judgmental, so it was a relief to know that he was right.
"Don't worry," Scott said, hugging him, "Thank you for trying."
Jimmy stayed near him and saw that some of the others were peeking around the attic furniture and looking at them. None of them looked too angry, but more... awkward. When he pulled back from Owen, Scott clearly looked around and found the others that were staring at him. Jimmy could practically feel the uncertainty from Scott as he tried to figure out what to say or do, but he didn't interrupt. He knew that there was probably going to be a lot of problems, but he had to control himself a little... at least giving them a chance.
After a few more seconds, Eloise was scampering over and looking at him. Apologetic and clearly feeling bad that she'd upset him.
"Hey Scott! I was so worried when you disappeared," She said, "I... well, at least I know why you're so small."
El's tone was sweet and teasing, leaving Jimmy to snort a little. There was, of course, going to be comments about how small Scott was now that there was a chance, but Jimmy was happy so long as they were being kind to him. Because that's what mattered the most.
"Yeah!" Tubbo was close after just a moment and it clearly started Scott as much as it did Jimmy since he was still close, "It also explains why I never wanted to eat you!"
Jimmy was jarringly reminded that Tubbo had resorted to some rather... disturbing cannibalism when he was trapped with Shubble. It was something that he didn't want to think about or ask about, and he was glad that he didn't really have to. There was just Tubbo being weird and it was still rather positive so Jimmy decided just not to ask him.
Tubbo was quick to leave after that, leaving Jimmy to glance at Scott who was staring after him in concern. A glance back at Jimmy said that he was just as weirded out by their conversation, but he also looked a little lighter. Like he was no longer quite as worried about what had been said to him.
"I think you could use some rest," Jimmy said lightly.
Scott chuckled at that, but seemed to be in at least some agreement. He nodded after a few seconds, turning towards his house.
"I'll make sure that the others know not to bother you until tomorrow," Owen said, "And remind them that they freaked you out when they got all worked up."
Scott made a small noise in response, but had reached for Jimmy and was pulling him behind him. Jimmy didn't know why he was being pulled along, but felt rather proud that he was still trusted enough to be pulled into the other's space.
Once they were inside, Scott sighed, looking tired. Jimmy smiled at him, hoping that he'd calm down a little more at that, and found that he was smiling back after a second.
"I'm glad you're comfortable again and that this was all mostly the others just in a panic," Jimmy said, "I'm sure that some of the others were just kind of... startled."
Jimmy felt like it was a weak reason, but Scott laughed quietly for a moment, and Jimmy squeezed his hand before letting go. After those few seconds, though, Scott didn't let go and was dragging him along. Jimmy blinked as he realized that the other was tugging him along until they were going up the stairs and into the smaller's bedroom. He blinked as he was pushed so he was sitting on the bed and then the other was collapsing onto his lap. He held back a laugh, trying not to find the idea that Scott was going to make him stay amusing and not flush either. He glanced down, seeing that Scott was moving to get comfortable, and he let out a quiet sigh.
Jimmy shifted a little until he was comfortable as well. He decided that just cuddling with Scott after such a stressful day for the other was more than fine. Jimmy was able to close his eyes and relax after that, feeling Scott taking one of his hands.
Jimmy held back a smile and wondered if it had really been that bad of a day if everything had worked out that well in the end.