Ria had noticed the increasing amount of insects skittering through the walls. There were roaches every now and then, and while those were a hassle to deal with (they would eat anything, including the food supplies of careless borrowers) they weren’t in themselves an issue. But there were more of them now.
The more concerning issue was the smaller nuisance crawling in and out of the woodwork. She’d spotted them in 3 places now, and they were multiplying rapidly. They left her alone for the most part, but the humans wouldn’t like them. And when humans didn’t like things...
Ria tried her best to take things into her own hands. She kept her food safe from the roaches, and sent Peek had been snacking on some of the termites, which was kind of gross, but mice did like to mix up their diets with bugs every now and then.
Evidently, this was not enough to keep the threat at bay.
One day, the whole apartment complex was eerily void of people. Even more so than usual. The only people (Person? Monster???) Ria could hear was that fearsome V/Eddie duo.
Surely they wouldn’t still be here if the place was being fumigated, right?
Peek had, unusually, gone missing. For over 5 hours now, Ria hadn’t seen her. Not only was this incredibly worrisome, but it was a terrible sign as well. Had peek been captured—or perhaps something even more unspeakable had happened?
Ria was practically beside herself when she peered out a window to see an exterminator truck. Now she knew the both of them were in danger, but she couldn’t leave until she found Peek. Peek would never abandon her, and she’d never give up on Peek.
Ria climbed through wall after wall, checking every apartment. The hours rolled by faster and faster, blending together. And something was happening in the air.
It happened so slowly, one would barely notice it at first. Just the slightest hint of a strange smell, then a tickle in Ria’s throat. As the minutes passed, the tickle became an unbearable burning sensation.
There was still no sign of Peek.
Desperate to get some fresh air, she left the former safety of the apartment rooms behind her and entered the hallway. She strained her legs with every step. Even out here wasn’t much better.
Was she going to die here?
Despite being out in the open, Ria backed up against one of the walls and collapsed. If someone found her—well, she’d cross that bridge when she got to it. She’d either wait it out right here or drop dead trying.
Poor Peek. Ria hoped with her last few coherent thoughts that at the very least Peek had made it out safely.
***
Unlike Ria, Eddie Brock was well aware that the apartment was being fumigated.
Also unlike Ria, he didn’t mind staying during the process. The poison was mild enough that his and V’s combined biological processes would be enough to filter it out of their system. Finding somewhere else to stay would be a hassle. He’d have to get a hotel room or something—waste of money and time.
It was a lazy Saturday afternoon. Not much seemed to be going on in the city, so Eddie was browsing Netflix. V was largely uninterested in the sitcoms droning on. They were, instead, focused on something else entirely.
Eddie, remember the little nibble from last month?
“Yeah? How could I forget?” They’d been intentionally leaving things out for the tiny girl; odds and ends as well as portions of food. They hadn’t seen her since, and the things they left only disappeared sometimes, but Eddie was sure the borrower was real, and not some bizarre hallucination. V seconded this notion.
She’s still here. Nearby, somewhere.
“Makes sense. She lives here—“
Oh, no.
The fumigation. The girl lived in the walls, which were now probably full of poisons. Poisons meant to kill little pests—were borrowers considered pests? They did everything pests did: stealing food, running around underfoot...
If the fumigation didn’t do her in, one of the traps laying about certainly would. He did a mental facepalm. Why hadn’t he thought to warn her?
“Shit, she’s going to die in here. We need to do something, V, where is she?”
Try the hallway.
Eddie ran into the hall, V in tow, of course, and glanced around, not immediately noticing the tiny body collapsed on the floor. As soon as he did, however, panic struck the both of them.
The poor thing didn’t even have her bag with her.
”Little nibble?”
“Ria?”
Eddie reached out and touched the borrower gently on the side. No response. It looked like she was breathing at least, though they were shallow, struggling breaths.
“She must have already breathed that stuff in,” Eddie said softly, carefully taking the girl into his hands.
We can help the little nibble! And have a taste, too.
“What? How is that helping?”
We can hold her, in the inside pocket. The poison will seep right out. Nibble will live!
If this had happened when the two had first fused, Eddie would have thought this was a ploy to get a free snack. But Eddie knew V. On a more personal level than two human beings could ever be. He trusted them.
“There’s no chance of her drowning, or anything? If she has to be there a while, I mean?”
Perfectly safe. Cozy, too.
“Ok, then, love. Go ahead.”
***
Ria awoke, completely disoriented. She was in pitch darkness; completely and utterly surrounded by black unknown. She struggled to sit up, finding whatever surface she was on slippery and malleable. Her hearing, too, was coming back to her slowly, as the blood rushed back out of her head and through her body. Her heart was beating heavily now, and she took quick breaths in the stale air around her.
Where was she?
She became aware of a thumping sound somewhere above her. A sound like—
Like the cat on the third floor.
All at once, forgotten memories from a distant experience hit her. Perhaps she’d forgotten out of trauma, but now, hit by a brand new disaster, it was all coming back to her.
The undulating, goopy surfaces around her, the rhythmic beating, the sounds of something enormous breathing: it could all only mean one thing. And it was all too much.
Ria sobbed loudly, collapsing into the cushy confines.
“P-Peek! I’m sorry! I-I tried to find ya, and now...”
Now she was good and stuck. And—she coughed a few times—still poisoned. But forget about that. Ria couldn’t imagine which would be worse: Peek being caught in a trap, or Peek suffering the toxic fumes like she had. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a familiar rasping voice.
”Eddie! She’s awake!”
And then, a more human, yet also familiar voice:
“Oh, crap.”
For a while, Ria has forgotten what the creature V had done after she’d been caught. All she could remember was just that—being caught. Now, being here, though, she remembered. It had terrorized her; eaten her alive! But...
They’d let her go in the end.
Ria didn’t like the idea of begging for her life, nor of begging for her freedom, but trapped as she was, she couldn’t think of any other way.
“P-please, Eddie, and, um, V, can you let me go? I really, really have ta leave right now.”
”No can do, little nibble.”
“B-but—“
“What V means to say is that going back out there now would kill you. You were poisoned, badly. If we hadn’t found you...”
Ria gulped.
“...Anyway, we have to keep you here for now. We’re able to drain the poisons from your body, just by having you here. And it’s not safe out there, especially not in the walls.”
“You don’t understand. Peek—my best friend, my only friend—she’s out there somewhere, an’ I don’t know where, an she’s probably DEAD by now cause I’m in here and not savin’ her!”
The walls around Ria gave the softest, most subtle purr. Surprisingly, it was V that spoke next to calm her down.
”We can look together. When it’s safe. Will help you out, promise.”
“Is your friend like you, Ria?” Eddie asked gently.
“No. She’s a mouse. They’re TRYING ta kill her.”
There was silence for a moment as Ria started to calm down. She couldn’t accomplish much if she were too ill to stand. And while she didn’t like the idea of working with humans—and whatever V was—maybe she could really trust them. And they could cover a lot more ground together.
“There’s a vegan woman down a floor from us,” Eddie began, breaking the silence. “She’s really against this whole pesticide thing, and she was talking about setting up live traps. We could ask her to check her traps.”
“But if she’s been trapped this whole time—then the poison...”
“They’re only doing one floor at a time. It should be safe there.”
Ria sniffled.
“Thank you so much...”
”We don’t want to see little nibble cry, remember?” The purring started again, a little bolder this time.
“Once you’re clear of toxins, we’ll go look straight away.”
Ria allowed herself to relax, feeling herself melt (metaphorically, of course) into the goopy folds around her. Nestled in darkness, she allowed herself to breathe. They would look together. Peek was safe with a nice lady. Everything would be ok.