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Charlie watched the blankets shift as the child buried himself and a pang of pity shot through him. The poor dear had looked surprised that his hiding spot hadn’t worked, which was both gently endearing and a little bit sad. Small wonder the young one was so frightened, if he was all alone.

“It’s alright, love,” Charlie softly assured the young child. He shuffled up to the pile of blankets and sat back on his feet, leaning over in an attempt to get closer without seeming scarier (which was certainly something Charlie was not used to being). “I’m not going to hurt you. Can you tell me, are you by yourself?” Charlie slowly reached out and tried to gently tug the blankets away so that he could see the little one.

Behind him, Sawyer was trying and failing to get in the house. The doorway was too small and narrow for his broad shoulders to fit through. Frowning, he tried to wriggle his head and an elbow in to see if that would work, glancing over to see how Charlie was doing.

The blankets didn't move the way Oscar expected, and one layer had been gently pulled away before he understood why. He flinched out of his balled up shape to better assess things, only inches away from where Charlie knelt in the doorway. Blankets still mostly covered his head, but he managed to glimpse past one corner in time to see the other stranger trying to get through his door.

"Oh!" Oscar huffed, reaching out to grab at the next blanket before it could be pulled away too. "N-no! Yuh-yes! G-go away!" His voice was quiet even as he tried to speak with some authority, but the stammering didn't deliver his meaning very well.

With tears now stinging his eyes, he gave up on pulling the blanket back and focused on staying under the ones he still had. Those he pulled close around himself and tried to dive back into the pile in one last attempt to disappear among the cloth.

Charlie watched as the small child bundled himself more firmly in the blankets, not trying to stop him. The stammered response had nearly broken Charlie’s heart.

So he was alone. How terribly, gut-wrenchingly sad.

Tears pooling in his own eyes, Charlie reached out and slowly scooped the entire bundle of blankets into his lap, needing desperately to reassure the little one that he was okay. “It’s alright,” he said quietly, gently resting a hand atop where he’d seen the tiny head poke out before. “We’re here to help, I promise.” His voice was soft and earnest, genuine in every word. “You can talk to me.”

There was the sound of shuffling and then a quiet noise of triumph as Sawyer managed to lie down and scoot himself sideways through the doorway. He was nearly as tall as the room was long, however, and almost immediately he bumped into the table and knocked over a small chair, a look of alarm on his face. “Sorry!” he hissed, sitting up and drawing in his legs carefully before setting the chair upright again.

Oscar wanted to squirm away, but he didn't manage much before finding himself cradled on the stranger's lap. Even as his furniture clattered around, Oscar flinched but didn't look up. Most of him focused on that gentle voice talking to him, in an accent he'd never heard before. He wanted to believe it and give in. His limbs shook with as much exhaustion as fear at this point.

The tears finally leaked from his eyes, but he was silent in his sobs. That, at least, he'd never had trouble with. Silence in the walls was important, lest the humans find him.

After a long moment in which Oscar let the tears come and gathered his resolve, he finally reached up to push a corner of a blanket away from his face, revealing himself to Charlie once more. He stared up at him and hiccupped, stammering around some half-formed words before deciding he didn't really know what to say.

Instead, he laid his head down in the bundle of blankets on Charlie's lap and huffed out another sigh. Being scared took a lot of energy. "O-okay."

A sad, soft sort of smile crossed Charlie’s expression as the tiny child showed his tear-streaked face. What a darling little boy he was. Charlie was glad some of his reassurance had finally gotten through. He could feel the child still trembling in his arms- it had broken his heart to feel those shakes and sobs from the poor dear.

“That’s right, no need to be afraid,” Charlie gently murmured. He shifted to sit cross-legged so that he could better cradle the small child and the blankets. Smiling down at the little boy he said, “I’m Charlie. Over there is my friend Sawyer.” Sawyer offered the child a bright smile and a small wave, but didn’t try to get closer for fear of startling the poor kid back into hiding. “Can you tell me your name?”

Oscar lifted his head enough to see Sawyer sitting about as far away as he could. The house had never felt very big, but now it definitely felt small with two miniature giants sitting in it. Oscar rubbed at his eyes with one hand and shook the other one in a jerky gesture that could be a return wave.

He took a shuddering breath in an effort to calm down more. By now, his cheeks were pink from exertion and something like stage fright.

"I'm-I'm Oscar," he replied. Another hiccup cut off any further introduction, but he reached out a small, tentative hand to grasp at Charlie's shirt. "Um. S-sorry for. Telling you to, um. Go away."

“That’s alright, Oscar,” Sawyer quietly assured him, his own Texan drawl slipping through the words in contrast to Charlie’s mild British tones. “I’m sorry we startled you, we didn’t mean to scare you.” He gave Oscar a soft smile.

Gosh the kid was cute. With those pink little cheeks and that messy dark brown hair he was more than adorable- not to mention how polite he was even while still so timid.

Charlie shifted his hold to hug Oscar a little tighter, noting the way the child clung to his shirt. He took that as a sign of good progress. Still, there were some questions that needed asking. “Oscar, why are you living here by yourself?” he gently inquired, knowing it was likely a hard topic for the child but unable to go without the answer. “Where are your parents?”

Oscar's face twisted up for a second as if he'd eaten something rotten. "I-I don't know," he confessed, his voice pitching higher and more tears replacing the ones he'd just tried to wipe away. The question wasn't meant to hurt him, but it hurt all the same as he thought about it. He'd never really had to process it with anyone but himself, and saying it out loud felt so final.

In order to avoid curling up into a ball again, he leaned into Charlie's abdomen, all but melting into the hug. Charlie was warm, and soft, and there, all things Oscar couldn't often think about needing. His bag of spoils from the day was all but forgotten at his side as he accepted the first hug he'd gotten in a very long time.

"It was, um, just Mom an' me," he stammered out in a tearful voice. "She was gonna get food and come back but... I followed the rules a-and did all my chores every, every day, just um. W-waiting."

“Oh, Oscar,” Charlie breathed, unable to say anything else. He held the child close, his own arms trembling now, tears dripping down onto Oscar’s messy hair. Not letting go, he rested his chin atop Oscar’s head and met Sawyer’s watery eyes. They didn’t have to ask how long Oscar had been waiting for. The empty house and the child’s raw emotions answered that well enough.

Too long. Oscar’s mom wasn’t coming back.

It was quiet for a while, except for Oscar's little hiccups or shuddering breaths. He clung to Charlie while the emotions, pulled out of hiding so suddenly and all at once, settled down again. The fingers of one hand absently pinched the fabric of Charlie's shirt and brushed over the texture, much like he tended to do with the blankets that had been left on Charlie's lap in favor of the careful embrace.

Finally, Oscar heaved a sigh and rubbed at his eyes again. They were mostly dry. "Um. Why are you... so big?"

Charlie glanced down at Oscar, surprised by the question even though he shouldn’t be. A very similar question of his own had been on his mind since he convinced the child to come out of the blankets- why was Oscar so small? At first glance in the walls Charlie had assumed he was a toddler, but the child in his arms looked and sounded much more like a seven or eight year old; he was just unusually short, and incredibly thin. Malnourishment had likely played a role but Charlie had never heard of it stunting a child’s growth this much.

“Well, we’re grown-ups,” Charlie reasonably replied, though his tone was still gentle. “Haven’t you seen grown-ups bigger than you before?”

Oscar leaned away from the hug just enough to give Charlie a dubious look, and then glance over at Sawyer. Neither of them would be able to comfortably stand in the house, let alone use it normally. It would need to double in height to work for them, whereas Oscar was still too little to reach the top shelves.

Something didn't make sense, and now that he knew they were nice and he wasn't in trouble, he wanted to figure that out.

"B-but you're too grown up, then," he stammered. "M-my house is too little for you!" The fact seemed to worry him again and he frowned. "It was never too little for Mom..."

A small, thoughtful frown crossed Charlie’s face as he considered this. Whatever had caused Oscar to be so short seemed to run in the family- though that at least made slightly more sense than pure lack of food.

“Well, love, I guess we’re just a bit taller than your mom,” Charlie said softly, trying to be reassuring despite not having a concrete answer. He ran a hand over Oscar’s messy brown hair soothingly, smiling as the unkempt bangs sprang right back into place. “But that’s alright. People come in all different shapes and sizes.” After all, he hadn’t thought viri could come as tall as Sawyer did until he had met the man.

Oscar pondered this for a moment. He was sure he'd heard a similar assurance before from his mother, and he'd seen it in action for the most part. Humans of all types came through the motel, though he'd never seen one that stood as tall compared to other humans as Charlie would next to Oscar's mom.

She did admit to him, once or twice, that he was small for his age. It might have applied to her, too, and he wouldn't have known.

"Okay..." he muttered, still uncertain but accepting the explanation at face value. He rested his head against Charlie again and sighed. "My chairs are little too," he lamented.

Sawyer glanced at the chair he had knocked over and saw that Oscar was right- the little spool would be too small for him or Charlie to sit on. “That’s okay, Oscar,” Sawyer said, giving the kid a smile. “We don’t mind.” Oscar was so very polite for his age, worried about his house being too small for them; it almost reminded Sawyer of Charlie’s polite concern over trivial things.

“I’m more worried about your cupboard,” Charlie admitted, his eyes skating over the near-empty shelves with a frown. He looked down at Oscar. “When was the last time you ate? Sawyer has plenty of food if you want some.” They’d packed in preparation for a long trip and an adjustment period at their new home, so Sawyer’s pack held quite a bit of food.

Oscar perked up again, this time to appraise Sawyer's bag. It was certainly bigger than his own. It was almost big enough that Oscar could curl up in it among whatever food and supplies Sawyer carried in there.

He twisted his mouth into a frown as he pondered that bag, then glanced at his own. Hanging over his shoulder, it had gotten quite rumpled while he burrowed in the blankets and then started clinging to Charlie. The flap stayed closed anyway, and he sighed.

"I, um, I had dinner yesterday," he recounted. "An' I got some things for today. I found a whole raisin! And some cheese!"

Charlie’s concern didn’t wane as much as it might have given Oscar’s cheerful tone. It was well into the afternoon- Oscar really should have eaten at some point today already. Quite obviously the poor dear was used to subsiding off of limited sources.

“Well, sounds like you did a really good job,” Sawyer replied encouragingly. The praise was genuine, since it was hard to imagine such a young kid finding food by himself, especially in a place like this motel. Sawyer slid the bag off of his shoulders and set it down in front of him, undoing the large button that held it closed. “If you wanna come over here I can show you what I’ve got, and you can pick what you want between all of our food.”

Shy as he was, Oscar couldn't help but be intrigued by Sawyer's offer. Besides, the man was with Charlie, who was kind and gentle. It wouldn't be too hard to extend some trust to Sawyer next.

"Okay," he decided, still timid but intrigued. With some shifting and mostly help from Charlie, he found his feet on the floor again. His legs wobbled a bit, still weak from the earlier ordeals, but he didn’t stumble as he inched over to Sawyer, watching him more curiously now that he'd set aside his fear. Sawyer was definitely huge by comparison, but he looked so friendly. "Didja get it in the kitchen?"

“No, we brought this stuff with us,” explained Sawyer, giving Oscar a small smile. He started pulling out foil-wrapped packages containing nuts broken up into pieces, small bits of cracker, banana chips, more raisins, and a few nice leafy greens he had found during his and Charlie’s short jaunts outside. “This is our first time here in your motel.”

Charlie nodded, reaffirming the truth of that. They could never have imagined what they would find. “All those humans out in the rooms, they came in on a big bus from far away,” he gently informed Oscar. “We came on that bus too.”

Oscar stared with simple wonder at all the different kinds of food revealed in Sawyer's bag. Just when he thought the variety ended, another tidy parcel would open up and reveal something different. Some things, he recognized from past supply runs. Others were new and intriguing.

Oscar had come to like food quite a lot. It didn't matter much what kind it was. To him, the satisfying feeling in his belly was the real reward. He shifted his feet, glancing over the options and how much of each there was.

He jolted as their words finally registered beyond his fascination with the food. "W-wait," he stammered, looking up at Sawyer with concern. "You came with humans? Y-you were outside?"

“Yeah,” Sawyer replied, a little worried just because Oscar seemed so worried. His brow furrowed slightly. “I mean it was a pretty short walk from the bus to the walls but, no other way to do that but be outside.”

“Oscar, if it’s the humans you’re worried about, they don’t know a thing,” Charlie reassured him, thinking that might be the cause of his sudden anxiety. “We rode on the underside of the bus, there’s a little space. None of the humans saw us.” They’d made quite certain of that.

"Oh," Oscar replied quietly, though his dismay didn't really go anywhere. He looked sheepishly between the two of them, relieved they appeared to be okay after all that, and relieved that there wouldn't be any humans coming to look for them. That would be far too much excitement for him on top of what he'd already dealt with.

It left one question hanging in the air, and he was hesitant to ask it. "But, um. How did... i-it's against the rules to go outside, 'cause it isn't safe!"

Charlie and Sawyer shared an endeared smile, though they tried not to look amused on poor Oscar’s behalf. It just seemed like such a child’s way of looking at things. “Well Oscar, that seems like a pretty good rule for you to follow when you’re on your own here,” Sawyer agreed, “but Charlie and I are grown-ups, remember? We have different rules.”

“And we have each other,” Charlie added, smiling. “It’s safer for us to go outside because we can look out for each other.” Which was always a good idea, given that the outdoors could be full of surprises, very few of them pleasant; but if they kept a sharp eye out it could be as routine as any other part of life.

Oscar twisted his mouth into another thoughtful frown. He wanted to believe what they said; after all, they were grown-ups. They were even extra big grown-ups, and weren't all by themselves like he'd known his mom was most of the time. Even then, he had long since had it drilled into his head that the outdoors were dangerous, and it was hard not to worry about it. What if a dog or a bird had accosted them?

"W-well, alright," he conceded at last. "Since you're grown-ups. An' you're safe inside... even if my house is so little."

Sawyer chuckled and reached out, picking up Oscar just enough to sit the kid on his knee. “Your house is fine, kiddo,” he reaffirmed. Trying to distract Oscar from his woes Sawyer looped an arm around him and cordially added, “Why don’t you go ahead and decide what you want to eat. Charlie and I will eat dinner with you, how does that sound?”

As expected, Sawyer's attempt to distract Oscar worked. The only squirming he did was to settle more comfortably on Sawyer's lap, and he set a hand on Sawyer's arm to keep upright. "O-okay!" he agreed. It was earlier than he usually ate dinner, but if they were sharing from all of those packages, it would probably be okay.

That decided, he leaned over slightly to peruse the options again. After some thought, he pointed out the banana chips. "Can I have a little piece of that?"

“You betcha,” answered Sawyer. He reached out with his free hand and snagged a decent sized piece of banana chip, handing it over to Oscar. “Here you go, buddy.”

Charlie scooted closer to the both of them, settling himself just on the other side of the food spread. He was glad to see Oscar actually eating something- he looked so thin, Charlie couldn’t help but worry that the child was on the brink of starvation. Charlie tore off part of a leaf for himself and smiled at Oscar. It was nice that things seemed to finally have calmed down somewhat.

Enough that he could take a moment to wonder just what in the world had even happened in the past half hour or so.