8A Safe Place- A Boxtrolls fanfic
Description: Eggs and the boxtrolls haven't slept in twenty-four hours and the adrenaline of defeating Snatcher is wearing out. But with their home destroyed, they need a new spot to sleep. Though still-half crazed, Herbert Trubshaw might just know a place, and finds something he lost. A story told from four points of view.
Boxtrolls, and box boy/ boy trolls, are used to having long sleeping times when the sun is out. Even those that had toiled away under Snatcher's warehouse took turns working to allow each other a chance to sleep, always careful to wake each other when Snatcher would come down to make sure they weren't 'slacking off'. A bit dazed by the light and drunk from the adrenaline high, the trolls were stumbling around the town square together, never splitting up into less than three trolls in a group at a time.
Eggs, Winnie, and Lord Portley-Rind were able to subdue the curious crowd after extracting themselves from the rancid remains of the Tasting Room. Inquisitive crowd members still lingered, but they did seem to understand that the boxtrolls didn't like loud sounds and would hide in their boxes until it was quieter. Among the trolls Herbert Trubshaw sat on a curb and babbled excitedly about whatever crossed his mind. A few boxtrolls had already made a low wall around him, enjoying the fact that he was no longer hanging out of their reach and instead joined them on the ground.
Winnie was the first to notice the way Eggs' head was beginning to dip as he attempted to follow her around the town square while she did damage control. Fish and Shoe were trailing right behind him, Fish never letting go of his arm or shirt. Shoe yawned loudly and often; he had seemed irritable before but now he was downright grouchy.
"Eggs?" Winnie watched in amusement as her friend's eyes didn't seem to be able to blink at the same time when he turned to her, "Do you need to rest?" The scrawny boy nodded tiredly, "Then you should get some sleep, my father and I can handle the cleaning up."
"Can't," was his short answer.
"Why not?"
"Cavern's destroyed," Eggs managed before he caught one of Shoe's yawns, "Nowhere to sleep."
"O-oh," Winnie had been woken from her short chance at sleep by the rumbling beneath the city and the racket of Snatcher's machine, it wasn't until now that she realized that Snatcher must have broken his way into the cavern to catch all the boxtrolls he missed. That was Eggs' home, the only one he ever knew. The boxtrolls weren't just dazed, they were lost.
"You could come stay at my house!" Words jumped out of her like they usually did, "There's plenty of room for all of you." She chose to ignore the horrified gasp of her father ten feet away.
But even half-asleep, Eggs still spoke for his family, "Too bright. Need dark. Need stars."
Need stars? What could he mean by-?
"OH! OH! I know this one!" Came the jubilant shout from Trubshaw, waving his hand in the air, "Pick me! Pick me!"
"Yes, Mr. Trubshaw?" Winnie politely stepped around the milling boxtrolls to better hear the mad inventor.
"IknowadarknotbightplacewithstarscomeonfollowmeI'llshowyou!" he paused to suck in a breath to replace what he spent in his rant before vaulting over the not-quite sleeping boxtrolls around him and darting down the street, "Come on! Come on!"
Eggs, not possessing enough energy to both question his biological father and follow him at the same time, opted for just following. He took Fish by the hand and stumbled after the wild haired man. Sensing the movement, all of the boxtrolls shuffled together and followed, some not bothering to extend anything but their feet, letting the more conscious guide them.
Winnie followed with a call back to her father, "I'll be back in a bit!"
"Try not to get dirty!" her father called back, not the best advice, baby steps she chanted in her mind.
Trubshaw practically pranced down the cobblestone streets, having enough presence of mind to wait for the exhausted clan to catch up to him. He led them left and right and around buildings and down streets. He suddenly stopped at a large set of decrepit double doors that had a poster labeled 'CONDEMED' plastered on it, which Trubshaw cheerfully ripped off.
"There! Just like I left it!"
With a great push he managed to open the left side of the rusted doors, a clamor of screeching metal emanating from the abused hinges. Oil Can half-heartedly spent whatever drips were left in his trusty can trying to help. Winnie, being unburdened by fatigue, was the first in after Trubshaw.
What she saw was perfect.
The workshop had seen better days to be sure, everything was coated in a fine layer of dust and workbenches had been overturned at one point, leaving bits and pieces of toy parts scattered across the floor. A slight draft from one of the boarded up windows kept the air from getting stale. Everything was nearly perfect for the cave-dwelling boxtrolls. Further in Trubshaw was darting about, looking for something she assumed by the way he was repeating, "No, nope, not there."
Winnie turned to see the reactions of the trolls as they entered. Eggs and company were first, Eggs being almost dead on his feet didn't really stop to appreciate his surroundings, only caring that their little trip was over. Fish and Shoe were likewise the same, ignoring the scattered gears left out for the taking. A few of the other boxtrolls gave delighted smiles at the discovery of the scrap pieces and started to collect the ones directly in their path. One or two didn't even collect them; they just found a random piece and decided to hold it close in security.
"Found it! Found it! Found it!"
Trubshaw had found a coil of wire dotted with little light bulbs and held it above his head as he scrambled up a ladder in the wall. It led up into catwalks and as soon as he found his feet he began to unroll the coil around the rafters. The coil was soon haphazardly strewn left and right across the walkways until it ran out. He gleefully slid down the ladder only to grab a cable and run up the ladder again. Below the amassed trolls watched in tired curiosity, already feeling comfortable enough to form a vaguely shaped square on the floor.
Then Trubshaw connected the wires, and the stars came out.
The tiny light bulbs had been scattered to form an imperfect Milky Way across a ceiling filled with constellations. At some point in his sanity, the inventor Trubshaw had painted the ceiling of his workshop to match the night sky above it.
"Stars! See? Stars!" Trubshaw crowed.
Below there were appreciative cooing and slaps to the chest. Already the trolls were beginning to clamor over each other to construct their 'sleeping box'. Winnie watched in amazement as the boxtrolls arranged themselves together, one troll waiting for a specific other troll before stacking themselves together. Eggs was very near collapse and could do nothing but rub his eyes as Fish led him up the structure. As she watched, Trubshaw passed by her, carried by four trolls and placed at the top right along Eggs. By the time they were done, they had formed a nearly perfect box, save for the two skinny lumps at the top.
Eggs was already fast asleep, clutching Fish's arm still. Trubshaw sat up nearby, still looking alert from his perch. Winnie figured he was tired too, but more likely to collapse without any pretense.
"Dear, Winnie dear, please close the door as you leave," he called down, with less exclamation and more articulation than anything she's heard him say before, "Nothing's waking them. Not noisy doors. Rusty doors. Need oil. Somewhere in here probably. Third shelf? Or the green drawer? Oil Can's very nice. More oil could make him happy."
Winnie turned to leave when she realized that he wasn't going to stop rambling. From the collective pile there came soft growls and snores. By her best judgment, which was rather good, they would be sleeping for a long time. She would check in before it got dark but she probably won't see them until tomorrow. Maybe she should bring a basket, scratch that, a cart of food. Satisfied with her plan, she made her way back home.
Herbert Trubshaw was loathe to sleep. So much time with his brains the wrong side up (or was it wrong side down?) he did not want to sleep with his head sideways. Madness! Madness… Maybe… but he was still here. He was still in his mind, but everything was in the wrong place. The things he was supposed to remember weren't where he left them. All the hurting things that he didn't want to remember were in his way.
But he was safe here, under his stars and his friends underfoot and- and-
He turned to his right and saw the outline of the boy. He was still holding onto Fish's right hand. Son, his son, their son too. Box boy, boy troll? Someone new, someone amazing. But his memories weren't in the right spot. He couldn't remember the boy's first name. Not Eggs, his second name. Current name. Memories were jumping around, but he had called him 'Son' or 'My boy' in them. Happy times those memories. Smiles and laughs. Not like now, with frowns and crying. But maybe there would be more smiles now that the red hats are gone. All the trolls are here too, no one lost, no one to cry for. Everyone's safe.
Almost about to sleep on the knees he had pulled up to his chest, he was foiled by the soft cry from his right. Eggs had been still before, but now he was shaking.
"N-no…no…" sad little gasps came from his son.
Bad things, sad, crying. No more crying. Before he knew it he was petting the boy's hair.
"There, there, don't cry… It's ok, it's ok," and like that a memory came back.
Baby boy Eggs was crying, it was raining outside and there were flashes of light. Lightning, thunder. Eggs didn't like the thunder, it was loud and scary. Herbert the Sane had pet his head and the tuffs of hair on it and baby boy Eggs stopped crying. Box boy Eggs stopped crying too, no more shaking and no more mumbling.
A soft cooing caught his notice; glowing yellow eyes sleepily peered out of Fish's box. Fish had smiling eyes, happy eyes. Good, happy troll that kept his son safe.
"Thank you Fish. Keeping him safe all this time," he was hushed now, Eggs needed lots of sleep, "Has he been happy? With smiles? And laughs?"
Fish poked his head further out to nod, also cooing some kind of simple melody.
"Singing too then?" Another nod from Fish.
Trubshaw couldn't help himself, he started laugh, not loud, and he tried to keep it down. The mental image of trolls singing lullabies in their harsh growling language. Baby boy Eggs would have loved it. He kept his laughs in so well that they started coming out of his eyes as tears. Where did these memories go? Why weren't they there all that time when he was hurting? If there had been even one tiny square of space in his mind for him to imagine with, then he could have pictured his son being happy and safe.
He didn't notice that he was actually, honestly crying until a four-fingered had reached up to pet his head. The feeling of a warm hand running over his tangled mess of hair was unbelievably comforting. Eggs must have gotten it from him. He was tall for his age too, barely ten and already so tall! And…and…
And he was really quite tired.
Fish smiled as Jelly finally slumped down and fell asleep. He hadn't changed much since they met. Jelly's brain was always full of thinking, like there were crickets jumping around in his head. The night Eggs was given to him, he heard that wrench hit his head. Feeling through his matted hair, Fish found the small dip in his head where it hit. It must have hurt terribly, maybe it still did. That night was the first time Fish could ever remember being so filled with hate. Hate so strong that he didn't want to hide, he wanted to bite and claw and hiss. But baby Eggs was crying, so scared with the yelling and the coming storm. He had to get him safe.
Once inside the cavern baby Eggs still cried, and it took many pets to the head to get him to stop. By then Fish knew he couldn't ever leave him alone, the Red Hats were still out there with their shouting and wrenches. All he could do was make sure baby Eggs lives.
Now Jelly was so happy with him. Happy that Eggs was happy. His boy. Their boy. They were all here together and everything is ok.
Fish didn't need help falling asleep.
Eggs woke before the others did. Without the Sun and Moon Clock there was no way of knowing how long they actually spent asleep. There was no light coming from in between the wooden slats on the windows. That was a lot of time to be asleep, but still, he did not feel like getting up right now. Fish's hand was still in his own, still there, still alive. They had come so close to dying. When he saw that machine crush…
Tears pricked at the edge of his eyes. No, they were fine. They escaped. They all abandoned their boxes because he begged them to. After all the times he had begged them to run or fight they had finally listened. When he was in trouble they fought for him. Even…
He looked over Fish's hand and saw the wild-haired man who was his father.
Winnie said that fathers were supposed to be strong and elegant and other fancy things he couldn't quite remember. But Fish and Trubshaw did listen to him and protect him, so they counted as far as he cared.
The pull of sleep was coming back but he wanted to stay awake. There were scary things in his dreams now. Big, noisy machines and horrible fire and rope wrapping around his neck and all of his family not being there to save him because they were never ever coming back and- and-
Shoe gave a hiccup-snort that throws back the lid of his box. It was enough to temporarily wake him up, but Shoe didn't really wake up until he had a few ladybugs. He blearily peered over at Eggs before giving a nod and retreating back into his box.
And everything was so, normal. Up on the sleeping box that was bigger than it had been in years, it was like everything bad couldn't get him here. It was like when he was very little and his family was all together and before sleeping time they would build themselves into a fort for him to play in. When they all decided to wake they would explore the workshop and start building things. He and Fish and Trubshaw could build a new music machine while Sparky would put more stars in the ceiling. Oil Can wouldn't rest until the doors didn't screech and Shoe would grumble about something. Winnie would be there and ask lots of questions and won't leave until she has them. Once there was enough time they would run around the city together and find things and fix things…
Eggs was asleep with the thought of running without being chased and exploring without hiding.