[13+] Taezan & the Mice [Kim Taehyung] Christmas 2022

December 4th

Taezan kept studying the silhouette in front of him, waiting expectantly for an answer. It was definitely not human. But female? Kaya did sound female.

Opening her mouth, Kaya revealed a set of long, sharp teeth as she answered: "I'm-"

* knock knock *

Their attention was drawn to the door, and to where a creature similar to Kaya poked its snout inside. "You called for me?"

"Ah, yes. I'm glad you're here, Liam." Kaya motioned toward Taezan. "This is Taezan."

"A visitor?" Liam made his way inside, the white robe he wore flapping around his furry body. "Hello."

"H-Hi?" Eyes darting between the two creatures, Taezan got an uneasy feeling of being surrounded.

"And how do we feel today?"

"Well, I..." Taezan hesitated, unsure of what was going on, but decided to answer nonetheless. "It hurts? Everywhere."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"I..." Opening his mouth, he was about to tell them about falling from the sky with Namzoom, but he caught himself at the last minute. He couldn't say that. It would only lead to questions - questions that he couldn't answer without breaking security protocol.

No. Best to keep what little he knew to himself. "No. Only that I fell."

"You fell, you said?"

"I found him lying on his back. It didn't seem like he had broken anything, and wasn't bleeding either. He was just lying there - as if he'd fallen from the sky."

"Really?" Adjusting his robe, Liam sat down next to Taezan. "Had you been climbing?"

"No."

Taking Taezan's arm, Liam held his wrist in his paw while counting to himself.

Taezan kept calm. He knew this process. He had seen Jiminzi perform the same thing on his crewmates many times.

"Pulse is steady." Liam mumbled, before putting a paw on Taezan's forehead. "Temperature seems normal, but then again, I wouldn't know what normal is for you."

"I feel fine. I'm not feeling too warm or too cold." Taezan helped as well as he could. It really seemed like they were only trying to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Does anything feel wrong? Like a body part somewhere it shouldn't have been?"

"W-what?!" Panic grew in Taezan, and he tried to see or feel if anything had gone terribly wrong. It didn't feel like it had, but now that the idea was planted in him, it wasn't easy to put it to rest. "I don't think so? Does it look like it?"

"Ah-ha-ha, no. Please calm down." Putting his hand on Taezan's chest, he gently pushed him back down on the nest. "I'm sorry, but as I'm inexperienced with your kind, I felt the need to ask."

"Okay?" Feeling a bit calmer, Taezan let out a breath. "They're all there. I think."

"I'm sure it's fine." Liam smiled. "Now, I will check if you have any fractures." Opening Taezan's bodysuit, he let his paw glide inside to touch his stomach.

"Aah! Asiahhaha~!" The shriek was replaced by giggles as the patient twisted around. "I-it T-tickles!"

"It's good to hear you laugh." Liam let out a chuckle himself as he moved his paw to Taezan's ribs. "And I think we're in luck: I can't feel any broken bones."

* knock knock *

This knock was firmer, and without waiting for an invite, the new visitor simply walked in. It was another furry creature, this one wearing a dark jacket, a small hat, and was leaning on a stick as he moved across the floor.

The visitor oozed off authority, and Taezan felt the immediate urge to address him as 'sir'.

"You must be the rescuee." He said as he studied Taezan with interest, before putting a hand on his chest. "I'm Mosu, the mayor of this small town of ours."

"Mousu?" Taezan tasted the word. It sounded oddly familiar.

"No. Mosu, not 'mousu'." Not-mousu corrected. "Although I am a mouse, it is hardly the entirety of my identity."

A MOUSE!

MICE!

Now it made sense: The furry bodies, the snouts, the teeth, and the big ears.

They were mice!

Celebrating his discovery with a wiggle of his foot, Taezan felt like he was one step closer to learning what had happened to him.

Still, even though he was with mice, it didn't explain how he had ended up there, or why they were so big, or rather...

His eyes went to all the torture devices he had seen before, but this time, he wasn't filled with fear.

Straw, leaves, bits of wood, and common human household items. He could recognize most of them now. They looked just like in the field books, except much bigger... And, when he thought of it, weren't mice also supposed to be smaller? But how had they all gotten so big?

Wait.

His eyes shot open in realization.

No, if the things and the mice weren't big... Then that would mean that he... was small?!

A shudder ran through him at the thought. He was small - and worse - he was smaller than Jiminzi!