A Little More Trust Cpt. 36

There was a knock at the door and Sawyer jumped slightly in surprise. Out of instinct he reached for Adrian to hide him out of sight, but luckily came to his senses before following through with the motion. “Sorry,” he whispered to Adrian, quickly moving his hand back towards himself with a wince. He glanced nervously at the door before turning back to Adrian. “Um, don’t worry, it’s locked. I’m going to go see who it is.” He gave Adrian a confident smile. “I won’t open it unless it’s Charlie, promise.” It probably was. Knowing his friend, Charlie had been panicking about Adrian since he’d discovered he wasn’t in his bag.

The knock on the door put Adrian on the alert again. He looked over at it in surprise, but then back at Sawyer when his hand was suddenly on the move. Adrian sucked in a quiet breath and leaned away from it, startled by the motion. He released his breath and nodded, glad that Sawyer had refrained from grabbing him. As important as it was to stay hidden, Adrian didn't want to be handled again so soon. Or ever, if fate was kind. Still, he got to his feet as Sawyer walked over to the door, ready to bolt out of sight if a stranger came into the room; but, he had a feeling that Sawyer was right.

Colfax sat huddled in the bottom of the backpack pouch, his dark eyes watching the opening. He could only really see the ceilings going by as Charlie navigated the apartment building. He sat up straighter when Charlie stopped moving and there was the sound of a polite knocking on the door. Colfax was anxious to get into the apartment and make sure Adrian was okay. His pessimistic imagination wouldn't stop thinking that Sawyer would be just as entertained by Adrian's existence as Colfax's- and Colfax knew for a fact that Adrian would like the term "pokeable" even less than he did.

Sawyer peered through the peephole at the door, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was indeed Charlie. He opened the door and grinned at his friend. “Hey Charlie,” he greeted him, standing aside to let him in. “I’m guessing you’re here for Adrian.” Charlie walked past him without saying anything, and while he didn’t exactly storm inside, it was the mild-mannered equivalent. Sawyer winced and shut the door behind him, immediately guessing Charlie was upset about something. “Um, what’s that face for?”

Charlie glanced around the apartment, looking relieved as he spotted Adrian sitting on the table. Walking over he set his bag down gently on the tabletop, smiling gently at Adrian. “Hello,” he said quietly. “Sorry for the mix up.” With that politeness aside, he turned to Sawyer and gave him a look his friend had hoped never to be on the other end of. “This face,” he said, his voice sounding a bit strained, “is because we need to talk about something.”

Yeah. Just as he had thought. “Colfax, uh, told you about that then,” Sawyer guessed dully, avoiding Charlie’s gaze. He walked over to the table and quickly guessed which pocket of Charlie’s bag Colfax was likely in. Sticking his hand in, he picked up the right little person this time and pulled him out.

Charlie gave a squeak of alarm at the action, causing Sawyer to glance over at him with surprise. “What are you doing?” Charlie asked in a high-pitched voice, sounding distressed.

Sawyer glanced between the little guy in his hands and Charlie with a blank expression. “Um, getting him out of the bag?” he said, not quite understanding what all the fuss was about.

Colfax had flinched a little when Sawyer reached into the bag to retrieve him, though he knew he probably should have expected it. On the table below, Adrian stared up with no shortage of awe at how casually his friend sat in Sawyer's hand. It was almost like he was used to being picked up. Adrian almost envied his ability to be so calm in that situation.

Colfax glanced between the humans, his eyebrows raised slightly. He wasn't sure at first what Charlie was worried about. He leaned over slightly to peer down at Adrian and saw his friend's awestruck expression. Oh. That's all, he realized. Charlie had gotten used to Adrian, someone who could not stand to be touched.

Adrian took a deep breath and moved back a little so he wouldn't need to crane his neck so much to keep Colfax in sight. "Colfax, you... um. Hello again." He was about to incredulously ask how Colfax could let himself be handled so easily; but he got a feeling his friend would dodge that question to avoid having to give a long-winded explanation.

Colfax inclined his head once at Adrian before looking over at Charlie, who still looked quite unsettled. "It's alright, Charlie," he began. "Sawyer picks me up a lot. I thought it was a human thing. I guess he's just special," he quipped, glancing over his shoulder at Sawyer, a faint smirk glimmering in his dark eyes.

Sawyer smirked back at Colfax as Charlie stared in vague confusion. “Er… I mean, I guess if you’re okay with it it’s fine then,” Charlie said, still sounding rather nervous about the whole idea. They both looked surprisingly comfortable with it, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Charlie simply couldn’t imagine being okay with having somebody just… move you like that, without any warning. It seemed like such an invasion of privacy, and he knew Adrian would feel even more so.

Perhaps that was it, though- he had only ever been with Adrian, who really couldn’t be held like that, so he couldn’t fathom any viri being okay with it. The most shocking thing, however, was that Colfax let Sawyer do that even after everything Charlie had been told he’d done. Obviously whatever Sawyer had done since then to make up for it had worked, somehow.

“Yep, I’m special alright,” Sawyer said with a roll of his eyes. He set Colfax down on the table and moved Charlie’s bag off of it, giving the two little people a bit more room- not that they really needed it. He sat back down where he had been before and gestured casually for Charlie to take a seat across from him. His friend did so nervously, though he seemed a bit relieved that Sawyer had put Colfax down. Sawyer frowned slightly, remembering why Charlie might feel that way, and heaved a sigh. “Okay, Charlie,” he said, preparing himself for what was to come. “Lay it on me. I know Colfax has told you.” He stared at Charlie, trying to quell his nerves for the moral scolding that was imminent.

As soon as Sawyer set him down, Colfax walked over to where Adrian sat. In truth, it was still a bit alarming to be picked up and carried around, especially as quickly as Sawyer generally did it. However, he knew that arguing with the human about it would only result in wasted time. Adrian still watched with some awe as Colfax walked up to him, like he'd just taken the most casual stroll. "You're okay?" Colfax murmured, so only Adrian could possibly make out his words. His dark eyes alighted on Adrian's hands for just a moment, checking for tremors, before flicking back to his face.

Adrian nodded, but soon his attention was drawn back to the human conversation overhead. It was almost overwhelming to see two humans, large and powerful, sitting together at the table while he and Colfax sat within arm's reach. The fact that neither of them were bolting in the opposite direction... jokes aside, these humans certainly were special. Adrian glanced between Colfax and Charlie, wondering what they'd talked about. And, he wondered, why was Sawyer acting so guilty all of a sudden? One glance at Colfax's face told Adrian that his friend would not be providing that answer, at least not yet.

Charlie looked over at Colfax for a moment, before looking back up to Sawyer with some strong kind of emotion bordering anger on his face. He was already flushing red. “C-Colfax said you kept him here against his will,” Charlie stammered. He wasn’t exactly used to being this upset, and was practically trembling with emotion. Sawyer looked down guiltily, unable to meet his eyes, and this more than anything proved to Charlie that what Colfax said was true. He continued, sounding aghast at this, “He said you kept him in a jar, Sawyer!”

“Yeah, um…” Sawyer mumbled, looking thoroughly abashed now. He glanced over to the two on the table to gauge their reactions. Here he had thought Colfax had finally stopped hating him, but admitting this might have both of them against him by the end of it. “…I did,” he confessed, looking up at Charlie. The expression on his friend’s face nearly made him lose his nerve but he forced himself to continue. “Look, I was really confused, okay?” He sounded defensive, though not necessarily like he was trying to get out of anything. Just that he was trying to explain. “I didn’t know what he was, and he wouldn’t talk to me, so I… I made some mistakes.” His eyes flicked over to Colfax before quickly returning to Charlie. “I already apologized to Colfax. I’m sorry Charlie.”

Charlie had been tearing up throughout, and some spilled over at Sawyer’s apology. He sniffled and wiped his eyes. “You’re an idiot,” he mumbled, making Sawyer let out a relieved sort of laugh. It sounded like he was forgiven, in part at least. Charlie couldn’t maintain such tumultuous emotions for long, and Sawyer could see he was already winding back down.

Adrian listened to the explanation with a dumbstruck expression. Every time he glanced back at Colfax, his friend's eyes were focused on either Charlie or Sawyer. He almost looked confused. Or maybe he was a little amused. It had been a while, so Adrian was out of practice reading him.

"You were... in a jar, Colfax?" Adrian asked softly, looking at his friend with some concern on his face.

Colfax blinked and looked at him. "Yes." Then he turned his head, found the tall jar that had been his prison, and pointed at it with his thumb. "That one." He smirked faintly, honestly relieved that Adrian didn't appear to have gone through the same thing; he definitely wouldn't have handled it well.

Adrian sighed, recognizing Colfax's cavalier attitude. Apparently he really was over it already. "I'm... I'm glad things worked out so well," he said hesitantly. He looked past Colfax to offer Sawyer a faint encouraging smile. As frightening as it sounded, he could easily see the situation playing out in part thanks to Colfax's notorious stubbornness.

Sawyer looked over at the two as they talked, seeming more than a bit surprised. He had expected a bit more backlash from his confessions. Colfax’s casual attitude he might have expected, given everything the two of them had already gone through in the past few days, but Adrian he assumed would have been made anxious if not frightened. The little guy was looking at him almost encouragingly though, which caught Sawyer off guard. He was doubly glad now that he’d managed to have a reasonable first meeting with Adrian. Charlie would probably kill him if he ended up traumatizing two little people.

Now that everybody seemed to be okay, Sawyer remembered that he had something he wanted to talk to Colfax about. “As long as we’re already talking things over…” he began, reaching out and pulling Colfax back towards him. Sawyer ignored Charlie’s distressed squeaking at the action. He kept Colfax on the table but poked the little guy square in the chest, giving him a serious look. “You lied to me earlier. You said you were the only one.” Sawyer frowned at him dramatically, looking almost comically upset. “I felt sorry for you, you jerk.”

Adrian's eyes widened and he flinched back when Sawyer's hand came their way. It was Colfax's first warning, just in time to be dragged back towards the human. He shook his head to clear it from the sudden move, stumbling back with a scowl when Sawyer poked his chest. Adrian's expression matched Charlie's for a moment to see Colfax so casually brush off the contact.

Colfax rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I think I said there's no one like me," he shot back. "And that stands," he finished with a defiant smirk.

Adrian put a hand over his mouth to try to hide his own amused grin. He couldn't quite conceal it, especially when a chuckle escaped his throat. That was just like Colfax, to pull out a semantics argument when it suited him best. Adrian was silently impressed that Sawyer had achieved that level of banter with him so quickly. Though it was obvious that Colfax was making up for getting poked and grabbed a lot in the only way he knew how, he did seem a slight bit entertained by the conversation.

Of course Colfax would say something like that. Sawyer almost laughed at Charlie’s stunned expression. Obviously his friend hadn’t seen this side of the little guy yet. “Thank god there’s no one like you,” Sawyer teased with a grin. “Two Colfaxes would just be too much sarcasm for this world to handle.” His expression became a bit more serious, though he was still obviously in a joking mood as he pointed a finger sharply at Colfax. “If you lie to me again though, the next time I do dishes it’s not going to be an accident.”

“Sawyer!” Charlie exclaimed, sounding unsure of what was going on but a bit anxious about it regardless. He was looking between Colfax and Sawyer as if trying to figure out if this was still alright or not. “Don’t threaten him like that.” Charlie didn’t even know what exactly the threat was, but he didn’t like the sound of it. He frowned; at least Sawyer didn’t seem to have done any of this behavior around Adrian. His personal viri friend was still sitting on the table, and Sawyer never made any move to touch him. He only acted like this around Colfax, who apparently could take it. All the same Charlie said, “You’ve already put the poor man through enough, stop it.”

"Yeah, Sawyer. Stop it." Colfax agreed, a completely deadpan look on his face. He'd been momentarily surprised to have Sawyer point at him so determinedly; but the perfect opportunity for further snark helped him recover quickly.

Adrian chuckled and shook his head. "Colfax, you're gonna get Sawyer in trouble," he chided. He stood, glancing at his feet to make sure his legs were no longer made of jelly. He didn't walk closer to his fellow viri, just in case Sawyer still felt like poking someone, but he smiled again nonetheless. "What's this about dishes, anyway?"

Colfax looked over at his friend. "Nothing really. I gave him a lot of trouble for having a lot of dirty dishes," he answered, evading the question.

Unfortunately, Adrian was much better than either of the humans at seeing right through him. Adrian gave Colfax an appraising look. "Colfax... did you fall into the dishwater?" he asked steadily. He glanced back at Charlie, wondering if Colfax had told Charlie about a misadventure like that.

Sawyer nearly poked Colfax again just to prove him wrong, but barely refrained because of Charlie. Still, when Adrian guessed correctly and gave him his chance to retaliate, Sawyer couldn’t help the large grin that spread across his face. “That’s right,” he chuckled. “He did. It was an accident but it was still pretty funny.” Even Charlie couldn’t help a small smile at that. It sounded like quite the mishap.

Charlie looked over at Sawyer, who gave him a bit of a sheepish grin, and a better idea came to mind of what actually happened. Like Adrian, Charlie was pretty bright when it came to knowing when Sawyer didn’t want to say something. “…You dropped him, didn’t you?” Charlie quietly accused. He didn’t necessarily sound angry with Sawyer, more exasperated than anything. As he expected, his best friend wasn’t the most natural when it came to taking care of a viri.

Sawyer’s eyes widened in surprise. He almost asked how Charlie had figured it out, before remembering this was Charlie he was talking to. Of course he had. “It really was an accident!” he defended, proving Charlie right. “He was covered in soap, it was slippery!” He really hadn’t meant to. He looked at Charlie almost pleadingly, though that quickly turned to an embarrassed grin as Charlie tried not to laugh.

Adrian's own smile widened. He watched Colfax's face, amused by how well those dark eyes managed to avoid everyone's gaze. Colfax wasn't one to blush, but the faint expression on his face seemed to do it for him just fine. "Glad you got out of that okay," Adrian began, laughter still threatening to shake up his voice.

Colfax sighed, feeling quite embarrassed by the knowledge that pretty much everyone in the room thought it was so funny. Even Charlie seemed amused. He tried to imagine hearing about it from an outside perspective. He couldn't, and he shot Sawyer a flat look. "I still think it was only mostly an accident," he challenged.

Charlie, feeling a bit bad that Colfax seemed to be embarrassed, tried to stop from looking as humored by it all as he was. Sawyer made no such effort. “Come on, give me a break,” Sawyer complained comically, slouching over and resting his chin on the tabletop. His face was mere inches from Colfax. He blew a small puff of air at him, grinning as it ruffled the little guy’s hair. “I gave you a big fluffy towel to wrap up in afterwards didn’t I? You didn’t even have to help with the dishes.”

Charlie wrestled with the emotions on his face, trying not to smile at that. He didn’t want to embarrass Colfax further, but the image in his head of little Colfax fuming in a towel much too big for him was just too cute not to smile at- not to mention the idea of a viri like Colfax trying to help Sawyer with the dishes. The two of them seemed to have a relationship built almost entirely upon snarky banter and teasing. Charlie couldn’t really wrap his mind around it, but he at least felt a bit better now that it was evident his best friend, while probably being annoying to Colfax, wasn’t actually hurting the viri at all. If anything he had given Colfax somebody to talk to, which according to Adrian’s description was a rare occurrence indeed.

As Colfax scoffed and shuffled back from Sawyer's face, Adrian chuckled quietly again. Even after his recent scare, he was in high spirits. Colfax and Sawyer's back-and-forth banter was fun to watch, though Colfax put on a big show of being annoyed. Adrian knew he probably wouldn't still be around if he didn't like Sawyer at least a little.

"I think a big fluffy towel sounds pretty nice," Adrian mused, making an innocent face to conceal whether or not he was being honest or teasing. It was probably a mixture of both. Adrian had slept better than he had in a long time on the blanket Charlie had provided. He could only imagine that a big poofy towel would be just the thing after falling into some dishwater. "Especially after a spill like that, hmm?"

"You would say that," Colfax answered with a roll of his eyes. "Next time you can hop in the sink so you can see what it was like for yourself."

"No thanks," Adrian replied brightly. He looked over his shoulder at Charlie. "You don't even let your dishes pile up enough to fill the sink anyway, do you?" he guessed. Just another reason to feel lucky- sinks were steep and slick and too scary to even think about falling in one, water or not.

Charlie shook his head, a soft smile on his face. It was fun to see Adrian interacting with Colfax so casually; it was obvious they had been good friends for a long while. “No,” he said in reply, “I try to wash all my dishes as soon as possible.” Things were more manageable that way. Charlie knew that if dirty dishes started piling up it would stress him out more than anything else. Best to have things clean and mostly in order. “Unlike Sawyer,” he added, gently teasing. Sawyer and he were quite the opposite in many ways, and housework was certainly one of them. It was a wonder there was even room left in the sink for Colfax to fall into.