“Your people are still going to come to get you, even if you fell out of favour with your queen?” He asked. Pan’s eye widened ever so slightly, his face paling.

“I—”

“That expression suggests that no, no they aren’t.” WW frowned, sitting straighter.

“No, it’s not that!” Pan exclaimed, his hands instinctively reaching for WW’s, as if the human were going to try to leave, “I-I just… I don’t know if they will. It depends on who realizes I’m missing first, I—”

WW pulled his hands from Pan’s. “Stop talking.” Pan obeyed. The confidence he’d found to be more like himself froze and cracked away under that glare. “Now, think very carefully about your words, and explain.” He stared at the man, who shook. Why did he shake? It wasn’t like WW was angry, he just didn’t want to listen to him stammer and talk in circles…

Pan, of course, assumed he was furious. How could he not when the man played his cards so close to his chest? “I…” He took in a deep breath, trying to find the words. “I don’t know if they’ll come for me. All I know is that I’m far from top priority… There’s a chance that the queen will hear I’m missing, and leave me stranded. There’s a chance she’ll wait before sending people to find me. There’s… I honestly don’t remember anything from last night, there’s… There’s a chance someone pushed me through on purpose. But I don’t know. All I know is that I’m here, I can’t get back, and I desperately need a place to stay… Maybe for a couple days, maybe for months while I try to think of what to do next…” By the time he’d finished talking, he’d pulled a knee up, and wrapped his arms and tail around his leg. He couldn’t meet WW’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” WW frowned. He felt bad for the man. He must be terrified… No wonder he’s so timid…

Pan scoffed and looked up to him. “Because ‘Hi, I need a place to stay for a little while’ sounds a lot better than ‘I’m stranded in a strange world and need to crash with you for the foreseeable future.’ I’m… I’m sorry I lied. If you want me to leave, I’ll go.”

“Why on earth would I want you to leave?” WW furrowed his eyebrows. “As far as I know, you can stay here as long as you want. I’m going to have to tell my parents… I doubt they’ll have a problem with it, though.”

Tears sprang to Pan’s eye. “R-Really? You don’t think they’ll mind?”

WW shook his head. “No… They’ll probably make you work at the shop though.”

Pan sniffled, “O-Okay… Thank you…” He mumbled into his knees.

“Oh, come here…” WW sighed softly, moving closer to Pan and pulling him into a hug. He looked like he needed one. Pan froze. Isn’t he angry? Or upset? He wondered, before slowly reaching his arms around the human, hugging him back. He was so warm… Pan shuddered, burying his face in the crook of WW’s neck. Everything came crashing down on him. All the broken trust and hurt feelings, all of the fear of never being able to return home. He was in a world he knew very little about, with humans he didn’t know… But WW was warm, and, evidenced by the arms wrapped around Pan, much kinder than Pan had expected.

“You don’t need to figure out your next steps alone, alright?” WW offered him the slightest of smiles, “I’ll help you as much as I can.” Pan didn’t say anything else. He couldn’t think of the words, let alone push them past the lump in his throat. He just tightened his grip around WW and cried quietly.

It wasn’t weird. WW decided that it wouldn’t be weird, so it wasn’t. Not at all. Not until Pan’s tail wrapped itself around him, and all he could think of was how he’d imagined pulling it. “I-It’s been a long day… Do you want to get some sleep? Y-You do, sleep, right?”

Luckily, Pan chuckled at that. “Y-Yeah,” He nodded, wiping his eye, “I do sleep… I probably should, s-sorry about this…” He mumbled, pulling away from the human.

“It’s okay…” WW said quietly, watching him stand. “I made the bed for you, you remember where the room is, right?”

Pan nodded. “Yeah, I do… Thanks. Have a good night…” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he walked away. WW watched him go. He’d forgotten about the feet. It was interesting, the way his legs were normal, until there… Just… a paw. Plants don’t have paws, so why…? 

WW heaved a sigh and laid back along the seat. Pan’s excited grin when looking around the garden came to mind… He could remember when he’d been that excited about the garden… He laid out the design for the northwestern section when he was 19, after the fire had killed the plants there… He’d spent so many days making everything perfect… He was so proud. It was like his farewell gift to his home. He didn’t often go to that corner of the garden, anymore. It had changed some, but his design was still respected… It was strange to think about how different things were, just two years prior. He loved his home. He loved the garden. He just wasn’t excited about it, anymore. How could he be, anyway? Especially after the way the day had turned sour so quickly… I just need some sleep… Have some toast tomorrow. Sugar crisp tastes like Styrofoam after a while, anyway. He huffed, turning to his side. His eyelids felt heavy.

Laying on the wooden porch swing, surrounded by the smell of all the various flora, Walter Wesley Williams slept deeply, dreaming of the life he’d left behind when he’d returned home.