Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Past Meets Present

Unable to sit still and unable to leave the house due to the persistent bad weather and his still healing wounds, Connor busied himself with cleaning the house and spoiling Sumo more than usual. The gesture was an obvious attempt to make the lethargic, arthritic dog feel better during the cold, dreary winter. Ever since Connor moved in with Hank the house had been kept in tidy order but that didn't mean the house didn't need to be dusted or have old items thrown away due to age and neglect from time to time. That particular chore was one that Connor took upon himself since Hank struggled with stumbling over his past or potentially opening old scars by mistake.

Checking through the various items on the bookshelf against the wall in the livingroom Connor felt eyes staring at him and his blue L.E.D. briefly blink to yellow. He turned to look over his shoulder only to see Hank watching him intently from where he sat in the recliner.

"Don't you dare touch ANY of those books." Hank threatened from the comfortable seat as he held a heating pad to his right arthritic knee. "They're old but still good."

"I can locate less worn out copies to replace-"

"No way! That's a waste of time and money. Leave 'em alone, all right?"

"Very well." Relenting to the request Connor left the bookshelf alone. "May I at least attempt to restore the covers and strengthen the spines to keep the pages from falling out?"

"Nope. I like 'em just the way they are." Hank set aside the heating pad as he slowly put his feet back down on the floor and stood upright just as slowly to keep his already sore knee from gnawing at him. "I'm going to take a shower and try to loosen up my knee and my back, so I don't go insane. Don't throw out anything without my okay first, and leave my books alone. They're ALL off limits unless you want to read them."

"I have cleaned and organized everything in the house, there is nothing else for me to tend to beyond the bookshelf."

"Uh-huh. What about the crawlspace?"

"...Crawlspace?"

"Yup." Hank pointed to a gap behind the bookshelf, more specifically to the wall behind it where a small frame for an equally small door had been concealed behind the shelf itself. "Back there."

Connor tilted his head as he peered behind the bookshelf and for the first time since he had ever set foot inside the house and finally noticed the crawlspace hidden out of sight, out of mind. "What's inside of the crawlspace?"

"I honestly can't remember. Mostly junk I guess."

"I'm allowed to sort through everything and dispose of it as I see fit?"

"Sure. Have fun." Hank waved off the comment dismissively as he resumed his trek into the bathroom. "Just don't get dust and grime everywhere when you're finished."

"I will do my best."

Connor waited for Hank to disappear into the bathroom before he carefully pulled the bookshelf away from the wall and slid it to the side to expose the crawlspace doorway fully. The door was three feet tall and free feet wide, just large enough for one person to stoop down and crawl inside to rearrange boxes or put items into storage.

Kneeling down in front of the door Connor lifted the small metal latch and pulled open the door to peer inside the small expansive space beyond. It was dark and there was a small lightbulb positioned in the low hanging ceiling inside the space itself. Six cardboard boxes were positioned along the walls of the crawlspace, stacked two high and two deep. Half of the boxes were labeled under black ink as either items of value or items that Hank had lost interest in over the years.