There was a wildfire on the news. The homes encompassing the borders of the forest were warned to prepare for evacuation, while the firefighters were already on their way to quell the angry flames.

As soon as Mark saw the words in bold across the bottom of the tv screen, he'd jumped into action. Amy was immediately packing up the essentials and rounding the doggos up, while Mark scrambled with steely determination to collect their emergency supplies and any valuables he knew he had time to pack.

Laptop? Check. Phone? Pocket. Hard cash? Everything's digital these days, but Amy had some in her wallet, next to their necessary papers and documents in the glove box. Food, water, and spare clothes were already in the trunk, and Amy not long after had Chica and Henry in the car, while Mark swept the house for anything else they needed. He had just been grabbing his cardigan from the bed, however, when his eyes just so happened to pass over a darker shadow of the baseboards, and he hesitated.

There was still one more resident that needed to evacuate.

Mark swallowed and licked his dry lips, mouth suddenly feeling dry. He had only seen the borrower living in their walls a couple times— and their first meeting had been awkward, to say the least. But, as nervewracking as it must have been to let a giant person help him out of the slippery confines of the kitchen sink, the little guy had stuck around. Every now and then, Mark would spy a trace of his presence out of the corner of his eye, but he'd ignore it and leave the small man be— or, if either of the dogs got curious and tried investigating themselves, he'd come over only to urge them away and distract them long enough for the borrower to slip back into the walls.

Mark had left him alone in peace as much as he could— he knew very little of the aloof creatures, but the absolute terror he had seen in those blue eyes during the first encounter had been undeniable. But now? If he left and the fire spread too fast, too far, then he would be leaving the little guy to die... And Mark couldn't bear the thought of doing that.

With another nervous swallow, Mark made the few steps needed for him to kneel beside the wall quieter than his normal trudges, and he faltered before raising a fist to lightly tap on the wall.

"Um, h-hello? Borrower? I, uhm..." Mark swallowed once more as he stalled for the right words. "I-I'm sorry, but there's an emergency: We got news there's a-a forest fire, and it hasn't stopped spreading. If it keeps going like this, then... A lot of people could lose their homes. Or even their lives. So we're evacuating, and I um... I-I wanted to let you know, in case you wanna come with us, or-or if you have your own evacuation plans. But, uh, you're gonna have to move fast, cause it's a big one. We're about to leave, so... If-if you wanna come with, or you need anything, then..." He trailed off, checking his phone for the time and if Amy had texted him. "Now's the time," he finished sheepishly.

Mark allowed himself one minute to sit and listen, but he heard no response from within the wall. When the minute number updated on his clock, he gave a resigned sigh while standing back up and pocketed his phone once more, quietly moving away. Maybe the borrower had already left, or he had an emergency shelter deeper within the foundations of the house—

"Wait!" Mark's hand froze just above the doorknob, and he stopped mid-step to look back. There the little one stood, a pale small shadow with hints of dull colour just barely standing out against the floor. "H-how-how bad is it?" The borrower called out. Mark glanced toward the front door, then stepped all the way back into the room to slowly crouch down.

"Pretty bad," he murmured. "It could burn our whole house down within minutes, if it makes it this far." He watched as a tremor ran through the little guy's body. The fear in those eyes was a familiar sight, yet despite the obvious anxieties he had come out of hiding— and if something was dangerous enough for even humans to be scared...

But then the physical reaction faded, and the borrower's countenance shifted as he took a deep breath, adjusting the bag over his shoulder. "O-okay. Just... N-not too tightly, please." It took Mark's brain a moment to register the decision— but once he realized the choice the borrower had made, he forced himself to nod and move closer despite the wave of surprise. But his sheer relief helped him crouch back down and offer his hand, letting the little guy board of his own volition.

The borrower set his bag down on the edge of the hand first, then visibly steeled himself before climbing into the human's palm. Mark's breath faltered as he felt the feathery touches, the warmth of a small body who's life was now in his hands... Literally.

Once the little guy had taken a seat and stopped moving, Mark lifted his hand off the floor. He carefully held it cupped and level with his chest, then stood and made his way out of the house. As soon as Amy saw him finally coming, she pushed the car door open for him, and he slipped into the driver's seat with a deep breath.

"You okay? You were in there for a while."

"I'm alright. Um..." Mark looked down at the borrower's huddled form in the middle of his palm. Amy tilted her head to see, and then softly gasped.

"Is that the borrower you were telling me about last month? The one that was stuck in the sink?" Said borrower winced, shifting to press against Mark's sternum.

"Yeah." With one hand now cupping the little fellow to his chest, Mark used his other hand to close the door and reach for the keys. "Got everything you need?"

"Mhm, we're good."

"Alright— uhh, this might be loud." With that warning, Mark turned the ignition. The resulting flinch against his sternum felt more powerful than the engine that roared to life, even with the continuing vibrations and hum of the metallic skeleton around them.

"It's okay," Mark hushed, letting his other hand also cup against the trepid form. "It's okay— you're doing great, just gotta pull off the driveway, and we'll be on our way." To the human's credit, he did exactly as he'd said: with one hand firmly gripping the steering wheel, the other gingerly cradling the borrower like a distressed infant in need of comfort, Mark took over the controls of the vehicle and carefully rolled the wheels. He shared a glance with Amy, checked on the dogs once more, and then finally pulled out onto the road and picked up speed, slipping into the sparse line of other vehicles that were doing their best to also drive away from the heated threat of fire.

Once things smoothed out enough that they weren't stopping every two or three blocks for the traffic, Mark let a long sigh escape his chest. They were on their way to safety, away from the range of the flames. Granted, the parade of vehicles full of other families and individuals doing the same weren't moving as fast as he would have preferred, but they were moving nonetheless.

When traffic hadn't gotten so congested that they were slowly cruising past multiple blocks of buildings, Mark risked a glance downward to check on the smallest passenger. The borrower had remained curled up, head resting right over the human's heart. Mark had to keep his eyes on the road more than the little one, but he could have sworn he'd spotted tremors vibrating through the small body in his cupped hand— it certainly felt like it, but maybe that was his own anxieties coming through.

A little while longer of driving, and he felt Amy place her hand on his knee, offering wordless support. He thanked her with a quick glance, then took a deep breath.

"You doing alright?"

There was a loud pause of silence, and then Mark finally felt the borrower lift his head. "Y-yeah... Yer, um, yer really warm."

"Is that good, or...? Cause I can help you down at the next stoplight if you want— I just wanted to make sure we were safe and heading out of harm's way first, sorry."

"It-it's fine, I'm... I don't mind." Though the small voice seemed to quiver a little, even in Mark's ears. "Not used ta bein' in a hand though."

"Right." Mark felt himself wince internally as he recalled their first meeting. "Would my shoulder be more comfortable? Or maybe my pocket? My cardigan's got some pockets I think, might be too warm though."

"He might fall if you need to use the breaks though," Amy quietly added. The borrower cringed.

"Not if he's right up against my neck," Mark assured, "And holds on to me. That way I can keep both hands on the wheel." Amy hummed with a conceding tilt of her head. "Does that sound okay?" The borrower hesitated, and then he gave a small nod. "Okay."

As soon as Mark had reached a stop where he could pause long enough to take his eyes off the road, he slowly lifted his hand up away from his chest until it was level with his broad shoulder. He held steady as he felt small steps move aboard, limbs trembling as the borrower nervously climbed on. As soon as he was fully off the large hand, the little guy took a sharp breath and scooted further away from the edge, making Mark stiffen. Those tiny shoulder blades were now pressed against his carotid, making the human far more aware of his own breathing, his very heartbeat. It was such a bizarre feeling, now that Mark's mind had slowed enough to take everything in. The borrower was a rather bony bundle of weight, perhaps amounting to no more than a mouse's mass. Did he eat enough, scavenging beneath the feet and noses of humans? He was still shivering, was he sick—?

Mark blinked at the light— which had now turned green— and swallowed dryly as the car began moving once more. He felt his passenger tense up even further and clutch the collar of his outfit, tiny fists knocking together with trepidation. This couldn't have been easy for him, agreeing to help from a gargantuan. Mark knew he was decently sized himself— certainly no giant like some of his friends— yet he couldn't help but picture himself in the borrower's eyes: His head alone was probably looming right now, let alone the rest of the car, or the massive world outside.

"You doing okay?"

"Mhmm."

Mark tilted his head ever so slightly. His heart had given a squeeze beneath the cracking of that whimper, but he wasn't sure what he could do to help.

"So, umm..." Mark's lips pursed as he tried to come up with a question; anything to placate the borrower with a healthy distraction. "My name is Mark. Amy's my girlfriend, and behind us are Henry and Chica."

"I-I know." The borrower took a shaky breath. "I, um, I've been here fer a-fer a while. Um... Or, had, at least..."

"Oh? That's good, I think."

"Yeh." Another pause of silence, save for the nervous little breaths just below his ear. Mark swallowed as he made another turn, thoughts still racing as he manuvered them through the maze of houses and vehicles.

"Do you, um... Do you like to do anything? In your spare time?"

The borrower fidgeted. "I-I um. I don't exactly have a lotta free time, but... I-I guess I like watching whatever you guys watch? On the big black box."

"Oh, you mean movies, on the TV?"

"Y-yeh."

"Nice. Got any uhh, favourites?"

A small shrug. "I like the different voices they make. Sometimes when yer playin' music or noise loud enough, I try mimicking 'em."

"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense." After a brief pause, a little smile crossed Mark's lips. "Sounds like you'd enjoy voice acting. Voice actors get to have all kinds of fun experimenting with different characters to act out using just their voice. Really brings them to life, especially with movies that use art instead of in-person acting."

"Really? ... That-that does sound cool."

"Yeah." Mark let out a careful sigh. "I know I don't know anything about you or your lifestyle though— but if you ever somehow get your hands on a mic and decent internet? I bet you'd do great."

The borrower gave an amused snort. "Sure, lemme just borrow a giant computer, no houseowner would miss that."

Beside Mark, Amy gave a small titter, but she covered her mouth to keep quiet; she didn't want to scare the borrower, seeing as he and Mark were more familiar with each other than she. Mark did, however, smile both in reaction to the borrower's snark, and to the beautiful sound of his girlfriend quietly laughing.

"Yeah, I guess you'd have to be dumber than me to not notice a computer go missing— and that'd be quite a feat too."

"I think I'm the dumb one here." The borrower let out a sigh and slumped a little; his body had slowly begun to relax, and he finally sat down as he remained leaning against Mark's neck for support. "I'm not supposed to ever let myself be seen— yet here I am. I willingly got into a houseowner's hand, AND that same houseowner found me in a sink after I fucked up and slipped into it." He shook his small head, grimacing. "Shoulda just jumped into the garbage disposal or somethin'..."

"How come?"

"Cause borrowers have a code, not bein' seen is one of them."

"I- err, I meant why would you rather... Y-y'know, instead of ask one of us for help?"

"Because yer houseowners?" The borrower leaned over just enough to peek up at Mark within his peripheral. "The amount of stories we have on yer kind killing us, making us pets, experiments... Plenty-a reason to NOT make contact of any kind with one."

Mark tilted his head with a conceding hum. "Fair enough— whoa!" He quickly hit the brakes to pause for the vehicle that had abruptly swerved in their lane; he felt the weight formerly on his shoulder thump against his chest as the borrower let out a surprised squeak. "You okay?" Mark quickly raised his hand to his sternum, feeling the borrower squirm until a foothold was secured.

"Yeah! I'm fine." The borrower let go and fell back onto his bum, sitting in the center of Mark's palm with a puff of air. "What's one more brush with death?" He weakly joked. Mark let out a deep exhale.

"Well you shouldn't have to. Nothing broken or sprained though?" The borrower's wry grin slowly fell, and he glanced back down at his little bag of stuff.

"Y-yeah... Thanks." With that said, Amy let out a sigh herself and sat back in her seat once more.

"Maybe just hold him until we reach shelter."

"Maybe. Does that sound okay?"

The borrower shrugged, slowly sitting farther back until he was laying against the slightly curled fingers beneath his shoulder blades. "Guess I don't really have a choice."

"Of course you do!" Mark fretted. "If you aren't comfortable, I-I could- maybe- or, I don't know—"

"I meant it sounds alright to me," the borrower interrupted. "Or feels like the best idea ta me. So just drive, ya goober."

"O-oh, right. Okay." Sheepishly, Mark let his foot return to the gas pedal, and on the drive continued. He felt his small passenger shift on occasion, but apart from that the borrower seemed to genuinely not mind sitting in a hand that was literally bigger than him. At one point he'd even rolled over to get more comfortable, seeing as there wasn't much else to do.

But since Mark's attention was now so focused on the road to avoid any more risky behaviour from fellow drivers, he was completely in the zone until Amy suddenly murmured "Mark" and gingerly tapped his arm, nodding downward.

When he looked down, he was met with a precious sight: The borrower was curled up loosely on his side, legs tucked and face nestled against Mark's shirt. The little guy was out cold, clearly tuckered out from the eventful day.

Mark's gaze softened, even as he maintained the responsibilities of a good driver. He tilted his hand just enough to gently cup the small form against his abdomen, letting his own body heat help comfort the borrower. The only response in turn was a faint stirring, his passenger responding in kind by snuggling into the physical touch.

A small smile shaped the corners of Mark's mouth, and on they drove without any further incidents.