Setting aside the size, Laura's room wasn't particularly impressive, it was pretty much as i'd imagine a girl's room to be (not that i've ever been inside one of course).

Tidy and clean, with a wide bed on the side, a spacious desk, a nightstand next to the bed, and several bookshelves full of books. To my surprise, I noticed as well a big poster, which showed some people diving in full gear in crystal clear water, with a big caption in the corner which read "Grand Blue".

I knew the manga that was referencing, it was pretty good. I felt slightly better, knowing we had something in common that we might talk about in the future, especially since Laura looked kinda unapproachable up to then.

As we reached the nightstand, i noticed a small bed and other furniture of similar size. Something was hanging from the side: i squinted my eyes and noticed it was a rope ladder, clearly for my use.

Laura finally spoke up: "This is the place where you'll be sleeping, feel free to use everything you see around here"

Then she dropped me off on the nightstand, and set my luggage down, next to my new bed.

"U-uh, thank you very much" i managed to stutter, unconsciously bowing slightly, to which she answered with a barely perceptible nod.

As i began to set the stuff down, she grabbed from her desk the chair and placed it in front of the nightstand, but backwards, with the back facing me.

She sat down on it, her bare legs around the backrest and her arms resting upon it. When she got comfortable, she leaned forward, placing her chin on her arms, watching me with her green eyes. It was pretty intimitating.

I gulped, feeling her intense gaze on my back. Steeling myself, i gathered as much courage and i could and attempted to strike a conversation with small talk.

"So... did you put those ladders there?" 

She didn't answer right away, but then said "Yes, they instructed us to place them around the house"

"Thank you so much, you're very kind" I responded, trying my best to sound sincere. 

I knew full well she did it out of obligation, but in high school I learned that if you're talking with someone ill-disposed, flattery is usually the best way to go. Didn't work everytime tho.

Like this time for example: Laura didn't respond, just narrowing her eyes slightly. She was being genuinely hard to read, so i didn't know if she misunderstood for sarcasm or else, but i shut my trap either way.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, we heard Rachel's gentle voice calling us "Guys come here for a sec, we need to discuss some things together!"

In a minute we were all gathered up, sitting on the table in the living room, with the three young women sitting on the chairs in front of us.

Rachel smiled "Good, now we should think up about some precautions to take for your safety" 

We nodded.

She held up a finger, taking a more stern expression "First: Don't stay on the floor unless it's strictly necessary.
If possible, warn at least one of us so we can mind where we put our feet. Trust me, you don't want to end up underfoot.
If you're on the floor, try to stay as close as the walls as possible, so it's less likely to get stepped on".

We nodded again, terrified at the possibility of ending up beneath the enormous feet of one of those girls. 

"Second... that is all i think? Just be mindful of your sorroundings, don't do anything silly, and use your common sense" She added, smiling agin

Alexis intervened "Most importantly, make sure that at least one of us knows where you are at all times, and if you want to go somewhere, just ask us to carry you. We're happy to help you and we definitely don't mind, so don't worry about bothering us". 

She seemed serious about this, which was pretty comforting, but i didn't think it would be wise to pester Laura every time i had to go to the bathroom.

We tinies looked at each other, nodded, so Mike stood up and said "Thank you very much for your concern, we'll make sure to be safe at all times. I hope to get along from now on!"

Then we started to chat to get to know each other a bit more. It saddened me a bit to see Laura pull out a book and start to read, ignoring the conversation. This was going to be even more difficult than expected.

After about an hour of polite and relaxing conversation, we really started to feel like at home. The girls were welcoming, smart and kind, so time passed without us noticing.

Suddenly, we heard a sound of rustling keys at the entrance. Rachel exclaimed "This must be Chloe!", and stood up to welcome the newly arrived roommate.

Soon enough, the door opened, and a short girl timidly entered, muttering "Excuse me..."

She was about as tall as Laura, and wore a kind of punk-rocker attire: black chocker, a black tank top with the logo of a band probably nobody knew of, slightly ripped leggins, and black converses.

However her appearence and meek demeanor contrasted quite a bit with her clothing. She had a bob cut of short straight black hair, and an innocent face with no make up. Her skin was pale and was even thinner than Laura. 

I heard Rob sigh, defeated "Flat as a board..."

With that comment he earned an annoyed double slap on the neck from both Reed and Mike.

Besides that, she was really easy on the eyes. Sure, she paled in comparison with the others, but she was plenty cute herself.

After Chloe was greeted by the other three girls (i noticed Laura genuinely smile for the first time, a smile that made me feel my heart melt and burn through my innards), Rachel said "... And these are the other roommates!"

As Chloe approached the table, we aligned, and one by one, we introduced ourselves, raising one arm when it was our turn:
"I'm Mike!" "I'm Rob!" "I'm Reed!" "I'm Will!" (yeh, that's my name by the way)
Then we theatrically bowed in unison, shouting "Pleased to meet you!"

Yes, it was planned, we were bored on the train so we thought doing something like this would be funny albeit embarrassing, and we pulled it off nicely if i say so myself.

After a moment of dismay the four girls started giggling (even Laura), and Chloe blushed a bit, saying "N-nice to meet you as well..." while returning the bow.

Then she approached slowly to get a closer look: " Wow... it's the first time i see Tinies! They're so cute!" 

At this distance i noticed barely visible freckles on her face but besides that, her skin was flawless. 

As her blue eyes intently scanned us, Rob, encouraged by our previous display, decided it was time to act as an idiot even more.

He shrieked our of the blue in a feminine voice and covered himself with his hands as if he was a naked old lady in a shower.

Chloe snickered, but then caught on "Oh, sorry i was staring so much, i've just never seen someone like you, i was so excited that i didn't realize i was being rude, i'm sorry..." she said apologetically.

I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. The other three weren't THAT surprised to meet us.

"No, no, don't worry about it, he was just being stupid again, don't mind him" Mike assured, not expecting her feeling this bad.

Chloe blushed, and then Rachel intervened again:

"Now, why don't we let Chloe settle in as well so that we can make ourselves comfortable?"

We guys decided to take a bath together while Chloe arranged her stuff in her room, so Rachel, Alexis and Laura were left alone in the living room.

"They're cute" Alexis commented, smiling.

"Yes indeed, and polite too" Added Rachel.

"...Say" Said Laura, in a serious tone "Are we actually going to do this? They're just a bother so why don't we just get rid of them?"

"Come on Laura, you know we can't, this is an important project for both our races, and it would be too suspicious for them to just disappear. Besides, they are good guys" Said Alexis

"Where did the last tiny you called a "good guy" end up?" She retorted.

Alexis looked at her with hurt eyes, unconsciously touching her flat stomach

"...I'm sorry, i didn't mean to" Apologized Laura, sorrowful.

"Yeah... don't worry about it" 

Rachel sighed a bit, then said "I understand your point Laura, and I know it sounds hypocrytical coming for me, but I feel like we shouldn't... dispose of them. Mainly because of the consequences we would face. You understand that tiny murder is not exactly legal right?"

"It didn't stop us from taking them from the slums though..." muttered Laura.

"You know as much as me that it's an entirely different matter. The slums are unchecked and brimming with criminality, so nobody even notices if some are missing. If these guys don't show up at the lectures anymore, the prime suspects are us." Rachel warned.

Then her voice softened up a bit "Who knows, maybe you'll even become friends..."

"That's never going to happen. You know how i feel about them" snapped Laura.

Silence fell on the table.

"I hope i'll be able to change, as well. I know we all have our issues about the tinies, but today it was hard for me to hold back ..." Rachel muttered, and gulped down the saliva that was building up in her mouth at the thought of the four tinies.

"What if they discover our... pastimes?" Asked Alexis.

"We should make sure they don't. They wouldn't understand" Said Rachel