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tinyundercover · 26 days ago

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cassie! (part 2)

read part one here <3

word count: 3.4k

Cassie glanced up in surprise at the feeling of a warm, gentle hand, resting on her left shoulder. From her cross-legged seat on the floor, she peered up at a dark blue jacket and a soft expression from the borrower who had kindly offered his home to her.

“The storm stopped,” Pepper said, softly.

She blinked, processing his words. Her hand still held a thick piece of pencil lead, which she had been using to draw a wobbly sketch of her mother, but the lead began to slip out of her loosening grip. “What?”

Her quiet voice cracked on the singular word. She had barely said anything since Felix and Pepper had rescued her yesterday, both from fear and exhaustion. The terrifying ordeal of being caught by Felix had ripped any last energy from her body, and although Felix (and the strange but kind-hearted borrower Pepper, who had miraculously shown up an hour later in a startling fury) had turned out to be kind, Cassie couldn’t help but shake and wobble every time he looked at her. After eating the food that Felix had offered her, Pepper had brought Cassie back to his home, and the comforting dark walls had almost immediately pulled Cassie into the heaviest, longest sleep of her life. This morning, so far, had been a slow, gentle, quiet one.

Pepper dropped his hand away, and Cassie almost missed it, despite the fact that he was a stranger and she logically should be afraid of him, too. The overwhelming relief of seeing another person her size, however, had crushed any survival instincts she may have had.

“The storm outside,” Pepper explained, tipping his head towards the wall. “It slowed down this morning, and it stopped a little bit ago. It’s gonna be sunny for the rest of the day.”

Cassie’s throat tightened. She realized abruptly that she could no longer hear the dull thrum of a downpour outside, a sound she had been used to hearing for over three days. A warm, bright feeling found its way into her stomach and chest, gripping at her lungs. “It’s… oh, wow.”

She stumbled to her feet at a startling pace, surprising even Pepper, who took an alarmed step back. Just as she spun towards the door, a wave of light-headedness struck her, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Ow.”

Pepper laughed gently, a sympathetic expression crossing his dark eyes. “We’ll go in a minute, okay? You need to eat something first.”

Cassie had already eaten the grape that Felix had offered her, followed by the corner of a cracker she had never tried before, but she couldn’t deny that her long period of hunger was already nibbling at her stomach again. She chewed her lip, staring longingly at the door.

“You’re not gonna be able to find your mom easily if you’re fainting,” Pepper offered, and Cassie let out a wobbly sigh. She nodded in defeat.

She wasn’t accustomed to eating anything other than fruits and vegetables from the garden, so the food that Pepper and Felix offered her was a pleasant surprise. She took a few more bites of the cracker, and with Pepper’s permission she crammed the rest of it into her satchel, brightened by the idea that she could share it later with her mother.

Within minutes she was trekking behind Pepper as they made their way through the walls. He clearly knew the layout far better than she did, and she struggled to keep up on her short legs, winding around corners and bumping into walls. By the time a sliver of light appeared in the form of a thin exit, an alarming thought crossed her mind, and she halted. “Wait.”

Pepper’s jacket creased and folded as he turned to look at her, one hand on the wall. “What’s up?”

She furrowed her brow, raising a small hand to brush a thin curl out of her face. “Are we on the counter?”

Pepper blinked down at her, glancing briefly towards the opening. He hesitated, voice slow as he replied, “yes.”

“Wh…” she blinked, struggling to understand, a familiar fear beginning to tug at her chest. “Because… why?”

She wasn’t sure how to form her words. An explanation was piecing itself together in her mind, and she recognized uncomfortably that she and Pepper hadn’t shared much of a plan. It seemed that they weren’t quite on the same page of how she was going to reunite with her mother.

Pepper seemed to be having a similar realization, his lip drawn between his teeth. He glanced once again at the opening, and Cassie watched silently as he brought his hands to a clasp against his chest, brow furrowed.

“Is Felix gonna take me to my mom?” Cassie asked quietly.

Pepper’s shoulders dropped, expression unreadable as he peered down at Cassie. “Well… that’s the plan, yes.” His voice was just as soft as it had been all day, but a thick layer of guilt had buried itself into his words. “I’m sorry, I thought— well, I thought you knew.”

The cold feeling inside of Cassie stayed wrapped around her lungs, hard and unwavering. She blinked rapidly, and her head shook in refusal before she even processed it.

“He’s— I know he’s a little scary, but he’s really not going to hurt you,” Pepper was saying quickly, but she wasn’t really taking it in.

Yesterday had been more than enough time to have spent with Felix. Deep in her chest, Cassie truly believed that he didn’t have intentions to harm her— he had had plenty of chances to kill her yesterday, and not only did he offer her food, but he actually sent her away to stay with his nice borrower acquaintance. It didn’t seem to be something a villain would do, but then again, Cassie had been under the impression that she wouldn’t ever return to his apartment again, let alone be held by him. She had thought Pepper would handle everything. He had seemed gentle and responsible, and best of all, he wasn’t a thousand times her size.

“But— but…” Cassie’s voice tremored. “He’s a human.”

“I know,” Pepper confessed, shoulders hunching to bring himself closer to the small girl. His hand returned to her shoulder, warm and comforting. “I know, and it’s scary, but I’ve known him for a long time now. I was scared of him for a while, but I promise, you can trust him.”

“I…” Cassie’s mouth was dry. She dropped her nervous gaze.

“You said you live in a big garden, right? Felix knows where that is. It would take the two of us hours to find it, but Felix can take us there in minutes.”

At his words, a fraction of Cassie’s icy fear melted. “You— you’re coming, too?”

“Oh, yeah.” Pepper nodded, leaning closer. “Of course.”

Cassie took a shaky breath, processing that information. She wasn’t going to be left alone with a human again, it seemed. And, if what Pepper said was true, Felix would be able to bring Cassie to the garden much faster than Pepper could.

It made sense, she acknowledged with an anxious frown. Humans were as terrifyingly fast as they were big.

She wanted to refuse. The very thought of being swept up into a powerful hand made her want to turn and run— but the thought of her mother’s face brought a flurry of emotions, almost too much to handle. She sniffled. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Pepper confirmed, gently, and she nodded.

“Okay,” she repeated, dropping her head until her light curls nearly concealed her face.

It took a few minutes of Pepper’s comforting voice to calm her down, and when the two of them finally approached the exit, she was nearly overwhelmed by a wave of lightheadedness again. Her eyes remained squeezed shut as Pepper led her out onto the counter by a hand.

“Hi, Cassie.”

When she opened her eyes, she found herself squinting at the smooth countertop and her small, worn boots. Her breath shook as she tentatively lifted her gaze, glancing from Pepper’s thick, blue jacket to the human standing before her.

Felix’s terrifying gaze was, admittedly, gentle as he peered down at her. His sand-colored hair didn’t seem to be as neat as yesterday, strands falling out of place, and Cassie wondered if he had gotten as good of a night’s sleep as she did. His dizzyingly enormous shoulders took up almost the entirety of her vision, wrapped in a soft, lavender cardigan. His arms were crossed, concealing his hands from view. She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “Hi,” she responded, barely audible.

She watched as Pepper and Felix shared a look, a silent conversation she clearly wasn’t meant to be a part of, and Pepper’s head tilted forward invitingly. “We’re all ready to go,” he offered, voice clear and warm.

Her heart jumped anxiously, nervous green gaze flickering to Felix, as if he might take that as an invitation to snatch the two of them up immediately. His shoulders only shifted, and his hands didn’t appear.

“Did you sleep okay?” Felix asked, and while Cassie took a moment to appreciate his quiet tone of voice, she didn’t really process that he was acknowledging her.

A moment of silence stretched on, and she blinked in recognition. She briefly glanced up at Pepper, as if her fellow borrower might answer for her, but she was only met with a similarly expectant expression.

“Good,” she responded finally, shifting on her feet. Her stomach fluttered as Felix tipped his head forward to hear better, but once again, his hands made no appearance. “Um… I— I slept good.”

She didn’t have much else to say, so she allowed her voice to taper off into silence, taking an uneasy step back. Felix nodded, blue gaze soft and surprisingly inviting. “Good… listen, I’m really sorry for scaring you yesterday.”

Pepper’s hand remained clasped in Cassie’s, and she felt him shift a bit at Felix’s words. The small girl glanced between the two men, brow knit. “It’s okay,” she responded, finding a small bit of confidence buried deep in her chest. “You didn’t mean to.”

“Would it be okay for me to hold you again?”

Cassie’s shoulders twitched at that. “Um…” she whipped her gaze back to Pepper, stomach twisting.

“It’s okay,” Pepper whispered, tightening his grip on her hand. She swallowed thickly.

“Yeah,” she finally relented, voice thin and strained. “That’s okay.”

Felix blinked, as if he was expecting more resistance from the small girl. He opened his mouth to respond, but Cassie startled herself by speaking first, her words stumbling over each other like an avalanche. “I just— I just— I want to see my— my mom.”

She drew in a shuddering breath, watching as Pepper and Felix shared another private expression.

“Oh, Cassie,” Pepper murmured, releasing Cassie’s hand to wrap around her shoulders. She leaned into him, heart racing, eyes wet. “Let’s get going.”

——

Placing herself in a hand five times her size was not the easiest task for Cassie— but her mother’s face in her mind, begging her to come home, was convincing enough for her to try.

Her tiny boot wobbled as she stepped onto the edge of Felix’s palm. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t very sturdy, and she threw her arms out in alarm, catching herself before she toppled over.

A rosy blush crossed her face, and she tried to hide her embarrassment. Pepper had already stepped onto Felix’s hand without any issue, demonstrating how easy it was for him to trust such a massive human, and he was now sitting cross-legged in the center of Felix’s palm, patiently watching Cassie. He hadn’t stumbled in the slightest. How often did Felix hold him?

She let out a heavy exhale, focusing on her boots again. She let herself be comforted by Pepper’s warm gaze, and the thought of her mother, waiting for her. The strangeness of this situation could be put aside.

With a determined expression she lifted her other boot, wobbled, and planted it down on Felix’s palm. She could feel two pairs of eyes on her— one uncomfortably large— and took two more steps forward until she was standing next to Pepper. Seconds later she had successfully knelt down, grabbing onto Pepper’s shoulder for balance, and finally crossed her legs into a seated position.

She took another shaky breath, ignored the massive curled fingers behind her, and blinked up at Felix.

It was instinctively alarming to see him from this angle, to look up past his wrist, all the way up the sleeve of his cardigan. It was terrifying to know that he quite literally held her life in a single hand— but Pepper clearly trusted him, and Pepper was unharmed. She swallowed, and unable to speak, gave a tiny thumbs up.

Felix, admittedly, seemed to be nervous as well. His expression was focused, delicately glancing between the two borrowers. “Are you ready to go?”

Thankfully, Pepper responded, so Cassie didn’t have to. “Yep. We’re all good.”

As soon as Felix’s hand moved, Cassie let out a sharp gasp, grabbing Pepper’s wrist. Felix immediately paused, fingers twitching. “Do you need a second?”

“No, no.” Cassie screwed her eyes shut momentarily, a rosy flush crossing her face. “Go ahead.”

Pepper rubbed her shoulder comfortingly as Felix continued, drawing the borrowers close to his chest. Cassie tried to ignore the world spinning around her, gaze locked on her soft dress, her hands gripped tight into the pale fabric.

Being held by a human as he walked was another ordeal. Felix offered a soft, gentle apology as Cassie yelped, shrinking close to Pepper, alarmed by the sharp movement of the world around her.

“We’re gonna hide in his pocket, okay?” Pepper murmured to the girl as Felix approached the front door, his free hand resting on the door handle. Cassie furrowed her brow, heart racing.

“Huh?”

Felix lifted his hand, and Cassie blinked at him, tense hands threatening to rip through the fabric of her dress.

“There are other humans in the building,” Felix explained quietly, his voice a warm breeze. “If I put you in my pocket, then you don’t have to worry about anybody seeing you.”

“It might be less scary, too,” Pepper mused. Cassie nodded, slowly, throat tight.

“Okay. That’s okay.”

She nearly flinched when Felix’s thumb appeared, brushing against her shoulder, but she abruptly registered that it was a comforting gesture. With a shaky breath she placed her hand on his thumb, so tiny in comparison, and his face softened further.

Pepper’s presence was a comfort to Cassie as the two of them were slipped into the knitted pocket of Felix’s cardigan. To Cassie’s surprise, Felix’s hand remained in the pocket with them, cupping them both in warmth.

“Are you actually doing okay?” Pepper questioned, leaning back against the large curve of Felix’s fingers. Cassie chewed her lip.

“Yeah, I think so,” she admitted, absentmindedly brushing her hands over her dress. “I… yeah. This is just… crazy.”

Pepper let out a quiet laugh. “Yeah. I get it.”

They fell into silence, and as Cassie listened to Felix’s footsteps outside, she couldn’t help but ask, “How… did you meet Felix?”

Pepper didn’t respond at first, fingers drumming over his knee. “It’s… kind of a long story.” He tilted his head towards the smaller girl. “But trust me, I know it’s crazy. I really didn’t think I’d ever be friends with a human, but Felix really cares about me. About us.” He smiled. “I promise.”

Cassie tentatively smiled back, wrapping her arms around her knees. “Okay.” She glanced away. “I feel bad for being so scared yesterday.”

“Oh.” Pepper blinked. “Oh, Cassie, you don’t have to be. It’s normal to be scared.”

“You’re not scared of him.”

“I’ve known him for a long time,” Pepper pointed out. “But I was scared for a long time, too. It’s normal, and being scared of humans is what keeps you safe.”

She exhaled, and he brought his hand to her shoulder once again.

“When I first met Felix, I bit him,” Pepper offered, and Cassie snorted.

“What?”

“I did.” Pepper laughed, rubbing her shoulder, and she giggled. “So don’t worry— Felix understands that you’re scared. He’s not mad at you.”

”Okay.” She took a deep breath, nodding. “Okay.”

The rest of the trip was shockingly fast. While Cassie was expecting hours, Felix’s hand scooped them up and drew them out of his pocket in a matter of minutes. She twitched in surprise, finding herself surrounded by sunlight.

Not just sunlight— the garden.

Her heart lurched. It looked different from such a high angle, but it was undoubtedly her home. Tall green plants swayed, massive leaves stretching open to take in the warm sunlight after days of rain. The effects of the rain lingered in the form of a thin mist, drops of condensation falling from round red tomatoes and white flowers. An enormous wooden gate surrounded the garden, and Felix stood at the entrance.

“Is this the place?” He asked, and Cassie let out a weak gasp.

“How— how did— how did you find it?” She straightened her shoulders, wide eyes taking in the familiar plants and the scent of freshly rained-on soil. Her mother was in there, in their home beside the blueberry bush, just along the right side of the fence.

“This is the only community garden in the area,” Felix explained, his thumb brushing over Cassie’s shoulder again, and she gripped it excitedly.

She spun around to face Felix fully, eyes wide, a bright feeling wrapped around her chest. “Thank you,” she exclaimed, voice shuddering. “Thank you.”

She sniffled, throwing her entire body against his thumb and hugging it. She wished she could actually hug him, the way he deserved, but his size, of course, was a bit of an obstacle. It was his incredible size that he was even able to get her here at all, she supposed, and she let out a watery-eyed, exhausted laugh, beaming up at him.

“Oh,” Felix expressed, heart melted. “It’s okay— thank you for trusting me. You’re really brave.”

She sniffled, pulling an arm away to rub at her eyes. Immediately she threw herself into Pepper’s arms as well, laughing at the startled noise he made, and gripped his blue jacket tight. “Thank you!”

Pepper clearly hadn’t been expecting the hug, but he embraced her nonetheless, a hand resting on the back of her light brown curls. “You’re awesome, Cassie.”

She giggled, unable to conceal her onslaught of emotions as Felix knelt down. His hand had barely touched the grass by the time Cassie leapt off of his palm, the familiar feeling of soil under her boots making her beam. She spun around, eyes wet.

“Can you come visit sometime?” She begged, glancing between Pepper’s warm laugh and Felix’s startled expression.

“You’d want that?”

At Felix’s question, Cassie nodded rapidly, clasping her hands together. “Please!”

It was a very strange feeling, to want to spend time with a human again. She still couldn’t fathom his massive size or equally his shocking gentleness, but she knew deep in her chest that this couldn’t be the last time she saw Felix or Pepper again.

When Pepper and Felix both responded with a warm, “Of course,” Cassie nearly melted with relief.

Saying goodbye to the two of them was difficult, but knowing that her mother was just around the corner made it easier for Cassie. Weaving her way through the familiar green stems brought back a comfortable feeling that the small girl had missed, and she wiped at her eyes, giggling to herself.

The gentle expression of a small angel statue greeted her, inviting her back. Sunlight dappled over the ground like a pathway, and as Cassie turned the corner into the stone entrance of her home, she couldn’t help but let a few tears fall.

“Cassie!”

Warmth enveloped Cassie. With a shaky sob, the small girl dug her hands into the blonde hair and linen dress and pulled herself further into her mother’s embrace.

and then pepper kicked felix's ass for scaring her

i hope you enjoyed this story!! <3 i'm so excited to be back! :)

#g/t #giant/tiny #pepper & felix #g/t writing #borrowers

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