#oc:Vitus

[awkwardgtace]

Is Indoors Really Safe?

heey for gt july day 5 we have caught I decided to continue the prompt I got from @da3dm the first part is here

I did also remember someone had said they'd hope I do more so I hope you don't mind the tag @skmayor

Again since I'm kinda new to actually taggin people i'll add again y'all are welcome to ask me to start tagging you in stuff <3 I am anxious and awkward so worry about the actual act of doing that usually

Alessia has been living with the humans for a month, but she's still not sure they're trustworthy...

Is Indoors Really Safe?

Alessia wasn’t sure she made the right choice to go back with a human. All her things had been brought along, he even gave her a different rope to use with her hook. He said he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t lose a memory of her parents. It was weird. This human was weird. She kind of liked how weird Vitus was.

Then there was his wife. That human had her anxious. They only met once, but the woman tried to grab her. If Vitus wasn’t there she had no idea what would have happened. She might have wound up just like her parents. Although… the woman apologized and gave her an entire human room to live in. She didn’t trust that one though, Dabria was to stay far away.

The youngest of the three had her the most on edge. Every time she saw him he looked angry. Vitus mentioned there had been some arguments before he found her. Something about a fight that the younger human wouldn’t explain. She could see the fatigue on the older man’s face when he talked. She heard the younger one arguing in his room sometimes. He sounded angry, he’d thrown something once when she spied on him. Alessia would be staying far away from Felix.

Other than the humans, the new home Vitus took her to was nice. He kept his word, giving her freedom. Apparently they did put her near one of those vent things. She didn’t fully understand, but it went all through the house. Dabria called it central air. Alessia thought that was a dumb name. Air was central to, well, everything. It was in the middle of every place ever. At least the stupid name gave her nice paths.

Vitus would bring food and sit in the room to talk to her. She didn’t trust it, but when he brought that red liquid she would sit in the open. He called it tomato soup, she didn’t know what tomatoes were but she liked soup. Her mom had made soup a few times when she was young, she called it mixed herb surprise. The surprise was usually some acorns.

She’d been thinking about her parents more since moving to the human house. The times they would tell her stories and play games. The food they ate and how often it was just herbs with nothing else. Humans had so much and these ones shared with her. Vitus didn’t let Dabria in the room and both hid her from Felix. Her parents would never believe it.

In reality she couldn’t believe it. There was a part of her that thought it was a lie. That she’d be better off on her own still. It could be possible for her to find some other borrowers in the world. She’d work on leaving those thoughts behind once she was confident in the humans. Once she’d seen what was hidden from her.

Vitus would spend time in a room that she couldn’t enter. The vents didn’t give her an opening and he kept the door shut at all times. It didn’t have room for her to sneak in over or under the door itself. A perfectly sealed place. She would find a way. It held the truth of these humans, the truth of what she’d walked into. A truth she had to learn.

Alessia came up with what she deemed a perfect plan. She hid in the vent on the floor a few feet from the room’s door. She waited for him to enter, he did every day around the same time. Her goal was to climb up to the top of the door and swing in once he opened it again later.. It was easy. She climbed trees all the time. Plus she hid from humans and animals all the time. At least it was going to be until steps that shouldn’t have been around knocked her from the bit she’d climbed towards the handle of the door.

Dabria wasn’t home and Felix wasn’t supposed to come to this floor. They said he always stayed on the lower one. It was a lie, she knew humans lied. Of course Vitus lied. Felix ran towards her, she wasn’t in place, she wasn’t hidden yet. She was lying on her back on the floor staring at the massive human. He was shorter than Vitus, but heavier. Would he be the human to kill her?

“How did you get here?” he hissed. Was it a hiss? The human’s voice was low, it could have been a whisper. The fingers that found her were softer than Vitus’s but it made her more terrified. This one could hurt her without knowing it. She watched him stare at the shut door for a second. “We need to get you out of here before my dad finds you.”

Alessia’s eyes widened. Vitus was the safe one, wasn’t he? He nursed her back to health, saved her from a storm. Unless it was a trick. That he knew she’d been on his shoe. Known she was hiding and lured her. In that room he might be planning something awful. A way to torture her before she winds up like her parents.

Felix started talking, but her mind wouldn’t process his words. She was going to die. She never should have trusted a human. Her vision started to darken as her breathing became hard. The fingers around her were firm, they weren’t changing as the human carried her. It wouldn’t be long before they would tighten. Until her body was crushed and thrown away. As her consciousness faded she was grateful she wouldn’t be awake to face her death.

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“You just grabbed her!?” someone said. Alessia’s head was hurting. She didn’t expect to still be alive. She didn’t know why someone would be upset she was grabbed either. They had to be another human. Felix probably planned to give her to someone else or give the other human the fun of crushing her.

“She was outside my dad’s workshop and you two said he can’t know about anyone like you,” Felix was quieter than when he found her. Maybe not even next to her. Alessia gasped when the words sunk in. He said two. There were two more humans near her.

Snapping her eyes open she expected three towering figures surrounding her. Instead she saw Felix far enough he would need to take a few steps to reach her. Another borrower stood with his arms crossed and glaring up at the human. She wanted to take the chance to escape, but another borrower appeared in front of her. She yelped and drew the attention of the others in the room.

“Ah that’s a relief, you’re awake,” the black haired, silver eyed borrower said. Alessia slowly pushed herself up. She was on a pillow, kind of like when Vitus had taken her in. That reminded her of the danger he has to pose. Two of her kind don’t want him around them. She has to get away. “Call me Ryder, would you care to tell us your name?”

Felix came closer. They were all trapped with this human now. She was trapped with humans. Trusting them was a mistake. Except he didn’t grab her or this Ryder person. He set a hand out and the other borrower hopped off. Salmon hair and pink eyes still glaring at him.

“Are you ok? This guy looks scary, but he’s not like other humans,” the pink eyed one said. He walked up and held out a hand. “I’m Rhys.”

“What happens next?” she whispered. This time there wasn’t a plan. She didn’t even have her hook to get away. All the things from her parents were hidden away from sight. She’d never see them again. Tears fell from her eyes. She wanted the rope back at least, she needed that back. The heavy sigh that blew past her made this worse. The human was annoyed.

“I know I scared you, but my dad doesn’t watch where he’s walking. He might have hurt you, he doesn’t know people like you exist. You can leave once you’re ready,” it sounded like earlier. He had been whispering. She couldn’t believe it. Borrowers didn’t trust the human who saved her. She was in too much danger around any of these people. She wanted to go home, she didn’t even know how to get home.

Vitus only brought her here a month ago. If she had her bag and hook maybe she could get home. It… it was probably something possible. Her parents had told her how they traveled away from humans before. A bedtime story she loved hearing. It was the last one she’d heard before they were gone.

“Don’t worry we live nearby,” Rhys said. 

Ryder helped her to her feet. She couldn’t just run away. She had things, they’d look for her. That child had searched for her dad when he ran. Vitus would hunt her down. Even if she made it back he knew where she lived. This human knew where these two lived. There was no telling if this was a test either. Would she run given the chance?

“This is why we said don’t grab one of us if you find them!” Rhys shouted at Felix. Alessia flinched, yelling at a human would end in-

“You’re the one who said not to tell my dad,” Felix growled. Alessia shrank away, but Rhys stepped forward. Ryder even approached the angry human. “He’s barely talking to me still. I wouldn’t have grabbed her if he wasn’t about to find her!”

“You mean well, but our kind do not trust humans. Grabbing any of us would only make you more likely to be considered a threat. You could have spoken to her,” Ryder had stepped between Rhys and Felix. She stared in awe, he was explaining it to a human. A human who’s golden eyes were on fire, but he hadn’t made a move.

“You’ve said my dad can’t know. You said if he finds anyone like you they’d be in trouble. My dad would have opened that door and sent her flying. I didn’t have a choice,” Felix had his arms folded. Rhys and Ryder stayed firm against him. They were unbelievable. “Blame me all you want, but I did what I promised.”

“Promised?” she whispered. Rhys softened and looked at her.

“Yeah, Felix here promised not to tell anyone about us after he saved us.”

“Wait… he saved you?”

“Yes!” Ryder actually had a bright smile.The bristle of Felix’s anger was dying too. He looked away. “He fought another human so as to stop them from hurting us.”

“Why are you still here?” 

Felix seemed to deflate. The burn in his eyes died completely, his posture drooped. Under other circumstances she may have thought she hurt him. Ryder walked right up to Felix holding a hand up towards him. The human didn’t move. 

“He’s our friend that’s why!” The anger in Rhys’s voice made her jump. “Other humans always wanted to hurt us. Felix could have and he didn’t. His dad is still mad at him and he could just tell him about us, but he doesn’t because we’re friends!”

“A good human…” she muttered. Felix moved again, crouching down in front of her. She stumbled back and even managed to see past him. To see the wide open door, the tall stoic man watching them. His presence made her more terrified. Would she witness humans fighting?

“You don’t have to trust me or like me. They don’t trust my dad so I got you out of there. Decide where to go. I’ll leave so you don’t have some awful human bothering you,” Felix said. The way he acted had her worried. She didn’t usually worry about humans, but he… he was like Vitus. They weren’t bad.

“Why are you afraid of his dad?” 

Her question stopped Felix. What she could see of Vitus barely shifted. No one else was noticing the much taller human. He wasn’t doing anything either. She noticed a point where he seemed to meet her eyes. He offered her a sad smile, like he knew too. What didn’t she know?

“Wouldn’t you be?” Ryder said. His voice was different, the dramatic tone falling away. “You must have seen him if you were up there. He glares at everything, even his steps are a lot.”

“You can trust him,” Felix’s voice was quiet enough she would have thought Rhys or Ryder whispered it.

“You said that, but you don’t know! The last adult who saw us wanted to kill us!” Rhys shouted. 

Unfortunately that reached Vitus and Alessia noticed the man shifting. He wasn’t quiet, at least not quiet enough for the other borrowers not to notice. This time she stayed somewhat calm while the other two froze. If… if this human… If Felix wasn’t bad then Vitus wasn’t bad and she hadn’t set herself up to die. 

Vitus had mentioned the fight, that it had been almost a year. A whole year the two hadn’t been speaking. A year of two borrowers choosing to come and go with a human knowing. She… she was always going to be afraid, but these ones she could try to trust. The truth was she was more terrified she’d be left alone again than they’d hurt her. She was scared of what could make humans be taken from her.

“Guess I’ve been caught,” his voice was gravelly. It was nothing like that usually. He cleared his throat and she jumped along with the other two borrowers. Felix jumped up with his back facing her and the others. He stepped forward and glared up at his dad. At Vitus. “Felix-”

“Dad, what happened to always knocking?” Felix said. He sounded angry. Rhys and Ryder ran up to her and grabbed her arms. They started to drag her away, towards the spot she’d seen Rhys arguing with Felix at first.

“Go, I’ll stay here just in case,” Ryder whispered. He let go pushing Rhys and Alessia forward. She stumbled, but Rhys tugged her along. Rhys was crying, the tears fell from his face to her arm.

“Hurry, we have to run!” Rhys’s voice was hoarse. Alessia knew that pain. Rhys expected Ryder to die.

“Wait,” the words started before her mind caught up, “he’s not dangerous. He brought me here after we met… I live here in a human room.”

Rhys tripped over his feet when she spoke. Ryder stared at her with wide eyes. Felix and Vitus didn’t notice the words they shared. She was able to watch as Felix shifted to keep Vitus from entering the room. Ryder ran up to the two as the humans continued to face each other. Vitus looked over at them, he looked almost happy they weren’t running.

“I found Alessia’s hook and got worried. I was going to check the kitchen when I heard you talking. That I don’t watch where I’m walking,” Vitus smirked. It was like when he spoke to her. An attempt to calm the situation.

“Alessia?” Felix asked. He tilted his head, the hand behind his back was waving. Telling them to run… He was keeping them safe. “Who is that?”

Alessia saw the small change in Vitus’s expression. Widened eyes that flashed concern only to switch to pride. Vitus set a hand on Felix’s shoulder. The younger human braced, Rhys and Ryder grabbed her and backed up. No one knew what the taller man would do, Alessia had a guess. If her guess was right then these were humans she’d try to trust. If she was wrong they would all run.

“I’m proud of you,” Vitus said as he pulled Felix into a hug. All of them seemed to relax once that happened. “I was sure there was something you’d been hiding. I had no idea what to do if I was wrong about the reason you wouldn’t tell us what caused the fight. That it was like that man said.”

“Dad I…” Felix tried. It was clear that this had caused a change. Rhys and Ryder looked at each other before stepping forward. Alessia watched the two reach the edge of the table. The edge where they could never run to safety in time. 

“He saved us!” Rhys shouted. Vitus let Felix go to stare at them. Another gaze at Alessia from the man. “We… I fell in his bag Ryder followed to try and get me out. The teacher found us and wanted to… to do really bad things. Felix fought him to get us away.”

“Rhys speaks the truth,” Ryder said as he pressed a hand to his heart. “We owe Felix our lives. He hid the truth for us, we have had many poor meetings with adult humans. There is a reason it is merely the two of us now.”

“I see.” Vitus stepped forward. Alessia stepped up to hold a hand of each of them. Vitus was terrifying to face. The man stopped away from them and crouched down. All three borrowers face to face with a human who could crush them in an instant. “Well, we have room. The two of you are free to stay here, just like Alessia. Speaking of which, Alessia, I have been working on something for you.”

“F-for me?” she asked. He nodded standing up straight and offering her his hand. She was scared, but stepped forward. She crawled into the palm, a smile from the human a welcome response.

“Why don’t I show all four of you?” She looked back at Rhys and Ryder. They were clearly nervous, but Vitus didn’t actually wait for them. He stepped back pulling his hand up to his chest. He paused in front of Felix. “We’re in the extra room at the end of the hall.”

Alessia was taken with him. He held her close to his chest. Each step shook through her spine, but that fear Felix gave her had melted. A month in and he hadn’t done anything. He even made Dabria stay away and hid her from Felix. She couldn’t help wondering if he was mad at her. That Felix caught her, that she expected so little.

“You could have asked about the room, I would have let you in,” he said. It made her jump. “It’s locked up tight because I make things in there. It’s a lot of wood dust, that’s bad to breathe in. I try to keep the dust inside so I can clean it up when I’m done working.”

 “Oh…” she said. It made sense, humans did a lot of weird things. They knew a lot too. Words that he still had to explain. Like windows, those things were weird. So was glass. A finger poked her and made her look up. He had a soft look on his face.

“I know you’ll be scared and have doubts, Alessia.” The voice was quiet and reassuring. “It’s a big move to risk living here. Take your time, we’ll all be here when you’re ready.”

“...really? Isn’t that bad? You… I agreed to come here.”

“Take the time you need to trust us. You’ve taken a risk trusting just me. You don’t have to move faster than you’re ready for.”

Alessia wrapped her arms around the finger that had poked her, “Thank you.”

“Wait until you see what I’ve been working on to say that.”

Vitus kept walking, it was clear to her he moved slower to give the others time to decide. It could have been giving him time to speak with her. Either way she appreciated it. She stared at the doors they passed, worrying when they walked by the one they gave her. That was where she would still get to stay right?

Vitus walked for a little longer. He stopped at a door that almost blended in with the wall. She wanted to ask, but saw he’d already started to push open the door. The room itself was normal. At least the normal she’d learned about. It looked kind of like the room they gave her without the bed. Just shelves, one of the table things, and what she lived under. There was nothing different.

He walked into the room and up to the thing she lived under. She tried to remember the word, dresser maybe. He stopped there and turned to the door. There she saw Felix with Rhys and Ryder sitting on his shoulders. If others like her could do that they couldn’t be bad humans. Vitus turned back to the dresser thing and crouched down.

“It’s not quite done yet, but it’s enough to show you. I thought you deserved a place we couldn’t just appear without warning,” he said.

Alessia stared in awe as he turned the dresser thing. The inner part was completely gone, but it looked kind of like the house the humans had. Even inside there was one of the beds Vitus said she could use if she wanted, but her size. A room with stuff she’d never seen before and things she’d seen around the house. One she was pretty sure Dabria called a couch when she was spying.

“Woah,” Rhys said. She looked away from the amazing dresser thing to stare up. Felix was leaning over to see them. “It looks like a house, but for someone like us.”

Vitus laughed a bit. His laugh made her smile, it was infectious. She wanted to feel comfortable with humans. At least these humans, they weren’t like the one in her past. They weren’t going to hurt her or those her size.

“That’s my goal,” he smiled. “There’s a lot more work to be done on it. I’m looking into some plumbing and wiring I can set up. I want to give you a place that’s more like the home that’s around you, but that you can use. Of course if you two would like to stay I’ll be making this project a bit bigger.”

“You’re really gonna try and put a shower and stuff here?” Rhys sounded excited. “And wiring? Like lights and-and all the other stuff?”

“I would like to, but I never really worked with it.”

“Rhys knows a lot about it,” Ryder said. Alessia turned around to face them more comfortably. Rhys looked like he was vibrating on Felix’s shoulder. The human cupped a hand around the borrower to keep him from falling.

“Oh?” She could hear the laugh in his voice. He’d spoken like that to her. To encourage her. Vitus… Vitus was a good person. He’d be so much easier to keep trusting if he were a borrower. “Would you mind helping me? It would have to be once all the wood work is done. I don’t think I have protection for someone your size and wouldn’t want any of you getting sick.”

“Can I really help?!” Rhys had climbed up leaning over Felix’s fingers. Alessia thought he was foolish. He’d fall and die if Felix moved. Vitus nodded, she noticed the look Rhys sent to Ryder. The subtle nod of the other. “We’ll stay to help with this at least. We can’t leave you to take care of another borrower when you don’t know anything anyway.”

“Rhys!” Ryder smiled when Felix cried out. “Can’t you just admit you want an excuse to play with electronics?”

“Don’t tell him that!”

“I believe he’d already noticed. You aren’t subtle.”

Alessia watched Rhys disappear behind the hand blocking him from falling. The smiles on the other two told her this was normal. This might work out. She might really have a good home with safe people here. Plus she wasn’t alone, other borrowers. Others who could teach her things her parents were taken too soon to. This might even turn into a family for her.

[awkwardgtace]

Out of all of your bigs, who had the hardest time adjusting to interacting/living with tinies?

ok so I saw this, thought about it. Then got distracted and finally can sit down to answer again

So I think it depends on the setting they're in, but focusing on a world where they're "normal/giant" and find out "tinies/humans" exist:

so Vitus when he's just suddenly around smalls. Like he's usually good when he knows about tinies, but suddenly thrown in he'd be a mess. Heavy steps, too loud, lots of stern gazes that are more him thinking and accidentally scaring smalls.

Ash can have a rough time too. They'd be waaaaay too careful. Constantly hesitating and probably annoying the tinies who trust them. Some would certainly love how Ash is.

Felix for sure. He's not a super open person and it's kind of shown with the ice cube short. He's more likely to kind of disconnect at first. Like he'd be more likely to sort of ignore them when there's no immediate connection for him. A random tiny would have a Felix that only really starts to show he cares when they've lost it around him.

Ryder would need a lot of adjusting. He's loud and a bit dramatic. Would get excited to learn about them. He'd also do a lot that he doesn't realize is terrifying for someone so small. When he learns he'd be one of the best giants/bigs to be around.

Mira's not a great giant at first. She's incredibly curious about things and would wind up either observing to figure out how human they really are or just straight up trap them. Once she realizes they're basically human would let them go, but her habits would lead to a lot of unintentional fear for the smalls

Corus has the issue of his anger. When he's gotten better control of it he's pretty good at adjusting to smalls.

Sola and Luna have the whole being kids thing going so almost always rough for tinies to get used to them. Luna is a lot better and kind of gets Sola controlled since she's excitable and impulsive.

Kyrie in a case where he's comfortable in his own skin can be bad at first. He'd be intimidating since he's taller than is pretty average for folks when I write him. He'd have heavy steps, loud voice, and his own curiosity would get the best of him. He'd be quick to annoy smalls partly cause he'd be overprotective. Easily the kind of big who will try to do everything for the small until there's some argument about it. I should probably write something with this can't really use the dreaming soul mates thing since he has a solid understanding. hmm maybe it would make him worse though. He wasn't perfect at the end of that story

[awkwardgtace]

First Time Indoors

ok @da3dm here's that first prompt/request you sent in. It got long so I wanted to do it's own post gonna link this in the ask too <3

Alessia lives on her own in the woods, but resources are getting scarce. She decides to head towards a human home, but a storm rolls in giving her some bad luck

tw: death, fear of death, sickness, trapped, uhh i gave alessia a sad backstory

First Time Indoors

Alessia had started to struggle finding good food near her home. Despite her own annoyance at it, she had to travel farther away. Closer to humans. She spent the last few weeks gathering everything she’d need for a trip across most of the forest. Packing the little bits of food she had, mostly edible herbs and plants. It helped that a human had started passing through lately. They mentioned something about a drought or a dry spell. She didn’t entirely understand, but it meant there was no rain. No rain meant everything lined up perfectly for her to travel to the closest human house.

She lifted her bag over her shoulder and started her trip. The human scared off a lot of the more dangerous animals. They had heavy steps that made them nervous to stay nearby the usual path. She could leisurely walk along the forest floor, just taking in the bright sun above her. No human would notice her with the cloak she had on. It blended well with the grass and tree roots.

Her walk was taking more of the day than she expected. The sun was high in the sky before a human home was in view. It started to feel like a waste, she only packed enough food for one day. Tremors on the ground had her diving into nearby roots. She tried to peek out of her hiding place as the tremors came closer. She recognized the rhythm, a human was walking nearby.

The tremors started to grow too severe for her to keep her balance. She had to steady herself against the root. A human man came closer, bringing the tremors with him. She ducked down hoping those green eyes didn’t see her. She had seen this human sometimes, she didn’t like him. He was too observant. Noticing her moving when others ignored her. She’d felt those intense eyes on her too often.

Once the man was finally past her she made a run for it. She couldn’t abandon her goal to at least reach the human house today. That goal didn’t involve that white haired human either. She ran steadily from tree to tree. A bad feeling started to rest itself in her chest. The amount of time passing didn’t match how dark the world was getting.

The tremors of the human man started to approach again. She spared a look up towards the sky, expecting to find his eyes locked on her. The world felt like it stopped when she found dark clouds hovering overhead. The tremors grew stronger, but she didn’t care. 

There was a storm, a bad storm, on its way. There was no way she’d get back home in time. There was no shelter nearby that could save her if the water caused a flood. The human’s tremoring steps grew closer and faster. She didn’t have a choice. She started to run along the path she knew the human would take.

The tremors were becoming mini earthquakes. She’d been in a real one once, it was just as bad as human steps. Maybe worse. Alessia pushed the thought away as the boom of a step landed behind her. She took deep breaths waiting for the gigantic foot to take the next step and land next to her. As soon as it did she turned towards it. She put all her strength into her legs. She had to make it before the human took another step.

The foot was starting to lift while she was too far. Alessia begged for her legs to move faster. Just before the lace of the shoe was out of reach she jumped. Her heart was racing. She barely managed to grab the plastic at the end of the string. She tried to dig her hands into it, but the plastic was too hard. She bit her tongue to hold in her scream as the human completed his step.

Alessia nearly fell as the foot hit the ground. Her body slammed against the side of the shoe, knocking the wind out of her. She started to lose her grip, but the grumble above her followed by the heavy droplets of rain spurred her on. She put all the strength she could into her arms and heaved herself up. She dug her fingers into the strange fabric of the string on the shoe. It filled her with relief she never could have expected.

She didn’t let herself relax. She kept climbing until she managed to wrap the loose part of the lace back into the tight parts pressed against the human’s foot. She managed to settle herself just in time. The human’s steps grew faster. If she hadn’t tied herself down she would be thrown hard enough she probably wouldn’t survive. She had to stay focused, just worry about getting out of the rain.

The steps kept moving consistently. She had to fix how she tied herself a few times, but it didn’t take long for the human house she’d seen in the distance to tower over her. The human slowed as he started up a few platforms to a gigantic door. He paused which gave her the time she needed to free herself. She slid off the foot and backed up to hide behind him. She had to hope the human didn’t look around. The idea of his hands wrapping around her made her shiver.

“There wasn’t supposed to be rain for a few more days,” the human grumbled. Alessia stared up at him as he kept digging in his pockets for something. She wanted the door to open so she could find a place to hide. He pulled something out of his pocket and pressed it into the door. “Finally.”

As soon as the door twitched she ran ahead. She looked up, making sure the human hadn’t started watching for her. His eyes were locked forward. The door opened enough she could squeeze through, and she took the chance. She ran along the edge of the room until she was under something. She would wait until he moved further into the house then find a place to set up for now.

The human stomped inside knocking her off her feet. She curled up in the shadow desperate for the human not to search for her. There was a chance he’d noticed her and she’d be found. Another tremor inducing impact made her look towards the human. It was him sitting on the ground she felt this time. She swore the human would hear her beating heart as he played with the strings on his feet. 

She watched him pull one shoe off, tossing it towards the door. The other he spent longer on. He brought his other hand to fiddle with the string too. She heard him make an annoyed noise before leaning back. He forced the shoe off his foot leaving the strings tied. It joined the match next to the closed door.

The human grumbled, Alessia only made out something about a knot. He groaned as he climbed to his feet again. He walked off into the house leaving her alone. She curled up into a ball as she realized she was trapped in a human house. Logically her focus should be securing necessities. Proper shelter, food, water, warmth. She hadn’t realized before just how much rain had hit her. The adrenaline rush she gained from her desperate survival attempt was gone. Her body felt heavy, the lack of real food hit her too. She was too tired to move, a bit of sleep would be fine for now. 

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Alessia woke up a much longer time later than she wanted. She was shivering and couldn’t think clearly. It only took a few minutes for tremors to reach her and remind her where she was. A human’s house with the human she’d seen a few times. The one who was taller than the ones she saw in the warmest weather and always came close to finding her. The tremors passed by, never getting as close as when she’d reached the home. She had to do something to get home.

Slowly, Alessia pushed herself to her feet. Her head was pounding and her stomach empty. She pulled her pack off her back and set it in front of her. The climbing gear was fine, but the food ruined. All of it soaked and turned to mush. It was the issue she’d been having with the dried plants. They just didn’t survive most types of weather. With a heavy sigh she decided to abandon her pack, it would only slow her down with the heavy mush. Making a new one wouldn’t be too hard once she got home.

It took more time than she was used to, but she managed to wrap her climbing line around her waist. Her hands were shaking no matter how slow she went. It was just fear. She had to get out of the human house and get home. Once home she’d eat and get some water, then she’d be back to normal. This whole trip would become another bad memory. She took a few steadying breaths before finally taking the chance to explore. 

There were plenty of places to hide as she walked along. Tremors of footsteps reached her now and then, but she didn’t see any humans. Something smelled amazing, she let that direct where she went. She was starting to stray from the edges of the walls to find the good smell. The human’s voice was a low and almost soothing sound as she moved. She was starting to understand why some of her kind enjoyed living around these giant beings.

The tremors grew stronger and knocked her out of her daze. The human was walking around a brightly lit room. The good smell came from something in there. The human took steps near her, she couldn’t hold herself steady this time. He wasn’t paying any attention to her and that was all she needed. She ran underneath the closest object, pushing away the thoughts of how his ignorance could kill her. This room had food and she would get something to eat then find her way home. Assuming the storm was done, she hadn’t heard any rain since she woke up.

The human walked away. Alessia kept watching him move around. Something about his movements felt different from other humans. Usually they were always careless, just stomping around blindly. This one almost seemed soft. He stopped in front of a high human thing that reached his waist and moved some fabric that hung on the wall there. She gasped when she saw a blue sky appear.

The human moved something and she could smell the air from outside. She stumbled toward it, with a sky like that she could get home. The human turned away from the opening. Alessia knew she should wait, but there was no guarantee the human would leave her opening available long. She waited a few seconds for the human to turn again. Luck was taking her side as he focused on some big metallic thing.

Alessia ran forward, panting a bit as she reached an out of sight edge. She didn’t run out of stamina that quickly usually. She forced the thought away, that was something for later. For when she was safe. She pulled her climbing hook free. It took her a few attempts to start spinning it properly, the thing felt heavier than normal. She missed her first attempt to catch it on the high surface above her, and her second… and her third. If the fourth didn’t land she would have to find another way up. Thankfully it did, she tugged the string with all her strength, relieved it was caught.

Before climbing she looked at the human. She didn’t see his face, but his posture was tense. It made her shiver, that wasn’t something she wanted to understand. She started her climb up towards her exit. It was slow going, her hands still shook a bit as she moved. Her body felt heavy too. It took everything in her to even reach the top. She had to catch her breath once she was there. 

Dread started to worm its way into Alessia’s heart. She’d slept until the next day at least. Her hands were shaking and she struggled to do things. Sick… She was sick. She thought she just needed some water and food, but this was worse. She had no one to help her anymore. She had to at least make it home, she wouldn’t be able to do anything to increase her chances of survival in a human home.

Her mind cleared a bit with her realization. She didn’t bother curling up the string from her hook, dragging it behind her as she moved. Her best hope was to move before the human found a reason to. From the side of some weird metal thing filled with water she could reach her exit. Fear and dread gave her the energy she was lacking to spin the climbing hook in her hand before throwing it up to the exit. It caught on the edge on her first try. One tug was all it took before she started climbing.

“Salt!” the human exclaimed. 

Alessia tried to climb as fast as she could. The burst of energy was already fading. It didn’t matter that the human might not look at her, he could find her. She made it to the top almost unable to stay standing. She turned back to face the human, hoping to see him still not looking her way.

Instead she met those intense eyes locked onto her form. The human’s face looked stern as they stared at each other. She took a few steps back, but the human didn’t seem to like that. He started to approach her, but she wasn’t getting grabbed now. Not when she was so close. Alessia stumbled back, her foot meeting open air. The hook was still secured, her string was more than long enough to get her down from a height like this. She took a step further back and let herself fall from the window.

“Wait!” the human roared. 

Her ears were ringing from the sound. Humans were bad, she’d seen what they could do. She wasn’t about to wait for one like this. Not one who had a glare that burned her every time it rested on her near her home. She grabbed her rope to slow her descent, except the fear didn’t give her strength this time. She couldn’t slow herself well enough, landing hard on something much higher than the ground. It wasn’t hard enough to break anything, she’d be able to move soon.

At least she thought she would, but her whole body was in pain. Her vision was swimming and the sky started to look dark. It might have been the wrong time to run, she always forgot that the worst storms had a calm during them. Her parents had always tried to drill that into her mind. The darkness was coating the sky, she’d drown now or get too sick to make it home.

Heavy steps somehow reached her from where she was. It wasn’t the ground, but it probably wasn’t insulated like the tree or that opening in the house. She felt tears sliding down her face as the tremors grew worse. The darkness around her grew deeper when the human’s shadow cast over her. Even like this she could make out his glare and stern face. He was going to kill her for intruding. She should have just risked the flood and stayed where she was in the forest. It was better than a human crushing her.

A scream worked its way from her throat when hands came near her. In her imagination they paused, as if she could make a human stop. They eventually surrounded her, all the fingers were taller than her. She tried to say something, old threats her parents said could work. All that came out was a whimper. 

The fingers were gentle as they lifted her from whatever she landed on. It made her cry more as she thought about how much pain these digits would cause later. The human’s voice rumbled around her in a soothing way again. She wasn’t hearing wrong earlier, he wasn’t saying words just making a noise. It was nice… which made this worse. She couldn’t even get her body to curl up.

She made a noise of fear as a raindrop landed near her. The human’s gaze stayed fierce as he covered her with his other hand. She was trapped in darkness and forced to listen to the human’s voice as he moved. It was terrifying to be carried like this, the last thing she ever wanted. Humans carrying people off is how she wound up alone. Now she’d face the same fate.

“We’ll get you taken care of, little one,” the human mumbled. She tried to scoff. She’d be taken care of, just like her parents always told her. She hoped she got lucky and this one would kill her, she didn’t want to see the fates her parents refused to talk about. Her body decided to give in at that moment. Warmth surrounding her along with the comforting rumble. She closed her eyes with a faint wish for it to be the last time.

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

The next time Alessia woke up she was warm. Warmer than she’d ever been before. The only time she’d come close to being this warm was in the summer when her parents were around. Her body was still heavy and in pain, but she kind of liked this. It had to be a dream after the human killed her. The thing she was on was too soft for a human to give her.

“So I should dilute it in water?” the human’s voice echoed above her. “It’s a small bird, I’m positive it’s too warm. All right, thanks. I’ll let you know once I put it back outside. It just fell onto the compost bin.”

Alessia chanced opening her eyes. The human was hovering over her. That glare she didn’t want to see was focused on something near her. He had one hand holding a strange box to his head, the other hovered over a giant cup. She watched a drop of some weird colored liquid fall from something he held into the cup.

The human sighed pulling her attention back to his face. He looked angry. The clack of him putting the thing with a strange liquid down made her jump. He picked up a spoon and dipped it in the giant glass stirring the water inside. She didn’t want to know what he was planning with that. The strange box he’d had next to his face hit the table next to her making her squeak.

“Oh,” the human whispered. He leaned closer, his breath washed over her. It smelled like some of the herbs she collected sometimes. She wanted to run from his gaze, it was too intense. “I’m glad you’re awake. I need you to drink some of this water, ok? It should help you feel better.”

She pressed herself deeper into the soft thing. She didn’t trust the liquid. The human pulled the spoon out, getting just a little water on it. He held it out to her, she could smell something strange about it. She didn’t like the smell. Alessia scrunched her face up and tried to pull herself away from it. His other hand surrounded her, keeping her still.

“I promise once you’ve had this I’ll give you something that tastes a lot better, we need to take care of your fever,” he said. She wanted to hide from him. That gaze was too observant just like when he sat near her home. “Please…”

The spoon wasn’t leaving her vision. The fingers behind her kept her trapped. She accepted her fate and climbed to a sitting position. Once she was up mostly straight she leaned forward and sipped some of the strange mixture. She didn’t like that it looked like water, plus the taste was horrible. She coughed as it made its way down her throat. The deep chuckle from the human didn’t help her feel better.

“I hate the taste too, I’ll be right back,” he said.

She grimaced there wasn’t much of an option for her. She didn’t have her gear to climb, even if the human realized that’s what it was he wouldn’t give it to her. This was probably some weird poison that would give him a fun show of her death. At least that was better than having to be awake while he crushed her. Titanic steps rocked the surface she was on as the human returned to her.

He sat down in front of her again. The impact made her heart pound. He set a heavy dish down on the surface she was on. Her mind went blank, protecting her from any thoughts about what he could be planning. He had a new spoon, the one he made her drink from before was resting in the cup. He dipped the new one in the dish he brought. He pulled the spoon out, in seconds it hovered in front of her again.

The good smell from earlier wafted from the red liquid. She wanted to refuse it, but her empty stomach decided to remind her that she needed food. Accepting that the human would toy with her no matter what she leaned forward. At first she just tried to sip some of it, but the taste on her tongue was amazing. She couldn’t remember ever eating something that tasted this good.

“Slow down,” the human chuckled. Her cheeks reddened, but she listened to the deep voice. “I guess I was wrong about it needing salt after all.”

Alessia stopped then. She didn’t know what salt was, but she hated it. She was captured because he wanted it. She stared up at him, his face looked sort of soft for once. It became stern when he noticed she’d stopped eating. He pulled the spoon away, leaving it in the massive dish beside her.

The human sat back, it was the first time she realized he had been hunched over her. She looked around, they weren’t in the bright room anymore. There were openings like the one she’d tried to escape from. This time there was no smell of the outside, something kept her trapped despite seeing the sky clearly. It didn’t matter with the heavy rain blasting against the invisible barriers.

“Alright, I guess you should get some more sleep,” he said. The human stretched and stood up to walk off. She knew she was trapped, even if her body would listen there was nothing she could do to escape. “I’m Vitus, just let me know if you need anything.”

Alessia watched him walk around. He went all over the room, grabbing things as he moved. Each one was so much bigger than her. It felt like he was making a point to show how little freedom she’d have. Another squeak escaped her when he sat down again. His face darkened, but she decided to hide. She didn’t want to see what that dark look would turn into. She quickly buried herself in the warm soft surface. She heard another sigh from where he’d settled.

She wanted to stay awake and learn what he was planning. Once she knew she could start figuring out her escape. Although a part of her liked the warmth. The strange food was good too. Her eyes started to get heavy, fighting it wasn’t working. Her thoughts centered on the human poisoning her. She could actually never wake up again. Tears slipped out as her mind drifted to sleep, she didn’t want to die without knowing it.

“Wake up, little one,” the deep voice rumbled. She groaned, but something prodded her. She tried to slap it away, but her body was too heavy. She just wanted to sleep. “You need to drink some water, then you can go back to sleep.”

Alessia just made a few noises. It was hard to move her mouth. Light flooded her vision. She groaned as she blinked away the blindness it caused. The human’s face was above her. No matter how much she wanted it to be a dream this was real. The human actually looked relieved when she met his eyes. His hand came near her again, she was more alert and flinched from the approach. Another sigh blew past her.

“Am I really that scary?” he muttered. 

She didn’t bother trying to answer, just looked away from him. He brought a spoon with water in it near her. He still kept his hand close, but didn’t try to grab her. As much as she wanted to be difficult, her throat had started to hurt. She pushed herself up enough to manage to scoop some water into her hand. She took a careful taste, relieved when it tasted almost like the water she knew.

“There’s no medicine this time, just plain water,” he whispered. She glared at him, but the quick movement made her head spin. She decided to focus on the water instead. It was colder than she was used to, but it felt good. “Can you talk?”

She choked on the water. A finger rubbed against her back, but she jolted forward. It made her feel nauseous. She didn’t want to get into this. She didn’t answer, the finger came a bit closer. Alessia couldn’t remember what she’d been told. If it was better to hide that she could talk or if she should try and reason with the cruel giants.

Another heavy sigh. He brought his face close to her. He tilted it as he tried to get a better look at her. His eyes were still too intense. The look drove her insane. Her body was heavy, but she managed to push herself back. It didn’t make much of a difference when he was this big. He sat back with a groan, stretching his back out. It made all of this feel worse.

“You look human,” he mumbled. “At the very least you probably need something better to wear. I could call Felix…”

“N-No!” she shouted. The second the word escaped she regretted it. The human’s eyes were wide as he looked over her. New tears fell, she should have just let him show her off. It would be better than seeing what he had planned after learning she could talk. His stern face almost looked soft.

“I won’t call anyone if you don’t want me to. No one else is going to show up here either, you’re safe.” She didn’t believe the words. Humans lied. Humans that looked nice were cruel, ones that looked cruel could only be worse. “Could you tell me your name? Maybe how you’re feeling? Did anything break when you fell?”

One word was all he got. She wasn’t going to use his name and he would rename her anyway. If he kept her. Her mind shouted the words at her. He said something about releasing the bird he found, maybe she was the bird. The human let out another deep sigh that washed over her. He sat up straight and leaned back while staring at the roof. 

“The rain is supposed to last for a few days,” he said. She grimaced. “You felt pretty warm when I picked you up this morning. It’s probably best if you at least rest until it’s over.”

Alessia grabbed at the fabric around her. It was still warm, she couldn’t understand how it stayed so warm. She tried to push herself out of it. The human’s hands surrounded her in an instant. She froze, waiting for those fingers to close in around her. They didn’t, she was left with enough space to climb out, but she didn’t try, not after he reacted so quickly. He hadn’t even been looking at her.

“Don’t push yourself,” he whispered. She slowly looked up at the human. He had that same stern look. The intensity of his stare seemed to grow. Alessia gave up, falling down as she let her arms give out. Those massive fingers caught her, guiding her to the softer surface rather than letting her fall. She glared up at the green eyes. She hoped her own intensity matched his. 

There were a few minutes of her just glaring at the human. She kept it up even when he pulled his fingers away. His own gaze somehow grew more intense. Alessia kept trying to think of ways to get away. This human was too observant, he was going to notice too much. Her body still felt heavy and the aches had only dwindled. Even if she ran, the storm was raging against those invisible barriers. She closed her eyes, curling up on her side as she finally accepted her fate. She was trapped until the sky cleared, she just had to survive until then.

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

The next couple of days were a blur for Alessia. She tried to sleep instead of risking the human trying to interact with her. It didn’t do much to stop him. He’d wake her up to give her normal water and that water with a sickening smell that made her cough. He gave her the red liquid food a few more times too. She hated relying on him. If he forgot or got bored she’d starve. 

Of course it didn’t seem like the human would forget about her. He sat next to where he placed her constantly. He’d ask her questions all the time. How old she was, if she wanted his help to get home, how she felt, if the food tasted good. Endless questions. She knew once she spoke he’d just try to get information on other borrowers. She knew that she wouldn’t take that risk.

It wasn’t always questions from him though. Sometimes he made that same noise she’d heard when she tried to escape. It annoyed her how soothing it was. Other times he just said a bunch of words as he held one of those paper binded things. She never did learn the word for that. There were a lot of things she didn’t know the name of. It made his talking worse, she couldn’t follow a lot of what he said.

It seemed like weeks before she woke up with her body feeling normal. Better than normal actually. The aches were gone and she had more energy than she could remember ever having. She looked around for the human, almost screaming at his sleeping face nearby. It felt strange, the stern look was gone. He looked kind while he slept. Alessia shook off her curiosity, she had to run.

She followed the human’s shoulder to find his arm wrapped around the area she was in. His body kept her trapped on the surface, the only escape would include climbing over him. Accepting the situation with a heavy heart, she decided to wander the large space he left her. There had to be something to help her get out, at least to get water on her own. Her stomach grumbled reminding her the human hadn’t fed her in a while.

Looking for distractions she approached the arm blocking her in. She’d never been this close to a human, his arm was so much taller than her. She followed it like she would a trail of water, almost tripping over two things he’d left out. Water in one, food in the other. Her empty stomach and parched throat begged her to take from them. She wasn’t risking that. The human could have put something in it to punish her for walking around.

Forcing her eyes away from the dishes she looked at the human face. As long as she’s been alone she’s been strong and confident. She could keep that going when being near the massive head of a human. Moving her legs stiffly Alessia marched forward, stopping near enough she could touch his skin. At this distance she saw the bits of hair on his face. She looked around and saw something she didn’t expect. Her hook.

Carefully Alessia approached it. He wasn’t hiding it from her, it was out in the open. After each step she looked back at the sleeping face expecting that glare to meet her. That he’d see her going for the only thing she could use to escape. The only object she had brought on her trip that could be used for defense. She swallowed her anxiety as she took the last few steps to stand before it.

Reaching out with a shaky hand she pulled her hook close. She flipped it to grab the string that should be attached. Her mind froze when she met something thinner. It wasn’t the string she’d made with her parents. It was something else, something she’d never seen before. She needed that string, it was all she had of their time together.

Turning to face the human she tried to think of how to demand it.  Her mind wasn’t cooperating. She just had the last time she saw her parents playing on repeat. After all these years she never cried, never let herself fall apart. Now she was here, trapped, and the only thing left from them was gone. Tears slipped out followed by a loud and painful wail.

Alessia fell to her knees as she wailed. Everything was over, it didn’t matter how strong she could be anymore. The pain of her mistakes, her loneliness, and the truth of her future coalesced. She wouldn’t ever get home, she wouldn’t have anything to remind her of her parents. She wouldn’t climb the trees at night, holding the string they wove to her chest as she watched the stars. She wouldn’t watch humans, keeping an eye out for the one who left her behind that day. She’d be trapped.

The human sucked in a sharp breath. A part of her knew she should be afraid, she should run. Her overabundant pain kept her still. The intense gaze locked onto her, but she didn’t care. Large, warm fingers wrapped around her. The grip would grow harsh to silence her. The pain didn’t come, instead she was lifted from the table. The hold on her shifted just a bit before she was pressed against a broad chest. The thumping beneath her made everything worse.

One of those daunting fingers pressed against her back. A slow rhythmic movement was started. She hated it, but desperately needed it at the same time. The human didn’t make a noise as she continued her painful wails. It finally simmered to sobs as she felt the bits of anger bleed back in. Anger at humans fueled her for so long, she needed it now more than ever.

“I hate you!” she shouted. With all her strength Alessia pummeled the firm chest in front of her. The human hummed, the only noise from him since he’d woken up.

“That’s fine, I’d probably hate me if I were you,” he whispered. That only made her angrier. Empathy to trick her wouldn’t work. Humans would never understand. She squeezed her eyes shut. The image of fear on the faces of her parents when the human back then had first seen them. When they stared back at her as hands closed around them.

“You’re a monster!” The pleas to be let go. The heavy steps as they were carried away. The tears she shed, knowing that the human had found them because they saw her. Knowing her curiosity about humans did that. Knowing her parents were captured because they protected her.

“I suppose I am.” The calm way he spoke only made it worse. She heard the screams when that human silenced her parents. Never knowing if they survived that motion, if they made it where that human was taking them. Her attempts to attack the broad chest started to slow. Her tears came faster.

“Give it back!” Her voice cracked. The pride when they finished weaving the string. The smiles as she used it to climb up to where she’d usually watched humans. Sliding down when large eyes met her own. Her mother covering her with the cloak she always wore. “Give it back… It’s all I have.”

Her arms fell to her sides. She almost missed how her hands brushed the cloak. He didn’t take that. She put all the energy she could into glaring at the human above her, but he was staring at her. Brows furrowed even with the finger still gently rubbing her back. The face softened and the finger pulled away. He pressed her firmly into his chest, it was almost nice. It almost made her feel safe.

The moment of safety died as her stomach dropped. The human was moving, she could hear the fabric shifting. Each small motion felt like too much. She gripped the cloth. The human made a soft groan that rumbled through her. She didn’t know what he was doing. Hopefully he was throwing her away, then she could go home.

The first steps he took shot through her. It made her shout. The palm pressed against her a bit more firmly, the steps after were softer. She could hear him moving things. She wanted to yell at him to just let her go, but it didn’t matter. No one was waiting for her. No one would miss her.

The steps happened again, her stomach dropped when his height shifted. At least she thought that’s what happened. The fingers wormed between her and the broad chest, pulling her away from the cloth she’d held tightly. She wasn’t kept in the air long, set back on the table she’d been on for days. She stumbled to her feet trying to glare at the human.

“It had been cut when you jumped out the window,” he whispered. She couldn’t help mouthing the word, she had never heard it before. “I took it off you and that hook so I could set it out to dry.”

She stared with wide eyes when he brought his hand close. Hanging from his fingers, almost how she remembered it, was the string. The rope she wove with her parents. He didn’t make her walk towards it, bring it to rest right in front of her. She grabbed it and held it close, relieved that all she had left was still there. She didn’t lose her last link.

“I tried to fix it, there’s some sharp edges on the windowsill that cut the string when you were falling,” he said. She didn’t particularly love how much sense that made. She’d been unable to slow her descent back then. Even weak from fear it shouldn’t have been that bad. The human’s laugh rumbled around her. “I don’t think I did a good job, my fingers were too big.”

Alessia slid her hands over the woven string. She found where it had torn, the messy fix the human did. It shocked her how well done it was. She stared up at him, seeing him for what felt like the first time. He had a soft look in his eyes as he watched her. Knowing what she knew, the face wasn’t one she could trust. She almost wanted to.

“Why…” she said. The deep breath he took was enough to pull her forward. His massive fingers caught her before she fell to her knees.

“I didn’t want the threa-” he started.

“Why haven’t you killed me?” It shocked her that she could even cut him off. He stared at her, she tried to keep standing strong as his brows furrowed. 

“Why would I?” Somehow that comment only made her angry. She hugged the woven string tighter and stomped her foot.

“That’s what humans do! You take us and control us until you kill us! We’re lucky if you keep us alive for a little while! Use those giant hands to crush me already! Just kill me like that human did my parents!”

Tears rolled down her face as she said it. All this time she kept thinking that they might have survived. That awful crunch when their screams stopped. Watching them fall from the human’s hands as she followed. Seeing empty eyes once the humans were gone. She could pretend until now, until she had to face a human on her own. A human who wasn’t killing her.

His hand surrounded her and a sick hope popped into her chest. She didn’t want to die, but maybe he’d pity her. Not leave her alone. The fingers curled in surrounding her. She closed her eyes, trying to accept the outcome. Except the fingers weren’t hurting. There was a gentle squeeze, but the pressure was just kind. None of what she expected.

“That’s awful, it never should have happened. No one should do that to-” he tried.

“To something useful right?!” she shouted. The fingers squeezed her again. She sucked in a breath, but pain still didn’t consume her.

“No one should do that to another person.” 

“I’m not a human.” The human loosened his grip. She should have let him think he tricked her. “You can’t trick me.”

His hand was pulled mostly away from her. Alessia tried not to scream when the massive face loomed closer. The intensity of his eyes made her want to run. His hand came close and tapped her head lightly. The looming figure was gone quickly. She stared up at the man who looked deep in thought. He let out a hum that made her shudder.

“You do look a bit more avian than we do,” he said. She whispered the word to herself, this one she had no idea what it could even mean. The window thing was the exit, but this one… “Your hair feels strange too.”

Alessia forced herself to stand straight. She would deal with what the human did. If she dies she wouldn’t die begging. She would be silent. He wouldn’t get to have fun with her.

“Well… I can’t see a thing that makes you not a person.” 

“W-what?” she breathed. The human smiled at her. “I-I’m not a human! I’m…”

“A person doesn’t have to be human.” He leaned closer again. “Are you all on your own?”

“...yes.” She knew telling a human there was no one else would make it worse. Her parents answered yes too. The fingers surrounded her again. She held her breath, but for the first time she didn’t expect pain. The kindness she felt in the soft squeeze didn’t match humans.

“I see…” The fresh smelling breath wafted over her. “I can help you get home, or you can leave on your own. There is another option though.”

Her eyes snapped open as she stared at the human. It was the first time she wanted to use his name. She couldn’t remember it, she didn’t even try to. Asking would only make things worse for her future. This mystery third option would be what she had to take. He’d offer to keep her and she’d try to go home, but the human would stop being kind.

“You could stay here, although I’m only here for a few months now and then. I’m sure you’d be able to take care of yourself on your own. I could bring you back to my home. I do have a wife and son, you could hide from them if you wanted. They wouldn’t hurt you, they’d be kind to you,” he said. Alessia deflated. It was like she thought. Humans aren’t kind. He wanted to keep her.

“So you’re keeping me,” she whispered. The hand pulled back. She watched as the massive being pushed himself away from her. His heavy steps rumbled through the table he’d left her on as he walked. She hugged the woven string to herself. The human stopped far from her, she wasn’t stupid enough to try and escape. 

“No, you just have options.” She watched him raise his arms. She couldn’t see what he did, but some strange sound came from in front of him. He stepped back, turning to his side. Alessia gasped when she saw the invisible barrier had moved. The human walked again, stopping near her. “I’ll go to the living room, just come find me if you need me.”

Alessia stared at the human as he walked away. The door she assumed would shut was left open and she was alone. The options were real… She had them and could pick any. She could just stay here, it would be safer. No worrying about a storm destroying her home. She wouldn’t be stuck just eating herbs all the time. She might even get more of that warm red food.

He was still a human, how trustworthy could he be? What if his family hated her or wanted to control her? She hugged the string with all her strength, staring at the one he’d given her. It was thinner, probably stronger. Could she trust a human with her life?

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Vitus sat down on his couch with a small groan. He didn’t expect any of this to happen. He hadn’t done any of the work he planned to do this time around. All his focus was on the tiny person he found. A heavy sigh escaped him as he flexed his own hand. He hoped she would stay, but hearing what she’d been through those hopes were low.

He brought one leg up, resting his ankle on his knee. He didn’t want to be tapping his foot on the ground until he felt sure she’d left. The little woman looked younger than Felix. The time she must have spent alone terrified him. As an attempt to force his mind to stop, he reached for a book left out. Dabria had left it during the last time they all came out here.

He kept one hand on his lap with the book in the other. He kept moving the foot hanging over his ankle like he was tapping it. This was a better fidget than anything. The time he should let her be was hard to guess. He didn’t want to make her think he was going after her. The words on the page blurred together, there was no distracting himself. He leaned back his head to stare at the ceiling. 

Vitus closed his eyes and just tried to let his mind go empty. The image of the young woman crying in his hand stayed at the forefront of his mind. He didn’t want to make her go back to what sounded like solitude. She must live somewhere nearby, he could try to find her after. That would probably just scare her more. There had to be some way he could help.

“M-Mr. Human!” a soft voice called. He jumped up searching out the source of the voice. “I-I’m here!”

Vitus followed the call to his foot. He didn’t even feel her through the thick fabric of his socks and pants. He didn’t move, leaning forward seemed like it might lead her to fall. She didn’t need to be hurt again now that the storm ended. He tried to offer her a soft smile, but the tense way she stood told him more than enough.

“Just Vitus is fine,” he whispered. She jumped, but just nodded at him.

“Ok V-Vitus. If I chose to stay around you… would you take me back home first? To my home?” He decided to lean forward then, wrapping a hand around her protectively. Once he was sitting straight, he moved to have his palm open and flat next to her.

“I’ll take you if you don’t want to stay too.” She stared at his palm for a few seconds before climbing on. He noticed that hook she’d left on the windowsill resting on her back. It made him smile, he didn’t want her trapped without him.

“I… I live… I lived in a tree where you used to sit and stare at the ground.” 

“Alright, we can go now. If you’re ready.” The small woman nodded. 

Vitus didn’t waste any time. He brought her close to his chest and made his way to the door. A sigh managed to escape when he remembered the issue he had with his sneakers. He sat down, setting the palm with the small woman down on the floor. She stared up at him.

“Just need to fix my shoes. I never got the knot out.” The little woman scrambled off his hand like it burned her. He moved after her, freezing before he curled his fingers around her again. He couldn’t keep doing that to her, he could only grab her when it was necessary.

Vitus focused on his shoes. The first slipped on easily. The other posed an issue. He set it on his knee and started to work out the knot he couldn’t understand. He hadn’t gotten caught on anything that day. There were no animals and this didn't happen from the wind. His eyes went wide. Slowly he turned to face the small girl who had started shaking.

“You’re why it’s tied like this…” She ran as soon as the words left his mouth. She dove under a set of shelves he kept near the door. He frowned, but could understand her fear. “I didn’t even notice you… I’m glad I didn’t hurt you that day. Once I’ve fixed this, and you’re ready to come out, we can go.”

Fixing his shoe only took a few minutes. By the time he finished the small woman had come back, a bag on her back he hadn’t seen before. Vitus kept quiet and just offered her his hand again. She was more hesitant now, but still climbed on. He pulled her to his chest and stood. He left, shutting the door gently behind him. He would make sure she didn’t get overwhelmed.

The walk to where she instructed was quiet. This time of year the woods usually were. It was why he came out here to work. The small woman continued to fidget in his hand, but neither of them spoke. Once he reached the set of trees he usually sat by to think he stopped. There were no obvious signs of someone living around here. He flattened his hand to show her where they were.

The small woman pointed towards the tree he usually avoided, there was poison ivy near the roots. He nodded and stepped closer, waiting for another sign. She pointed towards what he’d thought was an owl or squirrel den. The life she lived seemed unbelievable the more he saw of it. He brought his hand up and held her in front of the hole in the tree. She jumped in and he smiled.

The woman poked out for a second, dumping what looked like dried grass from the bag. He frowned, the reasons she carried grass like that made him worry. Silence surrounded them, for a bit he thought she might send him away. He considered leaving, promising to come back around sunset. Instead the small woman appeared at the edge of the hole staring at him again.

“...what if they’re mean? Or try to hurt me?” she asked. It didn’t take him long to realize who she meant.

“Then I’ll stop them. Take you back here where you’ll be safe,” he said. She nodded, he should get around to asking her name.

“How do you… how do you know they aren’t like the other human?” Vitus pulled his phone from his pocket, already calling his wife. There was an easy way to show her how she’d act.

“I can show you.” He hit speaker just as the line connected.

“Vitus? Did that bird recover yet? I’m sure there’s a vet nearby you could bring it to,” Dabria’s voice came across clearly. The little woman backed away.

“She’s fine. Although, what if she wasn’t a bird?” The small woman hugged the pack to her. He didn’t even notice she held it.

“Well then she must be something pretty small if you called her one. Did you find someone else to let sleep on our couch sometimes?”  Her laugh echoed through the silent forest. Vitus gave the small woman a look, he hoped she understood it was asking permission. He received a small nod in return.

“Not so much the couch, more like a pillow. I met someone who’s been living on her own for a while out here. Small enough to fit in one hand.” There was a crash from the phone. Dabria had been multitasking again.

“What!? And you told me she was a bird?! I’m coming out there right now! Is she ok? Did you hurt her? Is she hiding from you? I bet you scared her with that glare of yours!”

“Why?” the tiny woman’s soft voice reached his ears. He stepped closer to the tree.

“I can’t believe you’d do that! What if I gave you the wrong information it could have hurt her. Is she really alright? Walking, talking, moving at all? Did she leave already? Did you give her anything she needed before she left?”

“Dabria calm down.” He laughed a bit to himself. He held the phone out to the small woman. Another silent question that received a small nod. “She’s with me now.”

“H-Hello…” The voice sounded strange with so much force behind it. Vitus brought the phone closer to her. She didn’t need to yell for them.

“Hello,” Dabria’s voice came out significantly quieter, “I promise he won’t hurt you. He just looks scary. Are you feeling alright? Do you need anything?”

“H-He… Vitus said I… I could live with you.” Another crash, this time the small woman stepped away. 

“Of course you can! I can get something set up for you right now. Is there anything you need? Where would you want to stay? Hmm, maybe we could repurpose one of the vents so you have a nice private spot.”

“...why?” This time the question reached the phone. Vitus could picture the face Dabria made once she heard that small voice. The warm look and hope to give the small woman a safe place.

“You should have a safe place to live, that’s all.” He heard some more noises coming from the phone. “Oh, we could always pretend you’re not here too! I’m sure you can take care of yourself.”

“What… what if a human tries to hurt me?” Vitus tightened his grip on the phone. She sounded her size for once. 

“Anyone of any size wants to hurt you, they deal with me first. Although Vitus might be the better one to go to, he looks scary to everyone.” The woman stared with wide eyes at the phone. Vitus pulled it back to himself.

“I’ll let you know what she decides to do, we’ll talk later.”

“Love you, oh! Wait, what's your name?” Dabria’s voice was back to her usual volume. Vitus stared up at the small woman. Her small brown eyes were wide.

“A-Alessia.” Her voice was quiet, he didn’t think Dabria heard.

“She said it’s Alessia.”

“Alessia. Ok, well you’ll always have a place in our home if you want to live with us. Bye.”

The call disconnected and Vitus laughed to himself. Dabria was a bundle of energy at the strangest times. He offered his flattened palm to Alessia, waiting to see her choice. There was no movement. Vitus left his hand for a few more seconds before starting to pull away. A small hand reached out to grab his finger. He moved his hand back up to wait.

“Can I bring my things?” Alessia asked. “To… to your home can I bring what I had here?”

“Alessia,” he smiled, “you can bring whatever you want. It’s going to be your home too.”

The small woman disappeared into the hole. Things started to appear on his hand. When she stopped he raised a brow at her. It seemed like no where near enough for how long she’d lived here. He looked into the house, a small bit of sadness hit him at how empty it was. It was just big enough he could reach inside.

“Is the rest too heavy for you? That is if you want to bring the rest?” He waited, relieved at the small nod. “Alright, I think I can fit my hand inside. Should I try? I might grab you with everything though. Do you want to climb out first?”

The woman nodded. He held his currently occupied hand up to her. She climbed out and then he fit his hand into what used to be her home. With as much care as he could he moved everything away from the walls. There wasn’t much left either way. Once it was piled together he scooped it into his hand and pulled it free. Vitus looked in, relieved to find the hole empty.

“Got it all,” he whispered. He looked down at her before moving his other hand close. He’d cut his trip short and head home today. “Are you ready?”

“I-I guess… you really won’t let humans hurt me? You’re not lying about being kind,” she asked. Vitus knew she was smart, that he could still be lying to her. He decided to bring her up to his face, to stare into her eyes as best he could.

“Alessia, would I go this far if I was lying? No one will hurt you, I won’t let it. You don’t have to trust all of us, not even me, but I’ll be keeping you safe from any humans you don’t want near you. Even Felix and Dabria.”

“O-ok… let’s go home.”

[awkwardgtace]

Alessia's New Fear

Well now I feel like I cheated in my answer to the ask game. Anon feel free to send it again for another wip lol.

More Mafia AU. A look at just why Alessia is so afraid to be near humans

TW: for blood, mentions of giants eating humans, uhh mafia au warnings. I'm so bad at this I'm sorry

Alessia's New Fear

Alessia kept turning to make sure no one was following her. Rhys would only cause the others trouble. Felix would tell mom and dad. She was the only one who could help and she was going to. She knew exactly what to do. Even if the others caught her she’d just lie until they left her alone.

She gripped the bag she carried tighter. Another pause to check around her, holding still when she saw some of the adults nearby. She wasn’t supposed to be playing in this part of the property. Mom and dad always said it was too close to the city. She didn’t think it would matter, she was going to be a hero like them when she was older. She could handle anything on her own.

The bush she had to crawl under finally came into sight. She grinned when her last search around her came up clear. She fell to her knees and made her way through the little tunnel she made. As soon as her head cleared the leaves the old toy castle came into view. It was one of the bigger ones that mom said she had to be careful with. That had been harder to sneak out here, but she managed it. Piece by piece.

She finished crawling through the bush and climbed to her feet. Carefully brushing off the leaves and dirt as she walked closer to the toy castle. It helped that mom and dad hadn’t been to her room lately. They might have asked where it was. She knocked on the drawbridge, waiting patiently for it to come down. Waiting was always the worst part.

As the bridge opened she smiled. It took everything in her not to bounce on her feet. A human with graying black hair poked his head out. She grinned, gasping and covering her mouth when she realized her teeth were in sight. It was hard to remember everything the man told her was scary, but she was getting there. She even managed to keep her voice softer most of the time.

The man stepped out and smiled up at her. She waited a bit impatiently for him to wave. Once he did she nearly fell to her stomach to see him better. He laughed at her excitement. When she first met him he would get upset about it. She was glad it changed. She tried to see inside the castle, to the others she knew were there. He said some were her age.

“Miss Kamia,” the man said. It pulled her from looking into the castle. She pulled the bag she’d brought in front of her.

“Alex!” she said. He shook his head, but the smile on his face stayed. “I brought bread this time. And I managed to grab some pieces of fruit at breakfast.”

Alessia started to empty the bag she’d brought. He told her she usually brings too much, but it was better than too little. She saw the way he brightened at the wrapped napkins. He went to them first, pulling them apart to see the bits of strawberries and melon she grabbed. The second he started to pull it back she picked it up. It would be heavy for him so she set it near the entrance and pushed it into the darkness. Where other humans were still hiding from her.

“Thank you, this is a great help,” he said. She had to force herself not to smile. She didn’t want to scare him this close. “You can smile, it’s clear you won’t hurt us.”

Alessia listened immediately. A big grin showing off her teeth graced her face. Unfortunately a shout from inside the castle made it fall. Alex was the only one who even trusted her. She’d seen faces a few times. No clear features. She wanted to know them though. She wanted to help these humans.

“You should head back before anyone notices where you’ve gone,” Alex said. She knew he didn’t want her there long, but she still had something to ask.

“Are you sure I can’t tell my parents about you? They’ll give you a real place to stay, not a toy. And make sure the others are healthy…” she whispered. 

That first day she found them had been awful. A game she made up brought her out here where she found Alex trying desperately to save someone. Alessia managed to bring bandages and medicine, but she still had no idea how much it helped. She hadn’t even seen the face of who he was trying to save.

Despite the faith Alex had he backed away from her. She asked every time and he got nervous every time. He stepped back until he was almost in the castle. She frowned, but accepted the result. She pushed herself to her knees. This time though he came forward again instead of immediately hiding.

“I know you want to help us. I know you say your parents will, but not all giants will be kind. Maybe once everyone is back to full strength I’ll go with you to talk to them,” he offered. She smiled and brought her hands close to him, remembering not to grab just before she made the mistake. She pulled away quickly, noticing the breath of relief he let out.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. She didn’t let it keep her down and focused back on what he said. “You’ll really talk to them? At least think about it?”

“I promise to think about it.”

“Pinky promise?” She held her pinky out to him. She was smaller than most giants her age. Even Rhys looked like he’d be taller than her. Times like this she liked it. He used both hands to grab her pinky. She moved it up and down slowly, smiling when they pulled apart.

Alessia went home after. Days like this continued, her sneaking food out for the humans. Rhys tried to follow her a few times, but she managed to get him to leave. Felix was a lot harder. He started to notice she kept grabbing fruits she didn’t usually eat and hiding them. If their parents didn’t keep him busy with lessons he would have found the humans. She was going to start having those lessons in a few years. Learning how to get humans out safely if they were given one.

Alessia shook her head as she made her way to the bush. Everyone was busy today, some important person was coming over. No one would notice her sneaking out to the bushes this time. She got on her stomach and started to crawl through, but something felt wrong. The tunnel in the bush wasn’t as clean as usual. Something smelled off too, less fresh than she’d grown used to. She didn’t smell the ones she’d noticed the most often either. One earthy and the other like apples. Alex said the others were getting adventurous now.

She swore her heart stopped once she saw the castle smashed to pieces. She didn’t smell blood and hoped that meant something good for the humans she’d been helping. Slowly she crept out the rest of the way. At first she thought they were all gone, but a shout caught her attention. At the edge of the small area was another giant holding a human up above their face.

Acting without thinking she tackled the other giant. It made the human fall, but she grabbed them in her hand before they hit the ground. The other giant had only stumbled, she hated being smaller than the others right now. She wanted to be older, bigger, stronger. She wanted to protect humans like the one she had in her hand. She tightened her grip a bit to make sure they didn’t fall.

“What the hell? I found it first, what's wrong with you?” the giant shouted. She heard that voice before, it was one of the kids of another family. She pulled her hands close to her chest, she’d keep them safe. She didn’t know which one had survived what happened, but she’d save them.

“This is my family’s property, the humans here were mine,” she said. She tried to sound scary and intimidating. She tried to think of her parents and be just like them. “Mom and dad let me keep them here. They won’t be glad that you’ve taken them from me.”

“Why don’t you try to stop me from taking that human back?” The giant finally came to tower over her. She was a full head shorter than them. It wouldn’t be easy to fight them while holding the human. She hadn’t even looked at them yet. She held just a bit tighter, she would keep them safe. “Can you shorty? You’re almost short enough to be a human yourself…”

Alessia backed away prepared for the worst. She would get out of this. The human would get out of this. She’d tell her parents and they’d find the family that took all the others. Her parents would save the humans. She tripped over the bush she’d climbed through so many times letting out a yelp and tightening her hold on the human more. She couldn’t let them get hurt. Her nails were digging into the skin of her palm with her tight grip.

“Alessia?” Felix’s voice was a lot more of a relief than she expected. He ran up to her just as the other giant climbed over the bush. Felix’s hands were on her shoulders as the other giant registered who he was meeting. “What’s going on?”

The cold voice was one she knew. He was mad. He was mad and willing to fight. He spared a glance down at her hands before looking at the giant she ran from. He pulled her to her feet, so much taller and only two years older. Her parents were huge too, she wanted to be like that someday.

“The shrimp stole a human I was given, just have her give it back and nothing happens. I won’t even tell my dad about this. You know your dad’s been trying to meet with him, wouldn’t want to ruin things,” she shivered from the giant’s voice. She pulled her hands closer to her chest. This human would be saved. Felix squeezed her shoulder before stepping forward.

“Seems more like you’re picking a fight. Alessia, why don’t you go tell mom and dad about the human they gave you getting stolen by a Sulvan. Should make things easy right?” Felix said. The cold tone made her nervous, but she had to get the human in her hands to safety. She nodded before running off. There was a shout before she heard what was likely Felix punching the other giant. Someday she’d be strong enough to fight someone like that and protect a human.

As she ran she finally looked down at her hands. They were red, she didn’t know why. As she opened them she realized how tightly she’d been holding. The human in her hands looked broken, but they were looking up at her. It took her time to realize it was Alex. The one who had finally started to trust her. She pulled her flat hands close to her chest as she ran.

In the house she didn’t bother with the study where her dad would be. He was meeting someone. She ran straight to her parents’ room where her mother was sitting at the desk. Alessia pulled her hands from her chest and shoved the human at her mother. There were a few seconds where nothing happened. She was panting while her mother stared at the broken figure who had fear painting his features.

As soon as the shock wore off everything happened too fast. Alex was pulled from Alessia’s hands while her mother whispered oh no and oh god. She was ushered from the room as her mother called for her father. She didn’t leave, using what she’d seen Rhys do to overhear. She had to know if Alex would be ok. He wasn’t that bloody before, but she didn’t… it wasn’t because of her right?

“Vitus, we need a doctor now!” her mom said. She heard her dad rummaging around the room. Cabinets and drawers closing. “Vitus!”

“Can you handle the meeting today? I’ll head to a human safe city. We’ll get him treated and set up now. There’s no way we can get him treated safely here,” her dad said. His voice was more commanding than usual. She flinched at the subtle anger in his tone. It would be directed at her. “There’s a town nearby, it should be fine to go there.”

“Vitus, they'll recognize you. What if they-”

“I’ll get him safe and get out. We’re not letting someone we could save die.”

The door was ripped open as her dad started to walk out. She didn’t see where he was holding Alex, but she knew he was. He glanced at her before storming away. It was her fault, she’d hurt him. She tried to save him, but only made it worse. Her mom noticed she was there, but Alessia ran before she could say anything.

Her room was her goal. She ran upstairs ignoring the call of her name. The front door shut, her dad would probably yell at her later. She deserved it. They were supposed to be the good guys. They were the heroes, but she was worse than the giant Felix got into a fight with. As soon as she reached her room she crawled under her bed. Another privilege to being small, most of her family couldn’t fit underneath like she could.

She waited for someone to come get her. To tell her how terrible she was, maybe even tell her she’s like the other families. Instead the first steps that came into her room were light and careful. Before she could try to hide Rhys was there, his curiosity clearly driving him. He was younger than her, but always knew how to find out information people wanted hidden. Felix was good at sewing. And she… she couldn’t even protect one human without hurting them.

Rhys crawled under the bed towards her. She tried to shimmy away, but she wasn’t as small as a human. She couldn’t get away that easily. Her brother reached her and wrapped her in a hug. It took a few seconds for her to wind up crying instead. He probably knew, Felix definitely knew, her parents were going to make sure none of the humans went near her now. That was better because she couldn’t hurt them.

“Felix made the Sulvan kid cry,” Rhys whispered. Alessia tried to stop crying, but it hurt too much. “Apparently he didn’t like picking on someone bigger. Dad called, the human’s getting treated.”

“...I hurt him, Rhys,” she whispered. Her little brother curled up how he used to, making her hide him from everything else. He knew it usually helped when she was upset. This time… this time it hurt more. “His name is Alex… can you go tell mom for me?”

Rhys nodded against her and started to leave. He stared at her for a few minutes. Finally disappearing. He threw her favorite stuffed doll at her before leaving. A hero from stories her dad told from where he grew up. The hero she wanted to be. She curled up as small as she could, leaving her toy forgotten.

The next time someone came to her room she knew it was her mom. No one else had steps that sounded quite like hers. Alessia tried to slide further into the darkness. She didn’t want to be yelled at or hear her punishment. It didn’t help when her mother’s eyes appeared straight ahead. She would never be a hero like her parents.

“Your friend Alex is going to be fine,” her mom said. Alessia nodded. “Why don’t you come out here and we can talk, ok?”

Alessia wanted to fight it, but she knew better. Her mom would wait all night if she had to. With one last muffled sob Alessia climbed towards her mother and away from her shelter. She stood the second she was out, her mother grabbed her hands. There was a small noise from the adult before a warm towel was rubbed against Alessia’s hands.

“I knew you hadn’t done anything other than hide,” her mom whispered. Seeing that she stayed sitting, Alessia joined her on the floor. She stared up at her mother’s face, a warm look that she didn’t think she deserved. The red she’d left on her hands was wiped away, revealing cuts she must have given herself. “There we go, I knew you’d cut your hands too. Too much blood to be just his injuries.”

“I thought I was saving him,” Alessia whispered. She was forced to face her mother.

“You did, he asked your father to tell you that. The one you grabbed him from was going to eat him.” Two hands held Alessia’s face still so she had to stare into her mother’s red eyes. “He was hurt, but he’ll live and that means a lot more.”

“He probably tried to tell me, or he would have if I didn’t say you gave him to me. I promised not to tell you, not until everyone was all better.” She was pulled into her mother’s arms. A tight hug that she didn’t deserve.

“Alessia, there wasn’t much you could do. You did save him, even if he got hurt. He was already hurt from the one you saved him from. We’ll just start you on the lessons we’re giving Felix now so you can be better prepared next time-”

“No!” She pushed herself away from her mother’s hug. She didn’t want to go near humans anymore. She didn’t want to hurt them again. “I’m not touching a human again! I won’t hurt them again!”

Alessia didn’t wait for her mother to say anything more. She crawled back under her bed, as far back as she could. She didn’t want to put humans at risk because she wasn’t good enough to protect them. Felix, Rhys, mom and dad could be heroes. She’d just stay away and make sure she wasn’t one of the bad guys they had to stop.

Her mother sighed. She waited for some lecture to pull her back out. Instead she was left alone as she turned around to face her mother again. The woman stood up and left. Alessia was left alone. She folded her arms and hid her face. She’d just hide out in her room until she was old enough to leave. Then she’d move away and not be a problem for her family either. She was too small to be a hero like them anyways.

She didn’t know how long it was before she heard the heavy steps of her dad. She curled up as small as she could. She heard him groan, probably as he sat on the ground. She didn’t want to see his angry face. He never got mad at them really, but she’d seen it in meetings. She didn’t want to see it now.

“I talked to Alex,” her dad said. She flinched, he sounded tired. Not angry at least. “He said you helped him take care of a whole group who’d escaped someone else. That you brought a big toy castle outside for them to stay in. Medicine, bandages, food…” 

Alessia chanced looking up from her arms. All she could see were his crossed legs. She couldn’t stop herself from crawling forward to try and see his face.

“He said that it had been going on for weeks. That you kept trying to convince him to meet us so we could help him.” She heard something in his voice. Usually she heard it when her dad talked about Felix playing the part of the future head, or Rhys and his spying. “He said you saved one of the kids he was taking care of. They would have died from the wounds the person they escaped from caused if you hadn’t found them all.”

She was close enough to the edge of her bed she could look up at her dad. His face wasn’t as angry as she expected. He looked tired, more than he normally did. His eyes were on her before she could back up again.

“He told me he wishes he believed you about us. That we’d help. He didn’t know what happened, the castle was destroyed and the others were screaming. He was given to someone else and held so tightly he could barely breathe. Next thing he knew you were holding him.”

He opened his arms to her. An invite for a hug. She was a little scared to accept it, but he didn’t look angry. Alessia finished climbing out of her hiding spot and moved straight into her father’s lap. He wrapped her tightly in a hug, resting his chin on her head.

“You did hold him too tight, but Alex would have died without you. We’ll try to find the ones who got taken away, but I told him it’s not likely we’ll find them all.” She nodded. That made sense. He pulled his head off hers and made her look at him. “I’m really proud you tried to help them. Next time, tell us even if they don’t want you to. We’d rather not force a human to let us help them, but we don’t want things like this happening again.”

Alessia just nodded. Her dad was right. She should have gone straight to her parents even though Alex begged her not to. Then all the humans would be safe. She just didn’t want to betray them. He pulled her close again and set his chin back on her head. She stayed there quietly.

“...I don’t think I could,” she whispered. Her dad hummed questioningly. “I don’t think I could tell you even if I know they might get hurt. Wouldn’t that be as bad as grabbing a human?”

“You’ll understand as you get older why it’s better to tell us, for now we’re all going to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” His hold on her got a little tighter. It made her feel safe. “We’re going to build a fence around the property. Leaving human sized entrances placed at the base.”

“What if they need things? Like bandages… or food?” If humans could be safe without any of their help she’d be happy. She had no idea how many humans had been with Alex, but if they didn’t need her they would have been safer. She liked this idea.

“Well, that’s why I’m giving you an important job.” She gasped, she didn’t want to be near humans. She’d just hurt them. She couldn’t get how broken Alex looked out of her mind. “You’ll know best what a human who ran would need. I want you to make packages to leave near all the entrances for humans to use. Anything you think they could need, gets put at those entrances. Small safe zones for any humans on the run.”

“I… Felix should do it. He can keep humans safe…” Her dad pulled away again. She looked up at him on her own. His face was soft, he only looked at her, her brothers and her mom like this. Others never saw it.

“This is a job only you can do. We’ll talk about it more once we’ve started building the fence, but this is how we need you to help Alessia. Will you try?”

“...I’ll try…”

Vitus hugged his daughter tighter. She’d been through more than enough. There was a lot he got to hear from the man she’d saved. How she’d been visiting daily and bringing anything he asked for. That she’d bring whatever she thought might help. The way she managed to make even the kids her age calm enough to leave the shelter she’d given them. Alessia was kind… So kind he wished she was being raised in his hometown.

They sat together for a long time. He just kept her held in his arms. Once she fell asleep he climbed to his feet and tucked her into bed. As he reached the door he looked back at her. He could see the marks from her tears still on her face. This wouldn’t be something she moved past easily. When he made a mistake around her age he’d been reluctant to go near humans again too. It was easier for him, he wasn’t in a city like this.

Vitus sighed as he turned off the lights and shut the door. As he walked away he checked on Rhys and Felix. Both had fallen asleep long before he came home. He didn’t think Alessia would be awake either. He was proud of Felix for defending Alessia and Alex, but the fight was going to need cleaning up. Rhys apologized for not spying well enough, he didn’t want his son thinking like that. Sometimes he did regret the choices he and Dabria made. Bringing innocent kids into this mess.

“Mr. Kamia, Sir,” someone called out to him. He stopped, staring at the shorter giant as he ran up. “There’s a call for you. In your office. They said it was important.”

Vitus nodded and made his way down the stairs. He passed his room, Dabria was curled up unable to sleep. Too worried about Alessia. He shut the door to his office as he entered. He’d probably work all night. He needed to get that fence set up. He fell heavily into his chair before picking up the receiver.

“Hello,” he said. He realized only now he didn’t ask anything about the call. There was no idea of who he was talking to. The reason they could be calling could be too many to name.

“Is this Vitus?” a muted voice asked. He couldn’t recognize it. “I’m sorry sir, there was no last name on the information you left us at the hospital. This is Vitus right?”

He sat up straight. “Yes. Has there been a change?”

“We just wanted to update you. The patient has woken up and is stable. He’ll have to stay for a few weeks while he heals. It does look like he’ll make a full recovery. There will be a need for some physical therapy. I just had a few questions. You said there had been an accident, but the wounds don’t coincide-”

He ended the call before they finished. There was someone who’d arrive as the human’s family and give him a safe place. He’d make a full recovery, Alessia hadn’t done lasting damage. At least that was something he could tell her. Then… then he’d just have to hope time made her willing to get close to humans again. 

[awkwardgtace]

Interesting Sample Part 1

Heyy finally getting a bit more fore the mafia AU.

This time we get to learn just how the human Ryder wound up with the ruthless Kamia family. And how he got to stay with them.

TW: Some dehumanization, broken bones, panic, blood, references to giants eating humans

Part 2 , Part 3(Final)

Interesting Sample

Ryder ran as fast as he could. A foot stomped down just barely missing him. He almost lost his balance, but managed to turn it into a dive under a chair. He was breathing heavily as the weight of the man chasing him slammed into the ground. Ryder scrambled back to try and get any distance from the giant. A scream escaped him as the chair was roughly thrown to the side.

“Fucking brat,” the giant said. Ryder flinched at the loud voice. He climbed to his feet planning to run again, but a hand slammed down on him before he could. He screeched when he thought he heard something crack. “So much for making it worth my while agreeing to take you along.”

Ryder had to focus on breathing. The pain was only in his arm, he could overcome that. He just had to wait for the idiot to move to pick him up. Then he could run again, at least hide until things settled down. He was smart enough to get away.

“Sir!” someone called. The same someone who ratted him out. All he did was steal a little of the fancy food the jerk holding him down bought. It wasn’t even noticeable, but he acted like it was the end of the world. He just wanted something other than the stale food the giant normally left out for him. “The eldest Kamia kid is coming!”

Heavy steps made Ryder jump as the other giant came out. He didn’t need to see the traitor’s face to know there was a confident smirk. It wasn’t Ryder’s idea in the first place to take some. Stupid assistant said it would be fine. The hand around him grew just a bit heavier. It made him gasp for air.

“Maybe you can make up my investment in you after all,” the heavy handed giant said. Ryder’s eyes went wide as the fingers curled in around him. He wasn’t getting a chance to run this time.

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

Felix kept a bored look on his face as he walked down the street. A few new stores popped up recently and his dad asked him to see just what they were selling. There’d been some rumors that even the other families weren’t happy to hear. His mom would be handling it, but he was finding the proof. The newcomers liked to think he was just a dumb kid who wouldn’t know any better.

So far none of the stores had anything obviously wrong. A few he knew his parents would target later. Clear them out and get the humans to safety. He wanted to do something more to help when he was older. He’d find some way to be useful.

“Hey little Kamia,” a voice called. It was different than any he was used to hearing. ‘Little Kamia’ certainly wasn’t a name he’d heard before. A rather short stocky man ran up to him. There was a small box clasped in meaty hands. It didn’t leave a good feeling in Felix’s stomach.

“Can I help you?” Felix asked. The man leaned in close with a conspiratorial smile. It made him angry. Adults who treated him like this were never up to something he wanted a part of.

“I just opened a business here. Selling only top of the line goods. I was hoping you could give your father a good word after getting a view of what I have.”

Felix narrowed his eyes. The box in the man’s hands seemed a lot smaller than it did at first. Too small for what was implied. Felix just gave him a small nod waiting for the presentation of his stock. The man seemed almost giddy as he opened the small box. Inside was someone who shouldn’t be there.

Ryder should have known other humans wouldn’t help him. Being gagged and tied didn’t make this whole situation better. It was even worse knowing they pitied him. They still tried to cushion his arm. Of course the jerky giant would keep the other humans in the place hidden from him until now. He was just an example of what happens when you misbehave. Apparently this time it was being given to some random giant kid.

Golden eyes glared at him and made him wish he could say anything. Huge fingers reached forward, it seemed like they could dwarf the hand that crushed him earlier. Fingers as wide as he was tall pinched his sides. The giant kid plucked him from the box like a toy. At least he hoped it was a toy. The eyes he was held in front of seemed to bleed a different idea.

“What exactly are you showing me? This one doesn’t seem to be worth even half price,” the kid said. Ryder had tried to ignore the discussion about what he’d cost. He managed to turn enough to see the cruel smile of the man he’d been entrusted to. He might have actually been sold to him based on how things were going, and how far his old town was by now.

“He’d be a good treat, fun toy for a good kid too,” the jerk of a giant said. Ryder started to struggle hearing that. He knew he should keep his arm still just in case he survived, but he had to escape. He wasn’t getting eaten alive. The hand holding him started to move. The fingers tightened just enough to hold him still, the care in the way he was held firmly was cruel. “Been trouble, I don’t suggest keeping him. Why not give him a taste?”

He was brought up and up until he was met with the giant mouth. He tried to scream around the gag they’d placed in his mouth. There was no luck in freeing himself. The gargantuan tomb just came closer and closer until he was released into the gaping maw. Ryder kept trying to fight as the tongue pulled him in. All the light disappeared as the lips closed, his death almost guaranteed.

Despite knowing he wouldn’t escape he kept fighting. The muscle moving him around would hopefully hurt later. Although it was a lot bigger than him. He was pushed around until he was set under the tongue, but still safe from the giant’s teeth. From where he was held he could see as the giant placed their tongue on their teeth and bit down slightly. The blood from the self inflicted injury coated him a bit as well.

The tongue continued to move him around the mouth. Ryder was pushed back a bit, but still kept under the tongue. Light filtered in from the now open lips. He managed to move enough to see the tongue lick the sharp teeth that apparently spared him.

“Interesting taste,” the giant said around him. The voice was loud and hurt his ears, but it was probably better than dead. He couldn’t see anything, but felt the sigh blow over him. “We do like troublesome humans, does this cover what you want for him?”

“For you little Kamia, you can have him. Consider it a free sample, I have a few more like that too,” the one who gave him away said. Ryder was frankly insulted. He was definitely more than just an interesting taste or a sample. Although if being an interesting sample kept him alive he’d take it.

“I’ll make sure my parents know.”

Ryder was trapped in darkness again. He could feel the steps of the giant as he moved. He could keep struggling and trying to free himself. It seemed like a bad plan. He wasn’t killed, he was probably just saved for something later. He’d known giants that were better towards humans in his old town. Before he wound up with the creep of a shop owner. This one at least probably wouldn’t kill him. Maybe.

Ryder was hot and uncomfortable where he was being kept. The tongue rested heavily on him, which at least kept him from getting near the teeth or the throat. Each of the giant’s steps made him bounce despite the weight above him. He tried to imagine himself being anywhere else, but the small pooling of drool that was regularly cleared out with a loud swallow made it hard. Eventually he was moved roughly followed by the giant sucking in a deep breath.

Ryder hadn’t been prepared for that. He tried to hold his own from the sudden deprivation of oxygen. It wasn’t doing much, his chest was already starting to burn. He squirmed to try and get the gag off again. It would help… maybe. The giant quickly exhaled, this time pushing Ryder closer to the front of his mouth. The sharp teeth were close leaving him with a fear of what was going to happen next.

The mouth was opened wide and he stared across to a brick wall. His view was blocked as massive fingers reached in, covering him in shadow. The same ones that grabbed him earlier pinched his sides again. He was pulled out just barely avoiding touching the sharp fangs. It took all his self control not to immediately try to get free again. He’d survived the giant’s mouth; he could wait until he could run.

Ryder was carefully set on a palm. It was the first time he got a good look at the giant. He’d never seen golden eyes before, he wasn’t one to talk when his own were silver. He didn’t like the glare on the giant’s face. Fingers clamped down around him, he couldn’t move at all. He tried to struggle, letting out a muffled scream when his broken arm slipped.

“It’s ok,” the giant whispered with a squeak to his voice. Any other time he would laugh at it. The other hand blocked his vision, a single finger coming near his face. Ryder tried desperately to free himself. A sharp claw touched his skin and dragged across his face. The tape holding the gag in place was lifted by the finger. In a strange show of deftness, the giant removed the tape completely.

Ryder was flipped on his stomach by those fingers. At first he wanted to be patient, but the hot breath on his back changed his mind. He tried to struggle despite the flaring pain in his arm. The fingers around him tightened before he’d made even imaginary progress. There was a sigh before he was moved closer. He felt the sharp teeth graze along his spine. A clack of them meeting made him shudder. Then he was pulled away.

He was turned again. There was still a glare on him, but he wasn’t as bothered by it. Fingers blocked his vision again, but they just pulled away the ropes holding him. He stared up at the giant unsure what to do. He didn’t like not knowing.

“So,” his voice came out hoarse, “what next?”

Felix almost dropped the human in surprise when he talked. None of them ever spoke to him after he’d faked eating them or had gone through with tasting them. If they did it was just begging for their lives. After hurting himself to make whoever sold them or gave them to him believe they were gone it was always painful. He knew what he looked like, who his family was, but he tried to be like his parents. He wanted to help humans, just like they did.

“I take you home,” he said. He’d never known what to tell them. Usually he would just walk off once they were out of his mouth. Usually they weren’t tied up and gagged.

“What then?” the human asked. “Am I a pet? A toy? A tiny servant?”

“Of course not!” Felix jumped at his own voice. He ducked down to hide more in case anyone heard him. He’d almost forgotten he was still in public. “We get you out of this place, somewhere things like this won’t happen.”

“Right, sure.” The human curled in on themself.

Felix just sighed. He took a minute to really look at the human in his hand. They seemed short compared to the others he’s held. He brought his hand closer to his face. Their clothes were ripped and seemed to have blood on them. Judging by the scent it was mostly the human’s blood. He scrunched his nose up, but still brought the human even closer.

Their skin was dirty and pale. He couldn’t see their eyes well. The position they sat in made it hard to make out much of their face. It seemed an odd position. His eyes went wide when he noticed they were shielding their side.

“Did… I hurt you?” Felix asked. His voice was barely a whisper. After all this time he messed up.

“It was the guy who gave me to you. Took a bit of some fancy food he’d left out. Guy almost crushed me, just broke my arm instead,” the human whispered. The voice sounded close to tears. “Changing your mind?”

“No… We just need to hurry then.”

Felix didn’t wait for a response. He curled his fingers tightly around the human and ran off. He had to get home. His parents would know what to do. They would call someone to take care of the human’s arm. Until then he’d keep them safe. He stuffed his hand with the human in his pocket and focused on keeping his concern hidden.

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

Ryder didn’t enjoy the ride around in a pocket. It wasn’t as bad as it could be since he was still held. Getting knocked around with a broken arm seemed a sure fire way to make it worse. The hand holding him didn’t actually hurt, it was kind of nice. He’d heard the giant talking a few times; he tightened his grip on Ryder every time.

He was pulled from the pocket and into the light. It was almost as bad as when the sun blinded him after the box. This time he was held against a chest. He couldn’t look around, but it was a lot quieter now. He wanted to trust the giant holding him. Others he met weren’t gentle when holding him like this.

The sound of a door pulled Ryder from his thoughts. The hand holding him flattened a bit. He got a nice view of a place that seemed bigger than any building he’d ever seen. There were fingers blocking some of his view, but he managed to see a massive couch. Someone was sitting on it, but he didn’t care about that. He tried to take in more of the room.

A huge staircase led to another floor. It felt like the place would topple if a bunch of giants were all up there. He pulled his eyes from that and passed over a set of double doors. He’d sneak in there if he got the chance. There were exits to more of the house, along with a single door to the left. Somehow the door gave off a vibe of danger. He didn’t want to go near that one.

“Felix,” a loud feminine voice said. Ryder just nodded to himself, he knew the giant’s name now. He saw the person sitting start to stand. Then watched her keep going up. She was taller than any giant he’d ever seen. He dug his fingers into Felix’s skin. “How did it go?”

The massive woman came towards them. It seemed like her steps were lighter than the shorter giant holding him. That sounded more like his imagination. He managed to catch the moment she noticed a human. There was an awful feeling when her eyes locked on him, and shiver he couldn’t avoid under the intense stare. Felix didn’t try to hide him. Ryder was out in the open with an angry giant glaring at him.

“Where?” her voice seeped with anger. Ryder curled up to try and hide behind the fingers around him. It didn’t work when she stepped even closer towering over him and Felix.

“The newest shop, the last on the street. I was given a sample ,” Felix spat out. The fingers around him curled protectively, he was starting to like this Felix guy. He might try to find a way to stick around. It actually seemed like there would be an attempt to keep him safe.

The woman disappeared from above him. Her steps were heavier now, more like what he’d expected after she stood. It was almost horrifying how clear they felt in Felix’s hand. The woman looked different by the time she towered over them again. Like death in the flesh.

“I’ll be home late tonight. I’ll see you in the morning, bring the human to your father,” she said. Ryder saw the door open up behind Felix and just like that she was gone.

Felix was on the move again. He was along for the ride as the giant approached the door he’d decided was bad. He tensed, fully considering jumping from the more open hand. He’d probably survive at this height, humans were durable. Then he could figure out a place to hide.

“It’s just my dad, you’ll be fine,” Felix mumbled. That comment was quite possibly the least reassuring thing that could be said. Let’s go meet the dad of the Kamia family. He didn’t know who the Kamias were or why their family mattered, but if the jerk of a giant he was with before liked them then Ryder couldn’t.

All his opinions on the matter didn’t get voiced. The gaps in the fingers surrounding him closed. Felix paid too much attention. Ryder did get a nice view of the dangerous door opening. A white ceiling plus the sound of writing. He didn’t like it, writing had yet to mean something good for him. Usually it was showing the countdown until he was let out of a jar or a box.

“Dad,” Felix said.

The writing stopped, so did Felix. The fingers hiding him didn’t move though. He heard the creak of a chair from somewhere in the room. A second later he felt the impact of something heavy. The impact continued in a rhythm he knew well, someone was walking. Ryder just stared up until a giant as big as the woman came into his view. This one embodied one word. Intimidating.

Before speaking, the new one actually looked down at him. He wilted under the stern expression. It got worse when the protective fingers around him started to flatten. Immediately followed by the massive giant crouching way too fast. He was still towering like this, but now Ryder couldn’t even pretend to hide.

“You’re young,” the new giant said. His voice was loud and commanding. Ryder just nodded he didn’t think he could get away without responding.

“His arm is broken…” Felix said. Ryder’s blood ran cold as a look of anger appeared on the new giant. The gaze started to shift to Felix. He didn’t know what to expect, but he wasn’t about to let someone get blamed when they saved him.

“The guy who tied me up as a sample did it!” he shouted. The fingers around him curled up again followed by the angry face staring down at him. He had to force himself not to try and squirm to hide beneath the fingertips. A heavy sigh escaped the new giant.

“We’ll be taking care of him, Felix-”

“Wait! What do you mean take care of him? He has other humans, what's going to happen to them!?” For a second it looked like the other giant softened. White hair fell into the giant’s face as he leaned forward.

“The humans will be safe, Kamias don’t hurt humans. I’ll find a doctor. Felix get him set up somewhere safe.”

As the giant stood and started to walk away Felix pulled him close. He looked up to see a much softer gaze than he expected. He was carefully held close to Felix’s chest as the giant started to walk again. He could hear the sound of the other’s voice as he was brought somewhere.

“We’ll go to my room,” Felix said. Ryder just nodded.

He didn’t get to look around as they walked this time. He didn’t mind it, if there were more overgrown giants he didn’t want to meet them. He was starting to get tired. Everything had been hectic since he woke up this morning. All for some lousy food he didn’t even taste much of. He closed his eyes, letting the rhythmic steps relax him.

[awkwardgtace]

Interesting Sample Part 2

Continuing Ryder's first meeting with the Kamias

TW: Some dehumanization, broken bones, panic, blood, references to giants eating humans

Part 1, Part 3

Interesting Sample (continued)

When he opened his eyes he wasn’t in a hand anymore. He was on something soft, it was the softest thing he’d ever felt. The cloth beneath him was smooth too, like the silk he’d felt a few times in the store. He sat up, half expecting to be hiding in a box back with that creep. Instead he found a giant room filled with fabric.

All around were different colors, the most prominent were gold and bronze. He didn’t see Felix or the two insanely big giants anywhere. Ryder tried to stretch, but his arm flared with pain. He let out a yelp as soon as it happened. A grumble that followed made him freeze. That voice didn’t sound like Felix. He just had to hope the giant had a massively different voice when he woke up.

A shadow rose up over him. Somewhat darker skin than the others, pink eyes and salmon hair. He didn’t trust that this one was going to be as relaxed around him. The latest giant lifted a hand up, Ryder flinched, but it didn’t reach for him. Instead he watched the hand move to meet one of the pink eyes as the giant rubbed it.

“Felix decided to get some food and stuff for you,” he said. Ryder didn’t say anything back. “Dad said he found a doctor that agreed to come. It’s just taking a while to get her here. She said not to move a lot until she gets here.”

Ryder nodded. The latest giant huffed and loomed over him. All he could think of was if the giant slipped. That weight falling on him would make sure there was more than just one broken bone to take care of. It wasn’t long before the giant’s form was gone. He didn’t feel a bounce like he expected.

“So do you have a name? Felix said he didn’t know what to call you, but he doesn’t ask for names. Something about better to avoid making humans think we’re planning something. I don’t believe him. He just thinks the humans are gonna be scared when he talks.”

“You talk a lot,” Ryder said. The giant’s face was over him with a grin. Sharp teeth on full display, but oddly it made him smile back. The idea one of them would eat him was starting to feel insane. “Ryder.”

“I’m Rhys. How old are you? You look younger than me.”

“I could be older. No way you can see me well enough to tell from up there.”

The grin on Rhys seemed to grow as a glint appeared in his eyes. Ryder was immediately filled with regret for saying anything. The giant moved more until the pillow he was on was between two towering arms. The massive face started to come closer. All he could think to do was dig his fingers into the cloth beneath him. It was the first time he realized how hard silk was to grab. The impossible face stopped just close enough Ryder could touch it with his fingertips.

The speed it was gone was almost worse. Rhys disappeared, a loud thunk resounded as the giant hit what had to be the floor. Ryder waited for what came next. A bigger hand snatching him away seemed the most likely. Instead he heard a thoughtful hum near him.

“Yep I was right, you don’t look that old. Probably ten,” Rhys said. He sat up to stare at where the giant had disappeared to. A smirk met him when he moved enough to see him. “Am I right?”

“No,” Ryder said. He would like to be a lot older. Already an adult and on his own. He’d be trusted when he spoke out about things. Like how he didn’t believe the claim that he had distant family his parents never mentioned. That the giant they said was just someone they hired to take him to a really far city for that family to take him in didn’t seem prepared to travel with a human. That leaving his things behind sounded dumb when most giants could fit entire rooms of furniture in a pocket. “I’m only eight.”

“Wow…” Rhys’s face hovered over him again. This time the giant looked sad yet a bit excited. “I thought you were older than me, but I’m older than you.”

“Does it matter that you’re older? Yo-”

“Course it does. It means that I have to be extra sure to protect you from anyone who’d hurt you.” Ryder tilted his head. He wasn’t sure the other even knew he’d been cut off. “Felix always says I need to leave the older humans alone. They’d get annoyed that someone younger was protecting them. You’re younger than me so it’s ok now!”

“Protect me…”

Rhys nodded his head with a big grin. Ryder was just confused. No one protected him anymore. Not since his parents died. A giant being the one to declare it didn’t sound right. Trusting the giant felt natural, but he was trying to fight that. He looked away from the excited face to stare down at his hands. This was the first time he doubted his gut instincts about someone.

“Rhys,” Felix said. It made Ryder jump. He hadn’t even noticed the footsteps of the other giant. “What are you doing in here?”

“I heard you talking to yourself. Also dad on the phone to humans. It made me curious about the human you hid in your room, plus he smells weird,” Rhys said. Knowing Felix hadn’t just left him alone with a random giant made him feel warm. “Besides, if you left him alone he might have gone exploring without you knowing and gotten hurt.”

“I’m sure he’s smart enough not to do that.” The looming giant above him was gone in an instant. A loud thud followed the disappearance. “Besides I doubt you hovering like that is any safer than if he walked on his own.”

“Hey!” Rhys was on his feet and leaning over him again in an instant. “I’m helping. Besides I actually asked his name unlike you.”

“Right of course. I forgot I’m supposed to ask for someone’s name right after they thought I’d eat them! Introductions aren’t the first thought for anyone after that.” 

“It’s not like anything else that’s going through a human’s head is better! Plus you could apologize for having bad breath!”

“I don’t have bad breath!”

Ryder just watched the two argue. Felix’s face appeared over him after a few seconds. Despite them being giants, both were keeping their voices soft. There was a strain in their tones, he knew they wanted to yell. It started to seem funny. Eventually he just laughed. The voices above him stopped, but he couldn’t stop laughing.

As he laughed, two faces wound up in front of him. Equal looks of concern and confusion in front of him. It made the whole thing funnier. The two giants were quiet as they listened to him laugh. Then he saw smiles that were followed by laughter of their own. He hadn’t laughed so much in a while.

Things were calmer after that. Felix even asked his name. The two asked him a lot about how he got there. He didn’t tell them much besides leaving a town a long trip from the one they were in now. That he’d never heard of giants eating people until he was offered in a box. It was actually fun to talk with them. At least until he heard one of their stomach’s growling.

“Oh right, I forgot when I saw Rhys in here,” Felix said. 

Ryder watched him walk away. It felt weird knowing the table he was on mitigated their steps so much. When the giant came back he had a plate in his hands. Ryder’s heart raced, the idea of what could come next in his mind. The plate was set down next to Ryder’s pillow, giving him a solid view of more food than he could imagine a person eating.

“Why did you bring so much? It’s not like he could eat much of anything you brought,” Rhys asked. Felix had a red tint appear on his cheeks that made Ryder curious.

“Ryder you said that the shop owner hurt you because you took some food he had,” Felix cleared his throat before continuing, “I thought it would be nice if you could pick from a lot when you got hungry.”

That choice didn’t seem to matter when Rhys reached over him and grabbed something Ryder barely processed off the plate. It was held near him, something that smelled incredibly sweet. He tried to scramble back, especially to get a look at the giant’s face. There was just a smile and the weird pastry was brought closer again.

“Try this one!” Rhys said. Ryder’s heart was pounding. “Oh wait.”

Ryder watched as Rhys pulled the pastry back. Staring as the giant only a few years older than him took a bite from it. That one bite was so much bigger than him. The pastry was held in front of him again. A sweet smelling cream was visible now. He jumped when a smack sounded, the pastry falling next to him as Rhys pulled his hand back to rub his head. Felix glared at the younger giant.

“Rhys,” he hissed. Ryder jumped when Felix shot a look at him. His skin crawled as pink eyes landed on him, then drifted to the pastry.

“...oh right,” Rhys whispered. “Sor-”

A door slammed, cutting Rhys off. It might not have slammed, but it was loud enough Ryder flinched. Both giants in front of him froze up before turning around. The white haired one was standing there. A stern look on his face like before, but his hand was held to his chest. The earthquake steps he couldn’t ignore started as the impossibly big giant walked forward.

“Go downstairs,” he ordered. There was a visible sign of hesitation in both Felix and Rhys, but they left anyway. Rhys grabbed the pastry before walking off, shooting another sad glance towards Ryder. “Shut the door you two.”

The click as the door shut was deafening. Ryder was left alone with a giant who seemed to glare at everything. Heavy steps came close, the pillow kept him safer as they reached him. The white haired giant set a hand, knuckles down, on the table. Ryder had massive fingers surrounding him before he could think. They tightened, but the hold was gentle despite the massive size of the fingers and palm around him.

Ryder was released on the table near the intimidating giant’s other hand. He saw a woman pulling things from the massive palm. Once the last item was gone both massive hands were pulled away, but the giant didn’t leave. He sat down making both Ryder and the other human bounce. The shadow loomed over them for only a few seconds more. Massive arms rested on the table followed by that huge head laying on them. Stern eyes stayed locked on Ryder. The giant looked sort of funny with his back hunched over to rest his head on the low table.

“Well then,” the human woman said. She approached Ryder with a tense smile, it was clear she wasn’t ready for the feeling of a giant watching them. “I’ve been asked to come see you. You can call me Laura, what should I call you?”

“Ryder,” he said. He kept his voice quiet. She nodded at him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen an actual doctor. 

“And how old are you?” 

“Eight…”

“Right,” she cleared her throat. “Ryder, eight years old.” He flinched from how loud she spoke. It was clear she said it so the giant could hear, the growl that came from the massive being didn’t help. He saw the doctor shiver too.

“Well, I was told you have a broken arm. Let’s take a look. I have some things here we can use.”

Ryder just did as she instructed. Those intense eyes didn’t stop glaring at him. He felt like he’d be burned away by them. He was stuck standing out in the open, no pillow or furniture to hide behind as she set things up. At one point she pointed to a part of the things she’d pulled off the hand. Ryder was forced to watch as a hand moved close to lift it up, placing it on another piece. That continued until some big machine was set up.

“A-alright. Mr. Kamia, sir, if you’d give us some privacy I’ll see to Ryder’s injury,” she said. 

He felt the table shake under the white haired giant’s nod. He wanted to run as the man stood. A hand with fingers more than three times his size flattened against the table. He watched the giant stand to a dizzying height before finally walking off. He noticed the man stood at the far end of the room, but didn’t leave.

“Ryder come over here and sit down,” Laura ordered. He did as she instructed and just waited as she played with the machine. He knew better than to expect a human to help him. “I’m so sorry I can’t get you out of here. I’ll make sure you’re healthy, that's all I can do.”

Ryder let the words settle. He focused on the massive giant who was fidgeting near the door. It didn’t seem like they were being watched in case of escape. A light flashed drawing his attention back to the doctor. “He said they don’t hurt humans.”

“I wish that were true. There’s been a lot who come here and are never seen again… I just thought they were better when it came to children.”

“These ones didn’t hurt me…”

“They’re keeping you.”

She said it so plainly he couldn’t argue it. As far as he knew they were going to keep him. The other two were nice, but they’d get bored of him. He’d just be in a bigger prison. At least he hoped it would stay that way, they didn’t seem fond of the alternative. Ryder stayed locked in his head as the doctor started to put a cast on his arm. He grimaced, there’d be no climbing while it was locked up like this.

“All done,” she sighed. She squeezed his good arm before looking him in the eyes. “I can give you two months. Your arm should heal after a bit more than one. Find a way to survive these monsters.” She turned from him walking towards the edge of the table. “Mr. Kamia, we're all finished here!”

The giant of a.. Well giant came closer. Already his steps rumbled through the table, it was a wonder the equipment stayed standing. The man moved faster than Ryder expected again. Crouching down and scooping the heavy equipment into his hand. The doctor appeared reluctant to step into that same palm.

“He’ll need about two months to recover. The cast is at least a month, possibly the whole two. I’ll need to check on him after a month. We can decide the next time after that,” she said. The giant nodded at her, almost like he cared. He waited for the doctor to climb into his palm. She cast another look at Ryder, he could swim in the pity she sent his way.

“I’ll have someone take you home,” the giant said. He should probably call the guy Mr. Kamia or sir or something. At this point he just wanted not to deal with the insanely big giant. He wanted to be somewhere he could sleep and maybe eat some of the food Felix and Rhys left behind. The giant brought his other hand down and held it near Ryder. “I’ll need you to come with us, Ryder.”

All the human could do was stare at the palm. He hadn’t been offered one in a long long time. The giant didn’t show any sign of annoyance as Ryder hesitated. He looked into the emerald eyes staring at him. There wasn’t malice like the one who gave him away that morning. The brow of the face above him furrowed. He grew nervous, tensing to start his attempt to climb on.

“Do you need help?,” the giant said. Ryder froze and nodded. The giant frowned. “Of course, I wasn’t thinking.” 

The massive hand moved behind him. He had to force himself to stay still as fingers wider than he was tall wrapped around him. Suddenly the suffocating heat was gone. Just as quickly as the heat disappeared, fingers pinched Ryder on his sides. He felt like he’d be crushed as they pressed together lifting him off the firm surface. It took him most of his time in the air to realize his arms weren’t pressed to his sides.

He spared a look at the face of the giant again. It was full of concentration. Ryder had never had someone stare at him with so much… something. He wasn’t sure what it was. He was set down on the palm next to the doctor. He was kneeling before the fingers released to let him go. The hand that had moved him was put next to the one he was sitting on. 

The doctor pushed his shoulder lightly. It was clear he had to ride in a hand all on his own. It wasn’t as terrifying as it seemed when the palm had rested in front of him. He climbed to his feet and crossed the expanse of flesh. The leathery surfaces were hard to make progress on. He never got to walk on them before. He stumbled to his knees as he crossed into the hand meant for him. The giant made a noise, but didn’t make a move to check on him.

All the care was gone. At least it seemed that way as those massive fingers curled over and lifted him up. The giant moved quickly pulling his hand up to his chest. The loud beating behind Ryder was sort of reassuring. He tried to grab the shirt to lift himself up, but the silk made it impossible. He was forced to just slip around as the man walked. He looked up, catching those eyes on him for a few seconds.

Ryder yelped as his weight was thrown in the air. The man must have reached the stairs. The fingers curled over him more, almost how they were when the giant walked in with the doctor. He bounced more as the giant kept moving. He kept trying to grab the shirt better, but each step his grip was lost. 

“Take her home, keep an eye on her. Make sure it’s known we consider her one of ours,” the giant said. 

“Yes sir,” someone said. It was a voice he hadn’t heard yet. All this time he hadn’t considered other giants besides the ones he’d met so far. He didn’t think he wanted to meet more giants in this family. Especially if humans became ‘theirs’.

The steps started up again. The hand he was in pressed against him. He stayed in place for the next set of steps. Although this felt almost like a hug, he let himself think it was that. It wasn’t like anyone would know he found the hand of someone so massive comforting. He could enjoy this moment until whatever came next.

Next was a lot faster than Ryder expected. He felt his stomach hang in the air as the giant holding him sat down. The fingers curled around him, he gave in immediately. The cloth of the shirt didn’t give him a grip. He was flat on his back as the palm finally settled flat on a desk. The other hand covered him in darkness.

“Felix, Rhys come in here,” the giant called. The hand disappeared and the man looked at him with a stern expression. He wasn’t feeling scared as the giant stared. “You can call me Vitus.”

“Y-yes sir,” he whispered. The eyes on him widened. He thought he caught something sad in them, but it was gone as footsteps came in. Ryder tilted his head back and caught a glimpse of the two younger giants walking in. They walked right up to them. It felt a lot easier with them back.

“It will take at least a month for the cast,” Vitus said. Ryder kept his eyes on the two he almost thought could be his friends. “Ryder, you’re free to stay with us while you recover. Although there are options if you’d rather not.”

The idea of options sounded bad. Rhys reacted before him though. The giant had his hands on the desk pulling himself up to stare down at Ryder. His eyes were sparkling as he looked over him. He had to stop himself from laughing as Felix pulled him back. He didn’t have to see it, the relationship between the two was already obvious.

“If you want to stay with us we can-”

“You can stay with me!” Rhys cut Vitus off with a shout. The sigh from the adult made him flinch.

“Rhys don’t shout. Besides he could stay with either of us,” Felix said. The oldest of the three of them was clearly the most calm. Although it didn’t do much when the fingers around him curled up to hide him from the others. He’d rather be in their hands.

“We can set you up with one of them, or somewhere else that will ensure you’re safe.”

Ryder slid back into the fingers. The face staring at him filled him with dread. The idea of where the safe place was scared him. He managed to sit up and face the giant holding him.

“I-I’d like to stay with R-Rhys or F-Felix,” Ryder said. He wasn’t sure that calling them by name was safe. The fear bubbling in him died down as the stern face softened. The man nodded as he accepted Ryder’s answer. Vitus sat back flattening the fingers blocking him in. 

Rhys was already reaching for him before Vitus cleared his throat. The hands reaching forward froze, slowly turning to an offered palm instead of the clear plan to grab. Ryder climbed to his feet looking back to make sure Vitus wouldn’t be stopping him. The soft look was still there so Ryder jumped from the older man’s hand to Rhys’s. The smaller fingers curled over him immediately before pulling him close to his chest.

“Alessia may have some things he could use for tonight. We’ll get better accommodations set up tomorrow,” Vitus said. Ryder watched Rhys nod before feeling as he started walking. He didn’t relax until the sound of a door came from behind him.

“Are you alright?” Felix said. Ryder had to move a bit to see the other giant. The fingers around him were hiding him completely. “Dad can be a lot sometimes…”

“I’m fine. Just curious why all of you are so big. I may be small, but it’s pretty clear you’re bigger than other giants I’ve met,” he laughed. Rhys laughed, making him bounce, but he wasn’t scared. At least he wasn’t until the sound of a door opening happened. It got worse when Rhys froze up.

“Mom, I thought you weren’t back until tomorrow,” Rhys said. He pulled his hand closer to his chest and held Ryder near his heart. It only made the fear worse, if their parents were nice why hold him close.

“I see you were eavesdropping again,” the woman’s voice from earlier answered with a hint of pride. That made her Mrs. Kamia. He could feel her steps through Rhys more than he did through Felix. He didn’t want to see her. “Things went easier than I expected. We have a lot of guests tonight though. Felix, what about the human you brought home earlier?”

Rhys’s hands started to move. Ryder grabbed the cloth of the giant’s shirt. It was easier to hold than Vitus’s. The hands froze when Ryder didn’t follow gravity down with them. He swore he heard the fabric of the woman’s clothing moving. He didn’t know what she did or the guests she talked about. He didn’t want to know.

“Hey,” Mrs. Kamia said. Her voice was soft and warm. Not like Vitus’s. “I’m Dabria, you’re safe now little one.”

He looked behind him, red eyes were looking at him over Rhys’s fingers. “I-I’m Ryder, m-ma’am.”

The woman smiled and the fear she initially instilled in him faded. He couldn’t imagine her being anything dangerous. She stood back to her full height and the fear came back. He had almost forgotten she was just as big as Vitus. As she stood he saw the blood on her clothes. Worse than that he heard shouts from the bag on her hip. One of her hands met it immediately.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “We’ll keep you safe Ryder. Felix and Rhys will make sure you’re comfortable. Also you don’t have to call me ma’am, just Dabria is fine.”

She walked off with steps that rumbled through Rhys. Ryder let the shirt go falling back onto the palm. He stared up at two giant faces full of concern. He offered the best smile he could. The two took that as enough and started to walk again. Curling up in the palm that held him and falling asleep again sounded nice. Until he remembered the name of someone else they were going to find.

“Who’s Alessia?” he muttered. It was more to himself, but Rhys apparently heard him. The hand holding him shot up as the giants kept walking.

“She’s our sister,” Rhys smiled. Somehow that didn’t reassure him. Felix’s sigh was the loudest he heard yet.

“She has some things that might be a little big for you, but better than nothing. She… doesn’t interact with humans much,” he said.

Ryder nodded trying to hide his fear. It was a bit too late to hide though. As Rhys lowered his hand Ryder saw the open door. Inside it was a normal room. He saw scattered toys, most notably a few dolls, on the floor. The temporary set up was probably just a doll bed. The way the doctor spoke rang in his ears. He had to survive whatever these giants did to humans. Rhys walked in just as Ryder steeled himself.

“Alessia,” Rhys said. He heard a loud yelp from the sister he hadn’t met. He heard more than felt her footsteps, but it wasn’t long before that changed. She came up close without even noticing him in Rhys’s hands.

“Do mom and dad need me?” she asked. Her voice was the softest. Sort of like music. He didn’t expect her to naturally speak so quietly.

“No,” Felix said. He pointedly looked down at Ryder. He watched as Alessia moved her hair, colored like the night sky, from her face and looked down. The brown eyes above him filled with fear as she backed away. “We need something for him to sleep on tonight. Dad thought you might-”

“Over there!” Her voice was almost so quiet only Ryder could hear it. He was lost as Felix walked over and picked something up. He didn’t see it, but he wasn’t trying to. He was more focused on the giant girl cowering from him. Even as she pointed somewhere else in the room. “Th-there too.”

“Alessia, this is Ryder.” Rhys’s fingers were slowly moving to show him off more. He didn’t mind it this time. “He’s gonna stay with us.”

The way Alessia froze made him want to help her. He knew that fear, he had that fear. It was the same way he felt when he saw Vitus and Dabria. He climbed to his feet using the slight curl of Rhys’s fingers to help him stand. Staring at the terrified girl he just waved. She gasped, but he saw the faintest smile as she waved back.

“J-just let me know if you need anything else,” she whispered. Her eyes were locked on him, she was talking to him not the others. “I… have a lot.”

“Thanks,” he said. The smile on her face made him a lot less scared of her. A lot more tempted to climb down Rhys to go check on her. He couldn’t with his arm like this, but seeing her less afraid was better.

“We should get you set up, Ryder,” Felix said. None of the giants moved at first. Ryder didn’t get it, but nodded at Felix like he agreed. That was when Rhys started moving again. It was a bit weird that they waited for his okay. He was left in a more open palm as Rhys finally walked out of the room.

The actual set up wasn’t something he looked forward to. Probably some high place he couldn’t get down from on his own. He shouted when the door slammed as Rhys kicked it open. He heard Felix growl which made him laugh. Once in the room Rhys pulled his hand close again. He looked up at the giant seeing a similar smirk to earlier. Faster than Ryder could think he was in the air.

Ryder screamed. He actually thought he could be friends with these giants. He closed his eyes tightly terrified of where he would wind up. The impact was a lot softer than he expected. It wasn’t on a table, the floor, or even hands. Slowly he opened his eyes and found a weird roof over his head. It wasn’t like the normal ceiling, a different kind of wood. He could feel as his body realized he wasn’t getting hurt again.

“Rhys! What’s wrong with you!?” Felix shouted. He felt the heavy steps rattle the surface he was on. He wrapped his hands in the fabric as golden eyes found him. He’d never seen someone looking so terrified and relieved all at once.

“What? I thought he’d think it was fun to land on a giant bed!” Rhys complained. Felix brought his hands close, but Ryder couldn’t hold back his flinch this time. The huge hands froze surrounding him. Rhys appeared over Felix’s shoulder. The smirk on his face fell as soon as Ryder met his eyes. “That… wasn’t fun for you was it?”

Ryder couldn’t bring himself to speak. All he did was shake his head. He saw tears immediately start falling down tan cheeks. Rhys’s face was gone in an instant followed by the sound of sniffling. Felix looked behind him for a second, but his attention quickly went back to Ryder. 

“Are you hurt? Should dad call the doctor back? It shouldn’t take long…” Felix trailed off as Ryder shook his head. He was fine, just a bit terrified. The sniffling behind Felix wasn’t dying down. “Should we go to my room instead?”

Ryder had to think about that. He definitely felt more safety with Felix. Although safety was its own mystery. He couldn’t remember the last time someone made him feel safe. Although Rhys sounded fun. He pushed himself up enough to be sitting. If he knew what was happening it probably would have been fun. He didn’t get hurt. It should be fine… right?

“We… can set up in here,” he said.

“Felix’s room is better,” Rhys mumbled. He didn’t expect the giant to sound so disheartened. “I don’t get to be around humans a lot… It’s better if someone else is around if I’m with you, so I don’t almost hurt you again.”

“Rhys…”

Ryder had no idea what to do. Rhys was terrifying, but he didn’t want to lose his first chance at a friend in a long time. He looked up at Felix for help. The oldest of the three looked deep in thought. He wanted to say something, but the older giant leaned closer.

“Are you afraid of being near him?” Felix whispered. His voice was quiet enough only Ryder could hear, especially with the way Rhys was still sniffling. Ryder shook his head with all the energy he could. He was almost afraid Rhys would hear if he spoke. “I have an idea.” 

Felix stood up to his full height. He turned to the side so Ryder could finally see the other giant. Rhys looked small, smaller than Ryder was to them. The giant had pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face in them. He even backed away so he wasn’t close enough to reach Ryder if he wanted to. Ryder hated it.

“We can all sleep in here. Your bed is big enough for the both of us Rhys,” Felix said. Ryder’s eyes widened. He never considered that option. The younger giant looked up from his knees, the whites of his pink eyes had turned red. Rhys started shaking his head.

“Like a sleepover?” Ryder asked. He actually liked this idea. More than just an easy way to fix it, these two felt like he could trust them. Felix shot him a smile he hadn’t gotten to see yet. It seemed like his real one. Rhys had his eyes blown wide as he stared at Ryder. “I don’t think I ever got to have a sleepover with giants before.”

“You’re not scared?” Rhys mumbled. 

Ryder looked at the giant who had thrown him. Who had offered him a pastry he bit into so Ryder could try the cream. Who didn’t force him to face Dabria as soon as she walked in. Who was excited to stay with him and listened intensely enough he heard Ryder mumble about Alessia.

“No… I’m not scared,” Ryder said. 

Rhys jumped to his feet immediately and started rubbing his eyes. Felix walked back to the door to the room. Ryder noticed a desk and realized he’d forgotten about the doll bed. He grimaced at the idea, but hoped the things Vitus mentioned getting would be actually for humans. As Felix walked back Ryder noticed his hands were mostly empty. He tilted his head waiting to see what the deal was.

Felix kneeled at a table like the one Ryder woke up on. He walked to the edge of the bed trying to get a better look at what the giant was doing. A shaky hand was set in front of him. He looked at Rhys who seemed nervous, but Ryder climbed on the palm easily. He didn’t think these two were dangerous, at least right now. It almost felt like he had really big brothers.

Rhys curled his fingers over him until the light disappeared. He felt the giant slide across the ground before the light filtered in again. The palm he was on tilted until he slid off onto the table. Rhys pushed himself away again. Ryder frowned, but turned to Felix.

“Wait… that’s a human bed?” he asked. His skin crawled when the eyes of both giants locked on him. “Didn’t Alessia give you one of her doll beds? I thought that was… where I’d be… sleeping…”

Ryder looked back and forth seeing twin looks of horror. It didn’t sound that crazy to him. They weren’t ready for a human so obviously they should just grab a doll bed from their sister. He was shocked when Rhys stopped his constant looking between the two. His face was serious in a way that felt almost dangerous.

“You wouldn’t stay with us if all we had were doll beds. There’s a house for humans in the family on the property you would have gone there. Dad just wants to make sure you get everything you need until you’re healed. When Felix said something might be big for you it was clothes,” Rhys said. It didn’t sound like someone a few years older talking to him. Rhys sounded like an adult. “Ryder, you know you’re not a toy or anything right?”

Ryder slipped from Rhys’s gentle hold to look back at Felix. The older giant was crying. He didn’t expect it. He didn’t know why. Felix continued to set up the bed like it was all he could do. Ryder watched in silence. Once Felix finished he left the room. Rhys’s hands left him too. Felix came back with the food from earlier, he noticed there was another one of the pastries Rhys had eaten.

“I mean… even if that’s what I was,” he started, “it still sort of seemed like we were gonna be friends. Although if I keep making you both cry I don’t know how well that’s gonna work out.”

“...friends…,” Felix whispered. Ryder looked up at him, the tears were falling faster now. Another clearly sincere smile made its way onto Felix’s face. “You… want to be friends?”

Ryder nodded a bit worried his words would make it worse. He heard Rhys muttering a bit, but the words were too garbled to understand. Felix sat in front of the table and folded his arms on it. He rested his head on his arms and stared at Ryder. Rhys’s head hit the table with a loud thump and sent Ryder off his feet. He looked between the two giants again.

“Usually humans don’t want to be near us,” Felix whispered. “We’re part of the Kamia family… they think we’ll hurt them.”

“It’s stupid, Mom and Dad get humans out of the city, but because they look scary no one trusts them,” Rhys said. “They have to be scary, so do we. Cause we want to help humans too.”

Ryder climbed to his feet and walked towards the center of the table. There he could look at both giants mostly at the same time. “Well, you two suck at being scary. So… friends?”

“Friends!” Felix and Rhys nodded. He got to see big smiles filled with sharp teeth from both of them. It wasn’t scary in the least, he knew these two wouldn’t hurt him. The whole eating him thing started to seem like that creep just didn’t understand. Scary looking giants ate humans obviously. Just a good way to scare him and Felix played along to keep him safe.

The rest of the night went a lot smoother. They actually got to talk and laugh for most of it. Rhys convinced him to eat the pastry he’d picked out earlier too. It was a lot better with the cream he could only reach thanks to the giant. By the time Ryder started to feel sleepy the two giants were almost asleep. The two wound up sitting next to each other during their time playing and talking. Ryder decided to make use of that. They had a hand close to each other so he climbed on one and tugged at the other. A sleepy Felix followed his tugs where he had a bed of Rhys’s palm and a blanket of Felix’s fingers.

[awkwardgtace]

Interesting Sample Part 3 (Final)

Ryder's been healing, how long will he stay with the mafia family?

Continuing Ryder's first meeting with the Kamias

TW: Some dehumanization, broken bones, panic, blood, references to giants eating humans

Part 1, Part 2

Interesting Sample (end)

The next month seemed to fly by. Vitus and Dabria bought what they called a small house for him. It seemed huge. They said it could go anywhere in the manor, but he didn’t really want it. He kind of liked having the open space in Rhys’s room. Sleepovers with Rhys and Felix were fun. Spending time with them was fun.

Vitus and Dabria left him alone with them most of the time. He was only pulled away a few times. One of them was to see the humans who had tied and gagged him. A lot of them broke down in tears when he was shown off. Even begging him to forgive them, they just didn’t want to die. He noticed Vitus getting a dark look in his eyes when they spoke so Ryder just said it was all fine. He was more shocked they were even there.

Shocks like that kept happening. He’d ride around on Felix’s shoulder a lot. When he did he noticed the humans running around the house out in the open. None of them even acted nervous when a giant’s foot landed near them. They even managed to keep their balance when Vitus walked around. He wanted to be like that.

The worst part of his month was how all the humans that were apparently living near the giants acted. When he was with Felix or Rhys they were nice and weirdly respectful. When he was alone they were always whispering. I hope they don’t ask me to take care of him. How long will they keep him around? The kids are getting attached. It’ll be harder to deal with later. He wasn’t a pet to just get attached to. He was friends with Felix and Rhys. He wanted to try with Alessia, but the most he got was a small wave before she ran off. She acted like that with all the humans though.

“Alright,” Laura said. He’d completely lost himself to his thoughts while the doctor checked his arm. She was speaking softly again. Vitus stood nearby, but they were in his office this time. He leaned against the door, like he was ensuring no one could enter while Ryder was looked at. “We can take the cast off, it seems the break was cleaner than I first thought. That or you’re one of the lucky ones with better healing.”

“So we’re taking it off?” he asked. She looked at Vitus with a bit of fear, letting out a sigh when he didn’t react to Ryder’s words.

“I can give you a sling to give you a chance to get out, or leave you in the cast longer. I haven’t figured-”

“They’re nice. I don’t need to escape.” The doctor dropped what she was holding, a bunch of random things for what she planned. They both stiffened from the noise of Vitus moving. Ryder relaxed first, the giant wasn’t going to come over unless he had to. She grabbed his shoulders, digging her nails partly into his skin.

“What are you thinking?!” There was more noise from Vitus, but she didn’t stop. “They’re monsters.” Step. “They’ll kill you or keep you as a pet.” Step. Step. “Please let me help you.” Step. Step. Step. “Ryder!” Her voice had raised, but she only stopped talking because Vitus’s shadow came over them.

“Is there a problem?” Vitus said. The doctor was shaking as she turned to him. Ryder saw the same dark look Vitus had when he learned the others had prepared him as a sample. He stepped in front of the doctor.

“She’s worried about my recovery here. I need to practice climbing again, my arm’s gonna be weak,” he said. Vitus softened right away. He crouched down so his eyes met them.

“How can we best help safely with that?” His voice was never soft, but it was getting easier to hear. The doctor gave Ryder a relieved look as she cleared her throat. 

“He’ll need safe p-places to climb. Ones where if he falls he can’t be hurt.” Vitus nodded as she spoke. Ryder smiled, the giant wasn’t quite as intimidating as he first thought. Vitus looked at him for a minute.

“Ryder.”

“Yes, sir?” Vitus made another of those sadder looks. Ryder still couldn’t understand why he made it each time he said that.

“How would you feel practicing on us? It should give you a good challenge and keep you safe.” Ryder’s eyes widened. He swore he could feel the doctor’s mind short circuiting. 

“If you don’t mind, it sounds like a good idea. Sir.”

“I-I just need to remove the cast then…”

Vitus backed off again. Staying significantly closer than before. It seemed like he wasn’t happy to leave her alone with Ryder anymore. She got to work on cutting off his cast quickly. It didn’t take long, but there was a lot of dust. Vitus was in front of them as soon as it was off. He set his hand down on the desk.

“Ryder, stay here for a few minutes, Laura, if you'd come with me,” he said.

Ryder watched the doctor shaking as she climbed on the palm. The equipment she brought was left behind. As Vitus walked away Ryder felt guilt fill him. The doctor would be fine, they didn’t hurt humans. He didn’t need to worry or feel guilty for her getting involved. He started to wander around the desk while he waited, trying not to wonder about where they went. Stretching his newly freed arm was a good distraction. He paused at the picture Vitus kept on his desk.

“If you were this big you guys wouldn’t be as scary,” he said. The picture didn’t react, but he kept staring. They looked happy in it. Vitus and Dabria the day they married. Vitus looked stern and intimidating even then. There were some signs he could see that the man was happy. Dabria was easy to read, all her emotions clear on her face. He stepped up to it, running his hand over the glass. “Kind of wish I was one of your kids. Seems a lot better than how my family was back when they were around.”

“Ryder?” Vitus asked. The human scrambled away from the picture to stare at the giant who had walked in. He heard the smallest chuckle. “I worried you climbed off the desk. You shouldn’t push yourself.”

“Just walking around and stretching, sir.”

Vitus let out a sigh as he walked over to the desk. The giant sat in the chair causing a loud creak. At least loud to Ryder, he wasn’t sure giants heard the way furniture reacted to them. He set his hand down on the desk and Ryder climbed on quickly. The hand didn’t move right away, he was tempted to try climbing up the sleeve of the suit Vitus wore. The fact that last time he was held close the silk made it impossible to get a handhold kept him still.

“Where’s the doctor?” he asked. Vitus leaned forward, the shadow engulfing him.

“She’s just getting a look at how we run things,” Vitus said. 

The hand Ryder was on was pulled from the desk and held near the giant’s chest. Out of habit Ryder grabbed the cloth. He almost shouted in excitement when he was able to grab it. The silky cloth was replaced with one he didn’t recognize, but he could definitely climb. He took his chance to start climbing a giant for the first time. It got a little harder when a few purrs escaped. He forgot giants could do that.

Vitus let him spend time climbing. Ryder kept going until he felt himself struggling. He tried to go a little farther, losing his grip. He expected to fall for a few seconds, but a hand caught him right away. He landed on his back staring up at the ceiling. Vitus leaned forward, cupping Ryder against his chest.

“You should rest, it might take some more time to get back to normal,” he whispered. Ryder didn’t argue or even respond; he just curled up in the hand. He liked these giants. He didn’t want to leave.

The next few weeks were similar. He’d try climbing on Rhys, Felix, or Vitus. When he tried to climb Dabria she worried too much and always started to help him. Alessia still wouldn’t go near him. The first time he managed to climb from Vitus’s wrist to his shoulder he got a real smile from the giant. It was followed by a careful grab and a trip to Rhys’s room. Vitus let him try a lot later than normal.

He had fallen asleep on the trip up. Only waking up as Vitus slipped him off his hand into the bed on the table. Ryder listened to the heavy footsteps along with the door creaking most of the way closed. It was becoming familiar enough he was almost asleep again after a few seconds. Until the steps stopped when they shouldn’t have.

“Vitus, I’m getting worried,” Dabria said. Her voice was quiet, but the door wasn’t shut enough to block it. He slipped out of bed and climbed down the blanket that covered Felix and Rhys. He managed to slip out of the small opening to find the biggest giants he’d ever met standing nearby. He saw the way Vitus changed as he decided to answer.

“I know, I’m not sure what to do,” Vitus said. It was the first time Ryder heard the man’s voice this quiet. It made him anxious. “It’s not uncommon for the Kamia family to take in humans. I’m sure we could find a way to make that work.”

“We could go find two humans in the city? Maybe from one of the other bars.”

“And send him to a human safe city? I do-”

Dabria walked off before Vitus finished talking. Both giants were out of sight long before Ryder could follow. He just sat there watching where they’d been standing. He didn’t want to leave and they were all so nice. Now they wanted to send him away because he was getting better. Even worse it sounded like Dabria wanted it the most, but she was the one fretting over him all the time.

Ryder tried to keep his tears from falling as he slipped back into the room. He made his way to the blanket he used before, but Rhys had fallen on his side again. He sighed, resigning to climbing up Felix and likely waking up the older giant. Instead one of Rhys’s hands found him and pulled him close. He tried to squirm, but the hands cupped him over the giant’s heart.

“No,” Rhys whined. Ryder had noticed the sleep talking pretty early in his time here. It wasn’t hard to sleep through it. It was still quieter than the creep who brought him to this city. “You can’t have Ryder, he’s my brother.”

Ryder froze up. He knew they’d gotten close pretty quickly, but brothers? It made him feel warm. He curled into the cupped palms around him. Pressing his ear to the chest of the giant, he took in the heartbeat. It usually helped him relax. Tears started to make their way from him.

“I don’t want to lose my family again,” he whispered.

The next morning he almost thought everything was a dream. Until he heard a frantic Felix calling his name. He started squirming to try and wake Rhys up. It actually worked a lot faster than he expected. The giant sat up instantly. The hands curled around Ryder were thrown to Rhys’s waist. He managed to grab the cloth of the shirt before he got thrown too.

“I’m here!” he shouted. He heard the racing beat of the heart below him, but Felix was the one who grabbed him. The older giant started to search for any signs he’d been hurt. “Calm down, I'm fine! I climbed down from the table last night. When I came back Rhys grabbed me. I got to hear him talk in his sleep again.”

Ryder wanted to hide what he heard. He didn’t want to think that this could end. Felix was saying something, mostly about Rhys needing to be more careful waking up in the future. He honestly felt protected by the two of them. He knew Alessia cared. He thought Vitus and Dabria at least liked him. He didn’t want to leave.

“You are hurt aren’t you?” Felix said. He jumped, staring at the golden eyes that were far closer than he expected. “If it hurts you can tell us.”

“Really I’m fine!” Rhys was staring at him with a look he didn’t like. It faded as Ryder climbed to his feet and started to climb up Felix’s arm.

“You know,” Rhys said, “now that you can climb again you’ll probably get to go do things in the city. If anyone ever gives you trouble make sure they know you’re a Kamia.”

“But I’m not.” Ryder tried hard to hide the hurt in his voice. He wanted to be one. “I’m a human, you’re giants. They’d know it’s a lie.”

“Not like that, well sort of like that. It would be like the other giants and humans that come through the house. Family like they are, just part of the business.” Felix shook his head at Rhys’s explanation.

“He means. It’s what the people who work with our parents are called. The other humans and giants they’re in the Kamia Family. We’re the head of the family so it uses our name.”

“Oh. Like in those old mafia movies?” The two giants stared at him like he had said something stupid. He tried to think of how to change it, but saw Rhys opening his mouth. Felix slammed his free hand over it before a sound left.

“Ryder…”

“Y-yeah?” He tried to push the embarrassment away.

“You know we’re a mafia family right? That’s why that guy gave you to me, why there’s so many people most of the time, and why mom came back with blood on her your first night here.”

“...I thought mafias didn’t exist anymore…” His voice was quiet. There was a lot of embarrassment building in him. It seemed like he should have known, even if he didn’t live in a town like this. Felix caught him where he was on the giant’s arm. He was gently pulled off and held up for both giants to easily stare at him.

“Dad told us about it a long time ago, most places they don’t. In cities like this they do, and humans are more of a commodity.” Ryder tilted his head, a bit unsure about the word.

“Other families only keep humans they think are useful… The other humans they find get eaten for real.” Rhys sounded scared as he spoke. Ryder looked up at Felix almost hoping the older giant would complain like usual. Things stayed quiet for too long.

“I kind of thought the eating thing was a bad joke since none of you did it… I guess I was lucky he gave me to you guys…”

Ryder tried to laugh it off. The giant eyes on him felt ominous. He couldn’t keep looking at them, turning his gaze to the palm he sat on. A gasp escaped him when drops of tears landed on the skin beneath him. Now the doctor’s fear made sense. He still hadn’t seen her again. She could have been…

“Ryder?” one of them whispered. He couldn’t make out the voice, he kept thinking about the sharp teeth. He had no way to know if he could trust his judgement on these giants. The hand around him started to lower. “Are… you scared of us now?”

Ryder thought back to the time he’d spent here. Trying to view it knowing what he just learned. They always made sure he had what he needed, they trusted him. The other humans were comfortable enough to walk around on the ground blindly.  The one thing that stuck out was the horror on the faces when he expected doll furniture. The care as he recovered. The ways they let him climb up and encouraged his adventures. They way they listened as he spoke.

“I’m not scared,” he muttered. He managed to look up at the two giants again. Swinging his head back and forth. They both had tears in their eyes as they stared at him. Felix was the one to act first, pulling him quickly to his chest. The thumping beneath him was erratic. He never expected this from Felix of all people. The giant was always stoic, even the genuine smiles were rare.

“You can be,” Felix said. The hand holding him was pulled back. He looked up, finding Rhys staring back at him. Just like that first night the whites of his eyes were red.

“You two suck at being scary.” He hadn’t been wrong until now. He wasn’t going to doubt himself yet. He did have an idea of how to stay here though. If humans had to be useful, he had a use. There was a reason he pissed off that shop owner creep so much. “Can you take me to talk to your dad?”

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

Vitus sighed as he finished drafting the explanation about the recent fires they were asked to look into. It helped that was often a Kamia task when they were the one’s setting them after getting humans out. Ryder’s decision to help was doing more than he expected. The idea of having someone so young and small involved still sat wrong with him. He couldn’t ignore it when the young human had faced him with so much determination. At least it made their struggle easier. Ryder felt like part of their family, but even suggesting he stay with them had seemed too selfish.

“Vitus, sir?” Ryder called. Vitus turned to the small human sitting next to his hands. Even a year later the human seemed too small compared to the others. The ease Ryder had in talking to him now made him smile. 

“Yes?” he asked. A part of him wanted to just send his human son off to rest or play like the others. He always wound up next to him. Of course he was at least doing the homework his tutor assigned.

“You haven’t eaten all day, you should get something.” Vitus reached over and ruffled Ryder’s head. The human was more responsible than himself. He pushed himself up from his desk. He cupped his hand around Ryder, waiting to see if the little human wanted to come with him to the kitchen.

“Can I stay here? I’m almost done with my homework.”

“Of course, anything you want me to bring you?” Ryder focused on his work, bowing down.

“Can you get one of the pastries Rhys likes?” Vitus chuckled at the request. This whole time things had seemed too risky. It was consistently a relief that their worries about Ryder’s safety were disproven.

“Sure.”

Vitus started on his way out, leaving the office door open. It shouldn’t be a problem today, he had no meetings. He would just grab two of the pastries, one he’d cut open for Ryder and another for himself. He saw one of the others that seemed anxious, a small detour would be fine.

Ryder smiled to himself. He liked the life he had now. Helping get humans out of bad places. All that time finding ways to sneak around those two giants he was stuck with was worth it. Plus Vitus and Dabria were nice. Dabria always brought things she saw for humans saying it reminded her of her youngest son. Vitus never minded that Ryder preferred to do his homework in the office. It was fun. He felt like family.

Footsteps sounded near the door. He started to shuffle his homework to the side so he wouldn’t get any of the sweet cream on it. He stood with a smile that fell faster than his heart was racing. Standing at the door wasn’t Vitus, but that jerk of an assistant that sold him out. The one who wanted him to die. Ryder could barely breathe as the giant took in the room.

“Ruthless head huh,” the familiar voice muttered. 

Ryder’s blood ran cold. He needed to run, but there wasn’t a safe place. The giant kept looking around until finally those beady eyes found him. There was a heavy silence as the giant stared at him. He watched the huge face go from annoyance, to shock, to confusion, straight to anger.

“You trash,” the man seethed. “You sold us out to save yourself didn’t you? Found a little use so they’d keep you alive. I’ll make sure that doesn’t last.”

Ryder’s legs were shaking as the man stomped forward. He had to run. He had to make his legs move. If he didn’t run he’d die. He didn’t want to die. Rhys said he was going to teach him a new game. Felix wanted him to help with his sewing. Alessia would even talk to him now. He had a family he actually liked, he didn’t want to die.

“V-Vitus,” he tried to shout. His voice came out hoarse. He stumbled back, falling off his feet. “M-Mr Kamia!” Better he thought it could work. He just had to be a bit louder. They paid more attention, they’d hear him. “Sir! I need help!”

No one responded. There were no world shattering footsteps. No mountain of a giant towering over the one closing in. His heart was racing. Dabria wasn’t home. The others were at school. He could have been at school, he just hadn’t gone for too long. He needed to catch up. He was starting next year. He wanted to go to school. The giant’s shadow was reaching him.

“Dad! He’s gonna kill me!” Ryder shouted as loud as he could. 

The jerk hesitated for a second, but it didn’t change anything. He had tears rolling down his face. No one would save him. No one could hear him. He was in a world of giants and no one would care when he’s gone. He was a useful human to the mafia. Just like those other humans whispered, the kids shouldn’t have gotten attached. He was re-

“Don’t touch my son!” Vitus roared. Ryder had never heard the man’s voice as loud as he did then. He thought it would shatter his ear drums. He swore the entire house shook before the words finished echoing. The giant approaching him finally stopped. He turned just enough Ryder could see the massive giant holding a gun pointed at his would-be killer's head. “Ryder, cover your ears and close your eyes.”

Ryder did as he was instructed. Curling up along with it. He just wanted this over. Despite listening, there was a cracked boom that felt deafening. A heavy thud followed, right after there were steps he thought he recognized. He started shaking on the chance it wasn’t him. It wasn’t the giant he begged to help him. The one he finally called dad.

A large hand surrounded him. He curled up smaller and felt the hesitation. The hand disappeared, replaced by two fingers lifting him in the air. It felt familiar. He was placed on a palm and held over a racing heart. It was faster than his own. He felt and heard the thunderous steps as the winner walked off with his prize.

“You,” Vitus snapped. Ryder shook more at the tone.

“Y-yes sir?” a giant answered. He only knew because of how close the voice was to him.

“Get the body out of here. Find anyone who worked with him and take care of them. We’re sending a message. Make sure they know touching one of my children gets them a lot more than dead. No names, just that my youngest was in danger.”

“R-right away sir.” He felt the hand press against him a bit harder.

“Wait, call the human doctor we added last year. Laura. Tell her what happened and report to me anything she says… Tell her he was near a silenced giant's gun firing.” Ryder was kind of shocked to hear Laura’s name. They said they didn’t hurt humans, but she’d been gone since she took off his cast.

There was silence as the giant must have run off. Vitus kept walking, but Ryder was terrified. The rhythmic steps continued. The heartbeat barely stopped racing as the giant moved. Ryder was held tightly enough he couldn’t even tell if they were on the stairs or not. All he could make out were muffled voices followed by the slam of a door. The first sign anything changed was when the hand softened and huge fingers wrapped around him.

He was brought up to the stern eyes he’d stopped fearing. It was the first time he’d seen the face anything besides intimidating or oddly soft. Vitus had an expression of fear. Ryder just stared at him while the giant set him down on his palm. Two fingers gently pulled at one his arms, he didn’t realize he was still covering his ears.

“You’re safe now Ryder, were you hurt?” Vitus whispered. It was the first time the man had spoken softly to him. Ryder knew the giant just never considered his presence and wasn’t intending to be loud and frightening. This was something new, something he actually feared. All he did was shake his head. The relief that painted over the fearful look was overwhelming. “That’s good. That’s good… I didn’t know anyone was coming today. I never would have left you alone. I’m so glad I heard you.”

“Y-you called me your son,” he choked out. Vitus actually offered a smile. One he hadn’t seen very often. He only saw it a few times, each of them directed at one of the others. The giant nodded his head.

“It’s what you are,” Vitus brought his hand down and held Ryder firmly over his heart, “I just wish I was the one you shouted for.”

Ryder grabbed the cloth around him, “It was you.”

Vitus started to purr almost immediately. The stress and fear fled Ryder’s body in an instant. He felt tired, more tired than he had in a long time. He squirmed a little to curl up comfortably under the firm hold. He almost died. He thought no one could hear him. Vitus answered for him, hearing him as his son. It was too much.

He doubted this would last. A part of him knew the fights they had. That Dabria wanted him gone. He’d take advantage of this. Enjoy his life with a family that seemed to want him. A family that heard him when he needed it. The purring picked up in volume as the heart beat settled. He could feel Vitus moving around, almost shocked when he heard the sound of a mattress shifting.

“Just rest, I’ll keep you safe,” Vitus promised. After all this time Ryder did believe it. He was safe in the giant’s hand. He was a member of the Kamia family. No matter how long it lasted he’d be kept safe by them.

[awkwardgtace]

Oooo prompt 41 please?

ty ty for the ask <3 I did mafia au. Just a bit of Vitus and Dabria having a moment together. Prompt List

Late Night Talk

Vitus sighed as he left his office. Things had been a mess since the Sulvan family dissolved. It was his plan for it to happen, but he had things he’d rather focus on than the aftermath of that. Felix, Alessia, and Rhys had done an amazing job managing the fall out. The Kamia family was taking a position at one of the city entrances now, it would be easier to move humans in and out.

He made it to the bedroom and fell into his desk chair. A small yelp reminded him of his mistake. Searching for the source of the sound he found Dabria near the entrance to the house set up for her. He grimaced, she was shaking and it was his fault. He’d made the mistake, he had to learn.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” he whispered. His steps had probably woken her up. The twins having their own space on the second floor made this easier. He didn’t want to scare them more than he already did. “I’ll be more careful, you can go back to sleep.”

“R-right. O-of course,” Dabria said. He moved slowly and carefully. Putting one arm on the table he placed his head on top of it and watched her. She was tense, he didn’t blame her. “Is… everything alright?”

Vitus smiled. Despite all the fear she felt, Dabria continued to try and see him how she used to. He’d never blame her. She stepped away from the house. Shaking steps forward to be completely in the open. He brought his other hand up and held it close to her. The twins and Ryder seemed to like it when he held them, but Dabria always became more anxious.

“Just tired, there was a lot to deal with,” he whispered. She flinched when he spoke. Changing to be quieter was hard. Ryder never mentioned it, none of the humans did. He couldn’t blame them, he should have considered his presence was a lot. It wasn’t uncommon that he intimidated other giants just by arriving.

“Because of… us?” she asked. It took everything in him not to bring his fingers closer. To have her in his palm and bring her against him. He sighed again, his breath blew her hair from her face. It had started to grow out again, just a bit past her shoulders. He did give in and curl his fingers just slightly closer. He could see the way she stiffened. He just shook his head. “Th-that’s good.”

“I wish I didn’t scare you.” Bright red eyes looked up at him. A shaking, small hand reached out for the fingers near her. She almost managed to touch him without flinching.  “Honestly, I don’t blame you for being scared of me.”

“What?” He straightened his fingers, pulling them from the semicircle they’d formed around her.

“I know I’m intimidating, it must be worse for you. With everything that happened and even just now…” 

Vitus looked away.  He wanted to be a source of comfort. A person she saw and smiled at. That was a long way away, if it could ever truly happen. He would wait, even if nothing ever changed. Small hands dug into the skin of his fingers. He breathed in a sharp breath, feeling guilty when the hands lost their purchase. He looked back at her.

“It’s… it’s not you,” Dabria breathed. She was quiet, quiet enough he had to lean closer to hear her. A small noise escaped her, but the hands on his finger didn’t leave. “It’s… everything. It was easier not knowing. A face without a name and no memories to distract me.”

Dabria pulled her hands away. Vitus desperately wanted them back. That small proof she trusted him and wanted to be near him. He was given a different gift entirely. A small body, one that seemed more fragile than any other human, rested against his palm. His fingers curled in protectively. He didn’t feel her shaking, there was no gasp she failed to hide.

“I… I don’t want to be scared. I want to talk to Rhys, see how Felix has changed, find out if Alessia’s gotten better at talking with humans,” she said. He felt shaking, but it wasn’t the way she shook out of fear. He’d gotten used to that by now. A sob escaped her. “I want to be able to act like everything is fine, even though I’m human now. It’s just… Dominic was awful, the things he did and said. The things he made me see… it’s not the same when…..”

“When you’re at risk of the same fate,” he said. She shook more, but the weight against him grew. 

“Exactly.” He took a chance, carefully tilting his hand to the side. Dabria had all the time she could need to leave, but the weight on his palm never disappeared. Once his hand was flat and he knew she was off the ground he pulled her close. He stared at her, trying to see all the details he couldn’t anymore.

“I can’t make you forget what you saw, or make it easier to deal with the memories,” He pulled her close and pressed his nose against her. “But I’ll help you however I can. I failed to protect you once, I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

She laughed. It was the first time she’d laughed around him. It made him desperate to hear it again. To hear it as often as he had in the past. Small arms reached up and pressed against his skin. He loved feeling this just as much as when she’d been able to wrap her arms around him.

“Honestly, that’s one thing I trust.”

[awkwardgtace]

If it's not too late, prompt 10 sounds hilarious for seer and the gods au 😂

ty for the prompt. It was very much not too late!! I don't know if this is quite what you pictured, but it's the first thing I thought of and couldn't consider anything else!

Naughtiest and Nicest

Delphia could barely keep her eyes open as she returned to the gods’ realm. This time of year had turned into a constant stream of visions. People making risky choices out of a rush to be with their families. It seemed like each time she closed her eyes another vision occurred. As soon as the light faded from the door she thought for sure she’d been sent another vision. 

In front of her Vincent was sitting with his back against her door and his head in his hands. He never came to the gods’ realm, he hated it there. She waited for something to happen, the vision to move forward. Instead she just sat there in silence with Vincent barely moving. He kept his head down, grabbing at something she couldn’t before snapping his head up to face her.

“You’re back,” he said. She’d never heard him scared like this. “You need to fix this. Rhys wanted me to explain the holidays and I started explaining the whole guy who watches everything with lists.”

“They think it’s Vitus right?” she asked. It made sense in a way to her. The descriptions she heard of the one Vincent meant, white hair and kind at least, matched the god of life. The other descriptors not so much, he did keep a list though.

“At first, I told them it was someone else when they asked.” He stood up placing a hand on the door. “Then I told them it was a naughty or nice list. Now…”

Vincent pulled open the door and she could hear the rumbling voices of the gods.

“I’ve already made it clear,” Felix said. Delphia frowned, she knew the tone he was using. Blaming himself for things out of his control. “Clearly the one at the top of this naughty list would be me. The desperation for prosperity drives mortals to cruelty.”

Delphia sighed, Vincent had already grabbed her arm and started out the door. She didn’t know how to fix it. The naughty list would probably have them all spiraling in some manner.

“Ash… I think I’d be on that list,” she heard Alessia’s melodic voice echo through the hall. “I keep hoping our seer would spend less time with the mortals… I’ve been selfish.”

“Vincent, how long has this been going on?” Delphia asked. She stopped following him, making him stop too. 

“I’m not sure, time here is weird. I don’t even know how long it’s been since Rhys brought me here,” he sighed. She could hear the annoyance in his voice, but there was a bit of fear in how his hand tightened. It didn’t matter how much she and Rhys promised the gods were kind, Vincent stayed nervous.

“Wars are held because of me!” Ryder shouted. She didn’t think anyone else noticed the slight tremor in his voice. He hated everything about his domain. “Mortals kill each other endlessly, many seek glory through it!”

Vincent took that as the sign to get them moving again. She followed along, picturing Ash’s face as they tried to convince Alessia she wasn’t bad. They rounded the corner, finding Ash and Alessia standing near the entrance closest to them. Sola and Luna were standing between the two gods. It was the first time in a long time she felt intimidated walking up to them.

“Wouldn’t that mean Lady Death is on that list?” Luna’s quiet voice shocked her. It was clear he’d been crying, but there was nothing she could think of as why. Unless he thought he’d be on the list from scaring others… “She’s so nice she doesn’t belong there.”

“Of course not,” Ash placed a hand on Luna’s head as they spoke. “She guides others; she and Lord Life would be on the nice list Vincent mentioned. Tied at the top with the little flower.”

Delphia paused just next to the gods. All of them were focused on the argument she and Vincent went ignored. Vincent brought her to the stairs leading to one of the counters and sat just within the shelter it provided. He didn’t quite let her walk out, but she did look back at the four gods closest to her. Sola was grabbing at Ash’s other hand. The child-like goddess seemed pained.

“Am I naughty for sneaking out to watch mortals and draw in the clouds?” she whispered. Delphia knew the others had missed it, but Ash’s smile and shake of their head relieved her. 

“If selfish actions put someone on that list I’m clearly the one at the top.” Felix’s voice was almost convincing. “There are countless selfish actions done in the name of prosperity.”

“Enough!” Rhys’s shout made her cover her ears. Vincent stood and pulled her behind him. Something made her think she’d seen the more volatile emotions of the god of love, it wasn’t easy to witness. “If you want to argue who’s the worst it would be me. The emotions mortals feel are what causes wars, cruelty, selfishness and anything else you can think of. I'm at the top of that list.”

It turned into all of them talking at once. It was hard to make out the words with how loud their voices were. Vincent started to push her back, clearly second guessing his choice to bring her here. Delphia moved forward watching the argument unfold. Only to think of the children from the village she’d been visiting.

The longer the argument went on the more she was reminded of the children. Shouts of who was nicest, who had done the most selfless things. A smile crept onto her face. After only a few seconds she started to giggle, then it turned into full on laughter. The room slowly fell silent as she laughed. Vincent had stood up to block her almost completely from view. She just couldn’t stop laughing.

“You’re arguing like children,” she breathed. She heard Felix huff and Ryder gasp, but everyone else was still silent. “They usually argue over who was nicest, but it’s the same thing.”

“Del,” Vincent whispered. She knew he was worried, but if he’d seen the groups of children she had he’d be laughing too.

“Little warrior?” Ryder asked. She looked towards where the god of war had been standing with Felix. He came closer than she expected, but it didn’t bother her. She stepped out around Vincent, a squeeze on his arm to promise she’d be alright.

Ryder set his palm flat on the table. His eyes were shining, he’d likely been holding back tears. She climbed on without hesitation, her laughter slowly dying. He lifted her up to his face, the fingers taller than her curling over her. She leaned against the closest finger, the exhaustion she pushed away resurfacing.

“There’s no top of either list. It’s just meant to encourage kindness,” she sighed. The fingers around her tensed. As quickly as they tensed they flattened, Ash’s palm held out where she could walk over to it. She stood and walked slowly, pausing just before stepping onto their palm. “I do have an idea, if you want to follow holiday traditions and give a gift to those you all put on the nice list that is.”

The eyes of every god locked on her. She smiled as she met each pair. She didn’t miss Vincent now sitting securely in Rhys’s palm too. There was no telling whether the others would follow her idea, but she’d give it a shot. The worst case she’d help them all do something to celebrate the holiday. Vincent knew more and could help too.

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

Dabria walked out of her office following behind Vitus. Her little raven had asked them to go with her to the kitchen, she asked for things so rarely they couldn’t say no. Vitus kept glancing at her as though she’d know what was going on. He’d be the one they go to for surprises, if they weren’t too nervous it would anger them. As they walked the sky gods ran up to them. Luna grabbed Vitus’s free hand while Sola grabbed on to her. They continued walking as the two fell into step with them.

“D-Dabria,” Sola started, she gasped hearing her own name from the young god, “will you draw in the clouds with me today?”

“Of course,” she smiled. 

“V-Vitus!” Luna squeaked. She watched the god of life stiffen, unsure how to act from hearing his own name. “Will you help me write down more of the stars’ stories later?”

“Yes,” Vitus said warmly. 

The twin gods ran off, but before they could say anything Rhys appeared just before they took the turn towards the kitchen. 

“Vitus, Dabria, Vincent said he’s ready to meet the two of you, maybe over the next few days?” Rhys said. She sent a look towards her little raven, the smile on the mortal woman’s face a clear tell she knew the cause of the sudden change. Vitus just kept a wide eyed look on Rhys.

“Whenever he’s ready… Rhys,” Vitus seemed unsure how to respond. Honestly Dabria was as well. Felix and Ryder were quick to replace the god of love as he disappeared in a flurry of petals.

“Dabria, if you have more designs there is a mortal I believe would be receptive,” Felix said as he passed by. She just nodded at him.

“Vitus, have you considered my offer of chess?” Ryder asked.

“Maybe after I write the stories with Luna.”

The two gods walked off, Dabria grabbed Vitus and stared down at her little raven in his hand. She slipped two fingers under Delphia’s arms, the human woman helped with the movement. The small thin arms tightly pressed against Dabria’s fingers reminded her that she was trusted. She brought her raven up to sit in her palm, curling her fingers around the small woman.

“What did you do?” she asked. Vitus hummed, he was catching on now. The smile of the human in her palm didn’t falter at all. Delphia climbed to her feet, the small movements still shocked her.

“Nothing at all,” she grinned.

“I doubt that,” Vitus chuckled. Delphia just tapped her fingers, clearly wanting them to keep moving. It was almost tempting to refuse, to hold the little raven close until she found out. 

Dabria started walking. She wouldn’t do that, she promised never to make her raven feel trapped. She did hold the little human pressed against her heart though. Vitus slipped his hand into her free one, lacing their fingers together. As they finally reached the kitchen Ash and Alessia were sitting there. She smiled at the two before Alessia jumped up and approached them.

“Dabria, Vitus, have you seen the little seer?” she asked. Dabria flattened her hand, holding back a pout as Alessia took her raven. Ash walked up, a soft smile on their face.

“We plan to be in the mortal realm today… Vitus, Dabria.” Ash nodded and the two disappeared in a flash of lightning and brilliant light.

“I don’t know what she did, but… I’d be happy if this continues,” Dabria said. Vitus wrapped an arm around her pulling her close.

“I would be too,” Vitus whispered.

[awkwardgtace]

First Day In A New Home

day 17 First Meet:

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

TW: Mentions of physical abuse

First Day In A New Home

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“N-no, it’s fine.”

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

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

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

“Sure,” he answered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Vitus, is everything ready?” Dabria asked. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[awkwardgtace]

Stolen Snacks

Day 8 snacks some more streamer au with how the family was in the past.

Stolen Snacks

“Come on Ash, if we don’t hurry they’ll catch us,” Rhys said. He was dragging his sibling up the ladder the giants installed. Apparently they wanted the two humans to get around easily, he’d make use of that.

“They’ll probably catch us either way,” they sighed. He knew Ash had believed all the warnings the other kids said. He did too. That’s why he was doing this. Piss off the giants enough they get sent back to wait for new foster parents. Best part of the system was they actually tried to keep Rhys and Ash together.

He climbed onto the counter and smiled at the cookies that were left out to cool. Dabria left so it was just their foster dad and he barely looked at them. It should be easy to steal one of these things and get away. He grabbed Ash’s hands and pulled them up to stand next to him. If they were lucky she’d get mad and demand they leave. If they were unlucky, well Rhys chose not to think about that.

“See told you it would be worth it,” he grinned. Dabria made chocolate chip and sugar cookies. It was weird that she just happened to make the kinds they both loved. 

“I’m still not sure this is a good idea, what if they get mad,” Ash shivered. Rhys grabbed the taller human’s arm and started dragging them towards their goal. “They could make it so we can only get around if they let us.”

“Then we tell the people who put us here and they take us away again. Simple.”

“And what if they don’t take us away Rhys. They left us with those last ones for a while.” Rhys flinched, the pain of his punishments still fresh. They were right it took forever and it was all the more reason to do something to start it now.

“Just trust me Ash, when have I steered you wrong?” The groan from his sibling made him smile.

“You mean just today?” They laughed and Rhys smiled back at them. It would be fine.

“We’ll be fine. The guy doesn’t even seem to look at us anyway. Probably just agreed to take in humans to make his wife happy.”

A shadow fell over them and Rhys immediately regretted his words. He looked up and the man he just spoke about was looking down at them with a frown. Ash pulled him behind them, the older one always tried to protect him. Half the time they got in trouble was his fault. Another one to join that list. The giant sighed and the two flinched.

Painfully slowly the man crouched down to be at their level. Green eyes stared at them and Rhys almost wanted to poke them so they could run. One of the massive arms lifted and he felt Ash’s grip tightened. Rhys stared at the pale fingers, expecting them to go straight for him. Instead the hand kept moving over them. Rhys buried his face in Ash’s back, they were probably getting put under a cup or something.

Instead of his fears being realized the smell of the giant cookies came to rest in front of them. Rhys peeked around Ash and saw one of the huge sugar cookies placed on the counter in front of them. A chocolate chip cookie came to rest next to it. He looked up at the giant and caught the faintest hint of a smile. He had to be imagining it.

“A snack isn’t a bad idea,” Vitus said. The voice was still loud, but had a hint of kindness. Rhys gave him a suspicious look, he didn’t trust this. They’d take a piece of the cookies and then get punished for it. “You two take what you want and I’ll eat the rest so Dabria can’t tell.”

“Why?” Rhys asked. Ash’s grip on his arm tightened. That would be how they get punished. It was too late to stop it though. “Aren’t you mad that we were trying to steal cookies?”

The chuckle from Vitus made Rhys shiver. It had to be a bad sign that he was laughing. Ash stepped back a bit. They didn’t have escapes from here that didn’t put them closer to Vitus. The two were trapped and it was Rhys’s fault. He pressed his face into Ash’s back again to try and hide the tears that were starting from his stupid plans.

“I don’t think I can blame you for stealing some of these. They smell good,” Vitus smiled. Rhys froze, that didn’t make sense. He heard another sigh and the shifting of fabric. He didn’t know how Ash was standing so firm against this. It had to be because they were taller, if Rhys were taller he could do a lot more. “You happen to be wrong. We both wanted to take in kids, human or giant, that needed a good home. We’re not going to make it impossible to get around because you did something that upset us. We want you to feel safe here.”

Rhys poked his head out again. The giant had moved his arms to rest against the counter. His head was resting on top of them, furrowed brows making him look angry. Ash seemed to relax so Rhys got a bit of his confidence back. He stepped out from behind his sibling staring up into the emeralds watching them. He stepped forward to be standing next to them.

“Then why do you always glare at us or avoid us?” he asked. Ash squeezed his arm, it seems like they wanted to ask that too. Vitus had a bitter smile take over his face.

“I know I can be scary. I didn’t want to make adjusting for either of you worse,” he said. Rhys started laughing, it just seemed funny. A giant that was bigger than any he’d seen had been worried about scaring them. Ash slapped his arm but he couldn’t stop laughing. He almost screamed when a huge finger touched his head, but the ruffling of his hair made him calm a bit. “Well I guess making you laugh is good.”

“...You were watching us climb up here weren’t you?” Ash asked. Rhys gasped he hadn’t considered that. The finger on his head disappeared. He looked at the giant’s face, almost shocked to find a smile on it.

“I guess I was pretty obvious.” Another chuckle escaped the giant, this time it wasn’t as terrifying. It almost felt nice to hear. “I didn’t want either of you to get hurt.”

“Thank you. For the cookies too.” Ash smiled and took some of the sugar cookie placed near them. The smile on Vitus’s face made Rhys start to consider him in a different light. He grabbed some of the chocolate chip cookie placed by him and smiled at the taste.

“Dabria makes good cookies…” 

Another laugh from the giant in front of them. He stood up to his full height. The way his shadow cast over them felt a bit less scary now. Vitus placed a hand next to the two of them. They stared at it unsure what he wanted from them.

“Why don’t I get you away from the scene of the crime? We can watch a movie while you have your snack if you want,” he offered. 

Rhys thought it over for about one second before grabbing Ash’s arm. He walked towards the hand dragging them along. He climbed on and pulled them up with them, settling on the strange leather surface. Dabria had held them before, but her hands were softer than Vitus’s. He curled his fingers over them before picking up the two cookies and walking away. Ash leaned closer to him.

“Fine, this time you didn’t steer us wrong. Maybe these two won’t be so bad,” they whispered. Rhys smiled, he agreed. The last time they stole cookies had been a lot less nice.

“You may just be right. Guess that means you’ll have to listen to me next time too,” he laughed. Ash pushed him a bit. He almost missed the smile that seemed to get even bigger on Vitus’s face.

When Dabria got home she was happy to find Vitus holding the two sleeping humans. He’d been so nervous around them. She walked into the kitchen to put away the cookies, holding back a laugh at the two missing. It seemed obvious the nap for the two humans was more than just being comfortable. She decided not to point out the missing snacks, happy they were finally adjusting.

[awkwardgtace]

No Official AU Stories

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

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

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

Dropping Flowers with Vitus and Crow Delphia

Fallen Pots with borrower Ash and Human Alessia

Mistletoe Traditions with borrower Ash and human Alessia

Surprising Coffee Addition with Human Streya

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

Warmth in the Cold with human Streya

Secret Santa with human Mira and borrower Kaya

First Time Indoors with borrower Alessia and Human Vitus

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

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

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

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

Enchantment or Curse with fairy prince Rhys and Human Vincent

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

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

Rainy Changes with Human Dabria and borrower Alessia

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

Intimidating Presence with giant Kid Felix and humans Vitus and Dabria

Open Secrets with Delphia and Alessia

Simple Night with Evelyn and Conny

[awkwardgtace]

Hide And Seek

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

Hide And Seek

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ash run, he's gonna find you!” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[awkwardgtace]

I dont know if you've done this already but have you drawn or made picrews/other programs with some of ur ocs? I've seen you describe them abit but I'm a bit curious to see how you actually imagine them to be

I haven't done a big post so I will use this ask to do one! I actually have descriptions for each character in a spreadsheet I've made to track all the info I have, I've made picrews, and I have two commissions done so far. This one for the mafia AU god squad and this one for when Corus and Mira met

Comm I got for streya &lt;3

Comm of Delphia, Ash, and Alessia in Vampire AU

fanart of mira and corus

Below the read more is a description I have an at least one picrew I've made of each of my ocs! I made a lot of these a long time ago so I sadly don't have the links but I can def try to find ones if people want them!

Mira: pale skin with lavender hair and pink eyes. She has a natural red tint to her cheeks with a pink color for her lips. Her body is lean and muscular, reflecting the years of training she's had. In her streamer universe she has a lean form with slight muscle from casual workouts. When you first see her you wouldn't assume she's as tactful and agile as she is.

Kaya: black hair, brown eyes and brown skin. They have some freckles by their nose and mole under their left eye. While they usually share in some of Mira's training they retain a thin frame and appear petite at first glance. They look innocent at first, as if they have no understanding of darker sides to the world. In reality they have stared it in the face and continued with a smile

This heart one is an adorable comm from @graff-aganda gotten by @alarcomet

Ian: fair skin with blond hair and brown eyes. His face is covered in a dusting of freckles. He's a little shorter than average at first in his original universe. He has a lanky frame that some may even call scrawny at times. He looks younger than he is, giving an impression of early teens rather than close to an adult.

Delphia: pale white skin with emerald eyes that stand out against it. Her hair is a dark black, almost ebony. She's above average height in most universes with a thin frame. Generally she's pale to a concerning degree. Almost like you'd think she's dead if she held her breath. She appears innocent and naive by choice, if she changes to seem world weary it's best to listen Where it exists people might think she's a bit like snow white

Vincent: striking silver hair, usually tied back. He has one eye green like emeralds, the other purple like violets. Overall his features are striking, but the scars over his eyes stand out against his sepia brown skin. He's intimidating, usually holding a look of disdain or pointed disinterest. If he cares for you he will kill for you

Melody: around average height with pale skin and heavyset. She has long brown hair frequently put up in ponytails or braids. Glasses that hide the bags under her eyes and a bright red tint on her cheeks. She also has a single dimple mirrored by Caprice. She looks young and innocent as if the things she suffered never happened. Most often she wears jeans and dark colored t-shirts with a black hoodie

Caprice: fair pale skin with freckles, short brown hair, and brown eyes. He usually has an athletic build and a bit short for men. He doesn't need glasses and has a healthy look. He has a single dimple mirrored by Melody. He appears goofy and ignorant, a mask he wears that can fall away to someone who sees more than anyone would like.

Lilith: dark brown skin, red eyes, and naturally black hair. She likes to dye it purple. Overall she is adorable. There is always a possessiveness in her face if she likes you.

Corus: black hair long enough he can tie it in a small ponytail. He has blue eyes and tanned white skin. At first glance he looks tall with an average build at best, but he has a lot of muscle that you can't see. His way of dress hides the fact he's well built. It's a byproduct of ways he's tried to handle his anger issues through out the years. He looks like someone easy to take advantage of at first, but then his anger comes through and he's terrifying regardless of size.

Zeke: golden brown skin, green eyes, and red/orange hair. He looks welcoming and intelligent. Overall his build is a bit average but his arms reflect the manual labor his life usually requires. He's observant and quick to act. When it's viable he has glasses that help him see far away. Luckily he has no issues up close.

Mikhail: He has rich black skin, green eyes and long black hair. He has a lean frame that some would assume is from being consumed in his studies. Most of the time he needs glasses more specifically for reading. His size changing in his original universe does change his frame slightly. The bigger he grows the more imposing his build becomes and the opposite for smaller. He'd be bird like at Ian's size

Alessia: rosy white skin and a warm look to her face. She's chubby which hides the strength she's capable of. Her hair, which flows to the middle of her back, is the same color as the night sky and she has brown eyes that radiate kindness. Generally around average human height. Soft is a good way to describe her. As a goddess she is usually dressed in a golden suit of armor that still leaves her legs, arms, hands, and head free.

Rhys: sharp edges to his face, the tawny brown skin accented with salmon hair. His eyes change colors depending on mood, but he is most commonly seen with them at bright pink. He isn't too tall and has a stout form. When he's calm his features have him looking reliable. As a god he dresses for the times, frequently in the most common clothing styles of the era until more modern times.

Ash: appears intimidating. A sharp face with one green and one blue eye. Their brown hair is short almost shave. They have umber brown skin and, as a god, tend to wear something that looks like leather armor. It's more like a misviewed tunic. They are frequently considered to look like a warrior or soldier and mistaken for the god of war.

Vitus: ashen white skin and even whiter hair. His hair is a bit below his shoulders and usually tied back with enough left free to frame his face. He has striking emerald eyes and a stern gaze. He has an average build and appears normally to be around mid thirties to early forties in age. He's taller than most others. As a god he tends to wear a button up shirt and simple plain pants regardless of the era. As a human he has reading glasses.

Dabria: fair white skin that looks like she's spent a lot of time under the sun. She has ebony hair which seems to flow endlessly behind her and piercingly red eyes. Her round face almost always carries a small smile and radiates warmth. She has a chubby form and is happy to offer comfort to any who need it. As a goddess she tends to wear a simple black dress, as a human she wears darker colors and jeans unless it's more formal

Felix: a stocky build. He has golden eyes and short black hair that slightly frames his face. His skin is a warm beige. He looks judgemental and cold at first glance. His features give a calculating feeling. As a god he dresses ostentatiously, styles that mimic nobility or expensive styles of the era.

Sola: a soft tan to her white skin, something that makes her look to have spent long days out in the sun. Her hair is just a bit past her shoulders, a light blonde color with specks of blue and white. Her eyes like like the morning sky, bright yellow at the center for the sun. She dresses in bright colors and most often has her arms and legs uncovered. She appears childish like Luna. A round face, large eyes, and over all child like features. She is twins with Luna. She appears bright, outgoing, and loud, but tries to match those around her more than act freely.

Luna: pale skin that could remind you of moonlight. He has shoulder length hair that's black with specks of white like stars. As a god his eyes are almost mirrors of the night sky, but human leaves him with a deep blue. He dresses in dark colors that relate to the era. He looks childish, a round face, large eyes, and general child like features. He is twins with Sola. He appears shy and reserved, but just is soft spoken.

Ryder: the build of a soldier. He reflects his status as god of war in his stature. His eyes are silver and, as a god, his pupils are shaped like swords. He has a surprisingly kind look most of the time. His face is scared despite never being in battle, he also has some scars along his arms and torso. He has long black hair that reaches down his back and he tends to leave as is. He tries to appear ready to fight in any universe he's in despite his lack of actual experience and general reasons to fight.

Kyrie: warm beige skin and a chubby build. His hair and fins are black at first. Both will change later to mimic colors of the deep sea to aid in hiding from humans. His eyes are the same color as the deep sea giving him the best sight of the merfolk under water. His hair is long and reachs almost to his tail. He opts not to do anything to it much like Pelago. He can look intimidating when he smiles, large fangs poking out. He is technically not full grown until some time after he meets Melody and grows significantly from the size he'd been until then.

Pelago: slender with dark brown skin. She has scars over her face from years of abuse due to the colors of her scales. She has blond hair the is half the length of her body. Her scales are a bright white and define her as an oceanid. Her eyes match the colors of her scales and fins as white as well. She still holds a kind smile despite the way she's been treated in the past. Pelago looks the most human when she smiles, her smaller size leaving her no need for large fangs.

Byssal: fair white skin and a stout build. He has used his size to keep Pelago safe and appears intimidating. His hair is green and usually braided. When loose his hair is almost longer than Pelago He has green scales, fins, and eyes. He has some scales along his skin unlike Pelago. Byssal frequently wears a scowl and bares his fangs at anyone who isn't Kyrie or Pelago (later that grows to Melody and Caprice)

Streya: skin the same color of space, she'd disappear into the darkness without the stars. She wears a gown that looks like endless stars. Her eyes are a solid dull purple when she's not matching a planet, they change to match the planet she's mimicking. Her hair is long reaching down into the endless space like her gown. It's a base shade of black with glowing blue on the top and the tips. On the right side of her head her hair is a lighter blue. There's a hint of purple all throughout it. She has a plump form. She has a round face that almost always has a look of awe or curiosity

Meg: skin is pale and she wears simple earrings. Her hair is a light brown that falls just below her shoulders. She has brown eyes. She has a dusting of freckles on her face, she wears simple glasses. She has a thin frame with a round face. She dresses casually, a warm jacket with simple things. A necklace with a star on it and tends to have jackets with patches or pins for lgbt

[awkwardgtace]

Bringing home flowers...crow del finds a real nice flower and dumps it on vitus' head......

Good ask for saying this. Prompts can be settings I haven't used before. If I like it I'll write it :D

Dropping Flowers

Vitus had been working nonstop all day. He had to get this done as soon as possible. It didn’t help his focus when small black feathers kept landing on his desk. Delphia was curious and had been trying to hover over his head a few times today. It was sweet, but he didn’t have the time for it. He sighed, she was still nervous around him so he didn’t want to let her know he’d noticed either.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He would be working for at least a few more hours. Dabria had gone on a trip and Rhys was staying with a friend. He had to try and make her stop flying in and out so he could focus. He started to sit up freezing when he heard the small yelp in front of his face. Something slightly damp and cold landed over his nose and he slipped his eyes open.

Delphia was hovering just above him looking terrified. She was blocked out by the blue rose she’d just dropped on his face. He moved slowly to grab the flower, but Delphia backed up anyway. He frowned a bit, but just grabbed the rose and sat up straight again. He looked it over for a minute before looking up at Delphia again.

“I thought it was pretty,” she whispered. 

He offered his hand to her and she sat in his palm. The bird traits seem to shine through on her more than Dabria. She seemed more fragile, smaller. It made him extra cautious when she trusted him like this. He brought his hand closer and she hugged herself. He tried to offer a reassuring smile.

“It is, did you want to put it in some water?” he asked. She jumped when he spoke, she wasn’t used to being around someone so much bigger yet. She was just barely the height of his thumb.

“N-no, you seemed upset… I thought it would make you smile,” she whispered. His eyes went wide as she curled in on herself. He bent his finger closer and patted her head gently.

“Thank you, Delphia. Would you like to stay here while I finish working?”

He chuckled at the bright eyed look she gave him. She jumped off his hand and landed on his shoulder. She slipped her legs under his collar and leaned against his neck. He flinched, she was freezing. He sat back instead of continuing his work and placed a hand over her. He laughed a bit louder than he meant to when he felt her relax against his skin.

“You could just tell me you were cold,” he chuckled. He felt her wings twitching against him.

“I didn’t want to bother you, but then you looked upset and I saw the flower. I thought it would help then I’d go hide in Rhys’s jackets.”

“I’d like to think you can just tell me and not have to hide anywhere to warm up.”

“Hiding here is nice… you’re warm and safe.”

He blinked at her words. She hadn’t seemed to find him safe most of the time. She shied away from him when he spoke or his hands came close. He smiled as she relaxed more against his neck. Work could wait, for now he’d just spend some time with his daughter.

[awkwardgtace]

42 and 56 for Alessia? And honestly, tack on any characters that these questions feel interesting for!

ahh Kim thank you!!! I will give you Alessia and an extra for each question!

Ask Game

42. If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

Alessia: Proper armor maintenance and historical armor designs. As a goddess she wears bit of armor that changes throughout the years. As anything else she just has a fascination with the designs and patterns throughout history! As for the title: Armor through the ages... and the fashion of it

Dabria: She'd do a lecture on art history. Painting and Photography techniques too. She'd probably go over interesting points and things she personally uses for inspiration. A lot of random tangents to talk about something that captured her attention. Her title would be: Art and Inspiration Histories

56. If they’re scared, who do they want comfort from? Does this answer change depending on the type of fear?

Alessia: Most of the time she wants comfort from Ash and Delphia if she's scared. The two are the most important people in her life. Although if the fear is about her size she tends to go to someone the same size as her, either one of her partners or a close friend (Rhys many times.). Although her first thought is to always go to Ash and Delphia.

Vitus: If he's scared he goes straight to his family. Either his kids or Dabria. Kids if he's scared for them, Dabria if he's scared for her or himself. If he gets scared of his own actions, like if he yelled or did something that made him look intimidating or scary, he'll kind of avoid everyone. He'll be found by Dabria usually who reminds him that she and their kids know he's not dangerous or anyone to be afraid of.