Storm (G/T)

Back to Routine

"Do no other giants live in this forest?" I ask, laying on my back and staring upward at the trees. Austin's beanie is soft. Bet his hair's softer. I won't say that, though. "This place is massive and we've come across no one."

"Sure they do," the giant replies. "They're just hidden well like I am."

"Will I ever get to meet them?"

"Goodness, no. I wouldn't refer to myself as high and mighty, but I imagine I'm a lot kinder than other giants. I'm not going to expose your entire human race to others. Besides," he turns left. "You're tiny and vulnerable. Other giants would eat you for breakfast if they had the chance."

"I'm neither tiny nor vulnerable. I was able to shank you without problem." My crossed hands lay upon my abdomen.

"That is extremely invalid," he ruffles with the hair that sticks out under the hat. "I didn't expect you to attack me because of your tininess and vulnerability. I'm just easy to attack and bad at fighting back. Other people wouldn't be so kind in that situation."

"I suppose."

There's a long silence, allowing me to just take in the forest without my mind focusing on anything else in particular. "We've, uh..." Austin's voice surprises me and causes me to shift up from my position. "We've reached the end of the forest. Should I keep going with you?"

"I mean..." I want him to. Really badly. "If it's unsafe, then..." I choke up on myself. "You can go."

He pauses. I notice his hands come up to the top of his head, and I crawl off his beanie into them. They lower down to his eyes, which I notice are glazed over. They aren't spilling yet, but I can tell once he gives in, I will too. Just seeing him on the verge of tears attacks my throat, sending me into a loss of breath.

"Let me set you down." He does so, and stays on one knee as he gently slides off my backpack. Nothing breaks. He then pulls the clothes we'd sewn together out of his pocket. "You can't get through the... uh..."

"Fence."

"...through the fence. I had to jump it to get you here."

"What now?" I look up to him.

"Well..." he trails off, then sinks his fingers into the rich soil. "You can go through with digging to the other side. This can't be a giant-made fence, so it shouldn't go down too far." Piles of dirt are shoveled off to the side, and eventually, his eyes perk open. I look through the fence, and sure enough, his fingertips show through the dirt. I guess I'm happy too, but I realize what that means now.

 "I don't know what you can do with these, I guess you could try stuffing some into your bag and carrying some others." Another pause, and he gets down more to be near level with me. We sit there like that for a minute, eye to eye. "I'm really going to miss you." A tear slides down his right eye, and he doesn't even take off his glasses to wipe it away.

I feel hot tears streaming down my face too. I walk slowly over to him and plant a small kiss on the tip of his nose. The same place where I had pricked him the first day we met. A tiny scar resides there, forever marking my presence. To think I had the nerve to attack the gentlest person I've ever met. Someone so kind to me, who only ever wanted to help, and I hurt him immediately. If only I'd known. "I'm gonna miss you too."

"Maybe I should head home. Shall we stay in touch?" He asks, looking back to the trees.

"How?" Our phones don't work together. Service gets in the way by cutting off and our numbers don't even exist in the same plain.

"You'll know an easy way to find me... well, easier." He brushes his hair out of his face. It's regaining its volume. "You know your way, don't you?"

"Sure." I really don't. It took days to get here in the first place, and it's taken about two and a half hours just to reach here from the forest. That's at Austin's pace. Memorizing the forest layout must take days, if not months, even for a giant. A human would have to work for years to cover this ground.

"You will. I promise. I did something on the way back to help you. It'll show you something I made years ago, and thank goodness I did." He smiles softly, finally wiping the tears off underneath his glasses. "Please, take care. You're so strong, and you'll be just fine, but still. I just care about you so so much," he starts to rant, getting up slowly. "...and you've done so many things to make me happy, and I can't really think about how strange life will be without you now even though it's only been about a week, and-"

"I love you too." He pauses, fingertips barely touching the ground now. I walk over and hug his index finger, his eyes following me the entire time. His face flushes redder than his hair, lips barely apart. "Bye, Austin. I'll see you soon."

He shakily makes the rest of the way up. "S-see you soon, Robin." He makes the awkward walk away, moving quieter but quicker than ever before. He doesn't even look back. I melt to the ground, ignoring the tunnel and hugging the clothes to myself. They smell like him. They smell like the forest, like wood. Like the candle. Like his house. Like home. It doesn't feel artificial anymore.