A Small and Tall Collection

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Chapter Thirteen | Little Acts of Kindness

The next two weeks were absolutely brutal.

Cold.

Hungry.

Tired.

Alone.

It reminded Ashlynn of when she was first out on her own. It was survivable at the time, and it would be survivable now; at least, she hoped it would be. The constant fight a Borrower needed to go through just to survive usually kept one's mind occupied. When seen by a human, the scramble to get everything up and out was panic inducing. That panic served as a reminder as to how dangerous humans could be.

Except, they weren't. At least, Soren and his sons weren't dangerous. Sure, they were capable of danger and harm, but other than the accident none of them had intentionally caused harm to Ashlynn.

She knew she was supposed to abandon her camp and move immediately. It wasn't even a choice on the table. Ashlynn was aware of that. There were a few exceptions to the rules, like in the case of bad weather like what they were in right now with the heavy snowy conditions outside. The partial exception was that the next good day to move should be taken immediately and, if you must stay, a Borrower should never never never return to a home where they were or suspected they were seen.

This was hard for her.

True, Soren and his family weren't the only humans in the apartment. True, she could go and borrow from wherever she needed to in order to survive.

It just so happened that she liked borrowing from Soren's place, and no one was going to tell her no. So, despite the "dangers," Ashlynn found herself in the walls and countertops of her once perceived captors. She hadn't been spotted again, as far as she was aware, but Ashlynn did notice that some things were being left out longer or, if she guessed right, on purpose. Little things like essential dried goods, cups of fresh water, a stack of cloth fragments perfectly, and even an assortment of office supplies including thumb tacks and paper clips.

It was both infuriating and heartwarming.

On one hand, how dare those humans think she couldn't take care of herself!

On the other hand, how sweet that those same humans took time and care to remember her.

Ashlynn found herself in mental battles with herself constantly. Each side of herself was arguing with the other. What could she do? Leave? Stop borrowing from them? Never think of them again?

To her own credit, she did try. During those two weeks where she struggled to stay away, Ashlynn tried to avoid peeking down in the home she lived above. It was a struggle though, especially with the pieces being left out for her as a kind of memento or offering.

One evening, after a particularly viscous round about with herself about why she should avoid going down and performing surveillance on Soren's home, Ashlynn found herself crouched by the edge of trim she'd used so many times to check and make sure Soren wasn't home.

The tunnel was dark and quiet, but the sound of the garage door and both Dorian and Rey talking meant that Soren was also home. She'd cleaned the area recently, so no dust or cobwebs would give her away if she wanted to look down. While it sounded like no one was in the room, she needed to check. Just to be sure, Ashlynn pushed the piece of trim to the side and peered down into the room she had become very familiar with two weeks prior.

Sure enough, Soren had just come into his room. He looked exhausted as he closed his door and leaned against it, eyes closed as his shoulders sank. Ashlynn couldn't see his features well from where she was crouched from behind the trim, but what she did see was Soren snag the bottom of his shirt and flip it off his body in the blink of an eye.