#laura for size | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sebbarchie · 8 months ago

Text

A Fateful BONK!

The first class entrance of the SS France was one magnificent room. Fitting for a floating palace with its round design under a bright dome. The floor, the columns, the wall designs, it all appeared as if taken straight from a French estate that used to house royalty. The entire ship could be called a floating Versailles!

But for that first day out at sea, it was going to be the setting of a rather peculiar scene.

Sebastian Ray Blanchard, the friendly giant from New Orleans, Louisiana, also known as “Sebby”, had spent some time out on deck, enjoying the sight of the French Channel. Only hours ago the ship had departed onto its maiden voyage and he spent a lot of time exploring. A part of him was upset, because he had requested a cabin with extra bed-space to fit his 7 foot 3 - or 2 meter 20 - tall stature, but instead was assigned a cabin with two beds. He was not going to complain, because it was still a beautiful cabin and roomy enough, but it was likely going to be a bit of an inconvenience. Regardless, as the sun was getting lower, he realized that it was dinner time! The giant, who was a mass of muscle, often appeared to require even more food than the average man, so missing a meal was not something he wanted to deal with.

Thus Sebastian made his way from the railing of the deck towards the door that led to the first class foyer within the ship and he hurried while doing so, wishing to freshen up before dinner. There was only one problem.

Blinded by hunger, the Southern giant miscalculated the angle of leaning down that he needed to do to successfully get through the door frame. The degree of ducking was not enough and with his fast pace there was only one possible outcome.

BONK!

“Owch! Darn! Pig dirt!” Sebastian yelled into the air as he stumbled into the grand foyer, his forehead red and aching from a hard collision with the top of the door frame.

“Oh!” A woman who stood with her young adult son turned to look at the scene that unfolded before them. “Well it’s-” At the same time the son, who had been mid-conversation with his mother, jumped, startled by the loud noise and almost intimidating appearance of such a tall man.

Quickly the both of them made their way over to support the visibly dizzy giant.

“Mercy me! Are you quite alright?” The woman inquired. The son added “Golly, you’ve taken a hard hit!” Both were holding the man by his arms, despite him towering above them.

“They ain’t buildin’ tall enough! This be discrimination against tall peoples! … Owch…” Sebby spoke in his heavily rural Southern accent, still appearing uneasy on his feet. He had a very specific way of speaking that was not necessarily always formally correct, but very much a result of a poor upbringing in a rural region with limited education. Wealth had only come to him recently through a series of fortunate and unfortunate events and so he had not been outside of that setting for long.

As clarity slowly returned to his vision, Sebastian finally realized that he now had two people by his side, seemingly to keep him safe. No more flying pigs clouding his vision but instead a mother and a son, both appearing almost angelic. “Huh? Where did y’all come from?” He wondered.

“We… Erm, boarded in Le Havre. You should sit down! Your head is very red, Sir!” The short man told the taller one, appearing somewhat nervous.

“Yes, do sit!” The mother implored, guiding the giant with the help of her son to a chair and making him sit. The chair, a comfortable upholstered armchair - well comfortable for the average sized person, was actually uncomfortably small for Sebastian. He was lucky to be tall, healthy and perfectly proportioned, which was not always the case for people of his size. Often they suffered from muscle and bone issues and sometimes even disproportionate limbs, needing crutches to walk. Sebby the giant escaped such a fate. But that meant that he was also wide in stature, even if muscular and with a flat stomach. Thus he had problems fitting into chairs with arm rests that were not built with much taller and wider people in mind. He had to squeeze into the chair and it creaked with the wood being strained and pushed. His legs were so long that he couldn’t even sit upright normally and his legs had to be stretched out. Like an average-sized adult trying to sit in a dollhouse chair. No, being a giant was not quite easy and sitting in there with his large rear-end made him groan out of discomfort.

"Should we fetch the doctor?" The woman began asking, only to follow with more questions as she was checking on the injured tall man. "How many fingers am I holding up?" She held up her hand. "Who is the President?"

In the meantime her son stood there, watching Sebby and becoming more and more nervous. A contrast to his mother. Unbeknownst to Sebastian, the much shorter man had spotted him back in Le Havre a few times. At the department store and at the Opera, without ever truly meeting him. Ever since, he had been mesmerized by the sight of this handsome and almost literally larger-than-life stature, reminiscent of a beautiful masculine bronze statue seen in the museum. It even led to the shorter man having a dream of dancing with a giant man made of the same material… And the face of said bronze man matched that of Sebastian.

“A doctor… there must be one somewhere! They would be silly to not have one on-board, Maman!" He shook his head, frowning.

"Y'all sure ya ain't angels?" Sebby wondered if perhaps he had fallen overboard and now this beautiful woman and the beautiful short man were angels greeting him at the pearly gates. Perhaps a bit dramatic for a simple collision with a door frame, but he had a flair for that. "Didn't fall overboard or somethin'?"

But upon all the questions, he did seem to have at least some kind of answer. “Uh... I can see ya fine, alright? Both of y'all. No more flyin' pigs - though I still ain't sure if y'all angels or not." He looked at both of them. Being a flirt appeared to be part of his heritage as a Southerner

"Flying pigs? Are you sure you're alright? We should have a steward get you some ice!" The shorter man suggested, frowning as he stood there with his arms folded. Sebastian’s honey-brown eyes closed for a moment and then opened once more, a frown of pain slowly lessening as he again gazed up at them - although from his position on the chair he was still not much shorter than the two.

"Uhhh... Ain't got a clue what I need. Guess the pain's a lil' better now... This happened before, but ain't common, I swear!" After 24 years of life he generally knew how to navigate a world not built for his size. His red forehead however - well it was not red before, but at the moment it certainly told another story.

"Well, my husband would tell you so!" The mother giggled in response to the part about herself and her son being angels and then proceeded with the introductions. "I am Laura Willamette, of Portland, Oregon. And this is my son, Archibald."She motioned to the young man who had bright and beautiful blue eyes just like herself.

"Y-Yes, Archibald Willamette. A pleasure! Oh...! Wait, Maman... Nevermind, she's already introduced me...!" The shorter man laughed awkwardly.

"I must say, this is certainly one of the strangest introductions I have ever experienced,” Laura remarked. “But I'm not complaining! It'll make for an amusing tale in future, I'm sure! We're not likely to forget you in a hurry!" She began to examine the man's head bump. Among other things. Not every day one gets to see a man like this!

"Will... Willamette?" Again Sebby gazed at the pretty woman and then her pretty son. It checked out that they were relatives as the looks seemed to be in their biology, although Sebastian’s interest was not too focused on women generally. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Sebastian Blanchard from New Orleans. Louisiana." He did reach up with his large hand for a handshake. First however he went for the woman, thinking it was the gentleman way of doing things, before moving on to the son. The strong giant tried his best not to be too hard on their petite hands, albeit it still ended up being a firm and strong handshake.

"Are you traveling alone, Mr. Blanchard?" Mrs. Willamette asked the tall man.. "We've seen you around Le Havre these past few days. Hard to miss you!" Although there was a playful nature in her words, it was clearly meant well.

“Hard to miss? Yeah, heard that before,” Sebby chuckled softly, yet somewhat awkwardly. He decided to make conversation, finding it the better thing to do. “Yeah, I'm travelin' alone. Is it just ya two or got more peoples with y'all?"

The shy and short Archibald Willamette looked at his mother first and then proceeded to gaze at the giant once again. "My brother is with us. And our father, of course,” he mentioned, but then quickly looked away when for a moment his bright blue eyes met with the honey-brown ones of Sebastian.

Sebby did wonder why the short man, seemingly a bit below average height, was so uneasy. Was the southern giant intimidating to Archibald? It happened a lot that people automatically feared someone so tall and strong. But Sebastian was not like that. He wasn’t one for violence unless it was deemed necessary. A thought did come to his mind however. Was Archibald one of his kind? He was handsome even if so short. But at Sebby’s height anyone was short. What difference did a few more inches below average make? Just a little while ago, back in Le Havre, he had another temporary adventure with a man and although he didn’t immediately need to jump into the next one, he was often on the lookout for what seemed available. Yet looks and the likes of that were not on the forefront of his mind for long at that moment, with his head still aching.

"So a whole family, yeah? I see..." Sebastian groaned lightly. The hit must have shaken up his head quite a bit. "Darn.. n' just 'cause I was so hungry... Realized it's almost dinner time n' lost track of my own height."

"You are? Oh..." Laura thought for a moment. Somehow her motherly instincts were becoming active around this tall stranger. "Well, would you look at the time! We'd best freshen up before dinner, Archie” She nodded towards her son. “I don't suppose you'd care to join us, Mr. Blanchard?... If you've no prior engagements, of course."

The fact that his mother just invited the handsome giant to dine with them made Archibald even more nervous. "I-I... Erm... Yes, we do. If you would like to... O-Of course!" The Willamette son could hardly get out a word without stuttering, smiling awkwardly as he spoke.

"Me? That's really nice of ya! First I was gonna ask if y'all wanted to join me to dinner, as a thanks for helpin' me out here. But ya were quicker!" He let out a soft, but deep voiced chuckle. A raspy and deep voice with a lot of warmth in timbre. "I’ll gladly join ya. Best I take care of myself before that then too... Good thing I'm stayin' on this deck."

Slowly he brought himself back to his feet. Still an awkward process with that tiny chair, but eventually he stood at his full height again, towering above the others.

"Well... S-See you at dinner then! Maman, shall we?" Archibald just wished to leave. The giant interested him, it was undeniable. But he couldn’t allow himself such thoughts. No, he just couldn’t.

"I'll find y'all in the dining room then. Don't worry, from where I'm at, I can oversee rooms pretty well!" Sebastian held his hand flat above his eyes, like a guard trying to block out the sun to get a better view from his tower. A giant with antics.

Laura actually took a moment to take in the sight that was Sebastian. She found him imposing, but not one to be scared of. A gentle giant. "Of course. We shall see you at dinner, Mr. Blanchard!"

With that, the two Willamette family members left for their cabin, the mother taking her son by the arm. Sebastian found it a bit amusing. Archibald was clearly of age and yet his mother appeared to be treating him as if he wasn’t. Some families were just built differently. Certainly this one was vastly different from his own.

The first night out and the giant already got himself hurt and acquainted with some fancy people. Who knows what might happen next?