G/t I Guess

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Another day behind the glass. What else was new?

There were days when Dustin felt like this life would last for eternity. It wasn't great, sure, but not the worst. He could be with some abusive owner like in horror stories from returns and survivors he'd heard. Every night spent in the back room with all the others was enough of a warning to Dustin that the outside world was far worse than here, as bad as it was in the shop.

It was always the same thing. The giants had made "the daily schedule" quite clear and threatened to punish you if you didn't follow it. Wake up in your compartment in the back room when the beeping sounds. Eat the breakfast, even if it tastes awful. Stay in the scalding shower for the whole two minutes. Stay still and let yourself be dressed and then moved behind the glass, and don't cause trouble. If someone looks at you for a bit, you'd better behave or you'll face consequences later. If someone wants to hold you, don't freak out or put up a fight. After close, return to the back room and eat the supper, even if it tastes like throw up of whatever you ate in the morning. Then lights out and go to sleep so you can repeat cycle the next day.

It's not like anything was ever going to change. Who'd want someone as useless as Dustin anyway? He was never the most cooperative when it came to being held or looked at by customers anyway. He couldn't help it, he always just felt so scared, and angry, and powerless. His desire be put down and left alone always seemed to overpower his desire to not get punished, no matter what he tried.

Dustin's life was far from ideal, but it could be worse. This idea playing on repeat in his brain was most of what kept him from completely losing it. His situation wasn't good, but he always tried to be optimistic, as difficult a task as that was.

When a giant wasn't gawking at him or playing with his limbs in its enormous hands, most of Dustin's time during the day was spent leaning against the wall and staring at the other wall, maybe occasionally letting his eyes wander to some random customers that passed by, but for the most part just sitting and thinking and waiting for the day to be over.

"Hi there."

Dustin jumped a mile and his eyes locked onto the source of the hushed but surprisingly close voice. A giant face was staring right at him.

"Oh shoot, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" The giant backed off slightly and Dustin got a better look at him. He seemed tall, even for a giant, and his long chestnut hair and brown eyes contrasted his blue denim jacket. The enormity of giants overwhelmed Dustin again and, feeling intimidated, he quickly looked away.

"My name's Steve. You must be-" He paused to read his bio label. "-Dustin, right?"
He nodded. No point in causing trouble.
"I like it, it suits you." Steve smiled gently.

Dustin saw the giant's grin out of the corner of his eyes while keeping them trained to the floor. When he glanced back up at Steve to see nothing but a peaceful grin, he could almost feel some of his fear dissipate. Why was this one talking to him? None of the other giants ever did that. This one sure was weird.

As Dustin glanced up again, he noticed Steve's hair. He'd seen it already but for some reason it caught his eye. It was moving in a weird sway and curl that Dustin had never seen before. For lack of a better word, it fascinated him.

"You ok, little dude?" Steve snapped Dustin out of his thoughts with the quiet words. "You look a bit-"

"H-hair." That was all Dustin could get out and he immediately wished to dissolve into nothing when he realized he'd literally just said "hair."

"Oh, you like my hair?" Embarrassed, Dustin looked at the floor and nodded in response.
"Heh, thanks, man." Dustin looked up again. Steve was smiling. Dustin just talked; not much, but still a shock to the both of them.