g/t one-shot book

great (m/nb)

"You were destined for greatness."

Hues. Seas of spheres and ovals acute that enveloped their gazes. Blake craved escape from the scrutiny, reprieve from their tomfoolery. They just wanted to be...them.

Enter Aken. Aken rose above the noise, literally and figuratively, as he loomed over the rest of them. At 23 feet, he was used to being the center aof attention - no one in town knew where he came from, but they were glad to be on his good side.

When he first came to Laül, he'd gotten on their bad side. His mere existence, 15 feet taller than the biggest man in town, and four times the human's width, was enough to send them into a frenzy.

Streaks of gold that together would kill a common man bruised but did not break the visitor. Still, he moved gracefully - around the bullets being launched in his direction, away from the houses that littered their streets, and into an open field. It wasn't until one of the officer's daughter screamed that he'd moved with urgency. His feet, as huge as they were, rustled quietly in the grass as he stretched out his hands towards her.

The third branch, between two intertwining trees, had been a child that couldn't come down. The shots long died, a collective breath was held in as his features showed nothing but sympathy, and mercy. Hesitantly, the 9-year old looked at the ground, and then at the limb, and then up to his reassuring expression. It took only a moment for her to step into his open palms, only a minute for him to turn and cross over to the officer who'd been restrained by his captain.

Wordlessly, he brought her to him, stepping back once she ran into his arms. Guns that once plagued him went up, but did not stay as the team looked at him in a new light.

"Sájur," one said in their nearly forgotten tongue, the word painted on the town's entryway and engraved on pillars scattered across their shops.

Greatness.

And then there was them. Scorned by their parents for being different, and mostly ignored by the townspeople who couldn't see anything else. They were used to the glances, the chatter that surrounded them as they went to the market.

They didn't stand a chance.
Didn't her parents kick her out?
He wasn't the person he said he was.

They used to be grateful for the chatter. When it was once towards them and not behind them. The wicks which adorned them androgynously, combined with the bold colors of their attire made it hard to pinpoint their gender.

Yet still, people persisted. And eventually, even their parents had asked who they thought they were. Only problem was, their parents hadn't cared for their answer. With nothing but a duffel bag on their shoulders and the clothes off their back they were banished from the home they grew up in.

Blake had a network of people to stay with, but never a permanent home. The old lady at the market, Rosemary, let them stay in a room that was free on weekends. Erin purposefully left her dining room table-free and couch inhabited on Wednesdays, and Sterling had a Tuesday-Thursday bunk deal as long as they left at sunrise the following days. But that left Mondays, and Fridays, and as much help as they were, Blake still needed a place to settle everyday. A place that could be home, that was their's.

Enter Aken. Again.

Aken got a lodge built for him once he came in. Secluded in the forest, yet a little ways away from the heart of town. They ran into Aken on a particularly rainy Friday, when sleeping on their favorite street corner was a cold and wet occasion. After walking some time to where they could find his shelter, they rang the human doorbell that reverberated through his dwelling.

When he came up, mumbling to himself, it was like a light switched on. He said them in all their 5'4 glory, an unspoken pain being understood between them. He hadn't asked their name, nor what they'd been doing at his doorstep.

Aken simply got closer to the floor and invited them in. It was weird, seeing the being that towered over all of them still tower less on his knees. He wasn't too much of a neck crane to look at, but the gesture was very much appreciated as they stepped around his  limbs inside.

4 times the size of a studio apartment was his dwelling. He'd done all the talking, of course, and as Blake permitted him to stand. He then asked:

"What do I call you?"

They took a deep breath. "I'm...Blake."

"Blake? You're a man?"

They rolled their eyes. "Wrong."

"A woman?"

"Try again."

Something in his expression shifted as he knelt. He got closer to their level, inspecting them. Blake couldn't lie, they were afraid. Afraid that somehow the man with the one roomed house would do the same thing their parents had. They winced as he put out a hand, opening their eyes to his compassionate stare.

"Nice to meet you, Blake. I'm Aken."

There'd been a twinkle in his eye then, something that suggested he knew more than he let on. His hand completely devoured theirs, along with their arm, but it felt nice - being somewhat normal. His touch was warmer, more intense than the others - but it wasn't a bad thing. It felt like community, like the piled hugs they got before they came out.

As Aken droned about nothing and everything, and Blake wondered what meeting the mini-giant entailed, their eyes had flitted on the fridge left open on the side. It was bulky, yet human sized - probably something of a mini-fridge to the giant.

"Have you...eaten?" They asked warily.

Aken's eyes met the object of their gaze, widening. "Shit, I forgot to get groceries!"

"What?"

"Town's nice and all, but it's a bit too small for me. I try to go at night, but most of the shops are closed, and if I go during the day I get too much attention."

Too much attention, he had said. They'd been just like him, but instead of honor, it had been scorn. Blake's lips moved faster than their thoughts, "I can get them for you, if you want."

Aken raised an eyebrow. "You got market money?"

Blake's eyes narrowed. "Do you?"

He lifted his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, you got me there. They usually gift the food to me. Tell you what, when the storm ends I'll go with you, and every time after that you can go by yourself and get the orders for me."

They couldn't have agreed fast enough. Since that storm, they'd become his representative - a person to do his human-like errands, but they preferred to call him their friend. It hadn't ended with groceries - although their connections to Rosemary's produce and Erin's cooked goods hadn't hurt. It extended to clothes, where Sterling's handiwork had been the only one Aken embraced. Eyes that once plagued them morphed into adoration, and the ones that didn't faded into the background. To Blake, their responsibilities to Aken were far more important than people's judgement.

It meant completing his thoughts when others weren't in the vicinity. It was turning is house into a holiday center, where homeless youths and neglected adults could share a meal (or few) in the safety of his company. It was the laughter they shared, or the silences passed, like secrets on folded sheets of paper. It was the arguments, the heated moments that brought clarity, or the fuzzy moments that gave them independence. Everything felt...great, with him around. Even if he hadn't always been the source.

Aken had become the nucleus of their life, and slowly, they had become his. Soulmates, platonic in nature, as the world slowly got the memo. Once, Blake had been told they were destined for greatness. But as they eyed Aken, who laughed larger than life itself and walked with his future secured, all they looked forward to was him.