Hazel And The Giant (G/T Fluff)

Chapter 3: To Brian's Cottage

"You really wanna come to my cottage?" Brian asked her, smiling.

She nodded enthusiastically, smiling back, "Yeah, I think it'd be cool!"

"You okay with me picking you up, then?" He asked, placing down his hand in front of her.

She nodded again before grabbing her backpack and carefully clambering onto the palm of his hand. Though his skin had a noticeable roughness to it, his hand still felt surprisingly comfortable to Hazel and she sat cross-legged in his palm.

Slowly, he stood up to his full height and Hazel's stomach dropped slightly at the motion. Despite this, she still smiled gleefully from her new perspective. He curled his fingers up slightly to make sure she wouldn't fall off, to which she responded by kneeling in front of them and holding one of them for support.

She peeked through his fingers as he walked, instantly noticing that his stride was careful and deliberate so that he wouldn't accidentally step on any animals and she would be steady in his palm. Hazel appreciated this greatly.

Brian walked by the edge of the steep drop before coming to a point that was significantly more level, enabling him to safely and steadily make his way deeper down into the woods.

"You alright? My house isn't too far from here," Brian said, glancing at Hazel as she clung onto his finger. She simply nodded in response, in awe of how amazing it felt just being held by someone so much bigger than her. She subconsciously pressed her cheek against the finger she was holding onto, its leathery yet soft texture providing an even stronger sense of comfort to her.

A few minutes later they arrived at his home and Hazel gasped in awe at the setting.

Although to Brian the cottage was rather small and cosy, to Hazel it was gigantic and the garden surrounding it was beautifully kept. On a normal house the grass would've been overgrown but here it looked perfectly trimmed. Flowers of various rich colours climbed the walls of the cottage as well as being scattered throughout the garden, and many woodland creatures could be seen relaxing in the luscious grass.

One deer ran towards Brian enthusiastically but stopped when it saw Hazel looking at it from his hand.

"It's okay, she won't hurt you," Brian spoke to the animal, lowering Hazel down so she was closer to it. Hazel responded by lifting her hand for the deer to sniff tenderly. After a second the deer allowed her to stroke its snout softly.

"Aw, she likes you! It took her a bit longer than this to trust me," Brian chuckled softly, "You two are so adorable."

Hazel blushed as she stroked the deer, muttering a soft thank you in response.

After a few minutes of Brian holding Hazel he asked, "Would you like me to take you inside now?"

Hazel turned to face him, "Yeah, that's why we're here after all," She responded happily, smiling excitedly up at him.

He grinned back at her before slowly standing up (so he wouldn't startle the deer) and unlocking his front door.

"I haven't tidied up properly in a while so sorry it's a bit messy..." Brian mumbled awkwardly, but he knew that Hazel was too excited to really care anyway. He placed her onto his coffee table, sitting on the sofa in front of it.

She looked around at her new surroundings, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of everything. The house did have a comfortable, homely feel to it and (despite how tiny she felt) Hazel was already almost beginning to feel at home.

"How did you even build this place?" Hazel asked as she continued to observe each intricate detail of the living room.

"I didn't build it, it's been in these woods since before I was even born! I've lived here for most of my life now, but I don't get to socialise with other humans or giants very often."

"At least you've got your animals," Hazel replied with a smirk, "And you've got me to talk to now, too! Who lived in my house before I did?"

"Well the first people to live there were a really sweet couple, Deborah and Katie, but they had to move away after a few years. Then Jenny, an older woman, lived there alone for just over a year before she, well, you know..." He mumbled the last bit.

Hazel nodded sympathetically, "How come they had to move away?"

"I can't remember exactly, I think it was because Deb got a job over in America or something like that. They've visited once or twice since they moved but they don't have the time or money to do that too often so I rarely see them..."

"I understand it must be difficult growing attached to people only for them to move away, I spent most of my childhood moving from house to house," She sighed before smiling, "But hey, I'm not planning on leaving my dream-house any time soon! Especially not now that I've met you."

Brian's face lit up, "Aww you're so adorable, Hazel. I'm really glad you moved in!"

Hazel blushed, "You're adorable, Brian! I've wanted to live somewhere like this AND be friends with a giant ever since I was a kid so this is like a dream come true for me!"

Brian beamed at Hazel's comment before gently stroking the top of her head with his index finger.

They spent a bit longer getting to know each other even more before Brian asked Hazel if she'd like to see the rest of his house, to which she replied with a resounding yes.