g/t one-shot book

found (nb/f*)

Two rings.

Naomi wanted to travel with two rings in hand. One to make her normal size, and the other...

Cory pursed their lips. The last ring their tiny friend refused to talk about, giggling every single time they guessed. The human shrugged, placing their hand gently next to the counter for Naomi to jump into. The borrower leaped towards the open palm, a determined grin set on her features.

Cory chuckled as they lifted her to their shoulder. It was nice to go on another adventure with someone they cared about.

An unfamiliar feeling welled up in their gut. Cared about? Their eyes locked on Naomi, who had her tongue stuck out moments before the human purposefully came to a stop, throwing her off balance. She flipped them off as she collected herself, attempting to harm them with a slap to her perch.

Cory rolled their eyes. Sounds about right.

----

They used the first ring on day 2.

Naomi had wanted to dance at a humans-only club, and Cory didn't have the heart to tell her no. A small green light at the corner of a dingy alleyway had alerted them to the club's existence, and despite Cory's best efforts the borrower wanted to know everything.

"Everything?" They had questioned, rubbing a thumb absentmindedly on her head of hair.

She'd grabbed Cory's free finger then, bringing it to her lap as she sat in his other hand. "Everything," she'd repeated, and it was at that moment both beings knew it was final.

The duo laughed when they were let in, the bouncer's innuendo towards the temporary human falling on deaf ears. While Naomi giggled about how flustered he was, Cory found themself chuckling for a different reason. They were angry in the moment when the guy - Kyle, or something - tried hitting on her, but something about her not buying it felt...liberating to them. They grimaced as they analyzed the thought. She was a person, first and foremost. Borrower or not, he was allowed to shoot his shot, right?

So why did they feel so heated when he did? Why did Naomi turning him down feel so freeing?

A blur of umber brown interrupted their thoughts, reminding them of who they came with. Cory looked up, taking in Naomi for the first time in the red, blue, and purple light.

She was...beautiful. Freckles the color of coffee danced around her face and as she held her hand out to help them up Cory found themselves bluescreening. Naomi grinned.

"You're the human here," she teased, but the words flew graciously in and out of their ears.

Cory scoffed, the feeling of unfamiliar coming back to them. "And somehow you're better at this than I am."

They took her hand, noticing how it enveloped theirs. Her grip was firm, but breathable. They had meant what they said about Naomi being the better human. Somehow, she was good at everything she did. Whether it was rigging lifts as a borrower or turning down a bouncer as a human, Naomi managed to excel in everything she did.

Cory let their thoughts drift as they were led to the dance floor. It had been frustrating, at first - befriending the borrower. After the novelty of finding one of the last ones on earth wore out, Naomi had always managed to outdo the human. Inventing new ways to be efficient, learning on her own, hell, eventually she began helping them with their homework. It was humiliating at first - being outclassed by someone no bigger than their ring finger.

But at some point, all their frustration for Naomi bled into admiration. Cory began finding things that once annoyed them push the boundary to endearing. Like the way she insisted on complimenting them when they finally got something right. Or the persistent weight of her 4-inch body in their hands, aching to rub the surface of their palms. Or even-