This is So Wrong (G/t)

6

To think that this independent woman practically hated this his guts not too long ago would have been preposterous, if you looked at her blushing, confusedly happy face. She hadn't had a compliment like that in a long time... well, not one that actually meant something. The selection of scattered male tinies around her age would say nice things to her all the time, whenever they weren't trying to keep themselves from being killed by a curious Fowler. But, to hear it from a giant— no, this man with qualities she'd never thought she'd like in a man - personality, age, ethnicity even - was something else... something special. And for that, she was speechless.

"And Ayana," Evan continued, "you were right. I was lying... j-just a bit, though. I just never finished what I wanted to say."

He paused, picked up a small flower looking thing - though it was probably a weed, in reality - and gave it to his doll-sized crush before he kept going, as she tried to find balance on him again,

"I may or may not have mentioned before - knowing me, I probably didn't - that I hate this whole thing as much as you do, and... I've actually started making plans to leave."

Ayana leaned up slightly, resting her chest and a forearm on Evan while using the other to touch his face out of curiosity. Despite all the ways she had been touched or the ways she touched someone else, this was a new experience. She could feel a sense of warmth or a new set of goosebumps rising with every embrace she gave him. It also surprised her how he hadn't made a physical move on her just yet. Either way, this was a change. She was almost too caught up in her caresses that almost didn't hear Evan's statement, 

"You're... you're leaving? You want all of this chaos to end, and you're going to leave?" "You practically admit to loving me, and you're going to leave!? Oh god, why am I thinking like this? I DON'T love him! ...Right?"

"Well, I want to, eventually. With the limited internet usage that these tyrants allowed me to get, I've managed to find a way to take a much-wanted trip to the big city. I was hoping that I could've convinced them to let me travel instead of having a coming of age celebration, but it seems like that's not going to happen... ever. So, I'm going to have to sneak out. Yet, there was one thing I didn't have that I thought I would need."

He pushed his head to the left, making his lips oh-so-close to her face... and her everything else, too, but that was unintentional. He just wanted to look at her as he whispered,

"I want you to come with me."

And right then and there, Ayana blushed, cherry tomatoes popping on her face.

"Wh-What!? Wh-Why me? Why anyone at all, really? Wh-Why!?" It's not that Ayana didn't want to go, but it was so sudden. She didn't even know if she could.

"I want to go to the city because a friend of a friend of mine has been researching some... things that may be useful to fixing you guys' current condition."

"They made a... an antidote to the poison gas thing?" "Will this finally be over?"

"Not exactly," Evan sighed, crossing his arms in frustration. "I heard he's been working on some new stuff, and a few of them are involved with growth and reduction. Maybe if he or she - 'cuz' I'm not really sure who they are - happened to see one of you guys and had a sample of that spray thing, then they might be able to come up with something. I don't know."

As the possibility of finding a cure seemed great and wonderful, one part of it kept bothering her: someone else seeing her. The Fowlers had kept the shrunken society hidden in order to keep it secret and to keep them from getting caught and arrested. So, what would happen if an outsider saw her or any of the others? How would this unknown person treat her? 

"You want me to come... as a t-test subject!?" "Are you trying to... use me!?"

"Of course I d-... Wait, no... No! Not a test subject! Not as a guinea pig. Just, you know, a-as a... a source of in-information. Th-That's it." "My god, why do I keep saying the wrong things around this girl? Damn..." "No! *sigh* No, Ayana. Come as a source, maybe just as a guest even. Look, I have info to give. You probably have info to give. I just want as good of a chance in reversing this problem as I can get. So, what do you say?" 

Evan said all of that with a straight face, but inside, he's holding back how he just wants to be with her and get to know and help her even more.

"Evan, I..." "God! Damn it. The end to all of this is pretty much right there, and I... I... can't... can I?" Ayana was actually pretty excited by the idea - and enticed by him, but she can't say that - yet she can't help but feel like she'd be breaking her morals if she went. "I think... it just might work... but... I'm sorry, but... I c-can't."

And the smile that began to inflate on his face popped just like that. "Why not? ...You're still scared of me, aren't you?"

"Well, a little bit, still. I mean, my fear of you seems to be getting lower and lower as time goes on - after all, you did compliment me, not punish me, and protect me from your family just now - but that had nothing to do with my answer." 

Evan was puzzled about that, but at least she doesn't see him as a monster... as much. 

"I can't go... because I have to stay here... for my family. We both know I'm the only one here, like this, that won't seem to break. People come to me for guidance. My family needs me. I'm the only one to whom Aisha will come and spill out all her worries and pains. I'm the only one that she'll let try to heal her, with whatever organic concoctions I can come up with. And, I'm pretty sure the only reason my parents haven't gone full suicidal after losing two kids and constantly being close to losing two others is the fact that she and I are still around. If I go... *sniffle* what if I don't come back?"

Evan's heart wrenched at her reasoning. He knew she was a leader, but he had no idea she had and gave that much influence to the people she cared about... and that lured him to her even more. He couldn't just take her with him, but he couldn't go without her. Well, of course, he could, but it wouldn't be the same. 

"Aww, Ayana. I didn't know you did- you do all of that. I can't just ask you to leave your loved ones like that, even though I'm positive you would return to them... hopefully. I... I don't know..." 

After a quick ponder in silence, an idea lit up in his mind. 

"Well, hey. What if... I brought- Ow! What was that!?" A sharp pain hit Evan right in his left ankle, piercing through his jeans, his socks, and his skin. He looked down and was surprised to see what he saw. "What the-? Is that a... person? I... I can't tell in this shade- Oh god, good thing Ayana didn't hear me say that. But, really, I can't tell. It sure looks like one, though."

Ayana noticed Evan's pained and puzzled expression and followed his eyes to the ground. She was also surprised that within the grass, she saw, dwarfed by the grass blades, a shrunken someone there, too... but not just any someone. 

"A-Aisha! What in your right mind do you think you're doing!?"