Truth Be Told (G/t)

.3.

His hands were getting damp. No good. He hurried his pace, and he caught an unexpectedly slippery book cover. He lost his grip and hung off by only a hand. No good at all. He fought panic off and swung a bit to try to find a good foothold, but his slight thrashing only made matters worse, and he fell back on the desk with a resonating thud.

His eyes darted off to the human, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw he'd rolled in his bed to face him, but at a second glance, he found his eyes shut. It took him several seconds to breathe a sigh of relief and look back up at the pile.

In a blur, something came crashing down on him. He cried out and threw his arms in defence. A thunderous crash roared in his ears, his body was squashed, his vision obscured, his heart almost burst out of his chest.

Colan thrashed his arms around and pushed off with all his might the mountain above him, his breath had gotten shorter. He flailed for an hour, for minutes, or maybe for only a second, but something- a book, finally came off and allowed some air to flood in. Another followed, then another, and the borrower pushed with all his might until his full upper body, then his legs, came free.

He clutched at his chest and breathed in short bursts, in an attempt to get rid of the initial shock.

As soon as he regained some sense, his first instinct was to look back at the human. His head whirled around to the bed, but he didn't see it. It took him a second to register the wall of fabric in front of him.

Colan's mouth fell agape and a bit of life left out of it. His whole body froze, and a long moment later, he willed his neck to crane up and his eyes to lock with those of the human.

The borrower gulped and backpedalled till his back hit something hard. No matter how he moved, the human's eyes followed his every move.

He gave a smile and poked his tongue out a bit.

A chill ran up Colan's spine. He pressed his back further and fumbled for his blade. Before he could get it, the human moved, not towards him, but away.

He turned his back on him and walked towards his bed.

Colan wasted no time in getting his hook out of the mess of books and make his escape, eyes never leaving the human, with every step he took, a faint vibration resonated in the desk, each time startling the borrower boy and almost making him lose his grip on the rope.

The next moment was hazy and messy in his head, but he found himself back in the safety of his little home. He slammed his door shut and locked it, expecting a large hand to come through and reach for him.

Once safe and inside, he collapsed on the floor and wheezed. His eyes, unfocused, ran around the room in front of him, and he took in all his supplies and stocks of food. He could never take all of it. He needed to make some bags- bring back all the smaller items he wouldn't need anymore-

He wanted to slap himself, but his hand was still frozen in shock. He'd screwed. He'd screwed so badly, and all for some wire he didn't even need so much. He'd found a new home, new life, new people, and all of it was gone in a snap. His throat tightened with every thought that came to mind, until he couldn't breathe.

Kaye would kill him once he knew. He would absolutely, totally and literally slit his throat and burn his body to ashes, then tell everyone in the building how bad he'd screwed up, and everyone would have to leave and they'd spit on his ashes; and if Kaye didn't kill him, then the streets soon would.

It was a matter of time before Kaye knew.

He jumped out of his skin. Someone had knocked on his door. They couldn't have found out so soon!

Colan looked over to it and allowed himself the time to collect himself, before he opened it. It was Kaye.

"Hey." Colan studied his expression for any anger or shock, but if the 'hey' wasn't enough of a clue already, he found it serene and neutral.

"Hi, what's up? Aren't you borrowing right now?" The younger borrower rose an eyebrow. He couldn't keep the edge off his voice.

"Nah, I don't need anything tonight. But I could ask you the same question," it was Kaye's turn to look him over suspiciously, " I thought you were out borrowing, but then I heard you bolt up here and slam your door enough to wake up any bean. Something happened?"

"Ah..." Colan took a few seconds and reached a hand out to wipe his face, "I was borrowing in the bean's bedroom when a pile of books fell

off the desk. It spooked the hell out of me, so I ran back here before the bean got up."

"I see," his neighbour stared at him pensively, before shoving his shoulder playfully, "Pussycat. Anyways, I just came to check in. Sleep tight."

"You too," Colan called out softly and shut his door.

Crisis averted. No one needed to know a thing about his personal life.