Arthur isn’t sure what makes him more nervous- the fact that Taika could squash him under his hand or that he’s so attractive. His mouth goes totally dry, feeling pathetic and silly clutching his little sword as if it could do any damage to the giant. Taika blinks at him with those big, strange eyes. His irises, composed of multi-colored flames, swirl with surprise and curiosity. Arthur flushes, not sure how to handle the way he’s being devoured by the genasi man’s gaze. He nervously grips the sewing needle, slowly averting his eyes. The eye contact is too much. 

“And who might you be?” Asks Taika, slowly crossing his arms.

“A-Arthur..,” The borrower’s voice cracks a bit, so he clears his throat. Gosh, this is already going poorly. “I know you saw me last night, but please- let me explain.” 

Taika raises his eyebrow. “You mean, explain why you snuck into my bed last night without an invitation? Yes, why don’t you?” 

Arthur flushes again. It makes him sound so dirty when he puts it that way. He remembers Taika all curled up on the couch after the incident. It made him feel awful realizing that he’d made the genasi man too uncomfortable to sleep in his own bed. He anxiously drags his fingers through his blonde curls. 

“I’m a borrower. We live in the walls, and take things that big people like you won’t miss…” 

Taika scoffs a bit. “Stuff we won’t miss, huh? You mean like my necklace? The most expensive thing I own?” 

Arthur starts to sweat. “I’m really sorry about that! I promise there was a good reason. Well- maybe not a GOOD reason, but there was a reason!” He takes a deep breath. He needs to collect himself before he does something really embarrassing like start to cry. “Please, just… let me explain?” 

Taika huffs a bit before leaning back against the counter and gesturing for Arthur to go on. He’s still not happy about what happened, but the little man is a lot less scary now that he’s out in the open, and he seems genuinely nervous and apologetic. Taika doesn’t see the harm in letting him speak. 

Arthur takes another deep breath and does his best to explain it all- that he’s a borrower, that there is a colony of borrowers in Taika’s home, that remaining secret to big folk is something taken very seriously in their society. He explains that their chief would have the whole colony move out if he realized that Taika knew about their presence. His people don’t even know where the next nearest borrower colony is and if they were to move now, they likely wouldn’t survive outside of the walls of this house. Taika listens carefully and asks questions here and there. Arthur is surprised that he manages to get so far in the explanation process without getting smashed or shoved in a jar- the typical horror stories of big folk discovering bowerers. 

Taika eventually sits down at the kitchen island where Arthur stands, resting his chin against his hand as the little thief continues to speak. It makes Arthur extra nervous at first- having someone so big looming so close. He glances over at Taika’s other hand which rests close by, swallowing as he imagines how much power it must have over him. He watches as the giant fingers tap against the table top- his nails are painted black, but they’re a little chipped. 

The genasi man doesn’t really notice the effect this simple act has on the borrower. How could he possibly understand how intimidating his size is? 

Arthur gets to the point in the story where his friends were picking on him, and he explains that he stole Taika’s necklace on a dare. He starts to ramble a bit- explaining the nuances of their relationships, how he sometimes feels like he doesn’t belong. Gosh, is he venting to this man about his personal problems right now? 

Taika furrows his brow. “You shouldn’t let them talk to you like that, you know? Just because you’re not as good at borrowing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be treated with respect..” 

Arthur flushes, dragging his fingers through his hair. “Y-yeah, I know.. you’re right.” He glances up at the giant man. Is he actually expressing concern for him? “Funnily enough, they’ve been a lot nicer to me since I stole the necklace.” 

Taika smiles softly at him, sighing. “I suppose that’s one good thing to come from this, ay?” 

Arthur’s eyes widen. Out of all the possible outcomes of revealing himself to Taika, he hadn’t considered exchanging smiles with him. He's been so receptive to his story. He’s actually pretty friendly and kind? Arthur nods up at him. 

“I- I should give it back. Your necklace. It was really stupid of me to take it from you, and I’m so sorry…” He nervously rubs his arm, feeling like a jerk for causing such a mess. 

Taika eyes him, watching the way he blushes and shrinks away. He drags his fingertips along one side of his mustache- something he does when he’s pondering. Arthur is actually quite cute up close with his blonde curls and his little glasses. It makes it awfully difficult to be mad at the guy even though all this stuff about borrowers is a lot to take in. 

“No… you should hold on to it if we’re to keep up the charade that I don’t know about you,” he says, sighing. 

Arthur’s eyes get big. “Really? You’re.. you’re gonna help me with this?” 

Taika stretches his arms above his head. “Yeah… I think so.” He flashes a smile down at Arthur and it makes the poor borrower melt. He’s dazzled by Taika’s handsomeness. 

“As long as you don’t do any more creepy stuff like hop into my bed? No drinking my bath water or anything?” 

Arthur stammers, balling up his fists, “O-of course I’m not going to drink the bath water!!” How could Taika joke about something so crude? 

Taika giggles, then extends his pinky finger out towards the little borrower. “Deal then. Shall we shake?” 

Arthur stares at the extended phalange tentatively. The genasi man has been so reasonable, but the little voice in the back of his mind is screaming that he should never trust big folk. It’s what they’ve been conditioned to believe their whole lives. Despite this, he reaches out and grips Taika’s pinky with both hands, flushing at the contact. 

“D-deal..” He looks up at Taika bashfully. “So… Will you take down the tape?” 

Taika lets out a long sigh. All of that hard work down on his hands and knees- for nothing. He nods. “Yeah, yeah… I’ll get on it.” 

Arthur nods quickly, grateful and relieved that the giant is being so kind. “And- um,” he squeaks. “Could you… maybe buy groceries soon?” 

The genasi man raises an eyebrow. “Awfully ballsy to demand something like that in your position, isn’t it, little man?” He smirks down at him, watching Arthur immediately devolve into a nervous puddle. Taika laughs. 

“Sure, yeah. It would probably be good for me to go shopping soon. Your people must be living off beer and cheese?” 

The little guy nods. “Yeah, actually everyone went to bed drunk tonight,” he chuckles. 

Taika shrugs. “Sounds like fun.” 

The dark haired man stands up and stretches, causing his shirt to ride up a little. Arthur gets a peek of some sharp hipbones, a well defined abdomen and an exquisitely groomed trail of black hair leading from his belly button to the band of his sweatpants. Arthur swallows hard, clueless how he’s supposed to hide the way that he’s ogling his new acquaintance. Luckily for him, Taika is distracted, starting to think about his next project- removing all the tape. He glances around, recalling all the areas that he covered up. 

“Guess I’ll get to it.” He starts to walk off, but glances back at Arthur one more time. “Oh, how do I get in contact with you?” 

Arthur flushes for the millionth time. “Into contact… with me?” 

Taika chuckles. “Yes… considering the two of us are sharing a secret, I thought it might be smart if we had a way to reach out to each other?” 

The borrower nods slowly. That does make sense… he glances around, looking for something they might be able to use to signal each other. He points to Taika’s refrigerator. “You could arrange those magnets into a shape? Maybe a smiley face? And I’ll know to come find you.” 

Taika considers the idea, and seems to agree. 

“But,” Adds Arthur, “We probably shouldn’t talk much…” Saying this makes Arthur feel strangely sad. He knows it’s what’s best for the colony, but.. he’s kind of liked getting to have a conversation with Taika. 

The genasi man just nods. “Right… so, emergencies only.” 

“Emergencies only.” 

The two boys nod at each other and exchange smiles before Taika starts for his bedroom. “Goodnight, Arthur,” he says with a smirk. 

“Night, Taika,” he replies quietly. He watches as Taika disappears into the bedroom and hears him start getting to work. Gosh… did that really just happen? He dumbly climbs down from the kitchen counter, still covered from head to toe in blush. He never imagined having the bravery to speak face to face with one of the big folk, but somehow he did it, and it actually went so well. He pinches himself a few times on the journey back to his room, passing by Taika as he’s hunched over on the floor, undoing the mess he made with the tape. He pauses to look at him one more time before scurrying up into the walls. 

Back safe in his bed, he can still hear the token noises of a human sized man moving about. This probably goes on for the next hour before the house turns still and quiet. Arthur is still wide awake, going over every word of the conversation again and again in his head. His little body is buzzing with excitement and residual anxiety. Taika asked him how to keep in contact… Does that mean he liked talking to him too? The borrower blushes, clutching one of his pillows close to his chest, imagining what it might be like to spend more time together.

Goodness… does he have a crush on Taika?