Yeah, I want you to have it. Like I said, I've got my own hiding places.
[He trots away a little bit before going big again, doing it relatively slowly so Boba isn't surprised. It's easier to cover more ground at his bigger size.]
[He hasn't told him a whole lot about where he came from. What his life was like. He was pretty open about what he thought the others were going to do to him, hence the traps, hence being willing to take a scared kid with him - but that's not really the same.]
[Especially since that could be a very adult fear, not a child's fear held for years.]
[It's a bit of a walk, especially with Branch's strides at 3 feet tall. He has to take more steps to even match Boba's stride so he's not the fastest walker.]
And I want you to have it because... because where I grew up I was never safe. I spent most of my life worrying about getting eaten [he raises his eyebrows and says flatly] a totally normal thing to worry about.
And I, uh -
[He briefly glances up at him and the way his eyes dart away after makes it clear it's not necessarily an easy subject to talk about.]
I lost someone when I was little. She raised me. And she saved me. And I never saw her again.
We barely got away. The adults spent years tunneling out of our cage in secret. [It sure paints a picture.]
People tried to tell me I was safe but I knew better. Them telling me that just [he shakes his head] made things worse. I was a kid but I wasn't stupid.
[He doesn't want Boba's takeaway to be that he can't trust anyone though.]
[He leads him towards the Mailroom, a place very few people besides the yetis that work there go.]
Instead of telling me I was safe I needed someone to actually make me safe instead. There's a lot we could've done to get farther from Bergentown or we could've built places to hide.
[He finally glances up at him again.]
I just want you to have that. I think a lot of the people here will never try to hurt you but you deserve places to hide in case someone ever tries.
[He sneaks down a little hallway towards a dusty and rarely used storage room.]
You shouldn't shouldn't have to build your own safe place like I had to.
[The walls here look like many of the other walls around the Pole, carved with all sorts of stained Christmas designs. But Branch presses his fingers against a few of the carvings and they slide inward. There are several clicks and a little door pops open, one slightly shorter than Branch is. He ducks inside. Boba will possibly have to crawl in.]
[But the other side opens up again to a crawlspace with a high enough room for him to walk in. It's gently lit by some of the magic lanterns in the Pole. A little alcove has blankets and cushions - comfortable enough to sleep on if Boba wants to. A shelf is full of books, some dusty and old, some that seem newer. A few seem to be adventure books, possibly exciting enough and full of enough fights for Boba to actually like. There are also little shelves with puzzles and puzzle toys that seem recently installed.]
[And the walls are stenciled with blue stencils of various weapons. There's a slight smell of new paint but it isn't overpowering.]
cw: cannibalism mention
[He trots away a little bit before going big again, doing it relatively slowly so Boba isn't surprised. It's easier to cover more ground at his bigger size.]
[He hasn't told him a whole lot about where he came from. What his life was like. He was pretty open about what he thought the others were going to do to him, hence the traps, hence being willing to take a scared kid with him - but that's not really the same.]
[Especially since that could be a very adult fear, not a child's fear held for years.]
[It's a bit of a walk, especially with Branch's strides at 3 feet tall. He has to take more steps to even match Boba's stride so he's not the fastest walker.]
And I want you to have it because... because where I grew up I was never safe. I spent most of my life worrying about getting eaten [he raises his eyebrows and says flatly] a totally normal thing to worry about.
And I, uh -
[He briefly glances up at him and the way his eyes dart away after makes it clear it's not necessarily an easy subject to talk about.]
I lost someone when I was little. She raised me. And she saved me. And I never saw her again.
We barely got away. The adults spent years tunneling out of our cage in secret. [It sure paints a picture.]
People tried to tell me I was safe but I knew better. Them telling me that just [he shakes his head] made things worse. I was a kid but I wasn't stupid.
[He doesn't want Boba's takeaway to be that he can't trust anyone though.]
[He leads him towards the Mailroom, a place very few people besides the yetis that work there go.]
Instead of telling me I was safe I needed someone to actually make me safe instead. There's a lot we could've done to get farther from Bergentown or we could've built places to hide.
[He finally glances up at him again.]
I just want you to have that. I think a lot of the people here will never try to hurt you but you deserve places to hide in case someone ever tries.
[He sneaks down a little hallway towards a dusty and rarely used storage room.]
You shouldn't shouldn't have to build your own safe place like I had to.
[The walls here look like many of the other walls around the Pole, carved with all sorts of stained Christmas designs. But Branch presses his fingers against a few of the carvings and they slide inward. There are several clicks and a little door pops open, one slightly shorter than Branch is. He ducks inside. Boba will possibly have to crawl in.]
[But the other side opens up again to a crawlspace with a high enough room for him to walk in. It's gently lit by some of the magic lanterns in the Pole. A little alcove has blankets and cushions - comfortable enough to sleep on if Boba wants to. A shelf is full of books, some dusty and old, some that seem newer. A few seem to be adventure books, possibly exciting enough and full of enough fights for Boba to actually like. There are also little shelves with puzzles and puzzle toys that seem recently installed.]
[And the walls are stenciled with blue stencils of various weapons. There's a slight smell of new paint but it isn't overpowering.]