Best posts made by littlest-lily

@SmolChlo Yeeeesss! And you know he’s holding back because this is a first date and he wants to be respectful and not freak her out further

As much as I enjoy D&D (thankfully I’m in a life stage where I’m not playing video games much because I’m already fascinated by BG3 despite not actually playing myself), it’s rare that I think about that kind of medieval fantasy type setting in my size fantasies. But some of what you just listed is making me reconsider

@Olo LOL if my giant were to ever call me “satisfactory,” that’s the fastest way to get me to start acting very disobedient

She wasn’t sure what was worse. Having Rob dangled in front of her, not to be disturbed? Or being trapped in stifling solitude instead? She sunk back into the dark hole that she’d found herself in every day that her master had been at the office. At least then she had her glass tank, with all its fancy amenities at her disposal. Here she was left stranded up on a desk.

Blue dragged herself to her carrier, picked unenthusiastically at her food pellets, and then tried to take a nap. With how fast her metabolism was she tended to benefit from a little extra sleep, and she typically did so around midday. But she was so frustrated with everything from the past morning that all she could do was stare at the navy ceiling of the carrier and count the seconds as they passed.

It felt like an eternity when she heard the distant door of the house open. Footsteps were quickly approaching. Blue leapt to her feet, almost tripping over herself from how stiff her muscles had gotten and how much she was hurrying. She ran out to the open surface of the desk.

“Welcome ba–”

“Sorry, Blue.” Rob was a massive blur of movement as he rushed to turn his laptop back on. “I’ll need to feed you after this call, traffic was bad and I’m running late.”

His pet opened and closed her mouth a couple of times in shock. How many more times was she going to get jerked around like this?

As the computer processed, in a silent moment of sincerity, Rob looked her right in the eye and brought a thumb up to her cheek in apology. It felt like fire against her skin and she lifted her hand up to touch it to the outside of the digit, to hold him against her for just a second and savor this. But the call booted up before she could do so, and the hand was ripped away from her again.

The split-second-long touch was too much. She was too wired and couldn’t take it anymore. Her entire body was shaking as her eyes fixated the fingers that had just left her. This was a much more active meeting, and even after Rob apologized to the group for the delay, he was doing a lot of talking, waving his hands around as he presented something to the rest of his team. He was already tense going into this and the subject at hand kept his stress levels up.

Blue was like a predator, poised to strike. She crouched down to hands and knees, focusing on her target that was gesticulating in the air, like a cat watching a very large bird. Finally it was someone else’s turn to respond and Rob briefly relaxed his forearms back onto the desk. Not a second was wasted.

The tiny woman swept in, slinking forward with her head low, and still with a cat-like mannerism, she rubbed her cheek along the side of her beloved master’s hand, planting kisses along the length of his pinkie. She didn’t have time to do anything else before she was forcefully shoved away. The hand had pushed hard against her chest and it was a struggle not to yelp as she toppled over to her side and watched the fingers pull away from her, rising back into the sky.

Blue looked up wildly, confused. He’d never shown any level of cruelty before. Even though she wasn’t physically hurt, Rob’s gesture spoke volumes. He wasn’t even looking at her, his face perfectly composed as he stared at the screen. She wasn’t just dismayed this time.

This time she felt a spark of anger.

Fighting back tears, she crawled away, getting back to her feet about half an inch sooner than she was supposed to in a hidden act of rebellion. She stomped back to her toys, the stupid useless things that were somehow supposed to get her through the day. If she had opted to pick up the penguin perhaps she could have calmed herself down. But instead she plopped into a seat in front of the cylindrical cage that contained a little jingle bell.

The toy was on its side and she grabbed one end of it to spin it. The bell hardly shifted, which only further annoyed the aggravated woman, who staunchly wanted to tempt fate at this point. In a self-destructive move she pushed against the cylinder hard so that it rolled an inch or two forward. A small ringing sound erupted from it and seemed to split the air.

Unsurprisingly, Rob tsk’d with irritation and surreptitiously reached over to where Blue was sitting. She’d just reached the cylinder to push it again when enormous fingers grabbed it right out of her hands. The giant opened a drawer, dropped the toy in, and shut it hard enough to make his pet lose her balance.

Temper flaring, Blue jumped to her feet and turned to the rubber ball now. She kicked it as hard as she could, sending it sailing past the edge of the desk and plummeting to the floor, where she heard it bounce away. Good riddance.

Drowning in her frustration, she paced in a circle with her fists clenched, until her eyes fell upon the rudimentary staircase she had built out of books and office supplies earlier. She marched right over to it, angrily making her ascent. On the edge of her vision she could feel large glowering eyes watching her, but she didn’t look his way. Maybe it was time for her to ignore his presence for once.

When Blue reached the shelf, there was a reverberating thumping sound as Rob rapped a knuckle against the desk to get her attention. She looked over and he was staring straight at her, clearly communicating his disapproval of whatever she was doing. Now acting in open defiance, she sarcastically mimed zipping her mouth shut again. After all, she’d kept her promise of not making a peep.

But she continued marching along on her destructive rampage. She reached the pile of business cards from before and picked one up to toss right over the edge of the shelf.

“Stop,” Rob hissed under his breath, barely discernible over the droning conversation of his teammates. His eyes darted between the shelf and the computer screen with growing exasperation.

Blue met his gaze in one fiery glare. And then she kicked the entire stack of cards and sent them flying. The bulk of it loudly clattered down to the desk, and several of them toppled in front of the laptop, surely showing up on the camera.

“Get down,” the giant snarled as he suddenly reached out to snatch her up roughly. She almost bit her tongue, overwhelmed by the huge fingers suddenly pressing in from all sides, and vertigo hit her hard before the hand slammed back down onto the desk and rattled her from the inside out.

“Everything okay there, Rob?”

Blue was wincing as the huge fist released her, tears of pain getting added to the ones from her anger.

“Sorry, yeah, that was… my cat.”

The casualness with which he spoke was the tipping point. Overcome with rage, Blue grabbed the closest thing she could find, a loose paperclip, and chucked it at Rob as hard as she could. It bounced against his temple, making the giant flinch. The projectile was too small and too fast for anyone to notice, and it didn’t really hurt him – in fact, with her reduced stature it was impressive that she could even throw it that high. But it earned her one deathly icy glare.

Rob finally took in just how furious his little pet had gotten. Her eyes were full of tears, her body was shaking, there was a bright red mark on her arm, but right now he was too riled up to care. In this split second as the two regarded each other, all he could think was how dare she defy him like this.

“Ohhh, you have a cat?” one of his coworkers was asking excitedly, “Can we see?”

Despite him still angrily fixating Blue, Rob managed to maintain a relaxed enough tone. “Nah, she ran off. Though if she doesn’t stop misbehaving, I’ll have to go lock her up in her carrier.”

The look in his eye at that moment was enough to make Blue finally snap out of it. She suddenly realized that she was completely out of line. No matter what she felt, the gigantic man before her owned her. He was completely within his rights to do whatever he wanted to her. Fear swooped in to replace her wrath, and she threw herself to her knees, linking her hands behind her back and bowing her head low as she got into her submissive position.

She stayed like that for the entire rest of the meeting, her body trembling from the awkward stance, the anxiety, the residual frustration that she had buried deep inside. A good thirty minutes passed as she stared at the desk and desperately wondered where Rob’s mind was at.

Finally the call ended, and once the giant clicked out of the virtual meeting room, he let out a heavy sigh. The tiny woman could hardly breathe in the ensuing silence, her own heartbeat reverberating in her ears as she continued to keep her head down.

“Blue.”

His voice was quiet but it still made her flinch. She raised her head slightly in response to her name, though she did not meet his gaze. A large hand appeared in front of her, unfurling so that the fingertips lay just ahead.

“Come,” the voice commanded firmly.

For the first time, she didn’t want to. For the first time she was afraid to go anywhere near him. But she couldn’t defy this direct order. She got to her feet and took a couple of shaky steps forward down the length of his fingers. As soon as she reached his palm the entire thing lifted up and knocked her off balance. She got back into her kneeled bowing position right there in his hand, and her shoulders tensed as things became still again.

“You understand I have to work, right?”

His tone was so cold. Blue’s chest was tight as her heart raced away. She kept her head down and silently nodded.

“You understand why I have to work. Right?”

She nodded again.

“I can provide for you far better than the vast majority of people you could have ended up with, you know. Thanks to this job.”

Blue hung her head in shame at this. She didn’t look at him but softly said, “I know…”

“Care to explain yourself, then?”

She swallowed, trying to keep the shaking under control. Her voice was weak. “Th-the accommodations are nice… They’re very nice. I-I’m grateful, Master, I really am.”

Up until now, he had always insisted she call him by his name. But he didn’t correct her this time.

“It’s just…” Blue squeezed her eyes shut, mustering her courage to continue speaking. “I need… er… I would like… a little more than just nice things. W-we’ve barely been able to spend any time together… I just…”

And despite her best efforts, a tear fell from her eyes. She watched in terror as the drop of moisture splashed onto the skin of her owner’s palm. Desperately she tried to keep herself in check, but a second tear fell, and then a third.

Rob stared at his tiny pet. He had been thinking about how he was regretting not having accepted the leash that she came with. That she clearly didn’t understand how good she had it. That everything he’d bought for her was top of the line - her tank had plumbing for Christ’s sake - and how infuriating it was that she would repay him with such blatant disrespect. He’d been too easy on her. Things would need to change.

But then he heard the distress and longing in her voice. He felt her miniscule tears and the way her body trembled. He took notice again of the big red mark on her arm that was quickly bruising… and realized that it was about the size of a fingertip. He must have pinched her harder than he meant to when he snatched her from the shelf. He thought about what that might have been like for her, getting violently grabbed by a beast many times her own size. He thought about what could have driven her to act so rashly. What he might have done to push her to such a desperate state of mind.

Rob let out a long exhale.

“It’s true…” he finally conceded, “that I probably should have taken a couple of days off to help you settle in first.”

Blue finally looked up at him, her expression full of shock, before she snapped back into position, lowering her head. Rob smiled and prodded her with his thumb.

“You can relax,” he soothed, his tone warming up.

She did as she was told, releasing her hands from behind her back and slowly getting into a cross-legged position. She was still struggling to look at him. So he lifted her up higher, level with his face so that he could catch her gaze.

“Hey… I’m sorry I lost my temper, I didn’t mean to hurt you. And please don’t think that I don’t want to spend time with you. I’d like to do that more than anything, Blue.”

“R-really?” she stuttered, mindful of her movements as she went to wipe tears off her cheek. “It hasn’t exactly… felt that way.”

Rob assisted in a moment of tenderness, using his free hand to wipe her other cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Of course I do,” he murmured, “You’re beautiful, but you’re also so fun and sweet and caring. And I love that fire in you, even if it can be a bit troublesome sometimes. Tell you what…”

He paused for several seconds as he thought things through. For a moment he glanced at his laptop, but right now the computer had no power over him compared to the miraculous little creature in his hand. Things really did need to change.

“How about I take a few extra days off next week?” he finally offered, “I’ll extend the weekend. We can spend time together, really get to know each other more, and figure out better ways for you to occupy yourself.”

Blue almost got emotional again as her face lit up with a big, bright smile. “Yes! I’d love that, Master. I’d really love that.”

Rob smiled and brought her in to kiss the side of her head, and for a moment they embraced each other, her pressing her body against him and him enjoying the feel of her against his face.

“What’s my name again?” he said softly, pulling her away and reaching a finger up to stroke her neck.

Blue took the finger in both hands and kissed it before hugging it against her cheek. “I’d love that, Robert.”

“Better. So do you think you can behave until then? Just for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Yes. I’ll be quiet, I’ll be good.” She let go of him and fidgeted with her fingers, her smile conflicted. “Even if that means having to stay away from you.”

“About that…” Rob said and he stood back up, cupping his hand around his spirited little treasure as he began walking out of the room. “I have an idea.”

They traveled to the bedroom, a place Blue was quite familiar with as this was where her own living quarters were. For a moment she worried he was about to put her back in her tank, but he kept walking towards a door she was less familiar with - his closet.

Before she knew what was happening, Rob was tilting the hand she was sitting in to slide her right off, playfully dumping her into a soft, cramped space. It took her a moment to realize it was the pocket of one of his hanging shirts.

Blue spent a few seconds righting herself and struggling to get to her feet. By the time she popped her head out of the fabric enclosure, the nearby giant had stripped off his own pocket-less shirt and was turning away to drop it off into the hamper. She grinned in delight and made a tiny squeak of a wolf whistle.

Rob chuckled as he turned back her way and reached for the hanger she was dangling from. She giggled and held on tight as her gigantic master started putting on the shirt she was riding in, bumping and jostling her in the process. The silliness was sucking any residual tension out of the air, so that the unlikely couple was finding a comfortable ease in their interactions once more.

Once he slipped his head through the collar, Rob looked down to make sure his pet was where he’d left her, and he felt himself melt at her contented little smile. He loved the sight of her so close to his heart.

“What does ‘Goldarrow’ mean?” Blue asked suddenly, pointing to the label that was just on the hem of the pocket.

The distracted man answered absently as he continued to get dressed and shift his small passenger around. “I think it’s just this shirt’s brand name…” He paused after getting one arm through the hole, and then his eyes found hers again as he frowned. "Wait. Can you read, Blue?

“Of course!” she scoffed, looking up at him with exaggerated indignation.

He was searching for the other arm hole while he mused, “I didn’t know that…”

Blue laughed as she kept losing her balance, though she managed to speak nonetheless. “I’m still a person, you know, I can learn more than how to kneel. I bet I’m just as smart as you are.”

Rob reflected on this. He really didn’t know that much about her. Hell, maybe all she needed for entertainment was a damn book. Perhaps giving her a little more respect really was the answer in figuring this budding relationship out. He couldn’t wait to learn everything he possibly could about her.

He settled into his new shirt, tugging at the hem. “Is this okay?" he asked.

“This is wonderful," Blue purred, and she sat down to lean against the wall of his chest with a loving sigh. His heartbeat sounded like distant fireworks and his warmth was already making her sleepy.

“That cookie is ready for you whenever you’d like it… And let me know if you get bored. I’ll listen this time."

But she was already curling in on herself, settling in for a nap. She felt like she could stay in here forever. “Thanks, Rob. I will."

She didn’t even need a reminder this time. Rob smiled and lifted his hand up to gently run his fingers along her back from outside the pocket. “Good girl."

@Olo If that ain’t true love I don’t know what is

Meanwhile I’m an Asterion simp - though that’s probably just thanks to his pretty boy design and Neil Newbon’s work heh. It would be reeeally bad if he became a giant

(By the way, I’m so happy to see this many other gamer girls here~!)

@SmolChlo Hehe, there’s something kinda special about people making sizey comments and having no idea the effect it has on us. Best of luck for if/when you tell him!

Chapter 20
Evie

Sometimes it’s hard to even remember there’s a whole other world outside of Aiden and me. I’ve been stuck with only one other person for so many days now that I consistently lose count. I like him, thankfully. I like him a lot. He’s my anchor, my comfort blanket. But it’s not until this moment that I realize he’s been my everything.

I reflexively cower at the sound of another voice. Somehow every time we’ve gone outside, we’ve been lucky and not run into anyone - at least, not when I was out in the open like this. The only other person I’ve physically seen since shrinking was someone who might have killed or tortured me if he had his way. The memory floods my system and I start trembling.

I can’t see her yet, but I’m starting to sense vibrations through the ground, the rhythmic thumping of approaching footsteps. This is clearly someone who knows Aiden since she called out his name, but right now he’s not reacting with recognition. He’s just staring at me, having gone very still with shock.

I need to hide.

If we had responded right away, maybe I could have made a dash for his pocket - he’s lying down so he probably could have scooped me right in without it looking suspicious. But we’ve been hesitating too long. So instead I finally leap into action and do the only thing I can think of. I dart right under the edge of the picnic blanket.

“Aiden?” The girl says again, and she’s closer now. This time he reacts. I’d ducked under where the fabric had buckled, a little cavern half held up by grass. The blanket roof quakes as the giant above me sits up.

“Oh, hey Taylor! How’s it going?”

“Not bad! I work nearby and was headed home. It’s been a while, how’ve you been?”

They’re so loud. I find myself holding my hands against my ears, trembling as I try to process what’s happening. He’s just chatting casually with a friend… Everything’s fine… I slowly get used to the volume as they talk, eventually pulling my hands away again. I didn’t realize how much Aiden has been tempering the intensity of his voice when he’s with me. It’s probably similar to how it’s become second nature for me to project my own voice more than I used to.

Gradually I calm back down as I listen to the nearby titans talk. This is an old classmate of his - I find out that they used to have an evening class together last semester. She must be a PhD student since she mentions the thesis she’s working on. I start feeling a little awkward about listening in on their conversation like this… I stare at the ground and begin idly messing with bits of dead grass and dirt, some of the grains more like pebbles to me.

I can tell Aiden’s trying to evade this and keep the conversation as short as possible. This makes me feel even more uncomfortable, and I wish I could tell him to take his time, I can wait. I haven’t caught a glimpse of her, but she certainly sounds really nice and easy to talk to… I wish…

I wish I wasn’t down here. I wish I was normal. I want to jump in, say hi, have him introduce us. Chat for a while in the sunshine. Instead I’m sitting here in the dark. In the dirt.

A couple of minutes into the conversation, I let out a quiet sigh as I reposition myself, going from crouching to sitting. I glance up as I do so and almost let out a yelp of surprise. There’s movement in the grass. A second later I see the outline of some kind of animal. It’s about the size of a small dog… but it has too many legs. I catch the shape of its head and realize it’s an ant.

I hold very still, distracted from the booming conversation in the sky by this creature that’s even smaller than I am. It meanders vaguely in my direction, like a lobster looking for algae at the bottom of the sea. I’m fascinated by the way it behaves, the erratic movements as it circumvents blades of grass. It looks completely unbothered by its place in the world, not even capable of lamenting how tiny it is. I find myself smiling at it.

“So what’s your thesis about?” I say softly, chuckling to myself. For a moment I think the ant might be reacting to the sound I made as it pivots towards me, antennae wiggling furiously. Can ants even hear? Maybe I shouldn’t find out. I keep my mouth shut.

Eventually it wanders off to the side, but with a growing sense of unease I notice it’s not alone. Two more appear, moving closer to me this time, and then there’s a fourth one. These aren’t fire ants, I think they’re carpenter ants but… can they still bite? I start carefully backing away, and they don’t quite give chase but still fill in the gap that I’d left behind. Nervously I turn and crawl deeper under the blanket, trying to find a safer spot. The fabric shifts as I push against it, creating a longer cave, until finally it collapses behind me and I’m left in a little pocket of space. At least this blocks off the ants. But now I’m really in the dark. Blades of grass press in on me from every direction, poking at my face. I’m feeling increasingly claustrophobic.

Oh, thank god. Aiden’s conversation is wrapping up.

“Well, it was good to see you! Take care.”

“You too, Taylor, have a good one.”

I feel the thudding vibrations, now growing fainter over time as she walks away, and then I hear a sigh before a fervent plea, little more than a whisper that’s further muffled by the blanket.

“Evie? Where are you? I’m so scared of crushing you right now…”

Pushing upward on the heavy fabric, I get to my feet, loudly calling, “Here! I’m right here!”

I feel movement in the ceiling. For a second I desperately pray that I’m really not about to get crushed, but then suddenly I’m blinded by light and the blanket lifts right off of me as Aiden folds it back. When my vision clears, I realize with a panic that there are at least a dozen ants that are now gathered near me, moving in every direction.

“Pick me up, pick me up!” I yell, hopping and pressing into the wall of fabric that the giant’s still holding. His other hand comes down quickly, grabbing me between his fingers a bit less delicately than usual in his haste, and I catapult upwards.

“What’s wrong, are you okay?” Aiden asks breathlessly as he rights his hand out, letting me slide onto his palm.

I try to catch my breath, peering over the side of his hand, but the ants are now harder to make out in the grass. I look out past his shoulder, catching the shadow of the other giant, at this point much further away. Then I look up at the face of my friend, who looks tense and confused.

“Y-yes,” I finally stutter, “Thank you, I’m good. You were right about bugs being scarier now… But nothing bit me, everything’s fine.”

Aiden nods, glancing to the ground. He might not even be able to make out the ants in the grass from here. “Sorry that took so long,” he says, looking at me again, and then he winces at the state I’m in. “Next time we’ll have a better plan… so that you don’t have to crawl around on the ground.”

I look down at myself and realize I’m covered in dirt. “Oh wow, yeah, I need a bath!” I exclaim with a laugh, now able to see the humor in the situation. “And I barely got any exploring in first. I suck at this.”

As if he’s gotten permission from the fact that I’m making light of it, Aiden cracks a smile too. “Nah, this is how it’s supposed to happen. You’re becoming one with nature. We’ll be able to go camping together in no time.”

We decide to go home then, and I’m relieved to retreat into the comfort of his shirt pocket as we traverse back across campus. Once I got used to it, I’ve been finding the swaying of his gait weirdly relaxing. And we can still talk when I’m in here, quiet conversations that occasionally get interrupted by him clearing his throat, signaling we’re about to pass by other people.

At one point we run into another acquaintance of his, a guy this time, although they don’t say much outside of “Oh, hey!” before they move on. I don’t even catch the dude’s name. I just hold as still as I can through the encounter and find myself wishing again that I could meet this person too.

My thoughts drift back to when I was younger and had a fuller social life. I think of my old best friend Lynne and her oversized smile - she was the best baker and gave the best hugs. I haven’t deeply thought about her, or any of my former friends, in quite a while. The list of close friends I had was short, and most of them were from before I graduated high school. Before my mom was… no longer in the picture. Things were pretty different after that. Still, even just acquaintances like my classmates and coworkers, I miss being able to talk to them.

I start standing up within the pocket the way I always do once I hear the keys go into the lock, popping my head out as Aiden steps into the apartment. The air inside is actually a little cooler than the air outside, highlighting the changing of the seasons.

“Home sweet home,” I sigh as I hop from hand to desk.

I feel so tempted to go flop onto my bed after all of that excitement, but I thankfully remember how filthy I am first. I had tried to refrain from picking bits of dried grass out of my hair while I was still in the pocket, so that I didn’t leave too much of a mess. I instinctively grab my dress around the waist, desperate to clean it and myself, before I stop myself. Yikes, I’ve gotten so used to having a giant around that I almost just stripped naked while he’s still standing right here. I know we’re pretty comfortable around each other, but that would be wildly inappropriate.

“I’ll start making lunch while you wash up,” Aiden says brightly, and I’m not sure if he could tell what I was itching to do. “Paninis alright?”

“Yesss, paninis sound amazing,” I respond, grinning up at him and trying to casually let my arms hang loose again until he eventually leaves.

I start getting a bath ready, finally able to rip my clothes off now that I’m in the bathroom. I’m still having intrusive thoughts about how Aiden might have reacted if I’d suddenly started undressing, and it makes me blush furiously with embarrassment. It’s not like he’d be able to see much detail unless he got real close. But still…

After waiting for the water to warm I slip into the ceramic tub, and then shortly after I jump at the sound of Aiden’s voice nearby.

“Just a warning - I’m about to open the window, okay? Cover your ears.”

“Okay!” I yell back and follow his advice, though I still flinch at the thunderous crack of the window opening a second later. Sounds of the outdoors drift in - cars driving by, the ebb and flow of a warm breeze, distant voices of passerby a story below.

The heavy footsteps retreat and I sink deeper into the tub, feeling an intense warmth in my cheeks that has nothing to do with the bath. He’s built this bathroom with privacy in mind, and I trust that he’s not trying to peek in here anyway. But usually he doesn’t even come close to the desk when I’m bathing. Maybe he’s also getting a little too comfortable…

Armed with clean skin and a fresh new outfit, I happily come out to eat once the food’s ready. Aiden’s cut me a tiny triangle of grilled sandwich that he’s pressed as flat as he can - I can smell the fresh herbs, the shredded chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella… I feel really proud of him actually, and maybe a little proud of myself too. His cooking game has been on point lately and I’d like to think I had something to do with it. I still wish I could cook something for him, though. I don’t think I’ll ever not feel embarrassed about the fact that he needs to feed me like I’m his pet mouse.

We chat about his classes for a little bit as we eat, and as the conversation stalls my mind wanders to something I’ve had tucked away since this morning. “Hey, um…” I start hesitantly, “I don’t mean to pry. The girl at the park today… Taylor? Were the two of you close?"

I notice a narrowing of Aiden’s hazel eyes that he does when he looks a little perplexed. I suppose this feels out of left field. “You’re not prying. But nah, we weren’t that close. Super nice girl, she got along with everyone in that class. But we never really hung out outside of school.”

I feel a bit deflated. I try again.

“What about… um, I’m trying to remember where you’d sit in Biochem. It was always with this burlier guy, right?"

“Yes, you’re talking about Diego… Okay, that guy is one of my friends. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

Feeling a bit more successful, I perk up and continue questioning, “What’s he like? Wait – how have you been friends for that long if you moved around so much?”

Aiden had taken another bite so he takes a second to swallow before he explains. “Our parents were friends, so I’d see him every summer when I’d visit my aunt in Arizona. We kept in touch pretty well and ended up coming to the same college. And then somehow this semester we figured out how to be in a class together despite us going for completely different careers - he goes to the nursing school here. He’s um… quite the character. I’ve known him forever so we butt heads a lot, but he’s a good guy.”

“Do you see him much outside of class?"

I’m starting to push this a little far. My giant friend tilts his head but still answers me, “A little bit, we get lunch pretty often. And he drags me to the gym every chance he gets.” His eyes narrow again as he adds, “I’m trying to figure out what you’re getting at… it looks like you have something on your mind?”

Right, okay, my barrage of questions isn’t very subtle.

“This morning, um…” I say and then sigh, “I think it just kinda hit me that you probably don’t see your friends as much as you used to.” The confession is heavy with remorse that I’m sure isn’t lost on him.

Aiden’s silent for a little bit, pausing in his eating and observing me intently with a small frown. “Please don’t worry about that,” he finally says gently, “I still see my friends. You remember, I’ve gone out to dinner with them before?”

“Yeah, like, twice…” I say, sounding more guilty by the second. “Just… please feel free to go out more than you do. I’ve got the fridge, I’ve got entertainment, I’d be fine staying on my own more often. I don’t want you to abandon your social life for my sake.”

“I… I appreciate it, Evie.” The corner of his mouth ticks up and he does that thing where he lowers his head just a bit to better meet my gaze. “But you’re my friend too, you know. I never mind spending time here with you, okay?”

Damn. His kind words never fail to make me blush.

I nod appreciatively and then swiftly find a way to change the subject. For today I forget about it all, and I manage not to think about old friends from a previous life. I have him… At least I have him.

Ummm I would definitely prefer free roaming if I get the choice! I can be good and sit in a pocket Heck, I would take a pocket with a zipper over most of these, for comfort reasons. The matchbox one is cute though, just as a lil bed~ Otherwise I think I’d pick one that’s transparent to not be in pitch blackness… More specifically the tic tac container for the extra teeny size. Just the idea of the giant tapping his fingernail against the wall and I fall over… 🫠

@i-am-insane Putting aside the fact that I’m not into big muscles myself (I know some women are) I wonder if this also comes down to perhaps a trend of men being very visual and women caring more about the emotional side. Again, I’m generalizing, I hate lumping people together like that, but I feel like there might be a general trend along those lines?

I like for the giant to be attractive (just according to my IRL tastes), but the kink is around the fact that he’s much, much bigger. And then at that point I care more about what he does than what he looks like.

@Olo HA. I did go on a couple of dates with someone slightly shorter than me. It didn’t last long, but that had nothing to do with his height. Just an asshole who didn’t listen to boundaries.

And then the person I ended up with is someone I met on a dating app, and I fell for him before meeting up in person and yet I still get weird comments from people about how I’m with him because he’s tall. There’s just no winning sometimes

But in any case, I do agree that shallow factors play a big part in our lives (for all genders) and it’s a bummer.

Chapter 23
Aiden

I feel elated at how well this is going. This entire thing has had me in a weird state of anxiety mixed with giddiness. It almost feels like I’ve spent so much time dreaming, only to realize that none of this is a dream at all. One of my good friends is here with me, and she sees it too – she can see and touch and talk to the impossibly tiny girl I’ve been sharing so much of my time with. The opportunity to finally tell someone else about this has filled me with a relief that I wasn’t expecting.

Evie and Moira gaze at each other for a few seconds, to the point that I feel like I’m intruding. And then it’s the shrunken one who pipes up to encourage the next step. “Want to try actually lifting me up?”

Moira looks extremely hesitant, her eyebrows curving more and more with concern. “I feel like I’m going to knock you over.”

“You might,” Evie laughs, “It’s okay if you do. But I’ve gotten better at balancing.”

There’s further hesitation, and I’m about to suggest that maybe Evie should sit down for this first time, but before I can, it happens. Moira’s summoned her courage enough to slowly raise her hand upwards, letting it hover an inch or two in the air. The take off is smooth, hardly destabilizing the smaller girl at all, and even as she lifts her hand higher and away from the ottoman Evie stays on her feet. I feel like I should be taking notes.

It’s almost funny how much I can relate as I watch Moira cup her fingers around the precious cargo and reflexively clutch her second hand underneath the first for extra stability. Seeing her look so nervous and hesitant certainly helps me realize how far I’ve come.

“Um. Okay. Can I put you down now?” she mumbles and I notice how tightly clenched her shoulders are. She looks like she’s regretting pulling Evie so far away from a stable surface.

“I’ve got her,” I offer, and I extend my arm, touching my fingertips to the bottom of Mo’s hand, like docking a spacecraft to create a steady bridge. Our little space cadet takes it from there, stepping to the edge of one hand to hop onto the other. Once the transfer’s done I pull away again and Moira lets her arms drop down with relief.

“You did great,” Evie says, flashing a grin and double thumbs-up, and with my free hand I add a third, larger thumbs-up too, eliciting laughter from our guest. Still, we’ve thrown a lot her way with this initial meeting and I can tell we might be pushing her close to her limit.

“I’ll walk you out,” I say, slowly getting to my feet. Moira’s eyes are fixed on my hand that’s occupied, clearly on the verge of fretting about the casual way I’m moving around. Evie speaks up then, snapping her out of it.

“It was so nice to meet you!”

“Y-yeah, likewise!” Moira responds with a smile.

I drop Evie back off at the desk and we share a quiet grin, a secret moment of celebration over the success of this meetup. I’m overjoyed to see that she’s genuinely come around, and I’m feeling more hope than I have in a long time.

I follow Moira through the door to walk her out of the building - she knows the way so she doesn’t need me there, but I figure we might want a few minutes of privacy. As soon as I shut the door to the apartment her smile drops and she covers her face with her hands. I go stiff, pausing while still holding the door handle. I’d been so caught up in my own excitement that this reaction takes me off guard.

“I’m awake right now?” she whispers, “All of that really just happened?”

I relax a little. Right. Of course she’s still coming to terms with it all. “Afraid so…” I mutter and put a hand on her back. “I know, it’s a little overwhelming.”

I’d prepared Moira to the best of my abilities. I asked her to meet me for lunch yesterday and we found a private place to eat outside. Out of all my friends I figured she was the most likely to believe me, but I still wasn’t sure how she would react. I told her the story from the beginning, and she didn’t quite laugh but just seemed so confused, wondering what on earth I was getting at with my ridiculous tale. It wasn’t until I showed her a video of Evie on my phone that she became very serious. She had many questions that I answered as well as I could. But nothing could have fully prepared her for seeing the impossibility in person.

Taking a tremulous breath in, she slides her hands off her face and touches the arm I’m supporting her back with, absently giving it a thankful pat before she starts walking down the hallway.

“She looked so scared of me…” Moira whimpers, “Not that I blame her.”

“She was nervous,” I acquiesce, keeping pace with her shorter gait. “But I could tell she likes you, she was loosening up a lot by the end of it. She looked a thousand times more scared of me in the beginning, I promise.”

“I can’t believe this has been going on for so long. How are you holding up?”

“Me? I’m fine. I’ve liked having her around. And she’s been adjusting pretty well, all things considered.”

“Thank you for trusting me with this…” She looks up at me with such sincerity that I want to give her a big ol’ hug right then and there. “I promise I’ll keep it to myself. I want to help however I can.”

I walk in silence for a couple of paces before I quietly tell her, “Honestly, Mo, she just really needs a friend right now. Someone other than me.”

We’ve reached the door to the parking garage where she has her car waiting, and she turns to face me with a soft smile. “I’m more than happy to try. You said she has a phone, right? Give her my number, she can text me whenever she wants. Oh and Aiden…” Her expression shifts to a bit of a frown as she reaches up to give me a light, quick jab in the chest. “Watch it with the grabby hands?”

My mouth opens and closes a couple of times as I reel back for a second. Finally I stutter out, “I-I’m really careful, I swear!”

“I’m sure you are. But it’s more than that… Just make sure not to disrespect her autonomy, you know? I can only imagine how helpless someone might feel that small. Maybe it doesn’t help if you don’t give her the chance to move a couple of inches on her own.”

I can feel color flooding into my cheeks, and at first I think it’s just me getting defensive about Moira jumping to conclusions the second she gets invited to the party. But the longer I stand here the more I realize the heat I’m feeling in my face is stemming from shame. I think Evie and I are on the same page when it comes to this stuff. But the thought that I might be disrespecting her in any way makes me feel sick to my stomach. Any frustration around unsolicited advice quickly deflates within me like a balloon with a leak. It might actually be a good thing to have a third party’s perspective…

"Maybe you’re right,” I finally concede. “Maybe I’ve been getting too comfortable…”

She shrugs. “And maybe I’m wrong. Probably good to double check though, yeah?” I must still look conflicted because she adds with a more gentle tone, “You’re a good guy, Aiden. I’m sure you’re handling things fine. I wouldn’t have even known where to start… Let me know if either of you need anything, alright?”

“Will do. It was good to see you.”

“You too, man. I get why you’ve been so absent now, but still, I’ve missed hanging out.”

I have to bend down low to give her a hug while she stands on her tiptoes. We wish each other goodnight and then I head back to the apartment. When I step inside I notice that Evie’s laying backwards on her bed, holding her pillow over her face, and I might have been worried if her feet weren’t fluttering excitedly.

“Did we break you?” I laugh as I sit down beside her.

She drops the pillow to reveal her eager expression, upside down from my perspective. “I think I’m in love.”

You and me both, I say silently. It feels so wonderful to see her overflowing with joy like this.

“Well then, I’ll start planning the wedding," I quip, beaming. “Yup… there’s a reason I picked her to introduce you to. Everyone loves Moira."

“Dammit. That means I’ll have competition in winning her heart…”

She’s clearly kidding around, but seeing her elation is starting to make me feel just a little bit jealous. I can’t help but want to check…

“You might have a chance, you know," I say, dragging the joke out a bit more, "She’s single, and I’m not actually sure she’s fully straight.”

Evie lets out a theatrical sigh, resting the back of her hand against her forehead. “Tragically, though, I am. I guess I’ll have to settle for friendship."

My stomach does a flip. We’ve never delved into past relationships or anything like that, so it’s not until now that I’ve gotten confirmation that she’s into men. Good to know. Whether she’s into men fifty times her own size is an entirely different matter.

“You didn’t tell me just how much we had in common," Evie says, getting into a seated position on her bed.

“I didn’t want to tell you everything, you’d have nothing to talk about," I counter.

“Fair.” She lets out a more subtle and natural sigh this time, a sweet smile at the ready. “I’m so glad you convinced me to do this.”

“Yeah… Me too.”

There’s a wistful part of me that’s mourning the fact that she’s no longer my little secret that I get to keep just for myself. I mean, her happiness is absolutely worth it, and I hope this is a step in the right direction. But in a way, I’m also going to miss it just being me and her all the time.

I reach out towards her to… I don’t even know, touch her arm or something, make some kind of contact. But I interrupt myself, suddenly feeling self conscious, and my hand halts its journey halfway across the desk. I think about the talk I just had in the parking garage and retract my arm.

“Does it bother you?” I ask quietly, “When I pick you up and stuff without asking first?”

Evie frowns. “Is this about what Moira said with the manhandling?”

I don’t pretend to hide it. “Yes. The more I think about it, the more I’m worrying that I’m not doing a good job at like… making sure you still have agency, I guess.”

I expect her to minimize the issue, to just casually wave me off and tell me it’s fine like she always does. I’m already preparing to insist and really make sure she’s not hiding her true feelings from me. But then…

“I like it.”

My next word dies in my throat, leaving emptiness in its wake. I just stare.

Evie starts fidgeting with the bedsheets and tries to clarify, “Not you removing my agency, but… I don’t know, I just don’t see it that way.” She pulls her legs towards her chest as she leans back, in a slightly precarious balance. “We’re in a really weird situation and are having to write the rules as we go. Who knows if we’re doing it right. But I know I’m fine with how we are. Honestly, when you hold me, I just feel… safe.”

My heart is thumping hard. The weight of what she’s saying is enough to pin me to the chair. Am I imagining the look in her eyes right now? The insinuation in her voice? Surely I’m not just hallucinating the blush on her cheeks or the way she’s biting her lip?

I almost cave. Almost say something I shouldn’t. Or maybe I should. But instead I just say, “Oh… All good, then.”

Conflicted, my hand retraces its journey across the desk, this time slinking around Evie’s bed and hovering just behind her back - she really does look like she might topple backwards if she loses her balance. She smiles and leans back further, gently trust-falling against my fingers.

With a lighter tone, she says, “Don’t tell Moira I have a girl crush, I was just being silly. I don’t want her to think I’m weird.”

I tip her back onto the bed, letting my fingertips linger against her shoulders. I’m not sure I can match her buoyant tone, but I try, and I hope my smile makes up for it. "Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Ahhh these are all so cute! My humble contribution comes tomorrow

@i-am-insane (or just a normal attractive man… and we’re the ones who are small 🤭) But yeah, while I hesitate to represent all female SW fans, I at least feel like this is a pretty accurate general trend.

I do appreciate the discourse, by the way. So often when I see conversations around “what women like” I’ve seen it turn into men arguing about what they think, while ironically ignoring the women who try to participate lol

@blehb Everything except meeeeee 🤭