After Snatcher and Cookie explained to the Conductor that, no, he was not going crazy, he settled down.
"So...yer a little lass. Called a Borrower. And ye got separated from yer family so ye've been living here?" he asked slowly, still half convinced he was dreaming.
Hat Kid nodded. "And you tried to poison me and trap me in a bowl." she started nibbling on a grape that Cookie had given her.
"No, Ah got those for...the...mice." he said, realizing what he had done halfway through the sentence. "...oh no."
Snatcher grinned, pleased to see the Conductor squirm. "Oh yes. You did. Remember how the bottle tipped over? That was her."
"Oh god I almost killed a child…" the angry bean groaned, holding his head in his hands.
"I'm nine and a half!" she chirped proudly.
"Nine?! Lassie what are ye doing by yerself?! Why didn't ye say something in the first place!?" he slammed his hands on the table, causing it to shake.
She whimpered, stepping closer to Cookie and Snatcher. The Cookie Bean sighed. "Not every human is nice, Conductor."
"Yeah and there's a reason she didn't go to you. Your nickname was essentially 'The Angry One'." Snatcher hissed, placing his hand on the table for the little girl to hide behind.
Guilt flashed on the Angry Bean's features. "I had no idea! I'm so sorry lass…"
Cookie nodded. "So it's just the three of us who knows. We shouldn't let it slip-"
"So DJ Peck Neck doesn't know?!" A wicked grin spread on the Conductor's face.
"He will in a moment! Hey, Grooves!" Snatcher shouted upstairs. "Wanna see something adorable?!"
Hat Kid huffed. "I'm not adorable!"
"Agree to disagree…"
"Sweetie you are precious!"
"I have to agree with the lowlife, lassie."
DJ Grooves poked his head through the door. "You called, darlings?"
Snatcher gestured to the tiny girl on the table. Hat Kid gave a little wave. The Sparkly Bean stepped closer. "Is it...a toy?"
"No, I'm a kid!"
Grooves' jaw dropped. "I-I need to sit down." he slowly sat down in a nearby chair, staring at the small girl. He finally looked at the other three. "Did you all know about this?"
"I just found out this morning." Conductor growled, sipping his coffee.
"This is Hat Kid." Snatcher introduced. "She's a Borrower. She got separated from her family, so she's staying with us."
"The poor darling! I have no objections." he replied nonchalantly, as if he didn't just discover there were a whole other race of humanoid people who live in houses.
"I like your red outfit." she pointed to the large jacket he was wearing.
"Why thank you darling! Aren't you a charmer?" he offered a finger for her to shake, in an attempt to be professional.
Cookie clapped her hands together. "Oh! Look at us! This calls for a celebration! I'll make breakfast! What do you guys want?"
"BACON!" Snatcher perked up immediately, bouncing in his chair slightly.
"No. You always ask that." Cookie angrily sighed. "I'm so sick of bacon."
"I'm not!"
"Advil and a strong coffee." Conductor said quietly, noticing his now empty coffee mug.
Grooves put a bit more thought into his answer. "Pancakes? Kids like pancakes."
"Bacon and Pancakes!"
"I'm not making you bacon!"
"Stop shouting the lot of ye! Yer making me headache worse!"
"Well darling, we're not the ones who decided to drink all night."
Hat Kid watched all four of them talking. She couldn't help but smile. These Human Beans wouldn't hurt her. She felt strangely safe surrounded by them, but she did have a question.
"Um, what's a pancake?"
The four stopped their squabbling. Cookie was the first to speak. "Sweetie, you've never had a pancake?"
"That's just sad." the purple bean muttered.
Cookie vanished into the kitchen, and things seemed to have settled down. Grooves and Conductor were discussing their movie sets and actors, and Snatcher was on a strange, box shaped device.
Bored, she started to crawl on Conductor's arm. She felt him stiffen as she did so, afraid of hurting her. The Angry Bean grew quiet, curiously watching her climb his sleeve. "What are ye doing, little lass?" he asked, picking her up by her collar.
"I've never had Human Bean friends! And I've never seen one super up close before. Can I sit on your shoulder?" she clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture.
"...Bean?"
"That's what she calls humans." Snatcher explained. "Because we're so tall, like beanstalks."
Grooves chuckled. "Conductor? Tall? I guess it was bound to happen eventually."
Conductor shot Grooves a dirty glare, before turning to the tiny lass, face softening. "Um, sure Lassie."
Offering his hand, she climbed into it. His hand wasn't as big as Snatchers, and it had more wrinkles. He held his hand close to his shoulder, allowing her to hop up. Sitting on her shoulder, she felt...tall.
Another thing that she realized, human beans were warm! She could only guess that their large size radiated heat. She giggled, swinging her feet as she got more comfortable.
Conductor didn't feel the same way. Having such a frail creature sitting on his shoulder was anxiety-inducing to be sure. She could fall, or slip, and dozens of other horrific scenarios were racing through his mind.
He tried to relax, but couldn't help but fearfully grip the table and remain as still and stiff as he could.
"So, darling." Grooves, in a moment of kindness towards his rival, got her attention. "It's not raining outside, why don't you go play outside while we wait? Um, that's something you can do, right?"
Hat Kid frowned. Usually the outside world was dangerous, but this house was very secluded. She did see a young Child Bean outside, but she was on the other side of the house.
But she rarely gave up a chance to explore.
Nodding, she chirped; "Sure! That sounds fun! Um, can you help me down?" she gently tugged on the Angry Bean's hair. Was he still the Angry Bean? That was something she'd have to think about it.
"O-Of course." he was internally relieved. Having her on his shoulder was about to give him a headache from the anxiety. Once again she hopped on his hand. "Should I set ye on the back step?"
"Sure!"
Carefully, taking extra care to make sure she wouldn't fall out his hand, he walked to the back door. Opening it, he knelt down and let her jump out of his hand onto the back step. "Ah'll leave the door open, OK?"
She nodded, looking out over the garden. "Got it!"
The Garden was bright and green, covered with weeds and flowers and large bushes. The occasional red brick or broken pot lay scattered on the pathway. A perfect playground for a Borrower.
Darting around, she jumped off the back step to a large, broken plant pot. Climbing to the top, she slid back down, like a makeshift slide. Giggling the entire time, she repeated the process for several minutes until she got tired.
She remembered Bow taking the time to teach Hat Kid which plants were edible, which ones were good for seasonings, and which ones to avoid. Could this overgrown jungle have such plants?
In a broken pot, she had found some wild basil, forgotten by the house's tenants. She found some chives near the wall, so now she had some chives and basil to give to Cookie.
One plant stumped her, however. It was a tiny bush near a large bush, with small, bright green leaves. It smelled awful. She remembered seeing this before...it was on the tip of her tongue…
Myow!
"...Catnip."
Hat Kid spun around. It was an orange cat with cream markings on its belly, face and ears. It's bright green eyes were focused solely on her.
With a loud meow, it tried to swing at her. She screamed as loud as she could, trying to get the attention of the beans inside. Darting underneath the cat, running as fast as she could with tears streaming down her cheeks.
The cat yowled and started to chase after her, swinging its paws dangerously close behind her, shredding her cape. She shrieked in pain as a claw sliced her leg. Using the last of her strength, she crawled underneath a bush.
She could see the cat try to reach her from outside of the bush, and she dragged herself deeper inside. Sobbing, she curled up into a ball. She felt sick to her stomach from the fear, and she had no idea what to do.
There were footsteps coming closer. "Darling? Oh god-" the cat yelped as someone picked it up, tossing it aside. "Darling, are you in the bush? Are you OK?"
"Grooves?" she whimpered, crawling out.
Hat Kid was gingerly lifted into the air by her ruined cape. "Oh, darling, darling, darling! Did that cat do this?!" he set her down in his palm, poking her leg with his finger. She winced, curling up in pain. "Don't worry, we'll fix this!"
As quickly as he could, for someone with a tiny girl in his palms, he hurried to the kitchen. "There was an accident!" Grooves loudly announced, setting the injured borrower on a napkin.
All four Beans began to loudly talk, expressing their concern over her.
"Oh god, oh god is the kid OK?!"
"I think it was a cat, darling. One of the orange ones."
"Oh! The catnip bush I planted! It's all my fault!"
"I told ye that bush would bring nothing but TROUBLE!"
It felt nice to have people worry about her, but it didn't help the agonizing pain in her leg. Her whimpering seemed to snap them out of it, and brought the attention back to her.
Cookie took initiative. "Alright boys, step aside, let me see. I watch my nephews all the time, and they like to rough house." she carefully examined the wound, the other three beans worriedly looking over her shoulder.
"Snatcher, dear? Get me a washcloth with some soap on it." she instructed. He was a bit taken aback by the command, but nodded his head and sprinted off.
"Oh, lassie that doesn't look good-" Conductor nervously muttered.
"OK, you two are in my light. Back off." she growled. The two directors moved out of the way, but still in a position to see her. "Conductor, get me one of the little bandages we have, will ya?"
"Yes m'am!" he muttered, rummaging through the medical cabinet in the kitchen.
Snatcher returned, with a towel. "I didn't know what kind of soap, so I just got it damp-"
Cookie yanked the washcloth out of his hands, turning to Hat Kid. "Sweetie, this is going to sting. But I need to clean the wound." gently tapping the scratch with the washcloth. The little girl whimpered, biting her lip to keep from crying out.
The old director came back, sweating and dumping a pile of bandages on the table. "A-Ah panicked. Ah just grabbed them all."
Grooves picked out a small bandage, handing it to Cookie. "This looks small enough."
"Grooves, get me a toothpick, some scissors and some tape; and Snatcher stop looming over me like that!" Cookie shooed the young man away, and he sat at the table with a fearful expression.
When the DJ returned, she got to work. Using the scissors to cut down the bandage, she patched up the cut the best she could. Using the tape and the toothpick, she made a teeny, tiny splint for the teeny, tiny girl. "And there! Good as new!" she purred, patting Hat Kid on the head. "We'll check it in a few hours!"
She sniffled, feeling fresh tears roll down her cheeks. These Beans, some she had met this just morning, saved her life. As she started to sob, Snatcher practically shoved the three out of the way to get a better look at her. "Hey, hey don't cry kid! You're OK!" he grinned at her. Or at least until he was shoved out of the way was well by Conductor.
"Oi! Don't shove, laddie!" he barked. "Yer alright, Lass! We won't let any cat get ye!"
As Conductor and Snatcher fought over...nothing, Grooves took a more proactive role. "I got you a pillow, darling." helping her climb up onto it, he turned to Cookie. "Weren't you cooking?"
She gasped. "My pancakes! They're ruined!" and dashed back to the kitchen.
Hat Kid and Grooves watched as Conductor and Snatcher continued to fight and argue. "So, darling. If I may, where's your family?"
"There's a stream nearby, I think. We were moving, during the rainstorm a few days ago. And I fell out of the boat and got washed away." she was a bit distracted in her reply, hoping that the pancakes were fine. Almost dying really worked up an appetite!
Grooves nodded in thought. "In theory, if we follow this stream, we could find your family's boat?"
Her eyes lit up. She never thought of that! "I bet we could! Oh, but it'd take me all day to find it again!"
"Darlin'! Do you really think we'd let you wander around after what just happened? We'd help! Or, at least I would." he gestured to himself, smiling at her.
Squirming, she tried to get closer to his hand. Hugging his fingers tight, she whimpered, "Thank you thank you thank you!"
Cookie appeared again, sighing. "So, I managed to salvage a few, but there is a problem."
"Are they not edible?" Snatcher asked.
"Like that'll turn ye away. Ah watched ye pull a soda out of the trash and drink it-"
"They're a bit...big. The smaller ones burnt." she looked at Hat Kid as she said that.
Picking up what she meant, the tiny girl huffed indignantly. "I can handle it! C'mon I'm hungry!"
Cookie snickered, and shrugged. "You're the boss…" she slid a plate up to the girl, who immediately started regretting her decision.
The pancake was at least the size of the plate, covered in a sticky syrup and butter. There was no way she could eat all of this.
But she was sure going to try.
She started nibbling the edge closest to her. It was so sweet and fluffy! How did she go without them?! The syrup stuck to her hair and clothes, but she didn't notice.
She did notice the four pairs of eyes watching her eat the pancake. She blushed. "A-Am I doing something wrong?"
"Kid, I'm currently at the table with a child smaller than the size of my hand eating a pancake the size of a dinner plate. This is a bit bizarre, even for us."
"Also it's super cute!" Cookie cooed, sliding a plate of several pancakes to Snatcher. He immediately began to tore into them, as if he hadn't eaten in several days.
"I'm not cute! I'm cool and tough!" she squeaked.
"Lassie, should I cut that for ye?" Conductor offered, smirking at her adorable little tantrum.
"Yes. Please." she pouted, puffing out her cheeks.
They continued their breakfast without a hitch, talking about what they would do today, and other topics like that.
It was a strange little family she had gathered, but it was hers. And she wouldn't have it any other way.