Posts made by littlest-lily

@Olo Oh, sorry to Evie, but Pepper’s totally got her beat on that front

@Olo You’re so right!

@Olo Fair enough. At least she still makes requests for a giant

S+P 17 - MORE Holiday Decorating

@Olo Does she know?? Also, that’s a good line… (taking notes)

@Olo Argh, yes. I’ve experienced this relatively recently actually with my own kids, and it’s a pretty good comparison.

@foreverlurk Oof, I’ve been there too. Before I revealed all, there would be the occasional comment on me being short, but it was usually in an apologetic way. “Oh, can you not see over that? Ah, sorry, I don’t mean to poke fun at your height.” Meanwhile I was blushing so much that I was like “oh my god act normal oh my god he’s gonna figure it out omgomgomgomg”

(he did not figure it out)

OKOKOK deep breaths

Sorry, what a whirlwind of an event to leave things on! Boy do I have my work cut out for me in Part 4… Which is looking like it might be even longer than part 3 ahhhhhh why do I do this to myself. Please bear with me as I work on this final installment, it may take me quite a bit of time (especially because there’s a non-zero chance that I’ll be moving across the country at some point in the next year). I also might bounce between a few different projects, since I want to make sure I don’t get burnt out on Out of their Element, and I’d like to be able to continue posting things from time to time during the wait. But I’m so dedicated to completing Aiden and Evie’s story, rest assured. The entire rest of the story is mapped out… I just need to write it!

By the way, I’m curious if anyone’s able to guess if anyone’s able to guess the title of part 4. I’ll give you a major hint and point out the titles of the first three parts…
Part 1: Trial by Fire
Part 2: Down to Earth
Part 3: Something in the Air

Thank you as always for making my lil creative projects so much fun to share. I get excited at every single comment that comes in and love hearing your thoughts so much. Your support means the world! I’ll keep you updated on what I’m working on my DeviantArt, I have so many ideas that I can’t wait to bring to life~ Take care and happy holidays!

Chapter 77
Evie

It’s morning.

I’m aching from head to toe, exhausted, hungry, dehydrated. I hardly got a wink of sleep during this long, grueling night. But after hours and hours of misery, it sounds like the wind has finally died down. And when I force my head up and out of my pile of leaves and fur, I see some dim rays of sunlight poking in from around the pinecone door.

I let out a deep, long sigh. Part of it comes from the relief of having survived the night. But the other part is me bracing myself. Because I am quite literally not out of the woods yet. I now have the dreaded climb ahead of me, and I’m not in my best state to do it.

I drag myself out of a bed that’s better suited for rodents, stretching my sore muscles. I rip out some of the leaves that I’d wedged into the doorway, and then I push against the pinecone so that it starts to tip over. I’m not worried about being careful with it, and sure enough it ends up rolling away and plummeting to the ground. Whatever. It’s not like I’ll be spending any more nights here.

It’s strangely silent in the woods, the air is so still now. And holy shit is it freezing. I felt cold to the bone for the entire night, but now that I step out into the open air I realize the hollow was downright warm in comparison. Small bits of frost sit in patches along the surrounding branches, tiny ice crystals on the orange leaves glinting in the pre-dawn light. Meanwhile I’m in a crop top and have no shoes on. Lovely.

My friends are nowhere to be seen. I heard their voices from time to time in the night, always in the distance. For a moment I wonder if they decided to eventually go to bed. But no, of course not - I don’t see them from here but I can catch Star and Diego’s faint voices coming from around the corner of the cabin. I can’t quite make out the words, but their tones sound weary. I’m not the only one who had a rough night, that’s for sure.

Well, no time like the present. I need to start climbing while I still have any of my strength left. I feel a wave of vertigo as I look down the length of the tree trunk. At least I’m now able to see that it’s a fairly straightforward path since the branches are no longer swaying. While I was laying in the dark this morning I blindly manipulated the rope I still have, tying it to myself and knotting off some loops so that I can hopefully use it as climbing gear. I pretend that I’m just about to head down my packing station back home as I find a protruding ridge in the tree bark and hook the end of my rope onto it. Down I go.

I’m at it for hours. I’m being so careful, so meticulous about making sure my safety rope is attached to something as often as possible. The persistent pain in my ribs is thankfully not as sharp as last night, but it still makes the process grueling and slow. At least it’s a lot easier now that the air is still, so I do think it was for the best that I didn’t attempt this climb last night. I pause and rest every time I reach another branch, and as the readily available frost begins to melt in the morning light, I drink some of the dew. The water is hard to get down, it’s so cold, but the hydration is too necessary to pass up.

Eventually I reach the part that I was most dreading. Past a certain height there are no more branches, just solid trunk all the way down. There are still plenty of handholds, but it becomes increasingly difficult to find anchors for my climbing rope, and there are zero opportunities to sit and rest. My arms and legs shake from the exertion as I slowly inch my way down. I have several moments where I almost start crying from the fear that I’ll surely fall off before I make it. But somehow I manage to keep it together with the knowledge that if I lose my composure, I’m dead.

And little by little, I’m getting closer to the ground. My arms are growing weak, but even though I started a couple hundred feet up the tree, I’m now at the point where I’m only a hundred feet up instead. My hands and feet are scratched up and raw, my sore ribs feel like they’re getting electrocuted every time I twist in just the wrong way. But now I’m just fifty feet up. And I finally start to regain hope.

“Almost there,” I whisper fervently to myself. “Almost there!”

Despite the frigid state of my body, my limbs are burning when I glance down and realize the ground is close enough that I’d survive the fall. I keep going, maintaining a steady pace, until I finally lose patience when I’m my own body length up from the forest floor. I let myself slide down the rope, toppling the last short distance until my feet hit the ground at long last.

I could kiss the earth if it didn’t feel like the inside of a freezer. I don’t care that I’m wasting water, I cry happy tears, collapsing to hands and knees as my shoulders shake with relieved sobs. I’m not dead. I made it to the ground again and I’m alive.

But I’m not done yet. Come on. Just a little further. I have to walk now.

This last stretch shouldn’t be the hardest part of my journey, and yet it’s what almost does me in. At this point I’m just too worn, too cold, too weak. I trudge towards the looming cabin that’s half a mile ahead of me, the terrain below my feet changing from the dirt of the forest floor to patches of grass. I ended up abandoning my climbing rope that was originally part of my shirt, my skin having long since grown numb from how exposed it is to the cold. I have my eyes set on the cabin’s front door - I haven’t even spared a thought about how I’m going to get up the couple of porch steps at its base - until I notice two figures in the distance, visible once I exit the tree line.

I alter course, briefly hurrying once I see him. I absently realize that I’m failing to pace myself, but I don’t care.

Aiden’s sitting on a grassy slope near the cabin, his back unfortunately facing me. He has his arm around Moira who’s sitting next to him, holding her tightly. Their heads are downcast, their shoulders drooping. The grass is getting tall enough that even if they were looking my way they probably couldn’t see me, but the relatively short distance is still so agonizing. Just a couple hundred more feet.

I trip and fall to my knees seconds before I see Moira stand up. Her hand trails on Aiden’s shoulder, and they mutter something to each other before she turns to leave. She still isn’t quite facing me as she goes, though, and I feel like I might burst inside with frustration. I fixate the lone giant who’s still sitting as I start to see spots dancing in my vision. Just stay right there, babe. Wait for me.

The exhaustion is painful. I’m unable to get back to standing. But the adrenaline of seeing him pushes me on, and I crawl on hands and knees to drag myself forward, shivering violently from touching even more of the frozen ground. Thankfully I bide my time on using my voice. I think I might pass out if I start yelling, I have to get closer and make it count.

My hearing begins to sound muffled. I feel like I might throw up, and for a moment my vision fades to blackness despite my limbs still moving. I’m suddenly jolted back to consciousness when my face hits the dirt. I gasp in fear of how dizzy I am, and it’s so much harder to move now that I’ve stopped. I try to push myself back up, at least to sitting, but my arms are firmly protesting. I’m the equivalent of a block or two away. I risk it.

“Aiden.”

The sound comes out scratchy, dry, weak. I curse inwardly as I know I was too quiet. But from some instinct, the giant ahead of me twitches. I see him lift his head.

“Aiden!”

I was more successful in yelling this time. My voice is clear and ringing. And immediately he reacts, straightening up and turning his head - to the left, right, and finally whipping around to look behind him, wildly searching the ground, until our eyes meet.

As soon as his gaze locks on to my fallen figure, Aiden’s launching himself forward, crawling over to me so fast that I barely have time to blink before he’s right on top of me. His arm is already reaching out as he whispers, “Oh god, Evie–”

He scoops me into his hands, slightly more clumsily than usual from the fact that he’s wearing gloves. I roll onto the nylon surface, whimpering from the sheer relief of being reunited, hot tears running down my face. I’m shot upwards as my giant partner lifts me to his mouth, and for a moment my dizzied mind thinks that it’s to kiss me. But instead he starts exhaling heavily onto my body, desperately trying to warm me up with his breath. It makes my numb skin prickle to an almost painful degree. But I can tell it’s so, so needed.

After a few more exhales, he silently pulls me away again, and if I had the strength I’d be complaining about him stopping. He holds me with one hand and uses his teeth to rip his glove off the other before tipping me onto his bare skin. Oh wow, the heat is overwhelming, but at the same time it’s fantastic. I curl up into his palm as he gets the other glove off, and he cups both hands around me now and continues to breathe warm air onto me. My stomach lurches as I vaguely realize he’s getting to his feet, but I don’t worry about that, I let my eyes close as I bask in his presence, enjoying each wave of heat that envelops me. I catch the scent of chocolate and sugar… It’s hard to believe that the time we were relaxing and enjoying a sweet treat together was just last night.

Things get a little fuzzy at this point. My eyes are still closed but I can tell that we’re moving, I think we go back inside… I hear a couple of different voices, though everything sounds so far away… I’m starting to tremble a little less, but I’m not sure if that’s because I’m getting warmer or if my muscles are just completely giving out…. I’m hardly conscious of my damp, meager clothing getting removed or my body getting poked and prodded…

When I come to again, there’s something heavy pushing against my front. My eyelids don’t want to move and I frown as I stir under the warm weight, unable to budge the massive… um… finger?

Someone’s voice is coming into clarity. “…bruised ribs for sure but I don’t think anything major’s broken… Lungs are working fine…”

Finally I force my eyes to open to a squint. The looming face of a sleep-deprived Diego is hovering above me. I’m unable to show it right now, but I’m incredibly relieved to see him too.

“Eyyy, there she is,” he says softly with a smile as he notices me waking up. “Good morning.”

I glance around from my pinned position. I recognize Aiden’s hand below me, I haven’t moved from his palm. But I seem to be getting examined by our resident nurse. His fingertip is covering my upper chest and pressing up against my jugular… I guess he’s trying to find my pulse.

“You know, you really freaked us out there, Shrimp,” Diego adds, shifting his finger slightly to the side. “No more crazy benders in the woods, okay?"

I may not have the strength to speak at the moment, but apparently I have enough to lift my hand up and extend one tiny middle finger his way.

He releases an amused breath before looking up to address Aiden. “Heart rate’s still a bit low… I think she’ll be alright, all we can do right now is warm her back up. At least there’s no frostbite, as far as I can tell.”

“Should I heat up some water for a bath?” Moira’s voice asks shakily from somewhere I can’t see.

“That might be good for her to sip on if she can stomach it - but no, don’t put her in it, the shock of that can fuck up her heart. You’re doing the right thing, Aiden, keep using your body heat. Skin to skin. Go rest, I’ll check in again once I get a hold of Star, she should take a look at her too.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as everything starts moving again. A minute later I’m transferred to a new, even warmer surface… I gather my giant has just put me on his bare chest as he laid down, his palm now at my back. There are a couple more sounds - Moira says to let her know if we need anything, Aiden thanks her, a door creaks to be mostly shut. And then finally things grow still and quiet.

I sigh as I let myself relax. I’m starting to be convinced that the shivering has abated for the right reasons, and I’m able to feel slightly more comfortable overall. A smile finds its way onto my face. I actually made it. I’m safe.

After a few minutes of silence, I rub my cheek affectionately against Aiden’s chest. His thumb lightly brushes against the side of my head and his exhale is tight.

“I was sure you were dead,” he whispers.

My heart hurts at the heaviness in his voice, and my joke is weak as I force out a response. “Can’t get rid of me that easily.”

He continues gently stroking my head as I let it rest against his skin. “I can’t imagine what you’ve just been through…” he says, “The temperatures dropped to near freezing last night. And you fell out of that window, right? How are you alive right now?”

It takes me a little while to get through the story of my solo night in the trees. As I slowly regain strength, I explain everything from the moment Camila accidentally locked me out, all the way through the frigid morning. I can’t quite decide if recounting such fresh horrors is unloading the trauma or only making it worse by reliving it, so instead I’m just mentally distancing myself from my own words for now. Aiden listens intently, completely silent aside from the occasional sympathetic winces at the more intense bits.

He continues to lay quietly once I’m done, as if deep in thought. So quiet, in fact, that I tilt my head back to try and catch sight of his expression. But his face is out of sight from my current angle, and his muscles are tense below me, so I finally ask him, “What is it?”

He inhales deeply before answering. “It’s truly hitting me right now… I haven’t been giving you enough credit. You’re so much more capable than I realized.”

I didn’t expect that response and almost laugh. “Trust me,” I say, “I did not exactly feel like a badass.”

“Still,” he murmurs, completely sincere. “I mean… Just look at how much you’ve accomplished in the time I’ve known you. All the things you’ve built, all the challenges you’ve faced. Like when we went back to the lab and you got that flashdrive, all on your own. Or persevering through that leg injury. And now surviving a night alone in the woods during a storm, and then getting yourself back home. You’re amazing, Evie.”

Emotion wells up inside of me, more intensely than I would have expected. I’m glad one of us has found any kind of silver lining to what I just went through. Because I don’t think I’ve ever felt less capable in my life than I do right now.

Aiden readjusts his grip so that he can gently press his fingers into a hug around me, sliding me up just a little bit over his heart. “I’m both in awe of how incredibly strong you are… and at the same time I never want to let you out of my sight again.”

I’m unable to answer him right now. A tear rolls down my cheek, and I feel like I might be on the brink of a full meltdown as I spare a thought for what the future might hold. What other trials might be waiting for me past today. My constantly overwhelming reality, and the dangers lurking behind each innocuous moment.

I hear a slight sound that makes me flinch, though it’s too subtle for my giant partner to notice. I glance towards the door to our room, still open by a crack, and I notice a sliver of a face. A dark eyed beauty, peering in towards us. She lingers for a beat, too obscured for me to make out her expression, before her eye narrows and she quietly moves on.

My breathing is coming in short now. I suddenly face myself, as if glaring at my own reflection in a mirror.

Seriously. What is wrong with me? Why am I so insistent on running away from my issues and stubbornly clinging to my current status quo? I don’t care what Aiden just said - it’s beyond obvious that I am so incredibly fragile. How many close calls have we had now? How many times do I need to come close to fucking dying before I finally just face my past and go to the authorities who might actually be able to help me get my old size back? What am I fucking waiting for?

But even as I think this, even as I start crying hard enough for my boyfriend to lift his head and stroke my back with worried whispers, it’s all pointless. All it takes right now is a single sound. A distant police siren, completely unrelated to us, miles away in the mountains. A simple reminder from the universe that brings me right back into my own fear. As if trying to convince a potential interloper that no one’s home by fervently shutting off all the light switches in the house, my brain desperately chases away any thoughts of seeking help.

I bury myself into Aiden’s protective warmth. Determined to never leave it again.

~ End of Part 3: Something in the Air ~

@Olo Truth. None of them are

@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!

My partner has definitely done the whole taking a picture of me from his much taller POV thing and it is very silly

@foreverlurk An all powerful giant can be exciting sometimes, but I think it’s much more interesting for him to have flaws and insecurities and vulnerable moments and all that jazz

@blehb Oh man, I feel like I have so many that my brain is short circuiting. But off the top of my head I’m thinking

Fascination. Particularly when it’s the giant who’s fixated on the tiny’s size, but both ways is good too. Just him examining her in great detail, whether she’s okay with it or not. And he’s not necessarily doing it in a lustful way by feeling up her boobs or whatever, but he’s just so enchanted by how itty bitty she is. On the other end, maybe she’s running her fingers over the lines in his palm curiously, or looking up at him wide-eyed.

Frequent touching. It’s no secret that I love hands. Also my love language is physical touch. I just want to be held, fidgeted with, caressed, etc etc etc

Playfulness. Fully agree with you on this one. I love it when the giant’s having fun.

Casualness. There’s something so lovely about a couple reaching a level of comfort with each other so that their interactions become incredibly casual. She’s climbing all over him as he goes about his business, he idly picks her up without really needing to look, and likewise she hardly bats an eye when she’s plucked up into his hand or dumped into his pocket.

Words/dialogue. I really love dialogue in a story. Heck I even enjoy a good ol monologue, where the giant is rambling on about how small she is, what he might do to her, etc.

Warmth. Whether it’s him feeling her warm little body, or her reveling in his heat. Warmth really helps sell the fact that both beings are alive and real and actually feeling each other.

Weight. I love the emphasis of how light she is, or how easily he’s able to pin her down with the weight of a finger or with his lips.

I’ll be back if I think of more~

@BTbutcher I think PP&S is still my favorite one of yours 🥰 I’m such a sucker for romance