Work Text:
After overhearing Si, Pet spent more time than ever in the boiler cupboard. They frequently stayed curled up in there long enough for their legs to turn completely numb, but it was where they felt safe. They didn’t know what kind of owner they were going to be sold to, but Pet doubted any owner would let them curl up in a cupboard for hours, so they made the most of the time they had left.
Mariann visited not long afterwards, her little heels not making much noise on the stairs as she came up to find Pet. Pet waited for her and didn’t try to scramble out. Their legs were too numb for them to do anything quickly and they doubted Mariann would be the one to drag them out the cupboard when it was time for the auction. No, that would be Si, because gentle Arwen surely wouldn’t.
“Sweetie?” Mariann knocked lightly on the wooden door of the boiler cupboard. The door was open but Mariann waited for Pet to nudge it open with their paw, which they did. Mariann smiled at them, a little strained at the edges. She was wearing a pale-purple blazer, white shirt and neat pencil skirt, like she’d come straight from work to see them. Her right hand rested protectively on her stomach. “I’m always worried you’re going to burn yourself in here, you’ll be careful, won’t you?”
Pet nodded.
Mariann’s smile wavered and she sighed. “Arwen let me know that you… overheard a difficult conversation on Monday, is that right?”
Pet hunched down slightly and didn’t respond.
Mariann cleared her throat. “Well, I’m telling you now that I’m not going to let that happen.”
She paused but Pet didn’t let themself react. There’d been too much broken hope recently and Pet felt bruised enough without letting Mariann unintentionally trample all over their hopes, too, when she inevitably failed to follow through.
“I’ve set up a Go Fund Me for the shelter and we’re working on fundraisers.” She gestured as she talked, her eyes focused above Pet’s head. “It’s a hard time for the shelter but- anyway, you’re not going to be sold, Arwen and I won’t let it happen. We’re going to find you a good home, sweetie. Someone we- you can trust.” Pet could feel her eyes on them but they couldn’t meet her gaze. They couldn’t make themself pretend to believe her.
She sighed, making a small movement with her shoulders. “That was all, then. I’d take you myself, but my partner and I are going to be busy with a little scamp of our own soon enough.” She rubbed her hand over her swelling stomach and smiled.
She stayed a while longer, coaxing them into answering questions about whether they were still in pain, whether they’d been eating and sleeping okay, and Pet made themself nod or shake their head even as they were wishing she’d leave them be.
When she finally bid them goodbye and went to see another of her charges, Pet waited until her footsteps had retreated fully before they tugged the boiler cupboard door so hard that it closed completely and left them in the dark. Only then did they let themself cry.
Pet was startled out of their exhausted dozing sometime later by Si’s voice calling up the stairs to announce that tea was on the table. They dragged their arm across their sticky face, their fur uncomfortably damp where they’d cried into their elbow.
Still, they forced themself to shuffle towards the boiler cupboard opening, wincing at the ache in their legs where their circulation had been cut off. Groggy and worn out by their emotions, they gave the cupboard door a little push.
The door didn’t move. Pet pushed it again, but when it still wouldn’t open, their heartrate immediately began to pound.
Si and Arwen had gotten sick of them- they’d locked Pet in for being such a nuisance- this was what they deserved for being a brat-
Pet threw their shoulder against the cupboard door with a pleading yelp, hard enough to make it rattle loudly. They were shaking, too dried out to cry but feeling like they were falling apart all the same. Their short claws scratched at the wood, the scrabbling sound just making them aware of how small and cramped a space they were in.
Pet would be locked in until they learned their place- just like Master’s cage, but darker and smaller and if they leaned wrong, they’d burn themself on the pipes-
With a dry sob, they threw themself again at the wooden door, slamming their paws against it.
They should just accept the punishment, they know they should but they couldn’t breathe- it was so dark, so dark- just like the basement-
“Please please please please-” Pet croaked, knowing that they were begging the empty air.
They hit the door again, harder, and threw their whole weight against it. It burst open and Pet fell straight out with a panicked yelp. Blinded by the hallway light, they threw out their paws to catch themself, only to collide with someone trying to grab at them, probably to shove them right back in the cupboard where they belonged.
Sobbing so hard they couldn’t breathe, Pet scrabbled hard to get free. Whoever had grabbed them fumbled and dropped them onto the landing, where Pet landed hard on their elbow. Curling up into a small, tight ball, they sobbed like a child, so saturated in fear and panic it felt like they’d drowned it in, that their lungs were still half-full.
“-easy, easy, it’s alright, you’re safe,” Arwen’s gentle voice filtered in slowly and Pet obeyed her before they’d even fully registered who was talking to them and what they wanted, “calm down, breathe okay, in and out, try to slow down for me.” Pet tried desperately to stop gasping at the air and breathe it in deeper.
“Good job, there we are, that’s really good,” Arwen’s tone was soft and coaxing. “Nice and steady, well done. You just stay there however long you need, take it easy.”
Curled up there on the carpet, the panic slowly bleeding away, Pet realised that the idea of Arwen or Si locking them in the cupboard had been nothing more than fear and panic. They’d slammed the door shut after Mariann had left. And there was a latch on the outside of the cupboard, they knew, because they were used to stretching up to latch it closed after they’d climbed out, and it must have fallen shut. It’d been their own stupid fault, not a punishment, however much they deserved it.
“How’re you doing now? Think you can sit up for me? You’ll find it easier to breathe than being all cramped up… that’s good, nice and slowly.”
Pet eased themself up to sitting, keeping their head down and their knees curled up to their chest protectively, even though they didn’t really think that Arwen would hurt them.
“You got locked in, huh?” she asked gently. “That must have been really scary. We’ll have to take the latch off, to make sure that never happens again. You did the right thing hitting the door, though, so I could come and help get you out.”
Pet cracked their bleary eyes open, squinting in the light. They rubbed their sore eyes on the back of their paw and looked nervously over to where Arwen was sat cross-legged on the landing a couple of feet away, watching them with concern on her face. Pet dropped their gaze and startled, feeling nausea rise up sharply.
Arwen’s bare arms were covered in scratches; scratches from Pet’s claws. They’d injured a human, injured Arwen, who’d been trying to help them, who didn’t seem angry but she should be-
Pet was whining, high and scared, in their throat and they flinched when Arwen reached out towards them, but they made themself keep still, their gaze still locked on the damage they’d done to Arwen’s fair skin. They deserved whatever she wanted to do to them.
“Easy, easy, it’s all okay. You were scared and I don’t mind.” She sounded earnest and as gentle as always. “You didn’t even draw blood, the marks will fade fast. There’s really nothing to worry about, okay? I’m not angry with you, you haven’t done anything wrong.”
Pet was shaking their head convulsively. They’d hurt a human, that was the absolute worst thing they could’ve done, the worst.
Arwen put her hands up. “Listen to me, hey, hey, listen.” Pet startled at her firm tone and jerked their head back, ears flattening against their head. “It’s okay. You hurt me, but I forgive you, because you were scared and very upset. There’s no punishment, are you listening?” Her expression was open and genuine. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Pet made themself nod, trying to take deeper breaths rather than the shallow, scared ones that failed to fill their lungs. They recalled the times when other creatures had acting badly in the shelter and how Pet had never seen Arwen or Si punish any of them. Maybe Arwen meant what she said. Either way, she’d told them to calm down so they forced themself to try. However many times Master had claimed otherwise, Pet didn’t want to be bad, it just seemed to keep happening.
“That’s really good, you’re doing really well. Nice slow breaths, in and out, good job.” Pet tried to copy her breathing and slowly, over several minutes, their shaking started to lessen. They were shivering though, sweat drying in their fur and making them cold.
Arwen looked at them evenly, still showing no sign of being angry. Pet looked away from the scratches they’d made on her arms, feeling sick with guilt. They deserved to go to auction, they really did.
“Do you think you can manage some food? It’s been a while since you ate, it’d do you some good if you can stomach it. Si will have saved you some, I know.”
Pet made themself nod because they knew it’d please her, even though they felt vaguely sick.
Dinner was a vegetable stew with dumplings, which Pet usually adored, but their doughy stickiness caught in their throat and made them gag. They ate around them, and gladly passed them over to a bigger pet when she asked if they were going to eat them.
Arwen shooed Pet away from doing their usual chores and so Pet curled up under the bed upstairs, too worn out to cry but too wired to sleep. They listened to the banging of metal pans downstairs as Arwen, Si and a couple of the bigger creatures helped clear up, and the shuffling of various creatures moving about the shelter. With the familiar hubbub of the shelter in the background, Pet fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of darkness and houses full of silence where there were no others creatures, only sullen, silent masters.
*
Pet stayed away from the cupboard the following day, though they heard Arwen unscrewing the latch from the door, just like she’d said she would. Instead, they stayed under the bed until breakfast, and returned back to the comforting space afterwards.
They dozed the day away. The front door opened and closed, letting in volunteers and no doubt several humans looking to adopt a second-hand creature. But Arwen and Si didn’t come up to ask them to meet the humans and Pet didn’t go down.
The sun had crept lower in the sky and the south-facing upstairs bedroom turned stuffy when Pet heard heavier, human footsteps climbing the stairs. They tried to tell themself that it’d just be Si coming upstairs with an armload of clean sheets, or Arwen helping an injured creature up to bed. But the footsteps moved down the landing and came to a stop outside the room Pet was in and Pet curled their tail close around them and watched, trembling, as Arwen’s socked feet came into view. At least it wasn’t Si’s slippers.
“You under there?” Her voice was soft and quiet. “Do you think you could come out for a minute? I’ve got Mariann on the phone and she’d like to talk to you.”
Pet didn’t see that they had any choice except to do as they were told. Warily, they shifted themself over to the edge of the bed and poked their head out, ears twitching. Arwen was sat on the lower bunk of the bed opposite, a phone in her hand, and she looked kindly at them.
“There you are,” she said warmly and beckoned them over. “Mariann wants to have a talk, is that okay?”
Pet nodded and scooted themself further out, less tense now that they’d seen Arwen’s relaxed expression and the phone she was holding.
Arwen pressed a button on the phone and then put it down on the bed before standing up. Pet went rigid and backed up, but Arwen just moved over to the door.
“I’ll give you some privacy, but you just call if you want me, alright?”
Pet nodded, though they’d never do that.
“Sweetie, are you there?” It was strange to hear Mariann’s voice coming out the phone. They nodded instinctively before realising Mariann couldn’t see them. It took several seconds before they could force themself to make a soft noise in their throat.
“Can you hear me okay?” Mariann asked and Pet made another quiet noise of affirmation. “Good, good. I’ve got good news for you, I called my friends and the people I know and there’s a nice man who’s going to look after you, sweetie.” Pet’s breathing hitched and Mariann paused, like she’d heard the change. “He’s my husband’s best friend and a good person, even if he’s a little grumpy sometimes. You’ll be in good hands. How’s that sound to you? You’ll have a room to yourself and lots of nice food. You can watch the TV and not have all the noise of the shelter. What do you think?”
Pet was silent too long before they made a noise of agreement. What else could they do? They liked the noise of the shelter, and they didn’t care about having their own room or watching the TV, not that their new owner would actually let them have those things. If Mariann thought this… man she knew would really act like that with a broken down creature then she probably didn’t know him well, or didn’t understand what normal humans were like when left alone with a creature they had complete power over. Some of Master Parry’s friends had acted nice to them at first, fussed over them, before they’d realised Master didn’t care what they did with Pet and they’d started being cruel just for the fun of it. No doubt this man would be the same.
Mariann was silent a moment whilst Pet’s thoughts were spinning round their head, making them light-headed with half-formed dread.
“It’ll be a big change, I know,” she said, sounding softer now. “But it’ll be for the better in the long run. I know you’ve had a lot of bad experiences with people, especially men. I tried to find you a lady or nonbinary person to stay with, but my friends are all busy with their jobs or their kids, I’m sorry sweetie. But this man, his name is Stephen, he’s going to look after you. Things will be okay.”
Pet very much doubted that.