The Sugar Thief (G/T) (Completed)

4 - Bravery

Carter gets the same feeling he always gets when he's about to make a dangerous jump, or a stupid decision.

Optimistic bravery.

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Eric was ecstatic. He didn't think his smile could get bigger, but somehow it did. He honestly didn't have much faith that he could talk the other into staying, but the small boy had actually accepted. Hesitantly, but accepted nonetheless. Idly he wondered if Carter had ever had a hot meal in his life, or if this was just a night of firsts for them both.

"Awesome. So.. any preferences? Anything you can't have or don't like..?" Eric asked, getting out a pan for the stove.

"..No."

"Perfect."

As a borrower he wasn't used to having many options of what to eat, and he wondered what it was like to just be able to have whatever he wanted, whenever. Humans lived rather spoiled lives to him, and this was his first glance into that luxury.

Carter flinched at the sudden burst of noise as the human moved, trying to envision what he was doing. He was probably one of the few borrowers to ever witness something like this, but he was still deciding whether that was a good or a bad thing. Ever so cautiously he peeked out from behind the curtain once more, watching the giant begin to prepare everything; Much like his father, but on a much bigger scale.

However, his spying didn't go unnoticed.

"Y'know, you don't have to hide around me. I swear on my life you're safe here."

"...I want to." Carter answered timidly, feeling safe behind the thin curtain wall. He still needed time alone to process these life-changing experiences, and he wasn't sure if he could handle being out in the open again just yet. He knew that he was small, but nothing put that into perspective quite like the sheer size of a human. However, the words were still reassuring to hear.

"That's alright," Eric shrugged. He was a little saddened by the other's reply, but he wouldn't make a big deal out of it. If that's where he felt safe to be, then by all means he could stay there. Only so much progress could be made in a day, and being on a first name basis was a rather big leap in the right direction. Slow and steady, he sighed to himself.

A few minutes of silence ticked by as Eric prepared a breakfast scramble for dinner, trying to pretend he wasn't being watched by two impossibly tiny eyes. He was going to make chicken and vegetables but didn't have the groceries for it. He really had to go shopping, especially now that he realized the absence of food in the house was affecting more than just himself.

"So how long have you been here for..?" Eric asked curiously, stirring the contents of the pan as they cooked. It wouldn't take long, as he made sure to chop everything into extra small pieces.

Carter didn't want to tell him any more than he already had, but he'd be lying if he said the conversation didn't feel nice. He didn't realize how badly he missed someone being there to talk to, even if that presence was a human. For so long he had no one to chat with except the bugs, and they weren't too responsive.

"My whole life." His tiny voice replied as he hugged his knees.

"Wow, that's impressive," Eric's eyes widened in disbelief. His whole life , and he'd never seen him before now. Inwardly he wondered how much the other had seen of him. Probably too much.