#OC:Mira

[awkwardgtace]

Meeting Through Dreams

Day 8 leggo

Today we have borrower Mira starting dreams that should bring her to her perfect partner, but she doesn't exactly want that to happen...

Meeting Through Dreams

Mira groaned, her birthday had been a total disaster. The human she lived with was home and checking everything so she couldn’t get the fruit she wanted. Kaya wasn’t able to visit because of the recent storms. Then the human woman was talking about getting pets on the phone. Giant rat things from what the other person said. She didn’t want to meet ferrets. The only option was to move.

She collapsed onto her fabric pile. The worst part of all of this were the dreams that would start tonight. She wasn’t interested in some fated perfect partner even if it was usually right. There were too many stories of people who were fated to be with someone on the other side of the city. A place that she could barely reach unless Kaya chose to help. They would, but she didn’t want that. There was so much pressure for the relationships to work.

Mira looked around her small home. There was so much she had planned. The fabrics that she collected for the walls. Piles of things she could put together into something interesting. All of it would be left behind when she moved. It was more painful this time; this was the first place she thought might become a home. Leaving home was meant to make it easier, to ease the concern everyone had about forest predators. Now she was tempted to have Kaya help her go back. A place where she wasn’t constantly worried she would have to leave in the dead of night.

Mira closed her eyes, imagining the home she almost made. Some tables of things she’d been planning to steal. Fabrics hanging on the walls instead of the dreary insulation and brick. Anything she wanted to keep. The image stayed until she fell into a deep sleep.

Mira’s eyes opened to the exact place she imagined. She ran a hand over the fabrics, a perfect replication of the ones in her mind. It was just a dream. Not just any dream, the dream, and she already hated it. None of this would be there when she woke up. The worst part of it all, someone else would be privy to the wishes she hid in her heart. She slipped out of the room to a world too real for her.

All around were towering chairs and tables humans used. It was likely the other person lived among humans too. That would make things easier, at least they’d understand the life she leads. Mira wandered around in the large empty space. If no one showed up she’d take it as a blessing.

“Hey!” a masculine voice shouted. She bit back a sigh. She looked around trying to find a way to avoid the person. She’d rather not meet them directly. Unfortunately it was too late.

 A man with black hair and piercing blue eyes ran up from behind one of the chair legs. He was taller than her, an average build. He had pale skin, although there was a tint that made her doubt his living in a human house. Mira turned away from him, she had more important things to do. Like figuring out where this man was supposed to live so she could make sure she never went near him.

As she walked away his steps easily reached her. Something about them was off. Almost too heavy. It had to just be this stupid dream. Dreams had never stuck with her in her waking life. Plenty of things were going to be different that she’d never once considered. She pointedly ignored the steps closing in behind her and continued on her path. She’d learn what she needed and move on. Just like always.

“Hey,” he said as he grabbed her shoulder. “Do you know what’s going on? All of this looks weird.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. Mira bit her tongue as soon as the words left her. She didn’t want to interact with him. If he knew her voice he could know her, although her hair color made that easy enough to accomplish. “This should be normal to you.”

“I mean, I guess I recognize some stuff, but it looks nothing like where I live.” The carefree smile on his face annoyed her. She sighed, there was no point in ignoring it then. This world must have been built on mostly her knowledge. She’d heard of that before, but it was rare. It usually meant one person’s dream world was stronger than the other’s. A sign that often made people separate.

“This is the dream world.” That was all he should need to know. Mira started to walk away again. This man would just get in her way.

“What do you mean the dream world?” He ran up next to her, he was taller. A lot taller, maybe a full inch. That only made her more annoyed.

“Don’t you know anything?” She glared up at him, but he just looked confused. It actually hurt her to see it. She knew sometimes no one knew about the dreams, but it would mean he’d been on his own for a long time. It would mean his parents were gone. “It’s the world where you’re supposed to meet your perfect partner. I guess humans killed your parents before they told you about it?”

“Humans killed them…” The man tilted his head and his brow furrowed.

That told her enough. As sad as it was, there was no reason to hang around. No one in her area had been seen or hurt by humans in a long time. He’d have to be somewhere far from her. Far enough she could end this once he’d recovered from the memories she’d forced to the front.

Mira left him to think. She just had to be sure. Eventually she’d find one of the trees he probably lived in and know where he was from. Then they could be done with this and both go back to their normal lives. His weirdly heavy steps followed her. She tried to stop herself from grinding her teeth.

“What?!” she shouted. He’d already followed her for a while without saying anything. She spun around, honestly shocked to see his eyes bright. She just brought up what killed his parents, how was he happy?

“Uh… well I still don’t get it, but humans didn’t kill my parents,” he laughed. How could he laugh? He didn’t know anything about this and he was just laughing. “I’m Corus, nice to meet you.”

Mira turned away. She wasn’t interested in this anymore. She had to find a sign of who and where this man was so she could make sure they never met. The strange footsteps caught up to her and he kept pace. The idea to start sprinting grew tempting.

“Ok, not getting your name that’s fine,” he said. She glared at him, but kept walking. “Well why did you think humans would kill my parents? I mean you said it like you aren’t human yourself.”

“Oh nature preserve me, you’re one of those aren’t you?” she sighed. This made everything worse. He’d probably avoid accepting they didn’t work until she admitted humans weren’t bad.

“One of who?”

“One of the borrowers who think humans aren’t that bad.” She stormed forward letting him jog to keep up. She was sick of this. “Let me guess next you’re going to tell me how just because they’re bigger than us doesn’t mean we aren’t the same?”

“I, uh-”

“Oh and that I should just give them a chance, humans won’t hurt us. Of course they won’t, they won’t keep us as toys or pets either. Or sell us to whoever pays the most.”

“You… you really think all humans would do that?”

“Please, I know the borrowers like you love to pretend humans would treat us as equals.” She walked up to a table leg that had some handholds in it. One deep breath and she started climbing. “I’ve been caught more than once. The human I live with now is planning to either get pest control or weird furry snake things to try and catch the ‘mouse’ in her walls.”

“Did you try to let her know that you’re a person? That you aren’t a mouse?”

Mira stayed quiet and focused on climbing for a few minutes. Sure it definitely wouldn’t end badly for her to go reveal herself and all of their kind to a human that she’s watched happily kill bugs and small animals. It would just be a death sentence. Of course the universe would think someone like this belongs with her.

“You haven’t, have you? Why don’t you at least try?” he called. That pissed her off. She turned back, the ground wasn’t too far. Jumping, she rolled to protect herself then stood and glared at Corus. Stomping up to him she pressed a finger into his chest, he was sturdier than she expected.

“Right I should go walk up and say ‘Hi I live in your walls and take things from you to survive please don’t kill me or tell anyone about me!’ That would totally work,” she seethed. Corus looked away from her. “Oh or better yet, I’ll just walk right under her foot so she can kill me first!”

Corus didn’t say anything and Mira took the chance to walk away. His steps never sounded behind her. It wasn’t long before she was opening her eyes and staring at her empty walls. Hopefully tonight her dream would be empty, or at least someone easier to deal with. 

That day she snuck out while the human she lived with ranted on the phone. She was always talking about the man who lived next door. The house Mira would visit next. The things her current human said made her nervous about that house. A history of anger issues, broken walls, things like that. She’d probably have to move again before long.

She managed to gather some crumbs of food the woman missed. This human had grown too cautious. She would need to focus on gathering tools and making her current food last. Maybe a month before she’d move, a month of ever changing dreams she hoped. In an attempt to avoid Corus she stayed later than usual breaking into boxes that the human had secured. Mira had enough experience to break through mouse protections when given enough time. Today she had time.

Hours later she meandered into her home. Just as empty and lonely. She dropped her full bag on the floor and fell into her fabrics. If he was an outdoor borrower he should be awake during the day, she should have a peaceful rest now. Closing her eyes she wondered if the next person would at least show her something interesting.

“Hey!” Mira jumped as she heard Corus’s voice next to her. Snapping her eyes open she found the man standing over her, a worried look on his face. “I was worried you wouldn’t show up. I mean, I don’t really know how these dreams work, but I figured you were supposed to come back.”

“Ugh,” she groaned as she sat up. “Why are you still asleep? Aren’t you an outdoor borrower, you should be out getting supplies this early in the day.”

“Oh, uh… I go out at night?” The question at the end made her curious. How would she know what he does? It didn’t matter somehow she’d get him to go away. She’d make the universe leave her on her own, just like she wanted.

“Whatever.”

Mira started on her trek through the dreamscape. There was no telling what strange thing she’d find now. Maybe a sign of where this human loving borrower was from. His steps followed her, still weirdly heavy. It had to be from how sturdy he felt when she poked him. Everyone she grew up with had a light build, almost like a bird.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday,” he said. Mira rolled her eyes. “Like I said, I’m Corus. I’m pretty new to this whole dream thing we have here, but I would like to get to know you.”

“Why?” she growled. This was the part that she was dreading. The thing everyone talked about. The two would be able to have kids, it was what the others had been excited about her dreams to reveal. The ways her strange looks could contribute to the next generation. It was her job to keep their kind alive. It was her duty. She hated it. 

“Well, you seem interesting and kind of beautiful if I’m being honest. The way you climbed that table leg was pretty amazing and-” She turned around and stopped just before hitting his face.

“One more false flattery to get me to like you and I will hit you.” The smile he gave her actually made her heart pound. 

“I wasn’t lying, but I will stop. I just… think you’d be fun to talk to.”

“Well we talked there you go. Leave me alone.”

Mira spun on her heel. This match of hers was insane so all she could do was hope this place was secretly interesting. She walked up to a table and started to climb. It was nice, free climbing like this. There were never safe times like this in the real world. She’d need her hook for the speed. She was pulled from her thoughts by a loud crash below her.

Mira looked down to find Corus lying on his back. His eyes were blown wide. As much as she knew nothing here could kill her, a fall like that would still hurt. She climbed down and crouched over him, staring into his eyes.

“You make that look easy,” he said. Another eye roll, of course it was easy.

“Because it is easy. Not my fault you’re out of practice.”

“Can you teach me?” 

Mira studied him for a moment, “Climb halfway on your own and I’ll teach you how to climb like me.”

“Deal!”

Corus jumped to his feet startling her. She barely caught herself from falling backwards. He gave her a smirk, but immediately started trying to climb. He could barely make it off the ground before he was struggling. She felt bad for him. Climbing was important for most borrowers. Even ones that had heavier bones. He fell a lot that night, but he did make it halfway.

“I did it!” he cheered. Mira watched as he looked down, seeing the exact moment his grip loosened. He plummeted like a stone to the ground she stood on. It shook the world like a human falling more than a borrower. Another strange effect of dreams. Making their world notice them.

“Fine, tomorrow I’ll help you learn how to climb. Even someone built like you should know the basics,” she sighed. He groaned for a bit before giving her a glare. It wasn’t real, she could already see the smile.

“What do you mean built like me? I mean I do work out, but...” He even wiggled his eyebrows. She had to bite back a laugh at his actions.

Mira crouched and poked his chest. “You’re firmer. It’s the best way to say it. Like you have heavier bones. It would make climbing more of a struggle.”

Corus reached out and grabbed her arm. A part of her panicked, she didn’t want that. He let go quickly, putting the same hand across his eyes. “I guess you’re right. You feel like a bird.” 

Mira stood and walked away before he could do more. Before he could make her pulse race again. Maybe Corus wasn’t all that bad. He’d move on though and so would she. She would never trust humans and he’d likely bring it up again soon. They wouldn’t work.

“Mira,” Kaya’s voice echoed in her mind. Corus faded almost instantly as she blinked away the dream meeting reality again. She was a little sad to see it end. “Sorry I couldn’t come by on your birthday!”

“Kaya?” Mira asked. She rubbed her eyes, finding them walking into her empty home. They had something behind their back. “You know it’s fine. All that was special about the day was that the dreams might start….” She narrowed her eyes. “What are you hiding?”

They looked surprised for a second before pulling a strange object from behind them. It was small enough they could hold it in two hands and made of metal. On it was an image of a butterfly with wings the color of Mira’s hair. She had no words to explain how looking at it felt. Butterflies were always special to her, their freedom was something to envy.

“I found it on my way back and I thought of you. It would be perfect to put on a wall here,” they whispered. Mira nodded, but a slam from the human of the house reminded her what was happening soon.

“Hang on to it for me?” Mira smiled, Kaya’s face dropped. They knew what it meant when she said that.

“You��re moving again? It’s only been a few months here.”

“This human was more observant, I’ll try the house next door this time. It’s a human man living alone. All the others said those are the best to borrow from.”

“You could come back…” 

Mira shook her head, that wasn’t an option. “Kaya we both know that won’t work. My hair puts too much risk on everyone if I’m outside. I made the choice to leave and I’m standing by it. Let’s just talk about something else, ok?”

Kaya frowned, but Mira could see them bouncing on their feet. Something happened that they wanted to talk about. Something exciting, but somehow not enough to make their way here in the middle of the night. She waited, crossing her arms and egging them on. Finally they relented, setting the metal butterfly down.

“Fine!” they sighed. She smirked. 

Kaya sat on the fabric bed Mira hadn’t left yet. They leaned their head on her shoulder for a few minutes. The two of them took in the period of silence. It wasn’t often that the human wasn’t making some crazy noise. Kaya wrapped their arms around one of Mira’s. Times like this were the ones that made Mira actually consider returning.

“My dreams started,” they finally whispered. Mira smiled, Kaya wanted their dreams. To find a partner that would love who they were. A long time ago the two talked about if they dreamt of each other. The plan had always been to take Kaya’s squirrel and run. Escape the expectations it would place on them. Together they could have children and neither wanted the life that would lock them in.

“Sounds like good news then?” she asked. Kaya’s weight against her grew followed by the slightest of nods. “What are they like?”

“He’s weird. His name is Zeke and he had no idea about the dreams. He didn’t recognize anything around us either, it was mostly from me I think. His hair was a reddish color. I think he’s a mole borrower.”

“What’s that?”

“According to some of the scout records there were other types of borrowers before. Ones that only lived on the ground and if they wanted to go higher they used stairs like humans. The ones around us left generations ago. Everyone thinks they died out.”

“I guess that’s what he is too…” Mira spoke without thinking. Kaya jumped up, absolutely vibrating while staring into her eyes.

“Wait! Does that mean your dreams started too?” 

Mira fell back on the fabric, Kaya falling back with her. The two sat in the silence until she finally spoke up. Letting them know about Corus and what the dreams had been. Kaya shared their own experiences. A world made of only wood and trees that towered more than the ones they grew up under. Apparently the large blocks of wood were from Zeke’s memories. That made Mira wonder what was from Corus in their dream.

The two shared stories the entire day. The human woman started to slam things and make noise prompting Kaya to leave. Mira was left alone in the hole she almost considered a home. It had been promising at first. A distracted human woman with plenty of things easy to break into. If only the woman hadn’t been so terrified, spiteful might be the better term, towards small creatures. Then this could have worked. Mira fell asleep to loud bangs and muffled shouts of ‘that damn mouse was back’.

The shaking world pulled Mira awake. The place she started was exactly where she’d left earlier. A quick swivel of her head revealed Corus slowly standing while rubbing his back. It dawned on her that the world shakes because he saw it that way. His falls were tremendous and world shattering for someone who never tried to climb before. She started to wish she had her hook, the aid would be an easier way to teach him.

Corus looked around, stopping with his eyes on her. He started to run towards her the second she moved. The only person that was ever excited to see her was Kaya, Corus was a nice change. He had his arms out, pausing just before reaching her. It made her smile how the sturdy borrower shifted to awkwardly hold his arms at his sides instead.

“Mira,” he smiled. Once he knew how to climb this set up would be gone. He’d go back to pushing humans and she’d eventually threaten him if he didn’t accept they wouldn’t work. When he moved to point at her she grew defensive. “What’s that? A fishing hook?”

Mira jumped and looked at her hip. There was her hook, pristine like when she found it on her first trip outside with her father. She pulled it from its place beside her, inspecting it and finding none of the nicks it had received over the years. “It’s my hook…”

“You have a hook? What for?” Normally the question would annoy her, but she was lost in the quality. There was no sign of the human who almost caught her with a mouse trap or the one who tried to step on her. The strange bend from the time a human managed to slam a door as she was trying to climb the door frame. None of the horrors she faced existed here…

“It’s for climbing.” Her voice echoed in the silence. It was wrong, but somehow felt right. She was safe here. There was no need to be afraid right now. “It would be easier to learn on this…”

“Is something wrong?” His voice was soft and kind. A hand on her shoulder that didn’t make her angry. A kind feeling spread from him. The hook in her hands flashed for a second, showing the truth of reality. Tears almost fell from her eyes.

“It’s perfect, like when I found it. Nothing that the humans have done shows on it here. Like they never existed… like we’re safe.”

Corus pulled her against him. The strange solid build of his was comforting. She was starting not to hate these dreams. To hate the man tied to her. Maybe she could accept this. He leaned his head against her shoulder, “You’ll always be safe with me. I won’t let anything hurt you, even other humans.”

She pushed him away. That phrasing reminded her why this would never work. He thought they were humans, that those giants would see borrowers the same way. She walked over to the table he’d been climbing, spun her hook, and threw it to the top. A few tugs and she knew it was sturdy. A much better way to teach him.

“Let’s just get to climbing,” she said.

Corus didn’t say anything else. He walked right up to her rope, holding it between two hands. Instead of climbing he stared at it with awe. She didn’t say anything for a few minutes, opting to clear her throat to remind him. He looked at her with a faint blush before holding it in a way that she thought was for climbing.

“That’s completely wrong,” she said. Mira took the rope from him, holding it how she was taught. Hands about one grip apart and the excess between her legs. “Use your core to climb, don’t rely on your arms.”

Mira climbed a few steps up before jumping down. Corus had shining eyes as he stared at her. Ignoring the way her heart skipped she forced the rope in his hands. It took a few tries to get him to understand the way to hold it. His climbing form would slip after a bit. It was actually a fun experience.

When Mira woke up to her empty room she was lonely. The hook left in the corner was painful to look at. She wanted to miss all the things that had happened. Forget them and only remember the night with Corus. That wasn’t something she could do. She spent the day in the walls, closing up paths and gathering water. She would need to be ready to leave as soon as possible.

The next few nights were the same. Teaching Corus the best forms and watching him struggle. He was improving and the bright smile sent her way was making her melt. A few times her cheeks even grew warm. She liked these dreams. It made the reality of her situation bearable. She wouldn’t mind these being all she ever had with him too, in fact she’d prefer it.

One night it changed. He was able to climb all the way on the rope. She followed up quickly, getting pulled into another hug. Her whole body felt warm under his touch. A warmth she quickly realized she liked. When he let go she had no idea what to say. He sat on the edge of the table and she joined him.

“Mira,” he said. She hummed in response. “Is this really what you see all the time? It’s amazing.”

“I’ve seen something better,” she smiled. 

No one ever believed her about this. He looked at her with bright eyes. After what happened with the hook she decided to see if she could do it again. A wish for this view to be what she remembered from the top of a tree. In seconds her memory painted the world. A beautiful thing she never thought she’d see again.

“Where is this?” 

The awe in his voice matched the awe she felt. That day she felt huge. The human houses were small to her, she couldn’t even see her home. It had taken over a day, but she made it to the top of a tree. Something she was always told she made up, something she would never regret.

“The top of a tree, I managed to climb it once,” she smiled. 

“How?” Corus was staring at her with amazement. Not only did he believe her, he was seeing what she saw. Something no borrower could ever create or understand. Something that made humans and animals feel like they weren’t a threat.

“My colony had these sharp bits of metal. I stole some and some fabric we’d collected. I wrapped it around my hands and feet with the metal sticking out.” 

As she spoke the image around them changed. A much younger version of herself sitting in the tall grass. A cloak hiding the lavender color of her hair. The cloak was too big for her back then. The younger her proudly made her climbing gear. Standing with pride as she started her climb. The ones on her feet attached near her toes. The younger Mira sticking the metal into bark and starting her climb.

“It took a long time, maybe more than a day. I rested on branches as I reached them.” The image changed to her climbing and hiding among branches. “I was going to prove I could do it. That I could avoid any predators that might see me too. I’ve never forgotten the feeling when I made it. For just a little while I thought… I thought the world was made for us too.”

“It is made for you. For both of us. You don’t have to climb a tree to see that. Not every human would hurt you or trap you if they saw you.” 

Mira climbed to her feet. The moment had passed and she was done with this. Quickly grabbing her hook she started to wrap it up to place it back on her hip. Corus would never stop having faith in humans, she needed this to stop. All her life she never wanted this and now… now she had someone she almost wanted to meet who thought humans were worth it.

“Mira why won’t you even consider-”

“Consider what!” She turned as she shouted, her hook changing to the damaged version she knew. “That I wasn’t almost crushed in a door that bent my hook!? That I wasn’t almost crushed by a mouse trap, with this being all that saved me. That a human didn’t try to step on me once.”

“None of them knew what you were! They all thought you were some random animal if you only told them-”

“If I told them and they still didn't kill me then what? They try to protect me.” She spat the words, storming forward in her anger. Corus backed away as she neared him. Her body was on fire, her heart racing. The fear that he never learned was strong in her heart. “Then they trap me ‘for my own good’. Keep me caged or in a box where I can do nothing for myself anymore. I have to rely on them taking care of me and choosing to let me have things. Rely on a human’s whims to keep me alive!”

Another step towards him caused a change. He fell when he stepped back. She ran forward in fear as he plummeted towards the ground. On her knees she saw him slam into the ground. A crater formed around him with cracks in the ground leading out for dozens of feet. The world shook the worst she’d ever felt. Mira was thrown from the perch she had. All she could do was close her eyes and brace for impact.

The ground didn’t meet her. Instead she landed in something that felt like a hand. She opened her eyes to see Corus staring at her, his arms beneath her. The feeling of a hand faded as soon as she saw him. He pulled her close to his chest. She could hear his racing heart as loudly as her own. His face was coming closer. Just before he reached her she was back in reality.

That day she was nervous. All her trips had her taking extra precautions. Ones that she wouldn’t normally use. The feeling of a hand beneath her body. She knew it well. There were more times she’d been grabbed than she’d like to admit. Although this time it actually felt… safe. She stayed out well into the next day grabbing even crumbs that she thought could be useful.

There were a number of times she paused and watched the human woman. Steps that were heavy and shook the world if they came close. A sneer if she noticed any trace of Mira’s existence. This human would certainly kill her, but she’d met one that wanted to trap her too. Honestly she had no idea which fate was worse.

Eventually she returned home. She collapsed into her fabrics to stare at the ‘ceiling’. The emptiness of the walls that she lived in. Corus wouldn’t be there this time, she knew it. It had been long enough for him to sleep and wake up. She had gone almost a week without sleep before. Two days was nothing. Slowly she closed her eyes hoping to wake up from a dreamless sleep. The world would realize she belonged alone.

Mira’s next feeling was someone petting her head. It wasn’t Kaya. The hand felt wrong. She opened her eyes, squeaking when she met Corus’s blue eyes. He was smiling softly at her. She tried to squirm away, but he grabbed her arm. His grip was strong enough she felt nervous trying to escape it. Like he’d break her… like a human had grabbed her.

“Mira, please… I’m sorry,” he whispered.  She released the tension in her body slightly. “I get it, I went too far. I won’t try to change your mind about humans. I just… don’t want to stop seeing you.”

“What if I never want to meet you?” she asked. Her voice came out quietly, but still managed to echo in their shared dream. Corus let her arm go and returned to petting her head. Every inch of her wanted to run, but the smallest part wanted his answer. Hoped it would be one that let this continue.

“Then we never meet.”

Mira turned away from him, “I don’t believe you.”

“Mira. You’re beautiful, smart, independent, funny, honestly I’d list things forever, but I’m pretty sure you’d hit me.” That made her smile, he wasn’t exactly wrong. She’d already threatened it once. “If we never meet I don’t care. I just want this to keep going. I want to keep knowing you. To learn about all the things you’ve seen in your life.”

“I… think I’d be ok with that.”

Corus pulled her into a tight hug. The firm body around her was reassuring. She didn’t believe that he would be happy with this forever. Someday he’d push for more. If he took the leap she’d let it happen, but only if they agreed not to stay near humans. She wouldn’t risk his hope getting him killed or trapped. A part of her didn’t want to see it shattered.

The entire night they sat together like that. Just Corus holding her tightly. She enjoyed hearing his heart, something about it was different. Louder. So much of what made him strange made her happy too. By the time she woke up she was starting to miss the feeling of his arms. That night she’d let him know she was moving the next one, it wouldn’t be good for him to worry.

“Mira!” Kaya’s voice made her jump. She quickly stood and grabbed one of her bags, just in case. They ran in with a smile and she relaxed immediately. “Zeke and I are meeting!”

“What?” she gasped. A smile spread on her face as she pulled Kaya into a hug. They wanted this and she wanted it for them. “That’s amazing! When?”

“Tomorrow night. I showed him the park where I met my squirrel and he recognized it. He lives nearby. We picked the tree where my squirrel lived to meet. It’s going to be late so no humans will be around just in case.”

Mira smiled and did everything she could to hide her worry. Kaya wouldn’t be able to help her move. That should be fine, they never helped before. Something this time made her think they should. She couldn’t explain it. Maybe she was just more interested in making sure she’d survive.

“Go, that’s a two day trip even with your squirrel. You can’t be late. Bring him to meet me ok?” she grinned. Kaya nodded and ran from her home. She waited a few minutes before heading out to get the last of the supplies she would need.

That day was harder. The human was wandering around doing more than normal. It made her nervous. It seemed like it would be useful to hold off her move until Kaya came back. Just a few days wouldn’t make a change. The furry snakes weren’t arriving yet. A ringing phone gave her the chance to steal some of the paper towels the woman had left out for once.

“Oh that’s great to hear! My new babies will be here the day after tomorrow!” the human woman shouted. Mira paled. She didn’t have a choice left.

The rest of the day Mira ran between her paths. She was closing them and making sure to fill them so those snake things couldn’t use them. She wouldn’t risk those things escaping if this woman loved them. The sun was rising by the time she collapsed in her fabrics. She’d wake up just before sunset and gather the last of her things. For now she could try to enjoy her dreams.

As soon as her eyes closed she was opening them again. Corus was there smiling at her. She slowly sat up before offering her own smile. Things started a bit normally. Today he tried free climbing again, he fell a lot. On one of his later falls she decided to lie down next to him and stare at the sky. It was empty like the one she always saw.

“I wish I could see the stars more,” she whispered. In seconds the sky changed, stars like she’d never seen them covered it. She sat up on her elbows to look at Corus. “Did you do that?”

“I was practicing while I waited for you this time,” he grinned. Her heart skipped. “I want to show you things I see like you show me.”

Mira fell back and stared at the strange sky. “I’m moving tonight. I won’t be asleep for at least two days. Maybe more.”

“Where are you moving? Can you show me?” A part of her didn’t want to. If she did he could find her, but at the same time these stars proved he couldn’t be close by.

“I’ll try.” She tried to picture the two human houses. The one she was leaving and the one she was aiming for. Corus sat up when the houses finished forming. “I’m going from the white one to the blue one.”

“I live near you.” His voice was quiet. She sat up to look at him, fear in her heart.

“Are you going to look for me?” He shook his head. “Thank you. I’d probably run if you did.”

“You’d get away no problem. I still can’t climb like you. Maybe I’d set a trap for you.” He laughed and she laughed along.

“It would have to be a good trap.”

“Only the best would have a chance to catch you. I can already tell.” He stared warmly at her. She felt her body heat up. “Maybe I’ll give it a shot.”

“If it’s good enough I might stick around to talk to you.” A smirk played on her lips. Corus looked excited, he might actually try. The thought didn’t terrify her like she thought it would. “I’m nervous about this move.”

“Why?” Corus scooted closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Mira leaned against him, he was the only one she told about her nerves. The only one safe to tell.

“The woman I live with talks about the man who lives in the house I’m going to.” The dreams responded to her. The human woman she knew and a shadowy figure of the man she’d begun to imagine. She saw his legs once and that was all that was defined in the dream. “She says he replaced an older couple. That the couple would talk about him. He breaks things and gets angry. If he finds me…”

“Maybe he’s not the type of human to hurt someone for no reason.” Corus’s arm around her tightened. A part of her wanted to be angry, but this wasn’t like before. He sounded different, like he needed her to believe him. “Maybe this human lives there because he got his anger under control and the couple were proud of him.”

“It almost sounds like you know him. Do you already live in his walls?” She laughed because that had to be wrong. If he was there she wouldn’t know what to do.

“No, I don’t live in his walls.”

Something was wrong. She couldn’t explain it. The way he spoke about this human and how he answered. It all made something in her scared, scared that he had something important she should know. Something he hadn’t told her, that he purposely hid from her. She’d worry about that later, for now she knew it was time to wake up. To pack and start on her move.

“I have to go,” she muttered. He put a hand on her cheek and turned her to face him. He leaned his forehead against her.

“I’ll be sleeping in case you need me. Tell me if you’re in trouble. I’ll find you, I promise. I already promised you’d be safe if I was around you,” he said. The conviction in his voice added to her fear. 

“I promise.” 

Corus leaned closer once the whisper left her. He pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was sweet and warm. Something that made her feel like she was at the top of the tree again. Her entire body burned and she didn’t want it to end. Mira closed her eyes, but that ended the dream. She was left cold and alone. That didn’t matter, she was used to being alone. Now she had to move.

Mira packed the blanket her parents gave her first. The food she gathered went in the bag with that. Her hook was set on her hip and the water she collected on the other side. She took one last look around, noticing Kaya had left the metal butterfly. Mira knew it was stupid to take it. She had to travel light and Kaya would stop here first. She couldn’t just ignore it though. She grabbed one of the fabrics she planned to abandon. Wrapped the butterfly with it then tied it around her waist. 

With one last look at her barren home she ducked out. She kicked out the supports from her home leading to the rest of the house. If and when Kaya came back there would be no risk from the furry snakes. She went to the entrance she had to the outside world. There she waited until the sun set. Once it was low she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and dipped outside. 

Once outside Mira watched for the moon to rise over the trees. She planned her route while waiting. There were two dangerous positions she had to worry about. The empty patch of grass from the woman’s home to a bush. Then the bush to the man’s house. The bush would be the easy part. Mira took a deep breath, each section would have dangers of course. The emptiness was the worst. Predators and humans would see her.

The moon peeked over the trees and she ran. At this time humans were scarce. The woman didn’t go out and the predators didn’t like the houses. She just had to make it to the bush. It felt like hours she spent running to reach her goal, the real time was hard to determine. All she knew was when the moon had passed the highest point in the sky she was at the bush. Mira smiled, the easy part was reached.

Ducking under low leaves she entered the darkness of the bush. She rushed forward, itching to return to her dreams. She wanted an answer to what Corus hid. The safety each night was promising. Most importantly the warmth of knowing there was someone beside her. Someone she showed her worst to and still wanted more of her. She wanted to show her home, her friends, her life and learn about him.

Those thoughts died as she knocked a branch. She backed away, but something caught her. She tried to pull away and failed. Her whole body was stuck. She managed to slip off her pack, but that didn’t free her arm. She looked around and saw the danger she was in. A spider’s web. Fear surged through her, she tried to grab her hook, but the fabric holding the butterfly had locked it against her back… against the web. Each twitch she made told the spider she was there. She wouldn’t survive tonight. She did the only thing she could think of, try to sleep and see Corus one last time.

“Mira? Are you ok? Why are you here!?” his worried voice made tears fall from her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her. The frantic and loud beat of his heart was reassuring. She knew death would be next to her when she woke up.

“Corus… I think this is the last time you’ll see me,” she cried. His strangely sturdy arms tightened. It made her cry more. “I-I got caught in a web. I can’t reach my hook because of something I wrapped around my waist. I can’t get away. It’ll find me by morning.”

Corus pulled back and held her face between his hands. A focused look, determined and promising, met her. “Show me where you are. I’ll find you. A spider isn’t going to kill you.”

She shook her head, “Corus it’ll kill you too. I can’t do that to you. I… Can’t we stay like this until I’m gone.”

“Mira. I’m begging you to trust me. I will save you, show me where you are.”

Mira closed her eyes, angry he wouldn’t give her this. At the same time he’d see she was dead by the time he arrived. She focused on the bush between the houses. She opened her eyes as the dream changed. Corus pulled her against him again, petting her head like before. It made her cry, honestly and truly cry. She was terrified that she’d die and so would Corus by trying to save her.

“I see the houses, but where are you Mira?” he asked. Stern, serious, and nothing like she knew. It almost echoed like a human’s. She didn’t want him to die, but the hope he’d succeed won. Corus had pressed her face to his chest, she couldn’t see the change. His heartbeat told her he knew. “The bush? I see it. I can see you.”

Corus pulled her from his hold and cupped her face in his hands. The blue eyes she had started to love looked terrified. It wasn’t a fear she knew. He brought her close and kissed her. It was deep, hungry, and final. He was afraid of this ending, but it didn’t seem like he expected death to be why.

“I’ll save you, just wait for me.”

That was all she heard before she was thrust back into her cruel reality. The spider had finally noticed her. She saw the massive fanged creature’s eyes assessing her. Corus would be too late. No borrower could reach her in time. To make matters worse the steps of a human started to shake the web. Mira gave up her fake acceptance and started to struggle. She’d rather die to a spider than in the hand of a human.

That determination didn’t matter. The spider grew cautious because of the steps. She wasn’t a meal worth it. The human steps didn’t stop until a shadow covered what little light entered through the bush leaves. Now Corus would find the remains of a web and destroyed bush because of a human. He might even try to find her in one of the houses. He would die or be trapped all because of her. 

The bush above her was pulled apart. She struggled desperately to pull herself free. She grabbed her stuck arm, but the web beneath it caught her hand. She wasn’t making this any better. The spider retreated as the bush continued to be destroyed. 

Finally a shadowed figure sat above her. It felt like the dream she created of the man from the house. How did he even know she was here? Had Corus sold her out? Was that the secret she could see in his eyes? Did he live as this man’s pet?!

Hands descended into the bush. She tried again to get herself free, but the human hands surrounded her. Fingers curled around her until she was trapped in towering trunks of flesh. Despite her struggles the human pulled her free in an instant. Mira wasn’t the type to give up, biting at the skin around her. Anything to get free.

The hand was lifted up and up and up until it pressed her against a chest. It felt familiar somehow. Kind of like Corus, the loud heartbeat beneath the skin reminded her of him too. She’d never forgive him for selling her out. What if Kaya met the same fate? Zeke might be just as bad. Mira forced her tears back. Betrayal stung, but she would never let a human see her cry.

“I made it,” the human whispered. The voice was loud, masculine, and familiar. So familiar she couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her. The efforts she put out to escape dwindled. She wasn’t sold out… she gave the human exactly where she was. “Please tell me I didn’t hurt you and that’s why you stopped fighting me.”

Mira wouldn’t give the human an answer. No humans deserved anything from her, least of all the one who tricked her. The hand around her shifted so she was trapped against a palm and his chest. All she could do was wait. The human would drop her in a cage under the guise of kindness. Claiming to love her or something and keep her safe.

The slamming door made her jump. He hadn’t spoken since he changed his hold. She hated the racing heartbeat. The warmth around her. How it made her remember that single time she felt a palm around her in the dream… and how she liked it. If she hadn’t brought the butterfly she would have walked into a trap. It would have been better that way, she’d have escape routes prepared then.

“I might as well show you the trap I left before you run,” his voice shook through her bones. In a way it felt nice, relaxing, but she couldn’t allow that. She couldn’t let those nights in the dream paint her reality. This was a human and she… she was trapped. 

The fingers around her returned to press her against the palm. She bit at them halfheartedly. Her teeth weren’t sharp enough to damage human skin. If she’d left the butterfly her hook would be free, she could fight. The hand flew through the air and she was let out. It took a few precious seconds to regain her balance. The seconds the human needed to trap her with his arms and crouch down to face her.

Mira was body to face with the massive being now. Blue eyes, black hair, pale skin, and all the things that she knew meant the borrower from her dreams. The things that meant Corus. It was horrible. She’d sold herself to a human. In fear and panic she gave in, told him her exact location, and now she was trapped. She reached to the fabric she tied, letting the butterfly fall and pulling free her hook. She brandished it the way she was taught, prepared for his hand to come back.

“I guess my secret’s out now,” he laughed. It was an awkward and loud sound. It made her glare at him, she wanted to stomp up and yell at him. This was something he should have said in the beginning. That should have never happened anyway. This was how borrowers met their perfect partner. It couldn’t be a human. The universe made a mistake for her, she was just begging it hadn’t done the same to Kaya. “So like the first night. Right I get it. I still mean it, we don’t have to ever see each other again Mira.”

“Oh so you’ll do me the kindness and kill me right now?” she sneered. Corus actually recoiled at the venom in her voice. She wasn’t expecting it either. He sighed, his breath washing over her. It made her shiver, he was built differently because he was human.

“Of course not.” The massive eyes closed, she could see subtle changes. He was annoyed. Angry even. She’d see the anger she was worried about. “I know what you think about humans. What you think about me. I don’t care, I wouldn’t have gone near you if you weren’t in danger Mira. I do want to know you, show you things I think you haven’t seen before. I’ll walk away as soon as I show you that trap we joked about.”

“Do you even need it? You win I can’t get away from a human. Go ahead lock me in a cage for my protection, whatever it is you plan to do to me. I’ll-”

“Mira!” 

Corus’s voice was loud. It almost hurt her ears. She stumbled back, dropping her hook. She wasn’t expecting that. He was a human. She had to be careful or she’d die. If he trapped her or something she could get away. Corus stared at her, deflating quickly. He let out another sigh that managed to knock her off her feet. She was terrified.

“I’m sorry. I just… Mira look, please,” Corus pointed to the right. She was terrified to refuse, turning to see a pile of food. “I spent one of the days you weren’t around exploring. I got as much as I could together.”

Corus moved the food away and she saw something completely unexpected. A small room that even had a ceiling. Inside were the fabrics she had imagined hanging. A leaf that he must have pulled from a tree outside. A small bed and a table. A pile of thumbtacks and other bobbles she’d collected before. All things in her room from the dream. All things she was planning to abandon. 

Almost on autopilot she walked even closer. There she could see the ceiling. The stars she didn’t recognize were on it. They were glowing just a little. It was breathtaking.

“What…?” she whispered. Corus moved to stand. She was forced to stare up at the tall human, the form that terrified her. The fear had started to fade away as his warm eyes followed her. The same eyes that watched her climb. The eyes that were terrified to lose her, but wanted to save her. The eyes… the eyes that she was horrified to never see again.

“I had been putting it together for a while. Honestly I thought you weren’t real, but if I was wrong and we ever met I wanted you to have a room here. When you told me you were moving here I did something else too.”

She watched the human walk over to one of the cabinets. With a strength that no borrower could ever have he moved it back, only a little. Now she could see a crudely formed entrance to the wall, one that would quickly be filled to avoid suspicion. It made her smile.

“I made an entrance, or I tried. I don’t think it looks as good as the ones in that dream world,” he smiled at her. He was treating her like a person. Just the day before she’d woken up so cold and alone. A human was here offering her something she never imagined. A promise of safety and love. A promise that she was starting to hope Kaya shared. “I’ll leave now. Do what you have to. I guess, I’ll see you in our dreams. If you’ll keep going, I don’t know what makes them work. I hope you’ll still be there.”

Mira watched him turn. Felt the heavy step of the human. The familiar step. It was the first time he walked away from her. She hated it.

“Wait!” she called. All the instincts she had told her to stop. All the things she experienced were screaming in her mind. Yet she walked forward and met those hopeful eyes. She wanted to feel the palm holding her when she wasn’t afraid. Play with his hair, hear his heartbeat. Feel a kiss from those giant lips against her small body. The universe might not have been wrong. “Where does my room go?”

Corus smiled, “I thought maybe my room. There’s other places if you’d rather not be that close.”

“Let’s start there… if that’s ok?” The beaming smile melted away the ice of fear that coated her. Corus wanted to learn about her world, he wasn’t a dangerous human. He was right, they weren’t all bad.

He walked closer to her and carefully lifted her room from the counter. It made her heart pound in a way she didn’t fully understand. There was a moment of hesitation before he set a hand down next to her. He had an idea of how small it felt, he knew what she’d thought. He already wanted to be better. She climbed on, feeling safe in the palm.

As he walked she spoke up, “You don’t happen to know a human named Zeke with reddish hair do you?”

“My best friend’s name is that. I’m pretty sure his hair would be considered red too,” he smiled. The walk to his room was short, he was rushing. He set the room down next to his massive bed. His hand was moved next to his heart as he sat down. “Why do you ask?”

“I think you should contact him… Something tells me you two have something in common you didn’t know.”

Corus raised her to his eyes and gave her a suspicious look. She made a face, she wouldn’t say more now. Suddenly his eyes changed, a hungry look that made her shiver. He moved his hand across from his lips and brought her within a twitch. She touched his lips hoping that told him enough. 

It was more than enough for him. He rushed forward pressing her fragile body against his warm, sturdy palm. His lips were plush and soft. The kiss was delicate and hungry. She kissed back and it only made him press harder against her. She couldn’t breathe and she didn’t care. A human held her, loved her, and was kissing her. The fear and bitterness she held was torn away by his actions. Tomorrow she might change, but tonight he saved her and she probably loved him.

Corus pulled away, warm loving eyes staring at her. She felt her body heat up under his gaze. Instead of setting her down he moved to lie on his bed. She was placed on his pillow with one of his massive palms pressing on her like a blanket. She stared at him, unsure what to do.

“Just for tonight,” he whispered. Each word made her shiver as it ran through her bones. “Can I be selfish and hold you here? Tomorrow and every day after will be your choice.”

Mira made a move she never thought she would. Gently she kissed a spot she knew she’d bitten before, then nipped it again. She laughed when he jumped, she wasn’t sure if he jumped because he saw or felt her.

“I’ll let you tonight, but I might want it tomorrow too,” she smiled. Corus leaned forward and rested his forehead against her. “I’m glad you didn’t give up on me.”

“I won’t ever give up on you. Even if tomorrow you decide to leave and hate me. I’ll keep waiting in those dreams for you to give me a chance there at least.”

“Even if I leave… I wouldn’t want our dreams to end.”

#gt #giant/tiny #giant tiny #g/t #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #gt community #g/t community #gt july 2023 #gt july #gt july dream #oc:mira #oc:corus #oc:kaya #this was a fun insane idea i had #i might even do more with it

[demodraws]

#body horror tw #blood tw #oc:miria #oc:squint #oc:father #oc:mira #oc:doll #oc:truth #oc:love

[ghostlywhims]

#my sims #oc:mira #sims 4 screenshots #ts4 #the sims 4 #sims4

[trashy-caverns]

Gotta redesign my Bastard Bun Uwu

#slugterra oc #slugterra #oc:Mira #listen her old design is shit so I’m going to update it wlsnwldhakehw

[stupidpop]

frog and toad are friends

#oc:mira #lucio #my art #you know like.. that one pic of tyler1 #anways this is my pokemon trainer oc and her friend lucio overwatch #twitter rp is fun

[seeds-jacob]

Magical girl aesthetic for my (sorta) oc Mira

bonus

#magical girl #oc:mira

[snipputs]

4- Home

They stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the cramped space, facing forward. The silence was heavy between them and the senescent apartment’s elevator moved at a crawl. Each number on the worn button panel illuminated and went out in succession, though the pace left the mute purgatory deafening.  Mira only came up to Recon’s shoulder, so her anxious glance up was obvious. She was relieved he didn’t catch it, as his eyes were downward. He was taking off his gloves, folding them unceremoniously in his hand. What looked just like stains on the grey fabric was red--flaking to a dull brown on his light skin. He made an effort to brush off his palms on his pants when he caught her eyes, but she looked away. Not like she looked much better. Might as well have just left a war zone. “No one wanders the halls here this late at night,” he assured her quietly, tucking his mask into the collar of his shirt and zipping up the hoodie nonetheless. The band of color she sported across her eyes had all but smeared off anyway, but she still offered a slight nod in acknowledgement. Neither gave a damn at this point. They had been meticulous not to be followed, something Mira had learned from her time working with Recon. Despite his tough build and soldier-like precision in a fight, the man was cautious--maybe overly so-- and flighty as all hell. Not like she knew that much about him outside of costume, and he didn’t offer much when she did ask. No, she didn’t have the slightest picture of Recon’s life before he was...well...Recon. What she did have to show for months of working with the vigilante was a secondary home, a bed, and a tiny cubicle of a shower to wash off the city’s blood, sweat, and grime. 

Perhaps that was all she could ask for in their town these days, but it was somebody watching her back, and somebody willing to keep an eye out so at least one of them could get an hour or two of sleep. 

#writing #oc:recon #oc:mira #oc:kilo #valiantscomic #valiants comic #valiants book #otp #snipput #snippet

[awkwardgtace]

Forgotten Pasts

day 10 Ancient.

Today we have an ancient being trapped for who knows how long and two explorers who come along... maybe finding him.

Forgotten Pasts

Corus tried to stretch. He could barely move before touching the walls again. This prison was small and cruel. If it were his choice he’d be deep in a stupor. His brother had called to him and forced his consciousness back to awareness. He hated that it happened, but knowing that the bond was still there made it worth the numbing emptiness. Zeke could have left him. Gone home and been bound to another being of destruction. All his prior cages were big enough for Zeke to visit. Not this time. They left barely enough room for him. He just had to wait for the mortals to need him again, he’d be free and they’d both make sure he was never trapped like this again.

He forced himself to focus on the words that woke him up. To put the struggles of his cage away. The first thing said to him in a century, “Someone’s here.”

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ok maybe you were right about this,” Kaya said as they walked out of the houses they found on the wall. Mira had walked away to look around while they were inside.

“I told you. Any danger would be one we could handle. The best archeologist and the best cave diver weren’t going to fail now,” she smirked. Ash kicked up around her feet as she walked. Kaya wouldn’t be able to walk on their own during this. The ash would make them sick.

Mira left the flashlight’s glow behind her as she wandered. It was easier to see in the dark for her than in the light. Kaya needed it though. Rootlings had terrible night vision, but Mira was better than even other humans. It was why she had been able to visit more places than anyone else.

She stared up at the ceiling. It was so high even she couldn’t see the end. Mira pulled her zipline gun from her hip and aimed. The anchor would reach the ceiling and she’d send one of her glow sticks up. She pulled the trigger, watching as it flew up and up and up. It could go over a hundred feet, nothing should be this high. Especially when the entrance was maybe a foot taller than her.

As soon as it started to fall she panicked. “Kaya!”

“What?” they called. Mira flinched, missing the anchor as it fell. The heavy object landed with an echoing crack as soon as it hit the ground. The coughing told her that Kaya had come running. Mira took a long stride to scoop them up and away from the ancient ash. “What did you do?”

“Kaya, the ceiling is over a hundred feet tall. There’s something off. We… we need to stay close. I don’t think going in the walls is a good idea.”

Kaya’s folded arms fell to their side. They stood on her palm and looked back towards the ancient homes. She could feel their reluctance, fingers digging into her skin. A sigh joining the feeling. She watched them nod and made her way over to retrieve the flashlight. She brought her hand with them to her chest, the shoulder felt dangerous right now.

Mira grabbed the flashlight and clipped it on her shoulder, a guiding light for her and Kaya. Although she’d see more without it. She went right back to where her anchor fell, crouching and blowing away the ash. Once clear she set Kaya down, fixed the flashlight angle, and grabbed the anchor to add it back to the gun.

“Mira…” they whispered. She grunted. “This thing, it’s the old script. Back before we used human languages. I’m pretty sure it’s a name.”

“What?” she holstered her zipline gun and leaned forward. Kaya shooed her back. If she hovered they would lose their light.

“Look, it’s too big for a house or something similar. Too big for a grave marker too. It… it almost looks like a human wrote it.”

“That’s impossible. Humans didn’t even know Rootlings were sapient back then.”

“Look at it!” 

Mira reached down for it, contact with it caused her to shiver. A strange feeling entered her heart, almost like she knew this. As if it belonged to her. Curling her fingers around it cemented that feeling. Kaya gave her a strange look, but in her mind she knew this was hers. She pulled it from the ground, carefully wrapping it in protective cloth and dropping it in her pocket.

“I guess we found our proof then?” she tried to sound happy. It was what they wanted. Proof this is where Rootlings had been. Where some had died, possibly because of humans. 

“We can’t stop now!” Kaya’s conviction made her nervous. She didn’t like this place. Instead of answering Mira pulled out her zipline gun and replaced the anchor. The new one had a spot for Kaya to clip a carabiner.

“We won’t stop, but be ready to reach the loaded anchor and escape.”

“We won’t need that.”

“Kaya, this place is wrong. I… I need to keep going, but I need you safe too. Can’t put my favorite sibling at risk.”

“I’m your only sibling.”

“Doesn’t change anything, so promise? We’ve done this before. This time you won’t be relying on a flimsy set up. I got the actual Rootling clippable ones.”

“Fine.”

Mira holstered the gun again and set a hand down for Kaya. She moved them to her shoulder and stood to her full height. Something was going to happen today, she just hoped it left them alive at the end.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Corus clutched his heart. Something had hit his binding. He couldn’t place it, but… it was the spirit who summoned him. She’d come back. It meant he could go free. All she had to do was find him. She’d seen them trap him like this. She would know where to look. For the first time in centuries he reached out to his brother. A single phrase pushed with all his strength through the seals. “This one.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mira walked in silence for at least an hour. A few times Kaya would notice something. A relic of a bygone past that was swiftly tucked away for further study. There were more markings of the old script, much smaller than what she’d cracked. Kaya could even translate the others. The one they found first was different for some reason.

“Mira, I want to study this area. There’s so many residences,” Kaya said. Before she answered there was a click of the carabiner releasing. She held a hand up, moving to what looked to be the center of a town.

Mira crouched, lowering Kaya to the ground. “Did you bring a mask? I might have one in my pack from the last time. The ash is thicker down here.”

“Don’t worry. I got it.”

Mira watched Kaya walk off into the darkness. She started to set the flashlight down, angled towards the houses for Kaya. A chuckle escaped her as their little light came from behind a house. She shut her own off, taking the chance to see what stood out in the darkness. It felt heavy in her hand as she stood.

No stalactites, no stalagmites, nothing to show any passing of time. It seemed like the place was frozen after the fire. Maybe even before it. She took a step away from the soft light and closer to the darkness. Staring into the emptiness seemed like nothing else would or could ever exist. She could walk and walk and walk without ever finding the end.

A feeling started to pull at her heart. She took one step, then another, then a few more. Something wanted her in that emptiness. She could disappear, just like the stories. There was a burning against her chest, where she put the thing they found earlier. For a moment the darkness terrified her. She quickly hit the flashlight, illuminating the end of the cave…

“What the…?” she whispered. 

She walked to the edge and ran a hand across the smooth stone that hadn’t been there. It wasn’t like this before. She knew that… Mira’s eyes went wide as she spun around. Kaya’s light was moving, they were safe. Mira tightened her hold on the flashlight, quickly sweeping the ground. A glint caught her eye. 

She stepped cautiously over. The feeling of the darkness weighing on her mind terrified her. If she lost the flashlight she might actually be lost to it. Each step brought her closer to some strange reflective surface. It was small enough she could hold it in one hand. So small that even Kaya wouldn’t be too comfortable in it.

When she aimed the flashlight away it blended into the darkness. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and a shiver ran down her spine. This was wrong. It didn’t belong. It shouldn’t exist. She grabbed the strange object as soon as it was in reach. It made her feel wrong… Shaking her head, she set the flashlight on her shoulder and rushed back to Kaya.

She didn’t have to say a word. They felt her steps and met her back in the town center. She knelt in front of them, holding the egg-like object. Kaya ran up to it, but for some reason Mira didn’t want them to touch it. She pulled it away just as their hand would have made contact. Kaya looked hurt by her action. An action she couldn’t explain.

“Mira? What is that? It almost looks like one of those rocks that you break open for a geode,” Kaya said. She shook her head, and they reached out again. She couldn’t let them touch it. She… she had to protect this-this whatever it was. She had to… to do something. “Mira? Mira talk to me! We… I-I think we found enough we should go!”

Mira shook her head. She didn’t want to leave yet. Kaya… she needed Kaya safe. She shot her hand out, curling her fingers around them. Kaya yelped, they never yelped when it was her. She just… she needed them safe and on her shoulder was safe. She didn’t give them a chance to ask before dropping them on her shoulder and climbing to her feet.

“Mira! What the heck!? What’s wrong with you?” they shouted. She heard the carabiner click. They were safe. Perfectly safe. 

The spot on her chest burned again. She brought the egg thing close to her face before reaching for the carefully wrapped plaque. As if she’d done it a hundred times she pulled it free and set it against the object. Kaya was talking, but she couldn’t hear them. It was the right thing to do. She held the egg and slab of writing at arm’s length.

The cloth burned away, but her fingers stayed safe. The long forgotten script glowed with an eerie black light. A blue and red mixed together slowly filling in what must have been letters. As each filled she could hear a voice in her mind, one that sounded like her own, chanting a name again and again. 

As the red and blue reached the final marking, Mira’s mouth moved. “Corus.”

A flash of the black light shot out from the egg thing. It knocked out the light of her flashlight. The feeling that pulled her towards the darkness, the feeling that nearly swallowed her, reappeared. She finally moved her hand that had once held the nameplate and used it to press Kaya to her neck. Their fingers dug into her skin, she curled her fingers around them to keep them safe.

The energy from the egg didn’t stop. She almost wanted this to be some weird energized geode from the past. As the light finally started to fade and she was able to breathe, she noticed the feeling of the egg thing was gone. Instead she felt a weight she knew almost too well. The weight of a Rootling.

It took a few more seconds for it to end, for her other arm to move. As her eyes adjusted she found a small man in her hand. He didn’t look the same as Rootlings. His ears weren’t tapered, and there was no sign of leaves in his hair. It made her worried. If he wasn’t a Rootling what was he, and how did he get here?

The small man groaned. Mira pulled her hand from Kaya to add another beneath the man. Kaya gasped, the carabiner clicked, but they didn’t climb down. Mira felt them climbing around her neck. She knew what they were doing, the click shot a bright light onto her hands. A light that was enough to make the man open his light blue eyes.

“Are you alright?” Mira whispered. The man glared at her as soon as she spoke. A part of her wanted to let him go and run. The way he stared at her, the too human traits on him. It all made it hard to stay calm. “I… where did you come from? Were you inside that egg thing?”

“Who are you?” the man asked. His voice was commanding and almost painful to hear. It didn’t fit the size he was.

“I think I get an answer first. You are sitting in my hand.”

The little man climbed to his feet and looked around. “I suppose that is true and that merely adds to the problem. Tell me now. Where is the woman who freed me? I know very well it can’t have been you.”

Mira narrowed her eyes. She curled her hand into a fist around the man, other Rootlings panicked when she did this. He just glared at her again. Suddenly she hoped he couldn’t see Kaya there was something wrong. She shifted her head to use her hair to hide the flashlight. She wanted the advantage here. 

Mira brought him close to her face and stared at him. He was a bit cute, pale skin and a solid build. The lack of concern that she was holding him in a fist was weirdly reassuring. Kaya was the only other Rootling to trust her like this. Except this wasn’t trust, it was something else. It was like… like he knew he could get free in no time.

“I suggest you return to your previous hold.” 

“Or what?”

“Or my brother will be quite angry when he arrives. His patience will only go so far for your kind human.”

“I don’t think I’m scared of a rootling or his brother.” A bluff through and through. Rootlings had magic, they could be terrifying. Except she was the kind of human they hated. The kind immune to it.

“Humans do fit all the stories don’t they? Not a single doubt that you’re right. Maybe I’ll make you regret it on my own for handling me like this. I need to find the one who freed me and you are halting that.”

“It was you though,” Kaya whispered. 

Mira tried not to show a reaction. The man had caught on to something with her. He grinned, she almost wanted to keep this dance going. Who would actually succeed in the bluff contest they had going? Unfortunately Kaya was her bigger concern. This wasn’t a normal Rootling and Kaya was already smaller than him. She couldn’t do this.

“Whatever. I got what I wanted from this.”

She had every intention of walking away. Setting Corus down and leaving. The first successful expedition here. He was probably just another adventurer who chose to explore. When he realized she wasn’t a grave robbing human he might even let her give him and his brother a lift out. Except she couldn’t move. The grin on his face faltered. If she didn’t know better she’d say he looked worried.

A blinding light filled the cave. There was no remnant of the darkness that once tried to devour her. The ash even began to clear out around her. A clean, well lit city surrounded her. Kaya pressed themself against her neck, whatever froze her didn’t touch them.

“I warned you,” Corus’s voice was morose. It made a pit form in her stomach.

Mira blinked and a man at least two feet taller than her appeared. She was relieved for whatever had frozen her then, there’s no way she wouldn’t have jumped and thrown Kaya. He glared at her, green eyes burning. His look filled her with the same feeling as the darkness she almost walked into. Something told her this was the brother.

The man held his hand out to her. As much as she fought it her fingers started to loosen. All her bravado fell as finger by finger she let him go. Her voice wouldn’t work anymore. All she wanted was to beg the new man to make this stop. Not to let her drop Corus. There was nothing that would ever make her actually hurt someone so small.

Corus didn’t even look bothered. He was completely fine falling to what could very well be his death. The last finger holding him to her palm moved and he… stayed where he was. The new man reached out and grabbed Corus. The man cupped his hands in front of his face and all his anger fell away.

“Corus,” the man whispered. 

“Hey Zeke,” Corus said. Tears fell from the strange man’s eyes. Mira felt the muscles in her body relax, she could move.

“I was starting to think you’d never get out.”

“Thanks for not giving up. They would have found someone else to bind to you.”

“As if I’d walk away from my brother.” Mira tried to take a step away, but both sets of eyes were locked on her immediately. “Do not leave that spot.”

Mira tried and failed to ignore the order. Her feet had been glued to the floor. The eyes left her and she tried to roll her shoulder without knocking Kaya off. Words would draw attention. Kaya might even draw their attention. A small hand tapped three times against her neck. They knew what she wanted. As soon as their small weight was on her arm she felt like crying. They knew, all she had to do was watch for the two monsters in front of her for their attention.

“Did the human hurt you? I can deal with her,” the other man, Zeke, said. Mira tried not to start panicking at that. What would dealing with her mean?

“I thought I was supposed to be the one causing chaos and destruction,” Corus laughed. Mira tried to hide her fear. Corus looked at her, the gaze making her heart race. This man could somehow see straight through her. “She didn’t hurt me. It seemed more like she didn’t trust me. I don’t think we need to be worried about her.”

“I haven’t forgiven the humans for what they did. To you or them…” 

“...How long has it been? Where is she? It was her who let me out. I know it was.”

“Corus… It’s been more than a few centuries. She… she died not long after you were sealed away. I found her body on my first trip away from you. She didn’t die alone, both of us failed.”

“But… but I felt her. It… it had to be her. She can’t be gone. We… it was going to work. We were… We did it Zeke… Both of us there’s no way they can be gone…”

Mira felt a tap on her leg. Kaya was ready. The two in front of her had entered a silence that made her nervous. None of this was going to end well for her. As long as Kaya got out she wouldn’t care. They’d make sure this place was locked away. That her death would keep others safe.

Zeke closed his eyes and she moved. A quick tug to free the zipline gun. A half turn of her body, aim at the entrance. Her only goal was to get Kaya as far away as possible. Then she fired. The noise of the anchor firing felt deafening. There was no way the two hadn’t heard. She just needed to hope they’d ignore it.

Unfortunately both she and Kaya had no luck. Her body froze up painfully this time. The anchor froze in the air. This was her idea, her plan, and now they’d both die. Zeke walked by her, depositing Corus on her like she was a table. His look only made her angry. Pity wouldn’t save her sibling.

“I hate you,” she whispered. She hadn’t expected her voice to work. Corus looked hurt. Good. She had to use her voice while she could. “I don’t care what you do to me, just let them go. I convinced them to come here. Pushed us forward. Opened your stupid fucking egg.”

“You let me out?” he whispered. She couldn’t move, but it was clear he didn’t expect an answer. He walked up her arm to her shoulder and set a tiny hand against her face. If she could move she’d grab him in a tight fist. Anything to get Kaya away.

“It’s ok, you’re safe now,” Zeke’s voice drew her eyes from Corus. The look on his face was different than when he took Corus close. Almost loving. She stared in fear as he lifted Kaya from the anchor. Their carabiner didn’t do anything to stop him. He carried them back over in a loose fist. They were shaking, that was always the worst way for them to be carried.

“Please,” her voice croaked. Corus’s fingers dug into her skin. “Don’t hold them like that. They get scared. Please…”

Zeke actually looked shocked at her. He changed his hold to a flat palm with the other hand around like a railing. Mira felt tears fall from her eyes. At least he listened. The hand on her face disappeared. She felt somehow cold without it. Like it was a promise that things would work out.

Zeke stood in front of her. He felt bigger this time, as if he could crush her under his foot. She swallowed all her words as he stared at her. Corus’s feet left a burning trail down her arm as he walked away. There was a part of her that didn’t want him to be gone. Zeke set his hand with Kaya near Corus.

“Are you hurt?” Corus asked. He held a hand out to them, but they shied away. Mira just wanted them to get out of this. It was her idea, her fault.

“Why won’t you let us go?” they whimpered. Mira felt more tears trail down her face.

“I am doing what we were summoned for; keep humans from trapping you again.”

“They aren’t-” Mira tried to argue, but the glowing eyes from Zeke stopped her voice again. This shouldn’t be possible. 

“S-summoned? How did we summon you?”

“Zeke, you said it had been a long time?” The man who honestly felt like he grew each second nodded. She wanted Kaya away from him. Safe with her. “Then… was the method lost? They can’t have you transcribe my name anymore? Bind us both?”

Mira closed her eyes and tried to think of something to say. It wasn’t as if these two would let her talk. Corus almost seemed to follow Zeke’s actions blindly. It would possibly get Kaya out if she could talk to him without the man taller than her around. A feeling of a burning warmth ran down her spine. She snapped her eyes open, this time seeing Corus with a glow all over his body.

The burn flowed through all of her body. A strange sensation that made her muscles relax as it moved. Slowly she moved the arm Corus stood on. She left her hand flat next to Kaya, the burning had only grown more intense. They scrambled off Zeke’s hand, jumping the inch of space she hadn’t filled yet. 

As soon as Kaya was on her hand she sped up. Corus didn’t flinch at all at her speed, despite standing on her forearm. Kaya grabbed her clothes as soon as they were close enough. They climbed faster than she moved her arm. She followed their path up to her shoulder with her other hand. Corus kept glowing long after Kaya had hidden themself with her hair.

“You let me out?” he asked. Zeke’s eyes widened as Corus stared up at her. “Not the one on your shoulder?”

“It was me…” Mira was tempted to use whatever Corus was doing to free herself. Run and get Kaya out. They’d hunt her down, but she didn’t care.

“Then that ancient contract worked in the end. I wonder… Zeke, if they’re together and this is her then the other must be your bound… right?”

Zeke actually looked away. The feeling of his form continuing to tower over her fell away. He nodded, a sheepish almost sweet movement. Wind blew near her, moving the hair Kaya had hidden with to reveal them. “I felt it as soon as I saw them… I thought, you truly haven’t been trapped by this human?”

“We’re siblings!” Kaya’s anger bled out. They were always angry at anyone who questioned them. Some people thought Mira was using them, others thought they paid Mira off. Neither would ever be true. “Humans aren’t bad, they haven’t been bad for centuries.”

“Humans and Rootlings live together, they have since the fires. The fires that brought us here to find the history that was lost back then.” 

Corus moved on her arm again. He walked closer, staring at her in a way that made her heart flutter. There was something with him that made her want to believe he wasn’t some monster about to kill them. That he’d let them both go home, give the two a chance to pretend none of this ever happened.

“Humans invaded, they had knowledge of the people here,” Corus explained. The fire burning in her body faded, but she could still move. Zeke had given her freedom. “They knew what I was and trapped me. Only one person could set me free, but she had been taken.”

“She died trying to get back here, at least that’s what I assumed when I finally went to seek her out,” Zeke added. “She died with her closest friend beside her. The two had been the only ones who showed either of us kindness.”

“Most treated me like a tool. They treated Zeke like a monster because he tends to be human sized. It didn’t help that he could get bigger. We wanted to stay together so we made sure it would happen. If they died by any means they’d come back.”

“You two would be who had come back.”

“What?” Mira’s voice was quiet.

“No… that was supposed to be a myth,” Kaya’s words shocked her more than the other two. “A being of chaos and destruction, bound to a girl of lavenders. A being of order and control, bound to one who was at once both and neither…”

“What the hell? Are you trying to insinuate that after the threats and fear you just put us through we’re some ancient lovers of yours or something!?”

Zeke knelt in front of her, bowing his head. Corus jumped from her arm. He landed gracefully on Zeke’s shoulder, taking his own bow in turn. Kaya stood on her shoulder, grabbing the hair that had finally returned to hide them. She could feel the way they shuffled to look at the two. 

“What now?” they whispered. Mira gave the smallest shrug she could. They stumbled a bit from her movement. She had no idea what to do now.

“The contract holding me has been broken. You have freed me now as you had many times in an ancient past. I beg that you give me a chance to prove my love for you… To give me a chance to show I am not a danger to you or those you deem worthy,” Corus’s words filled Mira with a flame again. She wanted to say yes.

“If you my small love will give me a chance,” Mira could feel Kaya’s body freezing as Zeke started to speak. “I would like a chance to show I am safe for you. That I will not use my power against you or those who you trust.” He lifted his head, giving Mira a look. “Human or otherwise.”

“We humbly request to stay by your sides.” The two spoke in unison. The words sent a fire down Mira’s spine that made her fall to her knees. Kaya was an ice cube on her shoulder, hanging on only because of the precautions they always took.

All of this was insane. She and Corus were basically threatening each other. Zeke probably wanted to kill her. Kaya was terrified of both the men they faced. Yet she could tell that saying no would rip out a piece of her essence. A life of pain and misery, only changed by Kaya being there for her. She brought her hand up to them, if they said no she said no. That would be it.

“We have that extra room,” they muttered. Mira couldn’t stop herself from laughing. The dry stains of her terror induced tears forgotten. After all of this they were taking ancient embodiments of order and chaos home.

“I guess we did what we came here for then,” she said as she quieted her laughter. “The long abandoned history is right in front of us. I’d be a failure of a search and rescue cave diver to leave them behind.”

“I don’t think I’d be able to be the best archeologist if I let living relics walk off on their own.”

“Does that mean…” Corus started, hope in his voice.

“You’ll let us stay with you?” Zeke finished the question, his own voice filled with relief.

Mira stood up and grabbed Kaya. The carabiner clicked before she pulled them away. She held them to her chest and faced potential monsters. Everything could fall apart. They could use whatever power they hold to destroy everything. 

“Come on, we ignored some places Kaya wanted to look at on the way in. All of us can go home after that.”

#gt #giant/tiny #giant tiny #g/t #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #gt community #g/t community #gt july 2023 #gt july #gt july ancient #oc:mira #oc:corus #oc:zeke #oc:kaya #had fun with this idea #spent too much time worldbuilding #i may or may not be insane lol

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58.

Ty for the ask. Here's a link to the list.

I'm annoyed at the fact the text is black. I use dark mode and this is awful. Tumblr is mean though.

Moving Houses

Mira had been running back and forth for the last few hours. Corus had been watching from his desk the whole time. He offered to help, but she wouldn’t accept any. He couldn’t stop himself from chuckling when he heard her shouting from below his bed. They were both too stubborn.

“Don’t laugh,” Mira huffed as she tugged her latest bundle behind her. “This stuff is heavy.”

“I’m not laughing, I swear,” he smiled. She glared up at him. He bent over to try and grab the small bag, but a single shake of her head made him stop. “Why can’t I help again?”

“Because I can move my things on my own without your help.”

He sat up with a sigh. He couldn’t believe she’d even decided to move into the house at this point. She pulled the heavy bundle across the floor. It was almost funny to see her pulling so much behind her each time. It didn’t seem like she’d have so many things. She tried to force it through the door, but it was too big for that.

“How do you have so much stuff?” he asked. She grumbled, ignoring his question.

Corus pouted a bit before standing up. Mira didn’t even look at him. He put a bit more weight than normal in his steps as he moved around his room. She groaned as he stopped a bit away and looked at her. She stared up at him with an annoyed face. He just tried to smile with an innocent look, he knew she didn’t buy it.

Once she turned back around he let himself fall to his knees. She squealed as it made her bounce, but landed on her feet. Her small angry face was turned to look at him again, but he couldn’t stop smiling. He wasn’t done yet, they both knew it. She pushed her hair behind her ears and turned back to the bundle.

Corus leaned forward, his shadow seemed to absorb her. It was amazing how easily she hid in any hint of shadow. Pale skin and bright lavender hair that never seemed to stand out anymore. He grinned when he heard her stifled laugh. It was nice to have moments like this again, to be trusted by her. 

Corus started to lower himself, he was curious about what she’d been doing. She’d already added so much to the house. He held himself up on his forearms and leaned forward to see into the windows. One room seemed filled with fabric, his best guess was a sewing room. The other had bits of wood and nails. There was a bit of fabric as a curtain stopping him from seeing anything more.

“Can you just lay on the ground already?” Mira sighed. Corus laughed and finally let himself fall. She stumbled, falling off her feet. He stopped laughing and quickly wrapped his fingers around her.

“Sorry,” he whispered. She just shoved at his fingers until he moved them. He stared at her, noticing for the first time how worn out she appeared. She stood up with a slight sway. “You should take a break. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“That bag might have been heavier than I thought…” He smiled. She wouldn’t look in his eyes, but pushed herself more fully onto his palm. 

“What was in it that made it so heavy?” The bright red on Mira’s face made him laugh. She curled up against his fingers. Burying her face to hide from him. Corus brought his hand closer to his face.

“...some metal Zeke gave me, bits of wood, flower petals, some tools I need most of the time…” His eyes went wide. Reaching forward with his other hand, he pinched the bundle she hadn’t quite fit in the door. Lifting it made him gasp. “No! Now I won’t be able to drag it inside!”

“Mira… you’re amazing. This is heavier than you and Kaya combined.” He stared at her with wide eyes. He knew she was strong, but this was a different level. She just crossed her arms, pouting about him touching it. He brought her just below his lips. “How about we watch a movie for a bit?”

He felt her shiver as he spoke. He gently pressed a kiss to her. Most of her was hidden by him then. He never stopped feeling amazed by how much trust she had in him. Slowly he sat up keeping her pressed into his palm. Her lips pressed into his and made him smile. He pulled away, seeing her smiling widely.

“I think I can put off moving things for a little while,” she said. He stood up and walked out to his couch. He grabbed the remote and fell back. He held his hand near his neck. She climbed off and curled up on him. “...will you help with what I have left?”

“Sure, I’ll help you with anything I can.”

#awkwardanswers #gt #giant/tiny #g/t #giant tiny #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #gt community #g/t community #oc:Mira #OC:Corus #ty anon

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Valentine's Surprise

honestly wrote this last minute. My sense of time is utterly horrible and realized valentine's was today... yesterday :D.

Human Corus has a big surprise for his tiny girlfriend Mira

Valentine's Surprise

Mira stared at the vent, considering for the hundredth time going to spy on Corus. He asked her not to, but it had been all day she’d been stuck in his room. He was doing something important in the rest of the house he didn’t want her to see. Normally it was fine, but her curiosity kept burning. It made it almost impossible to do anything else.

Another ten minutes passed before she gave in. She started her climb from the window of the house set up in Corus’s room. She could get a better angle on the desk corner here. She started climbing immediately, except the human of the house knew her too well. Not even halfway to the top and the door of the room opened loudly. She looked over to see Corus staring at her, he didn’t even have to seek her out.

Mira decided to ignore him and keep climbing. Of course the man decided to put his full weight in the steps he took to approach her. They both knew she wouldn’t fall, but it would hamper her progress. He put more weight into the step that had him standing right in front of her. Her rope swung in the air. She glared at the human who had a casual smirk as he stared at her.

“I’m impressed,” he said. She huffed and resumed her climbing. The warmth of a hand below her did make her smile to herself a little. “I thought for sure I’d come in here and find you hanging from the vent trying to get back before me.”

“Maybe I did beat you and I was getting back to my house,” she said. Mira glanced up at him, her heart skipped a beat at the shock that switched to a warm smile. His hand was still just below her, but he let her continue her climb. He knew to wait for her to let him grab her.

“I guess that would just prove how amazing you are.” His hand touched her feet, a silent question. For a few seconds she considered refusing. The warm look on his face certainly made it harder.

“I’m even more amazing for ignoring all the noise you made today and only deciding to climb on top of your desk just before you came in.”

Corus laughed. Mira took that chance to slide down her rope, settling into the open palm. His laugh made her bounce a bit, but she easily freed her hook. It landed next to her. The laughing did set it off course when she pulled it back. Thankfully the human just grinned, trying to hold back more laughter as she wound the rope back up.

“Well, I’m finally done and ready to show you what I’ve been doing,” he whispered. His hand was brought up to rest in front of his eyes. It was times like this she could almost forget the danger he could pose. The danger he made a point to work against. “Would you come with me? Maybe without the hook?”

Mira grabbed her gear and stared at it. Corus wouldn’t leave her trapped, he added ways for her to get around in most places. Still she always brought the hook with her. A line of defense along with an escape. She looked up at the human she loved, he looked nervous. He probably thought she’d get annoyed at the request. Mira just smiled and pulled the rope from her waist.

“Hold me near my open window, I’ll put it inside,” she said. The hand moved quickly, he was lucky she never got motion sick with him. Once near her window she climbed to the edge of his fingers. He tilted his hand knocking her off and into the house. “Hey!”

Before she could make more of a complaint, he offered something clearly wrapped by Kaya to her. She shot him a glare, but took the package anyway. He shifted, dropping his weight to the ground. His eye took up her view as he stared at her.

“Change into that first? I’ll be changing too,” he whispered. She looked down at the package with a small smile.

“Five minutes,” she said.

“Perfect.”

Corus moved carefully now. His steps left almost no sign of his movement once he walked off. She closed the blinds of her window and stared at the carefully wrapped package. Mira ran her hands over it, feeling the soft fabric beneath. She tugged at the careful wrapping Kaya had done for him. They were the only one who could avoid that tape Corus and Zeke used. Once she pulled the wrapping free she gasped.

Pulling it up she found a dark purple almost black dress. As she held it in front of her, shoes her size fell to the floor. Ones she’d seen in the movies Corus liked to watch sometimes. A deep black with a bit sticking out at the back to make her look taller. She quickly changed into the dress, awed at how perfectly it fit her. The fabric wasn’t like the costumes Corus and Zeke got for her and Kaya. This was soft, like what Corus usually wore.

Mira spun in the dress, the skirt flaring around her . There was a kind of weight at the ends so it didn’t fly up as high as she expected. She admired the weight, it would help if she decided to climb while wearing it. The weight was light enough she wouldn’t face any struggles. Far off she heard a door opening, Corus was on his way back. She slipped the strange shoes on, she was pretty sure humans called them heels. 

She stumbled on the first few steps. These things were hard to balance in. She still managed to get to the window and throw the blinds open. Corus was wearing a suit, at least she thought it was a suit. That’s what they called it in the movies where humans dressed like him. He kept his lighter steps as he came to kneel in front of her. The offered hand felt different somehow.

Mira pulled herself up on the fingers closest to her. His other hand came close, giving her another option for balance. She gratefully accepted it, stepping forward until she reached the center of the hand. He lifted his hand up while she was standing until she was even with his eyes.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. Mira felt her cheeks redden. She looked away, but Corus didn’t appear to expect an answer. He stood up to his full height, for once not pulling her against his chest. “Close your eyes for me?”

“O-ok,” she said. She slid her eyes closed. Something about tonight was different, special somehow. It made her heart start racing.

Mira paid close attention to the movements of the human holding her. The subtle way he tensed his hand as he walked. The way he kept his steps light, but now and then added more weight to make her bounce. She could hear the faint beating of his heart and the massive lungs breathing near her. Sometimes she felt she could lose herself in just hearing him. Knowing the gargantuan being near her was alive and would do anything to keep her safe.

Her eyes almost slipped open when his hand started to move. One of his fingers covered her face gently. He knew her well. She chuckled as he held her face. He added the littlest bit of pressure which only made her laugh more. A click echoed above her. She heard it a few more times before Corus seemed content with whatever caused the noise.

“Keep them closed a little longer ok?” he asked. She nodded. The finger blocking her vision was gone, but she kept her eyes closed.

She felt something moving around her, but nothing made her feel in danger. If anything, knowing Corus was doing something helped her feel safer. After everything he’d done for her and her home she trusted him. He never stopped trying to improve, to be someone safe for her. He never lashed out anymore. That person who could hurt her by accident felt like a phantom of a bleak past.

“Ok… open your eyes,” he whispered. His breath blew past her and made her shiver.

Slowly, Mira opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was how dark the room still was. The flickering of a light above her drew her attention, long white candles were sitting on the table. A dark red cloth covered the wood she would normally be standing on. She noticed a large silver dome near the two of them. Corus reached out and carefully lifted it from the table. Mira gasped at what had been hidden.

A small table decorated in a similar way to the one she stood on. The long white candles flickering with fake light she’d grown to know well. A dish that had food on it that actually looked like the meals Corus ate except for her size. She was so focused on the things sized to her, she almost missed the human size dish next to it. One of Corus’s hands flew over her again carefully pulling the chair out from the table that existed just for her.

Mira looked up at him, overwhelmed by the love she met in his eyes. She walked forward, constantly looking back up at the human. He just kept a soft smile on his face. She sat down in the chair he held out, jumping as he pushed it back towards the table. She looked at the dish, at the human sized dish, then back at the human staring at her.

“What’s all this for?” she whispered. Corus leaned forward until he was right next to her. His breath washed over her, a minty smell blew past her. 

“I wanted to give you a romantic, candlelit Valentine’s day dinner,” he murmured. He made his voice deeper than normal. The tone sent a shiver down her spine. “I want to take any chance I can to show how much I love you. My life’s only gotten better since I met you, like you were a light that finally woke me up. Things like this are the least I can do.”

Mira let his breath wash over her for a few seconds. The words slowly settled in her heart. She didn’t know what Valentine’s was exactly, or if there was something she could do for him. Those words meant so much to her, he was just as important to her life. If she hadn’t met him, hadn’t had bad luck, she’d be lost and alone. There was one small thing she could do, stepping out of her seat and approaching the massive lips. She leaned forward, planting a chaste kiss against the sensitive skin. The human shivering from her touch always made her smile.

“I don’t know exactly what Valentine’s is,” she started, keeping her hands on the lips to keep him quiet, “but I love you, and I love this… You aren’t the only one whose life changed. I can never explain just how different things would be without you in my life. Thank you, my unbelievable human.”

A hand wrapped around her pulling her close. Corus pressed his own lips against her. The intensity was the only remnant of who she’d watched when he moved in. She loved it, the careful pressure deepening the kiss he gave her. She placed her own small kisses on the lips around her. It felt like hours before he pulled away. She stared up at the greedy eyes and loving smile of the human who held her. The only human who she’d trust blindly with her life.

“Happy Valentine’s day,” he breathed, “I love you, my little miracle.”

#gt #giant/tiny #giant tiny #g/t #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #gt community #g/t community #OC:Mira #OC:Corus

[awkwardgtace]

First Day In A New Home

day 17 First Meet:

 Ian gets to head into his new home with his foster parents. He's a bit nervous about it being giants after his step dad.

TW: Mentions of physical abuse

First Day In A New Home

Ian grimaced as the car started to enter the giant neighborhood. It was bad enough having a crappy step dad, giant foster parents were going to be awful. He hugged his bruised chest imagining the way they’d ignore if he was hurt like his old ‘friends’. At least one of them finally cared when he winced as they grabbed him. Although thanks to them he wasn’t with his mom anymore either. He didn’t know whether to be happy or not.

“Vitus and Dabria have been amazing with their kids, adopted them even,” the woman driving said. Ian didn’t care, he’d fight if they tried to adopt him. He wanted to go back to his mom eventually, she needed him. He just had to get through four years of this stupid system. “Here we are!”

“Great,” he said. She gave him a look, but he didn’t care. If she wanted him happy to get ignored by his guardians it wasn’t going to happen. She hopped out of the car and started checking her watch. “You can just go, I can get to the door on my own.”

“Well, I’ll be calling in an hour to make sure you’ve gotten there so don’t run off!” He just nodded as she climbed back into the car. She almost rushed off before Ian grabbed his stuff. All the keepsakes his mom hid from his step dad. The only things he wouldn’t let them send ahead.

He stared up the path to the huge door. The giants would probably just say he’d shown up when he hadn’t to avoid a problem. He could probably run off now, but he didn’t have anything he’d need to survive. He grimaced, but started up the small slope to the door. He was a bit shocked to find a doorbell at human height. He had been positive he’d have to try shouting or just wait until they decided to check. He pressed the button and realized he made a horrible mistake.

Tremors that knocked him off his feet came close. The sound of the bell hadn’t even stopped yet. He stared at the door, it would open out and smack into him. He still had to recover from the last time his step dad needed ‘stress relief’. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable pain. He yelped when cool air washed over him.

“Oh, I’m sorry I was so excited to meet you I didn’t soften my steps,” a warm voice said. He slowly opened his eyes and stared into rubies. The giant woman leaned forward and her ebony hair blocked Ian from sight. He was trapped as she reached down to him. He tensed for the fingers to grip him, but the hand rested next to him instead. “You are Ian, right?”

“Uh, y-yes I am,” he said. He climbed to his feet and just stared at the hand near him. He didn’t know what she expected. He just stepped back to try and look into her eyes again.

“Oh, would you rather walk on your own? That’s fine.” He noticed a shift in her expression that made him nervous, he planted his hands on her skin before she could pull away.

“N-no, it’s fine.”

He pulled himself onto her palm and turned back to grab his bag. Her other hand had already appeared and pinched it between two fingers. His face fell, his things would probably be crushed now. The huge fingers came to a stop just next to him and she put his bag down. She was shocked to see it in perfect condition. He grabbed it and pulled it close, preferring not to risk another close call.

The hand underneath him tensed. He watched the huge fingers curl up over his head. He wasn’t used to being held like this. His old friends would just grab him when they were walking around. The hand was brought higher and higher as she stood to her full height. He gasped as she cupped her hand to her chest. He could hear her heart as she turned and let the door shut behind them. It was a lot quieter than he usually heard doors in giant homes.

“It’s nice to meet you Ian, I’m Dabria,” she started. “We have most of what you could need set up on this floor. If we’re missing anything just let us know.”

“Sure,” he answered.

Dabria continued taking him through the house. She pointed up the stairs explaining that's where she and her husband slept. She was bigger than any giant he’d seen so far, he didn’t want to see the husband anytime soon. She talked about offices for them on this floor so they could work where it was easier to be reached. Ian just nodded along, it wasn’t like it meant much to him. 

“This is the giant room we have set up where you can stay if you want,” she said. 

He frowned. She would probably drop him on the bed and he’d have to risk getting hurt to get down. He didn’t say anything and waited. She opened the door and held her hand away from her chest. He tried not to groan as her fingers flattened. He was left in shock by what he found.

“Currently Rhys and Ash are using the small spaces towards the back of the room. We set one up for you here,” she explained. He stared in awe at the small area they made for him. It was almost empty except for a bed. None of his things they sent ahead were there. “We had the others put your things in the human size rooms though. If you’d rather stay here just let us know and we’ll move everything over.”

He didn’t get a chance to ask questions before her hand was pulled close to her heart again. She walked out of the room and into their living room. He sighed, the human rooms were here so they could keep an eye on them probably. As her fingers flattened out again he almost screamed seeing the other giant in the room.

He couldn’t see the face of the giant, but he had white hair tied back just by his neck. Ian was terrified for the man to turn and face them, he looked tense. He wasn’t ready for angry giants, he couldn’t be sure they weren’t like his step dad. The man started to stand and Dabria took a step closer.

“Vitus, is everything ready?” Dabria asked. 

Vitus turned and emerald eyes were locked on Ian instantly. He panicked at the stern look of the other giant. He took a step towards them, he didn’t want to imagine what this one would be like when he was on the ground. The giant offered a hand and Ian wanted to refuse, but knew he wouldn’t get much of a say. He walked off of Dabria’s palm and into Vitus’s, clutching his suitcase tightly.

The rougher hand let him walk a bit easier. He made it to the center quickly before sitting down. He didn’t want to fall on his face while the hand moved. The fingers around him curled up and he shuddered. He was brought close to those piercing eyes and waited. This is where he finds out how ignored he gets or if he’s getting a giant version of his step dad.

“It’s nice to meet you Ian, Rhys and I were making sure everything was set up for you,” Vitus whispered. The hand he was on started moving and he was shown a small human size living room. It looked almost identical to the one the giants were standing in. “The door to your room has your name on it. There’s a buzzer there that lets us know if you need us.”

A finger was held in front of his face and he followed it to a button on the wall. It was the first time he noticed the weird bracelet that was on Vitus’s wrist. He’d seen them before, his friends’ parents had them for when humans stayed over. They never actually wore them though. He absentmindedly reached out to it. Vitus just smiled at him, the giant seemed a lot nicer than Ian first thought.

He carefully climbed off the rough palm. He expected Vitus to stop him and decide this was a joke. Instead he made it to the small living room and looked around. He found a few doors with names, but one that had his. He made his way over and opened the door. He expected it to be just as empty as the spot in the giant room. 

He found the room filled with his things. It had new stuff too. The bed had new clothes, a new phone, even a new suitcase on it. The room had its own television, and shelves he could put all the things he kept close on display. He looked out the door and the two giants had moved from the opening. It felt like they paid close attention to everything he’d sent over. He took a few more steps inside and noticed a tablet sitting on the desk too.

He didn’t get to look at it before a salmon haired man had walked into the room. He walked up and stared into Ian’s eyes. The pink color made him think the man wore contacts. The man placed his hands on Ian’s shoulders and wore a somber expression. Ian tensed, this had to be where he got some awful truth about these people.

“I’m sorry to say you have an awful sibling now, Ash is a stick in the mud and doesn’t want-” the man started. A hand came out of nowhere and smacked the back of the pink haired man’s head. Ian looked up at the taller person who’d followed the other in.

“Rhys, don’t scare him. I’m Ash, it's nice to meet you,” they said. They held a hand out and Ian took it shakily. They seemed to frown at him and he didn’t know why. They looked like they were going to say something else, but Rhys pushed them away a bit.

“Come on, you’re just mad cause I ruined your time hanging out in your room with Alessia. What did mom and dad say again? Not until you’ve moved out?”

“Rhys if you mention they were in my room I’m telling them about the way your tv actually broke,” a feminine voice said. He was shocked by how authoritative she sounded when she was so much shorter than all of them. She had almost blue hair and brown eyes.

“I give, I give,” Rhys backed further into Ian’s room and away from the three. Ian just sighed, it looked like he’d been brought into a place easy to be forgotten about. “So Ian, excited to try living with giants? You know the stories are true, they stomp around and are always loud and-”

“Rhys!” Ian’s eyes had gone wide as Rhys spoke. He hadn’t heard any stories, but he didn’t want that world again. Loud, stomping, and angry was the worst thing he could get from this. He hugged his sides, the healing bruises flaring in pain. Arms slowly wrapped around him, but he didn’t want to see who would hurt him.

“Hey,” it was Alessia. He could maybe fight her off. “Rhys is being an idiot, that’s not going to be how things go here. They’re quiet and nice, I’ve heard Vitus raise his voice once because he thought someone was in trouble. I mean they let me stay here just cause I was dating one of their kids and my parents were moving.”

He didn’t believe her. It would be easy enough to tell a lie, but he wanted to lean into the hug. He hadn’t been held in a long time and it felt nice. Another hand touched his shoulder and he jumped. He snapped his head towards the person, finding Rhys looking guilty. Alessia might not be lying after all.

“I’m sorry, Ian. It was a bad joke. There’s been other kids in and out who always come in talking about the stories. I was just kidding, really. Mom and dad are good people,” Rhys said. His voice sounded different, more sincere. Ash put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair. Their hands were big, bigger than his step dad’s.

It took a while, but once he calmed down the four talked for a while. Dabria came in with some food for them. He was shocked it was actual human sized food and not pieces of giant food. That’s what he got when he ate over his old friends’ houses. He was going to ask about the extra dish, but Rhys ran up and grabbed two. He looked up at Dabria’s face before going to a door Ian hadn’t even noticed.

He tried to watch what Rhys was doing, but Ash and Alessia tried to distract him. All he managed to see was the name on the door, Mira. Rhys came back out and joined the rest of them with one of the plates. The other person made him nervous, they must be hiding for a reason. He didn’t know how to find out more though.

It got late enough the other three nearly pushed him into the room with his name. It felt weird to have a room like this. It had so many things, the tablet on the desk was blinking. He walked over and sat down to look at the thing. It was locked with his birthday, he laughed at that. He put in the code and found a note from Vitus staring at him.

It wasn’t long, so he figured he’d read it then rather than waiting for the next day. It was more normal than he expected, just welcoming him to their family. It listed rules, curfews and stuff like that. Then it got a bit more direct. It mentioned how he knew that Ian hadn’t gotten help he needed before and Vitus wouldn’t let that happen again. The tablet had an app that attached to that weird bracelet, he could reach either of them any time. They even made it so he could specify who he was calling.

He blinked as tears hit the screen. He hadn’t felt that seen in a long time. He tried to wipe his eyes dry, but the tears wouldn’t stop. The letter didn’t have much more, just that they knew he’d been hurt before coming there and would leave him bandages in the morning. He locked the tablet and brought it with him to the bed. He curled up not expecting to find people who cared that much about him.

The next morning he was aching. He thought for sure the day before was a dream, but the tablet was still in his hands. He unlocked it again smiling at an update that the others all went out, but the bandages were there. It seemed like these people weren’t going to risk him being forgotten. He started to change, but left his shirt off to go grab the bandages. He tried to start treating it, but a scream distracted him.

“No, no, no,” the girl was shaking her head. Her lavender hair looked like a tangled mess and her pink eyes were looking through him. “Th-they started too. W-we need to get away. I…”

She ran over and grabbed him. Her hands were thin and she was shaking. She started to pull him towards the open door. It took him a minute to realize it was the one Rhys slipped into the night before. He grabbed her hand, but that seemed to make her worse. She started trying harder to drag him along. He scooped up what he could of the bandages before following her to the room.

She slammed the door and started pacing around. She kept muttering about a way out. Not letting it be dark again. He took in the room, it had nightlights in every plug and a pretty intense computer setup. He didn’t know what was going through her head, but he didn’t like how terrified she was.

“You’re Mira right?” he asked. She jumped and seemed to see him for the first time. She took a step back from him, like he was the danger now. “I’m Ian, I, uh, just got here last night. I guess you weren’t up for meeting people?”

“Y-you.. They took you. They hurt you. They’re trapping us. We need to go, run. The others. Where are they!?” she shouted. Ian did the first thing he thought of and approached her. He grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes.

“No one who lives in this house hurt me. These are from another human. Can you help me treat them?” He let her hands go and waited for her to respond.

She reached out and touched one of his bruises. Even if her hands were small it was clear she saw it wasn’t a bruise from a finger. She nodded and brought him over to her bed. She took the bandages he’d dropped and started to wrap his sides. It felt nice to actually take care of what that guy did to him. They sat in silence for a long time once she finished.

“You have a cool computer, do you play anything?” he asked. She looked at him with wide eyes and nodded. She went over and pulled up a game he had tried once or twice. She held out a controller to him and he smiled. “Co-op sounds fun.”

They were there for hours and she eventually managed to calm down. He left at one point to grab his shirt, he grabbed the tablet too just in case. She even said he should leave the door open. He heard the noise of others coming into the house. She leaned into him when the sound of the giant door opened. She was terrified of them, but lived here anyway. There had to be something good about this place.

He used the tablet to send a message like Vitus had sent him. Just saying he was with Mira. A few seconds after Rhys poked his head in and sat on the floor with them. Ash and Alessia joined too, but left after an hour. This family didn’t seem too bad, he could stay here for a while. He looked down at Mira who was still laying against him. He kind of liked feeling relied on too.

#gt #giant/tiny #g/t #giant tiny #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #g/t community #gt community #gtjuly #GTJuly2022 #day 17 First Meet #OC:Ian #OC:Dabria #OC:Mira #OC:Vitus #OC:Rhys #OC:Ash #OC:Alessia #sortofstreamerau

[awkwardgtace]

Nightmares

Day 3 of gt july is panic and that gets a bit of streamer au!!

Nightmares

Mira struggled in the grip of a giant she thought she’d never see again. She couldn’t remember how this happened, but their glare was enough to terrify her. She wanted to go home, she needed help. They just smiled as her struggles started to die down. She couldn’t break their hold, not without a weapon or some help.

“Aww finally losing your fire, little doll?” they crooned. She flinched at the words. She opened her mouth to speak, but the fingers around her tightened and squeezed the breath from her. “Don’t you dare talk back to me this time. No one is going to save you. Not when your dumb friend handed you to me himself.”

“What?” she squeaked out. The fingers tightened again, she was sure her bones were about to break.

“What was his name again? Corus? He told me all about how he got you away from the ones who’d save you just to give you to me. Did you really think a giant would marry someone like you? A little human who can barely look in his eyes?”

She felt tears roll down her face. Of course Corus didn’t want to actually marry her. It was all to get her trapped again. She felt her heart start racing when he appeared in the room. Corus looked at her with disdain. She felt her heart breaking as he walked up close enough to see her clearly.

“Stop playing around and get rid of it already,” Corus said, his voice cold. That ignited something in her heart, she squeezed her eyes shut before getting ready to scream.

“Let go of me you damned monsters!” she screamed. 

The feeling of the fingers squeezing her disappeared. She was on something soft and a warmth radiated from nearby. She slipped her eyes open a new bout of panic taking over when she found Corus staring at her. She started to scramble back desperate to get away. His eyes widened and a hand blocked the path behind her. She started to struggle breathing.

“Woah woah, calm down deep breaths. In,” he said. He took in his own deep breath pulling her hair forward. He let his breath out and blew the hair back in response. “And out.”

She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even think. He was there and his breath kept washing over her. Spots started to coat her vision, she had to get away. She started to sob as she tried to get a breath. Her head was spinning.

“Ok not working, how about… can you tell me five things you can see?” She shook her head, she couldn’t breathe or speak. “Please, just try.”

“I…” she wheezed. His eyes were pleading with her. “I see your eyes… th-the pillow… your shirt… your arm… a-and your hands.”

“Good, good. How about four things you can touch?” She nodded and was able to get the smallest breath more.

“The pillow case, my shirt, my hair… your hand.”

“Three things you can hear?”

“My heartbeat, your breathing, the birds outside.”

“Two things you can smell?” She smiled a little bit.

“Your morning breath and the body wash you use.” He laughed a bit before looking serious again.

“One thing you can taste?”

“...oranges, my mouth tastes like oranges.”

“Great, did that help at all?”

“I can breathe again…a bit.” He nodded before pulling his hand from behind her. She was able to calm down more now that he wasn’t touching her anymore. She backed away a little more, guilt grabbing her heart when he looked hurt.

“It was a pretty bad one this time then?” She nodded, he sighed and it made her shiver. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“You’ll hate me if I do…” She wasn’t sure he’d hear her, but he moved his face just a bit closer. She hugged herself tightly, terrified of what he could do rather than would do.

“I wouldn’t hate you even if you left me for being a giant. You can tell me Mira.” His voice was quiet too, it was almost reassuring. She nodded, closing her eyes again.

“They had me again… they were crushing me in their grip. I couldn’t believe my bones weren’t  broken yet. Then they…” She trailed off, she couldn’t say it to him. She didn’t want to lose him even if she just saw that cold face staring at her.

“What did they do, Mira?” She started crying as she tried to force the words out.

“They told me you.. That you just wanted to get me away from everyone and would never want to marry someone like me. A human like me. Then you were there and just looked at me like I was trash and asked why they hadn’t…” She started sobbing and had to try and calm herself. “Why they hadn’t crushed me yet…”

Mira heard the fabric shifting as Corus moved. She curled in on herself, sure he’d be grabbing her to get rid of her. He kept trying and she kept thinking he’d just kill her or get rid of her eventually. She felt as his weight left the bed and tried to act stoic. She can’t be upset when he gets tired of being seen as a monster. She heard him moving more, she hoped he wouldn’t grab her tightly.

Warmth radiated off the hands approaching her. She tensed at the sound of his weight hitting the ground. She relaxed a bit as a finger touched her, tensing more than before as she felt another on her side. He pinched her gently before lifting her to a sitting position. She had her eyes closed still, but he put a finger under her chin and held her face up. She knew he wanted her to see him. She felt his sigh and peeked open her eyes before he spoke.

“Mira,” he whispered. He had a smile before coming closer. He was everything around her. “I would never let that happen. If you were in danger like that I’d do whatever it takes to save you from it.”

She leaned her head into his finger. He wrapped his hand around her and lifted her off the pillow. Her heart was racing, all the possibilities running through her mind. He brought her up to his face and slowly placed a kiss on her. She gasped, a blush spreading over her face. He didn’t give her a chance to say anything pulling her down to his chest and over his heart. This sound was relaxing more than she could ever admit.

“How about I make some breakfast? You said you liked the way I make french toast,” he asked.

“You just want french toast, I can barely eat any of it,” she laughed. Corus laughed too, walking off with her held tightly against him. He was the only person who could calm her so easily, and it was just one more thing to make her love him.

#gt community #gt #giant/tiny #g/t #giant tiny #g/t writing #gt writing #g/t community #gtjuly #GTJuly2022 #day 3 panic #SortOfStreamerAu #OC:Mira #OC:Corus

[awkwardgtace]

No Official AU Stories

Written enough one shots or two shots like this that it gets it's own page now.

i know i can’t protect you with Mira and Kaya

Friends don't talk about each other that way Mira and Kaya

Dropping Flowers with Vitus and Crow Delphia

Fallen Pots with borrower Ash and Human Alessia

Mistletoe Traditions with borrower Ash and human Alessia

Surprising Coffee Addition with Human Streya

Trapped Before The Storm with Fairy Ryder, Fairy Delphia, and Human Felix

Warmth in the Cold with human Streya

Secret Santa with human Mira and borrower Kaya

First Time Indoors with borrower Alessia and Human Vitus

Is Indoors Really Safe? (follow up to First Time Indoors)

Ice Cube Prank Gone Wrong... or Right? with borrower Rhys and humans Felix and Ryder

A Normal Afternoon (Follow up to Ice Cub Prank Gone Wrong... or Right?)

A Change of Pace with self insert person and random named giant

Enchantment or Curse with fairy prince Rhys and Human Vincent

Princess and Protectors with Alessia, Ash, and fairy Delphia (takes place in the enchantment or curse world)

A Small Unkindness with tiny bird!Dabria and humans Rhys and Vitus

Rainy Changes with Human Dabria and borrower Alessia

Broken Changes with Fairy kids Rhys and Ash and humans Vitus and Dabria

Intimidating Presence with giant Kid Felix and humans Vitus and Dabria

Open Secrets with Delphia and Alessia

Simple Night with Evelyn and Conny

#random stories #masterlist sections #multiple ocs #OC:Mira #OC:Kaya #oc:alessia #oc:ash #oc:ryder #oc:felix #oc:seer/delphia #oc:vitus #oc:streya #oc:rhys

[awkwardgtace]

Hide And Seek

day 9 hide. again more pre trauma streamer family time. A bit of a look at how Mira was before the incident

Hide And Seek

“Where are you?” a deep voice called. Mira covered her mouth to try and hide her breathing. She had a good hiding spot the giant wouldn’t find her this time. “There’s one of you.”

“No, no!” Rhys called. She gasped as he screamed from the giant finding him. She covered her ears to miss where he got placed after.

“Now who’s next?” The voice sent shivers down her spine. The heavy steps knocked her off her feet. She yelped a bit. “Oh, what was that?”

She tried to crawl away and hide again. She didn’t want to be found. A heavy step landed next to her hiding place making her shriek. She climbed to her feet and tried to run but a huge hand appeared to block her. Fingers pinched her sides and she was pulled out from beneath the couch. She had been positive she was safe.

“Oh, must be a rare one with such bright hair,” he said. She tried to act scared, but couldn’t stop laughing as Vitus rubbed his nose against her chest.

“No!” she shouted. Her laughter made it sound more like a shriek. She pushed against his nose and fingers until giant slender fingers slipped her from his hold.

“Another one for jail then,” Dabria laughed. Mira pouted as Vitus nodded.

“Just one little human left to find.” His smile knocked her pout away.

“Ash run, he's gonna find you!” 

“Better hurry Vitus, don’t want one of those pesky humans reaching the goal.” Her laugh made Mira start laughing again. Dabria and Vitus were fun to play with. 

Dabria dropped her into her palm and held her close. The fingers curling over her felt safe. She never understood how her parents found this dangerous. Mira was set down next to Rhys in the ‘jail’ for their game. A bunch of pillows piled up on a table with some human sized snacks and drinks. Rhys had already made himself comfortable, splayed out in the center of the pillow pile.

“You’ve been captured by the evil giants too?” he asked. She made the best serious face she could.

“Yes, Ash is our only hope. They need to reach freedom,” she answered. Dabria chuckled as she walked away. Mira grabbed one of the drinks set out for them and sat down next to Rhys.

“Where are you little human?” Vitus growled out. She smiled again.

“Your dad is great. He really plays into the scary giant thing.”

Rhys sat up using his elbows for support. He smirked at her. He had been bragging about hide and seek with his dad for weeks. She had to beg her parents to let her play with them. They thought the giants would be too much of a risk. Vitus and Dabria were so nice. They even told her to just use their names.

“I told you this would be the best hide and seek. Should have listened to me sooner,” Rhys flopped back down. She punched his arm.

“I tried,” she whined. “My parents kept saying it was too dangerous. They always say giants are dangerous and I should avoid them. They only agreed when they saw you and Ash were totally fine. They still think your parents might be dangerous.”

“I mean, I know you said you were from an all human town, but is it really that big of a deal?” 

Mira sighed before putting down her drink. She didn’t know how to explain it to him. Rhys grew up with giants around him. She thinks giants are cool. They’re so big, but stay careful for humans. Her parents always say to be cautious though. There’s no telling when a giant might change its mind. She made a face before leaning back and resting her head on Rhys.

“There you are!” Vitus called. Rhys and Mira laughed as Ash called Vitus a monster.

Dabria brought Ash over to the ‘jail’ and set them down. She smiled as Vitus walked over and hung an arm around her shoulders. Mira didn’t see how her parents could think people like this were dangerous. They laughed as Vitus crouched down to be closer to their height.

“Well Dabria, we caught all the humans now what?” he asked. Mira widened her eyes, she didn’t know there was something after they were caught.

“Hmm,” Dabria started, she crouched down to look at them too. “I think we’ll have to torture them with a movie while we make dinner.”

“I think that’s a perfect punishment for trespassing little humans.” Vitus reached out and carefully ruffled the hair on each of their heads. Mira stared up at the two in awe. Her parents always just moved on once the game was done.

Vitus stood back up and started to pick out a movie. Rhys was extremely vocal about which he wanted to watch. Once it was on both of them left and Mira tried to focus on the movie. She had seen it plenty of times already though. Her parents left her watching movies or shows on her own a lot. When she was home alone she didn’t have much of a choice.

“Hey Rhys,” she said, he hummed in response. “I don't think it’s that big of a deal, but my parents do. They always say a giant could change in a second and decide to hurt you… I don’t think it’s true…”

“Oh,” he whispered. Ash moved her over to lean on them. They wrapped an arm around her in a half hug. They knew her parents were out a lot and she got left alone. Neither wanted to tell Rhys, he thought she was lucky to have her parents there still.

Vitus frowned as the three human kids stopped talking. He walked over to watch Dabria working on human size food. He couldn’t believe her skill with such small ingredients. He sighed and she stopped to look at him. She had a knowing look in her eyes.

“It’s like we thought, isn't it?” she asked. He nodded and she went back to cooking. “It’s not that surprising, they moved here from an all human town. Most of the humans there have some horrible views on giants.”

“She doesn’t and I’m worried,” he said. “Her parents might push it so she’s scared of us.”

“No, I think we’ll be ‘not like the others’ to them. I just hope she doesn’t get like that.”

“Why do you think that?” She smiled at him.

“They called a few minutes ago to ask if Mira could stay the weekend while they handle a business trip.” Vitus’s eyes widened. He never expected that.

“Well, I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of her than we thought. I’m a bit relieved. She seemed almost too adult when she walked in today.” Dabria nodded, she’d been almost too formal when she introduced herself. Even explaining her hair was natural since she knew they would be curious.

“I can take over for a bit if you want to tell them she’s staying for a few days.” Dabria shook her head.

“I think the giant monster who had been hunting them should talk about his prize.” 

He laughed, pushed off the counter and made his way back to the three humans. They wound up in a pile all together. He smiled seeing how happy they looked. They seemed so comfortable and relaxed. They didn’t even react as he moved to sit on the floor behind them. He grabbed the remote and paused the movie. The three looked back at him, two with pouts, one just curious.

“Mira, your parents called and said they have a business trip this weekend,” he said. She dropped her pout and seemed to get weirdly somber. “They said you could stay with us while they’re gone.”

“Really!?” she shouted. She climbed to her feet and slipped on the pillows to climb over to him. He offered her his finger for balance. She was so small next to him. Her excitement seemed to die down. He swore she looked about to cry. “I-is that really ok?”

“Of course,” he smiled and scooped her up. He brought her close for a hug, holding her over his heart. “You can come here whenever you want. You can stay over too.”

He pulled away and flattened his hand on the pillows. She climbed off and he smiled at her. He set the movie to play again and rested his folded arms on the table. He placed his head there and watched the movie with them. Rhys freed himself from the pile the three had formed and came to rest against his arms.

“Thanks dad, she doesn’t know I know her parents are gone most of the time,” he murmured. Vitus pulled his arm from under his head and ruffled Rhys’s hair. They would try and give Mira a safe place to be when her parents were gone.

#gt #giant/tiny #g/t #giant tiny #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #g/t community #gt community #gtjuly #GTJuly2022 #day 9 hide #OC:Vitus #OC:Dabria #OC:Mira #OC:Rhys #OC:Ash #sortofstreamerau

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being caught standing under mistletoe

ty anon! Still working on these and got to have some fun with assassin mira and corus. Admittedly it's because i liked this idea, but Mira wouldn't be this insane lol

Caught under the Mistletoe

Mira was working out what she’d need for her next job. It was always annoying to be hired around the holidays. Usually someone hiring her now wasn’t worth the money they spent. This time was different, she’d actually follow through. She didn’t plan to take the money either. 

“Mira, come here!” Corus called. She sighed, a small smile making its way on her face. She shook her head, but stepped away from the mirror to go find the small man. “Hurry up!”

“I’m coming,” she said. 

She walked into the living room. All around were decorations Corus had asked to put around the house. He’d found the movies of someone who didn’t know the spirit of Christmas and fell in love with the bright lights. It felt weird, she never celebrated any part of the holiday season. Her family hadn’t been interested in the season when she was growing up either. 

It had been getting steadily harder to find him. He was practicing for if she let him help on her jobs. She started with the tree, he’d been climbing it a lot. Despite moving the ornaments he’d spent most of the time hiding behind, she didn’t find him. She moved to the shelf that had different figures and just about anything that was sold for the holiday season. He wasn’t hiding behind anything there either. She narrowed her eyes as she looked up to the ceiling. He’d been using the decorations to explore higher up.

“There you are,” she sighed. He was standing on some of the exposed wood. She admittedly preferred having things to grab if someone attacked her for maneuverability. Of course Corus made use of them once it was easier for him to climb up. Mira walked over to stand below him, she could just see the smirk on his small face. “What are you doing?”

“This.”

Corus jumped off the wood and Mira felt her heart freeze. She jumped as she reached up to catch him. Clasping her hands around his small body she landed in a crouch holding him to her chest. She hadn’t been that scared since she fought Crimson, since he threatened Kaya and the others. Mira slowly opened her hands to stare at the small man who terrified her.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” she shouted. He didn’t even flinch at her voice. He just smiled up at her, as if he wanted this. He pointed up. As reluctant as she was, Mira stared up and found the bit of fishing line hanging down. She followed it up to the wood he’d jumped from and found a small bundle of mistletoe. “Mistletoe?”

“All those movies keep talking about being caught standing under the mistletoe, I figured that wouldn’t work for us so being caught under the mistletoe would work,” he laughed. Mira sighed and pressed her forehead against him.

“You nearly killed yourself to get a kiss under the mistletoe? How did you even get any?”

“I won’t reveal my collaborator.”

“It was Kaya then.” He did have access to her card to buy things online. It usually required her to get the packages though. Zeke had access too, she left one at Kaya’s once he started to stay there more often. Although Kaya and Zeke were annoyed that she did that.

“I will never reveal them!” She started laughing, he had to stop watching so many movies. “Besides, I didn’t almost die. I had the fishing line tied around my waist and released it once you grabbed me. I even tested it!”

“You’re absolutely insane. So many things could go wrong with that. You could have been hurt from the fishing line too. And all for mistletoe.”

“Does that mean I don’t get a kiss?” 

Mira narrowed her eyes at him. She stood up straight and held him in front of her face. As much as she worried about him, it was too much effort not to be rewarded. She just wanted to be a little mean. Slowly she brought him closer, until he was right in front of her lips. Then she kissed him, pressing against his face rather than part of his torso like normal. She heard the muffled shock from him, but didn’t let up. She knew just how to kiss him where he couldn’t really kiss her back.

He relaxed after a few seconds and she smiled. She pulled back at that point, holding in a laugh once she saw his face. It had slipped her mind she’d put on lipstick when testing out disguises. He had bright pink all over his face. It didn’t help that his expression was dreamy alongside it. When he sent a grin up at her she finally lost it and started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he pouted. Mira brought a finger up to her lips and wiped off the lipstick on it. She showed him, laughing more when he realized what it meant. He wiped his face off on his shirt, but it didn’t help much.

“We should probably get you cleaned up,” she smiled. Corus made a face that promised a new idea was brewing in his little head.

“Or… we can see if there’s enough of that stuff to cover me completely?”

Mira just laughed before pulling him close, ready for her own kiss under the mistletoe.

#awkwardanswers #gt #giant/tiny #giant tiny #g/t #g/t writing #gt writing #gianttiny #gt community #g/t community #oc:Mira #oc:Corus

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Mira and Corus Meet Rewrite

day 15 redraw. Gonna redo the meetup for the first ocs I posted about!!

Mira and Corus Meet Rewrite

Mira had been having terrible luck lately. The mushrooms outside of the human house seemed to be preferred by animals lately. She needed to preserve the food she did have, which meant salt. That meant getting it from the salt shaker the human left on the table. She had never had trouble grabbing the table with her hook before, but her bad luck was clearly following her. It took more tries than she’d ever considered normal to get it steady.

She climbed up, the hook seemed unstable. She climbed onto the table and pressed her hook down a bit more. It looked stuck enough, she watched it for a bit before moving on. It was best to leave it out for a quick getaway. She was about halfway to the salt shaker when she thought to look back and check. The hook was sliding off the table. She tried to run back, tripping in her haste and watching it fall to the ground so far below. She bit back a groan when the thumping of footsteps sounded.

She pushed herself up and hid by the salt and pepper shakers. This human left the table mostly empty except for them. She reached to pull her hood down and nearly screamed. She'd forgotten it today of all days. She tried to use the shadows of the large items to cover her more. She knew her lavender hair would draw his attention. She bit her lip when she saw the giant walk into the room. He had barely come close and already towered over her.

“What’s that?”

She flinched, his voice was loud and too close for comfort. She poked her head out from her hiding place expecting to find his eyes locked on her. Instead she watched as he moved closer to the ground. He must have seen her hook, she wouldn’t be getting that back now. She bit her lip as the human barely disappeared from her view only to stand up to his full height. She shivered, she didn’t want this monster to find her.

She hid back behind the salt as he started to turn. She had to hope he’d just sit down and play with her hook before leaving. Humans did that sometimes, at least the ones here before did. She screamed as her hiding place was pulled away. She turned and stared up and up until she met the blue eyes that focused on her. She didn’t have time to think, dashing towards the edge of the table. She could try and shimmy down a table leg, if that failed she could hopefully limp away or would be too far gone to notice anything the human did.

Corus panicked when the little woman started to run. He didn’t want her to try jumping off. He reached out an arm and cut her off. She slammed into his palm and his mind froze. That was real, she was real. He thought this might just be a hallucination from lack of sleep. Instead there really was a person smaller than his fingers on his table. She really did just run into his hand. He started looking between her and his palm, only then realizing how he towered over her.

“Hi?” he tried. He crouched as he spoke, hoping to try and make her feel a little calmer. “I’m Corus, do you need help?”

He didn’t know the best things to say. Meeting new people was hard enough, this one was smaller than his fingers. She kept her wide eyes locked on him, they were pink. She could be like the fairies from stories, maybe he just cursed himself offering his name. He started to fidget with the fishing hook he picked up when he walked in. The little woman’s gaze shifted to it and the fear seemed to grow. He didn’t fish, so maybe it was hers. He ignored the way she tensed as he brought his hand close.

“Is this yours?” 

The human’s voice was still too loud. Mira almost covered her ears to try and block him out. He brought her hook close and just held it there. She grabbed it and switched to a defensive position. She wouldn’t be held in a human hand again. Humans were clumsy and didn’t care about the strength they used, this one broke walls around the house. She just needed a way out. The human moved the hand blocking her path and she ran again.

The first edge she reached she stabbed with her hook. She threw the rope over the edge and started to slide down it as fast as she could. There was a sudden drop, she looked up expecting cruel blue eyes to be watching her. She didn’t see anything, but the hook falling from its perch. It slipped again and she yelped involuntarily. She tried to climb down, to beat the fall. Her luck continued to fail her as she entered a free fall.

There was a sharp tug on the rope before she stopped falling. She looked up, terrified of the face she’d see above her. The human hand held her hook higher than the table. She looked down, trying to judge the distance she’d fall if she just let go then. She would do it if she could make her limbs move.

“Wait!” he shouted. She winced, he was still too loud. “Sorry.” Quieter, better. “Just don’t jump. I’ll lower this to the floor so you can get off safely. I’ll give this back once you’re there.”

She nodded, she didn’t have much of a choice. It wasn’t his hands and she wasn’t getting trapped by an injury. She heard him sigh, but he did start moving her closer to the floor. She watched as her freedom was coming closer. Once she knew she’d land safely, she let go and took off. She didn’t have entrances this low, but she had hiding places. She heard as he moved and ducked into the first spot she found. It was a tight fit even for her, but she wouldn’t be grabbable.

She hugged herself as the earth shaking footsteps started. She wouldn’t be out in the open for this monster. She started to get bounced with each step. One of his feet landed just next to her hiding place. She barely covered a scream. It would be so easy for her to be out there and him to miss her. She bit her hand to keep her scream quiet when one of his knees hit the ground. She tried to ready herself to dive out and run if she needed to.

“I don’t know where you went, but I’ll leave the fishing hook right uh right here, on the ground,” he spoke. He was a bit sad that the little woman ran off without a word. He was trying to believe she was just scared because he was so much bigger and not because of his temper. She probably hadn’t been here long if she was still here. He placed the hook down and stood back to his full height. He tried to think about what it must look like to her when he stood. “I’ll be around so just let me know if you need anything.”

Mira held her breath as the human walked away. She wouldn’t just trust his words. She knew how to tell if he was still in the room, but she just needed time. She dove out once the steps were far enough she could reach a new hiding place before he came back. She actually stopped and stared as he kept walking away without looking back. Once he was out of sight she threw her hook up to the counter and made her way home. She had to think about things.

She ducked into her entrance behind the cabinet and nearly collapsed. The adrenaline from her close call dying out. She had to get home at least. Each step felt like it took everything she had. Once she got home she collapsed into her bed and pulled the blanket her parents gave her close. The only thing she had from home and the only reassurance she had she survived. She fell into a fitful sleep, nightmares of her past mixing with the truth of her present.

She woke up exhausted, but had things to do. She grabbed her cloak and hook, leaving her bag behind. Today she was just observing the human, finding out the risk she caused for her kind. She’d do what it took to get rid of it, even if it took her own life. She made it to her kitchen entrance, almost screaming when he was standing right in front of her. She pulled back, relieved he had been focusing elsewhere.

“This could work,” he said. She watched as he moved faster than his size would suggest. He pulled out a bunch of things from the drawer in front of him. He always tossed things in there, especially a rough paper she took more of than she probably should have. He grabbed some of that paper before moving to the table where she’d unfortunately met him. She wanted to know what he was doing, but from here all she saw was his back. She moved quickly and quietly to the sink. It was the easiest place to stay hidden and she could see the table a lot more clearly.

Corus wanted to show the little woman she could keep living here. After staring at the wall near his tools drawer he finally got an idea. He’d noticed the table edges had scuff marks and added some lacquer, that probably was why her hook fell. He started using the sandpaper to try and get back to the wood beneath his changes. He wished he could ask her to come test it, but making sure it was less likely he’d find her hurt was worth it. He was thinking of adding some nails to the edge of the table too. That way the hook had a solid spot to catch.

Mira watched as the human used the rough paper on the table. He took extra time on each of the edges. She knew it was useful to make wood smoother. She fixed up her home with it. She shouldn’t let that distract her. She had to stay alert, she should just go home. Watching him work was weirdly calming. It felt like he wasn’t the violent person she’d seen for so long. She felt her eyes growing heavy, the cool metal enticing her. His casual grunts as he worked were almost soothing. She promised herself she’d only rest for a few minutes.

Corus sat back, happy with his work. It took about two hours, but he’d done it. He went to clean up and froze when he found the little woman curled up near his sink. He could think of a million reasons she was out here, most leaving him hopeful. She might be curious about him too. She probably fell asleep watching him work, it wasn’t an exciting task. This was good though, he could have her make sure his work on the table would help her stay safe.

He pulled up a chair planning to just wait for her to wake up. He hesitated when he noticed her small body shaking. If he held his breath and leaned close he could barely hear the chattering of teeth. He couldn’t leave her like this. He went off to find a blanket she could use until she woke up. It only took a few minutes, he half expected she’d be gone when he came back. There was a sense of relief that she hadn’t disappeared. He still thought he made her up. He set the blanket down over her and rested his own head on his arms in front of her. Hopefully they could talk when she woke up.

Mira was warm and a gentle breeze was passing over her. She didn’t remember that from when she fell asleep, but she liked it. She couldn’t quite place the smell on the wind, but it was making it better. She felt calm for the first time since this new human had shown up. She sat up with eyes wide, she’d fallen asleep near the sink she shouldn’t be warm. In front of her was the human she was watching, the soap she hid behind gone.

She started to panic when she realized the breeze was his breath. She stood, pausing as the cloth fell off her. He had given her a blanket and that didn’t match what she knew of him. She stared at his serene face, she could almost forget the way he’d lashed out before. The close calls she’s had. Shaking away the thought she started to leave. She cursed herself as she tripped over the cloth and knocked into something. She turned back to face him, watching his eyes open and lock on her.

“Hey, did you sleep well?” he asked. She felt like that was some sick joke. The best plan would be refusing to speak and running away. She knew she wasn’t in a position to argue, but her luck had already gone bad.

“How could I sleep well with a literal giant a few inches from me?” she sneered. The human jumped and she tensed for the anger he’d shown in the past. He would be mad at her and lash out. She would break even easier than the walls.

“I guess I hadn’t thought of that.” He almost sounded remorseful. Mira wouldn’t fall for his trick. Humans would lie and cheat, that's their nature. The elderly couple did it to each other and this one lied to the lady who came to the door a lot. She wouldn’t fall for anything.

“I’ll be leaving then.” She started walking off. She wanted to appear confident, hoping he wouldn’t try to grab her. Running into his hand yesterday was more than enough. She wasn’t willing to dwell on the feeling of his flesh.

“Wait, please.” She kept walking. The longer he played kind, the better chance of escape she had. The shadow of his hand over her made her heart race, she couldn’t run just yet. “I sanded down the table and added some nails to the edges. Your fish hook shouldn’t fall again. Would you want to test it while I’m here just in case? Also, uh could I maybe know your name?”

She kept walking away. She glanced at the table, it did look different. He had just let her sleep too. He had plenty of chances until now to be what she expected and he hadn’t. She couldn’t just forget that night in the walls of his room. He had almost killed her and he never would have known. Her family would never have known what happened to her either. He was too dangerous to be near, she had to remember that. The entrance was close just a dash and she’d be safe. She wouldn’t use this one anymore, but she had a choice to make. She knew she was making the wrong one, but she didn’t care at that moment.

“Mira,” she said. Her voice cracked, her fear was coming through. She cleared her throat and inched away from the human who had leaned closer when she spoke. “My name is Mira.”

She disappeared once the words were said. She wasn’t risking him getting any closer. She leaned heavily against the wall and slid down to the floor. She waited for him to do something. He knew her name now, legends of a time where humans would use that flew through her mind. Legends have to start from something. She opened a door by giving her name, fear made her want to slam it shut. Curiosity had her wondering if he’d step through.

“Mira,” Corus whispered to himself. It seemed almost too normal. He was expecting her to be named something he couldn’t picture for a person. He smiled, he wanted this to mean she’d talk to him again. He walked away, pausing to look around his cabinet. He couldn’t see anywhere she could have gone, it was amazing. She was amazing. He wondered where else she had hidden openings.

He walked into his room and looked around. He almost wanted to see if he could find one here. He lost his focus looking at the discolored part of his wall. Zeke had left it like that after he lost his temper again. A way to help him try to stop lashing out. That night itself was normal, he got angry, punched the wall, got mad at himself and contacted Zeke. Something felt like it was sitting at the edge of his mind.

He could faintly remember staring up at the hole in the wall from his bed. He’d been mad that he lost his temper again. Glaring at the damage he caused and swearing he’d get better. There was something there that night though. A hint of color he thought he imagined. A bright pink and lavender that was gone as quickly as it appeared. He wrote it off before, the colors didn’t make sense. Now he could picture the face of the woman from his walls. The woman who was terrified and seemed unwilling to come near him.

“Fuck,” he breathed.

He had no way to know how close he’d come that night. Any night or day since then either. How many times had she just barely avoided a death sentence? His home was littered with signs of times he lost his temper and lashed out. Impulse control had been something he lacked for a long time. Coupled with a temper and now knowing about her he felt sick. He ran back to his kitchen nearly falling as he slid around a corner. He started knocking on the wall desperate to find out he was wrong.

“Mira, I hope you can hear me!” he tried. He was louder than he ever was here. He was terrified of what he might have done to her. “You’ve been here since I moved in, right? I’m sorry if I ever came close to hurting you when I lost my temper! I’ve never been great at handling it and I can only imagine how scared I’ve made you. I would never hurt you, I don’t want to ever hurt you. I’d like to be friends if possible, maybe just roommates or something?”

Mira’s whole body tensed when the knocking started. She knew it wouldn’t be so easy as getting to just go home. When he started apologizing for how close he came to hurting her it almost made her laugh. An apology didn’t take away the nights she spent terrified. It didn’t make the times she survived by pure luck go away. 

He knew she was alive, he knew she could speak and think like he did. She was going to keep making her bad decisions. She slipped out of her entrance and stared up at the looming figure. She had to ignore the innate fear brought on by his looming shadow. She pushed away the way the hopeful look in his eyes made her feel.

“You think an apology makes up for you nearly killing me?” she asked. Her voice was cold and steady. She hadn’t heard herself like this before. “Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to wonder if this time getting food will get you killed? Other humans have caught me and I was let go, maybe with a few bruises. Every time you came close I knew that I’d probably die. You could ‘lose your temper’ and take it out on me. You’re more reckless than the child I’d been seen by. I wouldn’t be able to stop you. If I was slower, less careful, I’d be dead and it would be because of you.”

Mira kept her glare locked on the human’s eyes. She wouldn’t let fear make her seem weak at this point. Achingly slowly he crouched down until his eyes were level with her. She had to fight everything in her that screamed to back away. She didn’t speak out like this, not at home or when she was sent away, she wouldn’t look weak now that she did. He looked hurt and she did feel a little guilty. She didn’t do anything with the feeling building instead staring into his eyes and waiting. He sighed and looked away, as if he couldn’t face her.

“You’re right,” his voice was quiet and almost hoarse. “An apology doesn’t change what happened. I… I would like a chance to show you I can change. That I won’t hurt you and you can trust me… I…” 

Mira wasn’t willing to pretend a large violent human wasn’t terrifying. He’d broken so many things that, to her, were nearly indestructible. At the same time he stopped her from jumping to what would have been her death. He saved her from a fall and didn’t try to find her when she hid. He kept from grabbing her and kept offering small promises that she would be safe. She was living here because of humans… She’d make another risky choice and see if maybe she’d been wrong about him all this time.

“I’m leaving. I’ll be gone from here by tomorrow. I won’t ever come back here, just forget everything about me,” she directed. She turned to leave. She’d watch and see what he did. If he changed, good, if he didn’t she’d still be safe until she could get together a warning for anyone who comes here and move on.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked. His guilt was eating through him. He knew he might hurt someone with how his temper got. The idea that he almost killed someone and he’d never have known was worse. He wanted to at least help her get somewhere safe after leaving.

“No.”

She disappeared behind the cabinet before he could try anything else. She moved in where she’d be out of reach and waited. She heard the sound of footsteps and waited for them to fade. She ran home and grabbed her bag. She’d stock up on what she could and just watch for a while. If he changed then she’d stay for good. If he found her again she’d make something up until she got away.

Corus sighed as he sat on his bed. He just made someone terrified enough that she’s leaving her home. He shouldn’t have taken the chance to move here after his grandparents were put in a care facility. He stared at the discolored part of his wall, guilt eating at him. He couldn’t stop her from leaving, but he’d make sure anyone else like her would feel safe around here. He started ordering some stress balls to keep all over the house. He ordered some books to his tablet on handling anger, too. He had to make things work this time.

Mira spied on the human for over a month. He was playing with strange items and mumbling to himself more often. His outbursts still happened, but he wasn’t breaking the wall or the doors anymore. It was an improvement at least. She had to rely on supplies from outside to stay hidden. If the mushrooms and herbs near the house hadn’t been picked clean by something she’d be fine. The colder weather would keep her struggling outdoors at all.

She moved slowly as she left the vent in the human’s room. He was in there more often than before. It worked for her. She stopped home and checked her supplies. She’d seen him scrutinizing things, it was too much of a risk to take directly from him at this point. She grabbed her coat and dumped out her bag. She needed to get some food from outside, especially before the snow the television predicted for tomorrow.

She pushed the exterior panel out of its place. She took a quick look around before sliding out and pushing the panel back in place. There was even less than the last time she’d been outside. She knew it would be a bad winter for her at this rate. She sighed, choosing to check the far edges of the house. She had been lucky in the past, but her track record with luck was running thin.

She might have to move despite the weather. At least for the winter. She could take a test trip towards the other home nearby, see how the trip would go. Although she seemed to remember the older couple complaining about animals nearby. The neighbor had something they called rats, but knew that wasn’t the right term. She grimaced, starting to look around for anything she could take.

Her luck was continuing to turn south. It was light out, her cloak wouldn’t hide her here. A human was nearby, she only saw their feet before a scream sounded. It was so loud, humans were always so loud, she had to cover her ears. Something slammed down on her while she was frozen from the shout. She just barely avoided getting her leg caught under the thing. She stared at the roof, the hoods of her jacket and cloak falling off. She ran to an edge, ceramic… It was one of the flower holders the older couple kept.

“Oh, Corus, perfect timing!” the human yelled. She recognized the voice of the neighbor always pushing for him to place traps. She grimaced, this might actually be where she dies. “I was taking a look at the old pots and found something scurrying around. I caught it, I remembered you said you try not to hurt the small things please come deal with it!”

“I’ll take care of it, you can head home with the others. I wanted to keep a few anyway. No reason to be here when I have to lift the pot up, right?” he said. 

She felt the footsteps rocking through her as the one who trapped her left. The human she didn’t want near her again continued to approach. She felt the footsteps stop and had a moment of hope that both humans would leave her be. Instead a new heavier impact knocked her off her feet. She pushed herself up to stare above her, fear freezing her in place. She knew humans were dangerous, she knew she was at risk living like this. Any luck she had left was gone and she’d have to finally face humans who knew she was alive and scared.

Corus sighed as he placed his hands on the flower pot. Of course now is when his ‘helpful’ neighbor decided to look at the stuff he said she could have. He was getting sick of her neighborly kindness. She killed most of the mushrooms and herbs around the back of the house his grandparents always kept. They said something about helping the wingless. He never quite got it. He made sure he blocked the view his neighbor could have, he wouldn’t risk her learning about little people if it was someone like Mira.

“Hey, I’m lifting the flower pot now,” he mumbled. He slowly lifted it up so the opening was away from his house. He was waiting to feel stupid as a mouse or something scurried away from him. He didn’t expect to meet terrified pink eyes staring up at him. She was here, did that mean something happened? He hoped she had lied, he’d prefer she didn’t come back because she was in trouble. 

They both stared for a minute before he remembered his neighbor was still watching. He cupped his hands around her, the yelp made him feel worse doing this. He carefully pushed her onto his hand. The way she shook made him feel like a monster. He had to cover her with his other hand so his neighbor would think he just found an injured animal. He had to climb up to his feet, the way she moved in his hands had him feeling awful.

“Looks like it’s injured,” he called out. He felt Mira flinch and pulled his hands closer. He wished he could tell her she’s still safe, that he’s making sure she’s not in worse danger. “I have a cage inside to keep it in until it’s healed.”

Corus hated how her shaking got worse. She probably thought he was actually going to trap her in a cage. He would need to get a fence or something to keep the woman out of his yard. He tried not to be obvious as he rushed inside, he was worried she might actually be hurt. In the worst case she could be in shock. He tried to hold her a bit more firmly so there was no chance of making a broken limb worse. He’d just set her on his bed and go from there.

Mira started shaking as the human spoke. She had two thoughts fighting for the focus of her mind. He was nice before, he hadn’t grabbed her until now, it could be him trying to convince the other human she was just a mouse. Unfortunately the winning thought was that he was keeping her. He let her go once and he wouldn’t risk her leaving again. She tried to go limp, but when the warm digits tightened she tensed and started shaking again. They were longer than she was tall. She was barely anything to him.

She gasped as light flooded her vision. She waited for the harsh feeling of the floor of a cage. Instead she landed on a soft surface. She never expected to wind up here. She pressed down on the soft surface, human beds were softer than she imagined. She couldn’t bring herself to face the eyes burning her skin. She didn’t want to see the greedy look of having captured something he could keep.

“Did I hurt you when I picked you up? Did the flower pot hurt you?” he asked, his voice was quiet. She slowly looked up at his eyes. She felt like she could swim in the blue looking over her. “Are you all right?”

She didn’t trust she could make her voice work. She stared at him, he seemed genuinely worried. He was nicer than most of the people she knew before she came here. Every time he found her, he helped her or let her go. The couple before him would grab her and put her away thinking she was just a forgotten toy. He’d been so violent and yet now he was kind and careful. Those hands were the first human hands that didn’t bruise her or squeeze her.

“Why do you keep helping me?” she asked. Her voice was weak. She couldn’t understand and she knew she should be silent. She should wait for the human to decide how to treat her and move on. A part of her wanted him to be as kind as he was acting.

“Well, you’re a person and I tend to help people when I can,” he answered. He sounded confused, but she kept her eyes locked on him. He looked away from her. “At first I was curious, I couldn’t believe someone like you existed. Smaller than even my fingers… Then I realized you had probably seen me getting angry and I honestly tried to ignore it. I just wanted to know what you were and who you were. Then when you told me your name I remembered seeing a flash of color pretty close to when I moved in… I realized I’d probably come close to hurting you or worse.”

“So it’s guilt.” She could work with that. It was a lot easier to work with than pity. She could make him leave her alone with guilt.

“No, I’m helping because you’re a person. I mean I do feel guilty about what I did, but that’s not why I’m helping you. I figured you probably lived here before me, I don’t want you scared of your own home. You don’t have to leave.”

She let the words sink in. He just wanted to help another person. That felt nice, being seen as someone equal. Even at home she was always in trouble, only Kaya was there to help her. Even her parents had their limits. He could be lying though. He had a curiosity and he could try to make her answer questions. She wouldn’t let her know about her home and she couldn’t say much about herself. She wasn’t sure he’d accept that, but she couldn’t move and risk someone running into him trying to find her in an emergency.

“What do you want from me if I stay?” she asked. She stared into his eyes, there was a light in them that made her feel weird. A good weird.

“Nothing, I guess… I mean I can’t make you talk to me,” he started, but she made a face. “Ok, I can make you do things, but I wouldn’t. I’d like to be friends if possible, roommates at least so you don’t have to sneak around. I’m guessing you do plenty around the house for your share of the bills.” He winked at her, that good weird feeling grew.

“What if I say pretend I don’t exist unless it’s an emergency?”

“I do that.”

“If I don’t say that, how would you ‘get to know’ me?”

“Maybe meals together sometimes. Talking now and then, I could show you anything you’re curious about. No matter what you choose you don’t have to sneak around, and if I don’t have something you need you can just ask me about it.”

“I can try for meals now and then, and maybe we can talk sometimes. I can change my mind at any time, deal?”

“Deal,” he smiled. She flinched when his hand came close, but he just held a finger out to her. She lifted an arm slowly and placed a hand against the digit. She couldn’t believe the way his finger could encompass her hand. He brought his thumb close and covered her hand and arm. He moved his fingers up and down slightly before letting her go. She pulled her hand to her face and stared at it. She wasn’t hurt.

She looked up at him, his face was full of awe. She couldn’t hold back her laughter at how goofy his face was. He blushed when she started laughing only to join with her soon. She was feeling lighter than she had in years. She hadn’t spoken to someone in so long and now this was the direction of her life. She had a voice in her mind telling her how wrong it was, but being alone was getting harder. If it went bad she was the only one in danger, the way she was supposed to be.

“Do you want to try dinner tonight?” he asked. She hadn’t had a good meal in a while. She hadn’t eaten with anyone in years. She could get supplies tomorrow, maybe even try the not sneaking around idea.

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” she smirked. He gave her a look, but got up and left. She was shocked he didn’t try to change her mind. She climbed down the sheet on the bed to the floor. She reached the lower entrance that she never got around to sealing up. This was the start of something. The voice in her head telling her of all the dangers was starting to quiet down too.

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