A Promise

[branchifer]

Who: Locked to Branch and Boba
What: A talk about what happened
Where: One of the little studies
When: After they've both adjusted a little
Warnings/Notes: N/A

[It's not exactly easy for Branch to get around the place to find people and he'd needed time to rest. He'd had to simmer down emotionally and get a more accurate sense of the danger of the place. He'd also needed to give his leg time to fully heal. Fortunately, it did, despite the fact that the poison might have made him lose it if he were back home. The poison was bad enough there's a messy scar, despite the myth healing, but it's otherwise fine.]

[But he does eventually seek out the kid, swinging around until catching him passing through one of the quiet fire-lit studies. He swings himself up onto a side table, where he's easier to see.]

Hey, kid! I want to talk to you for a second.

Comments

[orivodika]

[Boba was walking from the kitchen from Miguel's lab, where he's been spending some of his time.

Branch startles him, a little, but he does his best to hide it. The words make him hunch his shoulders. It feels like he might be in trouble, again.]

You're looking... okay. Did they hurt you after they took you away?

[They didn't hurt Boba but he's big, and a kid. Some people don't like hurting kids. That doesn't mean they wouldn't hurt someone small like Branch.]

[branchifer]

No, I thought they were going to but they mostly just talked me down. The Elf that I thought was trying to hurt me apparently thought I was a toy. And I thought one of the adults gave me to him, but he snuck into the Infirmary and grabbed me on his own.

[Branch sits on the edge of the table, legs dangling over the edge.]

Back home, for a long time, the big people there used to kill my people. And were exactly the types to give a troll to one of their kids to hurt.

But I think they were telling the truth about that not being the case here, even though it looked bad at the beginning. They haven't hurt me or locked me up or anything. And one of them took care of me and made sure none of the Elves bothered me while I recovered.

It took a while to heal up and she could've hurt me anytime while I was out, but she didn't.

[It's important to make sure Boba understands Branch wasn't hurt in secret. They're both having to reckon with whether they can trust people here and that absolutely would be changed if they'd hurt one of them.]

Have they treated you okay? Nobody's hurt you or forced you to do anything, right? They said they weren't going to force you on any missions and only meant to ask the adults to help.

[orivodika]

[Boba's hands twitch as he suppresses the urge to rub his wrists where Miguel's claws had scraped him-- where he woke up with bruises from struggling against his grip. That was basically nothing. It shouldn't count.]

No, he just made me eat and put me in a room. I think I'm on parole, or something.

Are you still going to try and escape?

[He has conflicted feelings about it. Miguel has been mostly nice, Branch has been all nice, but there are so may adults and that clone is around somewhere. And he's still trapped here. He can't let his guard down.]

[branchifer]

[Branch has no idea what parole even is but it doesn't sound good. He is increasingly alarmed for this kid. ]

That's conditional. Escaping or not.

So here's the thing. Right now, we're hidden, getting fed, and nothing is actively trying to kill us. I think if we go out there, we're at risk of having those guys that made that big place with all the monsters come after us.

I think our chances are better in here, if - and this is a big if - they don't start to do anything shady.

But, if they do, if they try to hurt either of us, or try to force you to fight, I'm still ready to make a run for it. Except this time they wouldn't be expecting it.

[He's settled in. It'd be a lot easier to be sneaky about it and get one of those globes now that their guards are down.]

Same deal as before. I'd want to get you out and I'd want you to consider letting me stay with you out there. I know I can't do anything to protect you, not at my size, but it doesn't hurt to have someone else to bounce ideas off of when figuring out what to do next. And I have some survival skills. I can't do them at your scale but I can still guide you.

[orivodika]

[Boba gives a big huff. He understands Branch's reasoning. He knows that his urge to run away isn't tactically sound, but it's still there.]

Yeah, that makes sense. Miguel is letting me help in his lab, so I have access to a bunch of stuff we could use to get out of here if we need to.

[He's currently trying to smuggle out the parts he needs to build his own comm unit separate from the watches.]

I can help build stuff for you if you need anything. And we can hide stuff to grab if we need to run.

[The idea of having a proper escape plan makes him feel better about staying.]

[branchifer]

That sounds like a plan. Stocking supplies away in case we have to run.

[That idea makes him feel better about staying too. It's like how having his bunker at home now gives him the security to leave it and spend time in the village. He always knows it's there to escape to. And it's there for the whole village to escape to as well.]

[Branch very much is someone that feels safer when he has supplies squirreled away.]

I'll scout out a place to hide them. I've found a lot of crawlspaces running around in the walls. And if we need to, we'll grab our supplies and make a run for it.

In the meantime, while we're here...

You said you have a room now. Do you have everything you need there? Are you comfortable?

[orivodika]

[The room is nicer than any place Boba's ever slept. Not as comfortable as his ship, but nicer.]

Yeah. I get at least two meals a day-- [He set himself a reminder on his watch for every morning and night after missing too many meals.] --and as long as I check in no one is going to try and hunt me down. I'm free to go almost anywhere I want, even outside!

[He's unable to suppress all of his excitement at that.]

No one's threatened to hurt me and no one's tried to lock me away.

[He quiets his voice and leans in so it's harder for anyone to overhear.]

I got all my weapons taken away but I'm working on making new ones. I just have to be really careful.

[branchifer]

[Oh he is learning all kinds of things today that he never wanted to know. Like that things can be very, very bad for children in other worlds. Being excited about freedom of movement and just going outside is...]

[And then the sheer novelty that no one's threatened him or tried to lock him up?]

[If there was any part of Branch's plans that were insurance for himself as well...the importance of that fades, relegated to nothingness in the face of the needs of a child that need to be met. In a situation where he's not sure anyone else is going to truly understand the paranoia behind them.]

[He has to think about how to handle this and it's not easy. He gets on well with the kids in the village but most often with the absolute weirdest ones like Keith, who seem to just like Branch as he is. Which makes sense when Branch himself is so weird. This requires actual finesse though.]

[One thing he does know for sure is that if he were the one from a situation where he was surprised at not being harmed, he'd hate having attention called too hard on how terrible that is. He schools his expression, not wanting to give a strong negative reaction. He looks serious and concerned, which the situation warrants, but doesn't show the horror he's feeling.]

If you want three meals a day or more, or snacks, go for it, okay? I've got someone I think I maybe trust here. She had a few chances to hurt me while I was unconscious, and definitely had a chance to leave me behind back when we were fighting those monsters. She chose to save me, even though it put her at risk.

I bet she'd be willing to keep watch if you need that to feel safe getting a third meal. And she's powerful. I can stay with you while she's there. So come get me if you want to eat more often but are worried about going alone.

[Since he's concerned about safety when eating.]

[As for the weapons...okay, he 100% understands that. There are many, many weapons and sharp traps in the bunker. Alongside all the bear traps, he has a whole weapons room.]

[He is vaguely aware he should probably be discouraging that buuuut he's not gonna.]

[He quiets his voice a little too and looks around to make sure no one is nearby.]

Just keep any weapons hidden. And don't - Do. Not. - use them on people here unless they're actively trying to hurt you. Even if it turns out some of the people can't be trusted here, a lot of the others are like us. They didn't choose to be here so we have to be careful about hurting them.

[To make it seem less like he's assuming Boba will make a mistake, he self-negs to make it seem like he's turning his own failure into a learning moment for them both.]

I hit way too many innocent people with my traps. I regret it now.

[orivodika]

I know I can eat more, I just... forget sometimes. I set alarms so that doesn't happen. And I have some extra stashed away just in case.

[He's too used to having his meals given to or taken away from him at someone else's will. He's too used to other people controlling every part of his life.

Boba quickly moves on because he doesn't want to talk about any of that if he can avoid it.]

I liked your traps. I thought they were clever.

[branchifer]

[He'd talked Boba through setting some during all that but...]

Do you want me to show you how to make more of them?

[Clearly teaching him how to engage in some mayhem is an appropriate bonding activity.]

[orivodika]

[The left corner of Boba's mouth quirks up.]

Yeah! My dad taught me how to make some, but most of them use different materials.

[Some of the ones he learned for survival are similar, but the ones for bounty hunting tend to use more complicated technology.]