Grumpy awoke to a hand brushing his forehead. He cracked his eyes open to see light pouring in from the window and Doc standing above him, dressed and smiling.

"Good morning," he said.

Grumpy snorted and winced. "What's so good about it?" he grumbled.

"Oh, it's a nice pay, um, day," Doc said, waving his hand toward the window.

"Ev'rybody can be wrong," Grumpy replied.

Bashful laughed and he turned to squint at him. He went pink, and Grumpy's lips twitched. It was rather fun to mess with Bashful. Sneezy eyed him from behind Bashful and Grumpy met his gaze and scowled.

"Whachoo starin' at?"

Sneezy looked haughty then smirked. "Gave you the right name, didn't we, Grumpy."

Grumpy's face turned pink but he stared defiantly at Sneezy, which seemed to surprise him. He shrugged on his shirt and continued to size up the new arrival.

"Yer not exactly friendly neither, is ya?" Grumpy said.

Sneezy pursed his lips and squinted at him. "Cain't tell about you yet."

Grumpy rolled his eyes and turned his face away, the only movement that didn't hurt his ribs. "Ijit."

Without another word, they finished dressing and most of them trooped downstairs. Doc remained and helped Grumpy relieve himself again then massaged the salve into his ribs. Grumpy took it without complaint, though his face went white again and he couldn't help but groan.

"Breakfast should be ready soon," Doc said. "Do you seed, er, need anything else?"

"Nope."

"Okay then. Holler if you do."

Grumpy lay back and watched him go. When the door was mostly closed, he clicked his tongue then brought his hands gingerly up to his ears and tweaked them. A surge of green sparkles signaled the magic being used, and he settled back as their voices came to him as clear as day. They seemed to be arguing.

"He is not!" Bashful argued as Doc creaked his way down the stairs.

"Oh, come on," Sneezy said. "He's certainly messin' with you and ya can't deny it."

"What's going on?" Doc asked.

"That Dwarf is being rude," Sneezy snapped.

"How?"

"He keeps messin' with Bashful. Cain't ya tell he's making him blush on purpose? He's mean."

There was a yawn and Sleepy broke in. "He was laughin' at my name last night, too."

"He laughed at all our names. That ain't right," Sneezy continued.

"Well, you certainly got back at him," Sleepy chuckled. "Grumpy. That certainly fits him."

"That's true," Bashful said. "It does fit him. But he didn't exactly complain. And I think yer wrong about him."

"Which part?" Sneezy asked, sniffling.

"That he's mean. I don't think he's doin' it ta be mean. I think that's how he talks ta ev'rybody."

"Being a jackass?" Sneezy asked sarcastically. "Yep. Makes him lots a friends, I'm sure."

Sleepy laughed. "Maybe that's why he's all alone. If so, cain't blame people for not likin' him. He's a jerk."

A cold ache spread through Grumpy's chest, and he blinked away tears. They didn't understand. He should have known. He knew better than to trust Dwarfs. He would get up and leave, stop burdening them with his foul presence. He reached up to his ears to break the spell when Doc spoke harshly.

"Sneezy, Sleepy, that's enough! Don't talk about him like that. It just tree, urm, must be hard for him to be a bone, ah, alone."

"Golly, yeah. I can't imagine being all alone," Bashful said.

"Dwarfs ain't supposed to be alone, 'specially at his age," Happy said. "T'ain't natural."

"That's a good point," Doc said. "He probably doesn't know how to fact, erm, tact, ugh! act! around other Dwarfs. If we're right, he's been around humans far more. And they're filly, erm, silly when it comes to our kind."

"What if he's fakin'?" Sneezy challenged. "What if he really does know and he's just makin' us feel sorry fer him?"

"So you do feel sorry fer him?" Bashful asked.

Sneezy spluttered then sneezed three times. He sniffed and sounded defensive. "No. 'Course not. What's there to feel sorry fer?"

Silence. "I like him," Bashful finally said. "And I think Dopey does, too. And he's never wrong 'bout folks. Where is he?"

"Still sleepin'," Sleepy said then groused. "Lucky kid."

There was the sound of sizzling and the smell of cooking meat wafted up the stairs, making Grumpy's mouth water. He was so hungry… His bed moved, and he started and looked down to see Dopey, rubbing his small eyes and staring up at him. The child pointed at himself then at the bed. Grumpy nodded, his demeanor softening. Dopey carefully climbed up and lay down, smiling.

"Stupid kid," Grumpy murmured, but he wrapped an arm around Dopey and focused on the conversation again.

"—gonna need some new clothes," Doc was saying. "I checked his pack and he only had one spare of pair, erm, pair of spare clothes. And they're in no state to be shorn, um, worn. Sleepy, would you mind?"

"Guess not," Sleepy said. "Need his measurements."

"We'll get those when he can stand up. Until then, he'll just have to stay in stead, uh, bed."

Grumpy scoffed, reaching up to tweak his ears again. He'd forgotten that Dopey was watching him, and the boy's eyes went wide when the green sparkles burst from Grumpy's fingertips. He sat up and leaned close, pointing at his ears. Grumpy squinted at him.

"Nothin' in particular. 'Sides, I don't think Doc much likes magic."

Dopey paused then shook his head and drew his finger across his throat, a sad look in his eyes.

"Killed by magic, eh?" Grumpy asked. He looked up at the ceiling. "I can see that. Magic ain't fer the weak. Or the good."

Dopey scooted closer, tilting his head. Grumpy shook his head. "Nah. Ain't gonna tell ya that. Yer too young. Don't need ta know why I know magic nohow. Doc's right, anyhow. Magic is fer bad people."

Dopey thought about then then pointed at Grumpy's chest and slowly shook his head. Grumpy felt his face go red, and he swatted the small hand very gently. "Little ijit. Ya don't even know me. Shouldn't trust me. Ya have no idea if'n I'm bad."

Dopey flipped his hand palm up and wiggled his fingers then shrugged. Grumpy flushed darker and shook his head, looking away.

"Trust yer brother. Magic ain't fer good people. And no, ya don't need ta learn, so don't ask."

The door was pushed open and Happy stood there with a full plate. He saw Dopey sitting beside Grumpy and looked surprised then beamed and bounced over to hand Grumpy the plate. Sausage and eggs and toast were heaped high.

"Breakfast," Happy said with a smile. He turned and scooped up Dopey. "Hope he ain't botherin' ya. He don't get ta talk to new people often."

Grumpy looked at him and squinted. "Why don't he speak?"

"Just never tried," Happy said with a shrug. "Some of our clan end up like that. Never talkin', that is. Just how it is."

Grumpy scowled at him. "I said he don't speak. Never said he don't talk. He talks plenty."

Happy was startled. He'd never considered that. Dopey did indeed talk, just with his expressions and hands and body language. He combed his fingers through his pale beard and nodded slowly.

"That's true." He turned and bounced his little brother. "How 'bout some vittles?"

Dopey nodded and waved at Grumpy, wiggling his ears. Grumpy scowled at him, and Dopey clapped and grinned. Happy watched, fascinated by this stranger's ability to understand his brother as well as his brother's joy even when the stranger was grumpy. He smiled again at Grumpy then carried Dopey to the door and set him down. He looked at Grumpy, who was chewing and swallowing quickly, as if the food would disappear, or perhaps be taken away from him. Then Dopey's warm little fingers closed over his and he allowed himself to be dragged downstairs.

After fixing a plate for his youngest brother, he looked at Bashful. "I think yer right about him," he said, jerking a thumb up toward the bedroom.

Bashful swallowed, wiping egg yolk from his beard. "Which part?"

"Ya said ya think that he acts grumpy towards everybody. I think so, too. But maybe that's a way for him ta hide his feelin's." Happy recalled the large, hungry bites, the urgency of Grumpy's eating. "He certainly ain't exactly used ta people bein' nice ta him. I think we should give him a chance."

"A chance to be a jerk?" Sneezy asked acidly. "Seems like he'll take ev'ry opportunity."

"Sneezy, fleas, er, please," Doc sighed.

"No," Sneezy said. "I don't like him."

"Well, he's staying," Doc said. "For a while at least."

Sneezy scowled and Dopey slapped the table, shaking with laughter. Sneezy looked at him, raising his eyebrows, and Dopey scowled and crossed his arms then pointed up at the bedrooms and laughed again. The brothers burst out laughing, and Bashful shoved Sneezy.

"He's got a point," Bashful laughed. "Yer actin' just as grumpy as him!"

Sneezy turned pink and crossed his arms, which only made them laugh harder. He huffed then chuckled and relaxed, reaching over to pinch Dopey's ears. A squeal burst from him, and he wriggled with glee

"I still don't know about him. But he can stay. Fer a while, at least."

Grumpy relaxed into the bed, letting out a sigh of relief. He was grateful that he could stay. He didn't know why he wanted to, but there was something about these Dwarfs that made him feel at home. They said all Dwarfs had a clan, and maybe he was feeling a natural kinship to these Dwarfs because they were the first of his kind he'd ever spent any time with. Whatever the reason, he looked forward to a chance to rest for once instead of constantly running toward nothing, scraping by, surviving by the tips of his snatching fingers. Reaching up, he tweaked his ears, and a flush of magic warmed his blood as sparkles glittered briefly from his fingertips. He was tired, so he slipped down and closed his eyes with a yawn. Feeling strangely safe and amazingly comfortable, despite the presence of strangers he knew hardly anything about, he fell asleep.