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Part Twenty Nine

   Skip grabbed the bag of chips and forced them under his arm, freeing both hands to hold Sam in cupped palms and bring him closer to his stomach, so as to Shield him from the dangers of a thunderstorm.

   On the way up the stairs, more thunder ricocheted off the lightning and shook the staircase, hurting both Skip and Sam's ears in the process. If not for Sam in his hands, Skip would've easily stomped up three stairs at a time, but the weight in his palms reminded him to be gentle when he needed to be.

   Sam curled up against the tight cloth of the human's shirt, bringing his tail closer as he covered both ears and nearly shook with the thunder. He knew he was safe in the house with his humans, but the noises were far too loud for him to calm down.

   Skip finally made it upstairs, focusing on the bonus room that Leo resided in, sprawling across a beanbag chair with a remote controller in his hands and a pout on his face at the television that was shut down.

   "Power shut off," Leo called out when he noticed Skip coming through the entrance, a bag of chips under his arm and something in his palms. "What's wrong?"

   "I think Sam's scared of the storm," Skip replied and quickly stomped over to kneel beside the beanbag chair. "You take him."

   "I'm not scared!" Sam managed to squeak out between huffs of breath, and it seemed he was right about his voice cracking. As embarrassed as he was, the switch from Skip's hands to Leo's was the only thing on his mind, and so he crawled forward with ease to rest in Leo's palms.

   Sam was reminded once more of his friend's incredibly warm hands, and the soft pulse that radiated underneath. He grabbed the closest thumb and held it firm against his body, wrapping both limbs and tail around to keep it in place. Another roll of thunder pushed through into his eardrums, and Sam pressed his face into the pad of Leo's thumb to focus on anything else.

   Leo blinked in surprise, sitting up to place his hands on his lap, hovering over Sam to watch him.

   "Sam?" Leo asked, pausing for a response that never came. "You good?"

   When, again, Sam didn't react, Leo tried once more.

   "Um...do you wanna hide somewhere? To block out the noise?"

   A bolt of lightning flooded the entire bonus room and everything inside it, and Sam nodded into Leo's thumb.

   "Please," He said, not as scared now that Leo was here.

   Leo looked around the room, locking eyes with Skip and mentally asking for his help in finding a good hiding place until the storm blew over. Skip agreed, giving a swift nod, eyes glazing around the room as well.

   His focus landed on the pocket of Leo's sweatshirt, and the warm confines of the big entrance.

   "Leo," Skip said, pointing to the sweatshirt. When Leo took notice of it, he didn't think twice.

   "Sam, I'm gonna put you in my pocket, okay?"

   Sam hardly reacted, except for tightening his tail on the thumb that he was so eagerly attached to. The rounds of thunder rumbled out into his body once more, but before he could cover his ears, the walls around him were closing in.

   A comfortable cloth formed above and around Sam's tiny body: a green shadow cast over him, and he felt warmer than he had in a very long time. Even being stuck within Elijah's scarf was nothing compared to the confines of Leo's pocket, especially with the hands still holding onto him and the long fingers brushing against his back. Both of Leo's hands were shoved into his sweatshirt to keep Sam company, and to soothe the vicious cycle of the storm outside.

   Skip watched as Leo pushed both Sam and his hands into the pocket, before seeing a dramatic sigh fall from Leo's lips. It seemed he could feel the tension leave the borrower with his fingers, and Skip could relax enough to feed both him and Leo the chips from the bag.

   The storm rolled on deep into the night, blissfully unaware of the residents that it had scared half to death, and the bonds that formed as a result.

   Elijah brought Axel closer to his face, taking in the sight of such a tiny creature putting that much trust into his hands.

   Axel had fallen asleep minutes earlier, curled up on his palm, hands still gripped to the fabric of Eli's shirt. The storm exhausted him to the point of passing out, finally at peace with the human, and Elijah was lucky enough to witness it all go down.

   The relationship between the two hadn't gotten as far as Sam intended, mostly due to Axel's fear of the storm, but they were definitely approaching a comfortable bond. Elijah, fondly keeping an eye of Axel's tiny body the entire time, did his best to keep quiet despite his occasional coughing. Every time he sneezed, Axel stirred, and Eli had to literally fight off the urge to let out a little "awe" at the sight.

   He was happy that he could be the one Axel came to first. Although not entirely of his own mindset, Elijah knew Axel was glad for the same reason. With as much precision and careful breathing as Eli could manage, he brought the hand holding Axel up to his lips, and pressed the most delicate peck on the tip of his soft head.

   "Goodnight, Axel," Elijah whispered into his little ears, and leaned back against the headboard to attempt sleep for the rest of the night.
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A/N: Sorry if this update is a little short; my puppy had surgery and everything was pretty hectic today! (Puppy is all fine, no worries 🥰)

   The boys are all getting along before the final conflict comes to mess everything up.

   Thank you for reading! As always, let me know what you think! :)

-D