Tag: unnamed sad oscar au

Changing Hands (3/5)

On By nightmares06In UncategorizedLeave a comment

Welcome back to the sad Oscar AU. The unfortunate adventure continues for the little guy, as another upset in his new normal changes things again.

Mina’s part was written by @nightmares06, who graciously helped to bring even more terror to Oscar’s life.

(x)

The sound of Thomas knocking at the door died off, leaving him standing in the cooling afternoon air. The distant bustle of people at the out-of-the way hotel the meeting with Mina was set up for reached Oscar in his small box, all the sounds of life in the human world as they went about their day, never knowing the pain he endured.

Cars drove by on the distant road, birds shrieked offense at the restaurant goers that didn’t share their food. A placid setting for Oscar’s life as it continued spiraling out of his control.

Metal scraped on the inside of the door and a latch clicked open, and the tall door swung wide, a warm grin to greet Thomas at the ready.

“Thomas, dear,” Mina said as she beckoned him into the room. “Punctual as always.”

Thomas gave a noncommittal grunt in reply as he entered the room hastily. He knew as well as Mina that it was much better for their meeting to be as discreet as possible. “Traffic was on our side,” he quipped once he was inside.

Inside the box held in his hand, Oscar shrank into his corner as far as he could. Thomas was always so casual. His familiar tone with the new human settled ice in Oscar’s middle. The man had done this many times before.

The box suddenly lifted up to eye level and Thomas spoke again. “Nori got a little attached to this one so he might be a little spoiled, but I don’t foresee many problems with him.”

“We can always fix that,” Mina said dismissively. She double-locked the door once more to keep her business private, standard procedure for when she operated out of hotel rooms. It was more low class than she was used to, but whatever got the job done these days.

There was a stylish purse sitting on the small table set to the side of the door, and Mina went over to the bag, slipping an elegantly manicured hand inside. “Let’s take a look at him now, shall we?” she said, her voice steel beneath the deceptive warmth she exuded.

Oscar shuddered, and then let out a startled squeak as the box moved around him yet again. This time, the lid lifted away, bringing more fresh air than the simple holes cut in the top and more light from the motel room’s lamps.

Oscar prepared for a hand to come into view above him, but instead everything outside the box shifted quickly again. He couldn’t stop his tumble as it all turned sideways and then upside down, releasing him onto Thomas’ palm instead. He landed with a quiet breath, and then immediately scrambled to curl himself into a protective ball again.

“Definitely an easier one to deal with,” Thomas commented, almost sounding bored. He’d met Mina enough times to have something of a routine with visits like this; this time, he didn’t even need to hold the little guy down.

“Mm, yes,” Mina said mildly. She withdrew her hand from her purse, a small pocket magnifier pinched between her fingers. “A very mild one compared to your last batch.”

She leaned in close to Thomas’ hand. “He’s small,” she commented offhand as she beheld the curled ball. “There, there, little gem,” she said softly, reaching her empty hand for him. With expert practice, she managed to get a slim finger into his curl. “No need to be so scared, you won’t be hurt here.”

The words were kind but there was no empathy in her voice. She gently coaxed the tiny guy with her fingers, the magnifier held out so she could see him clearly.

Changing Hands (2/5)

On By nightmares06In UncategorizedLeave a comment

Welcome back to the sad Oscar AU. The unfortunate adventure continues for the little guy, as another upset in his new normal changes things again.

(x)

Oscar’s first car ride had been terrifying, trapped in the plastic ice bucket. Then, he hadn’t had any idea where he was going or what might happen to him. The sounds of a car all around him had been foreign and strange reminders of his predicament.

This time, he knew what was next. Noriko and Thomas didn’t exactly talk to him, but when they talked over him he picked up more than enough information. He was for sale. Mina was the human who would buy him. For all of Noriko’s cooing and hugging him, fawning over how cute he was and pinching his face in her fingers, she was eager to make as much money as she could with him.

All that time, he’d tried to ignore it. He was being prepared, like some kind of fancy toy, to be presented to Mina so they could hope for the biggest payout.

For the first few minutes of the car ride, Oscar stared up at the top of his cramped prison. The holes cut there only let in sparse light, and a rare glimpse of Noriko’s face or her straight black hair. The box rocked from side to side every once in a while as she fidgeted with him in hand.

Oscar looked away as the trip wore on. His eyes stung, an all too familiar sensation these days. Tears brimmed and then raced down his cheeks in time with his breathing. He brushed them away on a sleeve, but then more tears burst forth and he sobbed. He couldn’t stop the despairing emotions from crashing over him.

Noriko never noticed his cries. She talked to Thomas, but Oscar drowned out her words. Their voices were like broken glass jabbing at him.

By the time the car came to a stop, Oscar had curled himself into a tiny, shuddering ball. The tears tapered off as he looked up, his eyes sore and scratchy. He always cried more when he thought he couldn’t possibly have tears left. They always came.

Now, he needed to listen. “Do you want to go in with me?” Thomas asked.

To Oscar’s surprise, Noriko’s voice was tight with emotion when she responded. “Ohh, I shouldn’t,” she said, and Oscar’s box lifted up, presumably to be handed off. “I miss him already, Tom.”

“Aww, Nori,” Thomas chided gently, a smile coloring his tone. “Are you sure you’re okay selling this one? It seemed to take a real shine to you. I’m sure Mina would understand.”

“Nooo,” she replied, drawing out the word. “I know I do this every time, but I’m just a foster mommy, really,” she assured him. “He needs to go to someone else who will love him just as much.”

Oscar shuddered and shrank into himself. His chest ached from sobs he couldn’t let out anymore. He didn’t want to go to some other human. He was nothing more than a doll to them. A scared little pet who was too weak to escape.

“Okay,” Thomas replied, still amused. A car door opened. “Be right back.”

Just like that, Noriko was out of Oscar’s life, and he was out of hers. He couldn’t even see the moment, trapped as he was in the box, but the finality in their voices couldn’t be denied.

Now, as Thomas carried him to his next destination, Oscar couldn’t decide if he wished he could stay with the nightmare he knew. Wherever he went next might be better than Noriko’s coddling and treating him like a toy.

He heard the sound of Thomas knocking on a door and shuddered.

It might be worse, too.

Changing Hands (1/5)

On By nightmares06In UncategorizedLeave a comment

Welcome back to the sad Oscar AU. The unfortunate adventure continues for the little guy, as another upset in his new normal changes things again.

(x)

It never helped to count the days since he was captured. Oscar’s waking hours blended together in a huge nightmare that even sleep couldn’t erase. His bruises from his first capture faded and healed. His ankle, twisted and sore after he tried only once to escape, improved with care until it too showed no sign of the hurt. Oscar had memories as effective as any scar to remind him of the painful failure.

Noriko and Thomas kept him physically healthy. He received food every day, multiple times a day, and wasn’t left alone until he ate his fill. They didn’t like his habit of stashing food for later. Noriko would scold him even as she took away whatever he managed to hide.

She’d made a lot of clothes for him. She had fun seeing him in new outfits and could never resist a new one. Oscar was well familiar with her squeal of delight. It always came right before she swept him up in a hand to kiss the top of his head or hold him close in a hug.

Oscar really was her favorite. Sometimes, his eyes brimmed with tears when he thought about her. How he was getting used to her.

Used to belonging to her.

And then the day came when that changed.

“Wake up, little baby!” Noriko’s cheerful greeting preceded her entrance to the room. Oscar opened his eyes and sat up blearily as the lights switched on.

She had something in her hand. Oscar scooted off of his bed cushion to stand just as Noriko reached his dollhouse cage. Her free hand reached out and the glass front swung wide before he could see what she carried with her. Instead, he was gathered up in a gentle fist.

Noriko lifted him out of the cage and Oscar kept his eyes lowered. He squirmed only a little, aiming for more comfort for his arms. The pressure in the slender fingers around him rose and fell in reaction to it. As he rose, a breeze tousled his messy hair (Noriko never could tame it, no matter how often she scrubbed at it with fruity smelling shampoos).

Held before her face, Oscar had a clear view of her fond smile. A sort of sadness touched her eyes and he waited for the reason. Asking never had any effect. She’d say what she wanted to as if he hadn’t said anything at all.

“Oh, my sweet little one, you really are my favorite,” she cooed. Oscar cringed inwardly. He was only her favorite because he was smaller than most and easier to control

He cringed outwardly when her hand moved forward and allowed her to kiss the top of his head as she’d done many times before. Oscar, locked in her fist, could only wince until the brief gesture was over. His stomach flipped as he suddenly descended.

She lowered him towards what he could now see was a small box, made of cardboard and lined at the bottom with a cushion much like the one he slept on. Oscar could do nothing but watch it come closer until he was released a few inches over the cushion for a soft landing. He pushed himself up to his hands and knees and shook his head, dazed by the quick transition.

He collapsed as Noriko picked up the box again. When he looked up, she was sporting an endeared grin. “Oh, little sweetie. You be good for your new mommy, okay?”

Oscar’s eyes widened in confusion and he flinched. The lid of the box, cut with holes for air, was placed on top of his latest prison. His squeak of alarm died in his throat as she began walking again, carrying him away. He had to huddle in one corner to try to avoid being jostled around.

Outside the box, he could hear Noriko and Thomas getting ready. His prison swayed and jolted as they carried him around or set him aside to pick up something else, but he couldn’t see what was going on.

One name came up, and it drowned out everything else, even the car doors slamming and the engine of Thomas’ car purring to life. They were going to meet her.

Mina.

No More Wishes

On By nightmares06In UncategorizedLeave a comment
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Sorry, folks. Laughter may sound like a nice prompt, but the only thing that came to me was more sad Oscar. If I have to think of this stuff, so do you ;P

There was laughter in the other room.

Oscar looked up from where he sat curled up on his bed, startled by the sudden burst of noise. Noriko was watching TV out there, enjoying her favorite show. Oscar never knew what made her laugh so much, but so long as it kept her attention away from him for a while, he liked it. Whenever Noriko paid him attention, she wanted to hold him in her hands constantly, poking at him or petting his messy hair.

He hated it. He hated it so much, but he knew better than to think things would ever be any different. Oscar was just her newest favorite doll.

His prison proved it. When Noriko was bored with him, she put him away in a wooden box with a glass front, all designed to look like a room in a house. A dollhouse with him on display at all times.

In one corner there was a round cushion, meant to be his bed. There was a doll couch facing the front glass wall, and to the side opposite the bed was a table and a chair. The walls themselves were decorated with cheap patterned paper. Oscar wished he could find an escape through that tattered wallpaper like he could in a real room.

Instead, he could only lounge around in the miniature room, staring sullenly through the glass front wall. The room beyond was the very same one where he’d tried to make his escape under the floorboards those weeks ago. He knew better now. Every entrance he might fight to the walls could be a trap, and it wasn’t worth getting hurt again.

His ankle had only just healed, and the memory of the pain it caused him made him curl up tighter on his cushion.

Noriko laughed again in the other room.

Oscar had no idea how many people like him had spent time in that workroom. Noriko made a hobby of them, measuring them for clothes that she made herself. She played with them by corralling them between her hands, watching them try to get past. Oscar knew because it was her favorite game with him.

Even now, he wore a new outfit made for him by her delicate sewing work. It was more cumbersome than the clothes he always made for himself, but those had been too ratty, she said. Too plain. Oscar had watched his hard work get thrown out in the trash after she made him change.

It was a good fit, but the fabric was thicker than he was used to. Oscar found it stiff and unwieldy, hard to move around. It worked well for the humans keeping him captive.

He shifted where he sat, turning away from that depressing glass wall. Even though he knew Noriko would be back at least one more time before going to bed herself, he lay down on his cushion. Teary eyes traced the simple pattern on the wallpaper until it blurred and he had to blink.

Oscar wasn’t hungry anymore. He wasn’t cold or desperate for supplies anymore. He had someone around that seemed to care, in her own terrifying way, when he was injured or scared. These were all things that he thought he wanted.

If this was how his prayers were answered, he didn’t want to wish for anything ever again.

On By nightmares06In UncategorizedLeave a comment

I agree! ;o;  Oscar needs a rescue desperately. He’s simply too little and timid to keep fighting back against what’s happening to him. It’s all so scary and the humans are so mean to him.

It’d be just awful if it were BT Oz, wouldn’t it? The little guy with one hopeful time in all his life, knowing he has friends out there but that they’ll probably never find him. What a sad thought…

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He really really needs someone to save him!

Floorboards (2/2)

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( For the first parts of this AU, follow these links to It Just Takes One and A New Doll )

“He got in the floor,” Noriko explained, her disappointed voice muffled by the ceiling of wood over Oscar’s head. Some boards creaked under the humans’ weight.

“Lemme guess,” her boyfriend said, amusement in his tone. “Left him up on the table? You know they’re good climbers, Nori.”

There was a sound of a playful slap on a shoulder. “Just get him out, please?”

Oscar limped faster. The floor overhead creaked and groaned as the huge human man crossed the room. If he were to glance behind, he was sure he’d see the light from the knot in the wood winking out under a massive shadow.

Oscar was over halfway across the room from there. They’d never find him once he got into the walls on the other side. He was so close.

Or so he thought.

Up ahead was a sight that made the blood rush out of Oscar’s face. Cold fear washed over him.

Wedged in between the support boards was another block of wood, perpendicular to the rest. It blocked passage further in the room, and Oscar could tell from looking at it that it’d be too heavy to push even if he didn’t have an injured ankle.

There was a smiley face scratched into it with faded ink.

A trap. The floor was a trap.

Oscar stood frozen, favoring one leg. The humans moved around above him. They were ready for him to attempt an escape. Noriko never once worried about losing track of him. Humans were more powerful and that inked smiley face bore into him while heavy footsteps approached overhead. Tears stung in his eyes.

A wrenching sound tore through the air and light burst down on him. Oscar looked up in shock and tried to throw himself backwards, out of the light, as Noriko’s boyfriend pulled a floorboard right out of its base.

Oscar’s ankle protested, and he fell. Seconds later, a hand snatched in at him, and he was pinned. The dust dug into his cheek from the pressure on his back.

Then, the powerful fingers dragged him backwards. Oscar swept through the dust until fingertips the size of his head pinched the back of his shirt. With no further warning, they yanked him upwards.

Oscar tried to curl into himself as much as he could as he soared up out of the floor in a precarious grip. The room whirled around him and the floor waited below as the man held him up.

It didn’t take long for Noriko to snatch him in a fist and wrench him away. As her hand closed around him, Oscar finally yelped in pain.

“Oh, no, baby,” Noriko cooed, whisking Oscar up towards her face. She opened her fist to cradle Oscar in both hands, and all he could see through the jostling pain was her eyes and the straight black curtain of her hair.

“Did Thomas hurt you, little sweetie?” she prompted. Oscar shuddered and tried to curl into a ball on her palm. A single finger nudged at him and forced him to uncurl again. “Tell me where you’re hurt.” There was no room for defiance in her tone.

Oscar sniffled and realized there were tears spilling from his eyes and tracking through the dust on his face. He shook all over, fear thrumming in every nerve. He really was just a little pet doll to these people. They knew he’d go for an escape and had a trap for him in there. It was all so overwhelming and he sobbed quietly.

Noriko expected an answer, so he lifted a shaky hand to brush at his eyes. His tears were grainy with dust, and his cheek stung from dragging along the ground. He met her dramatically concerned gaze and then pointed to his sprained ankle without a word.

She gasped and held him even closer so she could observe the swelling. If he wanted, Oscar could reach up and touch her face from so close. Instead, he lay down in her hands and covered his face while more sobs shook his little shoulders.

“Ohhhh my gosh,” Noriko whispered, her voice almost breaking. “Thomas, you hurt him!”

Thomas grunted noncommittally. The floorboard clattered back into place. “He coulda got that any time after he scampered off. Lease now he won’t run off so easy.”

“Oh, you’re so awful,” Noriko scolded. Oscar hiccupped. Her voice was so loud and close.

A fingertip nudged at his side and rolled him over again. Noriko took advantage of Oscar’s surprised flail to unfold his fearful curl and pin him to her palm with a thumb. She walked out of the room, looking him over with pity. Oscar held back a whimper of pain and defeat while more quiet tears came.

“Oh, sweet pea,” Noriko said quietly. “Don’t worry. Mama’s gonna get you all cleaned up and then we can put some ice on it. Gotta help you heal up right for when it’s time to meet Mina.”

Oscar shivered as Noriko reached the sink in her cluttered kitchen. That name had come up again. Mina. Oscar didn’t know who she was. Just another human.

The water turned on with a metallic squeal of the faucet, and crashed into the chrome basin of the sink. Oscar pushed other thoughts away. His focus fixed on the water as Noriko, still cradling him in one hand, moved him inexorably towards the relentless stream.

He held his breath and closed his eyes tight.

It was all he could do.

Floorboards (1/2)

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We return to the sad AU for Oscar for this prompt. Cradle almost stumped me, but then this came to mind.

( For the first parts of this AU, follow these links to It Just Takes One and A New Doll )

Oscar stumbled, but he barely hit the floor before he scrambled back up and kept running. Everything in him focused forward, across the long expanse of hardwood flooring. He ignored the rumbling in the floor and the gaping space overhead, unfamiliar surroundings all looming in his periphery. He didn’t know this house, but he didn’t need to in order to recognize an avenue of escape.

It was the only chance he had.

They’d taken his bag. Tossed it out with the trash, no matter how much he wished they wouldn’t. It was only shabby cloth to them. Worthless.

To Noriko and her obedient boyfriend, Oscar was the one of value. A high priced little doll that needed to be fixed up and made perfect. They didn’t care how much he wept.

The first chance at escape came when Noriko left him out on her work table to go and fix herself a snack. She was so assured that he was trapped up there that she’d set him down on the middle of the surface without even a word to him after holding him up to her eyes, turning him this way and that.

From what Oscar understood, he and other smaller folk like him were a hobby to the dark-haired woman. She cooed over him and told him how precious he was, but she never treated him like a person. He had to escape.

Climbing down a table leg without the aid of his safety pin and string was difficult and risky, but Oscar hadn’t had a choice. Desperation had kept him safe for the haphazard slide all the way down to the floor, and he’d hit the ground running. He had to get himself out of sight before she came back.

He was a few feet away from a rolling stand raised off the ground a few inches by squeaky wheels when her footsteps returned to the room. “Oh, shit!” Noriko’s girly voice boomed overhead. Oscar flinched and it spurred him onward. Something clattered and more tremors stomped through the floor.

Oscar dove under the stand just in time for one of Noriko’s socked feet to land nearby. He pushed himself back to his feet and scurried to the back of the rolling cabinet near the wall, only turning to look at her when he reached the baseboard.

A curtain of black hair came into view before finally part of her face blocked everything else beyond the heavy stand. One eye bore into him and Oscar shuddered. Noriko had a way of smiling, appearing as cheerful as ever, while ice stabbed out of her expression. This was one of those times.

“Awww, who’s a little stinker?” she cooed. “You’re getting yourself all dusty, little baby. Why don’t you come out and we can rinse you off? I won’t even put you in time out if you come out right now.”

Oscar winced. ‘Time out,’ as she called it in that saccharine voice of hers, was an old pill bottle with holes cut in the lid. Oscar had yet to earn any time locked up in the cramped container, but it had been made clear to him what could earn him a stay.

An escape attempt meant at least half a day trapped in that bottle. Oscar would have no hope of getting out if he was stuck in there.

Still, he didn’t move to come out. This was his only chance to get away.

While Noriko kept her eye on him, Oscar glanced around for a new escape route. He knew she could move the cabinet if she wanted to get to him. He needed a better place to hide, somewhere out of reach. If she got a hand on him, it was over.

Just when he thought he wouldn’t find a way out of this mess, he spotted it. A hole in the old floorboard from a knot in the wood. It was barely more than an inch wide, but Oscar could tell that it bore all the way through.

The floorboards. If he could escape to the internals of the house, Noriko would never catch sight of him again.

“Don’t!” her voice ordered even as he dashed for the hole in the floor. Oscar shuddered but ignored her warning.

He almost tripped over his own feet to reach it. Right as he crouched by the opening to peer in, Noriko’s face disappeared from the gap at the front of Oscar’s current shelter. He had no time. He scooted forwards and slipped into the knog feet first. The wood floor groaned as the cabinet shifted ominously on its wheels.

Oscar was a skinny little guy. He didn’t need to make effort to fit, while the huge furniture overhead moved. He dropped out of sight before the human woman could get the stand out of the way with a loud rumbling of its wheels on the wooden boards.

Noriko swore loudly overhead, and Oscar fell a distance almost twice his own height. The dark under the floor welcomed him like an old friend. Relief welled up in him until he hit the ground.

Pain flared through his ankle, weak after years of fighting to get enough food. Oscar landed in a heap and stifled a squeal of pain. The wooden ceiling several inches above him rumbled with Noriko’s resentful stomps.

Oscar reached a shaky hand to brush over his ankle and foot. It stung when he touched it, and there was already swelling around the most painful spots, but his cloth wraps kept it steady through the pain.

Just a sprain. He groaned and pushed himself up to his feet while in the distance Noriko called for her boyfriend.

He wasn’t out yet. He couldn’t stop running until he was far from those two.

The first hobbled steps nearly knocked him over again. Oscar grimaced and stayed upright through sheer determination.

Under the floorboards was a thick layer of dust, rained down from above over the years. Thick support beams ran in rows, creating walls on either side of Oscar. He glanced behind and found more supports. The nearest wall was barred from him.

He’d have to trek across the long passageway under the room where Noriko did her work. She and her boyfriend would be right overhead the whole way, unseen giants looking for him. Angry at him.

Fear and a pounding heart drove him on, despite the slow progress on his hurt ankle. Pain pulsed up his leg with every step, preventing a full run no matter how much he tried to hurry himself along. No gaps showed in the support boards on either side, and Oscar needed to find one soon.

The earthquakes were coming back.

A New Doll

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Oscar – Possession

Break my heart into pieces, why don’t ya (Don’t worry, I will just do that to myself). This prompt is a continuation of this other one. The AU is still unnamed and not planned out really. It’s just sad how dare.

Oscar never did adjust to the darkness inside the ice bucket. No light leaked in past the lid, giving him nothing. Even inside the walls, some light made it in. He was adapted to make use of it like no human ever could, but now even he was blinded.

He was curled into a tight ball, covering his ears to block the sounds from outside. An engine rumbled and a radio blared. Oscar’s own heart pounded. No matter what, he couldn’t protect himself from that noise out there. It was unfamiliar from so close.

Everything was a reminder that he’d been taken away from his home.

Life in the Knight’s Inn motel wasn’t easy. Oscar had to fight for survival almost every day. When he wasn’t critically low on food, the draft was enough to chill his tiny bones. From waking up to burrowing into his nest of blankets to sleep, Oscar worked hard. He spent his time collecting supplies, or sitting in his ringbox chair to weave and sew.

It was all gone now. Now he was at the mercy of a human and no help was coming.

His cheeks were dry and scratchy from the many tears that had already leaked from his eyes. He had his eyes shut tight to hold back more, but they escaped in spite of his efforts. Oscar sobbed in time with his breathing and tried to think of a silver lining. Something about his situation had to have a good side.

He couldn’t think of one.

Bumps in the road jostled him, but Oscar always found his way back into his desperate curl. It was all he could think to do to protect himself, though he knew it made him a coward. He could be trying to find a way out, but in his heart he knew there was none. It comforted him more to huddle into himself and hide in his own thoughts.

Thus he traveled for hours, leaving his home far behind. Farther than he’d ever be able to travel on his own, all while stuck in the dark confines of a stolen ice bucket. He doubted the human cared, if he was willing to steal an entire person, too, three and a quarter inches tall or not.

At length, the movement came to an end, along with the loud sounds of the engine and the radio. Oscar’s ears rang with the sudden absence, but then he choked on a yelp as the bucket moved. His captor grabbed it up and soon enough, the sound of the car was replaced by the sound of heavy footsteps.

He curled up more fervently, making himself as tiny as he could. His body quivered from the strain and the fear, and his stomach quailed. He was fortunate that he hadn’t yet eaten that day, or he might have been sick already.

The steps carried him through a new door, and when it slammed behind the human, Oscar could feel the vibration in his whole body. He winced, and then flinched again as the human shouted across the house he’d arrived in.

“Nori! Where are ya?” he called.

Another voice answered from somewhere, and the steps resumed. Oscar logged away the hollow sound of the steps. Hardwood floors, with plenty of space beneath them. Floorboards made a great hiding place for people like him, since humans had difficulty getting to them without destroying their home.

“What is it?” the other voice said, closer this time. A woman, from the sound of things.

Oscar squeaked when his prison slammed down onto a surface. His captor answered, sounding prouder than ever. “Check out what I found for us, Noriko.”

Oscar received no further warning before the lid above him lifted away at last with a scraping of plastic. Light burst in and he shut his eyes tight against the sudden onslaught. He flinched away from the face looming overhead, curtained by sheets of straight black hair.

Noriko moved even faster than her companion. Before Oscar could register that her hand was in his field of vision, slender fingers had wrapped around him. She yanked him out of the bucket and shoved the plastic container away absently.

Oscar found himself trapped in a fist before a pair of dark eyes that pierced right through him. Noriko looked interested, but as she looked him over, a frown appeared on her lips. Her grip on Oscar shifted and he suddenly found himself with a thumb against his stomach and two fingers against his back.

Once again, he was lucky he didn’t have anything in his stomach to make him sick. He planted his hands against her thumb and winced, curling up with the pain of her careless grip.

“He’s really skinny,” she pointed out critically, glancing past him at the man standing across the table. “You’ll have to make sure to fatten him up at least a little or she’ll think we sold her a sick one again.”

“I will, Nori, it’s not like she can show up instantly anyway, we’ll get him ready. This one’s exactly the kind she wants,” he replied. Oscar looked between the two of them, confused and wishing he had the bravery to ask who ‘she’ was.

Noriko smiled, a girlish expression that had no place on such a frightening face. Oscar’s breathing raced and he closed his eyes when she focused on him again. That gaze instilled in him a sense that he was little more than a fun new possession to her.

“He is a cutie,” she pointed out. A fingertip forced its way under his chin and tilted his head back. Oscar opened his eyes wide and gasped with pain. “Almost a shame to let him go, he’d look so cute in a little dollhouse.”

“Nori,” the man chided. “With the money from this one, we can get you a dozen cute dolls that you don’t even have to look after when you don’t want to.”

Noriko smiled again and lowered her hand. Oscar was released to the table in front of her with a surprised huff as he landed. The hand settled next to him, fingertips drumming the surface absently while she answered. “I guess you’re right,” she sighed.

Oscar pushed himself to his feet, his legs shaky and sore. He had his head tilted back to watch the humans, who weren’t looking at him for the moment. The man smiled excitedly at Noriko and grabbed the ice bucket from the table. “So, how’d I do?” he asked.

She tilted her head and pouted her lips coyly. Oscar sidled away from her hand, only for that dark gaze to slide down to him. Noriko’s hand casually swept him up again and he squeaked and squirmed in her grip. She ignored his efforts and didn’t release him no matter how he tried to wriggle free. A thumb pressed against his cheek teasingly. “He’s darling. I’ll have to measure him for a new outfit later. You did good, honey.”

Oscar shuddered and more tears raced down his cheeks. The human lifted him up and he sucked in a gasp, and then her grip opened up. His yelp of fear cut off as he landed back on the man’s palm. “Now go put him away for now, you got back in time for our show.”

Oscar covered his head with his hands as the fingers arced overhead until they closed in a fist around him. A voice, so disinterested in him and his fear, rumbled all around. “Be right back.”