fun-littlescribbles

[fun-littlescribbles]

Restoration (Chapter 8)

A bunch of scenes because why not? On another note, it is extremely hard to write a scene in winter when it’s the middle of April. I hope you enjoy anyhow! Because now I’m really getting into the plot.

Word Count: 5.9k

CW: Death, crying, vague thoughts of suicide, severe trauma, (anything else idk??)

8-Ryker

It was Thanksgiving break. The first official break from school until Christmas. Words could not describe how grateful I was for the week-long break. There was no reason to have so much work piled up a couple weeks before the end of first semester. 

I was laying in my bed on my phone. It was about to turn six, which meant I should probably get started on dinner, but I just couldn’t bring myself to climb out of bed. I was physically and mentally tired of keeping up with everyone and whatever plans they had with their friends, taking care of Isabelle and Angela since they were still little, and on top of that keep up with the chores around the house. 

I grabbed my phone off the charger, stretched out my arms and legs from laying down, and opened my door to get started on dinner. The living room was oddly quiet, with Dylan and Lucky playing a game. Isabelle playing a game with Angela on the carpet that consisted of a bunch of stuffed animals and blankets. I smiled to myself. 

“What do you guys feel like eating for dinner?” I leaned against the kitchen island, waiting for an answer. 

“Spaghetti!” Isabelle and Angela answered at the time, giggling at one another. I think I could do that. I don’t know if Lucky can though. It was the first weekend of the break and I’d probably need to go grocery shopping tomorrow anyways. 

I looked in Dylan’s direction, making them pause whatever they were playing together. He just shrugged his shoulders, “Whatever’s easier for you.” Always with the same response. 

“Ummm, I can go check what we have.” Lucky told me, getting Dylan to let him onto the floor. All I could do was wait now. Jasmine was staying over at her friends today and tomorrow. I just told her to text me if she goes anywhere far and if she needed anything. Weird, right? Usually the parent handles these kinds of things, but in the situation my siblings and I are in it’s literally impossible. 

Lucky came back, shaking his head, “We don’t have the things for spaghetti,” He laid down on the arm rest of the couch and grabbed his remote, “You should call Nathan to come over. He hasn’t been here in a while. Plus, he’s so much better at cooking than I am. Right, Angela?” 

“Yeah!” 

I bit the side of my cheek. I don’t know about that. Just asking Nathan to come over to cook and then ask him to leave? That was wrong. Plus, he told me before the break that he’ll be pretty busy. Or… texted me. Either way, I shouldn’t bother him. Maybe he actually has a meal with his family for Thanksgiving and they were all getting ready for it already. On the other hand, Lucky makes something else for him and Angela, Angela doesn’t eat, and then everything goes downhill from there. 

Looking at my phone, I picked it up, opening the messages app, and clicked on Nathan’s name. The last time he came here, Jasmine did kind of freak him out. I remember him not being able to leave anyone’s side if she was in the room. I wonder if he’d even want to come over after that. At school the next day he was a little nervous, but otherwise fine afterward, but I’m sure whatever Jasmine told him is still stuck in his mind. Ugh. This was such a bad idea. 

Ryker: I have a huge favor to ask you 

I waited for a response, watching Dylan and Lucky play a fighting game against one another. I had no idea who was winning, but I’m pretty sure it was Lucky. Actually… it was kind of weird how Lucky seemed to want Nathan around more often. Like, really weird. Especially when every time Nathan came, he would practically ditch him with me. I honestly don’t mind, I liked having Nathan come over, but still. I had wondered why, but I wasn’t going to ask. 

Nathan: Yeah?

Ryker: Do you mind coming over to help Lucky cook something? 

Ryker: You don’t have to 

Well, if he says no Lucky will have to make whatever he can and I’d have to break the news to Angela. If you didn’t know, four year olds can be a little hard to deal with sometimes. So, this might just turn out to be a very, very bad day. 

Nathan: Sure! 

Nathan: Anything specific?

I stared at his text, relief washing over me. Dylan let out a cheer from winning against Lucky. Wow. Perfect timing. I was just so grateful right now. Nathan was literally the greatest friend ever. Now I have to think of someway to thank him. That shouldn’t be too hard, right? 

Ryker: They wanted spaghetti

Ryker: And thank you  

Nathan: No problem :)

Ryker: I guess I’ll be at the bus stop in about twenty minutes? 

Nathan: Okay 

I stuffed my phone in my pocket, “Okay, I’ll be right back, just text me if something happens.” I told Dylan, who nodded his head. And with that, I walked out the door and into the cold air. 

———Nathan———

Winters in the city were bad. But not as bad as when we were still help captive. Now those days were terrible. Horrifying even. It was still freakishly cold here. Not something I enjoy. For several reasons really. One being that I already get cold really easily. Two, I just hated being cold and sick. And the most important reason being that it was during this kind of weather when my dad had died. Actually, in three days it’s officially been nine years since my dad died. November 24. A long time, right? 

It hurts. The memories. Not just of him but how they brutally murdered him in front of his own child. I shuddered at the sight pictured in my mind. Nope. Can’t think about that. Right now I should probably be getting ready to head over to the bus stop. I already had packed a tiny bag with the things I needed to cook. Weird enough, it was kind of a therapy for me at this point. To be cooking I mean. I guess that’s why my mom always gets worried when I’m baking for no reason. Because she knows. 

I sighed, giving my mom a quick text that I was heading over to Ryker’s for a little while. The last time I went, I thought everything was going great before Jasmine talked to me alone. everyone had left to go looking for something and it was just her and I. I was scared of course. We’ve never, ever talked before and from what I’ve gathered she’s really intimidating. 

Her exact words to me were: “If you hurt my brother in any way I will personally murder you.” and that was was it took for me to have an entire mental breakdown for nearly two weeks. I mean, who wouldn’t be scared if someone’s sibling threatened you like that? So, the week before the break, I might have been acting a little weird around Ryker, afraid that I might actually do something wrong or hurt him in any way, which I don’t really see how I could. 

Otherwise, I haven’t really been doing anything. I told Ryker that I would be busy during the break, but really I wasn’t. Only because I do actually have something to do on November 24, and I was already feeling the depression spikes as the day came closer and closer. As for Thanksgiving itself, my mom and I never do anything. Last year we were barely getting used to being in the mental hospital so we didn’t really do anything. This year she’s working so it’ll just be me. Nothing new. 

I made my way down the icy streets, the sun setting faster and faster. It was only getting colder, and I didn’t really have a winter jacket. Just some to wear in the classroom like when it’s freezing in there. So, yeah, I was basically freezing my face off. Not to mention that my mom told me it might snow later tonight since it was already under twenty degrees outside. I wasn’t used to cold weather. 

Once I made it to the bus stop, I snuggled up with my bag on the bench, trying to have some kind of warmth. Also because there were several people (giants) who were going back home from stores or getting off of work. The bus stop was actually used for both humans and giants. The human was a little ways from the huge one that was practically as tall as a skyscraper. Maybe taller. 

My hands were shaky from the cold, but it was only another five minutes before Ryker would come and hopefully I wouldn’t be as cold. Maybe. Hopefully. I don’t know what today has in store for me. All I knew was that I just wanted to wrap myself in a blanket with some hot chocolate and binge watch something on tv. 

Ryker came a few minutes later, smiling and giving a thanks before offering a hand. I threw the bag on first before struggling to get on. It was hard when the ground underneath you was starting to freeze over, but I figured it out after trying for a good minute. 

“You’re freezing.” Ryker told me, cupping his hand just a little. Sure, it was scary to have his fingers closer to me, but still, it was warm. How could I deny something that was practically calling me? 

  “That good?” He smiled, for some reason making sure I was comfortable. But I was not about to complain. I was desperate at this point. I nodded my head, bringing my knees closer to my chest to keep some of my body warmth with me. And yet another reason I hate winter. 

“Thanks again. Sorry for bothering you.” 

I continuously shook my head, hoping he would get the message that it was fine. Plus, I liked going over. Everyone was nice (Besides Jasmine I’m pretty sure she hates me) and never really tried to do anything too crazy with me. It was great. I’m not as afraid anymore, which was a miracle given I thought I could never trust anyone ever again, and I’ve actually made some friends. 

Ryker opened the door to his house, where we found them all watching a movie together. Everyone turned their heads as soon as the door closed behind Ryker. I jumped slightly, but relaxed after a while. Nothing to be afraid of. Dylan’s eyes landed on me, giving a smile and a two fingered wave. I waved back, but I doubt he could see it. 

I was set down on the ground, not entirely expecting to be in a tight hug the second I balanced myself. Lucky bursted out laughing, letting me go, “You are literally the best, Nathan.” I laughed with him, following Lucky into the room. 

——————

I didn’t eat anything. I wasn’t hungry. Of course Ryker tried to convince me to eat something, but I always answered no. Otherwise, dinner was okay. They had Lucky, Angela and I on the coffee table, which wasn’t really too big of a deal. I’m pretty sure Ryker and Dylan just didn’t want to handle any humans while they were eating, and hey, I was not about to say anything about it. There are just some things that will never leave my mind. 

After everyone ate, Dylan and Lucky started playing a game on the tv while Isabelle and Angela were playing hide and seek I’m pretty sure. I just hoped that no one would get hurt, but Ryker quickly reassured me that they would never harm one another. I just had to believe him. Most of his siblings are stuck together like glue. Which is a good thing. 

“It’s supposed to start snowing in a little bit.” Ryker announced, earning cheers from the other room where I was guessing Angela and Isabelle were. I was sitting on the arm rest of the couch by Ryker. I kind of wished that their house was a little warmer, because I was still annoyingly cold, but beggars can’t be choosers. I should have asked to grab a blanket. 

“Nice. Are we gonna go out?” Dylan asked, eyes glued to the screen. I had no idea who was winning, but I think it was him. 

“If you want to.” 

Ryker threw his phone on the other side of the couch, turning his head to the screen. I don’t want to go outside, but I’ll go if that makes things easier. I just don’t want to be in the snow. Reasons. Remember? 

It was about ten minutes later that it did actually start snowing. Angela and Isabelle were begging Ryker to let them outside, which he just laughed to and told them to get jackets on and to bring their hats. Dylan paused their game to go get on a jacket, and Ryker left to go help Isabelle. So I was alone in the living room while everyone was busy to go have some fun. I hated winter. In just three days. I reminded myself. 

What would happen? Would someone else be claimed victim? Something bad always happens during this time. I don’t know if it was just me. It probably was. Everyone else was smiling while I was crying in the corner. It’s how it was in the hospital. They all went outside if they could, and I stayed in my room, under the blankets and shove my face into my pillow to drown out my tears. I couldn’t do that now though. Not when so many people had their eyes on me. Not when a trip back to the hospital was a very viable option for me. I didn’t want to go back. Not because of something… traumatic that happened nine years ago. I should be over it, right? But I’m not. 

There goes one of my depression spells. Great. Just great. At a time like this? I sucked in a deep breath, calming myself down before anyone notices. This was embarrassing. 

Ryker came back into the room, eyes landing on me with an unsure look on his face. He walked up to me, holding a hand out. Was he not going to wear any gloves? He wouldn’t be cold? I stood up, keeping my balance on the soft surface underneath me and walking to climb onto his hand. 

“You don’t mind if I just keep you in my hand, right? I don’t want you to be freezing.” He asked. I shook my head, sitting down in the middle of his palm. That was actually what I preferred. I did not plan whatsoever to go into the snow anyways. 

Once everyone was outside, Ryker sat down on the stairs, cupping his hand and keeping me close. A little uneasy about it, but there was really no reason to be. It’s just instinct. And everything in me right now is saying to get the hell inside. But I wasn’t going to say that. Mostly because I don’t want to be alone.  

They were all screaming and laughing. It was snowing pretty hard too, already covering most of the frosted grass just after ten minutes. Other people were also sitting outside. Their kids playing around with the snow. I tried not to focus on that. Instead, I found myself scooting back slowly, almost to where I couldn’t see the heavy fall of the white flakes. 

My body was still freezing. It was so much colder than before. Was this how dad felt? The cold pricking at his skin I mean. 

“Nathan?” My thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice above me. I groaned, body shaking and stuffing my hands in my pockets to preserve some of my body heat. I shuddered a breath, trembling. It’s so cold… How could they even be having fun like this? I looked ahead, seeing Dylan helping Isabelle make a small snowman with both Angela and Lucky stuffed in his scarf. This was just another one of my depression spells. 

“Still cold?” Ryker asked me. I took a deep breath, “Y-Yeah…” It came out more like a quiet mumble, and I was surprised that he even heard me. Did he want to help them make a snowman? He probably did. I should just tell him to leave me inside. It would make things a million times easier for everyone. 

Ryker moved his hand a bit, making me worried about what he was trying to do, but he just kept it the same. I wondered why he was going through all this trouble just for me. There was really no point. There was only a couple more months until graduation and then we’d go our separate ways. That’s how it always goes. I’d be alone again, figuring out what to do with the rest of my life. That’s how my story goes. 

“Better?” 

I nodded my head, getting to a comfortable position and decided to just watch what they were all doing. Finishing up the head of the snowman. It was comfy even though I was kind of scared from being in someone’s hand. At least now that is. Currently I was just afraid of falling into the deep snow. I’m pretty sure if I fell I’d sink into it. Not something I would like to see or imagine. 

“You okay?” Ryker asked, softly smiling above me. There was no other response other than to nod. I couldn’t just say no. That wouldn’t do any good. But.. maybe if he notices that these next few days would be hard for me. Maybe. Just maybe. I doubt it though. I don’t plan on being here all of the time anyways. I couldn’t. 

Isabelle finished the snowman, grabbing some loose twigs for arms as they stepped back. It was still snowing, just not as much. Was dad watching me right now? Was he shocked just as much as I was? I never thought I’d ever be able to be around another giant for as long as I had lived, and here I am, sitting in one of their hands. Would he think I was crazy? Delusional? Psycho? Happy like my mom even? I would never know, but even I think I was crazy. 

Actually… why did I even trust Ryker? Or really anyone. They’re all so nice of course, but about four months ago I was so sure that every giant would only hurt me, and it almost became true with that lunch incident that felt like forever ago. So why did I trust these people with my life? In the back of my mind I keep thinking that this was all just a sick joke being played on me. But… I don’t think these people are lying about anything. They don’t have a reason to. And Ryker’s been nothing but patient, and kind, and… understanding. No one would go through all that trouble just to fool someone as gullible as me. 

I sighed, snuggling up closer to Ryker’s thumb and watching Isabelle throw snowballs at Dylan who was shielding Lucky and Angela from the crossfire. Was it scary being there? In the midst of everything? Having to trust someone at least fifty times your size to keep you safe? I sucked in a shaky breath, just watching. It wasn’t so bad really. 

———Ryker———

Today was November 24. Thanksgiving was here, and everything was a complete mess. I never learned how to make a turkey like the tradition, so usually I just made something that all of us had liked. Along with that, I had to make sure no one did anything too crazy while I was busy in the kitchen. Jasmine and Dylan were helping out cooking while I ordered something for Lucky and Angela. They both agreed on pizza (Because what else does a fourteen year-old and a four year-old want) so now I was busy with that. That part was mostly because Angela didn’t like when Lucky cooks something different. 

It was just pure chaos now. Everyone was running around the house, and at that point I had to ask Jasmine to keep an eye on Angela to make sure she didn’t wander off where we couldn’t find her. I wasn’t too worried about Lucky since he’s almost always with Dylan, plus he’s smart enough to stay off the floor when it’s something like this. 

I took out the lasagna, letting it cool down before making separate plates. Yeah, I know, super weird, but I can’t do anything better. I only know the basics thanks to my parents, and that was all I needed to know. 

There was a knock on the door, and I asked Dylan to open it. It was just the pizza. I washed whatever dishes I had and called everyone that dinner was ready. It’s days like this where I wished that my parents never left. I feel like I can never be like them even though I was the oldest. I mean, was I just supposed to let CPS split us all apart? I couldn’t do that. My siblings would never forgive me. I like to think that they’re all happy, but I doubt it. Sometimes I feel like I can’t do anything to help any of them. Like I’m doing this “parenting” thing all wrong. Of course I was. I was seventeen in my last year of high school taking care of five kids on my own while also juggling a job and trying to do fun things with them so we can forget about what happened a little over a year ago. There was no reason for one person to be doing all of this. 

It was snowing outside again. Not really surprising when you’ve lived here for your entire life. It was really nice though. I loved the cold. Weird, because most people don’t, but I do. I remember my parents freaking out when I would just be outside making a snowman in just a short sleeve and sweatpants when I was a kid. Of course it was so cold it burned, but I guess I kind of liked it? It was hard to explain. Or sometimes we’d stay inside and watch movies or play a game. I missed it really. 

“Ry.” Jasmine snapped her fingers in front of me to get my attention. I blinked a couple times before giving a clueless look. She groaned, “I asked if I could go shopping tomorrow, I have work the next three days so I just wanna go do something.”

“Oh, um, sure.” 

The tv was playing in the background, but I wasn’t paying attention. Come to think of it, I don’t think I was paying attention to anything. Dylan, Jasmine, and Lucky were all laughing about something. What were they laughing about again? Something about going back to school? I don’t even want to think about that right now. I needed a break anyways. Most of my classes love giving me piles and piles of work anyways. 

I sighed, pushing away my plate that I had barely eaten. The sun has already set, everyone was done eating, Angela asked Jasmine if she could go outside in the snow. She said yes, and so Isabelle followed. Dylan and Lucky were helping me wash the remaining dishes. Honestly I already felt so tired. It was only 8 p.m but my eyes threatened to close at any moment. 

“You okay, Ry?” Dylan asked, putting a plate up in the cabinet. 

“Yeah.” I replied, handing him another to dry. Lucky shook his head while continuously saying “no” over and over again. At some point Dylan grew tired of it and pressed the pad of his thumb into Lucky’s entire upper half of his body. 

“He’s not wrong. You’re always like this on holidays.” 

“I am?” I sighed, not really knowing how to get out of this one. These two have always been vigilant anyways. They would have noticed at some point. 

“Yeah.” 

“I don’t know. I just feel really tired today.”  

“That’s it?” 

“Mhm.” 

Dylan gave me a skeptical look before putting in another plate. He doesn’t believe me. I don’t think he ever will about these kinds of things. 

“Why don’t you call Nathan? You always seem happier around him.” 

I stopped only for a second, then continued to scrub off something on the pan I used. No. I won’t call him. Not this time. No matter how many times he’s actually made me feel better just by being here. I’ve noticed I was happier around him too, but it’s only short lived since he always goes back at the end of the day. Do I know why I was happier? Not really. I’ve thought of a few reasons. Because he’s the only friend I’ve made since middle school. He listens to me ramble on and on about the most useless information. Best of all he’s really nice. Doesn’t really seem like he’s tricking me either. Not that I think he could even if he wanted to. He was too sweet. 

“No.” I sighed. Cleaning out the sink and handing off the last dish. 

“Why not?” Dylan asked leaning against the counter. 

“Cause I’m tired. No point in calling if I’m just going to fall asleep,” I countered, drying my hands and heading to my room, “Make sure Isabelle and Angela are asleep by 10? Please?”  

Dylan nodded his head, I closed the door behind me and buried myself under the covers of my bed. I can’t keep on relying on Nathan to come fix every problem I have. He’s probably off dealing with whatever he’s doing right now anyways. But still, my hand reached for my phone, grabbing it and opening the messages app. I’m just gambling with myself at this point. If he answers in the next ten minutes I’ll ask to call, if he doesn’t, I’ll head to sleep. Either way it’s really a win-win. And here it goes. 

———Nathan———

I was laying on my bed, under the covers. No lights, no sounds, just nothing. I had cried earlier this morning when I visited his grave. My eyes were dry now. Red and puffy. I just sat curling in on myself while clutching the same teddy bear he gave me when I was still just a kid. It was childish, but if it’s all I have left of him then I’m taking advantage of that. 

Ironic, huh? How this holiday was supposed to bring family together. It was actually the opposite for me. Even though he didn’t actually die on this holiday, it’s just ironic how it happened this year. When we’re finally free and live like a “normal” family now. Was he watching me now? Sad and lonely in my bed? I hope he wasn’t. He’d scold me. 

My phone went off, but I didn’t feel like looking at it. It’s not like I wanted to be alone. Usually my mom would cheer me up by taking my mind off of it. Whether it was playing some makeshift game or just doing something I liked with me. What else was there to say? This year was the year I was completely alone. 

I sucked in a deep breath, picking up my phone with sore arms. I spent most of the day digging out the old flowers on his grave and replacing them with new ones. It was hard to do when a thin sheet of snow was covering most of the dirt and grass, but it was worth it to see the bright a beautiful colors. His favorites were lilacs. I remember mom telling me that. 

My eyes shot up when I saw who texted me. Ryker? I mean it was already night, so I doubt he was going to ask if I wanted to go over. But… I was kind of curious now. 

Ryker: Hey

Ryker: How was your day? 

Ryker: You’re probably doing something right now but I’d just thought I’d check what you were doing 

Sent five minutes ago. Why did he want to know what I was doing? It seemed weird to me, but maybe he was just bored. Did they celebrate? I hope they did. They seem to be happy with each other. 

Nathan: It was okay :) 

Nathan: And yours? 

Ryker: Chaotic

Nathan: Oh 

I wasn’t technically lying. My day was okay despite crying for most of it. 

Ryker: Yeahhh 

Ryker: Do you feel like calling? 

Ryker: You don’t have to of course 

I thought about it. It wouldn’t be that bad. Might keep my mind occupied.

  Nathan: Sure 

And so he called. 

“Hello?” His voice sounded tired and sad, like he just woke up or something. I couldn’t find my voice. It’s become rasp from sobbing anyways. It’d be embarrassing for it to sound like that over the phone. So hopefully it’ll get better in the morning. 

“Oh, right,” He sighed, “Sorry. I just felt like talking and usually you listen. You can just hang up if you don’t want to though.” He sounded nervous, but I didn’t want to hang up. Not only because it was the wrong thing to do, but because I always loved listening to what he was saying. No matter how irrelevant it was. It distracted my mind from everything wrong with me. And he seemed to like it when I did. 

Nathan: I’m listening 

I heard him let out a little chuckle before talking. I could hear at some points it sounded like he was going to cry, and some he sounded like he was so hurt, and sometimes he’d laugh. He changed the subject multiple times, but I kind of liked it. I just wished I could help in some other way. It sounded to me like he was stressed out and just wanted someone to be there, and I’m surprised none of his siblings were. Or maybe they were, but he just doesn’t want to put all of this on them. It seemed like something he would do. 

By the time he was done, it was an hour before midnight. Funny thing was, I wasn’t tired anymore. I was putting together pieces in my mind still about everything he had talked about. How he was mentally tired of juggling five things around at once. I would be too if I were him. How he’s been more and more exhausted by the end of the day. How his parents usually did all of these kinds of things. I was going to ask what happened to them, but I feel like that was a touchy subject. Especially when he just vented to me. I don’t mind though. Not at all. 

“Oh crap. Sorry for keeping you up.” Ryker apologized, saying sorry about five times before I texted him that it was okay. I wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon. 

“Thanks. Y’know. For listening.” I heard him yawn on the other side. He was the one tired. I silently laughed to myself, hugging the bear closer to my chest. If only he could see me now… this was embarrassing. He’d probably make fun of me for it. I wouldn’t care. 

“You’re too nice, you know that?” I heard shuffling on the other side of the phone. Probably Ryker getting ready to go to sleep. And I know this was selfish, but I didn’t want him to hang up. I didn’t want my mind to realize that I was alone again. Was is it really selfish then? To me, yes. It feels like I was making him do something he didn’t want to. 

“Hey, um, remember when you tried hugging me that one time? Why’d you do it?” He had asked, and I could practically see his face. Confused and happy at the same time. He was talking about when I had to stay overnight. I knew that would come up eventually, just not so soon. 

Nathan: Nobody’s ever been so nice to me before. Besides my mom of course 

Nathan: But I was kind of shocked you agreed without complaining 

Nathan: Are you mad about it?

“Mad? Nononono. Um, the complete opposite really,” He laughed quietly, “I was shocked, yeah, but happy too.” 

That gets rid of the guilt. I swear I thought I ruined everything between us, but now I know what he really thought. He wasn’t mad at me for anything. 

“What about the other day? When it was snowing. You looked comfortable. Like you were about to sleep.” My cheeks started blushing from embarrassment. I had hoped he didn’t see me snuggling closer into his palm to stay warm, but apparently he did. So embarrassing. I groaned quietly to myself, tightly hugging the bear closer. 

Nathan: Sorry 

Nathan: I was cold 

Nathan: You were warm 

Nathan: Sorry again 

It was silent for a second. 

“Why do you apologize for things like that?” 

I didn’t know the answer to that question. Usually my mind just takes over and then I spiral into the worst possible scenarios. So I have no idea why I do. Maybe because my brain thinks I’ll get hurt if I don’t? My body was scared of getting another broken bone or something getting hurt? 

Nathan: I don’t know 

It was silent again. 

“Do… do you like being around me? I-I mean most people stop talking to me as soon as they get what they want. So, I was just wondering.” His voice sounded hurt. Obviously this ha sharpened once or twice to him. And it hurt to hear that these things have happened to someone so amazing. I could never do that to Ryker. It’d hurt me more than it’d hurt him. 

“Y-yes.” I almost immediately replied, my voice a little raspy. It hurt to speak, but it was fine. It’ll get better in time. 

I heard him let out a sigh of relief, and I smiled. I was finally doing the right thing for once in my life. I’m kind of glad this was how the day ended. 

“I would give you a hug if you were here… and if you were comfortable enough with it,” We both laughed quietly, “I’ll let you go to sleep. I’ve kept you up long enough.” 

I shook my head, forgetting that he wasn’t here to see it. I didn’t want him to go. Then again he sounded exhausted. Then I would be the one keeping him up. Or he doesn’t even have to stay awake. Just the knowledge that I knew he was just on the other side of the phone was enough to make me feel like I wasn’t alone. 

“U-Um you d-don’t have to s-stay up b-but could we stay… stay on call? P-Please.” I waited for an answer, biting my tongue for stuttering so much. My body was shaky for no reason. I was nervous. He was going to say no. He was going to say no. He was going to- 

“I would love that.” 

I wish he could see the smile I had on my face. How fast my heart was beating. I laid down under the covers, getting comfortable and staring at my phone that read: Ryker: 3:14. Three hours and fourteen minutes. Another seven won’t hurt. 

“Thank you.” 

I fell asleep a couple minutes after he did. No nightmares haunted me tonight.

—————————————

My heart is meltinggggggg

By the way, this was not the great scene I was talking about. This was just one of many to make the one I actually want to write make sense.

Anywayssss I told you guys it would be a little plot heavy for a while! I loved how this chapter came out though.

Hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading! Love you guys!

#I’m literally so invested!! #😭😭 #I don’t know how to describe it #is like I feel like I know this story/trope #but the way you manage it #twist and move it to tell your story #makes it completely different #like I cannot tell what’s next #and it is SO GOOD #like if I was having that childhood food #but with a twist #that warmth sensation mixed with the excitement and full enjoyment of a new experience #idk if it makes sense #but ughhhhh I love it

[fun-littlescribbles]

Struggle To Trust

It has been a while. Finally got another mafia au story (something @definitely-not-knightress has been looking forward to!). Originally I was gonna split this, but I feel like I jump around themes a bit and it just works better as one story

TW: Mentions of death, bodies, blood, torture, dehumanization

Alessia gets a lead on what turned her mom human that crosses her path with two humans. She needs to keep them safe, but doesn't trust herself. Ash and Delphia think they finally get away from the giants that have been keeping them. Now they're facing an entirely new family. Can they trust them?

Struggle To Trust

“For the last time, where is it?!” Alessia screamed in Dominic’s face. Weeks of this. Weeks of screaming for him to say where hid the worst machine she could imagine. The one that made her mother human. 

Dominic laughed. Each and every time he laughed. The others had stopped by. Taken their own time trying to get information. The bruised man in front of her was stubborn. Unfortunately for him, so were the Kamias. He spat blood on the ground.

“I have nothing to tell you,” he laughed again. Alessia would forever hate his laugh. It was already stuck in her head. “Unless you want to hear some old plans again… I’ll always regret how close I came to having you together with your mother.”

Alessia punched him in the stomach. He coughed. She hated this. Hated this man. More than once he’d talked about the night she got lucky. That he’d set it all up on her birthday to take her down like her mother. She did get lucky, Ryder saved her by accident. 

“I bet you think we’re hunting this down to use it on you,” Alessia seethed. She brought her face close to him. “We’re not like you. We want to find out just what this can do. Protect anyone else you might have toyed with. You know how my brother is, we’ll get any information we want eventually.”

Dominic tried to head butt her. He was foolish, she wouldn’t get this close if he could touch her. There had to be a sign on how to deal with this. The Sulvan family was known well enough. Made their appearances when needed, but Dominic didn’t… Dominic spent most of his time at home, playing with his humans.

“You won’t find it. I know you won’t. If you’d been a plaything like I wanted then maybe you’d have some idea,” he laughed again.

For once, that laugh made her smile. The Sulvans were always big on gloating. At some point he had to mess up. Just as she needed. Alessia grabbed him by the hair and forced him to look up as she stood straight. Facing her how he always hated to.

“You just gave me a hint Dominic. If a plaything would know it has to be on your property. Something that happens to be part of the Kamia territory now thanks to your attack.”

“You bitch!” 

Alessia punched his stomach again before turning away. She pulled her phone out and dialed her father. He’d gather what and who was needed. 

“Alessia,” her father said. Quiet, he was in his room with her mother and siblings. They were going to be moved soon enough.

“Dad, we need to search the Sulvan house. There’s something there.”

“I’ll start setting it up now.”

The line died. She knew he’d get to work immediately. Finally a place to start. A place to find some answers. Maybe even a way to fix things…

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

Alessia sighed as she leaned against the back wall of the Sulvan estate. Both her brothers were busy. That left her and some trusted family members to search the estate. Everyone thought there would be something obvious. The only thing was how sick Dominic truly was. The mess, the leftovers, made her sick. Truly a monster.

The air helped to settle her stomach while the others kept searching. Just a short break. It made her miss her brothers; well not Ryder. She was glad he wasn’t here to see those horrors. Normally she thought she could manage all of this on her own, but this was a special case. One that made it hard to stay the stoic, cold-hearted, Kamia daughter. One too close to home.

“Quick this way,” a small voice hissed. Alessia perked up. There weren’t any humans when they checked the property originally. Could be some that were hiding, afraid they’d get killed. Might have even reached the property by accident. She moved her focus to the ground, but stayed where she was.

Alessia took in a deep breath. Flowers, two distinct scents of flowers. One was more earthy. A bit of shame settled in her heart as she swallowed. It was the human scents she preferred. Almost everyone else had a penchant for metallic scents. Floral ones usually got left out of mafia business; exactly why they hid Alessia’s personal preference. A Kamia who liked floral humans could start something.

“Shit, they had to come this way. Can’t let the Kamia girl get them!” Alessia growled a little when she heard that. Sulvans were taken off the property today. Her father spent all night making that happen; no one should be here that would hunt down a human.

“Come on, quick. They’ll catch up,” the same small voice. Alessia scanned the ground, still no sign of anything. She was prepared. Just in case she pulled out one of the doubles Felix gave her to carry. A quick stretch to hide popping it in her mouth.

Alessia shifted her feet slightly. Eyes focused at her feet, scanning for any human running by. The scent was stronger now. They were getting closer to her. She shifted again. This time she caught a shout, they were a lot closer than she realized. The grass here was overgrown just enough she couldn’t easily see a human.

The grass issue disappeared as two humans ran right into her foot. Her eyes went wide as she took them in. A pale, tiny woman with long ebony hair and a masculine looking person with brown hair and brown skin. She crouched down to see them better. Shocked to find the smell of blood coating the earthy floral scent. The black haired one stepped forward and tried to hide the other behind her. 

Alessia looked around, the others she heard hadn’t come close yet. She moved slowly to try and promise the little humans a bit of safety. The woman started shaking, the one behind her tried to glare up. Once they stumbled, Alessia knew she was out of time.

As always the feeling of grabbing humans left her feeling strange. She hated that part of this. That they had no control. She stood up straight before flipping her palm flat. Her fingers were moved up just enough she could see the two terrified faces staring at her.

“Over here!” Alessia snapped her head towards the voice as two giants rounded the corner of the house. They were Sulvan family members. She knew that. The two always followed Anton. The former next in line was trying to find a way to take back control of his family. It would make sense he hid humans. “Shit.”

“Didn’t my father demand all the humans your family currently owned?” she growled. The two stood straight and shared a look. She waited for an answer, a desperate hope the double in her mouth would be wasted.

“Did you idiots catch them yet?!” Anton’s voice made her stiffen. All the years he bullied her were far from forgotten. “If she gets them I won’t-”

“Sir!” one of the two in front of her shouted. Anton rounded the corner with a glare that could start a blaze. Alessia straightened her back as she faced the shorter giant. She was the stronger one now and from the deadlier family. He couldn’t hurt the humans she held anymore.

“Alessia, what a nice surprise. I thought none of the main family would be here today.” Anton walked closer, his eyes locked on the hand holding the two humans. She curled her fingers over them. Out of sight and with her meant safety for them.

“Now Anton, how could I leave something like this to be done without proper supervision.” 

“I mean you Kamias are a wonder. What exactly are you tearing my home apart for as it is?”

“Why would I tell you? Clearly you don’t listen to orders. Two humans here that you were supposed to hand over to us months ago. Maybe I should let Rhys come comb through the house. You know how great he is at sniffing out humans.” A smirk to show her fangs, the humans in her hand gasped. 

“Now, now Alessia. I just bought these two. That order was for all the ones we had under my father’s miserable leadership. If I remember right that is. We didn’t tend to keep many for long.”

“Oh and what was it I heard? What were you going to do if someone found these two?”

“Why I’d only be angry since they were a gift for you I know you have a penchant for flowers. I thought you’d enjoy the taste of a flowery human. How about you taste one right now?”

Alessia glared as Anton narrowed his eyes. It was clear he’d caught on to the problem within the Kamias. That or he knew about her mother and expected that to change how she acted. Neither one would matter after what she did next. A smirk, a lick of her lips, and two fingers to pinch the arm of the one in her hand that was bleeding. 

“I think I will, if they’re a gift I should try at least one. Shouldn’t I?” Alessia hummed.

She pulled the one bleeding up to her face. The woman was screaming, calling her a monster, as she did it. That didn’t matter. She met the eyes of the one in her grasp, green and blue. They would hate her, but that wasn’t new.

Alessia tilted her head back and dropped the human into her mouth. She’d been taught more than enough ways to look careless while keeping them safe. She moved them around her mouth, a purr slipped out at the taste she couldn’t help adoring. As she looked down to meet Anton’s eyes again she pushed the human beneath her tongue and propped the fake one between her teeth.

There was shock in the eyes of each giant watching her. As if they thought the Kamias would go soft after finding out the truth. A sad day for them, the Kamias wouldn’t go soft since they’d never been like the others in the first place. Alessia bit down humming at the flavor of the fake blood Felix filled the double with. It was sweeter than the last time, probably one meant for Rhys not her. She’d check when she got home.

Alessia swallowed the fake blood, but smiled while it stained her teeth. A show of licking it clean while Anton silently raged. He wanted these humans for something. Something she had to find out. It would be hard to get them to talk after this, but that was a future problem. She closed her lips and let out another purr.

“You weren’t wrong, floral humans are an interesting taste. Though I think I’d stick to the ones I usually have. Too sweet,” she grinned.

“In that case I’ll take the other-”

“Didn’t you say they were a gift? I plan to use the other one to see how it flavors my favorite wine. Now why don’t you leave like you’re supposed to and I won’t let anyone else in the main family know about you ignoring orders.”

“Of course,” he turned away, shoulders stiff. Each step was a barely covered stomp. She wasn’t shocked in the least. By him that is. The calm human in her mouth was another story. The one in her hand had fallen silent after the crunch of the double. That was expected. “We’ll just head out then.”

Alessia followed as soon as they were out of sight. She couldn’t hear much from them. Some mumbles of her causing a problem. Something that they wanted to find would stay hidden. It made her more confident this was the right choice. Alessia was done with her search for the day, the humans in her hand and mouth needed to be treated.

After a few minutes Alessia went back inside the house. She found her second in command for the search, the one her father trusted even Ryder with. One look at her hand was enough. A nod of understanding and she left. Luckily she took a car today, once inside she could pull the one in her mouth out.

“Alessia, leaving already?” Anton’s voice made her growl. She turned with a glare at him.

“Is there something you need Anton?” Alessia said. The car pulled up in front of her, she couldn’t deny it was a relief.

“I just thought the two of us could head to the estate together. Your father wanted to meet with me to discuss my new role as a branch of the Kamias.”

Alessia didn’t trust a thing he said. She pulled out her phone and sent a text. A grimace once it was confirmed that Anton was called to the main house. She growled again, but put her phone away. The human she held would be a bigger problem now. He’d try and take her.

“Why would I waste time with you?” Alessia was desperate to avoid this.

“Now, now. We’re part of the same family now aren’t we? Going to keep holding grudges from childhood?”

Always pressing the right buttons. Alessia growled again, closed her fist around the human she held, and pulled open the car door. She slid in and waved at Anton to follow. One day he’d pay just like his father once they found what they needed. She wanted to be there when this man died. She’d never forget the day she’d nearly killed a human in fear of him.

Anton slid into the car, an awful stench of cologne hit her. She hadn’t noticed a thing when there was open air. The door slammed, locking her in with an awful person and a sickening scent. She growled again as he slid closer to her. His eyes were locked on her hand with the human woman. Alessia had learned more than enough since then; humans were safe with her.

“Driver, why don’t you give us some privacy?” Anton said. Alessia met the driver’s eyes in the window. One shake of her head kept them from the privacy he supposedly wanted. Anton leaned back, an arm draped over her shoulders.

“We’re all family aren’t we? Why would you need to keep it from another member?” she asked. The human in her mouth started to move. They were pushing against her tongue, but the best she could do was lift it a little bit. The one in her hand was fighting fiercely, likely assuming the fist would be a death sentence.

“I thought it would be nice to have a bit of time to ourselves. After all, your father will likely put us together, have his daughter head a branch family.”

“My father wouldn’t expect me to marry anyone unless I chose them. He’s not a Sulvan after all.”

“Don’t be so testy. Who knows what I could offer that would have him encourage us? You wouldn’t break a deal he made for someone important, would you?” Anton’s hand met her shoulder. A squeeze that made her glare right in his eyes. Something sick was in them. Something wrong. She never wanted to know what this man had in his head.

“What the hell are you implying?”

“Nothing to make you so testy dear.”

Alessia growled, but the house in view helped calm her. Each word from the monster next to her had the humans shake or fight. Whatever he wanted them for was likely a fate worse than death. The moment the car stopped Alessia hopped out. Anton growled as he was forced to let her go. That was the only hint of anger once he stepped out of the car. The grin on his face made her anxious. She turned on her heel towards the house. She took a careful taste of the human. It was calming, but that left her full of guilt.

She opened the door to find her father sitting in a chair waiting.  She nodded to him and lifted her fist slightly. He nodded back. He tilted his head to the side and mouthed ‘Laura?’. She nodded. Once Anton was gone he’d bring the doctor. The human in her mouth wasn’t in danger or she’d bring them to Laura now.

“Anton, good to see you, my office is this way,” her father said. The two humans froze once he spoke. 

Alessia watched the two walk off before heading to the kitchen. She grabbed some food and made her way upstairs. At least she had a lot of items for humans in her room. Anton’s look stuck in her mind, she swore these two would be safe. Until she knew what he wanted they wouldn’t leave her sight. 

Alessia set the food down on a table as she entered her room. She had the only attached bathroom, a bonus today. She dropped the tiny woman off in the sink.

“Just fucking kill me already!” the woman shouted. Alessia shuddered; knowing she deserved it never made it easier. “You monster!”

Alessia turned the water on to what should be a safe temperature. A soft stream until Anton left. A sigh, a shake of her arms, and one last taste. Finally, she stuck her fingers in her mouth and pulled out the one who had been bleeding. They looked at her calmly, almost kindly, as she assessed them. Nothing bad had happened, no mistakes. She set them down next to the woman.

“What… but I saw…” The woman gave up on words and tackled the other person. Alessia smiled. She set a towel she kept nearby down near the two. Added a bit of soap on the side where she knew they could reach. Another deep breath before she prepared to speak again.

“Go ahead and get cleaned up, I’ll come back in a little while,” she whispered. Now it was time to wait until her dad brought Laura.

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

Delphia couldn’t speak. Ash was alive, but she watched the giant lick their blood off her teeth. She dragged them towards the water. With the warm stream to clean her hands, she searched every inch possible for signs of a new injury. They were bleeding from the claws earlier, but nothing fatal. Nothing that she couldn’t help them survive.

“I thought I really lost you this time,” she whispered. Ash didn’t fight her as she forced them under the water. The last time giants put them in a sink the water was freezing. She didn’t mind getting soaked as she pulled torn cloth away from where it stuck to them.

“She had something in her mouth, it was filled with something sweet,” Ash mumbled.

Instead of answering, she walked over to the soap the giant left behind. She leaned forward to smell it first, there wasn’t much of a scent. That was a bonus, less likely for them to be hunted down. With one hand full she walked back to Ash. She covered two fingers with soap and started to clean their wounds. They hissed.

“I know,” she whispered. “Just let me clean these. We don’t want them infected.”

Ash grunted, but grabbed her arm. The few squeezes reassured her. The process felt too long, those giants they ran from hurt Ash a lot. Stupid claws and fangs. All it did was make both of them quiet. No way would they talk for giants like that. They’d both rather die.

“You should clean up too,” Ash said as they moved their arm to grab some soap from her hand. Her arms stung from some lighter marks as Ash forced her sleeves up. They ran the soap against her skin. They’d get out of this, survive. Find a way to leave this town, to a place they could be safe. As long as she and Ash were together nothing could go wrong. “At least yours are light.”

“I guess that’s a little lucky for us.”

They settled into a calm silence. Moments of peace were rare for them, especially once the giants noticed how they felt for each other. Each one was a precious treasure she held to her heart in greed. The fear was worth it just for those rare smiles on Ash’s face. Their eyes promised similar thoughts.

Eventually the soap was gone and they were as clean as they would get. Ash took the initiative as they dragged Delphia over to the towel the giant left out. It didn’t get wet the entire time. A precise placement. Delphia pulled Ash against her once they pushed her to sit. They pulled some of the towel to cover them both.

It was warm, almost comforting. Delphia couldn’t remember the last time the two could sit like this. No fear of what would be said, when someone would find them. In that house they had to be careful. Hide and prepare for when a giant would try and use them. The one thing their silence promised was that they could stay together and alive. Both swore if the other died by those giants they’d kill themself in return. A method that the giants knew was no empty threat.

“You should sleep,” Ash whispered. They started to run a hand through her hair. Delphia shook her head. This wasn’t the time to sleep. She had to stay awake to take in all the time they had together. There was no telling what the giants planned to do with them next. Toys, pets, something else entirely. She wanted- no needed- this moment.

“Later, I promise,” she whispered. The hand running through her hair never stopped. Ash shifted to hold her tighter against them.

The calm moment had a timer attached. A loud knock signaled the end. It lasted long enough for them to dry off at least. 

Delphia pressed against Ash, scared of what came next. They tightened their hold on her. It was hard to admit that this giant scared her more. Before they had a promise of safety, knowledge the giants needed to take revenge. Now… now they had nothing.

“Hey,” the giant woman’s voice was melodic. A cruel lie in the face of danger. “Are you two done in here? I don’t want to leave you in the sink forever.”

Ash’s arms tightened around her. The steps were lighter than normal as they approached, but it didn’t change anything. The comforting dim light beneath the towel was replaced with a bright all encompassing one. As soon as her eyes adjusted Delphia was forced to stare up at rosy skin and brown eyes. Long hair, almost blue like the night sky hovered near her and Ash. If these features were on a human she might start to fall for the woman. Too bad it was a giant.

“Guess you two are done then,” the woman smiled. Delphia held Ash tightly, finally returning their hug. Massive hands came down around them, but the move was careful. Almost painfully so. Together they were pushed onto a soft, warm palm. Something she knew not to trust.

The giant woman pulled them up from the sink and held them near her. It was a kinder hold than Delphia had ever experienced. Ash loosened their hold on her, as if they felt safe. It was strange, wrong. Giants weren’t safe. Their steps shook the world. They could and have casually killed humans. She’d seen it more than once, experienced it. Ash too. Neither could forget that day.

The hands were moving again. Delphia hadn’t even noticed the steps. Another oddity. They tilted to let her and Ash off on a table. A table that had beds and clothes, human beds and clothes. Even a small spot for the two to use for getting changed. Some food was set to the side too. None of this made sense.

There wasn’t even a chance to think about it before another giant showed up. His steps shook the table, a stern glare that made Delphia panic. She wasn’t used to giants having eyes the same color as her own. Even worse having them locked on her as he came closer and closer. Ash’s arms were around her again, she wasn’t sure they ever left. This massive white haired giant crouched and put his hand on the table.

Another human was in his hand. A doctor if the white coat could be believed. The last time either saw a doctor was impossible to remember. Maybe before the one who captured them was killed. Possibly longer, one of the ones that had been kept with them was a doctor. She couldn’t remember when they died… They might have been one of the last ones.

The human doctor didn’t seem bothered at all by the giants. Not even with how pale she knew Ash looked. Once she cleared everything off the giant’s hand, with help from him even, both the giants walked away. The table shook, but the doctor kept working on setting something up for them. Delphia started to get scared. Something awful could come of this, something that would kill her and Ash.

“Alright then,” the doctor clapped. “I’m Laura, if one of you would come over here we can get you checked out.”

Silence. Stillness. Until Ash’s arms were pulled away. Delphia watched them walk towards this Laura person. Signs of age on the woman’s face at least gave Delphia hope they could survive. She watched Ash go sit in a chair that was under some machine. The woman lifted their shirt to see wounds and bruises. Delphia hugged herself, she didn’t want to be checked over.

“Oh my, it seems I was called just in time,” Laura murmured. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, frankly a shock you’re still awake. We’ll get started on closing these wounds and then look at getting a transfusion.”

“There’s no blood here,” Ash spoke up. Kind of a shock for Delphia, they preferred silence.

“Oh, well yes. If we’re lucky you match someone in the family, otherwise I’ll get some fluids and will need to monitor you until you’re more stable.”

Delphia couldn’t watch anymore, not after the face Ash made. As if a giant would help them even if their blood types matched. They both could remember the one time the one who used them wanted another giant to do that. She shuddered at the memory of that human’s scream. Never learned their name.

They’d be fine. The giant checked a long time ago. Both had rare types, especially rare in giants. Nothing could go wrong before they escape. She tried to push the thoughts and memories away. A sweep of the room showed a number of easy to climb places for them. Ones right where she knew giants commonly kept humans, at least if what she’d seen told her anything. It almost looked like the place was meant to have humans walking around. 

“Miss, I’m ready for you,” Laura called. Delphia grimaced, but walked to the set up. Ash had been moved to the floor so Delphia took their seat. She squeezed her eyes shut as hands touched her clothes. A check of her stomach and chest went mostly fine, a few gasps. Then the doctor moved to her arms. “Oh god.”

“They’re old,” Delphia grumbled.

A small kindness that the woman didn’t press to learn about Delphia’s scars. Bad attempts to draw blood by a giant for experiments. Times she was held too tightly, didn’t move fast enough. Things she never wanted to live through again. Her arms worked, what they looked like didn’t matter.

“Alright, I see you both are malnourished. I’ll write a meal plan up for you to follow. What Alessia brought should be fine for now. Then about that transfusion…” Laura said. Ash grabbed Delphia’s hand as the woman spoke. They were safe, things were fine. “Oh good you’re a match with-”

“He wants what!?” the giant woman’s voice broke through the closed door. Delphia ignored whatever the doctor had to say, focused on the shouting giant. Even more so as the door opened. “I’ll kill him.”

“Calm down,” the white haired one said. He was loud, not like the ones chasing them though. “We’ll deal with him. For now you know what the situation is.”

Both giants approached. Ash’s grip on Delphia’s hand tightened. A shiver ran down her spine as the doctor stepped forward to greet them. It took until then for Delphia to register the woman said Ash matched someone…

“Ash,” she whispered. A squeeze. Both knew. They’d promised a long time ago to die together. She managed to look in their eyes; she hated the look they gave her. She hated the way they squeezed her hand; how it seemed to want her to keep going if they were gone.

“Vitus,” Laura shouted. Delphia squeezed Ash’s hand. Slid off the chair to sit next to them. A tight hug, a prayer that they’d survive. “One of them needs a transfusion. According to my records, Ryder should be a match.”

The eyes of the white haired giant settled on them. She glared back. When he killed them she’d make sure he didn’t ever get a tear. She wasn’t expecting a nod.

“Alright, he’s downstairs. I’ll take you to him.”

A hand was placed down, the doctor hopped on. The white haired one left and they were both alive. Alive and left alone with the giant who brought them here. That very giant woman sat down in front of them. An elbow hit the table. Delphia followed the arm it was attached to all the way up to the woman’s face. A slight frown.

“You two are gonna be staying with me for a while. We’ll have a better set up brought in sometime tomorrow,” the giant woman said. “I’m Alessia, just let me know if there’s anything you need and I’ll get it for you.”

Alessia smiled. Delphia loved and hated the smile all at once. It made an already beautiful face look better. Kind, warm, almost to a point she could call it caring. Yet the fangs stood out. Bits of red from whatever looked like blood stuck to the massive teeth. This was the smile of a giant. A smile that could never be trusted.

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

Alessia sat on the floor next to her door. She couldn’t sleep. The humans left her anxious. All she could think about was if they tried to run. If they fell from the table, hurt themselves to get away. Here she could watch… Plus watching them distracted her from Anton and the fact he wanted her.

“Ash and Delphia,” she mumbled. The names helped her heart calm. The silence after telling them her own name made her sure they’d just be ‘little humans’ the whole time. 

She placed her head against the wall. Eyes stuck on the dark ceiling. There had to be a way to help them feel calm. A day out in a different city maybe. There had to be things they needed or wanted they could buy. With a sigh she closed her eyes.

The next thing she knew, Rhys was shaking her. His usual way to wake her up. A growl followed by pushing him away showed it worked. He looked worried, he was always worried. At first she wanted to argue with him, but noticed the open door behind him. She shot up, relieved to see Felix at the table. At least until she saw how stiff he was.

“Please, I just want to give you better clothing,” her older brother murmured. Rhys grabbed her arm to help her stand as they watched Felix struggling.

“Dad filled us in,” Rhys whispered. “Others will come by in a few hours to set up their place in here.  Felix wanted to get better clothes. We were gonna let you sleep until we were done, but someone’s being difficult.”

Alessia crept closer, doing her best to keep her steps light. It didn’t feel this hard usually. Then again she didn’t usually know the humans that hated her were sticking around. She reached Felix and looked over his shoulder. Ash and Delphia were huddled together in between the beds. She could even see them shaking. It made her whine.

“Ash, Delphia,” she whispered. That got a glare from Delphia. Clearly not happy hearing their names said, at the very least around others. “This is just Felix, he means it. It’s just to get some better clothes.”

Silence. Glares. Then Ash moved. She couldn’t believe it. Delphia clearly hated the idea. She held their clothes as they walked. Something was said. Something she couldn’t hear. Regardless it brought Ash out to stand in front of Felix while Delphia stayed behind. Ash stared up at her the whole time. They did as instructed, but those eyes never left hers.

“Thank you,” Felix said. She could hear how worn out he was. This never got any easier. Delphia walked up then, standing how Felix had instructed at first. Arms up straight out at her sides, make herself look like a ‘T’. “Could you take off your sweater?”

Delphia’s eyes were full of fear. She hugged herself and Ash ran up to her. It hurt a bit to see the way the two acted. Admittedly she felt a little jealous; couldn’t help finding them cute. Felix stiffened, she put a hand on his shoulder. He never did like this part. He was so much softer than he looked.

“I-I…” Felix looked back at her.

“Delphia, he just asked. You don’t have to,” she breathed. Another conversation she couldn’t hear. It wasn’t the first time she wished she could be small enough to join those whispers and it wouldn’t be the last. This was the first time it hurt so much she wanted to leave. Take away the need for hushed whispers.

Eventually Delphia walked forward again. She held her arms out, sweater firmly left on. Felix nodded, leaning closer to the tiny woman. It only took a few minutes for him to finish, but Delphia shook the whole time. Felix at least managed to keep himself from acknowledging her fear. He’d gotten good at that over the years.

“All done,” he whispered. Rhys came over and rested his arms on her head. “I’ll have some new clothes for you two sometime tomorrow.”

“Ok, well Felix and I should get going,” Rhys sighed. His weight against her disappeared along with a grunt from Felix. “Alessia, you should head out before they come in too.”

“Right,” she nodded. Her brothers left and she was once again alone with Ash and Delphia. The two shared more whispers. “Well, we’re going to need to leave today. I’ll be back in a minute.”

A quick few steps to grab clothes, enter her bathroom, and change. Although she slowed as she started to tie her tie. The shirt she wore didn’t have additions like her dad’s did in the pockets. She’d need one of his. She sighed, turning to leave. A knock on her bathroom door made her jump.

“I brought you one of dad’s shirts,” Rhys said. Her younger brother was always a step ahead. “One he uses when Ryder gets sick.”

She opened the door, took it, “Thanks.” and shut it quickly.

“I’ll send you a message when they’re done. Dad said they’d be here in an hour. Should be done early in the afternoon.”

“Got it.”

Alessia slipped off her tie and shirt. Swapping to her dad’s, one that made her feel small. She wished it made her smaller too. She bundled the excess near the small of her back. A look in the mirror almost made it suit her. She sighed, rushing to tie the tie instead. An hour could pass too quickly. 

When she left the bathroom Rhys was crouched by the table. She could tell by his smirk the two humans probably weren’t happy about it. Knowing him he said something about her liking flowers or sweet drinks or worse. She walked up and tried not to let herself growl.

“Hey sis,” she knew she’d hate what next left his mouth, “no wonder you caught them. Strong flowers. Your favorite.”

“Rhys,” she growled. A full blown one. The humans on the table flinched, it made her feel guilty. She hated being a giant. “Just make sure I know when I can come back.”

“Aye, aye,” he saluted her. He stood, looking down; taller than her but a match to Felix. Sometimes she wondered if that was why Ryder liked them both so much. Taller than so many others, but still shorter than dad.

Alessia pushed off her thoughts and crouched next to the table. A small smile that landed with neither human reacting. She held in a sigh. It would be hard to get trusted, but she wanted that. These two wouldn’t be in danger as long as she was around.

“So, I guess you two mostly heard,” she started, “we have to go out today. Just not be in my room at least. Last night I thought maybe we could go to another town, get stuff you need.”

“Why?” Delphia spoke. That was a bonus. Ash was the only one who spoke the night before.

“We don’t want anyone seeing you.”

“You have us, why does it matter if we’re seen?” She hadn’t heard that much venom from a human in a long time. Weirdly reassuring.

“We don’t want to risk the wrong person finding out you two are here. We’re careful about who comes into the house, but don’t want to take any risks. You’ll have to stay in my pocket most of the time, even in another city.”

Alessia set down one of her hands. She tried never to grab humans outside of emergencies. She still hated the feeling of a human in her fist. She was always nervous she’d make a mistake in her need to save them. One that would kill them instead.

Ash walked forward almost immediately. She kind of liked how they appeared to trust her. Delphia trailed behind. Both climbed on after a shared look. Slowly she curled her fingers up and pulled the two close. It might not be the best method, but she dropped them into her pocket. Small grunts filled her with guilt.

It was easier than she liked to push that guilt away. Steady steps to leave her home, to pretend there were no humans on her person. Each step felt heavy. Walking out into a world where they were in danger. Where it would be better to leave them hidden in the house somewhere. She motioned to one of the others around today that she needed a car and walked into the kitchen.

A quick pastry grab and she went outside. Annoyed taps of her foot until the car came around. She immediately closed the privacy screen and pulled her passengers out of her pocket. She held them near the hand that had a pastry.

“Thought we could all use some breakfast,” she smiled. There was less fear from the two as they looked up to her. Small hands grabbed some of the flaky bread. Smiles she felt gifted to see graced their faces. They’d start following the meal plan tomorrow.

“This is good,” Delphia whispered. 

Alessia calmed. Leaning back to try and enjoy the most of the ride that she could. It wasn’t a long drive, but long enough for them to eat. Minutes passed in silence as she watched the two. Something about them brought up memories. Times back when she had snuck her toy castle out to the humans on the run.

By the time the two were finished she’d thoroughly lost herself to her memories. One called her name so she pulled them close, letting them jump down into her pocket instead. She finished the pastry, thinking of when she snuck out food. Brought medical supplies. Even the scents she barely remembered.

Once at the city it was easier to knock herself into reality. She wasn’t sure what they could need. Food and clothes would be covered by her family. Same for housing. Instead she stopped off to the side and looked down at her pocket.

“Is there anything you two want to do?” she whispered. “There’s a lot in this city. As long as we don’t leave you too out in the open there shouldn’t be any reason to worry.”

In her mind she pictured the two whispering. The more it happened the more it hurt. She couldn’t help being interested in them. Cute, brave, smelled amazing, and she was desperate to learn more about them. It wouldn’t happen.

“Is there a place we could be out of your pocket?” Ash asked.

A pause to think. There weren’t many places that were safe and she could guarantee no one could walk in. This town had too many eyes to risk them just anywhere. She had one place she did frequent. A spot that no one else knew she went… “There’s a place. I’ll take us there now.”

There was a bit of pep to her step as Alessia made her way. This was something she hid from everyone. Every time she visited this town. After nights where she was called a monster, the times she failed. One place that at least made her feel at peace.

As she walked her steps slowed. It was strange. The fear of sharing this place with the humans in her pocket started to creep in. It wasn’t as if they could hurt her or take this place from her. Yet she feared what they’d think. Would they hate it? Love it? Find it strange? Peaceful? Calm? A hundred questions that she couldn’t answer until she arrived. Answers she’d have after one small conversation that would start as soon as she opened the door she’d reached.

“Allie? I wasn’t expecting you today. You didn’t call ahead,” the woman who owned her favorite place spoke. Alessia smiled, a fake name for a fake life. Important to keep this hidden. 

“I was in the neighborhood, can I take the day?” she asked. The woman in front of her checked a computer, hummed a few times, then offered a smile.

“Looks good, go right in. Same card as usual?”

“Yep.”

Alessia waved as she walked away. A cool air passed her by as she made her way deeper in. She shivered. Excitement or nerves she couldn’t tell. Soon she’d share her safe place with someone else. Somewhere no one else was allowed to know of… A garden that made her feel small.

Finally at the door, she pushed it open. The warmth was a stark contrast to the cool building. It had to be warm. She slowly made her way to her usual spot. Hidden under a tree in the shade. Surrounded by dahlias, lilies, and roses. It never made sense how they all grew together, but she loved it. Especially now, they’d just watered them. A fresh, kind smell.

“We’re here,” Alessia whispered. 

She slid down, her back against the tree. A careful movement to reach inside her pocket. Both humans squirmed as her fingers wrapped around them. Another quick shift that was probably too fast. She placed her hand down, flattened her fingers and waited. Smelling the humans with this place explained her interest. Together they made up her safe place.

“Where are we?” Delphia’s awed voice was good. No anger or fear meant maybe she understood.

“Some gardens I know about,” Alessia kept her voice as quiet as possible. Afraid it would break the awe if they looked at her. “I come here when I need a break. I pay to get this place all to myself… It’s just the three of us here.”

“This is amazing,” Ash said. She smiled, it was how she felt when she found it. Wandering after her first night in a bar. The feeling of peace that this place gave her. The trees and flowers that somehow made her feel small.

 “Yeah, yeah it is…”

Alessia watched the two walk away from her. She could see the stress and fear left behind as they did. Once they were far enough she moved. Turning away from the tree to lie back where she could stay near them. Smiles that made her heart pound met her on two tiny faces. She wanted more time like this.

It was a dream as the day passed. Delphia talked about the flowers around them. Happy and smiling in a way that suited her. Ash wound up sitting against Alessia. She was sure they were just using her as some shade. It was peaceful. Delphia even sent a smile towards Alessia. This place had never felt better.

Hour after hour things felt normal. A part of her wondered if this was the life she could have had. Outside the mafia, a normal city. That wasn’t ever in the cards for her. Even in another city she was too tall. A problem that would pose a risk. That could hurt humans by mistake. A monster.

“How did you find this place?” Ash asked. 

“Chance,” Alessia whispered. Ash still sat against her. Delphia across from them. At this point it was almost possible to forget about reality. “No one else knows about it. Not my dad or brothers. I feel kind of small when I’m here… Not so much of a giant…”

“What do you-”

Delphia’s voice was cut off by the sound of Alessia’s phone. She growled a little which made Ash move away from her. The spell that made this almost feel normal broke. She pulled her phone from her pocket and read the name. Rhys.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Hey. You’re good to come back any time. Felix also got some new clothes done today. He said it’s not enough, but it works,” Rhys started laughing. “Ryder played model for one of them. Apparently they’re the same height.”

“Great. Thanks Rhys.”

“Oh one more thing. I heard something about those two.”

Alessia sat up. One eyebrow raised as she looked at the two humans. “Should I know?”

“They’re Anton’s bargaining chips. Somehow they connect to what we’ve been looking for. Couldn’t get anymore info, they realized they were in public and shut up before the good stuff. Seems like he wants it to get you.”

“Right…” She had to remember to lower the volume on her phone. It was clear Ash and Delphia heard. Both had started to back away, a look of fear. “Just means we keep them safe.”

That was all it took for the call to end. A few minutes of silence passed as she thought. They knew something. At least Anton thought they knew something. Alessia pushed herself up to a sitting position. One leg was left straight while she pulled the other close. At least they would be safe with her.

“So… whenever you want we can go home,” she whispered. Ash and Delphia had backed away while she sat up. The time without fear was gone. She could see how horrified they were. Little nods as they walked close. That hint of another life was gone.

Everything felt blurred together once she dropped them back in her pocket. Quick goodbyes to the one who owned the garden. Easy trip back to the car, she didn’t even raise the privacy screen. Back at the house Rhys opened the car and pulled her out quickly.

“Careful,” she managed. Ryder was on Rhys’s shoulder this time, he at least smiled at her. That made it feel easier. One human that never thought she was a monster. Not even when they first met.

Rhys dragged her through the house right to her room. On the table was one of the portable houses they often bought. It had most of what humans would need; bathroom, bedrooms, shower, no kitchen though. That needed more than these places could manage. It wasn’t that bad though. It was better than just beds out in the open.

Finally allowed to walk on her own, she stepped forward. A slow crouch to be in front of the table. Then she reached into her pocket, surrounded the humans with her fingers. No squirms, just two limp little bodies. If she couldn’t feel their small chests heaving she’d think they were dead. Slowly she pulled them out and flattened her hand in front of the house. Rhys made them jump when he fell to the floor next to her. Ryder climbed down from him as the two in her hand stood.

“Come on,” Ryder said with a wave. “I’ll show you around. Probably better than the Sulvan family gave you.”

Alessia watched Ash and Delphia climb off her palm. Ash tugged Delphia as they followed Ryder. Before they disappeared both gave her a look of shock. A look without fear. It was nice, she felt like the afternoon was almost coming back. She swore to herself that she’d keep them safe; even if it killed her.

The next few weeks were filled with fleeting moments of calm. Times Ash and Delphia would smile at her. When she could hear their laughter. The hushed conversations were slowly disappearing. It was the most normal she felt around humans other than Ryder in a long time. Enough that she even felt a little hope towards seeing her mother once they were both ready. She started to think maybe, just maybe she wasn’t a monster.

That feeling only lasted until one night she left her bathroom door open a little. The two were on her dresser near the door. She thought it was fine. Until she heard them talking.

“You know we can’t tell her,” Delphia said.

“Are you sure? Things have been different,” Ash said. They sounded sad. Alessia slipped closer to the door. Desperate to hear this hushed conversation. One hand on the doorknob as she listened.

“She’s still a giant Ash. Once she knows she’ll kill us… just like the others wanted to.”

“Del, I think she’s different. I think all of these ones are different.”

“We can’t take that chance. You know what happened the last time we did.”

Alessia pushed open the door, ending the conversation. She tried to smile as she offered them a hand. One trip to their house then out of her room. She knocked the right rhythm on Rhys’s door to have him keep an eye out. Then went downstairs. Through the living room. To the kitchen. Down another set of stairs into a cellar full of wine. She grabbed the first bottle near her and opened it. 

She’d been foolish. They would always see her as a monster. Ryder probably did. Her mother and youngest siblings would. All humans would. Back against the wall, Alessia sank to the floor. She brought the bottle to her lips and took a gulp. She should be used to this…

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

Ash ran their fingers through Delphia’s hair. Alessia had been gone for hours, but they noticed one of the others looking in now and then. He’d called himself Rhys, it was clear he played mind games. They never forgot what he said that first day. ‘Be nice to her, she’s more sensitive than you’d think.’

They’d noticed it. Delphia had too. Little ways that the giant woman’s face changed when they showed fear. Hesitation. Trust. They knew what the other giants wanted. Before it was obvious; they talk and they die. Now it felt more like if they talked then they’d get more freedom. Possibly even closer to the giant woman. Something they both wanted even if Delphia would deny it. She wasn’t good at hiding her interest. Especially as the reluctance to climb on Alessia’s palms clearly came from embarrassment at the proximity.

A crash made them jump. The door opened. It didn’t stop them from running fingers through Delphia’s hair. Although they did start to slip out from next to her. The lack of giants in the room made the creak of the floor as someone walked around echo. It wasn’t Alessia’s steps, too heavy. They managed to climb off the bed and look out one of the windows.

The other brother, Felix, was carrying Alessia around the room. He brought her to the giant bed. With more care than Ash expected, Alessia was let go on the bed. She rolled away, it felt odd that they could even see from the window sometimes. Left right in a spot to watch a sleeping mountain all they wanted. For Ash, it was kind of reassuring.

Felix turned towards them. It was easy to tell when his golden eyes met their own. A change in their face. That was why Ash knew they weren’t noticed. Felix walked closer, his shadow sent a chill straight through their bones. They backed away from the window. As soon as the steps stopped they worried the house might be lifted. A heavy sigh came from the giant over them.

“I knew one of us should have watched you instead,” Felix mumbled.

Ash stepped closer to Delphia. They ran a hand through her hair again. Desperately waiting for the steps to leave. Far off the door closed and they let out a relieved sigh. That relief died quickly when a new much louder thump sounded nearby. Ash rushed to the window. Shocked to find Alessia kneeling on the ground.

In a way that seemed comical Alessia shifted to have her hands on the ground. She started crawling towards them, her eyes already red. It made them nervous. Those nerves didn’t make the giant woman stop from crawling closer. The crawls started to shake the house they were in, Delphia jumped up as it happened. She was beside them in seconds watching together as Alessia came closer and closer.

Ash grabbed Delphia’s hand once Alessia was close enough to reach them. The other woman kept moving. She crawled right by them. Ash brought Delphia with them as they went to the door. Just in time for a loud thump. They stepped out to see Alessia’s head against the table squinting at the house.

“I wanna fit in there,” she whispered. Ash took a few steps away from the door, Delphia had pulled her hand away to stay behind. “I wouldn’t be a monster if I could fit in there.”

“A monster?” they repeated. Alessia’s eyes filled with tears immediately.

 “I know I am.” Tears streamed out of the brown eyes. Ash’s heart hurt. Delphia came out, even approached Alessia because of the tears. It was hard not to trust the eyes that had been warm since they met. “I don’t wanna be. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t…” Delphia tried. She looked back at them, but there were no words to say. Suddenly Alessia’s fingers came close. Attention successfully grabbed, she brought her hand back to her lips.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I’m super scared of being around humans. Super duper scared.”

“You’re… scared of us?” Delphia stepped closer when she spoke.

“I don’t wanna hurt anyone ever again. Never again. I’ve been good right? Have I hurt either of you? I’m trying hard not to.” Alessia mumbled incoherently as sobs started to rack through her body. It caused tremors through the table, not enough for Ash to care.

They walked past Delphia. A hope to calm Alessia from her crying. Instead the giant head backed away and a whine pierced the room. They furrowed their brow. Another whine made them jump, but it didn’t change anything. Alessia sobbed more.

“I didn’t wanna hurt Alex. I stopped Anton from eating him. B-but I held too tight. It would have been my fault if he died. It’ll be my fault if you die. I won’t let you. I won’t hurt you. I won’t even hold you again.” A few sniffles. “Please don’t think I’m a monster.”

“I don’t think you are.” Ash didn’t want to hide it. There was nothing about the woman crying in front of them to seem like a monster. She’d been kind, careful, warm… She reminded them of someone they almost met a long, long time ago. What felt like another lifetime.

“Alex…” Delphia whispered. They knew the name too, but there was no reason to assume it was the same. Alex died a long time ago.

Alessia’s hand was brought up next to them. Delphia ran up and hugged their arm. As the shadow covered them they flinched. It caused a pause in whatever was happening. The sobs picked up again just as they looked to the brown eyes. Rivers. That’s all they could see as tears rolled down plump cheeks.

“See?” her voice was a breath. Almost inaudible. Even to Ash. Even to Delphia. “I scare you…” A sniffle. “Sola and Luna are smaller than you… I bet they’ll hate me when I work up the courage to talk to them…”

“Who are they?” Delphia asked. Alessia’s hand moved again. A finger left on Delphia’s chest.

“I bet my baby brother and sister aren’t even this tall next to you. They’ll be so scared. I can’t ever get close. I might hurt them.” That was the warning before a fresh river fell from the brown eyes. They thought those eyes were beautiful when Alessia smiled. Now they only caused pain in Ash’s heart.

Ash reached out to the finger that was pressed to Delphia’s chest. The trembling of the digit shook both of them. They cast a glance Delphia’s way, she was just as concerned. This wasn’t a giant that would hurt them. This was someone who cared. All their doubts and fears were more than just misplaced. Those feelings were bringing pain to the one person who had ever offered them comfort.

“I bet when my mom finally sees us she’ll hate me… I always wanted to be like her,” Alessia took in a shuddering breath as she spoke. It pulled Ash forward, they didn’t care. “When I was little she was so strong. Coming home with all the humans she saved. She never made a mistake, never hurt anyone. She is… she was a hero. I bet she still would be if I wasn’t so weak. Wouldn’t have been targeted if I didn’t make the Sulvan family hate me.”

“Is she gone?” Ash asked. Their fingers dug into her skin. The massive head shook, the table quaked from it. “Where is she?”

A new round of sobs. A new batch of pain. All from a giant who had so gently cared for them, talked to them, tried to help them feel at peace. Delphia’s hands joined their own on Alessia’s finger. They looked back at her, she was worried. It was obvious. This was possibly the only giant who managed to worm into their hearts after all this time.

“She’s like you… They made her human,” A wet growl followed the words. No force behind it, no menace. “Tortured her… think we even killed my baby siblings. I hate them… hate what they do, but maybe I’m just like them.”

“How could you be like them?” Delphia asked. Ash smiled as her hands started to pet the finger against her chest.

“I’m a monster… I like how you smell. How you taste. If I was different…” A new river. “It doesn’t matter; I’m close enough. I’m a monster.”

They watched Alessia yawn despite her constant stream of tears. Her body shook. Ash dug their fingers deeper into her skin. If they weren’t watching so closely they’d think she didn’t care, but they saw it. They saw the moment her eyes squinted in response. Delphia paused on petting the finger for a bit then pulled it into a hug.

“I… I’m afraid of you. Of everyone here. That you’ll take Ash away. Kill us both,” Delphia whispered. Ash nodded. “I think that white haired giant is monstrous. Those two brothers of yours are insane. But…”

Alessia sniffled. Ash smiled. They slid their hand on the finger to hold Delphia’s. A squeeze of encouragement.

“But, I don’t think you’re a monster. I think… I know I’m scared because if I’m wrong about you I don’t know what to do. The last giant I trusted… she sold us out. Gave us to the people we tried to run away from. I don’t know how to act if someone does that again.”

Another round of sobs. This time Alessia’s finger was pulled away. The massive woman shook the table as she pushed herself up. Her head took up the entire sky, waves of deep blue hair surrounded them. It felt safe. Something Ash didn’t think could exist again. Not after they were captured as children so long ago. Almost free and then those giant adults showed up…

“I would never let you be taken,” Alessia’s voice was loud and strong. A tone so severe Ash couldn’t even imagine the woman failing unless her heart stopped beating. An aroma of mint wafted around them as the giant over them moved.

“I believe you,” Ash and Delphia said in unison. Delphia grabbed their hand, a squeeze they understood. There was something brewing in their hearts in regards to the woman hovering over them.

A moment of peace. Brown eyes shining as tears fell around them. It actually felt that the three connected. A way that Ash only ever felt with Delphia until now. Until Alessia swayed. Ash pulled Delphia close, worried about what would happen. The giant woman merely fell to the side with a loud thump. Loud enough they were worried she might be hurt.

“Maybe I can find you a castle too…” Alessia mumbled. 

Ash walked towards the edge of the table relieved to see the steady rise and fall of her giant chest. Those last few words left them curious. The one from back then had brought them a toy castle. Snuck out one she was proud of. It didn’t seem possible, but maybe they weren’t sold out like they thought. Maybe… maybe Alex wasn’t dead.

“Ash…” Delphia whispered. They stepped back to her, just as the door of the room opened. Felix again, he must have been listening for it. “Tomorrow… tomorrow let’s tell her what we know.”

They nodded. Felix didn’t look at them as he picked Alessia up and brought her back to bed. It made sense the other wouldn’t. The two started walking towards the entrance to their house again. Heavy steps came towards them. Ash froze as the shadow settled over them.

“Don’t worry about whatever she said to you. She probably won’t remember,” Felix said. The giant turned and left right after. Ash watched the man pause at the door. “She won’t hurt you like this or we wouldn’t leave you in the same room.”

Felix was gone. Delpha dragged them inside. Together the two curled up again. A life they started to enjoy over the last few weeks was coming to an end. Tomorrow one of them would tell Alessia what they knew. Something that might change things, maybe even kill them.

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

A pounding headache greeted Alessia as she returned to the world of the living. Last thing she could remember was Felix finding her in the wine cellar. If it was up to her she’d stay curled up in bed for the whole day. That wasn’t allowed. Not when two humans were under her protection. Something she completely failed to manage drunk off her ass.

One groan turned into two before she pushed herself to sit up. Rubbing her head she almost missed the two humans staring right at her. This time she fought back her groan. It was easy to assume she had another night of tears. This is why the humans of the family hated when she drank around them.

Bed for the day became much more tempting.

Instead she forced herself to stand and smile at them. At best she didn’t say everything, at worst she told them all her dirty secrets. How she nearly killed someone as a kid. Failed to protect humans that were running in fear from other giants. Her heart pounded in her ears when she considered the other parts she could have mentioned. The other reason the humans in the family hated when she was drunk. They didn’t like hearing they smelled good.

“I’ll get dressed then we can go get breakfast,” she mumbled as she stepped near the two humans. Ash and Delphia stared at her. Something was different. “Is… everything ok?”

“Uh, Alessia we uh,” Delphia started. It was the first time the tiny woman sounded nervous. That wasn’t usual, even in fear she was strong.

Ash stepped forward, “We need to talk to you. About… about why those other giants were after us.”

Eyes wide Alessia stepped closer. Slowly she sat down in front of them. She almost wanted to lie on the floor to stare up at them. It was obvious they weren’t comfortable with the topic. Tense tiny bodies were easy to pick out after all this time. She leaned forward, her hair followed to surround them. She could see the tangles from a restless sleep last night.

“I…,” she sighed. Delphia’s hair was blown back, Ash’s clothes billowed. “Whatever I said last night. If I…” Sharp breath. It never happened before, but maybe this time. “If I threatened you. It didn’t mean anything. I would never hurt you.”

“No, no you didn’t do that!” Delphia stepped closer. That was new. Over the last few weeks it happened only in the garden.

“We decided to tell you. There’s a gun. It…” Ash looked to Delphia. Delphia nodded then they both met her eyes. “It makes giants human. We know where it’s hidden. The other was broken years ago. When the other one, Dominic I think, got angry because someone got away.”

Alessia sucked in a sharp breath. That was exactly what they wanted. More than that, there was only one. It was a race to who’d get it first. It had to be her. She brought her hands up to surround them. No shaking, maybe trust. Maybe pouring her heart out while drunk helped.

“Can you tell me where?” she breathed. Two headshakes.

“Only from the room. You’d need to take at least one of us with you.” Delphia stepped forward, as if she was offering.

“You’d feel better if I took you both right?” Tiny wide eyes followed by nods. “Ok. I’ll get ready. We’ll leave as soon as we can.”

Alessia had to push away all her nerves. There wasn’t time to waste. Anton was no fool, he wouldn’t have stopped looking. She had to find it now. As she grabbed her clothes she paused in front of a closet she rarely opened. Today would put her life at risk. There was one thing she could do to lessen that.

She pulled open the closet and grabbed the vest from inside. A gift years ago from Rhys and Felix that they swore was a joke. Except Rhys told her later it was Ryder’s idea. Something to keep her safe since she decided to take a bouncer role at a number of bars. To make herself a target.

Getting ready to go took too long from her perspective. She’d been back to her own shirts for a week; Felix added the same scent protection to her pockets that her dad had. They were a little tight over the vest, but not something a giant would notice. Alessia pulled her jacket over the shirt and pushed open the door.

“Ok, let’s go,” she said as walked up to them. A quick crouch to set her hand on the table. Both humans climbed on easily. She brought them to her pocket and let them jump in on their own. “Don’t worry. You’ll stay safe with me.”

Alessia walked out of the house quickly. It was early. She was always the first one up after a night drinking. No one would be awake to hear her leave. It would help. 

Outside she skipped the car. The walk would be less noticeable, easier for the escape later. The streets were empty as she walked. Just what she wanted. The Sulvan family probably slept late too. It would work for this. Sneak in and out. She could be silent, just like her mother.

It felt too soon that the Sulvan estate was in view. She slipped behind a tree nearby and watched. The building seemed empty. Enough that she should be able to get in and out. Their official search was over; the family was back. 

“Ok, we’re here,” she whispered. A quick reach into her pocket to grab the two humans. There wasn’t time to be as careful as usual right now. She held them in her palm, just where they could see the estate. “So, where do I go?”

“Del,” Ash whispered. She nodded as she stood up on Alessia’s palm. She almost panicked as the tiny woman neared the edge.

“Back there,” Delphia pointed towards a run down shed. They’d skipped over it in the initial search. The surrounding area was overgrown. It was clearly ignored. Alessia narrowed her eyes. Not ignored, designed to look ignored. “That’s where we were kept too.”

“Got it.”

Alessia curled her fingers over them. Delphia scrambled back well before her hand moved. Carefully she pressed them to her chest as she moved forward. The Kamias were known for their fence. It was odd among the families. The Sulvan family had been extremely vocal about it. Of course it was known they had a habit of grabbing humans from other families for snacks. The openness made this easier.

It was easy to walk over the hedge of the property. Alessia crouched as she walked. Her fingers pressed the two humans flat against her palm. She could feel the tiny chests moving up and down. Every few steps she stared towards the house. At one point she swore someone saw her, but no alarm sounded. No bullets sent her way. She had to assume it was safe.

In front of the shed she stood up mostly to her full height. The trees hung over just enough she couldn’t manage to straighten her back. That didn’t matter. She tried to push the door open, but it was stuck. With a groan she pulled the two humans up to her face.

“I’ll need to break down the door. I’m gonna put you back in my pocket while I do that, it’s safer,” she explained. Two nods. They weren’t shaking. She chose to believe that was good. 

She dumped them both in her pocket before taking a few steps back. Alessia hugged her left arm to herself. She placed her right hand on her left elbow then angled so her shoulder would hit the door. She ran straight into it, the door creaking and cracking from the impact. 

It wasn’t enough. Again. More creaks and cracks.

Again.

Again.

Again.

And again.

“What the fuck?” she breathed. 

When she stumbled into the shed it revealed a dim room that was far too pristine for the exterior. A full blown lab was in here. At least as far as she was concerned. She wandered around. Counters full of machinery that looked strange until she stepped closer. It was all designed to poke and prod at humans.

Cabinets that were left flung open, jars lined them. Chemicals she’d never seen were listed. It might not only be chemicals, but she couldn’t tell. A tall fridge sat in the back of the room. She couldn’t keep herself from marching over to open it. The inside was filled with tiny bags of blood. Tiny to her, but not to the humans that it must have come from. 

Alessia turned and retched. She was glad in her haste she forgot to get any of them something to eat. This place was awful. The exact place that would make something that would change a person down to their DNA.

It took a few minutes to compose herself again. Guilt ate at her for the two little humans that had to listen to her try and fail to be sick. She pressed a hand to them, taking one last sweep around the room. 

She purposely avoided the bed in the center of the room. Bed was a kind term, it was an operating table with clear restraints. Big enough to hold her father down with extra room. The thought made her shiver.

“Can you tell me from in there or do you need to see?” she asked. It felt disgusting to bring them out in this place again. 

“Just me,” Ash called. She nodded, it didn’t matter if they saw. They would know she heard as soon as her fingers reached into the pocket. She did try to just take them out, but Delphia’s fingers dug into her skin.

“No… take me out too,” the tiny woman’s voice was hard to hear. “Please.”

There was a weakness in the word that she hadn’t heard before. Delphia and Ash only had each other in this misery. A miracle they even survived. She would personally make sure they had a safe place to go after all of this. A place no one could hurt them again.

“Whatever will make this easier. You two point it out. I grab it. Then neither of you will ever be here again.”

It just took shifting her hand slightly to grab them both. She curled her fingers up and against her palm. This was awful. It would have been better to tell someone she was coming. Find a way to keep these two from returning to this place. 

Those thoughts didn’t matter now. She pulled her hand up until it was flat. Uncurled her fingers and waited. Ash stood, Delphia was curled up in her hand. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing, but Alessia pulled the hand closer. Gently she ran a finger down Delphia’s back. The tiny woman inching closer to it pushed away her doubt.

“Over there,” Ash drew her attention back to the current task. They pointed towards the wall near the machine that had probably been a source of torment. “You’ll need to put us down. You need both hands to move the counter.”

Alessia nodded. Reluctantly she set them down next to the machine. She’d break it on her way out. Then she kneeled and pushed both her hands behind the counter. Ash was right, it moved. Just a little. That little was enough to cause something to click and a piece of the wall in front of her to open. She shuffled back, almost scared to see it.

“It’s in there,” Ash said. “The scientist hid a version once he realized Dominic was probably going to kill him. It didn’t change anything.”

“I’m guessing Dominic already had one for himself?” Alessia asked.

“No, the scientist had two… Dominic found him hiding the first,” Delphia answered. “He… he grabbed the only other one who’d survived and loaded the gun. Made the giant a human then… stepped on him.”

“Sick bastard.” The growl couldn’t be kept down. She’d make Dominic pay. “Wait… what do you mean he loaded the gun with someone else who survived?”

“Read the notes.” Both said it together. That was starting to make her worry. In her mind unison from them was bad.

Alessia listened though. She pulled open the panel until she could peer inside. A clearly modified pistol sat inside. The front had something that looked like a megaphone opening. The spot for the clip was replaced with an open spot made of glass. She could see bits of red left on the bottom of it. Alessia grabbed it and aimed it towards the table.

A deep breath then she pulled the trigger. In response a metal plate slammed down in the glass opening. She could only imagine what that meant. The gun let out a sound like an empty airsoft pistol. She set it down to grab the notes.

A lot of it was stuff she couldn’t understand. The first two pages technical terms Rhys would know. Then she found the simplified part:

With this device. As long as the blood of one whole human is used we can turn any giant in the gun’s range into a human. The Sulvan family will reclaim the power those filthy Kamia’s have been taking. It’s obvious they have a soft spot, this will be a just punishment. We’re lucky to have so many specimens of a rare human blood type. If the human and giant match they won’t change. The rare blood will ensure we can change almost anyone without knowing that information.

“For every shot it kills a human…” Alessia sat back on her feet. Eyes wide. This… this was disgusting. At first she almost hoped she could use it on herself. Finally stop being a monster. That wasn’t an option anymore. Now she had to get it home before any Sulvan could find it. She shoved the notes in her pocket. “We have to go!”

There wasn’t time to wait for them to agree. For the first time since this started she scooped them up. Then ran. Unfortunately she was out of luck. Just outside of the shed was Anton, his two lackeys, and about 4 other Sulvan family members behind them. She growled, they had spotted her.

“Well, well Alessia,” Anton clapped his hands, even stepped closer. “I didn’t think you’d get that one to talk after you ate its lover. Hand over the gun and the human and we’ll let you go home.” He snapped his fingers, guns were aimed at her. There was a little hope. The Sulvan family were notoriously awful shots. “Otherwise you might not make it home.”

“Oh and what were you planning to do when you found this? Use it on me or just more of my family?” she growled. The monster laughed. She took the chance to move a little. None of them noticed. Too focused on Anton having his ‘moment’. He turned back to glare at her.

“Now, now. It would be easy. We help your father back to his long lost love. Pin the disappearance on your mongrel elder brother. You and I run the family… Of course if you step out of line mommy and daddy might be the ones who take the consequences.”

“You’re sick.” He laughed again. She moved again. Just a little more.

“You think we’re sick?!” The volume even made her flinch. She tightened her hold on Ash and Delphia. This wouldn’t be like last time. “You Kamias are the ones who play house with humans. Those things are nothing better than snacks. Pets on a good day. Yet you keep them all the time. No one else believes us, but we know. There’s something wrong with you Kamias. Something you’re doing with the humans you don’t eat.”

“We just aren’t gluttons like a Sulvan. We only eat ones that are worth it.”

Another laugh. He fully turned away from her. A few more steps. She could see the line to the hedges. She could run now. Duck behind the tree. Stick the two in her pocket. No pocket wasn’t safe enough. Under the vest. That was the only way she could guarantee they’d survive.

Anton took a few more steps from her. She moved. As fast as her legs would carry her she ran. Behind her were shouts, no one expected her to run. 

Gun shots fired around her. Her grip tightened again, but she knew they were safe. She’d learned to control her strength since then. Just before she ducked behind the tree a shot grazed her arm. She shouted in pain.

“No time, you’ll be safe,” she panted. 

That was the best explanation she could offer. She pulled the hand holding the two up past her pocket. With her free hand she ripped open her button up shirt. Then shoved the two down underneath the bulletproof vest. She let them go once they had settled just between her breasts. It was the best place to know they wouldn’t fall.

“Get back here Alessia!” Anton shouted. 

Alessia pushed herself off the tree and ran. More shots rang out. A few hit her back as she ran. Her jacket and shirt were going to be ruined after this.

Main roads weren’t an option. Alessia pivoted towards some of the slivers of woods near her. The trees would help.

“That way!” 

Run. That was all she had to do. Another shot whizzed past her head. The trees weren’t helping as much. She might die.

The humans against her chest moved, she couldn’t die.

Alessia bobbed between trees. Shots blew past. More in her back. One grazed her leg. She’d hit the ground soon.

She couldn’t hit the ground. They’d have the gun. Have Ash and Delphia. That couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let that happen.

Her mind blanked as she ran. Numbly she felt pain in her arms and legs. Nothing more than a graze. Her back ached. Her lungs spiked like icicles dotted them. She had to get home.

The shots died off just as she neared the fence she loved. It protected humans and herself. She pivoted again, towards the gates. Just had to get inside.

“So predictable,” Anton’s voice ahead of her made her freeze. “Really a car or something might have made you succeed. I’ll just have to make you human before the others. Keep all the Kamia’s just for me. I wonder what you’ll taste like.”

Alessia reached to her side. No gun. She left without it. The gate was so close. Almost close enough to get away. She wouldn’t threaten him with the gun. Not playing with lives to save her own. Instead she walked forward. 

The idiot did as she wanted. Fired a shot right at her stomach. It hurt, almost enough to make her stop. Not enough though. She kept walking. Another shot. This one grazed by her shoulder.

“Next one won’t miss,” Anton threatened. She watched him take aim at her head. The edges of her vision were black he was all she could see anymore. This would be how she died. Failing to protect so many from a monster worse than herself.

The gun shot rang out. Alessia waited for a burning pain to spread through her. To break the numb feeling in her body. Only it didn’t. She stared at Anton as the white over his stomach turned red. The gun fell from his hand as he collapsed. Behind him stood Rhys, a cold look she’d never seen on him before.

“You’re right, the next one didn’t,” he said. Alessia walked forward now. Rhys didn’t even look at her, pulling his phone out. She heard it ringing, as soon as it connected two shots rang out. “I found her.”

“I’ve taken care of the ones tailing her,” Felix’s voice came from the phone. “I’ll kill her once I’m home.”

“After me.”

Alessia walked forward again. Rhys finally looked at her. He’d been crying. His eyes were bloodshot. He stormed right up to her. She wasn’t sure what his plan was, but crouching with his back to her wasn’t it.

“Climb on, now,” he ordered. Alessia obeyed. The squirming against her chest left her relieved. They were still alive. She was right. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Running off on your own! Running while they shoot at you! You know better than this. At least Ryder will finally see his gift was useful.”

Alessia nodded. Rhys didn’t stop scolding her the entire time he carried her into the house. His voice cracked a few times, he’d cried. In a weird way it calmed her. The knowledge her family was worried she’d be gone. The adrenaline in her body started to ebb and she realized how much pain she was in. All she wanted was to take a shower to try and make it go away. 

Rhys kicked open the door, it made the two humans squirm again. Alessia pressed her face into his shoulder. She could imagine how angry her dad was, especially if they knew she took Ash and Delphia. That part had to stay a secret. More for the two humans than herself.

Rhys grunted as he shoved her off his back. He left her sitting on the coffee table. Against her better judgment she took stock of herself. Arms and legs coated with blood. Felix was going to kill her later. He’d just made the shirt she was wearing. Rhys walked off. At the very least she could pull off her jacket. The button down shirt below could be left alone.

“Alessia,” her father’s voice made her shudder. The squirms of the humans against her stopped. She couldn’t blame them. “What were you thinking?”

She didn’t face him. That didn’t matter. Heavy steps stormed toward her. Ash and Delphia would hate being around when her dad walked around like that. He sat in front of her, she didn’t want to face him. He pulled her arm towards him. She grimaced as the sleeve of her shirt was torn.

“You’re lucky they didn’t kill you,” he said. She finally tried to see his eyes. Worry. Fear. Things that the head of the Kamia’s couldn’t feel. “What were you even doing? I told you Anton wanted you.”

“I was told to check the shed. I found it,” she whispered. Nothing to show Ash and Delphia knew how it worked. Rhys or her dad might ask the two to stay with what they knew. They’d think it was a demand not a request. “Dad, it's sick…”

Alessia hissed as her dad pressed a cloth to one of her wounds. Disinfectant. He didn’t say anything while wrapping each spot with bandages. Rhys came back with more bandages and disinfectant. She winced as soon as he pressed something to her leg. She was lucky.

She wanted to zone out. Her mind didn’t let that happen. She became focused on the two humans, still as statues, stuck against her chest. They were safe and alive. She’d get upstairs and pretend they had never left. It was just her. She ran off on her own with a little bit of info. After a few more hisses and winces, Rhys and her dad sat back. Both staring at her with clear disappointment.

“Where’s Felix?” she asked. It was a better question.

“Cleaning up. You were lucky he’d gone out to make some doubles late last night. He heard the shots, saw you running. I wouldn’t have been there if he didn’t call me,” Rhys said.

“Ryder?”

“With Felix.”

Alessia nodded. Her dad hadn’t spoken again yet. She hung her head. It was stupid, but if the Sulvan family found it first… That wasn’t something she would think about. Her father’s large hands forced her to release the death grip on the gun. The thing that turned her mother and siblings human. That murdered who knows how many innocent humans for one man’s sick games.

“Rhys, take the gun,” her father said. “Take it apart, take your notes, destroy what isn’t hard to recreate. Alessia, was there anything besides the gun?”

“Notes… they’re in my jacket,” she whispered. A hand settled on her head and ruffled her hair. Her dad always did that.

“Don’t do something stupid like this again. You’re worth more than any information we’re looking for.” She turned her head away. Her dad grabbed her cheeks to make her face him. “Promise me you won’t do something like this again.”

“...I can’t…”

“You’re too stubborn.” Her father sighed as he pulled her into a hug. “Too much like your mother… Go let those two know we’ll find a place for them in whatever city they want. Felix is grabbing a doctor on his way home. Go get some rest.” 

“Ok…” She took a deep breath. Something she had to tell him. “Dad, the notes. It takes a whole human to use it. Their blood… That place… it was sick. I can’t…”

“We won’t let anyone know about this. We’ll find anyone else who has this too. This becomes a Kamia secret.”

Her father let her go. Rhys grabbed the gun off her lap and walked off. None of them actually knew where he worked on stuff. Well, Ryder probably knew. Her dad helped her to stand, but she didn’t need it. She could walk without help. As soon as he let her go, Alessia rushed up the stairs. The two humans had been trapped against her long enough.

It was a painful walk to her room. Without the adrenaline every spot she was grazed stung. Her muscles ached. The spots the vest had been hit were pulsing. She had to remember to thank Ryder later. 

In her room she shut the door and locked it. The click was more reassuring than she wanted to admit. It was hard to believe she was alive. Anton nearly killed her. The squirms against her chest brought her out of her thoughts. She walked over to her bed and leaned forward. She almost wanted to keep them close. Where she could keep making sure they were safe.

Instead she let out a sigh. Incredibly aware of the humans against her she pulled the vest over her head. When Ash and Delphia squirmed she would pause then continue. It only took a few precious seconds to take the tight vest off herself. She became horribly embarrassed as soon as she realized she was left in just her bra. Even more so with both humans sitting in said bra.

A swallow to steel her nerves, then she reached into her bra. She pulled them out easily. Her breasts kept them pressed together more than in her pocket. She left them on her bed, below her as she hovered. Both tiny faces were red, she knew it was probably warm against her, but she wanted it to be a different reason.

Alessia slid to her knees. She watched the two of them. They wouldn’t look at her. At best she made them hate her. She sat back on her heels. Something. She had to say something. Explain anything. Nothing popped in her head. Instead her eyes stung because now the two little humans who made her feel like a person were going to leave.

“A little warning would have been nice,” Delphia shouted.

“I’m sorry,” Alessia whispered. She hung her head, it was hard to look at them.

“I-I didn’t say you should be.”

Alessia snapped her head up. Delphia wasn’t looking at her. The red looked more like a blush against the tiny woman’s pale skin. Ash started to chuckle, she didn’t miss the blush on their dark cheeks. It looked more embarrassed than annoyed or bothered. That was just wishful thinking. She knew it was. 

“She’s embarrassed,” Ash said. Alessia’s own cheeks warmed at the idea. 

“Right that… I just wanted you safe. I should have picked somewhere better. I should have at least explained. I’m sorry I…” A total loss for words. She wasn’t as sorry as she should be. It was kind of nice knowing they were safe. Feeling them against her skin. She fell for these two and now they’d leave.

“I already said you didn’t have to be sorry.” Alessia bit her lip. She was a bit more willing to accept that it was embarrassment that made the two red. Which just made her find them both cute. “A-anyway what did that other giant mean? A-about telling us you’ll find us a place in a city.”

“Why did you hide that we were with you?” Ash asked.

A sigh. Reality mattered. Her crush on them didn’t. Soon they’d be taken to a city where mafia families can’t reach them. At least where it’s a lot harder to reach them. Where she would never see them again. The distraction from the pain in her body ended. She leaned her arms against the bed. She was tired, it was still so early.

“That’s what we do. Get humans like you into safe places. Wherever you want. We’ll get you there,” she whispered. She brought her chin to rest on her arms, let out a sigh that ruffled the clothes of the two humans. “I… I didn’t tell them you were with me because if my dad and brother knew how much you knew they might ask if you were willing to stay. I know how they seem, it wouldn’t be easy to believe you have a choice. You do though, none of us would make you stay here.”

Whispers between the two. A conversation she couldn’t be part of. She wanted to bring back those moments where it felt like they weren’t in a mafia town. It was over. She’d never break into the world the two had. Never have blinding smiles towards her. Laughter and secrets. Promises or trust. The last few weeks would fade into a painful, heartbreaking memory.

“We might be willing to stay,” Ash said. Alessia couldn’t hide her excitement at the idea. The chance to maybe grow closer to them. “We need an answer first…”

“If I know it I will,” she breathed.

“Last night… before you fell asleep again. You mentioned someone named Alex and said you might bring us a castle, what did that mean?”

“Oh…” Alessia pulled her head back, hid her mouth behind her arms. “When I was little, a group of humans had wound up near the house. I tried to help them. Brought medicine, food, even snuck out a toy castle for them to live in. I tried to get them to meet my parents. Looking back it was stupid, probably scared them more. I just knew my mom and dad would keep them safe, get all of them out of this city. Alex was the only one who spoke to me.”

“What happened to them?” Delphia asked. Alessia hated this. The humans of the Kamia’s knew. She didn’t like telling the story. Explaining how in panic she nearly crushed someone.

“I’m not sure… One day I went to see them. The castle was crushed and Anton was standing there about to eat one of them. I tackled him, got the human, and tried to run. Back then I was kind of short. I was scared, I almost… almost killed Alex and he was the one human I had been there to save. My parents got him to a hospital where he survived, but we never found the others.”

Alessia knew tears were streaming down her face. She hated her past. That she failed to protect so many. That she nearly killed someone. Even if they stayed.

“You found them… the only ones left,” Delphia whispered.

“We thought… the giant helping us gave us back,” Ash said. Alessia lifted her face a little. That would mean… all the others were. “A few escaped. Some let go. Anyone with blood types like ours were kept.”

“Hey… if we stay, would we just keep living in your room?”

Alessia shook her head.

“Where then?”

“You could stay on the property. We have a house for human members of the family,” Alessia sat up a bit more. “There’s room to build a house for you two on the property hidden away. You’d be safe here. I usually take care of getting the supplies for the houses so I’d be the only one around.”

“Could… the house here stay? Maybe on the dresser instead?”

Alessia flushed. A small nod. She liked the idea of them having a place here. 

“...Ash, do you want to stay?” Delphia asked. Alessia looked at them. Their gaze had her melting.

“Yes. I think it would be a good idea,” they answered.

Alessia started to purr immediately. That caused the two to start laughing. She never thought something good could come of her connection to the mafia. Especially where the Sulvan family was concerned. These two were a light in the darkness that she didn’t know she needed. Hopefully they could keep getting closer, maybe she’d be part of those whispered conversations after all.

“I should get dressed before Felix shows up with a doctor,” she whispered. A little less embarrassed knowing they might enjoy the view.

#drop everything #new post #MORE MAFIA AU 😭😭 #when I say I’m obsessed… #I am obsessed ✋ #Y NO ME ESCONDO #the whole family dynamic #Rhys Felix and Ryder just wanting to help #Alessia being terrified of even facing her mother or the twins #And her just pushing through all that fear and anxiety #Delphia and Ash so traumatize and yet finding them opening to help this giant #the trust #the love between them #I love me a good plot #and worldbuilding ✋😭 #ugh #beautiful #thankyousomuchhh #g/t writing #g/t

[fun-littlescribbles]

Making Friends (Charlie and Felix)

Writing Masterpost Prologue | Next Part (soon) Word Count: ~6.5k Warnings: Language, Fearplay(?)

---

Charlotte took her campus tour with her map in one hand and a highlighter in the other. She took note of every building she would find her classes in. She even took herself to each classroom the day before school started, just so she knew that she knew exactly where she was supposed to be going. She was one of three students to be awarded a presidential scholarship. A full ride. An honor that is rarely bestowed upon a transfer student. AKA, the only reason she could ever even dream of coming to this school. This is the first time she won't be walking in the steps of her brothers, hiding in their shadows. She's going to forge her own name for herself here, and she isn’t going to mess this up.

Charlotte takes her seat towards the front of the modestly sized classroom. The class is small enough for heads to turn when the door opens 5 minutes after the class had begun, to watch a dark-haired boy wearing all black stroll in. But the class is large enough that the professor merely nods to him, and he’s able to take his seat without much notice. His gaze snags on Charlotte before she can look away. Instead of quickly diverting her gaze, she offers a warm smile, gesturing to the seat next to her, a friendly invitation. A grin unfurls across his lips, sharp and entirely unkind. He strides past her to take a seat somewhere in the back. His footfalls are heavy on the old tiles of the classroom, entirely too confident for someone rolling into class five minutes late. Strangely enough, she feels her cheeks warming with embarrassment.

“Now this is your first assignment, so it isn’t going to be anything crazy,” Dr. Lamont says, standing behind a worn wooden podium at the front of the room. “I have assigned partners for this project. Consider this to be a built-in icebreaker for you and your new peers. Maybe you’ll make a new friend from this assignment, in which case you can thank me later. And before you all groan too loudly, don’t worry, you will have free choice of partners for all other projects in this course.” Dr. Lamont reads down a list of names, pairing students off. Charlotte ends up being paired with Felix Westwell.

Charlotte scans the classroom to find her partner, and her heart sinks when her eyes meet with Mr. Self-Important at the back of the class. He looks vaguely annoyed as he nods a greeting to her, an acknowledgment that they will indeed be partners. Great. He’s going to make this really fun. She thinks, turning back around. Dr. Lamont finishes pairing off the rest of the class before prompting everyone to move around and get started.

Charlotte turns back around, motioning once again to the seat beside her, inviting Felix to come up and sit by her. He’s leaned back in his seat, his arm draped across the back of the chair next to him. He looks like he might prop his feet up on the desk at any moment. Judging by the lethargic tilt of his head, she can tell that he has no intention of getting up and moving seats. He simply stares back at her and tilts his hand, the smallest gesture possible to invite her to join him instead.

Fine. Sure. Since it’s obviously incredibly inconvenient for him to do it, I’ll move. Why not? She thinks bitterly, quickly packing up her things and moving to the spot next to him. Thankfully, he’s at least made some space for her by removing his arm from the back of her chair, electing to cross his arms instead.

“I’m Charlotte,” she says keeping her tone polite, in an attempt to force the sour taste of her first impression of him out of her mouth. There’s no need to stoop to his level. She’s always been a believer that a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet. Just because he came in late, doesn’t seem like he cares that he’s here at all, and has an air about him that just screams I THINK I’M BETTER THAN YOU, that doesn’t mean that she’s going to get a bad grade on this project, start the semester off behind, have to work extra hard to catch up but to no avail, lose her scholarship and have to drop out of her dream school.

That’s probably not going to happen.

So, she should just be normal about this. All she can do is put her best foot forward and maybe he’ll come around. They might even become friends… or she could at least figure out where she’s seen his name before.

“Felix,” he returns evenly.

“It’s good meet you,” she says with a friendly grin. Felix’s only response is a slight quirk of his brow. His pale green eyes regard her with a look that she can only describe as ‘generally disinterested.’

They’re off to a great start.

Well, that was more than enough pleasantries for the both of them, she decides, getting out her laptop. She cracks her knuckles to try and diffuse the awkwardness she feels, before navigating the school’s website to the assignment page. “It looks like, 12 questions, each with 3 sub-sections. Each— jeez,” she adds under her breath before she reads, “each question is to be answered in a full page, double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font. Citations sourced in MLA Format,” she turns to Felix, who has made no move to get out his own computer and is instead looking at the assignment from over her shoulder.  “Don’t worry, the first assignment isn’t crazy,” she says, her tone jokingly mirroring Dr. Lamont’s, “It’s just a very casual 12-page research paper. I’d hate to see what a crazy assignment looks like.” She grimaces, and Felix just hums despondently, which she takes as a sign of agreement. “Alright. So, what does your schedule look like? We can meet up to work on this together a couple times throughout the week and just knock it out,” she offers.

“I’ll just take the first six questions; you take the second six. We’ll put it together in a shared doc. It doesn’t have to be a whole deal,” he says, sounding bored.

“Oh, okay. Yeah, that works,” she feels her confidence dash down to the ground. So much for making a new friend today.

---

It made sense in theory. They had a full week to complete the assignment, each of them could do one question a day giving them one full day off from working on it. That would be the reasonable thing to do. Charlotte updates her questions, she’s completed four of them, Felix has done a whopping zero. She didn’t get his phone number to bug him about it. She supposes she could send him an e-mail about, but that seems… somehow that seems rude. Not that she thinks he would spare her any kind of courtesy if the situation was reversed. But still, she’ll see him tomorrow in class, they’ll be able to touch base then.

Of course, by tomorrow they will only have two days before the assignment is due, meaning that would be an extra three questions a day for her if she ends up having to pick up his slack. She hates group projects. She goes ahead and finishes up one extra question today, just in case.

It’s not like she has anything else to do. No, just five other classes. But whatever.  

Tuesday rolls around, and she takes a seat next to him. At least he was on time today. He doesn’t make any move to broach the subject of their assignment, so she supposes it’s on her to take that step.

“If you had no intention of actually doing the assignment, I wish you would have told me. Because now, I’m going to have to do everything in two days and I hardly see how that’s fair. You might not care about this class or whatever, but I read the syllabus, and the group projects are actually worth a sizable amount of our entire grade. I really can’t afford to be playing catch-up for the entire rest of the semester because you decided that you were too good for the coursework,” she says to him in a harsh whisper.

“Good morning to you too,” His nonplussed expression makes her blood boil.

“I’m serious. I don’t know what your situation is, but I’m here on a scholarship. That’s the only reason I’m at this school. Please tell me you’re actually going to participate in this project so I can figure out if I have the time to pick up your slack or not.”

“Charlie,” he says, having apparently nicknamed her. “I’m not here to sabotage your GPA.” He turns his laptop to her, showing her a document of his questions, filled out and formatted. “I just don’t like working in shared docs. I was going to put it all in there when I was done,” he shrugs, “I’m sort of here on scholarship too, so I’ve got to be on my best behavior. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Oh. Okay.” She says, all her momentum gone, “sorry.”

The class period passes by one painful second at a time. The other groups seemed to have hit it off, as the class is filled with idle chatter while everyone works on the project. Charlie and Felix sit side by side, working on their own questions in an awkwardly tense silence. After class, Felix packs up his things with incredibly speed, and he’s out the door before she can try to embarrass herself again by asking if he wants to get lunch.

Whatever. Not everyone can be your friend.

After that, the routine becomes fairly monotonous. With the assignment turned in, there’s no need to bother Felix any further, so she goes back to taking her seat towards the front of the classroom. He goes back to sauntering in late and paying her no mind.

She doesn’t see him much aside from that.

But, she certainly hears a lot about him though. He’s garnered quite a reputation in the school’s rumor mill. Apparently, someone’s bestfriend’s brother’s cousin knew him from way back when, and they claim that Felix is a Super. That in and of itself is not entirely uncommon, but it is strange that he would be going to school in this area. Bayshear is sort of known as being one of the areas still almost entirely Mundane. So, then of course the rumor began that he was exiled from all of the Super communities. A lot of talk is centered around trying to figure out what it is that he can do, and how dangerous he might be.  Charlotte is of the opinion that, either way, it’s none of her business, and though he seems pretty grumpy and standoffish, that doesn’t make him a danger to society.  Some of the rumors insist that he was sent here as a spy, claiming that his ability has something to do with mind-reading or invisibility? It’s all incredibly unlikely, and she’s learned every rumor against her will. She has been approached by a handful of classmates asking about him, since she was partnered with him. She quickly was proven to be an incredibly boring person to ask about this, as she had absolutely no information, and she wasn’t particularly keen on brainstorming the hypothetical possibilities. It seems as though any conversation she tries to have with anyone loops right back into her saying, "I don't know, we did one assignment together and we didn't really talk much." Most people are much less concerned with trying to befriend her, and more concerned with trying to get information out of her. She doesn't remember making friends being quite this challenging.

It’s a few weeks later when she sees Felix in between classes in the courtyard. There are two other guys with him. She doesn’t recognize them, and at first, she feels a pit of jealousy in her stomach. So, he does have friends. What’s so wrong with her that he’s snubbed her so many times? Then she sees one of the guys turn and give him a hard shove, and she realizes with a start that they are not friends. A smarter person would have turned and walked the other way, or maybe they would have hung back and watched like some of the other students in the courtyard. Charlotte rushes forwards.

“You think you’re so tough,” the one that shoved him jeers with a fierce smirk. He’s taller than his friend, with dark short, cropped hair.

“Come on super-boy. You’ve got the whole school talking about you anyway. Lets give ‘em something real to talk about. Or what, is the big bad wolf too chicken?” The second one sneers, obviously thinking himself to be so very clever for coming up with that one, since another favored rumor about Felix seems to claim that he is some kind of... werewolf?

The rumors are truly mostly nonsense, paranoia and brain-rot. But still, seeing this immediately stokes a righteous fire inside of her, and she shoves herself in between Felix ad his nameless bullies.

“Hey, step off. Stop acting like a bunch of stupid high schoolers, and just leave him alone! Do you even hear how idiotic you sound?” She scowls up at them.

“Oh, look here. super-boy’s got himself a girlfriend,” the first boy laughs, it’s a cruel sound. On one hand, she’s succeeded in diffusing the situation between the bullies and Felix. But now, she’s placed herself right in front of the firing line. In hindsight, this might have been a bad idea. People are certainly going to talk about this. She doesn’t really care what people say about her, but still, is sacrificing her own social life really worth it for someone who obviously doesn’t even like her? This was probably something she should have thought about before she just went and acted on her gut instinct.

“Babe, one night with me and you’ll forget all about this loser,” the ‘clever’ one gives her a wink and tweaks her chin with his thumb. Charlotte slaps his hand away, her gut twisting with dread. That’s all she has time to do before Felix grabs her shoulder, pulling her back and roughly shoving her behind him. She stumbles to regain her balance, and when she looks up again, punches are already being thrown.

She takes a stagger step back as they tussle. The passive onlookers have become an active crowd around the scene. Everything is a blur of bodies, elbows, fists, voices. Until suddenly Felix shoves himself out of the circle and just takes off running. The bullies don’t pursue him, they shout after him and laugh over their victory. It seemed apparent that no superhuman abilities were utilized in that fight. Some people seem disappointed, they wanted a better show. Of course, Charlotte imagines that in a couple days the story will be so blown out of proportion, it’ll just be more unintelligible garbage.

She can hear it now, no, no dude I swear, I saw him shoot lasers from his eyes.

It was the craziest thing, he totally had super strength. He was just trying to hide it.

Blah Blah Blah.

Charlotte decides to run after Felix before anyone can turn their attention back to her.

He had run into the woods by the school. He got quite the head start, but as she’s moving through the forest, she can see the leaves and bushes ahead swaying, recently disturbed. Her lungs burn by the time the path opens up into a clearing, Felix stands in the center of it, gasping for breath himself. He whirls around as she bursts out into the open after him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He turns on her viciously, his eyes hold an all-devouring malice.

“Gah, hold on. I had to run like a mile to get here,” she huffs between breaths.

“No one made you follow me,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Do you always put yourself in the middle of fist fights, or is that just something new you wanted to try out today?”

“Those guys were jerks. I didn’t want you to get hurt,” she says a defensive air rooting in her words.

“Oh, how noble of you,” he says sarcastically. “Why should you care? At this point I honestly don’t know if you know this, but we are not friends,” he paces the clearing with a shake of his head.

“I don’t know that you need to be someone’s friend to not want them to get beaten up,” she frowns, looking at him.

With a frustrated huff he rakes a hand through his hair, pushing the dark strands away from his face. They fall back again when he removes his hand. “Sure, fine. Whatever. Why are you here now? You want to bring back more dirt for the fucking gossip column you’re running?”

“Absolutely not. I haven’t said shit about you,” she fires back defensively. “I just,” she hesitates, her reason feeling incredibly lame now. “I wanted to make sure that you’re alright?” She tears her eyes away from him, not wanting to catch the cruel glint in his eyes.

He barks a laugh, it’s a sound that is more made of frustration than any kind of amusement. “Oh, yeah,” he scoffs, “I’m doing great. There, mission accomplished. You can go now.” She brings her gaze back to his face, his eyes flash with that familiar danger, it seems to be mounting by the second now though. He’s obviously not doing great. His cheek is bleeding, and his eye is probably going to bruise. He waves a hand flippantly her way, dismissing her.

Her embarrassment and dejection are quickly shoved aside by something new. A fierce rage ignites inside her, bubbling out in her words. “Why are you so determined to be such a pompous ass?!” His brow flicks up at her outburst.

“That’s just how I am. Sorry it doesn’t match whatever you imagined me to be like in your daydreams,” that suspicious glint returns to his gaze as he regards her.

“Is it really so hard for you to believe that someone might just genuinely want to be friends with you?”

“Yes,” he responds simply, “It is actually. There is nothing keeping me from believe that you aren’t just here chasing all the rumors.” He takes on a mocking tone, “oh he’s a monster? No, I bet he’s just sad and misunderstood. He’s broken and I can fix him with the power of friendship.” Felix sneers with another roll of his eyes.

“You are so delusional,” she shakes her head, balling her hands into fists by her side. “I don’t think you need to be fixed. I just wanted—”

Before she can finish that thought, he’s crossed the clearing in just a few long strides. Her words die on her tongue as his hands clamp down over her shoulders. It very suddenly occurs to her that they are completely alone out here. Perhaps he’s every bit as dangerous as everyone would suggest. If that’s the case, maybe she shouldn’t have blindly followed him out in the middle of the woods. She really needs to start thinking these things through.

“You are impossible,” he grumbles, his voice low. He simply looms over her, he’s so close and so tall that she needs to look up for a chance to see his scowling face above her. Her body tenses as she looks at him, fear fluttering in her chest. The sense of danger is tangible now, and it causes her mind to spin, reevaluating all of the bad choices she made to bring herself here.

But something isn’t right.

She really didn’t think he was this tall. Mostly, she’s just seen him sitting, but she thought they were more equally matched where height was concerned. Obviously, she couldn’t have been more wrong because he’s standing over her now, and he’s easily two heads taller than her. Standing at 5’8”, she isn’t a short girl. So, for him to be this much taller than her, he would need to be nearly 7 feet tall. She certainly would have noticed that about him before now, right? The strangeness of this revelation twists in her gut. She notices he’s trembling fiercely, but whether that’s from anger, adrenaline, or exhaustion, she can’t say.

“I’m sure there is someone out there that would love to make friendship bracelets and bake cookies with you,” his voice takes on a saccharine tone, it’s patronizing. The tone is dropped as quickly as it was adopted, “You should go find them, because it’s not going to be me.” He turns her around and ushers her to the tree line, “This has been a lovely chat and all, but I really need you to leave. Right now.” She stumbles to a stop at the edge of the clearing and casts a curious glance over her shoulder. Why does he seem so suddenly alarmed? “Can you stop being so fucking stubborn, and just go?” The trembling in his hands has evolved to a full body tremor. There is desperation in his voice. He wants her to leave. He’s always wanted her to leave, how is this any different?

“Maybe I like being stubborn,” she says slowly, antagonizing. She leans against a tree, in no hurry to leave. She knows it’s another bad decision, but she’s made so many at this point, what’s the harm in one more. Besides, she can’t help but feel a little spiteful towards him right now.

A guttural sound escapes Felix’s throat. He glares down at her, a sheen of sweat beading on his forehead like he’s somehow undergoing a lot of physical effort. She doesn’t know if she should be curious or concerned, but she finds herself plagued with both.

“Fine,” he grits his teeth. “Give me your phone and- actually, just everything you have on you.” He holds out a shaking hand, a dreadful resolve is spread across his face.

“What? I’m not gonna just—”

“Please.” He spits the word out like it’s almost foreign to him, like it’s his last resort. “I’ll give it back to you. But it you want to stay I need—” he sucks in a gasp, his tremors are growing violent now, wracking his body, his muscles twitching.

“Alright! Alright, fine! Here,” She tosses her phone into her backpack and hands the whole thing over to him. He snatches it close to his chest and takes several steps back into the clearing. “Are you alright?” Concern breaks through her frustration, “What’s going on?”

“You’re going to want to stay back there.” It’s all the warning she gets before everything explodes.

The movement is so quick, he becomes a blur. She watches with a mix of awe and horror as he transforms right before her eyes. All of the rumors she’s heard about him flood back to her in an instant. The word werewolf springs to the forefront of her mind. For a split second her mind races trying to remember the phase of the moon. But it’s midday, that shouldn’t matter. – No that’s ridiculous. She knows exactly what’s going on. He really is a Super. One point to the rumor mill- well, half a point.

He remains human, in appearance at least. He doesn’t grow fangs or claws or sprout fur everywhere. It’s his size that changes. In the blink of an eye, he’s stretched up to taller than the surrounding trees. The sudden movement disturbs all of the surrounding birds from their perches. How tall is he? 60 feet? 80? All she knows is that from his perspective she wouldn’t be much more than doll sized. Her jaw goes slack as she looks up at him.

He is a Super after all.

Then he moves. His impossible form moves. The earth shakes in response to him, and it jars her from her thoughts.  He lowers himself down slowly, his eyes trained on her. She feels the oppressive weight of his gaze smothering her, and she refuses to meet his eyes. Her mind is left spinning as she watches him drop her backpack into his shirt pocket for safe keeping. His shirt pocket. His clothes grew in size with him, transmutating from a regular garment into what must be miles of fabric.

Impossible.

He settles back against the rocky bluff that makes up the far edge of the clearing. His pale green eyes scan over her now, comparatively, miniscule form. His brow quirks up as he observes her.

“There,” he says finally, his voice a low, displeased whisper. It feels very intentional, like he knows how much louder he is at this size, and he’s choosing to be quiet. “Happy now?”

“I- You’re. Felix you… you’re…” All her words are lost, she’s trying to rationalize what she’s seeing. She’s seen Supers before, she’s no stranger to the vast myriad of powers they can manifest. But she’s never seen anything like this before. He’s truly massive.

“I know. Big surprise the rumors are true. I’m a freak. A monster. Go ahead and run. I’ll drop your things off at the lost and found for you. Go on. Off you go.” He shifts, dislodging a spray of rocks from the cliff behind him, he brushes them off his shoulder like he’s brushing away dust instead of boulders. When he looks back it’s obvious that he’s surprised she’s still there. “Aren’t you going to run?” All she can do is shake her head in response. “Aren’t you scared?” His eyes narrow, studying her as he leans forward ever so slightly.

“Of you?” She scoffs, “of course not.”  She lifts her chin, crossing her arms confidently over her chest. Or at least, she hopes it appears confident. Maybe at this size, he can’t see her body trembling.

“Wow. You’re a horrible liar,” he regards her, as unamused as ever.

“Yeah?” A challenge sparks through her tone. Instead of making any kind of rational decision, she foolheartedly presses forward. Though she’s yet to bring her eyes to his, though her bones feel as though they’re made of gelatine, she forces one shaky step forward.

Then another.

She feels like she can’t help it, something about him makes her feel particularly vindictive. It bolsters her confidence and tosses her caution to the wind.

In one swift movement Felix leans forward, his hand smashing into the ground next to her, and crunching a fallen log in half beneath his palm. The vibrations are enough to topple her from her feet. His other hand comes to rest next to her other side. His forearms form thick pillars beside her. His fingers are as thick as tree trunks, they dig into the earth, rooting himself there around her.  From her back on the forest floor, she finally meets his eyes. His face fills her sky, his brow is quirked in a nonplussed challenge to her.

He’s calling her bluff.

“It’s not too late to run,” he offers coolly. His eyes flicking to the edge of the trees, then back down to her. It’s more than a suggestion, and for a second, she considers it. But the thought of him watching her pick herself up off the ground and scurry away like a frightened mouse, it’s more than enough to stoke the fire of her own stubbornness.

“Why would I,” she says, finally catching her breath. “This is like, the first time you’ve said more than one thing to me since I’ve met you.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he says lifting one of his massive hands. Her breath hitches in her throat as the hand descends, pinning her against the forest floor with a single finger. The digit rests heavily against her chest, and her hands fly up to meet it. She braces against his finger, as if that would actually do anything to stop him if he decided to squish her into the dirt right now. She finds herself instantly mesmerized by how miniscule her hands look pressed against the tip of his finger.

The tip of his finger, she realizes, her insides lurching again.

She’s seen many strange things before, but this is something that her mind is simply unwilling to process.

“Your little heart is beating so fast,” he murmurs in observation, the gentle vibrations of his voice dredging her up from her spiraling thoughts. “You’re obviously terrified. Just do yourself a favor and go,” his finger lifts from her chest, “we can pretend this never happened, alright?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she asserts, propping herself up on an elbow, pulling a leaf from her hair.

“You’re ridiculous,” his face contorts into an incredulous expression above her.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” she doubles down, gritting her teeth and shooting a challenging glare to the giant filling her sky.

“Yeah?” His expression sharpens, “You want to play, then? Let’s go. Come ‘ere.” With that, his massive hand swoops in once more.

Her whole body is scooped up, and she’s whisked off the ground as though she weighed nothing. The movement is so fast, she feels as though a part of her has been left behind on the forest floor. She can’t stifle the shriek as it escapes her. One moment she was safe on solid ground, and one blink later, she finds herself dangling from his fingers. She scrambles to find some kind of secure purchase, but there’s nothing, it’s just empty sky around her and a long, long way down.

“Felix!” He has her hoisted up above him, dangling above his head.

“Oh, come on. You just said you weren’t afraid of anything,” His shit-eating grin would typically irritate her, but she’s too busy looking at the ground below, her vision swimming.

“I- It’s- I just—” words escape her, thought escapes her.

“Wow. I haven’t even done anything yet. Just admit you’re scared, and we can be done here.”

“Never,” she manages to spit the word out. Her stubbornness roots inside her like talons. A horrible, mischievous grin spreads across his face.

"Hmm. Careful with how you’re squirming like that. You wouldn’t want to slip,” his tone is teasing.

“Felix, that’s- that’s really not funny.”

“Oh? What’s that? Are you afraid I’ll drop you?”

“No. You wouldn’t. I know you wouldn’t,” She tears her gaze from the ground to look him in the eyes.

“You don’t know shit,” he says simply. And with that, his fingers release from around her and she plummets towards the ground. She only freefalls for a moment, before his other hand appears under her. She quickly rights herself into a sitting position, held in his palm. It doesn’t feel terribly secure, but it’s better than where she was before. She gasps for air, quickly drawing her knees in close, and placing a hand against her chest, as if trying to control her racing heart.

She can’t catch her breath. She knows she’s panicking. Her heart is hammering so fast, it’s like it’s trying to just break from her ribcage and leave her alone with all of the consequences of her own actions. She sucks in uneven, stuttered breathes, all too aware of the massive scowl hanging over her, the scrutinous eyes taking her in. There is nowhere for her to hide from him. He is everywhere around her. She blinks rapidly, praying the tears in her eyes won’t fall.

She couldn’t possibly embarrass herself any more.

“If that really wasn’t enough for you—” He starts, his hand beginning to shift around her once more.

“No! No, wait! Okay, I’m scared, alright? Please stop!” Her voice breaks pathetically. The motion around her pauses as he blinks down at her for a second. Then, she’s moving again. Much, much too fast for her liking. She bites back another yelp as his palm drops, lowering her back to the ground. She’s tipped from his palm, and before she can even really register what’s happening, Felix is standing in front of her, back to his regular height, looking particularly smug, knowing he's won.

“Fuck, dude,” she breathes shakily, composing herself, and quickly wiping her eyes.

“You’re fine,” He mumbles as he drops her backpack down next to her.

“I think you enjoyed that way too much,” she collects her things, and rises on quivering legs.

“Yeah. Probably,” he shrugs and steps away from her, heading towards the edge of the clearing with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“H-hey! Wait!” She quickly trots after him.

He sighs heavily, “Charlotte. Why are you so insistent on befriending the local resident monster?”

“Easy. I don’t think you’re a monster,” she scrunches her nose up at the word.

“Really?” He stops, and turns to face her, “after all that? You were literally crying two seconds ago.”

She just shrugs, “it could have been worse.”

“You are impossibly stubborn,” he rolls his eyes, and tuns to walk off again.

“Well, so are you! Why are you so insistent on being a total loner?”

“Maybe I just don’t like you! Is that so hard for you to believe?” He says with a huff.

“You don’t even know me!” She shouts back at him.

“And you don’t know me. We should keep it that way!” He raises his voice to match her energy.

“Alright! Fine. Whatever. Just live in your ‘woe is me, the world is out to get me’ delusions then! All I’ve done is try to be nice to you, and you just have the most frustrating attitude! Why did you even come to this school. There are plenty of schools out there for Supers. You picked one that’s like, entirely Mundane. This place is like a ghost town. I’m pretty sure most people that go here have never even met a C-tier Super before.”

He stops so quickly, she almost stumbles right into him, “oh, and what, you’re some kind of expert on Supers?”

“Ooh, sorry,” she lets go of a frustrated laugh, “I can’t answer that, that would involve us learning something about one another!”

They lock eyes. Stuck in a stalemate of stubbornness.

“You’re being so dramatic,” he grumbles.

“Maybe I am!” She knows he’s curious, but she’s not going to give him any more information. She tries to step around him, but he blocks her path.

“Charlie,” his tone is clipped. She realizes with a start that he’s standing a head taller than her. She scowls up at him.

“Oh, sure Felix. Get all big and intimidating! What are you going to do, become gigantic and force me to talk?”

“No!” He says frustrated, she gets the impression that he didn’t really intend to grow just then. His emotions must have a pretty strong effect on his abilities. “No,” he takes a breath to calm himself down, “Look. You seem to have some kind of experience with supers. I at least want to know that much about you.”

“Apologize to me,” she huffs.

“What?” He blinks, taken aback by this.

“You were really mean, and I want you to say that you’re sorry.”

“Oh my god. Fine. Charlotte, I’m sorry, alright. I’m a total jerk, and I’m sorry.” He says, waiting for her to go ahead and tell him what he wants to know. She looks at him for a moment before speaking.

“I think you should answer some of my questions first, and then I will forgive you.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s only fair.”

“Alright, whatever. What do you want, my life story?” He says with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

“It can be the abridged version,” she gives him a self-satisfied grin.

He groans, stomping over to a large rock that’s off the path, taking a seat on it. He gestures beside him, obviously annoyed. She takes a seat next to him.

“I’ve had my ability since like, the third grade. I was an only child, and my parents are Mundane. They didn’t know what to do with me, so they just sent me off to a boarding school for Supers. They had another kid after that and he’s normal, or whatever. I haven’t seen much of any of them since, like, middle school.”

“Oh my gosh? That’s –”

“I don’t want your pity,” he continues without missing a beat, “Anyway, my ability was really lame the entire time I was there. Like my max height was, I don’t know, like, a generous ten feet? So, they recommended I just go to college with the Mundanes. I went to Lynwell for like one semester, and surprise, surprise, my ability suddenly developed into, well, you saw. So, that got flagged and, well, I…. I was at Rosehill but…” he hesitates, furrowing his brow, “Long story short, I decided to just transfer here because,” he pauses again before shaking his head, “I don’t know. I’m here now. Life story over, the end.” He finishes quickly, obviously unwilling to tell her any more than that. “Your turn.”

“Oh! My brothers go to Rosehill,” She says, and Felix’s eyes widen. “Would they know you?” she asks curiously.

“I… I really hope not. Your brothers are Supers then?” Some of the color has drained from his face, he looks much more tentative now. She makes a mental note of this. She’ll have to ask her brothers about him.

“Yeah. I’ve got four older brothers, and all of them are Supers. We’re from East Springs,” Felix quirks his brow in recognition. Everyone’s heard of East Springs, it’s one of the ‘Big Five,’ cities that are major hubs for Super activity.

“Oh. And you...?” He trails off, leaving her to finish the thought for him.

“Nope,” she answers, “But, I went to Super schools until my sophomore year. After that, it became obvious that I wasn’t going to snap into any abilities, so I got transferred to a small Mundane school. Now I’m here.”

“Why here?”

“Well. Mostly the scholarships, but the science program here is actually really top notch.  Oh and, my family thought it would be better for me to hang out with other Mundanes for once… jokes on them, I guess. Anyway. Thank you for humoring me. I forgive you for being a total jerk, I'll try to just stay out of your way in the future.”

“I really am sorry, about… everything," he says, his voice taking on a more genuine tone.

“Don’t worry about it,” she grins, as carefree as ever. “Oh. I won't tell anyone about your abilities, by the way.”

“I don’t care. Just another rumor to add to the pile.”

“Okay, well I care,” She frowns. The rumors are just clinging to the assumption that Felix is a Super. A correct assumption, but still. She can imagine all of the same crazy things being said about her brothers too. It just rubs her the wrong way. “Anyway, we don’t have to be friends, but I’m not here to sabotage your social life. You seem to be doing a perfectly fine job of that on your own,” her mouth pulls into a teasing smirk. Felix rolls his eyes.

“Whatever,��� He adds after a pause, “I’ll see you around, Charlie.”

She blinks at him for just a second, before nodding and walking down the trail back to the campus on her own.

#how much I love Charlie and Felix 😭😭😭 #I would die for them lol #so excited to see this ‘new’ setting #also… I want to learn more about Charlie’s brothers �👀 #hehehe #uuu and Felix #what kind of trouble he got up to 🤨🤨 #I just love them #g/t #g/t writing #Charlie is fearless fr

[fun-littlescribbles]

PUPARIA

Chapter 2 - Sea, Swallow Me

chapter 1

A blinding light shone through the un-closed blinds, Hosah's eyes burning as he awoke in a cold sweat.

That dream. Fuck.

So familiar, yet so terrifying. Something about feeling your body become frozen in place over what feels like an eternity really messes with one's brain.

That, however, was not Hosah's main problem. He was, once again, tiny. For some, this would be a nightmare scenario. For Hosah however, this was about half of his life. Deciding he couldn't stand feeling dirty from subconsciously crawling through a field in a thunderstorm, he went on about his morning.

Things weren't actually that bad when he was alone in the, once small- now huge, apartment. After a while, you figure out a system to get around. Which is exactly what Hosah had done.

Luckily for him, the bathroom was an en suite, meaning he just had to make a mad dash across the floor to avoid any dust bunnies out to get him, and he'd be just about able to get a bath. Piece of cake for someone that does this routinely and is the weight of a leaf.

Finally, after scaling the tiled walls of the bathroom like a mountain goat, he'd made it onto the counter. There was already a wooden bowl in the sink prepared for if- or when, this would happen, all that needed to be done was turn the tap on and wait for the water to heat up.

Hosah clung to the faucet, positioning himself perfectly to sit on the spout, before leaning back, balancing on his torso and doing a sort of limbo to pull the lever until the hot water ran on full blast. He lifted himself back up into the sitting position, legs dangling off the edge, leaning over the feel the water. Nice.

It only took a minute for the water to heat up; meaning it was time for Hosah to jump down and start filling the bowl ready to bathe. Careful to avoid the high pressure water coming out of the tap, he made his way to the side of the bowl and pushed it directly under the stream.

Now, he really needed to be quick, this was no large bowl, and he didn't want to overfill the makeshift bath. Hosah scrambled his way back into his original position, except this time he just had to push the lever all the way back.

It would've been perfect if his socks didn't dampen in the sink whilst pushing the bowl toward the water, as just at the last second, Hosah slipped and lost his balance standing on the faucet. Luckily for him, he was a menace on the monkey bars about twenty years ago, as now he dangled off of the lever. Hosah jumped back down onto the counter with ease, just as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

Damn. He looked like shit. Like, on-the-verge-of-death shit. Hosah stood leaning against the frame around the mirror, getting a close up of his unshaven stubble and grown own roots. He really needed to bleach his hair again.

It was a look he'd kept up with for almost five years, even though he thought he looked kind of ridiculous, it'd become part of his signature look. The only problem is it was no longer the icy colour he'd intended it to be, more like a yellow honey colour, one that was way too close to his skin's undertones, it washed him out completely.

Although he didn't want to think about his physical appearance anymore, he couldn't help but stare at his reflection in disgust. He didn't think he'd lost that much weight, but his hollowed cheeks and concave stomach said otherwise. Maybe his doctor was right after all.

Deciding this was a problem for the future, Hosah stripped off the already minimal clothing he had on and climbed down into the bath. This was probably his favourite part of being so small. Aside from sleeping anywhere and everywhere, because somehow it's socially acceptable to do so at such size, not that he was complaining.

For anyone else, the water would've been too hot, but for Hosah it was just right. He stretched out , slouching down deeper into the bowl, which was originally bought for side dishes of rice, finally taking a moment to clear his head of everything that had been bouncing around his mind the past day or so.

No matter how hard he tried to think of something else, it always went back to Edward. This was getting frustrating. His newfound assistant had become a plague on his mind, his moles all over his face, his subtly crooked teeth, his big, stupid hands. Eugh. Stop. Hosah dunked his head under the water in hopes that it'd rid his mind of unwanted thoughts.

That was until he remembered, he'd have to face the man at this size. Hosah could've burst into tears right then and there. Just the idea made his heart race. He flung his head back, getting droplets of water all on the mirror. Now was a good time to get out.

The tiny man struggled to get a good grip of the porcelain structure as he was now soaked to the skin, hair still dripping and getting into his eyes no matter how much he pushed it back. After many failed attempts, he finally was able to pull himself up onto the counter, rushing towards the hand towel now that the difference in temperature outside of the hot bath had hit him.

Hosah sat wrapped up in the towel, repeatedly scrubbing his head until his hair was somewhat dry and sticking up in every direction it could. He could fix it later, as now he had a few calls to make if he wanted to get to work on time. Although he knew he'd have to face Edward today, he still decided to give Jeanne a call first as he didn't bother to save his assistant's number into his phone just yet.

Sluggishly repeating all of his previous steps to get to the bathroom, Hosah made his way back to the side of the mattress he called a bed. There, his phone sat, right by his pile of regular sized clothes from last night. Although most people decided to move to smart phones, Hosah refused to upgrade his Blackberry Pearl 8220, it was still running perfectly fine, and he had all of his contacts on speed dial. Why fix what isn't broken?

The clock on the exterior read eight fifteen, meaning he still had about an hour to spare until he absolutely needed to be in the building. Perfect. Using the last of his strength, Hosah pushed the cover up, watching as the screen came to life. Turns out he actually had a missed call from Jeanne. Must've been whilst he was in the bath.

Balancing on the tip of his toes, Hosah stood over the keyboard, jumping from option to option until he heard the ringing sound of the receiving end. Hopping down and sitting by the microphone, he waited for Jeanne to pick up.

"Hello? Hosah? I called you, twenty minutes ago just about."

"Sorry, I wasn't in the room. Look- I've shrunk again, I don't have Edward's number. I'm naked and afraid."

"Ah, right. I'll give him a call. I'm at a scene right now, I'd come help you out myself if I could, really."

Hosah's 'Mmm.' wasn't picked up by the phone's audio. He really needed to upgrade, being barely able to decipher Jeanne's words through the static.

"Get dressed before he gets there, alright? I'll see you later."

And just like that, he hung up. Now that Hosah was left alone in silence again, he could truly soak in the terror of being around an unfamiliar person at his current height.

Begrudgingly, he made his way over to the miniature jewellery box that contained all of his size appropriate clothes. When he was this small, it was more like the size of a dresser as the lid came to about just under his collar bone.

Hosah didn't really have much choice. Nothing professional, at least. He just grabbed whatever was on the top of the pile. A scruffy blue checkered button up and some old dress pants that looked ridiculously big on him. It was a good thing the skater boy style was in at that moment. Still, he kept on a white vest for under his shirt as even when buttoned all the way to the top, it showed way too much of his chest to be comfortable. Hosah pulled his hair back out of his face for the last time. He looked more like a cowboy if anything.

Being a shifter was just one of the many things Hosah really hated about his life. Keeping in check with all the medication, trying not to be murdered by stampedes of feet on the way to the station, avoiding any weirdo that can have their way with him if they so desired to swoop down and scoop him up in public. What he couldn't wrap his head around was what was so hard about understanding that. Understanding that you can't just let any old new hire have the keys to his apartment and he trusted to 'take care of him'. If it wasn't for his immense pride, Hosah would've burst into tears right then and there.

He couldn't even pin point what one thing he was so scared of. It was all of it. Being vulnerable, being looked down upon, metaphorically and literally, the power imbalance, just how fragile he really was, so many different horrifying aspects that just made him feel worse and worse by the second.

Whatever, though. Hosah didn't care, he was better than caring. He couldn't care less, in fact, as he choked back the lump in his throat that may or may not have been his heart.

Hosah couldn't be rude when there was a guest coming to his house. If he could, he'd already be cleaning the mess of paints and easels going on in the living room corner, so the least he could do was prepare a cup of coffee for Edward.

Even this had a system in place, religiously, Hosah leaves water in the kettle. Now that he was thinking about it , it was probably unhygienic, but it worked, and he couldn't think of an alternative. By some stroke of luck, he also forgot to put back the dishes he had washed a few days prior. He'd need to do that once he was back to normal too.

After a long, painful trek across the once small apartment, he'd finally made it to the kitchen, where he'd have to repeat the same process as he'd done earlier to get onto the counter. If he had an ounce of fat on his body to support it, Hosah would be ripped at this point.

The main issue at hand was the kettle itself, there was no way in hell he'd ever be able to actually pour the contents out himself. Hopefully Edward doesn't mind the task. The things he did to be a good host to his house guests. He'd rethink his choice if the water hadn't already began to boil, now he was in a rush to actually prepare the rest of the drink.

Hosah hoisted himself up into the coffee jar, his feet balancing onto the edge of the container by a thread as it took all of his strength to lift the lid up. The pop of the jar opening was always very satisfying. Hastily, he began scooping handfuls of coffee into the freshly washed mug, in-fact it was still a little wet at the bottom as the granules melted and stuck themselves to the ceramic surface.

A knock at the door almost made Hosah loose his balance about three scoops in. Just in time for the kettle to finish boiling, perfect.

He felt his face flush with embarrassment as the keys fumbled on the other side of the door, standing on the edge of a coffee jar shoveling fist fulls of granules wasn't exactly the most common place people found others in.

Unfortunately, there was no time to get down as the door creaked open, the newfound assistant calling out;

"Hello? Hosah? Anybody home?"

He waited until the sound of the door clicking shut behind Edward to call back,

"In the kitchen!" Hosah yelled out, doubting he'd be heard at such size and from such a distance.

Each cautious footstep Edward took only made the nausea even worse. So slow, yet so impactful. He could probably smell the fear, hence why he was taking his sweet, sweet time. In that moment, Hosah figured he should stop watching so many vampire movies.

In the time taken for the newbie to actually get to the kitchen entrance, Hosah was able to quickly dump one more handful of coffee into the mug and hop back down to the marbled surface. A fresh face peeked into the room, almost as scared as the pocket sized man waiting for him on the countertop.

The smaller of the two's breathing shallowed, instinctively backing himself against the ceramic cup in the process. He would never truly get used to this. Despite having spent half of his life at the debilitating size, Hosah would always be scared. The fact Edward's expression only seemed to lighten up upon seeing him just made Hosah worry more about his safety.

Much faster this time, the assistant approached, now on one knee at eye level to the impossibly tiny man. He couldn't help but smile, there's just something so delightful about seeing his once intimidating and unapproachable boss at such an endearing size. Edward had never actually encountered a shrunken shifter so closely, what the human body can do is really amazing.

"Ah, the kettle is boiled, are you making coffee? Is that- safe to drink when you're, you know.." He signalled with his index finger and thumb to show exactly what was meant by the question.

Hosah stumbled on his words as he was confronted by the fact he'd have to communicate that it was Edward's turn in the process to pour the boiled water.

"It's for you actually." Muttering under his breath, Hosah's gaze, as it usually did, was back down to the surface under him.

"Sorry?"

Ah, of course, the only downside to being just about twenty four times smaller than the other person you're in conversation with. Tiny people have tiny voices.

"It's for you, I just.. wasn't sure if you preferred specific water to milk ratios. So I thought I'd let you do it." He wasn't usually the type of guy to repeat himself, but Hosah couldn't risk coming across as rude to a, in comparison to himself, literal giant.

Luckily, Edward seemed to find this amusing as his hands interlocked with a clap at his chin, showing his appreciation toward the gesture.

"Of course. Apologies, It's early, I'm silly. Thank you, you're very sweet." The massive hand coming down straight towards Hosah almost completely took his breath away, only when he'd flinched back, face hidden in his arms, did he notice Edward actually was reaching for the mug he was leant up against.

Fortunately for him, there would be more reason to be afraid. A shadow cast down onto Hosah's miniature frame as his assistant stood to his full height. He already towered above Hosah anyway, but this was just absurd. Turns out he was a no-milk-coffee kind of guy after all.

"Honestly, when I'm drinking hot coffee, I like to mix cinnamon or nutmeg in. A lot less bitter." Edward mindlessly chatted whilst swirling the granules around with a teaspoon he'd helped himself to.

Meanwhile, Hosah's heart raced as the ivory knuckles of the giant's hand just barely missed brushing against him. Without thinking, he replied,

"I carry around a little spice shaker of cinnamon everywhere I go, just to do that. Tastes way better that way. "

This actually wasn't a blatant lie for once. Hosah had a very bad habit of telling meaningless and insignificant lies when it felt necessary to add whatever relatability to a conversation. He doesn't even know why he does it himself, but it works.

"Oh! Really? Aha, we're more similar than you think, it seems." Edward turned, mug in hand, so his back was leant on the countertop. The two stood side by side for a moment, and everything seemed normal... To an extent.

That's right. The pair really were more alike than they'd both initially thought. Despite the sheer difference in size, in power, even in how they looked and presented themselves, to their core they were probably closer to identical than anything. There was something undeniably comforting about the fact, so much so that Hosah was able to breathe, for the first time in what felt like his entire life. It must've been quite the sigh, as it caught the giant's attention.

Usually being chuckled at would be immensely aggravating, but he felt as if it was deserved this time around. Hosah couldn't help but smile back, his hand now brushing through his choppy bleached locks.

Edward spun around on his heel to face his miniature superior, bringing Hosah down from the high of delusion. The much larger of the two leant forward, not realising his boss would just be getting a face full of chest in doing so. His hand was far, far too close to Hosah. It made him nervous.

Taking a final sip of the hot drink, Edward spoke up,

"Should probably start thinking about leaving. Thank you for the drink." The clunk of the ceramic against the hard marble counter was startling. "I'll wash up first,"

Before the host could protest and insist he can do it later, Edward had already gotten over to the cluttered kitchen sink in two short strides, pulling up his coat sleeves and helping himself to the finite amount of dish soap left in the bottle. Hosah should really invest in a size appropriate notepad to write all these things-he-needs-to-do down.

".. I'll get my coat and shoes, then."

Just as Hosah made his way to the edge of the counter, a slightly wet, flesh wall blocked his pathway. Edward's sudden, panicked movement caught him off guard, almost falling straight down onto his butt in response.

"Wait!- Wait, I'll get them for you. Just don't... Please don't- jump down from so high."

The tiny man, startled and unable to say anything, just nodded.

"I wasn't planning on it." He muttered under his breath.

Edward waited for a second before moving again to turn off the sink and dry his hands, not wanting to take his eyes off of the person he was hired to look out for incase he'd do anything stupid.

The silence of the apartment was painful. Hosah longed for any sort of noise to fill the void, the neighbors baby’s cry, a pin drop, literally anything.

"God, Hosah, you scared me." Edward smirked, still fumbling with the mug and tea towel in his hands. "Don't go hanging around edges like that anymore, for my sake, okay?"

The significantly smaller of the two couldn't hold back his scoff. Who did this guy think he was? Hosah didn't reply, just hummed a stubborn 'Mmm' as he liked to do, and turned to face the other way. No newbie was going to tell him where he could and couldn't 'hang around', that was for sure.

"Right," Edward returned to his position looming over the tiny detective, "Let's go get your stuff." He held out a freshly washed hand, open for Hosah to jump right on.

That was the issue. There was no way in hell he was getting onto that thing. He stood inspecting for a good few seconds, sizing up all the other possible routes he could take.

The hand stretched out some more, now as flat as it could possibly be, "It's okay, you don't have to be nervous, I'll be careful."

Oh. Oh now he's done it. The grimace on Hosah's face said it all.

"Just get on your knees and I'll do the rest."

The assistant did as he was told, but not without a "Geez, buy me dinner first at least" under his breath. Not amusing.

There was no denying it, Hosah was just as agile as any other city stray, hopping down from the counter top and onto the giant's shoulder like it was nothing, keeping perfect balance despite the drastic change in surface. Unfortunately, keeping up this image would prove to be increasingly difficult as said surface slowly stood to his full height and began walking aimlessly around the apartment.

Hosah, now grabbing onto his assistant's shirt collar for dear life, would have to show Edward the way.

"They're in - Woah, woah, slowly!" his legs almost buckled beneath him as the walking pace increased, "... They're in the bedroom. Straight ahead. Little jewellery box on the floor."

Edward made sure to slow his steps this time, "Right. Sorry."

Before actually entering the bedroom, something else caught Edward's attention. The half finished painting. Hosah had to stop himself from physically recoiling once realising what exactly the giant was looking at.

"Wow, I.. Hosah, you never told me you could paint like this!" There was no stopping him now, as he'd already abandoned their quest to retrieve the tiny coat and shoes, making his way over to the artist's station.

The person behind said piece turned his face towards Edward's neck, "It's still a work in progress, nobody was meant to see it yet. You know too much now, I'm gonna have to kill you you know."

"I didn't realise when I walked in, are all the artworks on the walls yours?" it was excruciatingly difficult for Edward to just look and not touch the canvas.

"...Yeah." Nobody was meant to see Hosah's paintings at all, never mind when they're still half complete. "Cmon, we're gonna be late. Let's go." he tapped the rookie detective's shoulder as though he were a horse, with Hosah being the jockey.

The whole experience just added more to the imaginary list of 'Things to do when regular height' , the apartment being criminally unfurnished was increasingly embarrassing, especially when the two entered Hosah's bedroom, which was completely empty aside from the futon on the floor, an old wardrobe, and a tiny jewellery box sitting next to the sheet-less bed.

To be fair, it was an extremely beautiful jewellery box. A vintage, European style container with a gold ridges and 4 little matching legs. Aside from the edges, the box itself had a white marbled pattern with tiny little red roses painted on top, the inside was lined with the same red shade in velvet form. Hosah didn't own many nice things, but this was certainly an exception.

Despite it seeming so spacious earlier, Hosah took that thought back as Edward picked it up in one hand, with the entire thing being barely the size of his palm, and popping the lid open with ease. Luckily his coat lay on the surface, but his little boots were buried deep under all of his other equally tiny clothes.

"Hold on, I'll get them." Hosah grumbled, slipping down to Edward's forearm, now balancing on the space between the wrist and the thumb.

The process was intended to be quick and painless, but as the pocket-sized detective dug around, two eyes about half the size of his entire being bore into him. The more he rushed, the more nervous he became, and with that meant the more messy he got whilst shuffling through the reasonably small pile of fabric. Ah, there they were!

Without thinking it through entirely, Hosah took a seat in the crook of the wrist and slipped the pair on. It wasn't until he got a glance of Edward's stupidly wide smile that he realised the dire mistake he'd made. He bit the bullet, finishing the job whilst making a vow to himself to never do anything that can be perceived as endearing ever again.

"You don't mind my shoes on your coat, right?"

Keeping his arms as still as possible when a miniature man walked along them proved to be extremely difficult for Edward.

"Go right ahead." He'd have nodded if he didn't worry the movement would sweep Hosah off of his newly equipped feet.

As swiftly and as quickly as he'd gotten down, Hosah made his way back up to the shoulder where he'd spend the foreseeable future perched upon. If it didn't kill him to admit out loud, he'd say Jeanne was right. Partially. Edward wasn't so bad after all.

Although he was gonna have to find a name that wasn't shared with the likes of a globally beloved vampire heart-throb.

#I find Hosah so funny #very relatable for sure #absolutely loving the story #world building and characters are soooo good #g/t writing #g/t

[fun-littlescribbles]

Thanks for the tag!

Last song: Heaven by Mitski (I can hear Mitski on repeat every day lol)

Fav color: I like light purple or dark greens. Quite different, I know, but it’s the vibes!!

Currently watching: Literally just watched the last episode of Helluva Boss (my friend wouldn’t let me not watch it after Hazbin Hotel came out 💀)

Spicy/Savory/Sweet: Savory? I love my spicy food too! (Not a sweet tooth sadly)

Current obsession: I’ve been so busy… mmmm but probably the whole Hazbin Hotel fandom (help there’s no way out 😭😭) Also I’ve been on a mission to find what happened to my favorite YouTubers from when I was a child. Unexpected things have happened since I last saw them :o

I’m tagging @rachey899 feel free to do it or not, also anyone else can join

Nine people I’d like to get to know better

Thanks for the tag, @television-overload~!

Last Song: Walk Outside (theme? for Milo and Otis)

Favorite Color: Red! (Just switched my seasonal palette from True Winter to True Summer-- blew my mind-- and now I'm falling in love with greyer pinks, purples, and taupes.)

Currently Watching: Frasier!

Spicy/Savory/Sweet: Sweet. All day, every day. Sometimes I eat it with savory-- depends on the food, depends on the day.

Relationship Status: Single and not looking yet~

Current Obsession: X-Files always-- it's ability to burrow deep into my brain is unparalleled.

Tagging: @baronessblixen, @welsharcher, @agent-troi, @suitablyaggrieved, @amplifyme, @cecilysass, @spidey-is-tired, @two-microscopes~

#apparently one got married and then got a divorce? #the sweetest girl appeared trash talking her friends? #so much drama I was unaware of lol #anyways thanks for the tag! #love getting to know the community <33 #I tend to be kinda quiet #but oh well

[fun-littlescribbles]

hhmmm how about mafia AU Alessia, Ash and Delphia, for 'Giants kissing tinies on their tummy, its a vulnerable place that protects vital organs— so an abundance of trust would be needed. But goodness, would the gentle contact melt them..' and maybe 'Giants that purr', if that's alright :3

ty so much for the prompt from the list i shared!! This wound up being just what i needed to start getting my brain going again

hope you like a bit of drunk cry baby alessia and trusting humans

tw: drunk giant, mentions of alcohol

Trust and Honesty

“Should I walk you back?” Felix asked. Alessia shook her head, but the stumble that followed likely didn’t make him want to listen.

“M’fine. Take care of the humans. I’ll get home fine,” she said as she pushed him away. Her brother sighed, but did step back from her. She waited for him to leave, but he stared down at her instead.

“Alessia.”

“What?”

“The bag, I need that to take care of the humans.”

“Oh!” Alessia quickly shoved her hands forward, the bag with humans not even in them. She furrowed her brows in confusion. One look around and she found the bag by where she had been sitting, safely hidden from her drunk moves and prying eyes of other giants. With all her focus she lifted the bag and slowly moved it into the open. She let it sit on the table, wincing when she heard a scream from inside.

“Get some sleep, make sure you drink some water. You should have sent one of the signals we would have started to water down your drinks.”

“M’fine. I can drink just as much as you or Rhys!”

Felix laughed, Alessia pouted. One of his hands landed on her head before he grabbed the bag with humans. No noises from inside when he did it. She wanted to be more reassuring to humans. Others said she was more comforting than her brothers, but she didn’t believe them. All night humans called her a monster. Even after she’d slipped them into her hand to drop them in her bag. If she opened it now they’d call her one too.

“Are you sure you don’t want someone to go with you?” Felix asked again. She stepped out from under his hand. “Rhys shouldn’t be far from here. He could drop Ryder off if you just don’t want one of us around.”

“I said,” Alessia glared up at her brother, “it’s fine. Just take the humans to be safe. Where there aren’t any monsters.”

“Alessia-”

She walked off before he could say more. Each step was steady until she walked out the door. Immediately she stumbled and nearly fell to her knees. A part of her knew she should have had someone walk back with her, but she didn’t want that tonight. Just enough that went wrong to make it hard to head back home. She briefly considered going to stay at a different bar for the night.

Alessia jumped when her phone beeped. It took a few tries to pull it free from her pocket, even more to get her password right. A smile slipped onto her face when the screen lit up with the message. A picture from Ash of Delphia climbing up the blanket Alessia left falling off her bed. Another message chime and a picture of Delphia with crossed arms sitting on the ground where the blanket was piled up. A laugh left her as she shoved the phone back in her pocket.

Alessia took a deep breath and started forward. Two humans that trusted her. That were clearly tired of waiting for her to get home. After a few steps she stumbled again, but this time she laughed. She could already picture Del complaining about how late it was. Things had gotten a little out of hand, but it would be fine now. She’d get home and hold the two most amazing humans ever.

Stumble after stumble Alessia got closer to her home. It felt like an eternity before she saw the gate to their property. Another stumble, this time she wound up close to the building next to her. A crack sounded that froze her blood. Slowly she lifted her foot to see a crushed human car. Alessia fell to her knees, picking at the destroyed vehicle.

“Oh no,” she breathed. Tears fell from her eyes as she managed to pry the top of the car off. The relief that entered her body finding it empty was impossible to explain.

It was a rare chance to see the inside of a human car. It looked the same as the ones she’d been in. It was so tiny though. She could hold it, treat it like a toy. Humans would sit inside, drive around, live their lives. Average, normal, part of a daily life…and she broke it. That made a sob slip out of her chest.

Alessia wound up trying to figure out a way to fix it. She tried to pull the car back into shape. The attempt to flatten the tiny roof broke it in half. To fix a door landed with it in her fingers. Everything broke it more. That made Alessia cry more. It lasted until the car was torn apart in front of her. Then she just sat there, crying over the tiny car she broke.

“Alessia?” Rhys’s voice made it worse. “Are you ok?”

She turned back to find her brother walking towards her. Ryder was on his shoulder. That made a new round of sobs start. She was going to make her youngest brother hate her. All because she stumbled and stepped on a car. Rhys started to run once he saw her face.

“What happened? Did you get hurt?”

A shake of her head. Alessia brought her hands up and tried to dry her eyes. Rhys’s hand was on her shoulder after a few seconds. That made her feel even worse. Ryder could definitely see the car now.

“Alessia?” Ryder asked.

“I broke it,” she whispered. She pulled her hands away from her face and stared at the torn apart car. Now Ryder could see her like the other humans.

“Alessia, it’s just a toy we can get another one.” Rhys grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to her feet, but she pulled out of his grip.

“It’s a car Rhys! I broke someone’s car!”

Alessia cried even harder. Rhys sighed, but Ryder started to climb down her. She didn’t want him to see what she did, but it was more terrifying to grab him. She gasped when his weight was gone from her.

“Rhys let me look,” Ryder shouted. She didn’t hear Rhys say anything. Instead he reached down and lifted a part of the roof she’d broken. He dropped Ryder on the hand the roof was in and used his now free hand to grab her own. 

“Alessia feel this. It’s not metal, human cars are made of the same metal as a giant’s car. Let’s get you home and then Ryder and I will come back to clean this up, ok?,” Rhys whispered. 

After a few sniffles she nodded. Rhys pulled her up from the ground. It was a lot harder to stay on her feet this time. After one step Rhys sighed. She sniffled again, now she made him upset. The weight against her was gone, replaced by something hitting her knees. She gasped as he pulled her into his arms. Sometimes it was easy to forget her brothers were strong enough to carry her.

“Put me down,” she whined. It was the first time she saw his eyes, he looked worried. Ryder was sitting on the top of his head staring down at her. Both her brothers gave her firm shakes of no. “I can walk!”

“This is faster,” Rhys said.

There was no option to argue once he started to walk. The best choice was sticking a pout on her face and crossing her arms. She refused to look at him too, but that backfired. She saw the car again and more tears came from her eyes. She didn’t want to go back to the house anymore. It didn’t feel like metal, but she didn’t believe Rhys. He was a good liar, she broke someone’s car.

“Can we not go home?” she whispered. 

“We’re going home, you’re drunk,” Rhys was firm. He didn’t sound like he normally did. He sounded angry. She closed her eyes so she couldn’t see someone angry at her.

It was almost peaceful as Rhys walked in silence. Alessia’s tears slowly dried. She still wanted to argue she could walk, but it was kind of nice to be carried. Nice enough she thought she might even fall asleep.

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

The next thing she knew she was dropped on her bed. Rhys said something she mostly ignored, her pillow smelled like flowers. Her favorite flowers. Ash and Delphia. They didn’t know about the car she broke. They didn’t think she was a monster, she loved them. She heard her door close and thought about trying to sleep.

That thought lasted less than a second. Alessia started to slide off her bed. She didn’t want to be too noisy and wake up her flowers. She didn’t want to lose their scent either. Her knees hit the ground with a thump. Reluctantly, she lifted her head and pushed herself off the soft surface.

She sucked in a breath before looking over to her dresser. Ash and Delphia didn’t come out. Either she was quiet enough or they’d gone to the home outside the main house. She chose to believe she was quiet enough. With that settled Alessia put her hands on the ground. It was obvious to her that crawling would be quieter than walking.

Alessia kept her head down while she crawled. A close eye on where each hand was placed. No human should be on the ground in here, but just in case. It was to avoid anything someone might have left in her room too. She wouldn’t want to break something that belonged to Ash, Delphia, Sola, or Luna. It would destroy her if she broke something of her mother’s.

It felt like an eternity before she was in front of her dresser. As slow as she could manage, she pulled herself to sit on her knees. Alessie set just the tips of her fingers against the dresser. Moved forward to rest her chin against the top, too. There was no movement. No noise. Nothing to give a sign that her flowers were in the house inside. She squinted to try and see through the walls to them.

Just as a whine started to bubble up in her chest, the door to the little house opened. Ash walked out without a shirt, pants hanging off their hips. The whine immediately swapped to a purr as they walked closer. She frowned when they stopped before touching her. The purr in her chest died down to where she barely felt it.

“You’re louder when you crawl,” Ash said. Alessia pulled her chin off the dresser and lowered her head until her eyes were all that was visible. “You were supposed to be home hours ago. We were worried. You saw the messages. Felix told us when you left.”

“Sorry,” she whispered. Ash stepped a bit closer. Their smell was intoxicating. She was desperate to taste them. They spread their arms wide.

Alessia quite literally jumped at the chance to get close. She slammed her lips right into their stomach. A hand behind them to hold them close. A purr erupted from her chest, she opened her lips slightly to get a taste of the earthy flowers. They chuckled, but leaned into her.

“Ash, I thought we were going to wait until tomorrow to talk to her,” Delphia’s voice was angry. Alessia whined again. It made the purr feel weird in her chest. “First she goes out to a bar when she promised to spend the night with us. Then she gets lost while drunk and Rhys has to go out to find her.”

“Sorry.” Alessia’s eyes started to fill with tears. Delphia walked forward and placed her hands on Alessia’s lips.

“Did you get hurt?”

A head shake. A tiny hand slapped her. She whined again. A tiny kiss pressed on Alessia’s lips had the purr burst out of her twice as loud as before. She brought a hand up behind Delphia and pressed a kiss on the cloth covering the tiny woman’s stomach. The dark blue satin nightgown didn’t hide the floral taste.

“You’re more drunk than I thought,” Ash chuckled.

“What kept you so long?” Delphia’s voice was soft, but Alessia dropped down at the words. She left the two humans standing high above her as she settled on her back.

“I don’t wanna tell you,” she whined.

Alessia jumped as a small weight landed on her stomach. Sometimes she forgot the two humans she fell for were reckless. As reckless as she was. Another weight joined the first and that only made her whine. They needed to stay up high where she couldn’t hurt them. Tears fell from her eyes as the image of the car popped into her head. It didn’t matter what Rhys said. She still thought it was a human car.

“Alessia, you can tell us. We were worried,” Delphia said. The little woman lost the fierce attitude when it came to Alessia, but it didn’t make anything easier. Alessia whined again, it was immediately replaced by purrs when one of the humans on her stomach moved.

She pushed herself up to see Ash walking on her. They stopped once she met their eyes and fell to their knees. A moment passed before they leaned down and kissed her stomach, just as she had them. It made her blush, but made it even harder to say what happened. Delphia did the same thing Ash did which set Alessia off. She couldn’t hide the truth from them.

“I-I st-stepped-” she sobbed, the words were a fight to get out “I stepped on a- on a car. R-Rhys says it w-was a toy, but it could be a human’s and then-then I broke someone’s car!”

“Alessia,” Both humans said her name, but she was set off again completely. She sat up as straight as she could without sending the humans tumbling to the floor and used a hand to rub her eye.

“I-I tried to fix it, but everything made it worse. Humans could be stranded and it’s all my fault. A-and now you two know and I-I might scare you and-and-and I’m a monster like everyone outside the Kamias! Like all the humans tonight said!”

Alessia gave up trying to see them. She fell onto her back and almost hoped the two would climb off her. Climb back to the house and leave her all alone. Instead she felt one of the two walking up towards her head, the other walking towards her legs. She was confused, but didn’t want to risk hurting them. It would be better if she didn’t move.

Whichever one of them had gone toward her legs reached the end of her shirt. She only knew because they lifted up the cloth. She gasped when cold tiny hands touched her skin. It was almost enough to make her sit up. Almost.

“Was there anyone in the car? Or things that could be a human’s?” Delphia’s voice came from Alessia’s chest.

“N-no, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a human’s car,” she whispered. 

It was the first time in a long time she was worried about being too loud. The cold hands of Ash made her jump again when they pressed against the skin of her stomach. Another purr ripped from her chest when the smallest spot of cold hit her skin. Another kiss. Another sign of love, acceptance. Of trust.

“I did hear Rhys say he was going to go clean up what happened, Ryder was on his head,” Delphia walked as she spoke now. Getting closer and closer. Alessia tried her best not to give in to her desire to hold the little woman. To pull Ash from her shirt and hold them close where she could kiss them, smell them, anything her mind came up with.

“But-” Alessia stopped when another pinprick of cold hit her skin. She couldn’t understand just how Ash was that cold.

“So if there was a human, they’ll have a chance to get help. I doubt they saw a crying giant, likely mumbling to herself about how she broke a car and ruined some poor human’s life as a threat. Ryder will convince them, Rhys would smell them and catch them. Plus,” Alessia held her breath when she felt Delphia’s weight leave her chest. Relief made her purr louder when it reappeared on her cheek. Tiny hands wiped at the tears Alessia had been shedding, “You would have smelled a human. Knowing you, that would have made you grab them in fear they’d get hurt, especially with how much you had to drink tonight.”

They sat in silence for a bit. Alessia let what Delphia said settle in her mind. It made sense, sort of, but didn’t change anything. She could step on a car. Break it. Ruin something important for a human’s daily life. She was dangerous. A risk to the two currently on top of her. Especially the one she now felt making their way up to her chest.

She didn’t dare speak while Delphia was on her cheek. While Ash climbed to reach her face. Too many risks. Too much danger. It didn’t help that she couldn’t stop purring from Delphia’s scent and Ash’s movements. The two were a perfect combo to make her relaxed and happy. Something she didn’t deserve at the moment. The combo nearly beat her when Ash reached her collarbone and paused to plant a few more kisses. Each one making her purr grow just a little louder.

Finally Ash cleared her shirt. She was both sad and relieved to have it happen, it was safer they were out. They didn’t move from right by her neck. She waited a painfully long time. It was clear after a few seconds that they weren’t moving though.

“We trust you,” Ash said. Their words broke the little control she’d managed. She reached up quickly to grab Delphia and Ash, one in each hand. Then rolled onto her side to stare at them both. Ash smirked at her. It reminded her of Rhys’s when he broke through some bad lie she’d come up with. Ash spent too much time with him. “You’re no monster. We wouldn’t love you if you were.”

Alessia leaned into her hands. She pressed her lips against the stomachs of the two humans as best she could. Both started laughing as soon as she touched them. They’d said before that her purrs made her whole body shake. Made her lips tickle them. She kind of liked that. She kissed them again and again until finally the alcohol and tears caught up with her. She fell asleep holding them both, smelling the most wonderful flowers in the world, hearing the sweetest mixture of laughs.

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The next morning Alessia woke up on the floor with an awful headache. Two humans comfortably asleep in her hands and a little in her mouth from how she held them. She managed to push herself up while the two stayed asleep. Slow, slightly painful steps brought her to her bed where she got comfortable. Of course she did pull Delphia and Ash right against her lips again. The trust felt nice.

Her mind was clearer too. It was obviously a toy she stepped on thinking back. No motor, no glass, and like Rhys said it wasn’t metal. Crying over what she thought was a human car could have put her in a bad position with other families too. She couldn’t bring herself to care though. Not when the two most important people in the world to her cared enough to reassure her. To promise that even if it was a real car they wouldn’t abandon her.

#aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa #so cute #hehehehe #g/t writing #g/t #Allessia is literally me #a sad drunk 💀 #also Ash #OMG #they’re soooo cute #I love them #and the ✨sibling relationship✨ #ugh love it #I’m such as sucker for the mafia AU #I love love your ocs #muak #<33

[fun-littlescribbles]

Restoration (Chapter 3)

I have no idea how I keep making the chapters even longer. I just somehow do. But, enjoy!

Word Count: 4,600

CW: Fear, mentions of death, panic attacks, reference to someone as an “it”, overthinking, slight trigger warnings

3-Nathan 

When my mom finally came home from work yesterday, I was expecting her to get her plate of dinner and sit down on the couch putting on The Golden Girls like she usually does. What I wasn’t expecting was that she’d be getting a call from my teacher Mrs. Kay. The worst part about it was that they acted like they were such friends. Joking around and laughing. Had they even met each other? Most likely if my mom had kept it a secret that Mrs. Kay actually knew what happened to us in the past. Was mom the one who put me in that horrid class? No, she wouldn’t do anything against my will. Not unless she knew I would be ready for it. 

They had talked on the phone for what seemed like hours. I was guessing Mrs. Kay was asking questions about me since my mom had mentioned me multiple times in their conversation, but I was raised not to ever eavesdrop. As I would be punished accordingly. But I wasn’t in that hell hole anymore. And I guess my fear was still pretty bad if I still thought I would be tortured for listening in on a conversation. What made anyone think I could even go to school with giants? 

When I had woken up the next morning, it was to the sweet smell of my moms famous pancakes. The one dad always loved before we were kidnapped. I cringed at the thought, but forced myself out of bed and ready for the day, putting on a light purple shirt with a button up, blue sweater my mom bought me last month, and black jeans. I never wear anything that shows my arms. For good reason too. 

I rushed down to the kitchen, where my mom had already place my plate on the very right edge of the kitchen island, giving a happy smile to me, “Morning, Sweetie.” 

“What the occasion mom?” I laughed, taking my seat and staring down the pancake on my plate. She had always made them the best. Incomparable to even IHop’s pancakes. 

“Oh well, I’m sure you can guess why. Last night I was told you were doing a little project with someone. As far as I knew you hadn’t made any friends, so I was getting worried, but now I know you were just embarrassed to tell me.” She giggled. What? Was she talking about Ryker. Oh no. No. Nononono. Not in a million years would I ever trust a giant ever again. Not after what they put my mom and I through. 

“N-No! We’re not f-f-friends.” I stuttered, suddenly feeling bad for saying it out loud. Why? I was only speaking the truth. But that didn’t leave a very satisfying taste in my mouth once the words rolled of my tongue. 

“Nate, your teacher told me some interesting things about that boy. Ryder was it? He really does sound like a nice guy. Maybe give him a chance? I know it’s hard for you honey.” She hugged me, her grip loose and weak, and planted a kiss on my forehead, giving a sad smile before digging into her breakfast. Now even my mom was saying that he was really nice. How was I supposed to believe that? For all I know all of those acts could have been acting. The little incident at lunch, him trying to talk to me, what if he was just trying to gain my trust to eventually backstab me? Just the thought was making my hands sake as I reached for my fork. I’d only have to hope that today doesn’t go wrong. 

Mrs. Kay had told Ryker and I before we left to meet in her room, or more specifically the little office that was in her classroom. It was right by the many newsletters and papers that hung on to the wall presenting various fights and political issues in the city. I try not to pay attention, but we all knew that there was a growing number of riots all around from bother giants and humans. 

I headed into her room, seeing that her room was crowded with what seemed like hundred of other students trying to find their partner. I was almost stepped on a few times had I not been practically running to get to the mini office in the back of the classroom. I guess that was just pure luck. Now I just have to hope that that luck pays off in here. 

Inside, there was a teacher desk where currently my teacher was sitting at, looking at something on her computer. I turned my gaze somewhere else, seeing that there were two student desks, both with the same elevators for a human to get on top of one. Ryker was sitting at the one on the far right. There were piles of paper on the floor that looked like it needed to be read through and put in order and graded, and some magazines with a picture of one of the people from the riots on the front cover. 

A quick glance back to the crowded room, and I was now face first with the elevator I was guessing I was supposed to take. Mrs. Kay nor Ryker even knew I was here, so if I wanted to back out and hide in the bathroom, now would be the time. Let’s see, if I did decide to hide in restrooms, someone is bound to find me and take me to the principal, but at least I wouldn’t be taken around everywhere like some pet, but my mom would hear about it and she would be mad at me. If I didn’t hide, Ryker would most likely try to keep talking to me and eventually forget I was even there. Maybe. If he doesn’t forget I’m there, he might want to mess around with my like I’m some kind of toy or plaything. 

Both options were equally as bad. A tough decision to make, but I don’t exactly want my mother to have gone through all of this trouble for me to have a “normal” life, just for me to quit not even a quarter of the way through. That was cruel. But on the other hand, it would be even more cruel to be subdued to that same torture for who knows how long again. Forget it. Everyone’s going through all of this just for me, so I’ll make sure it’s not in vain. Maybe. If I can get through this. 

I walked into the elevator, hand hovering over the same dreadful button I see everyday. I suck in a deep breath, pressing the buttons before changing my mind, and instantly regretting every single one of my choices. Wouldn’t I just be bothering these people? Ryker wouldn’t be bothered by me? As far as I know he’s already frustrated with me not even talking to him, and now I have to stick with him the entire school day in order for me to make it out alive. Maybe even literally. 

Unconsciously, I pressed my back up against the back elevator wall, sliding down and holding my head between my knees. Everything felt dizzy, and it wasn’t because of my fear of heights. Was I having a panic attack? No, I would be breathing harder and I wouldn’t be able to think. It was just a little breakdown. In front of my teacher and potential kidnapper. Great introduction for the first day, Nathan. I hissed in my head, trying to stand back up, using the railing to hold myself up on shaky legs. There were a pair of eyes on me, and oddly enough it didn’t feel like a stab right to my back. No time to think about that when I was struggling to just keep my balance. 

After struggling to regain my balance, I looked out where the elevator gate was open, revealing a huge black box I’m pretty sure was Ryker’s phone, his hand grabbing it and stuffing it in his pocket. I let out a quiet squeak as his hand moved fast, making me instinctively move back, and once again my back was pressed up against the wall. I made the wrong decision. 

My heart was beating fast, and my thoughts were all jumbled up. Any chance of thinking clearly was gone, and now I was trapped inside the elevator unless they wanted to force me out. How can I become friends with someone who was much, much bigger than I was? Would he even want to? Or was he like those sadistic jerks that just want to mess around and act like we were just toys? 

There were muffled voices outside, but I wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying, more worried about how I would get out of here. I had calmed down enough to somewhat get thoughts through. If I make a run for it they could easily stop me. If I don't’ run they’ll force me out and punish me for not listening. Wait no- It’s a school why would they hurt a student? Were they even allowed to? Oh wait that’s off topic- 

“Hey, um, Nathan? Are you okay?” It was Ryker’s voice. Just as soft as I remember. Too bad I was not in any condition to answer. I most definitely was not okay. Not in the least, and yet I still somehow found myself in this situation. If anything, him knowing I was there only made my heart race faster and my trembling even more severe. 

The room stayed silent for a while as I calmed myself down. The first bell rang, signaling that there were five minutes until first period started, and I immediacy felt regret. I was going to make him late because I couldn’t even make it past this stupid elevator. Great. Even more guilt. But even more of a reason for me to get out. I was calmed down enough, and surprisingly I didn’t have a complete panic attack. Now the only thing I have to get past was how he would be carrying me. 

Taking one step at a time, I made my way to right in front of Ryker, occasionally tripping over my own feet and catching my balance at the last second, but I made it. I never lifted up my head, scared that I would lose any and all confidence that remained in me if we hade made eye contact. Especially when I had the feeling he would know that I was really, really terrified for my life. 

“Ryker? You can handle the rest?” I hear Mrs. Kays ecstatic voice, typing away at her computer. I jumped seeing him move his hand slightly towards me, shutting my eyes tightly and expecting for him to grab me like I used to be, or even dangled in the slightest, but it never came. To my complete and utter shock, he laid his hand palm up on the very edge of the desk, waiting for me to approach. I gulped. I had never done this before. 

I had always been grabbed or dangled around, never given the option of being held. It was either in a tight fist that usually resulted in a few broken ribs, or casually being used as a toy for kids. I shuddered at the memory. 

Still, this was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting this, and now I felt insecure about how to get on. Do I just jump? Walk? Run? I mean the guy from yesterday had just dragged me on, so this is technically my first time. He just jumped right on. Could I do the same? But Ryker knows Lucky. He doesn’t know me. Maybe only people who Ryker knows are allowed to do that. 

Curse my overthinking. 

I waited for Ryker to get impatient with me, but it never happened. His hand stayed still, never once reaching for me in anticipation. Maybe a minute had gone by. Th longest minute of my life, but that’s when he eventually gave a sympathetic look towards me, “Have you done this before?” Not willingly, no. 

I shook my head almost immediately with no hesitation, feeling terrible for making him wait this long. I dug my head in my hands, feeling all the extra wight of guilt on my shoulders. I’m ruining everything. 

“No it’s… it’s fine. Just whatever makes you comfortable.” He told me, a hint of sadness in his tone. What would he sad about?

I took shaky steps to the edge, seeing how I should do this and eventually just walking on. I mean, it worked out, but I fell face first into the fleshy surface. Somehow this wasn’t the first time that I’ve face planted into Ryker’s palm. He let out a chuckle, “You okay?” 

How do I even begin to answer? Words were not enough to express the amount of fear that was building up inside me. Not even enough to describe red my face turned from embarrassment. This was the worst feeling ever, but I still managed a weak nod before settling in the center of his hand, trying to stay away from all possible ways to fall down to my imminent death. Not something I would like to enjoy. 

He slowly stood up, grabbed his backpack and headed down the hall to his next class that really wasn’t even that far from this one. At least it wasn’t far for him. 

There were tons of students in this class, making me feel insecure and tiny. I wasn’t used to being around this many giants. Especially ones that seemed to notice me and give out looks. But they weren’t directed to me. All directed to Ryker, who just sighed and headed to his seat like he didn’t have a care in the world how others looked at him like he was some wild animal. How does he do that? 

I was expecting him to just throw me onto the desk, but he let his palm down, letting me get off safely without spraining an ankle or getting the wind knocked out of me. I would have thanked him had I not been terrified. I stood awkwardly on his desk, my thoughts a jumbled up mess. What do I do? I mean of course I have my own work to do on the computers we were given, but I was talking about what do I do now that I was on the desk. 

Ryker was pulling out a journal and a book from his backpack and placed them near me, but not so close that I jumped in fear of him dropping that onto me. He glanced in my direction, flashed a smile and dug out whatever else he needed for this class. I looked down, noticing that I was pretty much smack in the middle of his desk. I was in his way. 

Before my knees gave out on me, I hurried to the edge of the desk, and forced myself not to look down at the impossible height I was at. I felt stares, but most weren’t directed at me. I groaned to myself, hating the fact that I was being watched. They were just curious, but I’d rather not have to worry about someone constantly having me under their eye. It didn’t feel right. 

The final bell rang, and that’s when class had started. 

I didn’t even realize how shaky I was until Ryker lightly tapped on the desk in front of me, making me flinch and avert my attention to him. He flashed a sad smile, giving a thumb up as if asking if I was okay. I most definitely was not, but I forced myself to give a shaky nod and pulled out my computer. 

Every so often I would jump or react when he had moved to grab something near me or was just flipping a page. I was doing a pretty good job since I haven’t ran off yet. Not that I could without having twenty pairs of eyes on me. Otherwise, everything was going great. 

In all honesty, it really wasn’t too bad if I just did the same things over and over again. Ryker took me to his classes, I had somehow never failed to fall face first the second I took a step onto his palm, resulting in him asking if I was okay. During his classes, I moved out of his way before he ended up getting annoyed with me, which I was expecting but never came. Odd. But there was no way I was going to test his patience. It could all go downhill from there. 

For lunch, I just sat with at the table Ryker usually sits at, trying to make it easier on him. Both of us never ate lunch apparently. He sat on his phone, while I just finished up some notes from my physics class. He didn’t try to make a conversation with me, only the occasional yes or no questions. If I was okay. Did I want to move. Those sorts of things. 

What didn’t sit right with me was how he flashed me sad looks every time I moved away from him or when I jumped. It’s like he felt bad for making me feel scared. Why? It was so weird to see how he cared so much about how I felt when I cared so much about how he felt towards me. Wasn’t he annoyed with having to take care of me? I would be if I had to constantly carry about something that didn’t even look grateful for the help. 

The rest of the day was easy. He had his seventh period off, taking us to the library along with four other people who were currently playing Uno. He let me on the ground where there was an entrance to the human side of the library, telling me that I was probably tired of being around him all day and I could have some time alone if I wanted to. 

So now here I was in a quiet library where two teachers were talking about something and I just sat here trying to stay calm. Only forty more minutes and I was free. Eight more school days and I wouldn’t have to do this ever again hopefully. Good. I could barely keep up with one day, let alone the rest of the school year? Nope. I do not want that on my to-do list. 

It was three minutes before the bell rang, and I decided not to keep Ryker waiting like this morning. It was rude, and I really didn’t want him to be late because I couldn’t even get on his hand without going under a breakdown. I’m just lucky he hasn’t even mentioned anything about this morning. 

I walked back into the library, seeing that the people who were playing Uno already left for class while Ryker was sitting down on the couch reading that same book he took out this morning. He didn’t seem bothered at all. Well, that might change after carrying me around for two weeks. 

I looked around, trying to find a way to get on the table or really anything to stand up on for him to see me, but there was nothing. There were no elevators in this library. Heck. What do I do now though? The bell’s going to ring soon and Ryker doesn’t even realize. Of course everything has to go downhill right when it’s almost the end of the day. Life hates me. 

  Yelling was under no circumstance an option. Getting closer to him wasn’t either. I’d just have to hope he realizes soon enough. And luckily, he closes his book and looks towards the door that leads to the human side and sees me. Good. I was not about to yell for him to notice me. Not at all. 

He shoved the book in his backpack before standing up and walking slowly towards me, but I couldn’t stop the quiet squeak that escaped my mouth. He was tall. Really, really tall. Even for a giant. How did I not realize this sooner? My breath hitched in my throat as I looked down to the ground. Seeing him sitting at a desk was one thing, but him standing up to his full height while I was on the ground? Not something I wanted to see. 

He must have caught on because he crouched down, holding a hand out. Either that or he just wanted to get going. I hurried on, hoping he wouldn’t catch that I was trembling extremely violently. 

“Sorry. Were you waiting long?” He asked me. I bit the side of my cheek, shaking my head. I lied. 

As soon as the last class of the day started, Mrs. Kay walked in looking cheery as always, “How’d everyone’s day go?” She had asked, earning a few answers from students. Apparently they all had a great time. It’s because they were already friends and used to this. 

“I’m glad you all enjoyed it. Today is a free day, so finish up whatever work you have in other classes or talk with your partner. Get to know one another.” 

The whole room was bustling with bright conversation while I still couldn’t even say one word to Ryker. A part of me really wanted to. I mean, I was being rude by not actually giving any effort at all to talk, but at the same time I feel like I would just be more annoying to him. 

Mrs. Kay came over to us, smiling and keeping her posture as she checked on students as she came down the isle. I winced, already knowing what might happen. She’s going to tell us to talk. Ryker has only asked me simple questions today, and I always either nodded my head or shook it. Meaning I haven’t spoken a single word to him for the week and half. Honestly, I was kind of jealous that others could laugh and joke around with their partners while I couldn’t so much as open my mouth to speak. Some great partner, huh?  

“How did today go you two?” 

I didn’t bother looking, too embarrassed to answer. Ryker was about to complain to her about everything that was wrong with me and there was nothing I could do about it. Because he isn’t wrong, even if I don’t know what he’ll say. I was weak, pathetic, scared, my bones were even more breakable than a normal humans because of how many times they’ve been broken in the past, I was a lot shorter than the average human, I wasn’t strong. You’re broken. That last thought hangs in the back of my mind and leaves a sour taste on my tongue. 

Who knew, maybe he would get an actual partner that could keep a conversation with him. Or to entertain him long enough. Just get me out of here already so I can- 

“It was good.” Was all Ryker answered with, and I could somehow hear the smile on his face. 

I didn’t know if this was some kind of trick or not, but if it is, then it’s awful. He has to be lying. There has to be something he can say other than “it’s good.” Seriously. I’m pretty sure Ryker grew tired of my at some point in time. 

“And how about you Nathan?” The question directed to me. 

What do I answer? “I didn’t die?” Or “All my limbs are intact.” Or my body answers for me instead, nodding shakily as I eye the elevator door. Maybe I could get out of here? No one would notice, and as long as Ryker wasn’t looking I could just slip away… No. There’s only about twenty minutes left of class. I can hopefully survive until then. 

“Have you two talked at all?” Mrs. Kay asked, a hint of anxiousness in her tone. It’s because she knows from my mom. That’s what my mom was talking to her about. How I reacted to being around giants. Great. Because I needed more people trying to figure out what was wrong with me. 

I didn’t bother knowing if Ryker nodded or shook his head. I hated my overthinking. So, so much. All terrible possible outcomes, and that’s all I can think about. That I’ll never live the life I used to live ever again. That no one will figure out whatever was wrong with me. That I’ll never be able to trust a person again. I miss the days when dad would just lie down with me on the cold, metal floor of our cage and keep telling me everything was alright when nothing was. 

Wait. 

Why was I talking about that? 

I wish my overthinking would just go away. 

“Hmm. Alright. I said these next two weeks would be fun, and I have the best idea for that.” She giggled, but I could hint that little bit of worry hidden in her words. This wasn’t going to end well for me. 

She walks up to the front of the room, “I really wasn’t planning on everyone getting along so well right away, but this is apparently a faster class, so, here’s a little fun I’ve thought of!” She started off, “I want you to go to to each other’s houses. Or, more specifically your bigger partner.” She joked, and a couple laughed along. 

But this wasn’t funny to me. Apparently not to Ryker either. We both stared wide-eyed at our teacher, probably both wondering the same thing. Why did she do this?

There really was no way out of this. I thought I would pass by these next eight days with just having to deal with school, but now I have to go to his house? What would his parents think of me? I’m literally bothering him afterschool and that’s probably his time to destress and not be bothered by anyone, which was the complete opposite of what I’d be doing. 

“Now, it can be anytime between now and next Friday. You are not required to stay over for the night, but I would like either one of your parents to sign off, proving that it happened. If there are any problems, please take it up with me after class.” 

She smiled, and sat down at her desk, probably making the slips we were now supposed to get signed by either one of our parents. But, as I looked back to Ryker, he didn’t look angry, but he didn’t look happy either. His hands were clenched into fists, he was biting the inside of his cheek, and I did not like how close his hands were to me. 

Soon enough, the class was filled with excited conversation again. I somehow worked up the courage to turn around, and Ryker was staring out the window, and then his eyes met mine, making me jump. Great turn of events. I wasn’t expecting that. 

“How do you feel about being in a house with five other people?” He awkwardly asked, worry encasing every word he said. I quickly shook my head. No. Five people? So him… his parents… does that mean he has two other siblings? Oh heck. No. No this cannot be happening. I can’t even handle one person let alone five? 

Ryker gave a sad smile, “Sorry litt-… Nathan. I’ll just tell her afterschool that you don’t feel comfortable with this. I’m not going to force you.” 

I had no idea what he was going to call me before, but I didn’t care. I was more shocked at how he willingly offered to tell Mrs. Kay for me that I couldn’t do this. Why?

Maybe he wasn’t that bad after all. 

—————————————

Wow. That’s long. But thank you for reading! I hope you’re all enjoying reading this just as much as I am writing it! I promise the next chapter will really explain a lot. For now, enjoy this last-minute drawing I did of Nathan.

#I’ve been loving this story SO MUCH #my heart hurts #I just want to hug Nathan #g/t writing #g/t #g/t community

[fun-littlescribbles]

G/t WAC Day 21

Add a Chapter to one of your older fics

Better late than never! This took a while to edit but I'm happy with the result. Juhren and Sunflower are my oldest g/t ocs, I've written their first meeting a thousand times before, but lost most of the writing when my old phone broke. This time, I've reimagined their scene, so I'm excited to show y'all how these two had a really rocky start. Hope you enjoy!

Warning for mild descriptions of violence and death.

..............................

Run.

Run.

Run.

A branch caught on her hair and she fell backwards. Her head throbbed from pain. She scrambled up. Dirt caked her back. 

Run.

Run.

Just keep running.

Don't look back.

Twigs and leaves snagged on her skirt and ripped holes in it. Heavy thuds echoed in the distance, in the burning village she left behind. The remains of a roar were carried by the wind as she ran faster, out of breath.

"They're here. Sunflower, they're after you." Alba had said.

"Just run and don't look back."

She passed through trees, stumbled on roots, twisting her ankle as she cried out in pain. But she continued. 

Get away. As far away from them.

Run. Run. Run.

Run.

....

She heaved, slumping down by the base of a tree. Her heart thumped inside her, pounding so hard she thought it'd break through her chest. Sweat and dirt covered her and blood dripped from her head, golden blonde hair disheveled and full of leaves and sticks.

Her shallow breathing slowed down, the forest sounds became measly chirps of birds in the distance.

The feeling inside her started small at first, like a knot in her throat, an invisible lump forcing her to cough. The coughs got louder and harsher, throat burning from the motions. She spat on the dirt.

Then a tear fell. One. Two. They fell in successions as she hiccupped and leaned over the earth. She held down her whimpers. She can't be heard. She can't be seen. Yet the sobs still came out from her trembling lips. Sunflower clutched the dirt and curled up on the ground, letting out a constrained wailing.

The houses crumbling apart. She saw it. She saw someone's terrified face before being crushed underfoot. Blood splattered everywhere. The screams, so many screams suddenly cut off as teeth closed in on them, splitting them in half. She looked up, the stone walls of houses already collapsed. She looked around, and bodies scattered across the cracked pavement, limbs distorted as bones protruded from the lifeless corpses. The beasts screamed and laughed, kicking and stomping over everything they could find.

Then the guards from the capital came, and one flew past her, and he looked at her with those haunting, glowing eyes, widening in realization.

It could see her lack of kiira. It could see what she was.

"A human! There's a human in here!"

The flying cavalry would not get to her yet, as they were busy containing the rampage, Sunflower knew that. But it's already too late, too dangerous, and there's no safe home to turn to anymore. Alba clutched her hand tight and sneaked her out of the burning orphanage, giving her a bag of supplies as if she had prepared for this years ago.

"Run, Sunflower. Run. Follow the map I gave you, and run."

Sunflower didn't have time to hug her. Didn’t have time to say goodbye to the director and the kids. She didn't even know if they're alive.

All she knew was to run, and go to the point marked on the map.

Sunflower dried her tears and got up on shaky knees, hissing when her weight leaned on the sprained ankle. Stumbling forward, she breathed heavily from the strain, clutching her bag tight.

No matter what. She had to run. And seek help from someone she did not know. "She" would know how to help her, Alba had said. "She" would keep her safe.

So Sunflower pushed forward, even while her vision got blurry, and even when she didn't notice her body falling limply to the ground, as her vision turned black.

....

"Juhren, look!"

Sunflower came running to the clearing of the forest. Their clearing. Juhren wondered what would they do today when he saw her coming excitedly towards him, golden hair flowing in the wind. Would they climb a tree again? Would they play hide and seek? Or would Sun like to hear one more of his stories from the outside world?

He smiled when she stopped in front of him, her tiny frame two heads shorter. Her green eyes shone from glee, and her hands were folded behind her back as if she was hiding something.

"What's this?" - Juhren leaned his head to the side, smirking when he saw what she was hiding. - "You know you're bad at surprises, right?"

Sunflower backed away and pouted. - "Not fair! You're no fun!" 

Her pout disappeared as quickly as it came when she brought her hand forward.

"I just wanted to gift you something since it's your birthday today!"

She motioned for him to come closer, and Juhren leaned over in front of her, round eyes looking curiously.

And with a jump, she put the flower crown over his head.

"These are special flowers that never die! If it wilts, you only need a bit of water and they'll bloom again!"

Juhren took the crown from his head and looked at the tiny blue flowers with wonder.

"Woah..."

Sunflower beamed. "Do you like it?"

He put the flower crown back on his head, glancing down at his best friend, a smile on his face. She knew how much he liked plants. She picked that special type just for him. His heart fluttered with joy.

"I love it! Thank you, Sun."

"Yay!"

Shu hugged Juhren tightly and he giggled as she hung on him like he was a tree. With a mischievous grin, he lifted her from the ground and she yelped as he carried her like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey! Put me down!" Sunflower squirmed and laughed, failing to sound serious.

"It's not my fault that you're so light!"

"It's just you that keeps getting taller!"

....

She woke up with a jolt. 

Sunflower sat up, her head pounding against her skull. She clutched it with her hand, recoiling when dried blood rubbed against it. Is it too serious? She hoped not. The sky was covered by towering sequoias, a few rays of sunshine passing through the dense foliage. Her heart rocked faster inside her.

'I was knocked out for too long.'

She got up, struggling under her buckling knees, and trudged forward with that sharp pain on her ankle. Her head thrummed annoyingly, but she had to keep going. She'd get help from Alba's friend, and then she'd be able to rest. Sunflower walked faster through the forest, stumbling, and flinching from the pain, yet she continued forward. 

'I won't die here. I won't die, I won't die.'

'I won't die.'

She repeated this inside her head, focusing on the leaf-covered path ahead of her, the sound of birds and the rustling of leaves going unnoticed by her ears.

Until heavy thunder resounded around her.

Sunflower turned stone cold, her eyes widened and panic bubbled up inside her chest. She darted her head. Left. Right. Behind her? No. In front of her. The steps were getting louder, faster, closer, multiplying in intensity and – oh god, there’s multiple of them – and coming in her direction like a fleeing herd.

She cried out and ran, the pain in her ankle all but forgotten. Behind a tree? Inside the bushes? – The steps got so intense she struggled to keep on her feet. Sunflower ran aimlessly until – There was a hollow by the base of a tree. She ducked inside it and crawled as far away from the entrance as she could, vision obscured by darkness. She covered her arms and legs with mud and dirt, hoping and praying it was enough to hide her scent. Her gut twisted and turned.

If this didn't work, she would die.

Tears scurried down Sunflower’s face, burning as they traveled on the cuts of her cheeks. She pumped air in and out of her lungs, covering her mouth with a trembling hand, smelling the scent of mold and dirt. Don’t cry. Don’t scream. Don’t make a noise. The thundering got louder and closer, but she wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t move.

Booming steps followed by ugly laughter echoed above. Sunflower muffled a scream, eyes shooting wide open. There were too many. The nordem were all around her. The earth vibrated with each step, and their deafening voices ringed in her ears. She curled up further, hoping the tree bark would engulf her and swallow her whole.

They chatted about raiding a village as if it was a walk to the market. Bile rose in Sunflower's throat, burning rage threatening to consume her. All that carnage, just for fun?! No. She can't get mad now. Just keep still and they wouldn't find her. Just keep still and –

"Hey, do you smell that?"

"Now that you mention it, the air has some scent to it."

Her eyes threatened to pop from her sockets. Shaking hands, reach for the dirt, scrub it over your skin. They can't hear you – Their hearing is too good – They cannot hear you moving. She picked another clump of mud, shaking so much half of it fell, and rubbed it on her other arm. They can't smell you, they can't –

"I've never smelled a scent like this before." – a gruff voice thundered.

Sunflower's hairs turned up to their ends. It was right outside. She could see its boots in front of the opening. Just stay still. They won't find her. They will walk away. Just stay still.

"Must be an animal."

"Or a different type of kiirian." Another nordem sneered.

“I suggest we look for it.”

“First one to find it gets to keep it.”

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. Sunflower gagged as air escaped her lungs. Her head was banging against her skull. They won't find her they won't find her they won't –

"What are you doing here."

The nordem flinched at the sound of a new voice. It sounded younger than the previous ones, yet just as loud as any other giant, with a gruffness to it.

‘Not another one!’ Sunflower scooted away from the hollow’s opening; eyes tightly shut.

"And what do you think we're doing, brat? This is our patrol route!"

"This area has already been covered up." - the younger yet deep voice replied. - "the next patrolling places are supposed to be over there. If you don't wanna miss out on the 'fun', you should head out the other way." – it said matter-of-factly.

A series of growls bellowed above her and she covered her ears with shaky hands.

"Fine! Let's do what the boy says for now."

"Tsk. If there's nothing there..."

"But be careful, kid." – the deepest voice of the group rumbled lowly. – "if what you said is a lie, then you know who's the first person that's gonna hear 'bout it."

Silence.

Sunflower froze. The multiple nordem left, only one remained. The deafening silence stretched between the sequoia trees, and she sucked in the humid air from the hollow. Sunflower cut her whimpers off with a clamped hand over her mouth, holding her breath. Hot tears dampened her hand.

A step. Another one. The earth shook. Don't make a sound. Don't make a sound. Bile rose in her throat. The meticulous, slow steps banged against the floor, making trees creak in protest and the leaves on the ground to rise and fall. The earthquakes got louder. It was coming closer. She thought she would vomit. Her vision blurred, her stomach churned, her head pounded each time the heavy steps collided against the soil and – No. It couldn’t have found her. It couldn’t but –

The truth dawned on her. If the other nordem could smell her, then this one could smell her too.

Her eyebrows raised in horror.

"I know you're here."

Sunflower pressed herself deeper into the the tree, heart hammering against her ribs as if begging to escape. It knew. It knew she was there, and the thought suffocated her inside. Was it taunting her? Sunflower couldn't breathe. The air came scarcely in her hurting lungs and tears dripped on the bruised hand that covered her mouth, mingling with dirt and blood. Closing her eyes, the sickening nausea grew deeper. She'd faint if she kept this up. But she couldn't. She wouldn't. No. Sunflower would not die here. She can't. So she forced herself awake.

Maybe, she still had a chance to survive.

The steps grew closer, each impact seemed to reverberate through Sunflower’s very bones. A relentless drumbeat that echoed in her ears. The ground wielded to the beast, trembling beneath its feet and causing dust to rise and itch inside her nostrils. She quivered so violently she couldn't keep her shaking hand pressed against her mouth.

When the earthquakes stopped, her source of light was covered by shadow. The hollow's entrance. 

It was right in front of it.

"Come out."

A deep and powerful voice rumbled inside her ears and a shiver crawled up her spine. Sunflower moved her neck to the right, turning her head towards the entrance.

Her breath caught in her throat.

An eye. An orange eye with slitted pupils fixated on her with an intensity that froze her in place. It could see her. It could see her entirely. Her heart tried to break free from inside her bones, hands going cold as tears dripped down her face. She didn't try to contain her sobs anymore as they escaped from her throat and wracked her frame.

"I'll ask one more time. Come out."

The reverberating voice boomed with an even tone. No emotion could be seen from its eye. It commanded her with confidence, knowing that she had no other choice.

She had no other choice.

No. There must be a way. Sunflower turned her back to the eye and dug her nails in the tree wall. She gripped her knife with both hands to steady her shaking and hit the wood repeatedly. She could create a path. The hollow was small. The creature couldn't reach her. It won't reach her. The wood groaned as Sunflower made a dent into it, hitting the tree harder and harder with desperate grunts. She can get out. He won't reach her. She won't die. She can't die.

A deep sigh sounded outside. A gust of wind blew on her back. She shivered, but continued. Just keep going. Trembling hands wielded the knife, creating a fist-sized hole in the tree bark.

Something small fell to the ground next to her with a tap. She flinched. Turning to her right, she saw it: a white seed, as small as a pine, sank under the earth.

'What is that?'

Thorns sprouted from the dirt and shoved Sunflower away from the tree wall. She yelped and scrambled up, but another branch emerged from a seed and pushed her away. Screaming, she crawled back towards the spot, digging her boots and her hands between the plants, but they formed a wall in front of her that pushed and pulled until she fell, sending her to the entrance. Towards the nordem.

The roots forced Sunflower to face it, watching that unexpressive orange eye grow as she came closer. She writhed and struggled in vain, the vines pushing her with a force that no common plant could, thorns cutting her arms and back and dragging her forward, even as she dug her boot in the earth and pushed back against it with all her strength. The eye got bigger and bigger as she approached it, slitted pupils shrinking as it focused on her. She shook her head from side to side.

"No! No!! PLEASE!! –"

The eye was gone. A calloused palm appeared in her field of vision. No matter how much she struggled, the vines wouldn't bulge. She was dumped on the awaiting hand as it curled around her waist, trapping her in a loose fist. Her stomach plummeted as she was raised in the air, wind blowing inside her ears. Even if she was trapped, even if her heart wanted to leap out of her, Sunflower fought, feet dangling underneath her. Her arms were free and she clawed and punched the hard skin, yet no matter how much force she used, not a single scratch was made on it.

The motion stopped and she encountered its face, seeing the pair of eyes that stared at her without an ounce of emotion. She shivered under the nordem's grip, sobbing, pounding her fists against its hand.

"No! I beg you! Don't kill me!!"

The nordem opened its mouth to speak, but choked on its unspoken words. The forest got silent as Sunflower wavered up and down. The stillness and the shaking of its hand made her open her tear-stricken eyes, looking up.

The giant stared at her with widened eyes, its irises darting left and right. Color drained from its massive face as he looked at her like she's a ghost.

The contrast of its expression made her catch details of its features, a sickening nausea growing in her insides.

The orange eyes. The tanned skin. The short, spiky auburn hair.

Her body froze solid, her eyebrows shot up, dread and recognition flashing through her eyes.

No. No. Anyone but him – !

The nordem's lips trembled as it opened his mouth, exhaling over her. Sharp teeth appeared as it spoke, and the pang in her chest stung harder.

"...Sun...?" It whispered; doubt laced its deep, booming voice.

"Juhren..." - she quavered back his name.

...

Time was running out. His chest got heavy as each breath seemed harder and harder to take. His change would be today. He's sure. He knew that his eleventh birthday would be the last he'd celebrate with his friend.

He'd never see Sunflower again.

He stopped by the clearing where they always met. She wasn't there yet. Juhren tightened his grip around the flower crown necklace, its delicate petals protected by a square glass casing. Would he even be able to use it anymore? Would he even be able to see his friend's gift? He kneeled and steadied his heaving breaths, heart beating faster and faster as minutes tickled by and as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Everything hurt. From his bones to his muscles, even the simple movement of breathing made him clutch his eyes shut in pain. If he let himself unchecked, he'll grow. Just keep himself together, until he can see Sun. Until he can say goodbye to her.

Why was she taking so long?

Just when the thought of leaving crossed Juhren's mind, he saw Sunflower walking towards him. Hugging a book with a tight grip. Her face somber and serious.

"Sun? What happened?" - he said in a trembling, gentle tone, hoping it'd hide the pain he felt deep inside his bones.

She threw the heavy book on the ground in front of him and opened it with a forceful motion. Her eyes were glinting with anger. For someone so small, she looked terrifying. Dread sank deeper in him.

What was going on?

"Look at it." - she pointed at the page.

The book showed the nordem.

His heart sank and his mouth went dry. The pain under his joints screamed louder as if reacting to the information.

She found out.

Sunflower found out what he is.

"Why did you hide it from me?!" She shouted at him, cowering as bitter tears streamed down her face.

"Sun, wait! I-I can explain-"

"NO! I trusted you!!" She cried out.

Sunflower trembled as she shook her head incredulously, tears scurrying down her face. Juhren reached a hand out to her. She was so much shorter than him now. How would she react when...?

As he thought, it's impossible. She'd be terrified. She would never…

Sunflower shouted at him again.

"W-was that your plan? Lure me out so you could kill me?"

"No! I'd never do anything like that!

"Liar!"

Sunflower walked backwards towards the path where she had come from. She sobbed loudly, her face a mix of sadness and anger. Juhren wanted to run after her, to hug her and say he'd never hurt her. Ever.

But she was right. He lied to her.

The pain in his heart grew stronger.

He didn't deserve to see her anymore.

Sunflower's face changed to betrayal. She turned her back to him and ran away, not before saying those two words that would stick into his mind like weeds in fertile soil.

"You're a monster."

...

He uttered her name and went silent, the grip around her loosening slightly. That previously unexpressive face now had guilt charging its monumental features. Sunflower found that ironic. The feelings from those bygone days felt like a distant memory, its wounds all but healed. But now that he was before her, gigantic and menacing like every other beast, she couldn’t help but laugh inside at the absurdity of it all. That pitiful face didn’t match him. Didn’t match the likes of his loathsome kind.

Sunflower looked down and smiled bitterly, her downcast eyes focusing on the flesh all around her.

"It's like I've said that time..." - she mumbled. Her hometown flashed back in her mind, the visage of those animals destroying it with joy in their faces. Sunflower wondered if Juhren was there, grinning alongside them in their bloodthirsty rampage. Her heart grew heavy.

"…Guess you're really a monster after all."

Juhren sucked in a breath and the fear inside Sunflower resurfaced all the way back with a chill down her spine. Oh no. Did she say too much? But just as Sunflower flinched and closed her eyes, a powerful gust of wind blew around her as she was brought down to the ground.

Sunflower scrambled up, backing away from the nordem that stood up and towered over her. Craning her neck up and up and up, Sunflower felt cold as she took in Juhren's massive height. Gosh, he looked unrecognizable, his appearance no different from the beasts she saw. He became just like them. His torso was covered by the leather strap of his shoulder armor, black pants tied by a leather belt, with multiple bottles of seeds attached to it. On his back he carried two axes that were as tall as a house. The only recognizable features, the hair and his eyes, turned obscure as his face stretched out far above her. He became emotionless like before, the stillness making her think he’d step on her in cold blood. 

Just as she was readying herself to run for her life, he spoke in that thunderous voice. Not a trace of the voice she remembered.

Sunflower knew for certain, this nordem had no trace of the friend she once knew.

"You're right. I am."

He watched her eyes widen and her lips tremble while she stepped away, her neck almost breaking from looking so high up. No bigger than his hand now. Indeed, she looked at him just like he expected. Juhren's throat constricted as if a knot tied inside, but he ignored it, even as the pain amplified to an ache in his chest.

"Go."

That powerful command snapped Sunflower out of her shock and she didn't give a second thought before bolting to the opposite direction, even as her ankle throbbed and she stumbled, running as far as her legs could take her.

She was right. She was right from the very beginning. Their friendship was a mistake. She knew it was back in that day. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. Then why, why? Flashes of their childhood, their bright smiles as they played together, all the things they talked about, all the things he showed her – Why? The tears dried as she ran faster. Was all of it a trick? Was all of it fake? Did none of that matter to him? Are the nordem so despicable once they grow that they dismiss any memory they’ve made with those smaller than themselves? She trusted him. She trusted him. That feeling of betrayal resurfaced, the healed remains of that buried wound aching deep inside her chest.

Yet a lingering thought, albeit too small for her conscious mind to notice, slowly but surely stilled its place deep inside her:

Why did he let her go?

Sunflower looked behind her. But when she saw that the large silhouette was nowhere to be found, she turned forward, the drifting thoughts all but gone.

And she ran. Never once looking back.

…

It's been a while since she disappeared in the woods. Her smell vanished from the spot ages ago. Yet, for some reason, he expected to recognize a blur of green and yellow somewhere, as if she had no sense of self-preservation. Only that for her to return to someone like him.

He’s still so naive.

Juhren looked down at his hand, clenching and unclenching it as if a phantom of her was still in his grip. The annoying knot inside his throat didn't want to go away, and that dull ache settled its place in his chest. He sighed, closing his eyes. Opening them again.

And turned around, back to the way he came from.

#OMGGG #Juhren and Sunflower lore?? #aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa #so amazinggggg #I could FEEL Sunflowers fear #agh SO GOOD #angst? #yes please #Juhren like #he’s still so naive #😭 #me cries #meanwhile sunflower just so heartbroken and scared #damm I feel so much for them 🥺 #I need to re read all their stories with this context in mind #🥺🥺❤️

[fun-littlescribbles]

Restoration (Chapter 2)

And here’s the second chapter! I tried drawing something for it, but I am not under any circumstance the best artist. Maybe I can just try something later?

Word Count: 3,750

CW: Slight mentions of suicide, panic attacks, fear, idk if there’s anything else to tag

2-Nathan 

It’s been an entire week of dragging myself all around the school. Trying to ignore the fact that there were giants practically everywhere I had looked. Nothing had ever worked though. No matter how hard I really tried to block out the loud voices that were always looming over me. No matter how much I had tried to stay as far away as possible. It was like those stupid laughs and that terrifying smile kept haunting me. And it doesn’t help that at the very end of the day I’m constantly in arms reach of living through that hell again. 

I guess everything wasn’t all bad though. My mom was happier now since I was finally living a normal life again, but I don’t think I’ll ever live a normal life like she wants me to. You can’t just erase seven years of your life and act like they never happened. You can’t just completely heal scars. 

  Everything was okay though. Nothing bad has happened. Yet. It just seemed all too good. I mean, I had heard some rumors that were being spread about me. That I was mute, or that I was just deaf or something of the sorts. That wasn’t the case, I just find it hard to talk to people. Especially to people who just love making and spreading those stupid rumors. I guess they kind of helped me out though. I’d rather get through this year of high school alone than having to worry about losing friends. Can’t lose what you don’t have. 

———————

Today was a normal day. Just some notes from classes here and there, mixed in with some quizzes. Nothing too much besides the huge pile of homework I have from my English class. I mean, I thought today would be an easy day of avoiding the heavy footsteps and people towering over us. Turns out it really wasn’t that easy. 

After a week of being here, you’d think I’d have everything down. No. The complete opposite really. You annoy the wrong person, then everything goes downhill from there. 

I sat at my usual corner table at lunch, trying to drown at the thundering voices from above and not mind that there were a group of people coming right over to me. Oh what the heck. All this time trying to avoid talking to people and all of a sudden these people want to… spike a conversation with me? It didn’t really look like it since they were all laughing. Or maybe they were just walking over to another friend o father is behind me? 

“You’re… Nathan, right? The kid who sits in the back of my physics class?” The kid with dirty blonde hair asked, flashing a friendly smile and holding out a hand. I looked between the hand and himself. I mean he looks nice, but something wasn’t clicking right. Why would he walk up to me now of all times? 

I shook his hand, retracting almost immediately as soon as he let go. 

“How about you come sit with us instead of sitting here all alone? You seem so lonely.” He had offered, pointing somewhere behind him. I looked for any sign of a trick or some kind of prank, but if this was he was hiding his true intentions pretty good. My eyes darted to the three people behind him, then to one specific person who looked a lot younger and was sneaking up behind the other three and shaking his head towards me. What? What was that supposed to mean? To not trust these people? I mean I don’t entirely believe whatever façade this guy was putting up either. 

I gave a nervous smile and shook my head, “Um… I-I’m okay.” 

The younger boy who was hinting to me that these guys were no good nodded and was starting to leave before the one who I really didn’t trust at all laughed and started pushing me to get up. 

“No really, I insist. You’ll have a blast!” He practically pushed me forward, hands around my shoulders and just guiding me through the place, going to the opposite side of the cafeteria. Also where the giants ate at. I knew something about this couldn’t be good. There was always a catch. 

I tried escaping many times, but he just kept of pushing me up into one of those elevators and almost immediately my nerves shot up. The anxiety was clouding up my mind. My heart was racing, my body was trembling, and what was worse was that my fate might be sealed here. I knew that it was whenever that elevator let out a ding sound. 

Everything in my world seemed to have stopped as so many sets of eyes were set right on me. My knees would have buckled underneath me had I not been practically shoved out of the elevator and right into the middle. Theirs stares felt like stabs through my back. I always felt anxious when people my height looked at me, it only makes sense that it would be worse when I had four other pairs of eyes that were giants on me. Great. Just great. I might as well die here. 

Whatever was being said behind me and above me was all muffled as I just stared blankly down at the table. Or more like a floor for me. I guess it didn’t matter when I heard laughs around me, only making my eyes tear up slightly. Of course something like this had to happen. Everything was going all too good for me. There was no way it would stay like that for forever. It never does. 

Then there was arguing, a slam on the table making me flinch and nearly run away had something not been holding my arm and trying to pull on me. I looked up, my eyes clear of any sign of tears, and seeing that same kid who had warned me about them. Speaking of, what was even going on? I looked back, seeing that one of the giants was covered in what looked like milk and whatever was for lunch and arguing to another person that was kind unclear to me at the moment. The other humans around were arguing along with them while I was being dragged away from it all. 

“Come on! While they’re not looking.” The kid who looked younger than me had ordered me. He still held onto my wrist as I trailed behind him, nearly tripped in some areas and not even questioning where we were going. He told me just to follow him, and I wasn’t going to question it since he seemed to know what he was doing. 

The arguing had stopped, and when that did, we stopped as well. There were multiple eyes trained on the argument that had just concluded, and I finally found out who had apparently started it. The guy from last period. The one I’m forced to sit with. What caught me off guard was how his hand laid down flat, palm up by the edge of the table like he was waiting fro something while his attention was focused on trying to convince the others that it was an accident. What was an accident again? 

I gulped, trying to walk away from his hand, only for the younger kid to drag us on and then, what’s his name again? Ryker? Rykers hand had started moving again, making me nearly vomit. Oh heck. I was doing this again, huh? Led into another trap? I tried looking for a way out, but the only way out was just a huge drop that would kill me. 

“Again, so sorry…” And the hand moved again, making me trip and fall face first into the fleshy surface. So did the kid with me. But he just stuck his tongue out at Ryker, who was currently cupping his hand to make it look like he wasn’t carrying anyone. I guess it worked since he wasn’t stopped by anyone. But that did not stop my body from trembling violently.

“Hey… um, are you good? You look like your having a panic attack.” The younger kid asked, helping me back up, but I just fell right back onto my butt. Panic attack? No. Just everything in my body was trying to make me run, but I couldn’t. If I did, I would just walk right into my death. My nerves and anxiety was all over the place, body trembling violently, and heart beating fast all over again. Yet, this time, I was still aware of everything that was happening all around me. 

It was only a few seconds later when Ryker had stopped moving, and we weren’t in the cafeteria anymore. Just in the hallway right outside. But please tell me I was not about to be kidnapped or something. But, against all odds, the opposite happened. I was slid off of his hands and by the human doors that led the cafeteria. 

I braved looking up, only seeing that same nervous smile as the first day we had met. I stood up, looking for the other kid, finding him crossing his arms and giving a glare to Ryker, who rolled his eyes and sighed, “What’d I do wrong this time?” Unlike the usually loud voices, his was soft. 

“You could’ve at least been a little more gentle while moving.” He stuck his tongue out, earning yet another set of rolled eyes. 

“Sorry,” His attention was diverted to me, giving a confused look then surprised, “It’s Nathan, right?” 

I jumped at the mention of my name. So he recognized me? I was really hoping he didn’t. There was no way I could speak if I couldn’t even move by myself. What do I do? The only door nearby led to the cafeteria, and I still needed to grab my bag. But if I stayed, he’d expect me to answer and actually talk, which was one of the many things I wouldn’t do at the moment. My head felt dizzy again, and my anxiety was building up. 

Ryker gave me a confused face before giving a look to whoever the other younger guy was, who just shrugged his shoulders and walked over towards me. 

“Hey… are you okay? Seriously. We’ll take you to the nurse of you’re not feeling good.” He had offered, and just as soon as Ryker had made a single movement, I dashed out of there, into the cafeteria, and out another door that took me the long way back to my class. 

————————

Why did I react that way during lunch? I had no idea. Why was I dreading the end of the day? Well because I’d have to actually face Ryker again, and I’d have to explain what I was even thinking. I mean, what kind of person doesn’t thank someone for practically saving their life? Me. I don’t. But otherwise, I still wasn’t sure how I’d handle last period. I’m pretty sure he’s going to ask me about it. Even if he’s made no attempt to talk to me at all for the entire week. 

And even being terrified for my life, I still dragged myself into that terrible classroom. Finding that everything was moving in slow motion. I could hear my heart beat, the way people were laughing in the back of the classroom, every tremor in the ground as a giant took a step. And then the desk I had feared all along. The one where Ryker was just sitting down, doing whatever with his journal as always. I never looked back, seeing as he would be annoyed if I did. Now I’m too scared to even take that stupid elevator up. To scared to take even one more step closer. 

The only thing that had me moving again was the sound of the bell that marked one minutes to get to class. I rushed into the elevator, my hand hovering over the button that makes it go up. I could just hide in the bathroom. Most people do that anyways. But what if he’s already seen me? Plus, my mom would be wondering why. She already thinks I’m getting used to it here, and I couldn’t risk seeing her feel so heartbroken after my lies. 

So, I did the only thing I could. Press the button and wait for that dreadful ding that motioned for me to get out. It felt like the longest five seconds of my life. There was nothing I could do though. I couldn’t just give up now when I was already up there. If he didn’t know I was there then, he knows I am now. 

The elevator reached the top, and I could render was the stabbing feeling of having a pair of eyes on me. I always hated having any kind of attention on me. Or maybe that wasn’t the word for it. 

I took a deep breath, hoping nothing could go wrong, and then took my first step, then another, and another, hiding my face as I kept going along, and eventually the stabbing feeling of eyes on me disappeared, letting me hurry to my seat and bury my head in my arms. This is bad. who thought I could do this? What made anyone I was ready to do any of this? What if I was just annoying him? What if- 

The teachers loud voice interrupted my thoughts, “These next two weeks I’d like to have a little fun! I want you and your partner to discuss anything interesting about yourselves, or if you have any special interests. I’ll tell you what to do after ten minutes.” 

My heart quite literally shattered. What. The. Hell. This day couldn’t get any worse. Because as soon as the teacher dismissed us, the classroom was full of squeamish conversations and laughs, while I couldn’t even turn around. I knew Ryker was looking at me too since he was just annoyed with me at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if he would’ve just stood up and left. 

And instead of getting yelled at like I thought I would, he showed me a piece of paper. Brought up all the way up to me, and written, I was guessing as small as he could, small enough to fit on the piece he ripped off. 

‘It is Nathan, right?’ 

I worked up the urge to turn around slightly, seeing a thoughtful smile plastered over his face. Was this acting? He was supposed to be annoyed with me, not being friendly. This was crazy. I looked away before he could see me, digging my head deeper into my arms. Why was I even put into this class? Why couldn’t I have just stayed at the hospital? They could have taught me the same thing just without so much interactions. It’s my last year of high school so I really don’t see the point. 

Seven minutes had gone by without a single word. No other attempt to communicate, nor did he even so much as make any kind of noise. It kind of felt quiet all around me despite the many conversations just barely picking up. I just don’t see myself trusting someone who could very well be just like the others. 

“And how are you two doing?” The teacher cheered, and I couldn’t help myself from picturing her smiling awkwardly as she saw how both us hadn’t even as much spoken one word to each other. 

“I don’t want to force him…” Ryker had mumbled softly, sounding a bit sad. How much I would give to say sorry. At least give him some kind of an apology! He’s the one giving an effort meanwhile you’re making things harder for him. And that spun into even more horrible thoughts. I was really just going to make him fail this class. I would be the cause for him getting yelled at or whatever else happens. He probably just wants me to get this over with so we could eventually never talk again. 

“Hmmm. How about you both see me after class? It’s nothing bad, I promise.” Mrs. Kay had finished, smiling and walking off to the front of the class. My body only started shaking even more violently. I can’t do this. Why. Why did this have to happen to me? There was no reason for all of this. Just leave me the broken way I was. Get Ryker a new partner so he doesn’t have to be annoyed with some broken human. 

Something had touched my back. Oddly soft, but still, I jumped and almost tripped over the desk to stand up and face away from the touch. Ryker’s hand stayed frozen in shock as his eyes had wide dead at my very dramatic reaction. But, now, I was standing up and facing him. Not an ideal situation. 

“Er… sorry.” He had apologized, stuffing his hand back underneath the desk. He gave an unsure look before letting out a sigh, “Should we start over? I’m Ryker.” He didn’t offer a hand thankfully, because I honestly thought if he did I would just run straight off the desk. Honestly that didn’t sound like too bad of an idea. Although, now I think I actually need to reply back to him. I can’t just keep ignoring him for the third time in a row. 

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Of course nothing did. So the next best thing was just to nod to a previous question he had asked nearly ten minutes ago and hope he knows why. 

At first, he gave a confused look. But I guess he had finally realized since he was smiling now, “Sorry about what happened during lunch. Lucky said to help out, and I can’t really say no to him.” He laughed nervously, a hand behind his head and trying to convince my hot-wired mind to even make so much as a gesture towards him. But at least now I knew who to thank for helping me out in that situation. Of course Ryker too but maybe I could just this Lucky guy to thank him for me. 

“Ten minutes is up! Now time for the actual fun,” She was passing out a paper to everyone in the class, and gave a sad smile directed towards me as she gave the paper to Ryker, who stared at it like it would haunt his nightmares. My heart started beating faster in my chest as he read the paper, eyes darting to me from time time. This was a Human and Giants Interactions and current events class. Which meant it had something to do with some kind of interaction. Again, I was the worst person to be placed in this class. 

“As you can see, this is a project for you and your partner. I’ve already made arrangements to twist the humans classes to match up with your partners. This is your first project in this class, and your schedules will stay like this for two weeks starting tomorrow.” My knees nearly buckled underneath me. That was a bit drastic. I didn’t know they could do that. Could they? Still, I didn’t particularly like the idea that I’d have to be taken to all of Rykers classes. Especially when I had finally grown used to mine. It was still early in the school year too. I didn’t think she would have a project this early. 

“Your giant partner is responsible for taking you everywhere unless you can get somewhere without them. While your human partner is going to trust you with everything until the school day ends. Think of this like a test exercise! Just a very long one.” Mrs. Kay giggled, waving us off to talk once again. Of course this would be the first project. Barely anyone knows each other in this class so it would be some sort of dramatic trust exercise. Seemed more like a death sentence to me though. Where I’m being forced to trust someone who defiantly hated this project just as much as I did. 

The room was full of  bright conversations again. While we were sitting there in silence. Ryker had stuffed the paper in his bag and looked at me. Through my eyes, I saw a terrifying grin, making me jump and fall on the floor, bringing my knees close to my chest and my arms in front of my face. Pathetic? Yes. Do I think making myself look even smaller helps the situation? Yes. Why? Because I can’t think clearly when I’m terrified. 

After a while, I was calmed down enough to somewhat get out of the little ball I made myself. Ryker kept worried face as he finished reading whatever book he was, and I couldn’t help but notice that there were some people who looked over here and laughed. At Ryker? Why? Did I make them laugh at him? And yet another thing to feel guilty about. 

The bell rang, but neither Ryker or I moved, already fearing what was about to be said to the both of us. I guess I’ll miss the bus today, but I could always walk. 

“Now, about you two,” She walked over to us, “I’m sorry Nathan, honey, I bet they haven’t told you that I know about your… past recollections, but this class is supposed to help humans and giants get along together, and Ryker here is sweetest person you’ll ever meet. You’ve both lost someone and something dear, and I decided that you two would be perfect to pair up with. So, I have a secret project for you both,” She smiled softly, “Don’t worry, there’s no due date, and it’s not a grade. I just want you two get along. Become friends and get to know one another. Maybe you’ll help out each other. Just give it a try.” 

Ryker looked at me, curiously, and sympathetically. What did that mean? Doesn’t matter. I was only focused on this “secret project” we were supposed to do. Do I really have to trust him? I’ve run out of that a long time ago and I’m not about to start placing whatever was left in a stranger who probably is just faking being nice. But I guess I had no choice. 

I hesitantly nodded, followed by Ryker who was waiting for my response. 

And I guess here starts a terrible outcome of events. One I dreaded to even be part of. 

—————————

Second chapter done. I did not take the time to even edit any of this, so I’m sorry if there are some mistakes. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed!

I plan on doing a chapter once a week and if not, then every other week.

#IM SO INVESTED!! #aghhh Nathan is literally so relatable #literally me fr 😭😭 #and Ryker omg he seems like such a sweetheart #I CANT WAIT FOT MORE #also your story telling #so compelling #that whole scene in the cafeteria #ufffff #literally so good #g/t #g/t writing #gt

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time to get up

#too cute 🥺 #g/t art

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Let Harry learn to fight along side Glen!! He is gonna have to learn to defend himself in human form SOMEHOW, and I don't think his human 'fangs' and 'claws' are gonna be very good at it...

(og post)

#menos mal tiene el zapato #por q un zapato con-suela 🥺 #shoes con-sole #love harry 😭😭 #must protecc 🥹🥹 #wick's end

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GTWAC DAY 3

It's been 3 years since I read this story so I don't even have to make an effort to poorly summarize this.

I chose this story for day 3, because it's been around for quite some time and I'm sure there are some of you who don't know it yet.

Local thief steals something from a giant politician, he isn't a very good thief, because gues what? He gets caught.

Unfortunately, he doesn't get thrown into prison. No, a different giant is assigned to bring him to the giant realm and then throw him into prison.

That giant, our second main character, regrets his career choices, because he doesn't want to deal with this human.

He reluctantly follows his instructions, stuffs the human into a cage and ties said cage to his belt. The human is in for a bumpy ride :)

The travel to the giant's realm and somehow they become friends?

There also is a bandit couple, who tries to steal the human... I think?

Well, the story ends with the human somehow getting a job.

Oh and the giant has teal eyes, that's very important.

If you wanna check it out, here you go!

#I LOVE THIS STORY!! #it’s one of the first full stories I read when I just found the g/t community #it’s so nice #ah definitely love the story and the characters #gtwac

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GtWAC day 7

Dabria adopting any child she sees by themselves like:

OC belongs to @awkwardgtace (this is cannon for all AUs regardless of size 😂)

#ma girl just be surprise adopting 🥰 #and I love her for it #GtWAC #I want to post so many ideas!! #but I don’t have time 😭😭 #I’ll just share this before midnight lol

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Day 7 GtWAC

Chase trying to convince the human to let him go:

From Borrower Chase and Minnie by @neonthewrite , specifically this chapter 😭😭

#GtWAC #gt memes #I love chase so much 😭✋ #too funny hahahahahs

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Day 5: A fic I think deserves more love

Like… just check it out

It’s literally so sweet. Family g/t. Bonding. This is one of those pieces that I know I can come back to regardless of anything else. I’m feeling happy? Re read. I’m feeling sad? Reread. My profesor starts explaining a new topic I absolutely not understand and start to dissociate? Reread! (Maybe not the last one… education is important 😌☝️ and I should probably study more… but u know… JUST READ IT!!)

#GtWAC #also #ALL OF HER FICS ARE SO GOOD #and the mafia AU #one of my favs #and all her ocs are so cool #I need to follow them through all their adventures hehehe #me fangirling so hard #it’s just I love her fics #it’s so refreshing #and emotional #and will have you at the edge of your seat just wanting more #g/t writing #g/t families #g/t #g/t fiction

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Day 4: Share one of your favorite scenes from a creator

From Caught in a Crossfire by @gtypewriter

I absolutely looove the descriptions of Zeyan, and the interaction with the local in the car… MUAK.

Like giants causing fear and destruction without meaning to?? LOVE. IT!

#the world reacting to giants #just how out of place they seem to be in a tiny city that was definitely not mean for them #maybe they want to help #but like how can they prove they are not a danger when a single step shakes buildings and cracks tarmac #AND a language barrier #ah #makes my heart do flips in my chest #hehehe #I love #g/t #GtWAC #giants #gt wac

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I’m Here (Part 2)

A/N: now that final exams are over I can finally get back to finishing all my drafts!! This one was just a quick little drabble I decided to make because i love these two JHEJGJHJ （*´▽｀*）

Konstantin tossed and turned all night—it was only an hour or two after Nikolajs called it a night for all of them since it was way past their bedtime. Konstantin knew he should be asleep, but he just couldn’t—all he could think about was that horrifying Coraline movie and that evil spider lady—the boy shivered by simply thinking of it! He whimpered, gripping his soft cow plushie—peeking from his blanket to the glass windows of their room to see the flash of thunder. He yelped immediately, snatching his blanket further and hiding, letting out a quiet sob whilst he buried his face into his plushie. ‘She’s not real! Nikolajs said she isn’t real!’

Konstantin tried to sleep, his eyes shut as tight as he could but he couldn’t ignore those small sounds—the creaking—those random sounds from neighbours—the clicking of the clock in their room. ‘You hear those all the time it’s okay! It’s normal house stuff—Nikolajs would never lie to you if he said it’s not real it’s not!—‘ Konstantin’s thoughts were cut off when the sound of thunder grew loud enough to penetrate their soundproof walls, Konstantin jolted upright and pushed himself to the head of his bed, his eyes as wide as day, staring at the door while he held the plushie close. “T-Taisiya—Taisiya did you hear that—??” Konstantin whispered, not hearing a single word, almost worrying that maybe that ugly monster got her before he glanced and saw her sprawled on her bed, the blanket absolutely mangled and nearly falling off the bed. She snored loudly in response and shifted, holding her pillow close, Konstantin furrowed his eyebrows—how can she be asleep right now? Doesn’t she know that there’s some kind of monster that’s probably out there??

Konstantin carefully stepped off his bed, flinching as the wood creaked under his weight before he approached Taisiya’s bed. Poking her arm softly as he whispered, “Taisiya—wake up I’m really scared—can I sleep with you??” He asked, feeling Taisiya whine and smack his hand away before continuing to drool, making Konstantin scrunch his face up before looking at her bed. Maybe he could move her and then he’d sleep?? He placed the plushie down, moving Taisiya as best as he could but to no avail, he was simply met with her hitting his arm again or kicking him. “Ugh—fine—I’ll sleep on the floor…” And so he did—curling up on the floor as he closed his eyes, as long as he was near someone it’s okay—right?

It wasn’t. It made things worse. He couldn’t sleep, the floor was too hard and he couldn’t find a comfortable position no matter how he turned—and the moment he opened his eyes he wished he never laid on the floor—the underside of Taisiya’s bed was pitch black. “Hello…?” He whispered, he was sure something was under there—he was sure of it—that’s how it always goes right? He squeezed his plushie, making sure it faced the darkness to scare off the supposed monster. The thunder roared once more, its light flashing slightly into their room and revealing a dark shadow. Konstantin let out gasped and scrambled back as much as he could till he hit the back of his head with the side of his bed, causing him to yelp, thinking it was yet another monster that had approached behind him and soon fell forward to curl himself into a ball, shaking as he did so.

He couldn’t take it anymore—he was so scared—Konstantin whimpered, wiping his tears on his cotton sleeve whilst he reluctantly tried to look around for a place to go. But where? Where would he go? Everything’s so scary and dark—and—and he didn’t want to disturb Taisiya! His eyes fell on the door, his soft hiccups filled the room as he moved his arm away and hugged his toy close. Nikolajs said there wasn’t anything to worry about—he’ll protect him—he can go to Nikolajs when he’s scared, right? But what if he disturbs him? Or gets angry?? No no—Nikolajs would never be angry at him—right? Konstantin glanced at Taisiya once more before getting up and tiptoeing to the door. It’s not like he could sleep with Taisiya anyway—he’d have to sleep on the floor and there was -no- way he would try to do that again.

Konstantin opened the door ever so slightly, he peeked his head through the small gap to see Nikolajs asleep, he laid on his back as usual and faced away from their room. Konstantin let out a shaky breath—he should just go back to sleep in his bed—but he couldn’t, he just couldn’t! It was so scary—and so dark—and Taisiya didn’t help at all. Maybe Nikolajs would? He did promise he would protect him…but he didn’t want to be so annoying. Konstantin slipped through the door, shutting it quietly before going down the railings that were built into the wall. His feet stepped on the cold wood as he started to walk down the path, the occasional thunder sent Konstantin to pick up the pace to reach the stairs. A part of him regretted walking out of the safety of his room, but then again, he didn’t exactly feel safe there either. But as he glanced at his surroundings, he felt that his room would’ve been much safer than this. Konstantin shivered, without being under his thick blankets, he had only his pyjamas to keep him warm from the cold atmosphere. He had let out a shaky breath as his feet began to grow cold, he wished he wore socks when he went out.

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#my go to comfort fic? #to no one’s surprise this will always make me smile ❤️‍🩹 #GtWAC #here started my love for g/t families 🥺😭😭