Tw for food insecurity
There was a small pitter of claws against hardwood that was always filling the modest Seville household. The chipmunks had prided themselves on their human characteristics, wearing clothes, shoes, glasses, getting their haircut at normal barber shops and going to normal highschools, even if they had to sit on books and high chairs at restaurants and cafeteria tables. Despite this, they still took advantage of running on four paws whenever they had the chance, and twisted and skittered up surfaces like they did with the thinnest tree branches back in the woods. The railing of the stairway was covered in claw marks from the boys scaling it quickly when chasing each other, or the rare occasion Dave had attempted to bring in a dog or cat to watch for a friend.
The sound of small footsteps was enough to wake simon. He had always been the lightest sleeper, spending years protecting his brothers in the woods without the advantage of sight had solidified this trait in him even long after the boys had moved into the suburbs and safety of daves house. The small door at the corner of their regular sized bedroom door was swinging lightly, as if someone had just left. Simon shoved on his glasses, sitting up and looking to see which of his brothers was up this time of night. Theadore was out like a light, obviously, his face being illuminated by the alarm clocks electronic lights on the nightstand beside him, his red numbers blinking at 3:00 am in his sleeping form. He turned to his second brother's bed and of course,Alvin's bed was empty, covers thrown to the side and pillow laying across the foot of the bed, as if he'd hastily tossed it out of his way.
“Ugh, alvin..'' Simon groaned to himself, rubbing the fur in between his eyes in annoyance. Usually he'd leave him to go discover his mess in the morning and leave Dave to ground him for the rest of the week, but considering the door had just clicked closed it might not be too late to spare them both the trouble. He swung his legs off the side of the bed, carefully scampering across the floor on all four paws to avoid waking theodore. He slipped out the door and down the stairs, peeking his head slowly around the corner and into the kitchen. Alvin had crawled into the cabinets, filling his hoodie pockets with food and looking around, paranoid. Alvin had always loved that hoodie, it took going through 4 different fabrics before he found one he liked enough to let Dave sew into a hoodie. It wasn't only the color he was particular about, but the texture. Some of the hoodies before this one made his skin crawl just to touch it. Dave dismissed it as him just being picky, but Simon knew that his brother had always had an issue with textures and fabrics, however little they came in contact with in the wild. The mere act of shoving food into his precious hoodie was enough to make simon suspicious
Simon ducked behind the wall before he could be caught, slowly peeking his head back when it was safe. Alvin hopped from the cabinets to the counter, then the chair, then back to the floor, running right past Simon and onto the stairs without even noticing his onlooker.
“Um, alvin?” Simon spoke up, stopping Alvin in his tracks. He flinched hard, fur sticking up like he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have. “What are you doing”
Alvin turned slowly to his brother, standing up on his back feet and pinning his ears down nervously. He tried to smile casually and put his hands in his pockets, but that just pushed a sheeseball from his pocket and sent it tumbling down the stairs. He watched it with thinly disguised horror as it rolled away.
“Ohh.. hey si, what are you doing awake”
“I heard you leaving” a tired yawn priced itself out of Simon's mouth, a paw coming up to cover it. Alvin bit back the urge to yawn as well.
“Oh yeah, just a little midnight snack, nothing to worry about there” Simon did not look convinced. He stared deadpanned at Alvin and he dropped his shoulders. Alvin's eyes met the floor nervously looking for another excuse simon would accept “its nothing, simon, really”
“If it's nothing why wont you tell me”
Alvin took a deep sigh, sitting down on the steps and pulling his knees into his chest. The food crunched a little uncomfortably in his pocket and Simon inwardly sighed at the mess he was making. Alvin twitched his nose a little, trying to hold back a few of the tears that were starting to pick at his eyes. Simon came and sat down on the step beside him.
“It's just…” he started, closing his eyes tight like he was expecting simon to shut him down before he even began “its been getting colder, lately, and i don't know i guess i just”
“You've been hoarding food” Simon gasped out a little, finishing Alvin's sentence. He nodded roughly, a little scared to open his eyes. He wrapped his arms around his knees and hugged himself tight. “Alvin, you… we don't have to do that anymore, you know we're safe here”
“i , i know that, i do but its just.. Its dumb.”
“Its not”
“I know we're supposed to be like everyone else and we're supposed to be normal kids but.. When I feel it getting colder it's like.. My chest gets tighter? I get.. Antsy? I don't know how to describe it” he ran his claws through his fur, ruffling it and messing the patterning up. “It's like I need to make sure we all have enough food for the winter again.”
“That's, that's okay Alvin, it's just instincts. Its kinda sweet”
“But it doesn't make any sense!” he tossed his head back angrily, raising his voice slightly but not enough to wake anyone. “I know Dave is here to protect us and feed us but “ a few tears slipped out of his eyes and into his fur, he rubbed them away so Simon couldn't see.
“Hey, hey, whoa” simon awkwardly reached a hand out to alvin's shoulder, and before he could process what was happening alvin had flung himself into his arms, hugging his brother tightly and burying himself into his shoulder, hands curling into simons pajama shirt, then uncurling from the uncomfortable fabric, tucking his paws into his sleeves before hugging him again. Simon never had a problem with it, but Alvin could pick out his favorite hoodie blindfolded. “It's okay, it's alright, do you.. Want me to go get dave?”
Alvin shook his head violently, sniffing and trying to bite back his tears the best he could. He hated crying, it made him feel like a little kid when he constantly was attempting to be seen as the teen he is. His life constantly fluctuated from being smaller and weaker and more sensitive than the other kids at school, sometimes purely because he wasn't the same species, to being this adult others looked at with awe when he was touring or on stage or at interviews. He didn't know what he was allowed to be and what not. He hated the lights and noise of the stage but they were nothing compared to the fluorescents and just-almost-silence of the classroom.
“He wouldnt understand,” Alvin mumbled, whipping his own tears into his shoulder as Simon slowly attempted to hug back. He was never great with feelings or comforting, that was Theodore's department, but Theodore was asleep right now and as much as Simon hated to admit it Alvin was right. Dave wouldnt understand because Dave was both human and had never experienced food insecurity before. Simon racked his brain for ways to help, eventually pulling back and holding Alvin by the shoulders as he calmed down.
“I think I have an idea, but for now you need to try and get some rest, okay?” Alvin nodded at him, letting Simon drag him upstairs and into their bedroom as quietly as possible. Alvin shoved the food in his pockets under his bed with the rest of his stash, and Simon bit his tongue about complaining about ants. That was a mess for future simon to deal with, and right now he was too tired to think about it.
In the morning, simon helped Alvin clean out one of his bedside drawers, and they reached an agreement of being able to store packaged food in their for whenever he gets anxious, and had both instructed Theodore about the importance of leaving it alone.
“I-i know what you mean alvin” he had said sheepishly, kicking on his own sneakers as they got ready for school “when we were in the forest i never knew where our next meal would be, so when i had food i just ate it. I never really got out of that I guess” theodore struggled with his laces, anxiously pulling them until they were knotted, then unknotting them to try again.
“I'm surprised this hasn't come up before '' Simon brushed a small barbie doll comb through his hair as he spoke. “Considering we've been out of that particular living situation for some time now”
“Yeah, well” alvin spoke up, nervously scratching at that spot behind his ear he never could scratch enough “it's embarrassing”
“I don't think so at all” simon reassured, pulling his backpack off the chair and hopping out the door “come on, were gonna be late”
A/n: okay i might do more and if i do im very sorry but i dont think anyones particularly intrested in aatc contemt in 2021