Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Many years ago, there was once one human. His name was Steve. He was an orphan- he knew because if his mother and father were alive, they obviously didn't want him anymore since they never came back for him. Steve tried not to think about it. He didn't like to think about it because of how bad it felt, so he tried to think of things he liked. Steve liked farming. He liked the feeling of dirt and sweat on his skin, the rewarding feeling of pulling crops out of the earth and the deliciousness of the fruits of his labor. He would farm from sunrise to sunset. Steve also liked friends. He made all kinds of friends. Chicken friends, pig friends, dog friends, cat friends... you name it, he's befriended it (unless you named a human).

Steve would sometimes go to the village and hang out with his villager friend, Michael. Michael was Steve's best friend. They would play and tell jokes and stories until Michael had to go back home for dinner or hang out with his other friends. Steve felt a little sad whenever Michael had to go. But he would remind himself that he and Michael would play tomorrow, and he would feel better.

Sometimes there were moments where there were no more crops to farm and no Michael to play with. These moments were almost always at night, when Steve was in bed. He would stare at the ceiling of his dirt hut and think. He thought about what it would be like if things that didn't happen happened. Sometimes they were good thoughts, like what if it rained cake or if he woke up and realized he could fly or talk to animals. Sometimes, they were bad thoughts, like what if he stole the pack of cookies from the baker earlier today. Sometimes they weren't good or bad thoughts, like what if he had a family like Michael, or if he found someone else like him. He wasn't sure what feeling these thoughts gave him. They made his chest feel weird and he would start to feel sad, but tears never came out. He didn't get it. He didn't really want to get it. He would bury his face in his pillow and will the sad thoughts away until he fell asleep.

Before we get into this story, one thing you should know about Steve is that he was always sure. He was sure he was the only human, he was sure he would never meet another human, and he was sure that Michael would be his best friend forever. The last thing you should know about Steve is that most of the time, he's wrong.

It was a sunny fall morning. The smell of pumpkins filled the cool air, brown leaves fell gracefully to the dry grass below, adult villagers were raking leaves into piles while their children were at school, and the children would later jump and play in them. Steve was outside of the schoolhouse (he was waiting for Michael to be dismissed from school), busying himself with exhaling into the air, white streams of breath flowing out of his mouth. In his mind, he was a dragon, blowing fire out of his mouth at nothing in particular. He probably would've kept doing that for who knows how long if the shouts of Melbourne- Michael's father- didn't interrupt his pretend play.

"You little urchin!" Melbourne shouted into the air. He looked to the sky and shook his fists. "Where are you!?"

Steve tried to look for this "urchin" from his post, but he didn't see anything. Melbourne had been going on about a kid that keeps stealing pumpkins from his patch for weeks. Michael would usually tell Steve about the little footprints his father would find in the dirt and how angry his father would get when he sees that a pumpkin went missing. Steve had asked, "How come your dad is so mad about the pumpkins going missing?" when he was told about the first incident. He didn't really understand the reason for being so upset about a missing pumpkin, especially since he didn't like pumpkins. They had the same value as a patch of grass in his eyes.

Michael explained to him that recently, his family had been struggling to farm. They had less than half the pumpkins they had last year, meaning that they could only make less than half the money they had last year, and last year's money only barely got them through the month of October.

"Pumpkins going missing means less money for us. And less money for us means..."

Steve remembered the way Michael looked as he uttered those words; distant, like the same look he would get when daydreaming, but sad. He looked like how Steve felt when he was thinking about sad thoughts. Steve knew that money was a key aspect in villager culture, but he didn't know not having a lot would make people so sad.

Steve stared at Michael's house. It was one house away from being directly across the school. He thought about his conversation with Michael. His sad face when he realized that they wouldn't have as much money as last year. Steve didn't want Michael to be sad. So, he decided to finally take a stand against this pumpkin thief. His brows furrowed and he huffed forward, almost marching. He was going to Michael's house to tell his father that he was going to look for this cheating, cheating pumpkin eater and probably help him get more pumpkins someway somehow, until he heard someone loudly chewing from the house right across from the school. Steve only looked for a second but stopped dead in his tracks when he registered what he saw.

Leaning against the wall of the house was a little kid. They were almost as pale as snow with bright orange hair, like the pumpkin they were eating. They wore a potato sack for clothes. Steve's eyes widened. This kid didn't look anythinglike a villager. Are they human? It took every fiber of his being to not get excited and introduce himself. He could see that the kid's feet were covered in dirt and grass, as if they had been stealing pumpkins from a pumpkin patch recently. Steve knew with ten thousand percent certainty that this kid was the pumpkin thief. Human or not, he had to stop them.

Steve ran to the kid, and before he could even get a word in, the kid saw him and threw the remains of the pumpkin at him. The kid ran away as fast as they could, running towards the market square. Steve yelped as pumpkin guts spilled all over him, grossed out by how slimy they were, but he immediately remembered the task at hand and took chase after the kid.

The kid was fast. Way faster than Steve was. Steve did his best to outrun the kid. He ran like a horde of zombies was on his tail, but the kid still managed to stay in front of him. It was like that until they actually reached the market square, when the kid tired out and stopped out of exhaustion. Steve accidentally surpassed them because he prepared himself to chase them to the outskirts of the village. He had a better view of the kid when he stepped in front of them. He could see that their nose was much smaller than the villager's noses. In fact, it looked more similar to his nose, except it was a little thinner. Steve was now 1 bazillion percent sure that this kid is a human. Just like him. His heart began to swell with a foreign emotion.

But still, he reminded himself they stole Michael's family's pumpkins. The kid made Steve's best friend sad. He has to do something.

"Hey!" Steve shouted, his voice echoing throughout the square. It was a little past noon, meaning the villagers who would normally be there were taking naps in their homes.

The kid jolted when Steve shouted. Steve could see the look of fear in their big green eyes, and he suddenly felt bad about chasing this kid through the village and yelling at them. Despite that, he did his best to stay firm and put an end to the pumpkin stealing once and for all.

"Why were you stealing pumpkins from Melbourne's farm?" Steve asked, his tone gentler than what he started with

The kid looked up at him. "Hungry." Their voice was tiny, almost whispering, and feminine; they were a girl.

Steve wrinkled his brows in thought. This girl probably doesn't have parents either... and she's too little to farm on her own...

There was a heartbeat of silence between them until Steve perked up and voiced his idea, "What if I give you food?"

The girl's face scrunched up, as if the idea was nonsensical.

Steve went on, "I have lots of food at my house! If I give you some, will you stop stealing pumpkins?"

The girl's face clearly showed she was skeptical. Her eyebrows were scrunched up, her mouth was curled into a frown, and her green eyes were like a cat's; Her pupils were small, and her eyes had a fierce, intimidating look despite her being about two heads shorter than Steve.

After a long pause, her face softened a little, "Okay." She agreed.

Steve smiled warmly. He took the girl's hand. "C'mon!"

He led her down the market square. The girl followed his lead. While they were walking, she looked up at his face. He was still smiling, and his purple eyes looked like they were sparkling even though there really wasn't much light hitting them. The girl continued to stare at him, trying to assess the kind of person he was from the little time she knew him as well as his face. Steve noticed her staring and took it as a reminder to introduce himself.

"By the way," Steve began as they passed the entrance of the village, "my name is Steve." He looked down at the girl to properly meet her unblinking eyes, "What's yours?"

The girl said nothing and kept staring at him for several moments. Finally, she stated, "Alex."

"Alex?" Steve's eyes sparkled with interest. "Cool name! I've never heard of the name Alex before!"

The girl didn't say anything, but she did turn her gaze from Steve to the path ahead of them. Leaves crunched under the two humans' feet as they walked. Alex shivered a little bit when a breeze came in. A leaf landed on Steve's head. The world was changing all around them. And in their hearts, they knew they would change, too.

Chapter Text

Steve didn't let the excitement of meeting another human really flutter inside of him until they had already left the village and were walking through the forest towards his house. He had already forgiven Alex for being a pumpkin thief (in his head) and was now thinking of all the cool stuff he could show her. His house, his animal friends, The Mines, his favorite flowers, everything!

It was still a long way to his house, and Steve felt they have both been quiet for too long, so he decided to break the silence. He thought about what to say for a few moments, and he realized that Alex definitely came from a different place than him. Maybe she was lost and couldn't find her way home! Maybe where Alex came from was really the place Steve came from, too! Steve already anticipated himself for a high-stakes adventure with his new friend Alex (with lots of danger, action, and drama) to find the place she came from when he looked at her to ask a question. A question that's answer could change everything.

"Hey Alex," he began. She turned her head towards him. "where did you come from?"

Alex's eyes widened ever so slightly, then she quickly turned her gaze to the ground. Her head lowered a bit before she shrugged.

"You don't know where you came from either?" Steve asked her.

"Uhm..." Alex's index and middle finger twitched, "no."

Well... there goes the adventure. Steve tried to keep his disappointment at bay.

"What about..." Steve hummed and looked to the sky as his brain tried to form another question. "...are you a orphan?"

"What's a... or-fan?" Alex took her eyes off the ground and back on Steve.

"It's someone with no family." Steve felt his eyes water, to which he promptly willed them dry.

"Oh." Alex paused. "Yeah."

"You're an orphan?"

"Mhm.

Steve was amazed at how much he had in common with Alex. They were both humans and orphans! Steve had never met another orphan before: all of the villagers had families, and Steve was pretty sure that all animals of the same species were family.

What's next? Steve thought to himself. Is her favorite flower dandelions, too? ...Wait-

"What's your favorite flower?" Steve excitedly asked.

Alex shrugged again.

"Oh." Steve continued, "Mine are dandelions!" Dandelions had been Steve's favorite since he was little. Something about their sun-like appearance just filled his heart with joy.

Alex paused before she mumbled, "Okay."

Steve frowned. Something about Alex seemed sad. She had that same look Michael had talking about not having money.

Steve quickly looked around for something to change the subject. He scanned the ground for something to distract him and saw a pretty little dandelion. It looked like a little yellow sun poking out of the grass. He stopped and let go of Alex's hand so he could pluck it. He held the flower in his fist, smiling happily. He turned to Alex, who stared at him strangely.

She probably doesn't know what dandelions are! Steve realized. Michael did tell me little kids don't know a lot of stuff.

"Look," Steve held out the dandelion for Alex to see, "it's a dandelion!"

Alex pointed to it, "That's a weed." She stated objectively.

Steve brought the dandelion closer to him. After staring at it for a couple of moments, he finally responded, "No it's not."

Alex's eyebrows furrowed, "Yes it is."

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is...!"

They went back and forth a couple more times before Steve gave up and said, "Whatever! I still like dandelions!" Alex went back to being quiet, bowing her head slightly. Steve looked at her for a little while before he stepped towards her. A gentle smile shone on his face. He understood she was upset.

"C'mon!" Steve took Alex's hand again, reassuring her. Alex's eyes widened, like she didn't expect him to do that. Steve was holding Alex's hand with the hand that also held the dandelion. They both continued on the journey to Steve's house, holding the dandelion together.

Alex paced outside her mother's house, waiting for The Man to exit it. Whenever the man shows up, Alex's mother makes her leave the little cottage and wait outside until The Man leaves. Alex didn't know The Man's name, so she called him "The Man".

The back of Alex's head felt like it was as roasted as carrots over a fire. It was a harsh summer. The sun's rays burned the Earth below. It hadn't rained in weeks, leaving everything and everyone scorched and sticky with sweat. Alex scratched the bug bites that littered her legs as she walked aimlessly in the backyard's overgrown grass. She walked towards the woods that surrounded the house out of boredom. Just before she entered the forest, something bright yellow caught her eye.

A group of big, bright yellow flowers with stems a bright green like her dress stood tall in the grass. Pretty, fluffy white flowers stood with them. Alex gasped in delight before she rushed over to the flowers. She grabbed a handful of them and pulled them out of the earth with all of her strength. She stumbled backwards a little when she finally got them out. She gazed upon the flowers she pulled, four yellow and one white. She poked the white one curiously, and bits of fluff came off of it and gently fell onto the ground.

Alex's face fell, "Oh no!" She reminded herself to be careful with the white one.

She giggled excitedly as she continued to gaze upon the flowers in her grip. She couldn't wait for The Man to leave the house so she could show her mother!

After a few more moments of walking through the backyard into the front yard, twirling around, and checking the flowers she held (the white one lost most of its fluff in the twirling, much to Alex's disappointment), The Man finally left the house. He stood in the front yard as he smoothed out his orange hair and his clothes. For just a moment, he and Alex locked eyes, before he hurried away to wherever he lived.

Alex didn't waste any more time to get into the house. She ran across the yard and swung open the door, holding the flowers with a death grip.

"Mama! Mama!" Alex exclaimed.

Her mother seemed startled to see her until she sighed. "What?" She said, exhausted.

Alex's excitement fizzled as she realized her mother wasn't happy.

She held out the flowers, trying to make her feel better. "Look...! Flowers...!"

"Those are weeds." Alex's mother sharply pointed out. "Throw them away."

Alex's heart sank. Weeds were bad. Flowers were good. Why would these bad things make her think they were good? She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it.

"But-"

"I told you to throw them away!" Alex's mother shouted angrily.

Alex hurried outside to get rid of the weeds. She knew what would happen if she didn't listen to what her mother told her to do. The beating and the pain from the one time she didn't listen to her was still fresh in her mind. She didn't remember what she did other than not do something her mother wanted her to do.

She dumped the weeds in the compost bin before hurrying back inside. Alex never questioned why they had a compost bin despite the fact they don't have a garden. When Alex came back inside, her mother made carrot soup with a little sack of carrots Alex hadn't seen in the house before. They ate dinner with no conversation- unless you count the occasional reminder from Alex's mother to Alex about table manners conversation.