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Part Twenty-Seven

Axel shook his head no, the wild curls framing his face dancing around like crazy. His stutter seemed to forbid him from saying anything at all, because the moment he opened his mouth to resist, nothing came out.

"It's okay!" Sam whispered, trying to remember that his parents were right beside him in the dark confines of their wall bedroom. "Just relax, I won't make you do it if you don't want to."

Axel let his eyes drift down once more, the thought of visiting the humans ever present in his fears.

"But," Sam interrupted his thoughts for a split second. "What's the worst that could happen?"

It was a question the little borrower hadn't thought of before. In all his time living alone, he never quite imagined what might happen if he took the non traditional root, and used a bit of bravery to explore what Jamie was like. He didn't have the courage for such a feat, and after his new parents came into his life, the thought didn't come up anymore. Of course, he also never saw his current prediction coming, because to be stuck in a house with an unknown brother and three humans was sort of unpredictable in his books.

But what if he had ventured out and took an interest in Jamie?

It wasn't like he had horrible experiences with humans himself; just horrible expectations that derived from old tales that didn't quite apply to him anymore. Sure, the basic rule for every borrower growing up was to stay away from the dangerous giants that could potentially cause you harm, but it never actually happened to Axel. In fact, he hadn't heard of it happening to anyone he knew, though the spectrum of people in Axel's life was considerably limited.

So if he would interact with a human, especially one that Sam claimed to be good, there wasn't much margin for error. The facts read that things would go fine, and he wouldn't be in as much danger as the stories from his adopted parents told of.

Sam looked on with pride at Axel's thinking process, taking his time with increasing impatience to learn his response. The gears were obviously turning, it was just a matter of time before Axel gave in and allowed himself to be open to an evolved mindset on the humans.

"I'm not asking you to trust the entire species," Said Sam. "Even we have some bad apples. I'm just asking you to keep an open mind on three of them."

"W-what if th-th-ey want to hurt-t me?" The smallest one replied with confused tears leaking through.

"I think I can guarantee that won't happen. And if they do for whatever reason, they'll have to get past me first," Sam grinned, flexing his fingers just a bit.

Axel almost let out a giggle at the thought. The sight was too bright for Sam, who's eyesight was dimmed in the black surrounding them.

"What, you don't think I could take them?"

"You could," Axel pursed his lips to avoid laughing. "The b-big one es-specially."

"Oh, Skip? He's the biggest softie out of all of them!"

Axel didn't seem to believe him. His smile faded, but the curiosity kept leaking through.

"Skip will do anything to protect you. In fact, if I went up to him right now and asked for a hug, I know he would give me one without a second thought."

"Really?" Axel's eyes grew to be the size of buttons. "Isn't that uncomfy?"

"Not at all!" Sam shuffled in the nest, trying his best to imagine laying back down on Leo's hoodie-covered chest, curled up against the radiating heat that swarmed him like a blanket. "Imagine one big, warm pillow that swallows you up and takes care of you."