Chapter Text
“Come on, Ry!” Colt did not whine, thank you very much. He just raised the pitch of his voice a bit to really drive home how much he wanted Ryland to do this. “The human isn’t home, it’s a calm morning, and I only need to grab, like, two things. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to come with me!”
Ryland groaned and ran a hand over his face. The two of them had been going back and forth on this for the last hour now and Colt really wasn’t letting up this time. And, unfortunately for Ryland, the constant asking was starting to work.
The thing was, Ryland Grace was not a borrower. Or, well, no, he was a borrower, obviously, but he wasn’t actually one who went out and did the borrowing. He never was. When their dad took him and Colt out on their first borrowing trip when they were 12, Colt had taken to it like a moth to a flame. He had loved using his hook and string to climb, loved swinging around and making big jumps, and loved the fact that he could finally help provide for his family.
Ryland on the other hand, had been terrified the whole time. He was constantly on edge and skittish, looking around and just waiting for one of the humans to appear. It was good to be cautious, his dad had said, but not to the point where it hindered the actual borrowing itself. So, while Colt had continued to go with their dad on borrowing trips, Ryland had stayed behind with their mom and learned how to make things out of the stuff Colt and their dad brought home.
It worked out well, especially when the two headed off on their own. They made a great team, Colt borrowing everything they needed and Ryland making use out of them.
But Colt was always trying to get Ryland back out there, at least once or twice, just to experience the thrill. And probably to show off his own skills.
“Also, we’ve only been here a couple of weeks, you really should get a lay of the land. Just in case anything happens.” Colt said, finally pushing that last little bit that had Ryland slumping in defeat.
“Alright, okay! I’ll go with you today. But just today!” Ryland added on before Colt got too excited. But Colt was already pumping his fist into the air.
“Yes! I’ll go grab my spare borrowing gear. Get ready, we gotta head out soon.” Colt said and then headed into another room to do just as he said. Ryland watched him go, a small smile on his face. He couldn’t be too upset if going out made Colt this happy.
When Colt said soon, he really did mean soon. It was only minutes later that they were heading down the tunnels. Ryland was still messing with the borrowing bag, trying to make it rest at his side in a way that didn’t feel like it was in the way. “If you keep messing with it, it’s never going to adjust.” Colt teased, falling into pace with Ryland.
Ryland sighed but left it, hanging onto the strap instead, similar to how Colt was doing so. “These tunnels are long.” Ryland had noticed when they had first arrived at this place. But he didn’t quite know to what scale the home was actually at. Colt was the one who had actually looked around the place and told Ryland it was perfect. He trusted Colt enough to make the right call about it.
“Just wait until you see the actual loft.” Colt said, stopping at a seemingly random part of the wall. But looking a bit closer, Ryland could make out the frame of an entrance. “It’s huge. I honestly don’t know why one human needs so much space, especially one who’s barely home, but whatever. Better for us, anyway.” Colt pushed at the wall to open the little makeshift door a crack, taking the precaution and looking around, just in case. Ryland was glad to see he was still being careful.
A moment later Colt was nodding to himself and pushing the door all the way open. He stepped back, allowing Ryland to go first. Ryland hesitated a moment, but again, he trusted his brother’s judgement. He steeled himself and walked through the door.
Ryland couldn’t help but stop and stare at the expanse of space around them. The house was huge. Bigger than he had ever seen. The exit out of the walls had led them to a high shelf in the midst of the living room area. There were a lot of things on display too, so much so that Ryland felt surrounded by it. And then, beyond the shelves they were on, was just so much more space, it was hard to believe this place was even real.
“I told you.” Colt said, coming up to stand next to him.
Ryland wasn’t even sure how Colt managed to navigate somewhere this big, but he was sure he was about to find out. He turned to Colt but something else caught his attention. Colors, and lots of them, all over the walls. Ryland blinked. “Are those…post-it notes?” He asked, trying to get a better look at them. Despite how far away they were, it seemed like all the notes had at least something written on it.
Colt followed Ryland’s gaze. “Oh, yeah, the human is weird. He’s always leaving himself some sort of note.” Colt shrugged and waved it off. “It’s not too important. What is important is getting to the kitchen.” Colt turned around and headed back into the walls, Ryland followed despite his confusion.
“Wait, we’re going back into the walls? What was the point of coming out this way then?” Ryland asked, making sure the door was closed behind them.
“So you could get a feel for the overall layout. You can’t really see any of the living room from the kitchen.” Colt answered, starting down the tunnel once again. Ryland followed, he supposed that made sense.
“Do you ever even use that entrance? It doesn’t seem like you can get anything good from there.” Ryland remembered how high up they were on the shelf and also how everything up on said shelf was much too important, and much too big, to borrow.
“I use that entrance all the time! You’d be surprised how much stuff the human leaves just lying around.” Colt said and then proceeded to list them out. Of course Ryland remembered most everything Colt brought back home with him. He had no idea he had gotten that battery because the human had left it on that same shelf they were on and, after a few days, never bothered with it again. So, Colt had taken it and it was currently being used to power some low-energy lights they had brought with them from their old home.
The walk this time was a lot longer and there were a few inclines that had Ryland feeling like they were going up a floor. But that didn’t make much sense, wasn’t the kitchen on the bottom floor? He got his answer when they finally made it to where Colt wanted to go. He opened the door, not even bothering to look first. Ryland was about to say something until he saw where they had ended up.
They were on top of the cabinets in the kitchen. From where they were, way back against the wall, Ryland could barely make out any part of the kitchen itself. So, it stood to reason, no one would be able to see them from up here, not until they got a lot closer to the edge, anyway.
“There is no way this is the best way to get to the kitchen.” Ryland said instead, following Colt as he was already moving toward the edge. Ryland slowed down a bit, not moving as close as Colt was. The sight was making him a bit sick.
“It is, actually.” Colt said, starting to unfurl his hook and jam it into the wood of the cabinet. Ryland could see marks there from when Colt had made this trip previously. “I tried finding a way to get me right on the counter, just like our last place, but it’s full of wires and plugs and way too much tech for it to be a safe passage.”
“Huh. This guy must have a lot of money.” A futuristic kitchen, a mansion for a home, and the excessive use of post-it notes was a large tell of that.
Colt scoffed. “You have no idea.” He said it in a way like he knew for sure. That didn’t make a lot of sense though. But before Ryland could ask about it, Colt took a step back. The hook was firmly in the wood and the string was hanging down. Ryland took a careful step forward, just enough to see the string reach all the way to the counter.
He turned to Colt. “You really don’t expect me to go down there, right?” Just looking down that far was making his knees feel weak.
Colt rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re scared of heights, as a borrower! You know how ridiculous that sounds, right?” Colt asked, and yes, Ryland was very much aware of that. But there was also an important distinction to make.
“I’m not scared of heights. I’m scared of falling.”
Colt stared at him. “It’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s not!” Ryland argued. Colt let out a small laugh, this was not the first time they’d had this conversation, and shook his head.
“Alright, if it makes you feel better, I’ll go first.” Colt reached down, getting a good grip on the string as Ryland stood there.
“It really doesn’t.” Ryland watched as Colt waved him off with a free hand before that same hand was gripping the string again. He climbed over the edge of the cabinet and was now in the position to start moving down. He looked up at his twin.
“I’ll be fine, I do this like, every other day. It’s no big deal.” Colt reassured before he started down. Ryland bit his lip. The fact that Colt did this so often was a bit reassuring, but Ryland would still be worried until Colt actually reached the bottom.
Ryland stood on the edge of the cabinet, fidgeting with the handle of his bag as he watched Colt’s slow descent. It really was a long way down but at least Colt wasn’t rushing down all willy-nilly.
A small sound caught Ryland’s attention in that moment though and his eyes focused on the string rather than his brother. He didn’t see anything at first and almost waved off the sound. Until he heard it again and this time, he saw the source.
His blood ran cold.
Some ways down, but already above where Colt was still climbing, the string was beginning to tear. The sound Ryland was hearing was the faint sound of individual threads snapping apart. Slowly at first but quickly picking up speed.
And Colt wasn’t even halfway down yet.
“Colt! Colt, the string!” Ryland yelled, not knowing what else to do, knowing there was nothing he could do.
“What?” Colt looked up but it was in that moment that the last thread of string snapped.
And then there was a scream, Colt’s or his own he didn’t know, and then Colt was falling and falling and falling-
And then Ryland heard a crack followed quickly by deafening silence.
“Colt!” Ryland screamed again and quickly dug through his bag for the other hook and string, trying desperately to keep his tears at bay and doing a terrible job of it. He wasted no time in jamming the hook into the cabinet and sending the string flying down. He didn’t even let it settle before he was climbing down, much faster than Colt had done so, but Ryland couldn’t find it in himself to care.
“Colt!” Ryland yelled again as he reached the bottom. He left the string hanging there and ran to his brother’s side, kneeling down and quickly feeling for his pulse.
There was one, faint but there. Ryland let out a small sigh of relief, his brother was still alive but his relief was short-lived as he took in the state Colt was in. He still wasn’t moving, Ryland’s hands hovered over him but he dared not to touch him again. He had heard the crack, he knew what that meant.
Colt had broken something.
And by the looks of things, he had broken his back.
Ryland felt like crying. He already was and it still didn’t feel like enough. His back. His back. Ryland didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t move him like this, not without making things far worse. He couldn’t fix him because Ryland didn’t even know where to start. And even if he did, there was no way they had the resources to fix something like this.
He choked back a sob as he realized there was nothing he could do.
Except, it was at that moment, from the other room came the noise of the front door. There was the sound of muttering, but nothing Ryland could actually make out. But that didn’t matter, what mattered was that the human was home.
Ryland looked down at Colt, his mind racing.
It was a bad idea. A horrible idea, really. But, if Ryland was being honest, he had already made up his mind the second he realized the human was home. There was one thing he could do to help Colt. It was stupid and could just end with them both getting killed but it was their only chance. It was Colt’s only chance to actually survive this.
The answer was clear.
“Help! Help me, please!” Ryland yelled as loud as he could, making sure he would be heard even from the other room.
There was a sound from the other room, like something had fallen, followed quickly by a loud voice. “What the hell!?” Ryland’s heartbeat kicked into overdrive as the human ran into the room…with what appeared to be a sword in his hand???
“Who the hell-!?” The human cut himself off as his eyes honed in on Ryland’s form. He watched as the human’s eyes went from Ryland to Colt and back to Ryland. Slowly, he lowered the sword. “What the f***?” The human said, a bit more subdued this time.
This was a lot, Ryland almost felt frozen where he was still kneeled at Colt’s side. Having the human’s gaze on him was even more terrifying than he had ever imagined. But he had to do this, he had to save Colt. He took in a shaky breath. “Please.” Ryland winced as his voice cracked. “Help him. He’s…he fell. And his back…” Ryland trailed off. He couldn’t even complete a sentence. He wasn’t sure if it was due to the human watching him or his despair at Colt’s condition. Probably both.
The human looked between the two of them again, eyebrows furrowed. And then he spoke. “What’s in it for me?”
Ryland’s breath hitched. “What?” His voice cracked again.
The human raised an eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?” He simply repeated and Ryland knew he was breathing much too fast now.
The human wanted something from them. He wouldn’t help otherwise it seemed. But what could Ryland promise? What did he have that the human didn’t? “A-Anything.” He blurted out, not knowing what else to say.
Both of the human’s eyebrows raised up this time. “Anything?”
Ryland nodded rapidly. Anything, anything to save Colt. “Yes, anything, just please-” The human raised a hand, cutting Ryland off. He watched with wide eyes as the human dug into his pocket and grabbed his phone. He tapped on it a couple of times and then brought it to his ear. He didn’t take his eyes off Ryland the entire time.
“Gail? I need a doctor who won’t ask any questions. One who deals with broken bones and…precision.” He said into the phone. Ryland felt like he was holding his breath as a faint voice on the other end said something. “Perfect. Send them to my place.”
The voice said something else and the human made eye contact with Ryland. Ryland couldn’t help but tense up. “...I’ll tell you later. Just get that doctor here. Now.”