Perspectives

Chapter 5

If there was one thing Piper despised, it was feeling vulnerable and afraid. It was the reason she had built such a thick wall around herself, a wall she almost never lowered. However, no matter how guarded Piper kept herself, there was no way for her to defend herself against the fear swelled within her as the giant face loomed over her, speaking threatening words that were painfully true. 

Kalen was right, Piper was hopelessly, hilariously outmatched in a world of giant people. She couldn't do anything to stop him from forcing whatever fate upon her that he wanted. She doubted she'd even be able to stand a chance against Kalen's littlest finger, and that, was terrifying. 

Terrified. She hated that feeling. And so, she was going to pretend she couldn't feel it. She would pretend that the entire situation didn't make her want to curl up into the fetal position and cry. She'd put on a brave face and do what she did best: use her attitude.

"I'm sure I could think of something." Piper shot back with a sneer, folding her arms over her chest defiantly. 

Kalen eyed her carefully for just a moment before letting out a half amused, half derisive snort. Piper mentally let out a long sigh of relief as he pulled away from her, giving her space to breath again. He wore a difficult to read expression, and Piper wondered whether or not he believed she was as confident as she was letting on. 

"So you have some bark," Kalen commented, "I wonder...if it's as big as your bite..." He murmured.

Piper scowled up at the giant. "Don't be so sure you want to find out." She told him darkly. Kalen met her gaze, which Piper forced herself to hold. 

She was determined not to let her fear rule her. What was that saying, "fake it till you make it"? Well, she was going to fake it until she became it. 

"It's my assumption that you want to get back to Earth." Kalen said, tone serious. 

"Of course I do." Piper threw back venomously, with a slight eye roll.

"Well then the Council is your only chance, they're the only ones with the means to send you back. So, unless you want to spend the rest of your life as a living doll..." Kalen informed her, clearly not interested in sugar coating things.

Piper felt her face redden, both in embarrassment as well as anger at being compared to a doll. She glowered up at Kalen indignantly.

Kalen shrugged indifferently. "Regardless, it's too late to contact the Council now, it'll have to wait until the morning." He told Piper. He then pushed back his chair, the grating sound once again causing Piper's ears to ache. 

Piper swallowed down her intimidation as she watched Kalen unfold to his full height, God he was tall. He had to be at least seventy feet tall! 

Kalen grabbed the now empty crystal goblet and set it on the giant silver tray, he then lifted it effortlessly and carried it away. Piper watched after him as he pulled open his bedroom door and set the tray outside, he then stepped back in and pushed the door shut once again.

"Hey, then what am I supposed to do?" Piper cupped her hands around her mouth as she called over to him.

Kalen turned to glance at her, an inscrutable expression on his frustratingly attractive face. "Well I was going to take a shower before you rudely interrupted me." He said in way that Piper couldn't tell whether he was joking, or if he really was annoyed with her for preventing him from having his shower. "So, unless you wish to join me..." He drawled, a roguish smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

Piper could feel heat flooding her cheeks once again. She was not supposed to blush this much, how did this perfect stranger manage to incite discomposure in her so easily? She made a sharp tch noise, crossing her arms over her chest tightly once again and deliberately looking away from where Kalen stood. 

Kalen let out a low chuckle before slipping into the bathroom once again, leaving Piper alone in the enormous room.

~

 Kalen ran a hand through his soapy hair, deep in thought. As he showered, he found himself trying to figure out what exactly Piper's appearance in Amasis meant. If the scientists had managed to transport a human here, even inadvertently, and the human had remained her original size, did that mean that it was now possible to send Amasisians to Earth at their original size? 

Though he often attended Sovereign Council meetings, even he wasn't permitted to know the exact nature of the Council's plans for Earth. He wasn't sure why they were so keen on sending Amasisians to the other dimension at their full size, he had never really cared enough to seriously wonder about it. But now that he had a living breathing human sitting in his bedroom, he found himself beginning to question it. 

Kalen let out a long sigh of uncertainty as he stepped out of the shower and began drying off, his thoughts beginning to wander to the human girl currently standing on his dining table.

Kalen had always imagined humans to be ultra fragile and cowardly creatures, likely just because for their diminutive size. And while this Piper girl likely was very delicate, given her size, and did seem considerably fearful (especially towards him), she also seemed to possess a sharp attitude. Something Kalen was more than happy to meet with his own. 

Despite her spunk, Kalen doubted the four inch girl would be able to get into much trouble while he showered, not when he had stranded her on his table. There was no way she could get down from it, she was just far too small.

So when Kalen exited his bathroom, now wearing his nightclothes, he was shocked to find the table where he had left the girl now empty. 

~

As soon as the giant was out of the room, Piper's first instinct was to find any means possible to escape, to get as far away from Kalen as possible. However, after forcing herself to think rationally, Piper came to the realization that even if it would require her to leave her fate up to a bunch of giants, her only real chance of getting back home lay with this "Sovereign Council". So as much as she hated the idea of relying on anyone but herself, especially strange giant beings, Piper wasn't going to try to make a run for it, despite the fact that her instincts were practically begging her to.

However, even though she had resigned herself to not trying to run away, Piper wasn't about to just sit idly by on this big ass table and wait like a good little girl for Kalen to get out of the shower. 

While Piper was no sports star, she was fit enough to be able to control her slide down one of the legs of the wooden table easily enough. Once on the floor, Piper had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from letting out a small whimper as she stared up at the massive room around her from the point of view a mouse. Things were not meant to be this big, beds shouldn't be as big as apartment complexes and a pair of shoes sitting on the floor shouldn't be big enough for her to fit within. 

Piper took in a deep steadying breath. "It's fine." She assured herself. "Just a really really big room." She murmured as she began her trek across the hardwood floor. She had no particular destination, really her only goal in coming off of the table had been defiance.  

Piper had made it the nearest leg of the huge bed when she heard the sound of the bathroom door opening. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched Kalen emerge from the bathroom. She had known this would happen, known that Kalen would come out of the bathroom and find her missing from the table. However, she hadn't really prepared herself for the stomach churning sensation of watching his tower like legs stride past her. 

Seeing him from her previous positions on the bathroom counter and then on the table had certainly been dizzying, but there was no way for her to describe the pure intimidation that came from watching him move past her from her place on the floor. Each step he took shook the ground beneath her, every footfall creating a heavy thudding sound. 

Piper couldn't help herself, she slipped behind the bed leg as Kalen walked past her. She had to grip onto the bed leg to avoid tumbling to the ground from the shaking the giant's steps caused as he passed her. It was unreal, unlike anything Piper had ever experienced before. Kalen hadn't even seen her, despite her nearness to him. She was so small she was near unnoticeable. 

"Piper?" She heard him say apprehensively. 

Piper closed her eyes for a moment as she calmed her breathing, gripping her elbows in front of her body. She swallowed down her anxiety...and stepped out of her hiding place.