Chapter Text
Grian didn't really get why humans had hangups about touch. He kind of got why they wouldn't want to be hugging or brushing up against a stranger, since they seemed to think of touch as a little more intimate than borrowers. But he didn't understand why they acted weird about touch with their own family.
He was pretty sure physical contact was just as important for humans' mental health as it was for borrowers, especially as their babies could literally get sick and die if they weren't touched enough. So he really didn't get why human families didn't cuddle or play with each other's hair. Why they didn't hold each other's hands or pile into the same bed to sleep like his family did.
Neither Phil or Ranboo understood it either, and they just had to chalk it up as humans once again just being weird. In Grian's opinion, it was weird to not sleep in the same bed as the people you cared about.
It probably made sneaking out easier, though.
Getting out of bed without waking either of his family members was a bit of a struggle. It would've been harder if Ranboo hadn't ended up in the middle, therefore the only one curled under Phil's wings. However, Phil had a hand tangled in Grian's hair, and extricating himself from that involved a lot of minor hair pulling. Phil didn't stir as he set his hand back down on the bed, though; he was a very deep sleeper.
Ranboo, however, was a little trickier. He wasn't grabbing onto Grian in his sleep, but they tended to burrow their face into the warmest surface in their sleep, and that happened to be Grian's chest. Their tail was wrapped around Phil's wrist though, which was a relief. Grian wouldn't have been able to get up without waking him if the tail had curled around him. Ranboo was a much lighter sleeper than Phil, and any movement to their tail would wake them for sure.
However, when he pulled away, Ranboo made a sleepy noise and shifted slightly. Grian froze, waiting for him to settle down. Ranboo didn't stir again, so he'd probably just reacted to the lack of warmth. He resisted the urge to run his hand through his little brother's hair.
Grian crept quietly away, pushing silently past the patchy fabric curtain that separated their bedroom from the rest of the house. He pulled on his favorite red sweater over his sleeping shirt, and grabbed a bag. He very carefully lifted the hook from where it hung, wincing as the slight scraping sound seemed as loud as a shout to him. He listened, but he didn't hear anything that indicated he'd woken his family.
He didn't bother with shoes. It wasn't like anyone made things like tennis shoes for borrowers, so they had to wrap their feet with a complicated mix of fabric, wood for support, and thread. It took forever, though, and this was only going to be a short trip.
He walked barefoot out the door, heading through the walls. He went straight towards the kitchen where he'd find his surprise for Phil and Ranboo.
***
Ranboo woke up when something in front of them shifted. They grumbled slightly, but didn't bother opening their eyes. He'd just fallen asleep, there was no way it was morning yet. He was barely awake anyways, so he just let himself start drifting back to sleep.
A quiet shifting of fabric caught his attention before he fell asleep again. Was somebody moving? He realized Grian was no longer next to him and frowned. The strange absence was enough for his mind to wake up, and he almost groaned, knowing it would be harder to get back to sleep now that he was actually awake.
Suddenly they heard a scraping noise from outside the curtain. What the heck? What was Grian doing out there? Their tail flicked in confusion, slipping off of Phil's wrist. There were no other sounds for a couple of minutes, and Ranboo almost just tried to sleep again, but then they heard the door open.
He sat up, suddenly wide awake. Phil's wing fluttered a little as he slipped out from under it, but his dad didn't wake. Ranboo tiptoed towards the curtain, not sure if he was sneaking so he didn't wake Phil or so Grian didn't realize he was there.
He peered past the curtains, finding- an empty house. He pushed through the divider, silently checking all corners of the house, just in case. Maybe Grian had just gone to wash himself off or something? There wasn't much reason to leave the house in the middle of the night… day technically, since they slept right when Techno was waking up.
Ranboo froze. The hook was missing from its place on the wall. His heart pounded too hard in his chest.
There was absolutely no reason to bring the hook somewhere, unless you were borrowing. Doing that right now would be so stupidly dangerous.
They grit their teeth. Grian wasn't just gone to someplace inside the walls. He was out borrowing.
Ranboo was going to kill his brother.
***
Grian was sort of regretting not wearing shoes. His feet were cold, and he kept stepping on the poky bits of the passageway's floors. Whatever, as long as he didn't get a splinter, he could deal with it.
Most of their tunnels went directly through the walls, using the support beams. Since they were wooden, there was always the risk of splintering, but that wasn't the most difficult part of walking through the walls.
The horizontal beams were less frequent and less consistent than the vertical ones. In addition, every foot or so, the path of the horizontal bar was blocked by a vertical one. Occasionally the horizontal bars weren't even parallel. Sometimes they were interrupted by a doorway.
There were ways around these problems, of course. Sometimes they made a tunnel going through the floorboards instead of the walls. When there were doorways, they could climb up and over the space. And for the interruptions in the horizontal bars, things like bridges, stairs and platforms had been built.
These structures used to be a lot less sturdy. Back when it had just been Grian and Phil, falling off one of these wouldn't be a very big deal. Even as a kid, Grian could just spread his wings and slow his fall enough to avoid injuries. But when they'd found Ranboo, Phil had started reinforcing the bridges and platforms. Grian called it baby-proofing.
Even once they were fixed, neither of them would let Ranboo walk around the walls without supervision, just in case. He was old enough now to be careful, but Grian and Phil had been so scared he would fall and hurt himself those first few years.
These handmade platforms were the most unpleasant to walk on with bare feet. They'd been made from whatever they could find, back before the great popsicle theft. They'd since been reinforced again with the better wood in some places, but they were mostly made of a patchwork of borrowed materials.
Grian stepped on a particularly uncomfortable part and winced. He kept going though. He'd almost reached the entrance into the rest of the house; he would be fine.
As he walked, his hand drifted up to the hook. Personally, he didn't use it very often. He wasn't a fan of climbing, but that was a key part of his plan.
The problem with the hook was that there was only so far you could throw it. The three borrowers had perfected their technique, but if they were on the floor the hook came up just short of the counter. It was just too far to throw.
If they could just use the hook to access the tea cabinet, Grian's plan would be unnecessary. They could just use one of the tunnels that came out on the floor and go from there. Since that wasn't possible, Grian had to think outside the box a little.
There were only two entrances in the kitchen that put them on the counters. One was the one that was currently blocked by the mother of all spiders. The other was the passageway Phil and Ranboo had used the other day to get foil and glue. The two cabinets weren't connected, but Grian had an idea of what he could do to overcome that.
First… he had to get through the door.
He pushed hard on the entrance to the counter, but it didn't budge. He knew it got stuck, but this was ridiculous! He shoved hard, putting his weight into it, and it moved just slightly.
"Grian."
He jumped, whirling around to where the voice had come from. Ranboo was standing behind him, looking more upset than he'd seen them in a long time. Their arms were crossed and they were glaring, but Grian recognized the way their tail was twitching as worry. He winced.
"Ranboo, what are you doing up?" He asked quietly.
"I could ask you the same question, you know. I woke up and you were just gone, " Ranboo said with a frown . "Are you seriously borrowing? Now?"
"It's fine, I'm going to be really careful," Grian reassured. He stepped forward and reached up to ruffle Ranboo's hair. The teen relaxed just a little, but still seemed angry with him.
"I thought of a way to get the tea," Grian admitted. Ranboo tilted his head, some of the annoyance leaving his expression. "I was going to surprise both of you, but I guess it'll just be Phil."
"You're still going out there?" Ranboo asked, voice raising slightly. "Can't this wait until Techno isn't awake and active?"
"I guess it could," Grian said, "but think of how excited Phil will be when he wakes up to find a fresh teabag. He was so tired when he came back, I just wanted to do something nice."
Ranboo was silent for a long moment. He was pursing his lips the way he did when he thought about something carefully. Finally he focused back on Grian.
"You're so lucky I didn't wake Phil up," they said, sounding resigned. Grian grinned.
“You’re the best little brother,” he cooed. Ranboo looked unimpressed.
“You have to let me come with you, though,” the younger borrower said, sounding only a little hesitant.
“Are you sure?” Grian asked, worry making his brow furrow. “You know Technoblade is probably walking around, right? Will you be ok if we see him up close?”
Grian wasn’t trying to baby them, but Ranboo got anxious seeing the humans from rooms away. He’d never had a truly close call, and Grian didn’t want to take him into a situation where he might have to.
“I’m sure,” Ranboo said with only a hint of nervousness. “I won’t be able to go home and sleep knowing you’re out here.”
“Alright,” Grian said. He fought back nerves of his own. Risking himself was one thing, but his little brother? He’d just have to be extra careful. Besides, he trusted Ranboo to know what they could handle.
With Ranboo's help, he managed to shove the door open. He squinted as light flooded the tunnels. Ranboo shrank back slightly. Grian forgot that his brother rarely went outside the walls when the sun was up.
He reached up and squeezed Ranboo's shoulder. The younger borrower relaxed, peering out of the walls with curiosity.
"It's so bright," he said in a hushed whisper.
Grian glanced around. Despite the sunlight streaming through the windows, the overhead lights weren't actually on.
"It gets even brighter if the lights are turned on," he whispered back. Ranboo shook his head.
"Nope, too bright," they declared, making Grian giggle quietly.
The kitchen was empty for now, so they crept forward until they were at the edge of the counter. Ranboo kept looking around anxiously. Grian tried not to let his own nerves show, but he was far more worried about the possibility of Techno showing up than usual. How did Phil manage to borrow while watching out for someone else?
“So how exactly are we getting over there?” Ranboo quietly asked.
“We may not be able to reach those cabinets,” Grian started, pointing across the room. He paused, grinning at the way Ranboo leaned forward in anticipation. Then, moving his finger to point directly above their heads, he continued, “But we can climb up to these.”
He spread his wings, giving them a little flutter. Ranboo’s eyes went wide and he glanced between Grian and the cabinet.
“We’re going to glide?” he asked, his voice rising slightly in excitement.
“We’re going to glide,” Grian confirmed with a grin.