Out of their Element

[littlest-lily]

Chapter 40
Evie

Stepping up to the mouth of the stadium-sized cavern gives me a wave of dizziness. Entering such a dark, vast space by myself is creating so much anxiety that I almost turn back around. But going back to Aiden after being so insistent with him doesn’t feel like an option right now. I try to summon my courage, and all it takes is looking back to the floor, to the sliver of red plastic that had caught my attention in the first place, and my determination floods back.

It’s twenty feet away from me, and the reason it wasn’t destroyed becomes apparent right away. Due to the heat of the fire and whatever explosion happened in here, there’s a crack in the concrete floor, and the flash drive fell right in before something else fell on top of it. Whatever was covering it up must have protected it long enough for the fire to get put out. There’s no way I would have even seen it if I hadn't gotten so low to the ground to be able to peer into the crack.

After I take a couple of hesitant steps, I flinch at the sound of Aiden’s voice echoing into the room. “Watch out, there’s a whole lot of shattered glass there. Just to your left, can you see that?”

I look in that direction and sure enough, one of the rocks strewn about is clearly glinting in the low light. “Roger that,” I call back, “It is pretty dark in here... Can you see me?”

I turn to look at the wall, trailing my gaze up the length of the crack we’d been looking through. About fifty feet up is a patch of my giant friend’s face, the color of his eye appearing almost black in the darkness.

“Sort of, I can see movement…” he responds, shifting to try and get a better view, “Oh wait, duh. Hold on, let me give you some light.”

A moment later, the space I’m in gets fully illuminated, and when I look back to the door I came through I have to squint. Aiden’s just turned on his phone’s flashlight and leaned the device up against the entrance.

“Is that better?”

“Much better, thank you!” I say emphatically, looking around.

This not only makes it easier to see, but I’m more able to ignore the vastness of the rest of the room as it recedes into almost pitch blackness. I’m just focused on my immediate surroundings now. Though I do nervously see the hundreds of pieces of aforementioned glass to my left, and I also realize even smaller pieces are littering the floor around me, some shards small enough for me to step on. I really, really need to make myself some shoes.

Shivering from the sharp chill in the air, I carefully pad my way through, my legs already getting covered in ash just from walking around in here. I make it to the fissure, ducking under the overhang of debris that covers it. There it is down below me, and now I’m much more confident that it is indeed a flash drive. The plastic surface just has a couple of small scratches on it, it otherwise looks miraculously undamaged. And it's the kind that has a cap to protect the USB plug too.

My heart rate picks up with excitement. With any luck, this thing still works. With even more luck there's useful information on it.

“Evie?” Aiden asks apprehensively, “You just disappeared, everything okay?”

I sigh, a bit exasperated by the rather large distraction outside. But I don’t blame him for worrying, I should probably be talking him through what I’m doing. I pop my head back out into the open.

“It’s under here!” I call, “There’s a crack in the concrete and it’s inside. This might take a minute, but everything’s fine.”

I peer into the crevice in the ground, trying to gauge the space. The concrete itself is about five or six inches thick so it’s quite a bit taller than I am, but the dirt underneath the slab has been pushed up in places, making it more accessible. The fissure’s walls are uneven enough to create plenty of climbing holds, so I slip into the narrow opening and slowly make my way into the earth without much issue. By now my arms and clothes are getting pretty dirty too. Yep, I’ll definitely be taking a bath after this.

The flash drive is a rounded rectangle shape that’s four feet long to me, so it’s going to be rather unwieldy to drag across the ground. But first I have to get it out of the crevice. It’s already leaned up against the side of the concrete, so I crouch down and hook my arms under one end before pushing upwards. The other end reaches the opening. I hear Aiden outside comment, “Whoa, I see it!” and his excitement gives me a boost of adrenaline as I heave.

And then my heart sinks as there’s a dull, jolting thump. I was able to squeeze in here. But the flash drive won’t fit through the hole, it's getting blocked by the debris overhead.

Cursing, I take another minute to keep trying, maneuvering it in different angles, until I let the thing collapse and am left breathing hard from the effort. The hole is just barely too small. I’m so close.

“What’s up?” the giant outside asks as I scramble back out of the crevice.

“It won’t fit,” I respond in frustration. I spend some time trying to push against the piece of rubble that’s laying overtop the crack. It’s a chunk of charred wood and melted plastic that’s probably no larger than a baseball to the average person, but to me it’s as big as a pickup truck. I shove against it as hard as I can but it doesn’t even budge.

“Umm, let me think,” Aiden says as he watches me, “Maybe if I find a stick, I can push on it from the outside?”

That’s not a bad idea. I look back towards the entrance, squinting against the flashlight. But the crack that I slipped through to get here was fairly narrow, I wonder if a wooden stick that's thin enough to fit would still be strong enough to help. Not to mention the fact that this spot is off to the side and there are some obstacles in the way, it’d be a tricky maneuver.

“There isn’t anything right here that I can use, though,” he laments, “and I don’t want to leave you by yourself to find something... How about you come back and we try again on a different day? Now that we know about it we can come better equipped.”

The idea of walking away from this thing when it’s right in front of me is painful. Aiden’s probably right, but I still don’t want to give up just yet…

“Hold on,” I say, “Maybe I'm the one who needs a tool.”

I start looking around at the rubble a little more critically. Most of what I see are unrecognizable bits of brittle metal, burnt wood and reformed plastic. I carefully step over more glass as I spot something long and thin - I brush some of the ash off and realize it’s a half-melted pen. A plan starts forming in my head and I drag this back to the offending obstacle.

Using a small rock as a fulcrum, I jam the end of the pen under the boulder-like chunk and push down on the other side of the lever as hard as I can. I put my entire weight on it, straining every muscle in my body, and still… nothing.

I collapse against the pen for a few seconds as I try to catch my breath, hissing out frustrated curses. I glare at the boulder, imagining how easy it would be for Aiden’s hand to push it out of the way, or even just pick it up, with no issue. I hate. Being. Small.

All the more reason to get to that flash drive.

With renewed vigor I get up and continue looking around. Think. What else can I do here? I start scanning all the memories I have of being in the woodworking shop back in high school. Wondering if any of the problems I had to solve back then might apply to right now. Could I wear away at the obstacle instead and widen the hole? Maybe if I had some kind of miniature sander - you know, that classic dollhouse accessory. Could I chip away at it with a rudimentary hammer and chisel? Maybe if I had five months to spare.

I come across something flat and metallic in the debris, and as I wipe off the dust I realize it’s a ruler. It’s damaged but I can still see some of the numbers on it. Whoa… I’d been told that I was three inches tall but had never seen the measurement for myself. Seeing it so plainly in front of me is pretty sobering.

But then I’m struck with a thought. I look back towards the pen that was useless to me. What do I know about levers? If I’m struggling to pull a nail out with the claw of a hammer… Get a bigger hammer. A longer lever.

I step onto the other side of the ruler and begin to push. It’s very thin and made even more so by the heat, but it’s just as dense, and it's metal, so it’s still quite heavy to me. It’s also literally four times my height in length, so I have to push one end, then run over to the other end to slowly inch the structure across the floor.

“Please don’t hurt yourself,” Aiden’s voice calls to me softly. I can tell he’s trying to be patient and let me do this, but I’m not sure how much longer I can justify it.

It takes me another few minutes to drag the ruler the couple of inches over to where I need it, and then I shove one end underneath a small gap in the obstacle I’m wanting to move. After thinking things through for a minute, I grab my fulcrum rock and bring it to the far side of the ruler, away from the looming boulder. Using every bit of strength I have, I lift up the end of the metal plank, just high enough for me to shove the rock underneath with my foot. Even though I’ve managed to avoid all the broken glass, my legs are getting pretty scratched up now. But at least I’m making progress.

I get down onto the ground so that I can start pushing the rock along the bottom of the ruler, moving the fulcrum closer and closer to the obstacle to get maximum torque. It’s exhausting, and despite the cold in the air I'm now covered in a thin sheen of sweat, but I push through, knees and feet scraping against the concrete as my arms shake. By the time I make it as far as I can go, the high side of the lever is level with my chin. I run back to it and reach my hands up, and I push down as hard as I can.

There’s a shifting this time. It’s just the slightest bit of movement but it’s budging. I jump up, put my entire weight on the end of the lever, but I’m just not heavy enough. God, I’m so close.

“Evie…” the giant whispers, and from a quick glance to him I can tell he’s looking down the alleyway nervously.

“Wait,” I gasp, “Sorry, let me just try one last thing!”

If I’m not heavy enough, maybe I just need more weight. I find another rock and push it up the length of the ruler, then another one, then another, creating a pile at the top of the lever. It's a messy process, the rocks threatening to topple off on more than one occasion, but I can tell it's making a difference. Finally as I carry one more rock up, I feel the tension starting to practically vibrate beneath my feet. And that's the moment that I try leaping up into the air and landing down as hard as I can.

It works. The boulder-like obstacle doesn't roll away, but it slides to the side just a tad, the ruler slipping out from underneath it and causing me to crash to the ground. I can hear a sharp, concerned inhale from Aiden but I ignore him, immediately back on my feet as I rush over to the crevice.

I climb back down to the flash drive, needing to pause and take a few breaths after all that exertion. It's time to push this thing up.

I'm so close. I'm so goddamn close. The hole is bigger, it looks like it'll be a perfect fit, I push the end of the flash drive through… and then it gets stuck. The gap still isn't quite wide enough. Once the rounded corners pass through, I feel resistance once again.

But it's just by a hair. And I've come this far. I don't care that my body's about to give out, I have to do this. With a surge of adrenaline and a cry of exertion, I shove with everything that's in me. The obstacle above me shudders and shifts… and then it shifts a lot more than I was expecting. Apparently when I'd pushed the boulder with the lever I had moved it into a precarious balance. And now it finally rolls a quarter turn to the side.

What I didn't know about was the pile of ash and dirt that was trapped on top of the piece of rubble. Which now all comes tumbling down into the crevice in one solid wave. Burying me alive.

[littlest-lily]

Chapter 41
Aiden

“Hey! You!”

I jump at the sudden yell, knocking my phone over so that the light shuts off, and I curse under my breath. Out of my periphery I see someone at the end of the alley. He’s standing close enough to a streetlight that I can just make out the fact that he’s wearing a police uniform.

“Evie, we’re out of time,” I whisper fervently.

Without the phone light and with how dark the night has gotten, I can hardly see into the room at all now. The last thing I saw was the edge of the flash drive coming into view but then getting stuck in place. That’s about when I got interrupted.

She doesn’t answer immediately and after a second or two I try again, “Eve?”

“Get away from there, kid,” the angry voice calls out again, “Just keep moving.”

Shit. Where is she? Did something happen? Heart racing, I slowly get to my feet to face the stranger and try to stall for time. “I’m looking for my phone!” I call back, “I dropped it around here somewhere.”

He takes a couple of steps towards me, becoming more obscured as he walks between the two buildings that form the alleyway. I glance down at the ground again, trying to will my small friend into existence. Why is she not back yet? She was only a few inches away, surely she heard me. Fuck, did she hurt herself? I didn't hear any cries... Of course it doesn't help that now she practically has no light to see by. I feel sick as I think about all the shards of broken glass that was littering her vicinity.

“Likely story,” the cop growls, still keeping his distance, “Sick and tired of you kids trying to break into places just ‘cause they’re off limits…”

“I’m not trying to break into the… wall.” It’s not my intention to come off as rude, but it’s hard to make such a statement without sounding like I'm giving some kind of attitude. I quickly try to revise my tense tone and pacify the approaching man. “Really, I’m just looking for my phone.”

“Oh, right, and I’m sure you had no idea the building was off limits.”

“I swear, I wasn’t trying to get into the building. I'm a student, I was just heading home this way. I live in the area.”

I glance towards the ground again. I’m not leaving without her. But if this goes on for much longer I don’t know what I’ll do.

And then I see it. A tiny figure suddenly darts out of the crevice, and for a split second I don’t even recognize her. She’s completely covered in earth and ash, though her shape is all too familiar even in the dark. I see a glimpse of red as I realize she’s dragging something behind her. The flash drive. She did it.

Evie keeps her head low and moves quickly, hurrying the couple of inches between us as she beelines straight for my left foot. I hold completely still as I stand there and she starts climbing on top of my shoe. My eyes flick back up at the man who’s continuing to yell at me.

“Why go in this direction at all?” he barks, “Did you not see all the caution tape out front?”

I try to hold my gaze steady as he speaks, even though the minute movements down at my ankle are very distracting. My little friend slips under my pant leg, out of sight at least, and I sense her hands against my skin for a second as she feels around in the dark. I wonder what on earth she’s trying to do until I realize she’s pulling back my sock, and then I suddenly feel hard plastic as she shoves the flash drive inside.

Hoping that I’m not making any weird faces, I attempt to focus on continuing the conversation. “I didn’t realize that meant this path was also blocked off, sir…”

Just then I tense up. I feel a scurrying, and it’s barely perceptible but I swear I also hear a tiny, muffled gasp of a yell. I think she lost her grip. I look down just in time to see Evie toppling out from the pant leg opening, half sprawled against my shoe as she hits the concrete and winces in pain.

I have to do something. “Oh wait, I see it, it’s right there,” I say in the direction of the officer, and I crouch down to the ground.

I pick my phone up with one hand, and the other one reaches for Evie. We lock eyes for a split second, a tense moment of wide-eyed acknowledgement, and she braces herself. I close my fingers around her little body, cold and trembling. But even as I pick her up off the concrete I have no idea which direction my hand should go. There’s no way I can sneak her into a pocket right now, especially as there’s a louder yell–

“Hey!” The cop just turned on a flashlight. In that second that the light dances across the ground, I feel Evie wriggle out of my grasp and scurry right over my wrist… and under the long sleeve of my shirt. Then the light is on me, blinding me and causing me to squeeze my eyes shut. “Keep your hands where I can see them!” the man demands.

I do as he says. I raise both hands up, still squinting against the light that he’s centering right on my face. Slowly I get up from crouching, continuing to carefully lift my arms to show that I’m not hiding anything. Except I am. The tiny girl in my shirt slides right down the length of my forearm and comes to a stop around the inside of my elbow. Thankfully the little lump in my sleeve is facing me and not the cop.

“See?” My hands are open, aside from me pinning the device against my palm. “Just my phone. Sorry, officer, I really didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

I tense up again, and I'm worried that I visibly flinched this time. For some reason Evie’s just reacted to something, jumping and then suddenly clenching herself against my skin. I can feel her tiny fingers digging into my arm and she’s shaking harder than ever. What’s wrong with her? I do my best to regain my composure, needing to focus on getting us out of here.

“I truly was just passing through, sir,” I say as deferentially as I can.

I can’t make out the cop’s expression with him shining his flashlight at me like this, but finally I hear a loud, grumpy sigh. "Pass through then. Go on.”

With a thankful nod, I lower my arms and turn to leave. I don’t even care that I’m walking in the opposite direction of my apartment right now, I just want to get away from him. I take a quick glance behind me as I turn the corner and the policeman has already left as well, nothing but a shadow on the opposite street.

"Evie, you alright?" I whisper to my arm, still holding it at an angle, as if perpetually checking my watch, "Can you hang tight for a minute?"

"Uh huh," she confirms weakly, her voice barely perceptible.

I hurry down a couple more buildings to where I know is a small park - it's more like a tiny courtyard with just a few trees, a fountain and two benches, but it's deserted and fairly isolated due to the foliage.

"Can I get you out?" I ask in a hushed tone, carefully brushing a finger over the little hump at my elbow. I take a seat at one of the benches, trying to keep my arm steady, and she responds with a shaky "yes please."

Keeping the limb held up, I tug down on the opening of the sleeve with my other hand, creating a tunnel hanging under my forearm. Then I tilt it just enough to slowly help slide her along the length of the fabric, leveling it out again once she's close to the entrance. I can see her now, struggling to get her bearings on all fours, and I readjust my hand so she can climb into it.

Her skin is mostly a patchwork of browns, blacks and grays from the filth that she's covered in. But despite that I can tell, in the dim light of the nearby streetlamp, that underneath all of it she's a couple of shades paler than usual and still shivering pretty bad.

"What is it?" I ask anxiously. My eyes dart all over her, looking for blood or shards of glass or any other signs of injury. "Please don’t tell me I…"

"No no no, it’s not you," she says, waving her hands as she looks to me, "I’m fine, I’m not hurt or anything. I just…” She pauses to put a hand on her chest and steady herself. “I thought we got caught. That was really scary…"

"Oh. Yeah, it was pretty stressful," I affirm, finally starting to relax. "It's okay, I was checking, he didn't follow us."

"I thought he was a security guard or something at first," she says through steadying breaths, "but he was an actual cop?"

"Yeah. It sounded like other people have tried breaking in so maybe they started to patrol the area more…"

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure the moment I felt her panic within my sleeve was when I referred to the guy as "officer." I vaguely wonder what difference that really makes, but Evie keeps talking before I can mention it.

"Thanks for getting us out of there," she sighs, grabbing one of my fingers and hugging it tightly, "Sorry I put you through all that… and I'm sorry I took so long. Decided to take a dirt bath, apparently. Have I ever told you I hate being underground?”

“You might have mentioned it before,” I say with a budding smile. I’m happy to see how she’s holding on to me while looking so relieved like that. Maybe I’m not a total menace after all.

“Took me a minute to dig my way out, thankfully it was mostly ash so it was pretty light. Not sure I would have made it otherwise. And then I had to go and make things harder… I'd meant to hunker down against your leg but I ended up tripping on a shoelace."

"You're fine. I would've been too worried about knocking you off my foot when I started walking. Oh but speaking of that…"

I bend over while still holding her raised up, reaching one hand down to my ankle where the flash drive is still snugly tucked in my sock. I hold it up, shocked at how intact it looks.

"You really did it," I marvel before beaming at her with pride, "I can't believe you got it out. That's so awesome, Evie!"

She finally cracks a smile too. "I told you I– whoa, whoa!"

Overcome with relief and admiration and the adrenaline-fueled rush of the entire adventure, I was just starting to pull her up to my face without really thinking. But at her yell I suddenly freeze in place, realizing I was about to ignore all of our previous talks of baby steps. “Sorry, is this bad?" I ask, still holding her at my eye level, "Too much, too soon?"

“No, not that, I'm just disgusting right now, dude!" she protests, motioning down at herself covered in dirt.

“Oh, is that all?" I say with a chuckle, and I bring her in, closing my eyes as I press her right up to my cheek.

She wriggles against me, arms futilely pushing back, "Seriously, man, I'm so gross! Look, I'm getting it on you!"

"You're not gross," I murmur with utmost sincerity, "You're amazing."

She falls into silence, her protestful shoves weakening. I gently rub against her, feeling the dirt get smudged under my eye before I pull her back a bit.

"Look, now we match!" I say with a grin, noticing there's a little less filth covering her clothes and skin.

She breaks into a smile before it evolves into a sweet, genuine giggle that makes my heart sing. I had wondered when I’d ever get to hear it again.

"Okay well, I have to even it out now,” she quips playfully, and she shifts forward in my hand, back towards me, reaching out to my other cheek. Again I bring her in close, and I struggle to contain my laughter as she intentionally marks more of my skin by wiping her body off on me.

My new look might earn me some confused glances on the way home. This whole thing might have been the most terrible, risky idea we’ve ever had. It might still all have been for nothing. But I would do it a thousand times more just to share this integral moment of the two of us clicking back into place.

[littlest-lily]

Chapter 42
Evie

Of course it was password protected.

I splash water on my face, even though I think I’ve gotten almost all of the dirt off at this point. The ash was a little more difficult to scrub away, but after working at it for twenty minutes in the bath, slowly turning the water a soapy gray, I think I’m as clean as I’m going to get. I rinse myself off with the water bucket I’d set aside and grab a towel to dry off.

As I start getting dressed again, I look upwards to the vented ceiling, trying to make out what I can of Aiden through the criss-crossing plastic strips. He had brought his laptop over for us to investigate the flash drive, and once we discovered the impasse and futilely made a few attempts at breaching it, I figured I'd clean myself up while he kept trying. I took a little longer than I meant to, partly from the scrubbing but also just from the sheer exhaustion after I’d exerted myself so much at the lab. Compared to my aching muscles, I barely even notice the soreness in my ribs now.

Once I'm clothed, I come back out, noticing my friend has also taken the opportunity to clean the dirt off his face. I clear my throat and ask with very little hope in my voice, "Any luck?"

With one defeated shake of his house-sized head, he sighs, "Sorry. I've been trying to Google ways around it, but nothing's working. I'm no hacker…" Finally giving up, he slips the flash drive out of the USB port and holds it up. "Maybe someone else could do it, though, if we reported this."

"Oh, right, let's go tell the cops we stole evidence from a crime scene," I say sarcastically.

"I can easily tell them it was in the bag I grabbed on the way out," Aiden insists, "I'm just saying."

With a small, sad smile I lower my gaze. What he doesn't realize is that I've already accepted my reality. This was my last ditch attempt. One final, desperate push to get myself out of this situation, just so that I can know I did everything I could without resorting to the impossible. It may not have amounted to anything. But it's the closure that I needed.

"Thank you for trying, Aiden. Let's… let's talk logistics," I say, and I start feeling an increasing fear as I try to face this dreaded topic head on. "H-how much longer are you willing to let me stay?"

He frowns at the intensity in my voice and pivots his chair to face me, giving me his full attention. "There's no time limit," he says evenly, "I'm just concerned for you. I'm not sure what will happen if we wait for so long."

I shake my head. "Don't worry about that for a minute. Remind me, how much school do you have left?"

He raises his eyebrows, finally realizing just how long term I'm insinuating here. "Uh, if all goes well… another three semesters. About a year and a half."

"And you'd truly be okay with me staying that entire time?"

Aiden hesitates this time, and I wait with bated breath. I don't blame him for faltering, but finally he answers plainly and confidently. "Yes."

I mentally try to do some math to figure out how long I've been living here so far. It started in early February, we're mostly through May… We're coming up on four months. Maybe another few months of me avoiding everything wouldn't be too much to ask?

"Give me until the end of the year?" I say tentatively, "And then we can have this conversation again?"

The giant's intensity matches mine as he stares me down. "You're absolutely sure? You're okay staying small for that long?"

"Y-yes. As long as it’s okay with you. I just… still don’t feel ready for the world to find out about me. Especially with no guarantees that this can even be fixed."

He doesn't understand that I don't have much of a choice in this. It's not that I want to stay little. It's that some things are worse. But I can't go too far in that direction, so I choose a different one, one that I hope might lighten the mood.

"Besides," I say with a teasing smile, "You like me better this way anyway, right?"

Aiden doesn't laugh. His intensity doesn't diminish. He just keeps staring at me with a creased brow and his staggering hazel gaze. I wonder if he even registered what I said.

"I mean… right?" I repeat, a bit more meekly this time, trying to maintain my smile to show him I'm just poking fun.

He breaks eye contact and turns his head to stare out the window. There are clearly a thousand thoughts passing through his brain and my anxiety builds at the sight. He clenches his jaw and his voice comes out a little tight. "If we're talking that long, then I… I don't know if I can keep…"

My fear goes into a crescendo at those words. Is he about to take back what he said about letting me stay? Is he actually thinking things through now? Did I just shoot myself in the foot by bringing it up?

His voice is still strained as he finally says something else. "Listen… I'm only saying this because of the potentially non-zero chance that the feeling's mutual, but…" Aiden turns towards me again and I'm taken by surprise at the way his expression has changed. He's not quite frowning anymore, if anything he looks… scared? "Evie, in case it wasn't incredibly obvious by now, I'm… I'm interested… in you. I care about you… a lot."

Oh.

A different kind of nervousness settles in instead. The kind that feels like butterflies.

He continues talking as I stand there in stunned silence. "I kept wondering if I should say something, I've had so many ideas on how I could make a move, but I decided to hold back and hide this because I didn't want to make it weird or put you in a shitty position. But whether I wanted it or not, a lot has changed recently, and then yesterday happened, and I don't think I can try to hide it anymore…" He pauses and swallows as if combatting dry mouth. "If the answer's no, that's completely fine and I won't bring it up again. I'm totally happy just being friends and you still living here, unless you want somewhere else. No pressure, really, I–"

"Aiden?" My small voice is enough to stop him in his tracks. Fully aware of how much I'm blushing right now, I stutter, "Th-the feeling's mutual. The interest is… mutual."

After a moment of processing, his expression shifts again. Like clouds clearing out to let the sun shine, he inhales into a wide, uninhibited smile. I can see the explosion of relief and joy bursting behind his eyes. "Are you sure?" he asks, trying to rein himself in, "You're not feeling pressured or anything?"

"N-no."

This part's a lie. But it's just a white lie, since the rest of it is so, so honest. I don't care what happened 24 hours ago. I don't care what happened six years ago. All I care about right now is this man towering before me. I care about him so incredibly much.

"I'm sure," I add with a nod, "Well, I'm not really sure exactly how I feel, I don't want to rush into anything but… um… how about…"

I trail off, biting my lip as I stare at the ground for a second. Then I sheepishly look up at him again, keeping my head level as my eyes aim up.

"W-what ideas did you have in mind, exactly? On making a… a move?"

There's a moment of silence as Aiden regards me in a new light. His smile is gentle and his pupils are expanding as he lets himself show whatever tender emotions he had been too afraid of revealing in the past. The look in his eyes is making me melt.

Slowly, he begins lowering his head in front of me, pushing his chair back and bending down so that he can get closer. I feel my insides squirm at the sight of something so massive coming my way, but I make sure not to take a step back, staying rooted to the spot.

His face is twenty feet away now, which in reality is only a few inches. I'm just below his eye level, struggling to take all of him in. The giant's hand approaches me from the side, makes contact, ring finger pushing a strand of hair behind my shoulder.

"Can I try something?" he murmurs as he looks me in the eye, "You can stop me at any point."

I keep my mouth firmly shut, though my breath is shallow through my nose and my pulse quickens. Feeling flush, all I can do is nod.

Aiden moves even closer. His hand tilts to rest just behind me, the side of it leaning on the table, and he puts one finger against my shoulder blades. "Hold still," he whispers.

I don't think I can quite do that - there's a subtle, uncontrollable trembling in my body. But I do stay as motionless as possible, and as he comes ever closer he raises his face and now it's his mouth that's approaching and I squeeze my eyes shut.

I feel it on my cheek first, the soft skin of his lower lip. Then the pressure takes up more and more space, pressing up against the side of my head, my neck, the top of my shoulder. Aiden's too close to see what he's doing, and that must be why he has his hand on me, to help himself aim as he gives the side of my tiny face a gentle kiss. I’m so small that to him it must be like kissing the tip of a finger. He's holding his breath and manages not to knock me over, keeping it brief and tender and warm.

I had no idea I could still feel anything so wonderful at this size.

He pulls away again and my eyes blink back open, immediately looking for his in the aftermath. He's blushing, clearly reeling as well from the intimacy, sporting a nervous smile. I almost giggle, then almost tear up, then I just look down and try to take a deep breath.

Feeling like I'm the one who needs to say something, I manage a weak, "Okay, w-well, um…" I suddenly reach up to my face and push a few strands of hair back behind my other shoulder, exposing the untouched side of my neck. "You have to even it out now, right?" I say shyly.

Aiden beams and his breath of laughter is close enough that it tickles my skin. His hand shifts against my back to the other side now so that he can lean in once more.

I keep my eyes open this time. I see the flash of white of his teeth from his smile before the lips close and come to meet me. I can make sense of it now, the way the lower lip presses against my neck and shoulder and the upper lip brushes against the top and side of my head. I make out the way he uses his hand to touch both me and his own face to get a better sense of where I'm standing. I take in the soft pink of the skin that's up against my cheek.

There's still so much of his mouth that doesn't make contact with me, and I just want to run a hand down the length of his lips, or along the tiny bumps of stubble on his chin, or against the tip of his nose just above me. I want to press myself against him in return. Maybe even turn my face towards his mouth and try to make this an actual kiss. But I'm too taken aback to do anything but soak in this amazing new sensation of a warm embrace with a person many, many times my size.

Even though I’ve just been standing in one spot on the desk, I feel out of breath when he pulls back a second time. I swear my entire body is blushing from the intensity of what just happened. And this time I’m the one beaming up at him.

"Th-thank you,” I say awkwardly with a laugh.

Aiden laughs too, and he slides his whole arm onto the table now, surrounding me with it until I’m corralled near the crook of his elbow.

"You're so adorable,” he mumbles, and he still stays incredibly close to me, leaning further down to rest forehead against forearm, dimming the lights as he creates a half cave all around me. He lets his eyes shut, so close that the breath coming out of his nose warms my feet and his eyelashes brush against my stomach. “And so, so welcome,” he whispers.

Struggling against my overwhelm, I finally do a little something of my own. I put a hand up to his forehead, and then I lean in to kiss the space between his eyebrows. I try to channel all of my gratitude and joy and affection for him as I press my lips to his skin. It’s not much. But I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time.

It’s happening. We’re doing this. I didn’t know how on earth we’d ever be able to figure it out, how we might physically be together, but he’s gently guiding me through the possibilities in a way that leaves me desperate for more. It might be a lot for me to handle, especially after what happened just yesterday. There’s just so much of him. But right now… that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

I guess his enjoyment of my size is a double edged sword. It’s made my predicament less of an obstacle and more of a bonus, at least for him. I mean, I’m sure my stature is not all there is to this. I’ve been able to develop feelings for him without any kind of size-related kink. Our friendship’s been real. I’m sure it has been.

At least… I hope it has been.

As I stand there, now pressing my forehead against the giant that I’ve undoubtedly fallen for, the worries start flooding back in.

What if this doesn’t work out? What if he realizes how hard it is to be with someone like me? Realizes that the fantasy works out much better in his mind than it does in reality? What if he loses interest and I’m ultimately left heartbroken and homeless?

Or what if it goes the other way... What if leaning into this makes it so that he really does only end up seeing me as an object of his lust? What if the only reason I have a place to stay is because he likes having a tiny girl as a pet? What if me being with him is no longer a choice I’m making because I’m interested in him… but a choice I’m making to survive?

Stop it, I think to myself. Please, brain. For once in my goddamn life… just let me enjoy this. Let me be happy.

Soon enough Aiden and I pull apart, all smiles and giggles, and from there we swiftly decide we should relax for the evening and start watching our next show. He offers to make the popcorn, I ask if I can join him in the kitchen, and he lays his hand flat beside me with the biggest, happiest smile I’ve ever seen him wear.

As I step onto the palm of the most important person in the world to me, I don’t look back. I gather all of my worries, and I shove them deep, deep underground.



~ End of Part 2: Down to Earth ~



---------------------


And there we have it, part 2 in the books!! Thank you so so much for joining me thus far. I am currently working on part 3, but it is turning out to be a BEAST so it might take me a few months before I finish it. I have a couple of much smaller writing projects that I've started in the meantime, so perhaps at some point I'll pause and finish a short story or two before I get back to this one. In the meantime, take care~!

[DocRick]

[ensmallen]

That was so good. Thanks, lily.

[ROGU3_20]

oml, the last chapter got me so giddy, they're finally getting into a real relationship. and Evie if your troubled about the what ifs you have Moira too but be happy you realized Aiden feels the same way. Thank you lily for a great story I hope Part 3 will be the best i've ever read.

[Nropyub]

Congratulations on completing Part II! I’m looking forward to the finale!

This is the best SW story I’ve read in years, probably going back to the minimizer’s peak. You very successfully convey the feeling of the size difference and deliver fleshed out characters. You should be proud of yourself.

[DocRick]

[ROGU3_20]

Ooh i like this. maybe you can make more while we wait for part 3, whenever you can?

[littlest-lily]

Oh my goodness, I love how it turned out! Thank you so much DocRick eeeee

[DocRick]

Oh my goodness, I love how it turned out! Thank you so much DocRick eeeee

You're very welcome.

[DocRick]

Chapter 20.

"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."

[littlest-lily]

Hehe I love her pose in this one! It captures the moment so well~ And actually seeing how big the ants would be is making my skin crawl...

[DocRick]

Hehe I love her pose in this one! It captures the moment so well~ And actually seeing how big the ants would be is making my skin crawl...

It makes me happy that you like it. I've been re-reading your story and coming up with some other ideas.

[DocRick]

Another of my visions from the last few sentences of the last chapter. Waiting for the next installment is making me antsy.

[littlest-lily]

Another of my visions from the last few sentences of the last chapter. Waiting for the next installment is making me antsy.

Oh my goodness. You spoil me, good sir! Thank you so much.

I'm afraid the next installment is going to take a couple of months at least! I've been making progress but it's turning into such a beast, much longer than the other 2 parts.

[DocRick]

You're very welcome. We'll wait for the next chapter. It'll be worth the wait.

[ROGU3_20]

I'm afraid the next installment is going to take a couple of months at least! I've been making progress but it's turning into such a beast, much longer than the other 2 parts.

hey all the more the merrier. i i hope you'll be able to finish it soon though. after that last chapter ive been feeling so giddy on whats gonna happen next

[DocRick]

Evie showing Aiden her painted minis. Chapter 27

[DocRick]

Chapter 34 when Aiden accidentally see Evie naked for the first time.

[littlest-lily]

Thank you for the new collages!! This makes me realize something though - for anyone who isn't a nerd in the way I am, the concept of "minis" might be a bit of a foreign one haha. This is the general style, a lot of them come unpainted and then amazing artists bring color to them in ways that boggle my mind. The standard characters are about an inch tall so I figured Evie would be able to have an easier time bringing details to these

[DocRick]

Ah. I wasn't quite sure what you meant in your story. For some reason, I was thinking chess pieces, but I couldn't find any good images of painted ones. I used to help my nephews paint their Warhammer pieces.

[DocRick]

[DocRick]

Opening scene of Chapter 40.

[LittleNikki]

Opening scene of Chapter 40.

Bravo!