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Zach took note of how the tiny person went from practically bouncing to being as still as stone. Their minuscule eyes darted around almost as fast as they were taking breaths. Even though they were clearly panicking they tried to appear unfazed by his question. Oh no. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to. I was just curious, you know?” He moved his hand to rub the back of his neck and saw them barely hide a flinch. “I mean like, it’s not every day when a small person shows up in your apartment.” God Zach, you just reversed all the progress you made. It seemed like they were finally getting comfortable. Dang, it! “Do you want any more eggs?” He saw them reach for the plate but stop themself just shy of the plate and they quickly pulled their arm back to their chest. “You can have the rest.” He pushed the plate with the remainder of his omelet towards them then removed his hand. “I had a cereal bar while you were asleep.” They scooted towards the plate cautiously as if waiting for him to snatch them up. When he didn’t make any moves toward them they pulled the plate towards themselves defensively and started eating the eggs again hesitantly. Zach sat patiently for them to finish eating. He made sure not to stare at them as he noted that it seemed like prolonged eye contact with him made them nervous and uncomfortable. As he sat his mind began to wander as it often did. I wonder where they came from. Do they live in the thread basket? No, that doesn’t make sense. I think I would have found them earlier if that was true. When they hugged my finger they said someone’s name. Oh, what was it? Amanda, right? Who is that? Are they like them? Or like me? Maybe I should see if I can get their name before I ask harder questions. He snapped himself back to his senses and saw that they had finished the omelet. They look like they really liked the recipe. “Hey, sorry for starling you earlier,” Zach said apologetically. He looked down to see if they were listening and saw them sitting attentively. “I think we kinda got off on the wrong foot.” Zach realized what he said. “Sorry I didn’t mean it like that. Anyways I haven’t gotten the opportunity to introduce myself yet. Hi, I am Zach Woodcrest. I go by he/him” He stuck out his pinkie towards them in an attempt at a tiny handshake. They scooted back as they stared at his finger. Zach could practically hear the gears whirring in their head. They looked around and seemed to have figured it out when their eyes fell on the plate. They grabbed up a piece of leftover egg. They turned back to Zach and gestured for him to turn his pinkie flat. Zach let out a small chuckle, but he turned his pinkie anyway. As soon as he did they carefully placed the piece of egg on the pad of his finger. They gingerly patted his finger and lightly pushed his pinkie towards him. He sat in confusion for a moment longer before looking back at them, seeing the biggest smile on such a small face that he thought possible. He looked back and forth one last time before bursting out in hardy laughter. Their face turned from satisfied to confused as Zach was keeling over with laughter, which only made him laugh even harder. After about 30 seconds of Zach’s lungs dying, he finally was able to take a full breath and sat back up. Their face was in a deep frown. “Sorry sorry, I just really didn't expect you to do that. I was trying to do a handshake. You were supposed to shake my pinkie.” Their face turned a deep shade of red as a clear sign of their embarrassment at their misunderstanding. “Here, we can try this again, okay?” Zach stuck out his pinkie once more. They gripped the tip of his finger and shook it with all their might. “I am glad you liked the eggs, um…would it be okay if you told me your name?” They stilled for a moment and Zach feared that he freaked had them out again. But soon he realized that they seemed to be deep in thought instead of being fearful like before. After about a minute they looked Zach in the eyes and seemed to be looking for a hint of something in them. They nodded to themself. They looked Zach in the eyes one more time before opening their mouth to speak. “Um, Beatrix….my name’s Beatrix. I use she/her.” Ohmygod! She told me her name! We’re making progress. “Nice to meet you, Beatrix. How are you doing?” “I'm doing fine I guess…well as fine as I really can be right now.” Zach saw her absent-mindedly touch a part of her leg and wince. Ehh her leg probably needs a cast of something. Oh, I think Dani left one of her doll’s crutches here last time. “We should probably get you something for your leg. I have a box of doll stuff for my sister when my parents and her visit. She brought a pair of doll crutches for whatever reason last time and she left them here. They should be in my closet. I think those would be the best thing to help with your leg.” He said. “Yeah, that sounds good.” She said, almost nervously. Zach knelt down and laid his hand flat for her to get on. She moved back from his hand. “Oh um sorry. How do you want to do this?” Beatrix thought for a moment. “Do you have any pockets instead?” She asked shyly. “Of course, my hoodie pocket should be okay, if that makes you more comfortable.” He said reassuringly. “I am going to move a bit so you can get in. I’ll move slowly.” She nodded and stepped back. He turned sideways and slowly stood up, aligning his hoodie’s pocket with the counter. She started walking towards the pocket, as stably as she could. She stopped mid-stride and appeared to be considering something. A conflicted expression crept onto her face. A moment later she shook herself out of it, took a deep breath, and continued walking towards his hoodie pocket. She made her way over slowly. “Okay, I am going to put my hand under the pocket while you are getting in and you can get in whenever you are ready,” Zach spoke. She moved towards the pocket opening. She carefully placed one foot in the pocket. Zach felt her slowly walk into the pocket and sit down. “Make sure to hold on tight, I’ll try to not shake you too much. I am gonna keep my hand under you if that is okay. If something is wrong, hit my hand twice. I am going to start walking, here we go.” Zach turned towards the doorway and took a step. So far so good. Just gotta make it to my bedroom and then we’re golden. He started walking out of the kitchen, turned into the hallway, and towards his room. Soon enough they arrived at his room. His room door was still open from earlier in the morning. “I am going to sit down so hold on tight.” He walked into the middle of his room, pushing a textbook out of the way with his foot. “Okay, you ready?” He felt a small tap on his hand. “Here we go.” He slowly lowered himself to the floor. He moved his pocket to lay on the floor. She stood up and walked out of the pocket. “So the crutches should be in my closet. You might want to move away a bit so I can grab the box out of the closet.” She nodded. She moved away from him and over to a nearby stack of drawers. Once she got a safe distance away Zach sat up on his knees and scooted over to his closet door. He opened it and started rummaging around for Dani’s doll stuff box. He eventually found the clear plastic bin near the back of his closet. He shoved some boxes to the side and pulled the bin out of the closet. Zach moved it to the side of his bed and sat back. “I am going to put the bin on its side,” Zach slowly moved the bin on its side and opened the lid while trying to make sure everything wouldn’t fall out. He pulled some of the items on the top out and placed them on the floor so they wouldn’t fall on Beatrix. “You can use any of this if you want to. Just ask me if you need me to grab something.” He moved back to give her some space. She moved towards the pile of doll stuff and started sifting through it. She grabbed a doll cup from the pile and placed it aside. Zach spotted the pair of crutches under a plastic hot pick car. “I found the crutches, can I grab them? They are under the car.” Beatrix looked up from the tiny household objects she was going through and paused for a moment before nodding. He grabbed the car, carefully to make sure it didn’t make the pile fall apart and put it down on the floor. He grabbed the pair of crutches and put them next to Beatrix’s pile of things she picked out. She grabbed them and looked them over. She seemed stumped on how to use them after about 2 minutes and looked at Zach, confused. She looked back at the crutches, put them under her arms upside down, and promptly fell on her face. Zach let out a chuckle at this before offering her help. “ Let me look it up real quick.” He grabbed his phone out of his pants pocket and looked up how to walk with crutches. “Well for one you have them upside down.” She flipped the right side up, a hint of a blush creeping onto her face from embarrassment. “This says you have them upside down. So you put that top cushion bit in your armpits and grab on to the other little cushion bit. Put the end of the crutches bit in front of your foot and move your injured leg forward between the crutches. You have to pull the crutches towards your ribs, put your weight into your hands and move your uninjured foot ahead of the crutches.” Zach read aloud. She did as the tutorial said. She took a step forward with the crutches experimentally, stumbling for a moment before stabilizing herself. She started taking more steps, increasing her speed each time. She started moving very fast considering her current situation. “Looks like you’re getting the hang of it pretty quickly!” Zach said in amusement as he watched her speed around the carpeted floor.