A Borrower's Anthology

Early Morning Hike

Everything was pounding.

The floor, Nicholas' chest, Darius' voice; Nicholas huddled deeper in the wedge between the wall and a corner of Darius' bed as it scratched against the carpet rug. Darius was trying to move it to no avail--every time he succeeded, Nick scattered and reset the progress. It would have been side-splitting to witness if it were any other circumstance.

"Darius!"

A warm pillar of flesh grazed the top of Nicholas' head. He yelped, ducking to barely avoid the fingers extending from thin air. In actuality, Darius had only reached over the side of his mattress. Thank goodness the bed frame was higher above Nick's head while he was floor-bound. The weight of Darius' body didn't cave it and cause the bars to hit Nicholas in the head. It was unsettling enough just to hear that keening whine--he didn't need to experience it on his body too. Nick gave the springs and metal a tired grimace.

"Didn't you listen to anything I said yesterday?" he shouted.

Instead, a grumble was all the response Nick received, accompanied by another squeak of spring coils. Of course Darius wasn't listening. There was a chance Nick's voice would have been smothered by layers and layers of blankets and mass, but that also didn't matter. Listening or not listening, it didn't seem to dissuade his pursuer in the least. Especially when something snatched Nick's leg. Grasping the carpeting then the comforter did little to derail his upward ascent into heaven. By the time he'd finished rubbing his eyes, the early morning light made Darius' grin too blinding as it materialized into view.

"Good morning," Darius said, affecting something pleasant in his tone. Nick frowned.

"This is anything but."

"Oh come on, it won't be so bad. I promise we'll be back before lunch. They won't even miss you."

Purchase didn't exist when Nick dangled upside down, his limbs nothing more than a loosely-wound pendulum. It had only been seven minutes, according to the clock on Darius' table. He had come in with the intent of talking to Darius about any excursions, yet after some thought, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to commit. Apparently, chickening out had not been on his list of options, which resulted in a minor stare-down that quickly devolved into a battle of endurance. And unfortunately, Nicholas had lost. Darius was getting far too skilled at being able to react.

Darius eventually turned him around proper. Nick found himself dropped in a cave of cloth and cotton where light did little more than allow him to keep his eyes open. There wasn't much to see except for a rich green wall and a few granola bars. He hadn't seen them before until he'd sat up, and that was as far as he was able to achieve. The moment he'd tried standing, weight settled against him from the outside, pinning him to the firmer wall behind.

"Ah, ah, ah." Darius patted him again. "Best if you keep the squirming to a minimum, unless you want to hear someone ask me what's in my pocket. That would be an awkward follow-up, wouldn't it?"

Nicholas glared at the outline of fingers. "I thought I said--"

"Yes. Yeah. I know what you told me, but just this once trust me a little, all right?" Darius said in a huff. "Now, just keep your head down until I tell you it's all clear."

Nicholas slumped down to the bottom of the pocket with his arms crossed, sighing. Darius had mentioned it as if Nicholas hadn't invested in a trust fund with Darius. Just being in his pocket had been a big step the first time--much bigger than when he'd hitchhiked on either of the brothers' shoulders. Normally he would have enjoyed the concealment of pockets opposed to an open expanse where he would have fallen to his demise with one wrong step. However, he'd learned that being left in someone's pocket made him feel reduced to a precious trinket in a way. Darius seemed to favor the method for transporting them around the house, in the event they ever needed to be hid quicker than hands might have concealed. The fact that Nicholas had said nothing and done nothing except grow comfortable with the situation was a monumental gesture of trust. It wasn't every day he was all-encompassed by a human from breath to body to heartbeat.