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Part Twenty-Two

   Drizzle was supposed to be doing a lot of things, but confronting the human wasn't one of them. Her legs nearly fell out from under her, the trembling in her fragile bones rattled like a skeleton, and yet, she stood tall on her perch of the bookshelf, and called out to the human before he had the chance to leave.

   That's what led her here. A borrower on a bookshelf, praising a human boy for listening despite the fact that he could easily end her without a second thought. And judging by the noises of the cereal box scratching to her left, the rest of Drizzle's family could use a bit more of that obedience themselves.

   "Just...stay put," Drizzle choked out, waiting a moment for the human to disobey and go against his word. But he never did, and she was left to ogle at him with a fascinating glare in her eyes.

   It didn't take long to reach the desktop below, especially with the grappling hook her husband made her not too long ago. It had a messy countertop; the kind she had only seen in her dreams to borrow from, but the only thing on her mind was the colorful cardboard box sprawled out on its side before her.

   "Jack? Axel?"

   The confused head of her husband peaked around the corner, meeting Drizzle's eyes first, and then taking notice of the giant standing behind them. He was still facing the bookshelf, and Jack didn't trust it for a second.

   "What's going on?"

   "Did you hear him?" Drizzle responded with another question, running up to grab Jack's hand. "Did you hear Sam on the phone?!"

   "It's not possible..."

   "That's him, Jack! The human showed me a picture!"

   "It's not him. It can't be him. He knows better than to talk with humans, let alone the kind to burgle a home and get into fights!"

   "Jack," She looked him dead in the eyes, letting it all soak in. "He has our Sam."

   "...what do we do now?"

   "I don't know. Go back with him?"

   "Absolutely not! Why would you trust a human like that?"

   "You think we have a choice?!"

   "If he's so friendly with our son, why doesn't he just bring Sam to us then, huh?!"

"...mama?" A tiny voice rang out, interrupting Jack from another outburst and bringing Axel's head into light behind his father. "Is it s-still here?"

   "The human? He's right behind us."

   "Is he gonna hurt us?"

   "I don't think he will..."

   Jack followed up with another grip on Axel's shoulder, which was starting to flare up the harder he gripped. "How could you possibly know that?"

   "It's a hunch, alright!"

   "No! Not alright! That thing could kill us all in one swoop, and you want to go home with it?!"

   "I feel like if I wanted to, I would've done it already..." The deep grumble from earlier spoke up, and every borrower on the table flinched as a result. "Sorry, still not looking, but you're kind of hard not to overhear."

   While Jack and Axel paled to the point of complete silence, Drizzle whipped around and directed a finger at the human, who was still covering his eyes as promised.

   "You know you weren't supposed to be listening!"

   "I'm defending myself, here! If you had a bunch of people talk about you behind your back, you'd be upset too!" He growled out, before adding a simple 'ma'am' afterwards out of respect. This was his best friend's mother, after all.

   Drizzle huffed, letting herself calm down as a reminder that she was still speaking to a human, one of the world's most unpredictable and emotional creatures out there. It most likely wasn't the best idea to get one upset from her lack of understanding.

   "I'm sorry, you need to understand that my family and I have never...done something like this before."

   "So you're scared?" The human lowered his fingers but kept his eyes closed. "Go ahead. Say you're scared of me."

   "We're not used to humans like this."

   "Say it," He directed, this time turning to face them completely, crossing his hands over his chest. "It's better to say it to my face, right?"

   "Yes! Fine! We are scared of you!" Jack screamed out, having dealt with this one human enough to the point of exhaustion. He wasn't even really sure if it was complete fear he was feeling anymore, when a bubbling annoyance was growing within his throat.

   "Yeah?" The boy asked, lifting his eyelids to finally get a good look at the borrowers underneath him. "So was Sam."

   All went quiet in the room, save for a vague sniffling coming from Axel, whom The human had yet to lay his eyes upon.

   "What did you do to him-!"

   "I said was," he clarified. "Meaning, not anymore."

   "What-"

   "I can take you to him," he said, raising an eyebrow. "If you want."

   And before anyone could argue, Drizzle found herself lunging at the opportunity.
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A/N: This update was a little late (sorry!), but hopefully worth the wait. And everyone welcome Axel to the party; I think you're gonna grow to love him :)
Thank you for reading! ❤️