Posts made by littlest-lily

Chapter 13
Aiden

As soon as I open my eyes I let out an involuntary groan and a wave of sadness hits me so hard that I almost choke on it. Whoa. Where did that come from? Did I just have a nightmare?

It takes me a minute, but as I come to, I realize that no… I’m just really dreading going back to class. Part of it is this protective worrying of leaving Evie alone for that long. But the other part is a bit more selfish. We’ve spent the better part of a week together at this point and I can’t hide from myself the fact that I’ve become infatuated with her presence. I just love having her around… for various reasons. I don’t want to wake up from this dream.

I berate myself for being so dramatic. What’s the alternative, giving up on work and school so I can sit around and stare at her all day? We’ll still get to spend plenty of time hanging out. Maybe this is a good thing, maybe she needs a bit of space for all I know. I do think she’s enjoying our new friendship. But I also know I can be overwhelming to be around, whether I like it or not.

It takes me another minute to drag myself out of bed, and it feels like I have weights chained to my ankles as I quietly go get ready. I’m dressed and groomed when I come out to the living room, and I notice Evie’s already up, waiting for me near the edge of the desk.

“Hey you!” I call out to her before I approach, “Did you need something? I was about to figure out what to do for breakfast.”

“I was hoping to take you up on your offer and join you in the kitchen today!” she calls back. It’s fascinating how I swear my hearing has gotten better to compensate for her tiny voice.

I cock my head to the side curiously, although I’m reflexively already starting to reach my hand out towards her. “Were you wanting something in particular? I’m starting to run a little low on supplies, I’ll need to do a grocery run tomorrow.”

“But you’ve got a banana, right?” she asks as she steps onto my fingers, pointing towards the kitchen counter, where one lone fruit sits in plain view.

“Right…”

“And eggs?”

I close my fingers around her bottom half as I lift her up. “Yeah, I think I still have a few.”

“Then we can make pancakes.”

I pause, blinking at her. “That’s all we need?”

She gives me the cutest little smirk. “That’s all we need.”

“Huh. Show me your magic then, little pixie.”

As I’m about to find out, the recipe she has in mind is so simple that she could have just told me what to do and I could have done it alone. But I have zero qualms with having her nearby. Well, just one qualm… I feel really nervous about turning the gas stove on with her in the vicinity.

“I’ll be careful,” she assures me, catching my worried expression as I set her down on the counter. “Or I could ride on your shoulder if that makes you feel better?”

I recall what it was like to have her sitting against my neck yesterday. The subtle weight of her had given me goosebumps and her warmth was so wonderfully comforting. She had reminded me of a little bird again and I loved every second of it. The idea is very tempting now.

“But if I’m cooking I’ll have my hands full and wouldn’t be able to catch you if you fall,” I fret begrudgingly, then quickly I add, “Not that I think you can’t hang on, it’s just, you know, if I move too quickly by accident…”

“I gotcha. I’ll be fine right here,” she says with a soothing tone. Ugh, am I going to miss seeing that smile today.

"Alright, captain,” I say playfully, “what are your orders?”

She puts her hands on her hips, bending slightly at the waist. "Okay, listen closely. We’re going to need one bowl.”

"One bowl,” I echo dutifully, bending down to a cabinet and fetching a medium-sized glass bowl. I set it down near her, and she takes a step back, her confident demeanor faltering slightly as she takes in the giant receptacle.

"R-right. Okay, next we need a fork.”

I nod and repeat the order, fishing the utensil out of a drawer.

"Now you’re going to mash up a banana, mix in two eggs… and you’ve got your pancake batter.”

"It’s seriously that simple?” I ask with a laugh, stepping over to the fridge to get the eggs.

"Yup. I mean, it’ll be more like sweet omelets, but it’s always been an easy go-to for me.”

"Now, we’re not out of the woods yet,” I say as I start peeling the banana, “You might be severely overestimating my ability to flip these pancakes. We may be getting sweet scrambled eggs instead.”

“I believe in you, Aiden.”

I start prepping then, mashing up the fruit as Evie recounts how she figured out this recipe. I notice that when I crack the first egg against the rim of the bowl she jumps at the ringing sound, so I make sure to tap the other one against the opposite side of the counter instead to make the noise less jarring. She looks embarrassed about this but thanks me anyway. I’m more than happy to learn all the ways I can adjust to make my shrunken friend more comfortable.

She thankfully gives the stove a wide berth as I fry up the egg disks - since I keep the pancakes small I’m able to flip them easily enough. As I start piling the finished product onto a plate, my little commander showers me with praise, to a clearly condescending extent, and we have a good laugh over it. I hope this can start being a regular thing. It’s a lot more fun than the usual me tossing something together for the sake of sustenance.

I have a brief moment of panic when I finish making the food and go to pick up the plate - I suddenly notice Evie’s not on the counter anymore, and when I look around I realize she’s sitting on the plate that I’m holding.

“Oh my god, warn me next time,” I say with a relieved exhale, “I didn’t notice you climbing on.”

“Sorry,” she responds, and she’s acting like she’s completely fine but I can tell that the way I picked up the dish was a little rougher than she was anticipating. “I thought I was being loud. But now that I’ve said it I realize how stupid that sounds.”

I smile and carefully start walking with her still crouched on the plate. “It’s all good. Just always assume you’re about twenty times more discreet than you mean to be.” And I need to make sure I constantly know where she is. Noted.

I drop everything off at the desk and then go grab fresh water and some leftovers for her to have for lunch before I forget. Then we settle into breakfast, since I have a little bit of time before I need to leave. These sweet banana-egg-disc things really aren’t so bad, and pretty healthy too.

“I thought you said you don’t eat breakfast foods?” I tease, waving in her general direction with my fork.

“Yeah, I’d make this for dinner,” she retorts, and I laugh.

“You said you’ve been cooking since you were pretty young, yeah? What got you interested in it?”

Evie seems to stiffen at this. She takes her time chewing, looking deep in thought. Then she swallows and says hesitantly, “When I was a kid, my mom wasn’t a very, um… active person in my life, I guess? And my dad died when I was really young so I had to grow up a little bit faster than most kids. I got tired of getting food poisoning all the time so I eventually tried making my own food. I wasn’t the best at it when I was six, but I eventually got the hang of it.”

I’d just speared more food on my fork but freeze in place as I stare at her. “Six?”

“Maybe I’m exaggerating, I can’t really remember. Sorry, I don’t mean to start complaining about my childhood. It made me stronger and stuff, so it’s all good.”

I watch as she closes in on herself and it’s obvious she’s not sharing nearly as much as she could be. What kind of parent leaves a six year old to fend for themselves?

“It’s okay, you can complain,” I say cautiously, wanting to neither dismiss nor pry into what might be a sensitive subject. “I’m all ears whenever you need to vent about something." Evie sits there quietly, still looking very uncomfortable, so after a moment I try to diffuse things instead, "Want to hear a messed up story from my childhood?”

She looks up at me with her doe-like eyes and nods silently.

“I wasn’t that young I guess, maybe twelve? My uncle has a pool, and one time when we were visiting, he pretended he was drowning. I freaked out, and I wasn’t able to drag him out of the pool, so I propped him up on the stairs and ran inside screaming for my mom. When we came back out my uncle was sitting up and laughing. Said something about how he wanted me to learn what to do in an emergency.”

Evie’s eyes are much wider now. “That sounds traumatizing!”

“Yeah, it kinda was! My mom yelled at him after that and now it’s a bit of a family joke. At least I found out I could handle myself more or less okay in a crisis, I didn’t totally freeze up. Not something I particularly wanted to find out, though.”

My little roommate is still looking thoughtful, but there’s a soft smile in her gaze now. Finally she says, “I’m glad I got to find out. That you can handle a crisis. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here right now. And… I’m glad I’m here.”

I set my fork down and return the smile. “I don’t love the circumstances, but… I’m glad you’re here too.” We hold eye contact for another beat, and then I glance behind me at the clock. “And on that note, I should probably get going.”

“Oh, wait a sec!”

She runs over to the desk lamp, and at the base of it is a small piece of paper, folded into quarters, though even folded up it’s half as big as Evie is. She struggles to lift it up towards me.

“Take this, for later.”

For a moment my chest tightens at what seems to be some kind of gift. I gingerly pinch the paper between my fingertips. “Is it a grocery list?” I joke, pulling out my wallet to store it in one of the credit card slots.

“Nah, just open it when you get to class. Have a good day!”

“Thanks, Evie. You too.”

It’s a struggle then, but there’s no point in dragging this out. I rip myself away, giving her a casual wave as I head out the door.

The cool morning air makes me shiver when I step outside. I make my familiar trek to class, each landmark just the same as it’s always been, and I almost feel like some kind of spy. Pretending to go back to my mundane life, to greet my classmates as if everything was normal, all the while keeping this monumental, insane secret tucked safely away. I feel like I might burst with the weight of it. Fortunately, if I ever did blurt out the truth to anybody, it’s quite literally unbelievable.

As I settle into my first class, I glance around to ensure I have privacy before I eagerly pull out the piece of paper Evie had given me, unfolding it and realizing it’s a letter. The writing is quite small, although I can tell she tried to make it very big so that I can have an easier time reading it.

Hi Aiden!

I just wanted to thank you SO SO much for everything you’ve been doing for me. I wish I could properly put it into words so instead I’ll put it into picture:

Underneath she’s drawn what I surmise is herself, though it’s little more than a stick figure, reaching her arms up with a big goofy smile on her face. I can’t help grinning right back at the sketch, imagining her having to make wide gestures to draw this in what is almost exactly her own size. I take a second to reach my finger up and brush it against the paper, gently stroking the cheek of the 2D Evie in a way I’ve never touched the real one. Then I finish reading the note.

Okay, that doesn’t do it justice either. I can’t draw. But seriously, I don’t know where I’d be without your help, so thank you.

-Evie

PS Could we watch the next episode of Laid Back Camp tonight? I know you have homework, but just one episode?

I don’t even hesitate. I put the tiny piece of paper down and open my notebook, ripping out a blank page and setting it on my desk. I start writing out a response, as small as I comfortably can.

Hi Evie!

I appreciate the note, it made my day. You really don’t have to thank me, I’m sure anyone else would have done the same. It’s been so nice having you around!

-Aiden

I hesitate, leaning my pencil against my chin as I look over to Evie’s message, staring at her miniature graphite self. And then I go for it, making one little selfish bid to somehow continue this penpalling conversation:

PS I’m glad you’re liking Laid Back Camp. Do you have a favorite character so far?

@miss-lillipants I never know if I’m being too subtle or not subtle enough so I’m always glad when something has the intended effect lol

@Olo Where indeed? (Hopefully to a point where she’s at least not constantly terrified of everything lol)

Chapter 12
Evie

“Sorry, what’s the word you’re standing on?”

“Oh, my bad!” I exclaim, taking a few steps to the side to get out of the way. Aiden’s a faster reader than I am, although that might be because the letters are so much bigger to me. He doesn’t seem bothered by me walking all over his textbook, though.

"So, the tri… car… boxylic cycle and the krebs cycle are the same thing?” I ask, having to take a few steps forward to look back to an earlier passage.

"I think so? Yeah, that’s what it says here. And it’s also called the citric cycle. Why call it so many things…”

There’s a large diagram at the bottom of the page that shows all the steps of said cycle, going in a big circle. I walk along the circumference a few times, trying and failing to memorize the steps. Aiden watches me with amusement for a minute before saying, “Let me know when you’re ready for the next page.”

“I’m ready,” I immediately say, giving up on the futile attempt to memorize the chemicals. I dart over to the edge of the textbook and hop to the floor - and by that I mean the actual floor today.

My giant roommate spent the better part of our Sunday cleaning the apartment between homework assignments. So then when we decided to study together in the evening, he took advantage of the cleaner space to spread his papers on the floor and bring me down there to join him.

How many more things are going to be new discoveries for me? It’s a whole other world this far down. I never would have thought I’d prefer seeing a huge drop beyond the horizon of the desk compared to everything around me stretching so high up instead, the ceiling twice as far away. It’s especially disconcerting when Aiden leaves to get a quick drink of water.

I almost fall over backwards as he rises into the air, looking more skyscraper-like than ever before, and I can feel every one of his footsteps as they shake the ground. It’s humbling to know the earthquakes would be imperceptible to anyone else on the planet. I can’t see him over the kitchen island either, which is unsettling as I hear the echoing sounds of shuffling and water filling a cup, and I’m instinctively wanting to crawl underneath the cover of the textbook for shelter. Instead I stand there trembling as I wait this out.

Aiden approaching is even more intense than him leaving, and for a moment I’m just staring at his massive feet thundering like heavy machinery. Trying to desperately convince myself that I’m not about to get stepped on, I force my head to lift towards his face again.

As he crouches he gets close enough to see my expression and can clearly tell how pale I am. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he says as he kneels, looking around for whatever gave me such a fright. “Everything alright?”

“Yes,” I squeak promptly, “I’m good.”

“Oh wait,” he looks back at me with a little frown and sits on his heels, hunching lower to try and make himself look smaller. “It’s probably from me towering over you like that, isn’t it? I’m sorry. I really don’t think things through sometimes…”

“It’s okay, Aiden,” I say with a smile and a bit more confidence this time. He definitely means well. And I need to not be so scared of every little thing. It’s only day five. We’ll get there.

He goes back to laying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows as we resume studying. I return to my spot on the textbook, my heartrate still settling. Together we continue trying to figure out the krebs cycle.

Soon it’s time to turn the page again, and this time as I hop off the book, I ponder our setup. After a moment of thought I call up to my friend, “Could I try sitting on your shoulder? Then I won’t be in the way and it’ll probably be easier for me to read.”

“Yeah, sure thing. Upsy-daisy…”

His fingers slip onto either side of me and I grip them tightly as he gives me a boost. It’s another new environment, the broad expanse of his shoulder. I instinctively start huddling towards his head since I’m now high enough that I want something to hold onto to feel secure. As I scooch from his shirt to his skin, I notice that little bumps are appearing on the back of his neck. I hope I’m not tickling him too much.

“This alright?” I ask. For once I actually don’t need to project so much since his ear is so close.

“Mm-hmm." He sounds unbothered so I settle in. It’s definitely much easier to read from up here.

We stay like this for another forty minutes or so, and I’m starting to really struggle staying engaged. Studying for school was never really my strong suit, especially from textbooks like this. I always learned better by doing, or at the very least by listening to someone explain things.

“So pyruvic acid ferments to become lactic acid, right?” I ask, suppressing a yawn, “Which is… what exactly?”

“You’re getting it. Lactic acid is that stuff that makes your legs feel like rocks after a five hour hike.”

“Right… Oh yeah, that reminds me!” I pipe up excitedly at his word choice, giving his neck a little shove. “You never showed me your rock collection.”

Aiden chuckles at my obvious desire for a distraction, shaking me a bit in the process. "Want to take a break?”

“I really do.”

“Yeah, me too. Okay, hang on tight.”

I turn to straddle his neck, bracing my fingers and toes against his skin as if hugging a giant tree trunk. For extra assurance, I reach up to a lock of dark hair that dangles just within my reach. Once I let him know I’m set, the giant carefully pushes himself up to crouching and then standing, moving slowly and with a hand at the ready to catch me if I slip. I keep thinking we must have reached the apex of his height but we continue going up, up, up…

From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. I’ve never been in a helicopter but I imagine it feels somewhat like this. It’s like I’m looking down at a canyon. And then I think about how Aiden’s eye level is even higher up.

He walks over to his bedroom with me along for the ride, heading to a shelf in the back corner. He holds very still as he briefly takes his hovering hand away, grabbing a shoebox that he settles under his arm before the protective hand quickly returns. I feel pretty confident I’m not about to fall off, but his diligence is comforting nevertheless.

It’s funny how he’s already gotten so used to me hanging around and seems so comfortable with our interactions. I guess it makes sense that it’d be easier to get accustomed to being around a tiny person than a giant one. But still, he’s taking the transition to having an unexpected (and unconventional) roommate quite well.

We’re back at the desk now and Aiden drops me off directly onto my bed so that I can be comfortable. I sit there cross-legged, watching as he opens the cardboard box and begins digging amongst the rocks.

“So did you find these yourself?” I ask.

“Some of them. Like this one… It’s literally just a big pebble from the yard at the first house I lived in. Oh and this is from the second house, but you see that? It’s actually a fossil. I think it was some kind of snail. Kinda crazy that it was in my own backyard.”

He places each of them down near me in turn and I lean forward from my spot on the bed, genuinely curious.

“Most of these are gifts, though. Rocks and minerals kinda became my thing, so it was a go-to present idea for people. Like this jasper,” he puts down a reddish stone that’s almost as big as I am, “my uncle gave this to me when he was visiting for my eighth birthday. He thought it’d be funny since my last name’s Jasper. And this,” he sets down a black one, “is a meteorite my dad brought back from his time in Australia.”

I hop off of the bed now and approach the growing array of his collection. I’ve never really paid attention to rocks before. But hearing how Aiden comes to life as he talks, I can’t help but get sucked in. I meander between the boulders like I’m at a museum.

“I’ve got a few geodes and agates – this one’s probably my favorite since I found it myself when rockhounding in Arizona. That was home number four.”

I look up at him at this point. “Sounds like you moved around a lot growing up, huh?”

“Yup. Military family. My parents were both in the Navy.”

“We have that in common. Not the military part, just the moving.”

“Kinda sucks, huh? Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t wait to put down roots somewhere.”

“No… It’s not just you. I feel the same.”

I zigzag between the pyrite, the petrified wood, the rose quartz, the polished amber. Each one of them has a story, scattered fragments of Aiden’s life. One of the geodes is only half as big as I am, and I sit down so I can peer into it, marveling at the gorgeous purple crystals inside.

“I actually can’t quite remember where I got that one,” Aiden muses, leaning his cheek on his hand as he smiles down at me. “I think I got it early on, when I was first deciding I wanted to start a collection. Probably just spent my allowance on it at a tourist shop.”

“It’s so pretty…” I say, reaching out to feel one of the smooth amethyst facets. “Would you mind keeping it here on the desk?”

“Of course not!” He grins, clearly pleased that I’ve taken such an interest. “That’s right, I need to find a place to display them all.”

“Is there any room on that?” I wonder, pointing at the squat brown shelf that’s near the desk, opposite to the couch. It looks to be pretty full of books but there might be some space in front of them.

“Well, I don’t have anything on top of the shelf… Plus I could see them easily if I put them there. Good idea, Evie.” He picks up the geode I’d been staring at. “This one stays here with you though.” His hand glides over to my area, repositioning the rock towards the back of the desk so that it’s visible without being in the way.

Having wandered from one living space to the next, home decor is never something I could really afford to have. As I take in the look of the crystals, adding a welcome air of fantasy to the area, I decide that I’d like to change that.

“That reminds me,” Aiden says abruptly, “Be right back.”

He disappears around the corner into his bedroom, and when he returns I’m surprised to see him holding my plush lion.

“I’ve been thinking this could maybe help you feel like you’re in your own space,” he says, and he sets the stuffed animal on the windowsill that’s just behind the desk, so that the lion’s top half is well in view to watch over me. It’s as if Aiden had heard my thoughts about decorating.

“What do you think?” he asks.

I gaze up at the fluffy feline face that has been by my side through many a challenge. “Perfect,” I say with a big smile.

Aiden’s expression softens and he slowly slides a hand towards me. I turn to face it, feeling a little wary but mostly curious. He gently touches the top of my head with his index finger, barely putting on any pressure as he gives it a little pat.

“Welcome home, roomie,” he murmurs.

I blush all over.

At this point it’s almost bedtime so we give up on doing any more studying. Aiden puts the rocks back into the box so that he can relocate them to their new spot on the shelf. I stare after him quietly, feeling anxiety bubble inside of me. End-of-weekend dread isn’t something that has ever really affected me since going to school was a welcome escape from my home life and my work schedule has always been all over the place. But right now I hate that tomorrow’s Monday.

We say good night and I drag myself over to the water tank to brush my teeth. I don’t plan on taking a full-on bath tonight… I’ll have plenty of time by myself tomorrow, after all.

I turn off the desk lamp and slide into bed. Absently I run my hand over the dog-shaped logo of my blanket that used to adorn Aiden’s shirt once upon a time, and I gaze at the moonlight that stretches across the surface of the desk. I stare and stare and stare and sleep continues to slip away from me…

“Come on,” I whisper to myself in frustration. “He’s done with school at four. No big deal.” It’s not like he’s never left the apartment before. But I guess in my mind it’s a big jump going from a couple of hours alone to the majority of the day.

I feel so pathetic. Here I’ve been so adamantly wishing to be autonomous, to not bother him so much. I simmer in self loathing for a little while before I bolt upright, suddenly struck by an idea.

I go turn on the lamp again, hoping I don’t attract Aiden’s attention from the other room. I grab onto my makeshift pencil, step onto the giant notepad… and I start writing.

@tinyborrower Thank you so much! Yeah, she kinda has a lot going on there Lots more sizzling and simmering ahead!

@Olo That’s actually interesting, I’m not sure I’ve ever really thought about that! I guess it makes sense since oftentimes the visuals involve giant hands or something and you don’t really get to see the big one’s face. Or heck sometimes due to the angle or the size it might be hard to make out the little one’s face. Then we just get to use our ~imagination~

@BryTheGuy Hot damn! Super well drawn. I just wish the big guy’s face wasn’t blurred out I guess now I can imagine all sorts of expressions.

@Olo Fair! I imagined his around a mid-length… I still need to draw some art of these characters~

@Olo Except she’s small enough that she’d probably get kinda lost or tangled up in his hair

Chapter 11
Evie

It’s Saturday… Day four of being too little for this world. Today I would be seeing even more of it. Maybe it’s because of this that I wake up feeling incredibly anxious, and the room feels particularly vast this morning. I slide out of bed and gravitate towards the bathroom Aiden made for me, despite having no intention of taking a bath right now. At least here the ceiling isn’t 150 feet away.

What a rollercoaster of emotions I’ve had. Here I was thinking I was starting to get used to things. I thought I’d been able to see some of the fun in this messed up situation. But now it’s beginning to feel like this little camping trip I’m on should be ending soon. And yet instead we’re going to move my things out of the apartment I’d been staying at, despite me not having booked a new place to stay. Since… I already have a place to stay. A huge, scary, hopeless new home that–

Stop. Aiden will be up soon. I want to greet him with a smile. I know that my predicament is understandably overwhelming, and he hasn’t acted judgemental with any of my struggling. But I don’t want to push it. I want to avoid having meltdowns in front of him as much as possible. I take a deep breath and put the lid back on… I can do this.

The morning passes quietly since my oversized roommate admits that he should probably try and get some homework done. This gives me some time to occupy myself, and I decide to learn how to use bits of lead and a notepad to write at this size. I wet some tissue paper, twisting it around the lead and letting it dry again to make a rough handle, so that I can avoid my hands becoming gray. I’m not sure what to write, though. I start making a list to take stock of everything on the desk, just to fill the time. Eventually I get bored of that and start writing down recipes that I wish I could make, which ends up affecting today’s lunch.

“You were so right, toasting both sides of the bread makes such a difference,” Aiden says, sighing contentedly from his bite of grilled cheese. “Aww, now I really wish we could make you a kitchen so you can cook your own food. I can already tell you’re way better at it than I am.”

“I don’t think I have a particular talent for it,” I respond, nibbling away at my own portion, “I’ve just been doing it since I was pretty young. I’d be happy to share tips and recipes!” My mind wanders in the ensuing pause in conversation before I add, “Have you seen Ratatouille?”

“Uhhh I don’t think so… but I know it involves a rat that cooks?”

“By sitting on a person’s head and controlling him like a puppet.”

“Ahh, I’m picking up what you’re putting down. It’s worth a try!” He grins. “For real though, as long as we’re careful, feel free to join me in the kitchen. I’m happy to at least attempt any of your favorites.”

After lunch it’s time to get going. I hop aboard Aiden’s hand and this is the first time I’ve traveled so far since I’ve gotten here, all the way to the front door of the apartment. My heart starts thumping hard against my sternum as he opens the door. He sticks his head out to make sure the coast is clear before stepping past the threshold, and I look at the world beyond.

I’ve actually never seen this hallway before, since I was unconscious the last time I was here. It stretches in both directions, impossibly far. The uniformity of the doors feels unnatural at such a large scale. The lighting is dim enough that I feel like I’m in a deep, dark, massive tunnel that threatens to completely engulf me–

“You okay, Evie?” Aiden says quietly, pausing in the doorway as he holds me up near his chest. I curse myself for losing any of my composure. What is wrong with me today?

“I’m fine,” I assure him, “Just taking a second to adjust.”

“Well, here, I should keep you hidden anyway if we want to avoid any awkward conversations.” He closes the door and then covers me with his other hand, creating a little cave with a small gap above my head. “This alright?”

I let out a breath. This is much, much better. I’m hidden away from the world, but the world is also hidden from me. I thank him, leaning my head against his chest, and he starts walking. I’m sure he probably won’t attract much less attention holding me this way, but it’s the break that I need to get adjusted to being outside of the apartment.

For whatever reason, the inside of his car intimidates me far less. He sets me up on the dashboard and we just hang out for a couple of minutes as I walk around the hilly plastic surface. The curve of the steering wheel is like a river boat’s paddle wheel protruding from the horizon. Even when I was normal sized I never owned a car or learned how to drive, so the view of this gigantic vehicle is all the more foreign.

“You ready to be my little GPS?” Aiden chuckles, “I’m turning the car on now, okay? You might want to sit down.”

I take a seat cross-legged, a short distance ahead of the steering wheel. The car comes to life with a shuddering rumble, the vibrations shaking my legs and filling me with adrenaline. I maintain a good grip on the plastic floor as the metal beast starts moving, and I just stare wide-eyed at the view beyond the glass.

I’m reminded of a time I visited one of the largest aquariums in the country, big enough to house whale sharks. The glass stretching in every direction before me, the mysterious aquatic world beyond. But there’s even more for me to see through the car window, especially as we come out of the parking garage. The buildings, plants, other cars, everything overwhelms me for a moment. Trying not to freak out, I suddenly look upwards…

Interesting. The sky looks the same as it always has. Something about that is reassuring, somehow.

I don’t have the AirBNB’s address memorized, but I’m familiar enough with the bus route that brought me to school that I’m certain I can get us back there. It takes me a minute to get my bearings and make sense of the vast river-like streets, and then I’m calling out directions with ease, pointing as I use my best robotic GPS-y speech. This makes Aiden laugh, which lifts my spirits somewhat.

About ten minutes later, we pull up to a more humble apartment building than the one we just left. Thankfully the owner of the place uses a keypad instead of a physical key, or else we wouldn’t be able to get past the door. Everything is just as I’d left it, an almost eerie sight.

“Can I set you down here?” asks my gigantic friend, motioning towards the bed. This is a studio apartment, one big room and then a bathroom, so the bed is actually quite central to everything, it’s as good a spot as any. I step off his hand, immediately struggling not to sink into the bedsheets. I quickly notice that I’d left a pair of pants sitting on the bed. Seeing my own things magnified to this level is tripping me out.

I direct Aiden to where my suitcase is and then he starts packing all of my things away - primarily clothes and textbooks. I really did travel light. As he comes back from the bathroom with my toiletries bag, I feel desperately thankful that I had just finished a load of laundry the morning I shrank. I’m already embarrassed enough without him having to deal with my dirty clothes.

I do have one thing that’s sentimental: a stuffed lion that’s sitting on the bed. It’s about a foot tall normally, so now it looks more like a taxidermied mammoth.

“I know it’s kinda silly to keep something like that,” I say self-consciously as Aiden packs away my lion with care. “Especially since it’s so bulky.”

“You want to talk about bulky, you should see my rock collection,” he responds lightly. “I bring that stuff with me for every move too, just can’t seem to part with any of it.”

“That’s cool, I’ve never collected anything before. Could you show it to me later?”

“Yeah, I’d love to. It’ll give me a reason to drag out the box.”

“Aww, why do you keep them in a box? Poor things. You should display them if they’re important to you!”

“You know what? That’s a good point. I think I will.”

A few minutes later he zips the suitcase closed before taking one last look around the apartment, assessing the empty drawers and counters.

His voice is a little tense. “l’ll admit this is pretty weird. It kinda feels like I’ve broken in…”

It does feel bizarre. Then again, everything about this is abnormal. I turn to humor, yelling out towards him as he passes by. “Oh no, help! There’s a giant man stealing all my stuff!”

This removes any of the tension in the air as Aiden turns to face me, looking down at me on the bed with a little smirk. He crouches, reaching a hand out to pick me up as he joins in dramatically, “Oh noooo, he’s about to steal the damsel away too!”

Okay maybe I didn’t think this through. I might have too much nervous energy to handle this today. His hand swooping in, fingers outstretched like a predator about to devour me, feels pretty scary. I’m a good sport about it though, letting out a laugh as he wraps his fingers around my frame and gently lifts me up.

Although I’ve started having more experience being handled, going straight up and down still gives me a lot of vertigo. Thankfully Aiden seems to be conscious of this and moves pretty slowly.

“I think this thief is all done packing,” he says with a smile, “You ready to say goodbye to this place?”

I take a brief look around. I was only here for a couple of weeks. Just one more living space amongst countless others. So I don’t feel very attached to it, and yet… the farewell does feel different this time. It’s more than saying goodbye to the apartment, it’s saying goodbye to all of my previous life. I get misty eyed, and then I swallow it all down.

“Yeah. I’m ready to go.”

We head back and I help again with the navigation from my spot on the dashboard. We’re almost back home - and I’m finding myself desperately looking forward to being on the familiar surface of the desk again - when something very unexpected happens.

We’re suddenly face to face with another car. It swerves into view from out of nowhere, going the wrong way on this narrow road, and we both let out a gasp as Aiden turns the steering wheel hard to avoid impact. I’m sent sliding off to the side, tumbling, right over the hump of the dashboard, slipping behind the steering wheel, too shocked to let out a sound–

I make contact with flesh, now crying out in pain as I land hard in a massive hand that’s just managed to slip under me in time.

“Holy crap!" I hear, and I’m still completely disoriented as I roll to a stop on my back, staring up at the roof of the car that’s whizzing by as I’m yanked away from the dashboard. Aiden’s upside-down face comes into view instead as he looks down at me fearfully. "I’m so sorry! Shit, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m alright…” I manage to respond.

We both jump at the sound of one car honking, and then another. It’s a miracle no one’s collided into each other. Knowing he has to keep moving, the giant lifts me to his chest now, cradling me against the fabric of his shirt, so that he can go back to driving with his other hand.

“I’m sorry, Evie… Hold on, we’re almost there… I got you…”

I can feel his heart hammering away at a million miles an hour. I don’t really see what’s going on anymore, I don’t want to look. I bury my face into his chest until I sense the light dimming, signaling that we’ve entered the parking garage.

The vibrations of his voice rumble through me as Aiden speaks again. “I feel so stupid. Of course it wouldn’t be safe to put you up there.”

I turn my head so that my face isn’t quite burrowing into the fabric, though I still keep my ear against the warm wall as I press into him. “I didn’t think about it either. How about next time I ride in your pocket?” I suggest weakly. “It’s not like I can put on a seatbelt at this size.”

“Yeah… I probably have some shirts with pockets. If not, I need to refresh my wardrobe anyway. I don’t have enough Magic: the Gathering stuff, I could use some more…” I appreciate the attempt at a joke, but neither one of us is in the mood to laugh.

He parks the car and I let out a sigh of relief as the engine dies down, so that all I can hear is the gradual deceleration of Aiden’s heartbeat. I can feel the muscles in his fingers tense to pull me away, and I cling to his shirt tighter.

“Wait,” I say quickly, and in the ensuing pause I add, “Um… C-could we stay like this? Just for a minute?”

My face is covered in tears and I don’t want him to see them. Maybe he can tell anyway, but he respects my request and just holds me there for a few minutes longer, quietly stroking my back with a comforting finger.

I’m on a never ending roller coaster. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the ups and downs. But as I cry softly against the gigantic chest of my only friend in the world right now, I take a moment to be thankful that at least I’m not on this ride alone.

@Olo Conversely, might be difficult to shrink the right target in there

Oh man, I know this topic isn’t for me, but maybe you guys would have fun at theme park. If it’s on a dark ride she wouldn’t even see it coming, she just goes on the ride and is never seen getting off…

Not such a small world after all

@Olo HA, I’m sure Aiden is beyond paranoid about avoiding evidence of sites such as this one with her around

I love handheld interactions so damn much. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I was happy to finally get to more fluffy stuff ️

Chapter 10
Aiden

“You sure this isn’t too awkward?”

“I’m sure. It’s just an arm, Evie.”

“Yeah, to you…”

I don’t let her know just how much I’m getting a kick out of this… This is probably the most intimate interaction we’ve had thus far. It was entirely her idea too.

Over breakfast Evie was going on about how she’s getting used to her new space on the desk and thanking me for my help. Meanwhile I’m just glad that she’s still here and settling in so well no less. Maybe it’s wrong, but I can’t help enjoying this fantasy-come-to-life situation.

And then she admitted to not feeling used to me. For a moment I was worried that I’d done something bad, until she clarified that she just still feels a bit intimidated by our size difference. Well… that’s understandable. I must still look like a monster to her. No amount of joking around about it is going to erase that.

She asked me if I wouldn’t mind just putting my hand up on the desk so that she could spend some time taking it in. My heart rate started picking up, but I was still more than happy to oblige…

And here we are. I’ve propped my entire forearm onto the table’s surface, my hand relaxing palm side up, and at first Evie’s just assessing, walking along the length of it, like a curious little mouse eyeing a potential hiding place. So cute. She’s halfway between wrist and elbow before she finally reaches out to touch me.

It’s probably just the anticipation of it that’s making my nerves oversensitive, but it feels like electricity where her skin meets mine. The hairs stand up on the back of my neck and I just try to hold really still. Her back’s to me so I don’t see her expression, but I imagine it’s one of fascination from the way she’s fixating the spot that she’s touching. She starts making her way up towards my hand, her tiny fingers trailing along my arm.

She’s getting close to the inside of my wrist when she pauses and puts both hands out now. “Whoa,” she says, and now I do get to see her face as she glances over her shoulder at me, “I can feel your pulse.”

If that’s the case, I hope she can’t tell how fast my heart is beating. Trying to play it cool, I quip back, "Well that’s handy. You can be my at-home nurse then– ahhh–” I try not to flinch as my whole arm lights up with goosebumps. She just brushed her fingers along the base of my palm. “Okay that tickles,” I say tightly.

“Sorry,” she laughs, pulling her hand away and continuing along.

Don’t be, I say only in my own mind, That felt really good…

I kinda wish I could explore her too. To maybe wrap my hand around her frame or carefully grasp a limb between my fingertips. To try and brush her hair back in order to gently touch her tiny face. But all of that seems way, way more invasive than what she’s doing to me. I don’t want to treat her like an actual doll. I thought I was having success at keeping these kinds of thoughts in check, but with Evie interacting with me like this it’s becoming very difficult to do so.

She reaches the ends of my fingers now and pushes against the third and fourth one while I let them hang loose, so that they curl in from the pressure of her minute muscles.

“What’s it like from your perspective?” she asks after she’s pulled the digits back out, and then she cautiously crawls right onto them.

Hoo boy. I want to be careful about how I answer this.

“It really is weird just how light you are,” I say, consciously flattening out my hand to give her an easier time clambering across the length of it. “At first I was so nervous about hurting you, you just seem so… fragile? No offense.”

“None taken,” she says, reaching my thumb now and using it to hoist herself back to the desk.

“My aunt has pet birds, though,” I continue, “and I got really used to handling them growing up when I’d go stay with her during the summer. If I can trim a finch’s nails I think we should be okay… At least your bones aren’t hollow. Mind if I try something?”

Evie looks up at me curiously and nods as a go-ahead. I tilt my hand upright and snake it around behind her, and then I very gently use my middle finger and thumb to pinch around the sides of her waist. I make sure to be careful about where I aim… All of her body parts are really close together and I don’t want to touch her anywhere inappropriate. I put on just enough pressure around her torso to lift her up, until her feet barely leave the floor. She lets out a little gasp, suddenly leaning forward to catch herself on the fingertips protruding from either side of her, but she doesn’t protest.

“Not too uncomfortable?” I ask before setting her back down.

“N-no…” she says, despite looking a little nervous. She takes a step back as I slowly slide my hand away again, and she’s looking from my fingers to my face, as if trying to put it together that I’m all one being. “In fact,” she adds, and her cheeks are reddening, “that might actually be better for when you have to carry me. Just something that feels more secure I guess? I’m always worried about falling.”

As if there was any universe where that would be an issue for me. “Okay, yeah. No problem.”

Her entire face is flushing now and she suddenly covers her eyes with her hands. “This is so weird!” she exclaims fervently.

I laugh and figure she might need a break from this exercise so I pull my arm back off the table. “It is very weird. You think this is helping you get used to it though?”

She pulls her hands off her face as she takes a deep breath, quickly regaining her composure. “It is. Thank you.”

“Any time.” God do I mean that.

I leave to run more errands after that, intent on finishing up Evie’s setup today. I’m out all morning, visiting a few different stores, being quite selective about the things on our list. I don’t find a mini fridge that’s even remotely the right size, unfortunately. And I’m realizing that most dolls are quite a bit bigger than three inches tall. But I otherwise do find success. At one point I get a spontaneous idea for something we hadn’t discussed that I might try to build this afternoon, so I stop at a craft store too.

Being at the pet shop is particularly strange. I’m just here to get her a water tank, though I figure I might as well look through the small animals section in case there’s anything useful. I briefly imagine her running around in a hamster ball, which makes me laugh to myself.

There’s a harness here with a leash - it’s clearly meant for rabbits or ferrets so it would be way too big for her anyway, but… something about it makes me shudder uncomfortably. I remember Dr. Little’s recounting of how he trained his victims to act a certain way. And I take a moment, right there in aisle 4, to firmly tell myself that I will never, ever treat her like an animal. No matter how small and cute and dependent she is. I can’t ever lose sight of the fact that she’s a person.

I come home to the bright, adorable smile of my little roommate, and the afternoon is spent unpacking and setting up everything that I bought. I’ve upgraded her measuring spoon to a small bowl for me to put fresh drinking water in, and Evie’s very excited about some of the miniature shelves and furniture I’ve found - I even came across a bed frame that fits her makeshift mattress.

She assures me she’ll pay me back for this stuff as soon as we get her debit card tomorrow amongst her other things. I secretly hope she forgets. She’s got enough on her plate as is, paying for this stuff is the least I can do.

I go fill up the water tank, which is just the right height for her to easily scoop out of with her toothpaste-cap-buckets, perfect for filling a bathtub. Speaking of which - I bring over a longer charging cable to set up the mug warmer and a small dish that she can use to bathe in. It’s a USB-powered warmer that’s just meant for office use, so it doesn’t get excessively warm, and the dish completely covers the hot plate, so it should all be quite safe. Plus she’s able to operate it independently… It’s all coming together.

She has a section on the corner of the desk that is quickly becoming the bathroom area, and I take some quick measurements of it with a ruler. Then I set to work, using the ottoman as a table and pulling out the white plastic sheets I got at the craft store.

“What are you working on?” Evie calls out from the desk, tilting her head to the side as she watches me.

“You’ll see,” I say with a smile, “I don’t want to promise anything in case it doesn’t work out.”

We spend a little while in comfortable silence as I measure, cut and glue the plastic while she starts putting things on shelves, her industrious nature manifesting again as she organizes everything meticulously. Early evening is approaching when I finally finish my project.

It just looks like a box, about five inches tall and over twice that in length. The roof is a series of many very thin criss-crossing plastic strips, meant to obscure view but still be able to vent. One of the walls has a wide doorway, and another one has a hole just big enough to string a power cable through.

“Let’s see if this works…” I say, softly interrupting Evie’s endeavors.

She glances up as I approach the desk, and her brow furrows with a mix of confusion and interest. I take the mug warmer with its ceramic dish and put it inside the box, orienting it so that the doorway is facing the side wall of the apartment and is out of sight, and then I place the entire structure right next to the water tank and metal toilet box for easy access.

“Thought you could use some privacy,” I say, standing back up to admire my handiwork. “At first I thought about using a shoebox, but then not only would it be dark in there but I figured all of the evaporation from the bath would make the cardboard soggy. What do you think?”

Evie enters her new bathroom excitedly, and while I can see a little bit of movement through the roof vent, I can’t tell what she’s doing.

“Can you see me?” I hear her voice yell.

“No, not really. That’s kind of the point,” I say with a laugh.

“Thank you so much, Aiden,” she looks almost emotional as she comes back out to meet me, “This is so thoughtful.”

“I’m glad you like it! I won’t ever go in there unless it’s to dump out the water bowl, so just let me know whenever it’s okay to do that."

“Sounds good.”

“Maybe at some point we’ll figure out how to make you a kitchen. Hell, I wish we could get you your own mini grocery store. It’d probably fit in the living room.”

She laughs, and I can’t get enough of its near musical sound. “I think I have more than enough up here.”

“Yeah, unfortunately you’re still stuck with my cooking. Any requests for your celebratory welcome dinner?”

“Hmm. What are the other meals you said you’re good at?”

“Well it’s pretty hard to screw up fried rice. And I learned to make homemade pesto sauce once, so I’m not bad at pasta. That takes a while, though.”

“Fried rice it is then!”

This works out since I have a lot of vegetables I need to use up. I make a large batch of it and I’m excited to get to use Evie’s new dollhouse plates. Like almost everything else, they’ll be a little big for her, but it’s better than her having to crouch over a giant spoon. I carefully place her portion on her shrunken table and we’re both able to sit in a chair this time as we eat.

Since at this point we’re done with any work we can think of, I suggest watching a movie to relax for the evening. I actually don’t own a TV, just watch everything on my laptop, but I think that’s better suited for my little friend anyway.

“So what kind of stuff do you normally like to watch?” I ask, offering her my hand to climb onto.

“Umm… I watch a lot of nature documentaries…” she says, settling onto me, “It’s a bit embarrassing, but a lot of cartoons too. I’m really into animation.”

I remember to loosely close my fingers around her this time, giving her something to hold onto, and I’m trying not to look too excited about having another excuse to hold her in my hand like this. Still, I offer her a smile as I lift her up. “Don’t be embarrassed. I’ve just gotten into anime pretty recently, so if that counts then I’m right there with you.”

Evie clings to my ring finger and looks up at me eagerly. “Yeah, it counts! Gosh, I haven’t watched anime in years. My best friend growing up showed me so much of it, that was her big obsession. What’s your favorite show so far?”

“So, one thing you have to know about me…" I say, sitting down on the couch as I continue holding her aloft, "is that I really love camping. I usually try to get out in nature for a couple of days once or twice a year. Last year was particularly busy for me school-wise, and I didn’t get to go. Sooo, what’s the next best thing? Watching cutesy anime girls camping instead, apparently. There’s my long-winded explanation for why I love Laid Back Camp. Even though I’m probably not the target demographic… It’s just so relaxing and a really nice escape for when I have a lot going on.”

“I’ve never heard of it. But a relaxing escape sounds really nice right now… Um, if you’re okay watching something you’ve already seen.”

“I don’t mind at all, I’d love to introduce you to it!” I set Evie down next to me on the couch and reach out to the laptop to pull up the show.

Our setup is rather comical. Like a kid who’s pretending to watch TV with his favorite action figure. I have to be mindful not to shift around too much - it’s not like she’s right up against me, but I still don’t want to jostle her.

We’re about halfway through the episode when I notice her small figure out of the corner of my eye, shifting closer to me. I think she’s trying to be sneaky about it… which might objectively not be the smartest thing if it could lead to me accidentally knocking into her. But I also feel touched that she trusts me to be careful. I wonder what she’s up to…

Evie comes very close to my leg, and I abruptly realize what she’s looking for - body warmth. She’s shivering.

Any normal person would have offered her a blanket. Or I should have at least gone and updated the thermostat. But instead, my gut reaction is to lay my hand down next to her on the couch. She jumps at the sudden movement and looks straight up at me.

“You cold?” I ask quietly, and I gently nudge her with my pinkie. For a second I think she’s going to decline and feel incredibly stupid for not offering her something other than myself to stay warm. But then she silently crawls onto my hand, huddling against my fingers as I curl them around her. And bit by bit her muscles relax as her shivering goes away.

“Thanks,” she finally says, giving my thumb a grateful pat as she readjusts herself on my palm for the long haul. “This helps.”

I have a really hard time paying attention to the show after that.

@Olo Yeah she jumped to conclusions real fast there Evie certainly has some… issues, but she’s definitely a survivor!