In the Belly of the Giant

Part 1

Joey woke up early, staring up at the ceiling tinged blue by the morning light. The ceiling fan above rotated in slow, lazy circles, producing a soothing hum and a cool breeze. His eyes drifted to the alarm clock on his bedside table; he had a solid twenty minutes before he had to get up for work. He almost lifted his arms up to stretch but then recalled the tiny woman soundly sleeping on his bare chest and refrained. She hadn't stirred, although he could feel the lightest movement from her breathing.

It was the middle of summer, and the couple couldn't afford the luxury of running the air conditioning in their new apartment, so neither of them needed to sleep with bedsheets. Fortunately, the heat wasn't sweltering, but rather a warm, pleasing temperature. Joey was grateful for this fact: He doubted Eren would want to curl up on his giant body when he was sticky with sweat.

Even after several years, Joey still could scarcely believe his good fortune, to have a lovely, petite little women like Eren to call his own. If she hadn't crashed her bike into his shoe that one fateful day, he might have never met her. Of course, since she became well-known at their high school for the novelty of being the only human, he may have still known of her existence, but he probably would have been too shy to approach her—too shy, despite being large enough to hold her in the palm of his hand. She wasn't even as tall as his pinky finger, after all. Regardless, he loved how tiny and cute and precious she was; she made him feel big and strong by comparison. She had a fire inside her too, a vivaciousness and bravery that he admired deeply.

Eren shifted and mumbled incoherently in her sleep, then rolled over on her side. Joey felt her movements on his chest and listened with concern. After all the horrible things Eren had gone through when she was first introduced to the giant side of the wall, she was prone to occasional nightmares. Thankfully, Joey had successfully kept her safe in the time since. Her night terrors had subsided in the subsequent years, but Joey stayed vigilant nonetheless.

His protective instinct for his girl was a large part of his motivation to pursue a career in law enforcement. With his natural intellect and discipline, Joey had the option to choose from a wide variety of careers, if he had been so inclined. However, Joey hated bullies and criminals and anyone who would dare to hurt somebody as small and vulnerable as Eren. He had a strong sense of justice, and wanted to be the hero, the good guy to make the world a safer place for her so she didn't have to be scared of giants hurting her. So, he had enrolled in the police academy and earned his badge.

Eren had followed a different path. Being as small as she was, her options for a career were more limited. Even so, she had been inspired by the human doctor she met in the hospital to become involved in the medical field. Rather than work in a hospital, though, she found her niche in dentistry. She was the only dental hygienist around small enough to fit inside a giant's mouth, and she could do a very thorough and methodical job cleaning teeth.

Joey, feeling very relaxed and comfortable, soon slipped back into slumber, until the blaring alarm woke him up. He grunted and silenced the clock with a massive hand. Now that they both needed to get up, Joey stretched to get his blood flowing, raising his arms above his head with a satisfied groan.

Eren, feeling the landscape of warm flesh underneath her move, opened her eyes and raised herself into a sitting position with a yawn. Once Joey's giant pectoral muscles flexing beneath his skin relaxed, she stood up and stretched her own limbs, getting all the kinks out of her joints. Joey put on his glasses and raised his head off the pillow to admire her miniscule form, ignoring the strain this motion caused in his neck. Living for several years in a world made for giants had made Eren very slim and fit due to all the exercise. Right now, because of the temperature, she was wearing nothing but a pair of black panties, exposing her sleek feminine curves, narrow waist, and perky breasts. Joey liked what he saw.