It was a relatively busy Sunday at Dynamo Fit, the Mixed Species Gym in the city. Here, the 26-year-old mousemin Ryan Jackson was heading for the changing room, his muscles aching after a solid workout.

He was feeling good. He was glad he had gone to the gym today, even though he doubted he would go beyond the promotional week free trial they offered. The subscription was not cheap, he could barely afford it with his entry-level programming job, but having some time away from the usual life was nice.

Such were his thoughts as he moved through the enormous hallway that divided the training room from the showers, seeing a multitude of Tinys and Smalls in the corridors, mostly heading towards the exit.

Dinamo Fit was the first mixed-size gym in the city, and was built to accommodate all the city’s people, “no matter their size”, as the commercials said.  
Facilities like that were plopping all over the country, part of a government program to increase the intermingling of the various species inhabiting the United States of Revelia, and the city of Reidsville wasn’t an exception.
From what Ryan had seen, the training room was equipped to host a large number of Tinys, and therefore Ryan had already met a bunch of people, even if it was his first time coming here. Certainly more than he had met at his small office in the 9 months he had worked there.

Considering his work at lonely working at his small office it at the office, it was a nice change of pace from his lonely cubicle at the office.
He heard his phone buzzing, and went to check it, seeing the cute face of a brown-furred squirrel girl in the texting app, attached to a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hiii, it’s Toya, this is my number!
It was nice meeting you here, I hope to see you again !”

He smiled. Even though they had talked only briefly, she seemed friendly and fun to have around, so he was glad she texted him. Who knows, he could even go on a date with her, even though he had never dated other species, and the perspective of going out with a girl two and a half times his size was pretty intimidating. Still, she was really pretty, and from her attitude before, she looked like she was at least interested in knowing him better.
So lost was Ryan in his thoughts, that he didn’t even notice that someone was waiting for him at the shower’s door. He saw them when he was already close to the door: standing with their shoulder resting on the two sides of the doorframe, feigning a casual disposition, before the almost empty-looking changing room, there were a couple of big burly guys, Weaselians by the look of it, each almost one and a half times his size, that had started to look at him. Ryan had a really strong suspicion of why they were there, even if he hoped to be wrong.

He moved to walk away, noticing immediately the two guys raising from their position, starting to dash towards him. He ran as fast as he could, slaloming between the benches and the lockers of the changing room, trying to lose the gorillas and exit the gym. However, it seemed that the two were expecting that, and they rapidly cornered him near the turnstile bar, his escape cut off. He looked around, to see if there was someone he could turn to help, but it seemed like closing time for the Tiny section was approaching, and the few guys he had noticed before had probably cut off their losses and decided they didn’t want anything to do with the two enforcer-looking weasel men.  Furthermore, he noticed with a quick glance that security was nowhere to be seen and that, probably for privacy reasons, there were no security cameras inside the changing rooms.
He was in a lot of trouble. His chasers were smiling, probably thinking the same, as the biggest of them came closer, muttering to his hear “Spike would like a word with you” before smacking the smaller mousemin in the head with a cudgel, and he fell unconscious as he felt his vision blurring.

When Ryan woke up, he found himself with his hands and feet tied, sitting on a bench in the deserted locker room, the two thugs facing him, the only other visible person being almost totally obscured by the shadows, appearing as a big, dark grey mass in the dimly lit locker room, the smoke of a huge cigar barely illuminating a pair of big, black eyes. 
A voice came behind the grey-furred thug that was in front of Ryan, one that he immediately recognized: “Aww, why were you trying to leave the party so soon Ryan ?” said Spike emerging from behind his man’s back, passing a hand through the greasy dark-brown fur on his head “We were just starting to have fun.”
Quite short for his species, the Ratfolk still looked intimidating to Ryan, standing a head and a half taller than the 3.7 inches mouse guy, a pair of muscular arms visible inside his beige shirt, contrasting with the pudgy belly he sported.

“What do you want Spike?” Said Ryan, trying to make it sound dry, even if the fear was noticeable in his tone.
“Can’t you imagine it? I want my money. You are a few weeks behind with the payment, and last time we spoke about that you told me you would have the money ready for the end of the month. It has been 5 days, so where is it?” 
“Fuck” Ryan thought. He had just recovered from the consequences of the last meeting with Spike’s associates. He cursed that fucking incident his father had had a year ago, the damned bank that denied them a loan, and his decision to borrow the money to pay for the surgery from a shark like Spike.  True, his father had recovered completely and was enjoying his retirement, oblivious to where his son had got the money that had saved him, but the situation had rapidly turned for the worse for Ryan, especially after he discovered the real beast behind the seemingly friendly and accommodating moneylender.

He had tried hard to spare whatever money he could, but it often wasn’t enough to pay for the outrageous interest rates, and he was barely able to survive with what was left.

A possible way out of his situation appeared when he had then found out about an experimental mixed-size neighborhood that had been built into the city, and, in his desperate state, he thought that leaving the tiny area and volunteering to move there could maybe throw the gangster off the scent, buying him some time while he used the money the program gave the volunteers to try and extinguish his debt as best as he could. Admittedly, he was given way less than he had expected, and he was basically in the same situation as before. He resorted to trying to skip some fees, managing to avoid the money lender’s men for some time by taking refuge in places like this gym, but alas, Spike had found him, and now his position looked dire at best.

“Yes, I know what I’ve told you, I’m almost done collecting it, I just need a couple more days. You know how hard it is earning something with my job, the bills, and … “

He suddenly felt the air violently exiting his lung as he found the ratman’s fist on his abdomen, his punch leaving him gasping.

“My, we have some balls in speaking like this, don’t we? Blatantly lying even in a situation like yours. I like your bravery, but I’m afraid lies won’t save you this time”
 Spike then grinned, gesturing to his two associates. “Mikey, give him a dose, double if you please”.
The grey-furred weaselian put on some nasty-looking brass knuckles and hit Ryan squarely in the jaw, making him spray blood all over the room floor. He cursed, as he had bitten his lip, opening a gaping wound that was starting to drip blood on the floor.
The beating went on for a couple of minutes, until the mouseman, with a shredded tanktop, a swollen eye, and a sharp stinging pain from his left arm, felt a greasy hand grasping his hair, finding himself looking directly into the boss’ eyes :

“Now, give me my money, or else we will get them from your lifeless corpse”.

The poor mouseman, exhausted and bloodied, started crying, hot tears rushing down his cheeks, and, between sobs, managed to mutter only a couple of words, in a weak voice:
“I’m sorry, I beg you, just..two days”.

Spike, unimpressed with his pleas, approached his prisoner, sliding a hand to his back pocket, taking Ryan’s wallet, and opening it up, finding a photo that pictured a couple of smiling middle-aged mousemins.

“You know what? I feel that your parents may be able to help us, maybe is better to pay them a visit”
At the mention of his parents, Ryan’s blood seemed to freeze in his veins, and a boiling rage took hold of him. Still

“YOU LEAVE MY PARENTS OUT OF THIS! YOU HEARD ME, YOU FUCKING PIG? OR I WILL FUCKING…OOF”
Another heavy blow to the abdomen, even stronger than before, stopped his feat of rage. Looking up, Ryan saw that the grin had disappeared from the shark’s face, replaced with a furious expression on his face, a vein on his forehead pulsing.

“FUCKING WHAT?” Spike said, sounding more pissed off than he had ever seen him “You think you are in the position to menace me? Who do you think you are? You know what, I’m tired of you, we were planning to take your car and let you go for now, but with this, you sealed your fate. Do not worry however, we will make it look like an accident. In this way, your parents will never suspect anything.”
 He then turned, addressing  his accomplices:
“Mikey, start the car. Doug, take the scumbag, we’re leaving with him”. He started to move away from the changing room, but after a couple of steps, he abruptly stopped.

“On second thought, why bother that much? You coming here gave us the perfect place to do that, we have to thank you.”

“From what I understood” he continued, looking at the time on his wristwatch “the big guys changing room will open shortly, so tell me, do you think that that the ladies would like to have a runt like you spying on them while they’re showering? I don’t think so. Wayne! “

With this, he gestured to the big mass that had been in the background all this time, which revealed himself to be a dark-grey Owlin dressed in a tank top and sweatpants, standing around three times the size of the two thugs that had just beat up Ryan.

 
“Please accompany our guest to the Titan’s ladies’ changing room.”

The owlmen nodded and moved towards the small guy sitting on the bench, swiftly grabbing the mousemin in his sharp talons.
 
“You will either be squished by an unaware Titan or whoever will catch you there will think you’re a pervert and stomp you flat. It saddens me to say it, but it’s a fitting end for a slimy bug like you.”

With this, the mobster backhanded Ryan, and he fell unconscious, exhausted from the previous beating.  Spike then gestured for Wayne to leave, and the winged gangster flew out of the Tiny section, soaring through the gym until reaching the massive Titan’s women changing room.

It was pretty empty of people, as was to be expected, given that the five changing rooms had set strict closing and opening times, with the Tiny, and after that, the Small section closing before the opening of the Giant and Titan locker rooms. In this way the staff could ensure that the main hallway, which was the largest common area of the gym, was safe to travel for the smallest clients, that would otherwise be in danger of being crushed by someone standing dozens or more times their size.  

However, the room had certainly seen use today, judging by the number of shoes, most of them looking around the size of an 18-wheeler if not bigger, the many training bags on the bridge-sized benches, and the number of closed lockers, each one standing as tall as a building from the Owlin point of view. Wayne took a glance at the mousemin clutched in his grip and thought that it was almost impossible for the people that used this room to notice something as tiny as him before ending up underfoot. All the better, if the tiny guy had been found, he could negotiate and rat out who put him there. Better to have him killed by an oblivious klutz.

Looking around, he saw something that caught his attention, a pair of worn red and white low-collared sneakers that towered above the others, that he judged to be 80 ft if not more in length in his perspective. He was thinking about dropping his prisoner there and having the massive owner squash the poor guy directly, should he survive the fall, when he heard a sudden loud siren, signaling the opening of the changing room.
Startled by the blaring noise, he almost dropped his catch, scratching the poor mousemin to reassure his grip, opening a deep wound on his body. Shit, he thought, his time was up, they would have to do.  He flew directly on top of the pit-sized collar of the sneakers and let go. He then zoomed out of the changing room, entering the hallway just as he saw that someone, a massive, purple-skinned reptilian girl, was already on his way to the doors. He zoomed away, hoping she hadn’t noticed him when he heard a thundering female voice.

“…Erm, mister? What are you doing here? “

He almost fell out of the sky at the sudden remark, and frightfully turned, to see that the girl, whom he recognized as a drakonid, was addressing him, with a curious and slightly annoyed expression.
She looked quite young, probably in her mid-twenties, dressed in a simple dark grey tank top and a pair of shorts, black and blue tennis shoes at her feet. Even in the situation that the owlman was in, he couldn’t help but notice that she was pretty, with a lean, somewhat-athletic physique, amethyst-colored scales, a mane of purple hairs that went down to her armpits, and two icy-blue eyes that were staring at him, waiting for an answer. The thug was dumbstruck, a mix of awe and fear taking hold of him.
He had heard about drakonids, even if he hadn’t seen many, and he knew that they were among the biggest races recorded in history, and this girl, in particular, seemed of above average height, a little less than 120 feet in height, more than 80 times the gangster’s size.
She was the biggest person he had ever seen, and she certainly was quite pissed off.

“I’m sorry miss, I know I’m not supposed to be here, I was coming to pick up my girlfriend, as a surprise. She has not come to the door, so I went inside to look for her, but this place is huge, and I’m lost. I suppose you can’t tell me the way to the Small’s women’s locker room?” He said, trying his best impression of an absent-minded guy that got lost.

Her gaze rapidly softened, and she said, with a calm tone: “Of course, It’s just along the hallway, third to last door to the left. You better hurry, I think it’s closing!” She smiled shyly towards the Owlin, showing a row of sharp teeth, each almost double his size.  “Thanks, you’ve been very helpful. I’ll be on my way then”. He then made a small hand wave, which she returned, and left.

“Phew, that was close. Luckily, she was quite gullible” Wayne thought, “I didn’t really want to see that thing angry. Next time, I’ll ask Spike a lot more money for a job like this.”
Shortly after, the owlman reached his boss, and he grinned, satisfied that the mousemin was taken care of.

-----------

A sharp pain on his wrist woke up Ryan from unconsciousness, and he opened his eyes, confused about what had happened, before the general pain that he felt all over his body, and the blurry vision from his left eye reminded him of the encounter he had had. He also felt his waist and legs tightened, or better clenched, by what he knew were an Owlin’s talon. A strong wind was blowing on his body, they were flying somewhere, but before he could take notice of his surroundings, he felt himself being abruptly released from the grip, and that his body was falling.

Ryan went airborne for what to him looked like a couple of hundreds of feet until he landed with a thud on top of a relatively soft surface. He immediately noticed that the rope that tied his wrists had loosened considerably, enough that with a pull, that caused him to yelp at the pain he felt on his left arm, he managed to free his hands, using them to free his ankles.
As he propped himself up, he started to examine his predicament: They had badly beaten up him, he was covered in bruises and his training clothes were torn, and bloodied in a couple of places, but apart from his arm, which was probably broken, it didn’t seem that his body had suffered any permanent injuries.
However, they had taken his car and his wallet, and more importantly, they seemed determined to dispose of him for good. He felt the tears returning to his eyes, and he let them out, cursing his misfortune and thinking that his parents will be ashamed of him, if he ever saw them again. He stood like that for a couple of minutes, mourning his situation, he realized that he had a possibility, that not all was lost.

“After all, they believe that I’m dead, but I’m still alive!” he thought “Enough with the self-pity, I need to think about how to get out of this situation, now that I’m ahead of them!”

 First of all, he had to get out of there, wherever he was. He stood up and examined his surroundings. Looking closely, it seemed to be some kind of orange sponge-like material, and he could see that in some places, he had what looked like numerous drain-sized holes, that went deep into the earth. In the distance, he could see some kind of white substance, that looked like paint, smeared across the surface, looking pretty ruined overall. Also, glancing at the floor further away from his position, he could see that this soft material was darker in places, like where he was standing, and that it extended for around 300 feet ahead of him and more than 100 behind, where a high creamy white wall stood. This wall ended 120 feet above him, in a pit-like opening, from where a massive source of light, too far away to be discernible, illuminated him and the surface.

He finally took notice of the noise coming from outside the strange building he was in, that at first seemed like the biggest thunderstorm he ever heard, and then evolved into something more akin to the sound of a fall. Was he near the water?

His sharp nose then started to sense the peculiar smell of the air, a smell that seemed to come from everywhere at once, a hint of almonds mixed with something that he couldn’t identify at first, something a bit unpleasant. Was it…sweat?

He moved near the base of the wall closest to him, around 40 feet away, and he could notice that even this wall had numerous holes as well, bigger than those on the floor and arranged into some kind of pattern. He tried to see through, but they were at more than 15 feet from the ground, far out of his reach. He then moved his attention to the wall itself and put a hand on it. The material felt strange to his touch, nothing like stone or concrete, or even plasterboard, it had a leathery consistency.

Now, the realization started to come to him, he wasn’t in some sort of strange architecture or experimental facility.

He was in a shoe.

A shoe as long as a high rise was tall, a shoe so massive that could probably fit a couple of dozen of the suburban houses where he was born.

He then remembered what Spike had said last and realized that he was probably in the Titan’s changing room, with the risk of getting stepped on and crushed at any minute.

He had to get out of here, and fast.

While he was evaluating his possibilities and trying frantically to make a functional climbing rope with the remainder of the laces that had tied him up until before, the thunderous sound of the roaring of water stopped.

Hu-oh.

Immediately, the ground started trembling, and a series of extremely loud, resounding THUMPS could be heard in the distance, each one stronger than the last, accompanied by a thundering voice, that seemed to be humming some kind of tone.
In a couple of seconds, the quakes were so strong that he was struggling to stand up, while he desperately tried to find a way to climb the shoe.

As they had started, the earthquakes stopped, replaced by different, but equally loud movements, happening directly above him, where the singing voice, which he now recognized to be feminine, was also coming.

He tried his best to exploit these instants of relative calm to try and get away to escape the shoe, finding, after a minute of desperate search, a tiny hole, around half of his size, into the leathery material. He dashed towards it, knowing that he could probably squeeze through it with some effort, only to find that a thin layer of cloth was blocking it.

He started ripping and shredding the fibers with all his might, and just when he was about to cut through the material, he felt his whole world moving, feeling the insole under his feet raise. He fell to the ground, and while he was trying to get up again, a sudden forward motion knocked him back a couple of hundred feet, until a raised lump of the rubbery floor stopped his movement before it could impact the creamy wall behind, his body pinned by the force of the motion. He sighed as the shoe stopped moving, and, realizing he could not survive another motion like this one,  he tried to dash back as fast as he could toward the only exit route he had found.
However, as he was reaching his “excavation site”, the shoe tilted, and he found himself rolling a couple of dozen feet behind his destination until he managed to stop his fall by holding onto the rim of one of the numerous holes in the floor. Then, as he was struggling to pull himself up, the slope certainly not helping in this endeavor, the whole world went dark.

He gulped, as he did not doubt what was going to happen.

 A massive, more than three hundred feet long, four-toed clawed foot made his way into the shoe, slowly but inexorably, like a lumbering beast claiming his territory. The scaly appearance of its amethyst skin, and the long, sharp claws that grew on each toe, black in color and covered by what he’d imagine to be light blue nail polish, made clear the reptilian nature of its owner.

After staring at the massive appendage for more than the situation would have deemed safe, Ryan heaved himself up and started to run, in the hope of avoiding the approaching claws.
The slight incline and the enormous size difference with the foot made the effort of outrunning the colossal toes vain, and when the foot was almost on top of him, he found a way out: the ruined material of the shoe had created some kind of alcove, at the start of the toe section, that seemed out of the way of the approaching appendage. Desperately, he dashed in that direction, narrowly avoiding the 60-foot-something long toenail that was falling on top of him, that would have effortlessly sliced him in half, and settled himself there, finding it quite spacious for someone his size.

Then, after a handful of painfully long seconds, the foot repositioned itself, the wriggling of her toes and the subsequent movements of the shoe creating a quake so strong that it forced him to grapple tight a hanging fiber to avoid falling towards the foot, the struggle making his finger almost white. He realized that he needed to secure himself well because whatever movement the foot would do could easily dislodge him from his position, with the risk of being crushed under the colossal foot.
He heard some thundering noises from above, what he recognized as voices, but they were too loud to understand for the most part, and he only managed to detect “…TOMORROW!”

Then, his whole world shifted, and he found himself on a rollercoaster, constantly going up and down, his stomach churning from the continuous change of altitude. He had thought that a girl finding him in the locker room was the worst option, but now he hoped that the person carrying him would stop and free him from this situation, especially considering that the belt that was holding him in place, made by tightening the remaining ropes to hangs and fibers of the nook, looked ready to break at any minute.

For now, he was on a ride for whenever the owner of his prison was heading, and it was going to be a bumpy one.

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In the Titan’s weight room, Ayla sighed. She was feeling worn out. She had been going to Dynamo Fit for around 6 weeks, and while she appreciated that the gym catered to the bigger species’ needs and was quite cheaper compared to the Drakonid-only gym in her hometown, she wasn’t the biggest fan of the restrictions, that gave Titans like her a limited time window to get their after-workout shower. The obvious result of that was that a lot of people would come to the gym at the same time, overcrowding the training rooms. She didn’t like to wait in line to use the machines and the weights, and she could have lived without the smell of a busy gym.
Today she didn’t even have her roommate and usual gym buddy Daphne with her, she was doing a photoshoot until dinner time, so Ayla kept to herself most of the time, not really the outgoing type.

She had moved to Reidsville about seven months before, after she had obtained her bachelor’s degree in social studies in Narvias, the capital of the Drakonid kingdom, and was now attending her master’s in Cultural Sociology in Reidsville.

She had heard of the various initiative undertaken by the neighboring country of Revalia towards relationships between people of various sizes, and her parents found out that the Reidsville University offered facilities catered to Titan students and that other Drakonids went there, convincing her to enroll for her master’s degree at RU.

It turned out that the reality was a bit different than that. Sure, the university, being quite big, had a good number of Titan students, but the vast majority of them were Sphinxes, Loxodontas, and Jotunnars, nobody reaching two-thirds of her height. A total of other six Drakonids studied at R.U., all of them in the Engineering, Medicine, and Natural Sciences campuses, in other parts of the city. As a result, she was by far the tallest on her course, the next tallest person reaching a measly 80 feet something in height, well below her armpits.
She was always strolling around her faculty alone, feeling like a freak, towering head and shoulders (and often midriff) above her classmates. This accentuated her shyness and social isolation, and she had made only a few friends on the campus, including her other roommate, Rhea.

The only chance of improving his popularity had come a week earlier, when the coach of the RU Volleyball team, that had rejected her application to the team six months because it seemed that she was “well above the league size regulations”, had transferred to another university. She hoped that whoever was to replace him would reconsider that decision, she had loved volleyball growing up and had fond memories of her high school and Narvias University team, even if their result weren’t outstanding.

She had rapidly grown accustomed to the fact that the city, in general, did not cater to a Drakonid’s size. Most of the buildings had 120-125 ft doorframes, short enough that she could touch the ceiling with her head if she stood on her tiptoes, even if she was just 114 ft (5 ft 8 in human measurements) tall, not that much above the average of his species.  Similarly, she was used to feeling cramped on her class desk, struggling to find clothes and shoes, barely fitting in a lot of places in general, and bumping her head on things; in the end, she resorted to having her parents to bring in a lot of clothes and other objects from back home, including her bed.

She even remembered that on that occasion, her father, that stood quite taller than her, had to duck his head considerably to fit under her house’s doorway.

Naturally, those inconveniences included most of the gym’s machines, and Ayla had just cut her workout short after her usual struggle to train correctly at the shoulder press when she heard the ring bell, signaling that the changing rooms were now available: She was craving a shower and started moving swiftly, her long legs giving a considerable headstart on the other ladies, who like her were trying to reach the shower before the others. Being this tall had its advantages.

 She moved through the big hallway, reaching the entrance of the ladies’ changing room rapidly, where she noticed a small figure nearby the door, its dark grey wings flying away from it. Curious, she moved closer to him, her great eyesight allowing her to discern that the inch-long figure was an Owlin and that considering its clothes, he was probably. What was he doing here? She remembered Daphne telling her that she had once caught a tiny male catfolk perving on her while she was showering, was he another peeping tom?

“…Erm, mister? What are you doing here” she said, seeing that her tone had startled the guy, that for a moment menaced to plummet to the ground, before recovering his footing with a flap of his wings. She didn’t care for that; she was only interested in what explanation the little owlman had.

“I’m sorry miss, I know I’m not supposed to be here, I was coming to pick up my girlfriend, as a surprise,” The Owlman said, his faint voice sounding sincere “She has not come to the door, and so I went inside to look for her, but this place is huge, and I’m lost. I suppose you can’t tell me the way to the Small’s women’s locker room?”

Oh, she didn’t expect that, he was gonna surprise his girlfriend, but he couldn’t find her. That was really cute actually, and she thought that for a being as small as him, getting lost in here was probably something that happened. Her lips curled in a smile and, with the gentlest tone she could manage, she spoke again:
“Of course, It’s just along the hallway, third to last door to the left. You better hurry, I think it's closing!”

He thanked her, waved her goodbye, and left, leaving the drakonid wondering how lucky the girl must have been to get gestures like these. She entered the locker room and started changing, thinking about her geopolitics essay, that was due next week. Finals were approaching, and while she felt quite confident in her ability to pass them, she was a bit behind her schedule. Better hurry up.

When she was ready to get into the shower, she received a text. It was Daphne. Ayla started reading it, a smile coming to her face:

Hey Ayla, you’ll be pleased to hear this, interesting news is incoming.
Okay, so it turns out that my photographer, Will, the cute one that I told you about, remember? He has a close friend that is a Drakonid, that is an engineer downtown and is super cute. His name is David, and he’s 100% single, you will love him.  Also, Will and he have agreed to a double date on Friday, I will give you the details home tonight.
 Bye, have a nice workout!

She was beaming. A cute guy, also a drakonid, and he wanted to go on a date with her? That was a wish come true. As she often did, she immediately started to fantasize, as if they were already together, and started daydreaming about fancy dinners, walks in the park, moving in the same place, picturing him holding her tight in her strong arms, kissing and making love to her. Turning on the nozzle, she was ecstatic, so much so that she started humming her favorite tone while feeling the water on her amethyst scales and shampooing her purple hair, not even minding having to duck to fit under the showerhead, and continuing to hum even while dressing, putting on her plain black bra and panties, her light blue form-fitting jeans and her dark blue t-shirt, that had her favorite superhero on it. It was quite old, but she liked it, it reminded her of her last day of high school, when she and her friends were super hyped about the movie.

Before putting on her shoes, she took a moment to examine her feet. She definitively needed a new pair of heels, she had not worn one in a long time, and maybe even a pedi. The light blue nail polish was becoming chipped, and the black claws underneath were starting to show. Maybe she could return to the place that Rhea had brought her to last time, the tiny lizardmen did a good job on her feet, and they even gave her a free nail polish sample, albeit she doubted it would be sufficient to cover even the claws of one of her feet.

She then took her shoes, her favorite red and white collared sneakers, when her eyes were caught by the ankle boots they were standing next to, a low-heeled, light brown pair, that looked quite stylish, certainly expensive, and were much smaller than hers, completely dwarfed by the massive sneakers. Curious, she took ahold of them on her comparatively enormous hand, comparing them to their index finger, noticing that it was a little bit longer than each of the boots. The boots themselves seemed very well made, and really cute if a bit worn, and she wondered if she would ever be able to find such footwear in her size. For a moment, the thought of trying them crossed her mind, to see if she was able to fit even a single toe inside, before deciding against it, reasoning that her claw could make short work of the fancy footwear.
She then heard a high-pitched and annoyed voice coming from the entrance:

“Hey, put your clawed hands away from my boots, you overgrown freak!” 
Caught off guard, the Drakonid girl turned, seeing a grey-skinned, black-haired girl, probably a Goliath judging from the darker, tattoo-like motives on her skin, that was dressed in a form-fitting gym suit and a pair of tennis shoes that probably cost as much as Ayla’s monthly rent. She had seen the girl in the gym a couple of times, she looked like some kind of influencer, judging by the number of pics she always took and how she flaunted around the gym her fancy training attire. From the little Ayla had seen, the girl behaved like a spoiled brat, as if the world was supposed to revolve around her.

Ayla’s cheeks became deep red, and she started apologizing to the smaller girl, almost blabbering while doing so.

“I’m sorry… I was just looking at them, they are really nice… I wa-was wondering where you bought them”
“Of course they’re nice, they’re Saint Leòn, nothing that a peasant like you could afford,” the girl said, moving swiftly in her direction “Now put them down!”.

Ayla was completely flustered, the fact that the Goliath girl was shorter than her even if she was sitting and the girl was standing doing nothing to tone down her apologetic demeanor. She lowered her gaze, avoiding any kind of eye contact with the smaller girl,  and frantically began collecting her things.

“Of course… I’m terribly sorry, please accept my apologies! I’ll be leaving now, sorry to have bothered you.”

She stood up, keeping her eyes low, refraining to look at the other girl, not noticing that the Goliath barely reached her mid-thigh, and proceeded to move to another bench, at a safe distance from her interlocutor, ignoring the awed stares of many other girls, including a completely dumbstruck Sphinx.

“Great, another girl to look out for,” Ayla thought, “as if those at the Modern History course weren’t enough.”

She sighed heavily, deciding that for now, it was best to leave these thoughts aside and head home. The drakonid girl grabbed her shoe and started to slide her foot in,  letting the full weight of her foot rest on top of the dark orange insole, immediately relieved by how comfy the sneakers were even without socks (As was common for clawed species to go, they tended to ruin socks and nylons pretty fast), then proceeded to tie its laces, repeating the same procedure for the right shoe.

She then stood up, bid farewell to a couple of acquaintances that had made their way in the meantime, exited the changing room at a brisk pace, ran her badge on the reader to open the turnstile, and began to walk home.

Little did she know that in her left shoe, on a barely visible nook, the poor Ryan, barely a fifth of an inch to her, was trying his best to survive the journey the drakonid had unwarily taken him to.

As she exited the gym, Ayla was greeted by a beautiful spring day, the clouds she had seen when she entered having been replaced by a shining sun. In the distance, she could see the glass facade of the downtown building glistening in the afternoon light. Maybe she could ask the girls if they wanted to go for a walk later.

The road home was short for a girl like Ayla. Dynamo Fit was at the center of the mixed-sized neighborhood, and her house was a ten-minute walk from there, in one of the titan’s residential blocks.
 She went for her usual route, which passed through a big plaza with a large fountain decorated with a sculpture representing an anthropomorphic lion with a woman’s head, a Sphinx, that carried a long spear in one hand, and a horn in the other, from which water poured towards a large basin. When the drakonid visited the city for the first time, she recognized the statue as the patron goddess of the sphinxes, one of the first Titan races to inhabit the United Kingdoms and by far the most numerous in Reidsville.

After crossing the plaza, she turned to the left, into a large avenue, decorated with colorful trees sprouting from holes here and there on the pavement, noticing that the Small and Normal sidewalks at her right were packed tight with people of various species, going around the street: well-dressed businessmen walking hastily, most of them with a cellphone on their ear; teens and young adults trudging with a backpack on their shoulder, coming home after a long day in school or in the campus; moms and dads pushing strollers or handholding their kids, many appearing as adorable little balls of fur to the eyes of the drakonid.

When they noticed the comparatively building-sized girl taking their same road, the smaller among them feeling slight tremors even if she was walking calmly, many pedestrians glanced up at her, with reactions ranging from awe to mistrust, to utter fear; She could see a couple of Normal moms picking up and hugging their kids tightly as if the dragongirl was gonna eat them.

Ayla, for her part, didn’t like all that attention, she was still getting used to the reaction Drakonid caused in the smaller dwellers; she smiled shyly, and lightly waved at the crowd, a gesture that a couple of dumbstruck people returned.

 

She arrived at her home after a few minutes, trifled in her bag to reveal a pack of keys, and opened the front door, bending a bit while entering to avoid scraping the doorframe with her short horns.
She walked to the entrance/salon, calling out for her friend:

“Hey, Rhea! I’m home!”

Nobody answered. Curious, the dragoness looked around the house.  She liked the place: a decently furnished three-room apartment with an ample kitchen-dining room and a salon with two big couches. It was one of the more spacious apartments Ayla had seen, even if the doorways were a bit shorter than the average, barely tall enough for her to fit through, and the countertops were lower than she would’ve liked.

She had found the place due to a stroke of luck: Her father was a friend of Daphne’s uncle, after having worked in the same logistics company for about 15 years. The sphinx had therefore become a close acquaintance of hers, and when Ayla had manifested her intention to study at Reidsville University, she had been happy to suggest the girl moved in with her, in the place Daphne has just found.

She could see the place wasn’t the tidiest at the moment, due to them skipping cleaning the previous week, and that some dust was gathering on the furniture. On the coffee table, some leftovers were visible, a bowl with some popcorn residue, and a couple of empty shot glasses standing beside an empty beer, another one on the floor. She could also see that clothes were thrown on the seat and the backrest of the smallest couch, most probably Rhea’s, judging by the size and style.
She sighed. She had become fond of the little harpy in the six months that she had lived with them, she was friendly and kind, and she was always trying her best to help the bigger roommates doing chores, even if the house and the furniture were inconveniently big for a creature of her size. However, if left by her means, she was really untidy, and it wasn’t the first time she and Dafne had come home to find it in that state.

Ayla, a bit annoyed by the mess that Rhea had left, decided to grab her clothes, and pile them in front of her door, to remind her that the common areas weren’t to be treated like that. While doing that, she noticed a grey hoodie that had been sitting atop one of the pillows, that she was pretty sure wasn’t Rhea’s, it looked noticeably smaller than the other clothes.
Looks like she had someone over, as was often the case.

Almost as a confirmation, she immediately heard a soft, faint moan coming from upstairs.

They were having fun it seemed, good for them.

Maybe picking up her things from her room and studying downstairs was better. Her room was adjacent to the harpy’s one, so she wanted to avoid being disturbed by what they were doing.

She could also use a snack; the gym had left her kind of hungry. She went to her room, left the gym bag at the foot of her bed, picked up her notebook and laptop, and went downstairs. Checking in the fridge, she found some eggs and milk.

“Yeah, pancakes will do.” Ayla thought. She checked the time on his phone. It was 5:30 pm, so early for dinner, but still, she was starving, and probably Daphne will come home in a bit, and she would surely appreciate some.

As she mixed the eggs and the flour, she thought again about the text the sphinx had sent her before.

“Mmh, I don’t really have a nice outfit for that, I will have to take a day to go shopping if I want to make some impression on this guy. I wonder if he’s really as cute as Daphne says.”

She had made a hefty quantity of batter, just in case the two lovebirds upstairs wanted some, even if, with the mess she had made to the living room, Rhea didn’t deserve it. Still, they should be nice to guests.

 

As she put the batter on the hot skillet, she resumed her train of thought:

If he was as handsome as it seemed, he would surely have a crowd of girls after him, being a big boy with a career and all of that.
He would probably not go for a girl as mid as her. She wasn’t bad looking, she was quite athletic, and many had complimented her physique and her luscious purple hair, but she always wished that she was a bit curvier, a bit leggier, a bit less sharp in her features: in a word, a bit more like her roommates, like Daphne, with her big puppy eyes and her thick thighs. Or like Rhea, with her cute face and her huge boobs. She sighed at that last thought, as she took a glance at her own breasts, which barely filled a C-cup.

So immersed was she in her self-doubt, that for a minute she had forgotten the pancakes on the skillet. She glanced at the stove and noticed that the first batch was more than ready. They had become dark brown, almost as if they were starting to…

Panicking, the drakonid immediately took a flipper and removed the pancakes from the skillet, depositing them on a plate while she started pouring in the second batch.

“Shit, that was close. Almost burnt them. Come on Ayla, focus, you will have the time to think about that later” she said under her breath, trying to keep their eyes on the stove, to avert disasters.

She served the pancakes on a large platter, taking a couple of the bigger ones for her, which she proceeded to put in a smaller plate near her laptop, leaving the others on the counter.

She then sat beside the kitchen table, her laptop and notebook in front of her, spreading some blueberry jam on the pancakes and munching on them as she turned the pc on and started on her report.

A couple of minutes later, she reached out for her shoes, and untied her laces, loosening them enough to be able to slide her feet out, until the shoes’ tongue rested on top of the bridge of the foot; she played a bit, dangling each of her feet a couple of times before lightly tossing the footwear away, sighing, and stretching her legs outward.

She scrunched her toes, enjoying the sensation of having them freely wiggling in the afternoon air. Nothing better than a quick stretch to relax her muscles after the workout.

After around 20 minutes, she felt a stimulus in her bowel, and headed upstairs, towards the bathroom. Just as she finished crossing the stairs, she saw a small figure flying out of the bathroom, a humanoid that had a pair of majestic wings sprouting from his arms, covered in grey and white feathers, wings that he was frantically flapping to cross the hallway as fast as possible, headed towards the second door on the right, the only one that presented what looked like a dog door on its upper side.

As the small creature saw the drakonid approaching, he almost froze in place, trying his best to cover his privates with a single wing, as he flapped the other wildly, struggling to maintain his balance and remain in the air, while staring at the large girl in front of him, a light fear or at least shock in his eyes. Ayla got a glimpse of his member, noticing that he spotted a full hard-on.

Blushing, she looked away from the intimate part and tried to instead focus on his face.
He was quite handsome, with short black hair and brown eyes, a trimmed short beard framing his cute, boyish face.

He looked quite fit, as she could see from his torso, covered entirely by those creamy white and grey feathers, that went from the base of the neck to his thighs, where a clawed hand was resting, the plumage arranged in a striped pattern similar to that of a magpie, or a swallow. 

“H-hi miss,” the male harpy said, gulping and with a trembling voice. “I’m a frie-friend of Rhea”. He looked quite uneasy as he stared into her face, probably afraid of the consequences of showing his weiner unprompted to what to him was a 30-foot-tall girl.

“Hi!” She said with a calm voice. “I’m Ayla, one of Rhea’s roommates. I just needed to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh…o-okay, of course… please!” he said, moving a bit towards the right, even if the girl already had all the room she needed to get to the door.

“By the way, do you like pancakes? I just made them...they’re on the counter if you or Rhea wanna come downstairs later.”

“Okay… I’ll just go tell her then...see you around.” With this, the guy swiftly flew towards the door, avoiding making eye contact with the dragoness, until he turned the doorknob, and with some effort opened it with one of his claws, disappearing into the room.

She chuckled.  She knew from her behavioral sociology course that, in contrary to most other species, female harpies were usually quite larger than males, a thing that had given birth to a very interesting couple dynamics, with female harpies preferring weaker, passive males to hunt for and take care of; This had also created a reputation around female harpies, that supposedly loved toying with every species that was smaller than them.
Rhea was not an exception, she had always loved short, meek guys; Ayla couldn’t help but giggle as she realized that this guy in particular was probably barely taller than her foot.

She entered the bathroom door, and after concluding her business, she returned to her chair, continuing to retrace her notes.

After half an hour, she heard a flutter of wings coming from upstairs, and shortly thereafter, the familiar figure of Rhea appeared in the salon, her body covered only by her dark brown feathers, a black bra, and matching panties.

“Oooh, pancakes! Thanks, Ayla, you’re the best!” The harpy happily squealed, landing on top of the counter, grabbing one of the smallest ones with a clawed hand, and munching on it as if she hadn’t eaten the whole day.

“Rheaaa, are your talons clean?” The drakonid exclaimed, annoyed at having the harpy’s dirty appendage where they cooked.

“Fwhat do you meanf, of courfe they are!” Rhea said, her mouth full, while grabbing the jam and smearing it on the rest of her pancake. “I cleafed them just thif morning!”. She showed her foot at the bigger girl for proof, wiggling her shiny dark grey talons.

“By the way, isn’t your pal coming?”

Rhea swallowed her mouthful with an audible gulp, and answered, smirking at the bigger girl. “Who, Alex? Nahhh, he said he was tired or something, and he went home. I lent him a hoodie and a pair of jeans and he exited from the window, I think you scared him haha!”. She then set the small knife on the table. “Hey, have you got some juice left? Daphne drank mine.”

“Yes, third shelf in the fridge, there should be some. Hey, what do you mean I scared him? I wasn’t doing anything.”

The harpy jumped from the counter, fluttering towards the fridge, opening with a heavy pull the fridge’s door, grabbing the carton of orange juice, that was half of her size, and struggling to carry it with both hands to the kitchen table, where she deposited it.

“I mean,” she said while sitting on the edge of the table “he entered the room panicking, saying that a giant dragon was looking at his dick with a strange look in her eyes”

“Wha…” Ayla started blushing. “I wasn’t looking at his...thing! I was just surprised of seeing him here! Besides, not my fault the guy was cute.”

“Ohhh so big Ayla likes the tiny Alex, mmhhh?” Rhea commented, her large amber eyes revealing an amused expression “Too bad, he’s mine. But hey, he’ll come back here, maybe I can let you watch next time!”

“HE-HEY STOP IT! I WASN’T TALKING ABOUT THAT” the Drakonid protested, her cheeks a deep crimson.

“HAHAHAHAHAH, relax, I’m just teasing you! But yeah, he is a handsome shorty, I’m definitely seeing him again.”

“Shorty? How tall is he?”

“I think he’s barely above 21 feet, perfect boob height,” She said chuckling “But whatever, how was the gym? Met any new people, today that Daphne wasn’t there?”

“Yeah…you could say so, in a way” Ayla sighed “Let’s just say that we had a misunderstanding with a rich girl regarding her shoes, she yelled at me, and now…I feel she doesn’t like me, and I have to watch my back for her while at the gym.”

“Aww Ayla, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything; I was only looking at her boots!”

“You know, you should not allow yourself to be trampled over. Gods damnit, you are the big girl around here, you should stand up for yourself! You should confront her and say that you can look at her boots how and when you want, and if she doesn’t like it, you’ll shove those boots up to her ass!”

“Nevermind, don’t worry about it” the drakonid dismissed, “On another note, could you please stop throwing your clothes all over the place? Hadn’t we already told you to not leave a mess in the house?” she asked, in a more serious tone.

“…Welp, you know, me and Alex had a couple of beers,” Rhea said, the slightest hint of shame in her voice “and so the situation heated up, and then…you know… we moved upstairs….But I was gonna put the place in order, later…” She said, half-convincingly.

“Yes, I’m sure you would’ve done exactly that, later.” Ayla mused, smirking “Anyway, I am behind with my essay, so I don’t have time to tidy up the salon. Get to work! Also, dishes are on you”.

“What? Aww come on, you are the one that made those pancakes, why do I have to do the dishes and pick up all this stuff” Rhea said, pointing at the mess around them. “That’s not fair!”

Ayla looked at her roommate and, with a sigh, agreed that maybe it was too much work for a little thing like her. However, she needed a lesson, and she had the perfect thing in mind.

“You know what, fair. I will help you if you help me. My shoes need cleaning, but as I said, I’m busy. Would you be a dear and take care of it?” the drakonid said while wiggling her toes, as she reached out with one of her clawed fingers, tapping gently the harpy’s nose.

 “Uhmf…deal “the harpy responded, stroking her face with her own hands, her feathers ruffling a little.

“Okay, so let’s start, I’ll do the dishes first!”

Saying this, the dragongirl got up from her seating, collected the knives and the dirty plates, and started washing them in the sink.

At the same time, Rhea flew down from the table, where she started picking up the empty beer bottles one at a time.

It seemed that one of the bottles had some leftover beer, that now had spilled on the floor forming a small puddle. Rhea sighed and moved towards the sink to grab a washcloth.

She acknowledged that Ayla was somewhat right, they had made a mess in their little makeout session…she smiled, rethinking about it. He was a dork, but he was cute and had a nice dick, as her roommate had seen. She chuckled at the thought of him flashing his cock at the dragongirl, while she finished drying the floor from the residues of alcohol.

After that, she went to wash the rag in the sink, and then, seeing that Ayla was already removing some of the clothes hanging on the couches, decided to pick up Ayla’s cabinet-sized sneakers, to get started on the task that her roommate had given her.
She was on the ground, ready to lift the heavy left shoe with both her arms when her sharp eyesight noticed something, a tiny figure just beside them, that appeared to move frantically if very slowly, as if it was trying to escape, or figure out where it was.

Curious, she crouched, seeing the movement of the little thing become manic, no doubt it had noticed, and proceeded to inspect the strange tiny creature closer.

It was clothed, and it seemed that he was standing on its back legs, zooming frantically in all directions to try and escape its observer. The creature, that to the harpy appeared around three-quarters of an inch tall, was a humanoid, and from the clothes that he was wearing, Rhea was able to discern that it was probably male. It, or better, he, was covered in a light grey fur, that went from his ankles, where he had a couple of black tennis shoes on his feet, to his torso, covered in a worn blue t-shirt, up to his elongated snout, at the end of which rested a pink button nose. These features, alongside the long, thin, furless tail that emerged from his gym shorts, wagging in fear, allowed Rhea to recognize which creature he was.

A mousemin? What was he doing here? He was dressed in gym clothes, maybe Ayla had brought someone with her, carrying him inadvertently in her shoe? The thing was already tiny to her, she could imagine how utterly diminutive it would appear to her larger roommate, so it was plausible that she hadn’t taken notice of him.

The harpy went to pick the tiny man up, snatching him effortlessly between her clawed thumb and forefinger, moving him closer to her face, this gesture bringing his panic up a couple of notches, turning it into full terror. Her large amber eyes went to examine him, noticing that his clothes were ruined, with his t-shirt torn in a couple of places, and that his pants presented large stains of a reddish substance. She readjusted her grip, to be able to look at him better, seeing a pained expression forming on his visage when she went to move his left arm, which she noticed was hanging at his side almost limp. Glancing at his terrified face, she could see the same substance on the lower side of it, almost dried on his lower lip.

Blood.

She reasoned that maybe Ayla trampling on her shoe had caused this and that the poor little guy was probably in need of urgent medical attention.

However, he was thrashing heavily in her claws and seemed the victim of a full-scale panic attack. Rhea wasn’t a physician, but he reasoned that he could hurt himself more in his manic attempts to escape her grip. He needed to calm down.

“Hey, hey little guy” she whispered, in the most soothing voice she could muster “Please calm down, you’re safe now. I won’t hurt you. I want to help you”.

No success; the little mousemin had started screaming and flailing even harder, probably thinking that she was tricking him or trying to have him lower his guard. She could not blame him, her claws were probably able to slice the tiny thing in half easily.

“Shh…shh, please calm down…I’m your friend” Rhea said, using the pointer finger of her other hand to try and stroke his back as gently as she could, in the hope that it would tranquilize him, even just a little bit.

It hadn’t exactly worked, the mousemin seemed as panicked as before, and his squirming wasn’t stopping.
She needed to think of something else to calm him.

 

Suddenly, she remembered what her mother used to do when she and her twin brothers were chicks. Not the most orthodox method, but it was worth a try. She put a claw on the hem of her t-shirt, and pulled, exposing the cleavage between her E-cups breasts, the twin mounds surrounded by brown feathers, that stopped at the base of the neck. Sure, he was a lot smaller than a harpy’s chick, but maybe, if she put extra care on avoiding him sliding in between, that would make him fall to his death, this could work. Plus, she was sure the little guy would appreciate her boobs, everyone did, and this would at least give him a soft and safe place to rest.

Therefore, without any more thought, she slowly lowered the mousemin, still gripped between two of her fingers, towards her cleavage, and proceeded to put him on the rim of her bra, deciding to place him at the center of her right breast, to keep him steadier. She felt him moving inside her bra, and giggled, feeling tickled by his meandering.

She then tightened her bra a little, and proceeded to fly to Ayla, to inform her of the strange little guy she had discovered.

 

 

In the humongous space of the drakonid’s shoe, Ryan felt trapped. What had become his prison occupied his field of view completely, the leathery walls and the spongy insole extending as far as the faint light coming from the holes above the nook he had taken refuge in allowed him to see.

Alongside him, at a couple of dozens of feet of distance, stayed the massive companion he was sharing his “cell” with, the four long fingers curling and rising rhythmically with every step, bringing the whole shoe and, of course, its reluctant inhabitant with it every time, completely oblivious to its existence.

At each of these steps, the whole structure would shift several hundreds of feet, pressing the poor guy hard on his nook walls, the pressure enough to expulse all the breath from his lungs.

The mousemin was never one to suffer from motion sickness, he was quite hardy of stomach, having always enjoyed rollercoasters and amusement-park rides.

But the jarring speed at which the massive appendage moved, the enormous distances that it was capable of traversing in a single step was a completely different experience, and he doubted anybody could withstand such a ride.

He had already puked twice and was beginning to think he would vomit his entrails if the rollercoaster continued when he felt the foot halting its movement.

The girl had stopped.

He heard the echo of strange metallic sounds, the loud noise of a door swinging open, and then he saw the clawed toes beside him curling, and the ground under his feet start rising again, as the enormous shoe resumed its walking.

A couple of seconds later, he was launched to the ground the feet rested, giving the trapped tiny just enough calm to allow him to hear a blaring voice, like the thunder of an unexpected storm, the vibration caused by it enough to make the poor Ryan shake in his very core.

 “HEY RHEA, I’M HOME!”

A few instants, and again the clawed appendage lifted the footwear that he was trapped in, continuing to unknowingly drag him wherever his captor wanted.

After a couple of minutes, the movement stopped again, and, after some painfully long seconds, the insole that he was standing on started tilting, and as he flayed to take ahold of something, to avoid plummeting down the base of the shoe, he heard a long, satisfying, coming from above him.

Just as he was losing his grasp on the house-sized bump he was holding on to dear life, the floor returned horizontal abruptly, and, for the first time in what to him felt like hours, he saw the light filter inside the expansive space he was in.

He saw the four-toed foot rising, and he braced himself, fearing that it was going to take another step. Instead, the ground started rocking up and down, left and right, in an irregular motion, as the shoe loosened around the appendage, which lifted, and the light began to illuminate the inside of the shoe, the foot that had covered it until that moment removed.

Ryan immediately realized what that meant: “Great, she took off her shoe! Now it’s my chance!” He said, scrambling to get up as fast as he could, understanding that he maybe had only a few moments to get out of the shoe before the colossus decided to put them back on. His movement was interrupted when he felt himself rising again, as if in an ultra-fast elevator, and he could feel the renewed churns of his stomach as if he had risen several floors in a fraction of a second.

For a moment, he glanced up, and he saw that, to his terror, the foot had stopped rising, and that the clawed digits were still inside, resting just below the shoe bridge, keeping the shoe almost horizontal, a not-so-subtle oscillation making the floor dangle forward and backward, making maintaining the balance for the tiny mouseman all the more difficult. It all lasted less than a second, before a flick of the ankle launched the shoe forward, making the poor mousemin feel as if he had been shot from a cannon, the enormous G-force pressing him against the shoe, even if for an instant, before landing with a reverberating Thud, sending the little guy flying for a couple of hundreds of feet, landing face-first into the dark orange insole, the impact enough to make him fall unconscious, for the second time that day.

He woke up after only a couple of minutes, and as he opened his eyes, he panicked.

He had lost precious time; the girl could put on her shoes at any minute now. It was his best, and maybe last, opportunity to get out of the shoe, so even if his broken arm hurt like hell, he had to give it a shot.

He felt a rush of adrenaline pulsing through his veins, which made him ignore the general pain his whole body was in, and he dashed through the insole, looking for the tear in the leather that he had found before.

He only needed a few minutes to find the spot again, and as he reached the ruined nook, he resumed where he had left, desperately trying to sever the cloth that was in front of him.

It wasn’t easy, the thread was more resistant than he had anticipated, especially considering he was going at it with only its left arm, and his only cutting tool was his short claws. It took him more than half an hour to cut through the hard material and make a hole big enough for him to crawl outside, his work being interrupted halfway by a series of small, rhythmic earthquakes that had rattled the entire shoe and made him fall on his feet, no doubt caused by the Titan girl standing up and walking around wherever the shoe was.

As he squeezed his way through the opening, he found himself almost blinded by the light outside, and for a moment, he had to stop and readjust his eyes to the illumination. As he did, he found himself looking at a strange, alien environment, something that looked like it was coming straight out of a sci-fi movie. An enormous expanse of creamy-white terrain, crossed by lighter whitish veining, was standing directly below him, hard and dense in appearance.  Farther ahead, a red wall of strange, cloth-like material, stretched to the heavens. Looking up, he saw a great, dark brown ceiling, of a wooden texture.

As he was taking his surroundings, he looked directly below him, seeing that another obstacle had been put between him and his safe escape from the Titan’s shoe.

The somewhat elevated insole of the sneaker appeared more like a short cliff for the minuscule mouseman, the terrain at what he esteemed to be around 25 feet below, certainly not an easy jump.

This didn’t discourage Ryan: made resourceful in his desperation, he went back inside to try and recover as much rope and thread as he could, with which he fabricated what he considered to be a decently resistant climbing cable, that he proceeded to bind at a thicker thread above his escape hole, the other end tightened across his stomach.

He started descending, using mostly his feet to reach whatever foothold he could find, trying his best to avoid straining his injured left arm, making steady if slow progress, cursing the numerous times he had skipped gymnastics in high school; he had made more than half the journey down when the knot on his stomach loosened considerably, and he fell the remaining 10 feet, landing on the hard floor, chipping one of his incisors in the process.

Cursing, he got up, and examined his surroundings: the creamy white floor, extended to what looked miles in three directions, and he could finally see that the imposing dark brown structure was standing on four thick pillars of the same color. Looking further ahead in front of him, he could see on his distant left side a teal vertical expanse that reached higher than he could see, and, in front of him, what looked like an elevated glassy platform, blurred by the distance, standing on 4 metallic legs. Beyond that, the red wall he had seen before now looked like the gargantuan reproduction of a piece of furniture. It looked strangely similar to a couch.

Suddenly, he realized: If that was a couch, then the creamy white terrain was probably a tiled floor, and the dark brown structure standing above him was then a table of sorts.

He was in an apartment. A massive, gigantic apartment, that would no doubt be big enough to host a few mousemin cities inside.

In shock, he stepped back a few feet, until its back touched what had been, until a couple of minutes ago, his prison, the leather material reaching more than a hundred feet up in the air, its white color making it look more like an enormous monolith or a monument, rather than the plain, worn piece of footwear that it was.

He gawked at the thought of the immense size of whoever wore such shoes, and how utterly diminutive he would appear to them. Ryan knew how big titans were, and he had seen such gargantuan inhabitants of the city in the distance, looming like gods on the smaller neighborhoods, but seeing it up close was a completely different matter. And another level of danger.

Immediately, as if this thought had awoken him from his stupor, he remembered that he wasn’t alone in the massive house; fearfully, he scanned around, noticing that, contrary to what he expected, there was no trace of the colossal clawed feet on the immediate surroundings. He sighed, relieved. At least he wouldn’t end as a tiny red splotch under one of her toes straight away.

He then saw the feet a couple of thousand feet away, each attached to a jeans-covered leg, the light blue pants reaching a little above the ankle.
A large, purple crested tail was waggling indifferently behind the pillar-like limbs, as the gargantuan being appeared to be pacing around the room, each of its steps producing a slight tremor on the ground.

He had to get her attention, but how?

Before he could find a way to make himself known to the massive reptilian, he felt a very strong wind in his face, as he heard the sound of two huge wings fluttering directly above the shoe, and he felt a rush of hair and a weak tremor as a gigantic taloned foot landed some 100 feet ways away from him, each of his bird-like digits probably longer than a bus.

“Shit,” he thought, his face becoming as pale as a ghost. While he hadn’t seen many reptilian beings like the one that he was looking at until a moment before, he knew exactly what creature sported such massive talons, and it certainly didn’t mean good news for rodent folks like him.

He had heard a lot about harpies from his grandpa back when he was a kid, on how dangerous the enormous beings were for small mousemins like him, especially because they loved to play cruel, sadistic games with their prey before eating them in the hundreds.

He immediately started fleeing, trying his best to remain close to the shoe, hoping that in this way the colossus wouldn’t notice him.
A small flutter and a couple of heavy steps made it clear that he hadn’t been so lucky.

Slowly, he looked up, just in time to see that the harpy, a female, was directly on top of him, her house-sized head slightly tilted as if she was yet to understand what she was looking at.

She crouched, putting her brown feathered arms on her knees, and planting her feet on each side of him, covering, as Ryan fearfully realized, a more than 300 feet expanse, blocking his escape. He started panicking, his eyes darted left to right, and he started moving from one direction to another, frantically trying to hide from the predator on top of him.

 He took but a glance towards his observer, noticing that she was looking intently at him, her billboard-sized amber eyes staring at him as they were looking at his very soul.

She was pretty, her beautiful, soft face framed elegantly by her shoulder-length brown hair, which was lighter in color than the feathers that he could see peeking from her green t-shirt.

He couldn’t help but notice that this t-shit hid a pair of large breasts, each one as big as a warehouse and that she was not wearing any pants, her slender, proportionally thin legs exposed.

However, her appealing form did nothing to ease the tiny mousemin about her intent.

Suddenly, he saw with the corner of his eye a clawed hand swiftly moving toward his direction, and he darted away from it, trying to escape its grasp. However, their size difference offered an unfair advantage to the approaching hand, and quickly the guy was snatched between the thumb and index finger of the enormous hand, trembling as he realized that each claw was almost three times his size.

He immediately started squirming, trying his best to escape his grasp as the creature moved her catch upwards towards her face, still staring at him, his reflection visible on her large, birdlike pupils, as she used the 10 feet long claws of her other hand to move her brown locks away from her eyes.

“Hey, hey little guy” her voice boomed, in what looked like a calm tone, almost soothing…? “Please calm down, you’re safe now. I won’t hurt you. I promise, I want to help you”.

He almost frowned at her tone and words. What was she doing? Was she …trying to trick him? To make him lower his guard? Harpies were devious creatures, that much was known.

Ryan, by no means calmed, started screaming at the top of his lungs in absolute terror, redoubling his efforts to escape, crying for help, in the hope that someone else, maybe the other girl, could save him from this monster.

“Shh…shh, please calm down…I’m your friend” The harpy continued, as the mousemin felt one of her pole light-sized claws touching his shoulder, and then starting to trace his upper back and head up and down, almost as if…she was stroking those? Why was she toying with him?

He was now in full panic attack mode, screaming, looking around, squirming in between the massive digits, almost frothing from his mouth.

He saw his massive captor looking annoyed, no, almost disappointed about his behavior, when suddenly, her eyes lit up, her face curving in a  happy smile.

Before he could understand what was going on, he felt himself being lowered towards the girl’s chest, and he panicked as he saw a claw pulling the hem of her t-shirt, revealing the humongous mounds that were her breasts, a rift-like cleavage between them.
Slowly, he felt himself descending there, her hand lowering him towards her right breast, which to him looked like a spherical hill, when she immediately let go, her other hand lifting her bra, making him fall into the black silky material, before she snapped it back gently, leaving him trapped there, tucked in between the bra and the huge mass of flesh.

Immediately, the breast started rising fast, and he found himself compressed against the soft flesh. Ryan had no idea where the harpy was going and what was to happen to him, but gods be damned, he wasn’t gonna let her do it without fighting: He used every remaining ounce of strength to try and free himself from the prison, punching and squirming violently inside the bra, trying also to cut through the undergarment with his overdeveloped teeth.

Unfortunately, the bra tissue was thick and quite firm, therefore all his efforts were vain, managing to only cause a thundering giggle from the giant harpy.

 

On the other side of the room, Ayla was almost done tidying, having put all the clothes from the couch in a laundry basket, two of the empty beers in one of her hands, with the glasses and the bowl that were on top of the coffee table now resting in the sink.

As she went back to the kitchen to toss the bottles in the bin and pick up a broom to sweep the floor, she noticed that her sneakers were still beside the table, exactly where she had left them.

 “Uhm, I thought Rhea would have moved them into the laundry room by now”

She started to wonder where her roommate had gone when she heard the familiar flutter of wings, and Rhea appeared in front of her face, with a worrisome expression, as if something terrible had happened.

“Ayla, there is something I have to show you,” She said, in a serious tone.

The harpy reached the table, sit on the edge, and as Ayla could annoyingly see, began putting a hand inside the hem of her shirt, doing what seemed like fondling his right breast.

“Come on Rhea, enough with the dumb jokes!” The drakonid girl said, her face reddening.

“Not that, you lizard-brain!” Rhea answered, moving his clawed hand away from the breast.

“This.”

As the smaller girl opened her palm, Ayla could see that in the center of it stood a small object, no bigger than an eighth of an inch to the dragongirl. It had a strange, patched blue and gray coloration, with some reddish stains here and there, and it seemed to move, almost squirming in the comparatively huge black hand.
Moving her snout closer, she could see that the thing had 4 humanoid limbs, that looked like arms and legs, covered in what appeared to be light grey fur. The creature had noticed that it was at the center of attention, and had started to scramble in the hand, trying frantically to crawl backward, away from Ayla’s inquisitive eyes, until it stopped, having reached the end of the harpy’s palm. He stood there, with an expression of absolute terror in his eyes.

The drakonid was now able to recognize that the blue and grey objects that covered his fur were a set of very worn, almost tattered in places, clothes, and that the red splotches here and there were probably blood.

All those evidences pointed to the same conclusion: The small thing that her friend was holding was a tiny person.

Locked in his fleshy prison, with his back pressed into the enormous breasts of the harpy, Ryan was terrified in his bones. The girl was moving, but he could barely see where they were going, his vision obscured by the black cloth in front of him, a strong heat emanating from behind him.

He felt that whatever luck he had had up to this moment, that made him escape death by a hair multiple times, had run out: He was at the mercy of a gigantic brat, who even seemed a few years younger than him, adding insult to injury, and which would undoubtedly eat him when she got bored of her little plaything.

He felt a heavy lump in his throat at these thoughts. It wasn’t fair, he hadn’t done anything to deserve that, all because of a stupid incident and a stupid mob boss, and some stupid money. He was just a simple guy, trying to get by, just like thousands of other people in the city did, why did the gods do this to him?

As he was mourning his fate, he felt the pressure on his chest being lifted off, and his body moved a little, no longer held tight against her bosom. She had stopped. Before he could understand why, a sliver of light filtered from above, and he looked up, seeing two enormous, clawed fingers descending towards him, easily grabbing his form and dislodging him from his position, and he felt himself rising upward slowly, the fingers of her hand curling around him, completely obscuring his visual.

The movement lasted only a few seconds before he felt the hand stopping, and the finger uncurling, leaving the comparatively tiny form of Ryan resting in an open palm. His vision was blurry, his eyes taking a couple of moments to adjust to the sudden light, but when they did, the sight made him freeze in place.

Standing in front of him was the 250-foot-long reptilian snout of a massive, purple-haired lizardgirl, that was staring right at him, her face looming above the mousemin like a goddess enacting her divine judgment upon him.

He had thought that the harpy was huge, but this girl here was absolutely, mind-boggling gargantuan, her face covering more than half of his field of view, a mouth big enough to swallow half a dozen buildings at the same time directly in front of him, the slightly open lips revealing her white sharp fangs behind. As she came into view, he immediately felt a rush of cold hair sucking his hair and fur inward, followed by an equally strong wind blowing outward, and he trembled as he realized that it came from her nostrils, each one probably wide enough to fit a house inside.

He immediately used his right arm to grab ahold of the palm’s flesh, fearful that her breath could blow him away, or worse, suck him in one of those cave-like orifices, when he heard a booming “WHAT…” coming from the maw, and immediately, he saw the city block-sized snout descending towards him, getting closer and closer.

His primal survival instinct kicked in, and he scrambled to get away from the approaching face, crawling backward as fast as his seated position allowed, until he felt his hand dropping into the vacuum. He turned his face to the ground, to see that he was on the edge of the palm; with a pale face he realized that, had he taken another step, he would have plummeted several hundred feet below. Slowly, he turned back around, a wall of light amethyst occupying his whole field of view, dozens upon dozens of scales surrounding what appeared to be a blue eye, 5 to 6 times his size.  There he stayed, completely frozen by fear, the 10 ft long vertical pupil at the center of the pool-size eye staring at him. As the eyelid beat, he felt his crotch getting wet, and a hot liquid slowly dripping from his pants.

Completely dumbstruck, he watched as the pupil of the massive eye twitched, the eyelids departing, revealing the full round shape of the ocular organ, and he heard a thunderous, almost unintelligible voice from below him, loud enough to make his whole body vibrate, as if he was standing directly in front of the speaker at a rave party.

Convinced that this was his doom, he silently prayed, putting himself in the gods’ hands, hoping that he would find solace in the afterlife.

For her part, Ayla was amazed at the sight, a mixture of awe and disbelief as she looked at the diminutive person on Rhea’s palm. She of course knew that mousemins existed, but they were rare in her homeland and preferred to live in settlements underground, where the comparatively massive surface predators couldn’t reach them. The few that lived above ground preferred to dwell in the outskirts of towns, where they often had to resort to scavenging to survive, not rarely forced to rummage through the trash of the larger races.

From what people have told her, even in Reidsville, they, along with the other tiny inhabitants of the city, tended to stay mostly by themselves, knowing that contact with the bigger races could easily get dangerous. The same was true at the campus, where there were dedicated classrooms and facilities for students of each size, with only a few mixed-size areas.  

This was the first time she had seen a mousemin in years, and certainly never this close, and she was very excited about this discovery, understanding that this was a great occasion for her studies.

She couldn’t help but stare at him, trying to take in every little particular of his appearance, almost oblivious to the various wounds and scars that he bore and the absolutely terrified expression on his face; at least, until she noticed the smallest droplets of liquid falling from his shorts.

The dragongirl frowned, and looked intently at that strange phenomenon, not understanding what it was, when the realization suddenly hit her, making her cheeks blush a bit.

“I… I think he peed his pants.”

“Ewwww….” Rhea said, almost shaking her hand out of instinct, before realizing that the gesture would spell doom for the tiny man on it. Besides, she hadn’t even felt it. “It’s fine…Poor little thing, he must be terrified.”

“Terrified of what?”

“I mean, I don’t know you, but if I woke up in a giant house with a massive lizard looking directly at me, I would probably be pretty scared!”

“…You’re right,” Ayla said, backing away a little from the mousemin, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, mister, didn’t mean to scare you” she whispered, in the quietest voice she could muster.
Then, she addressed her roommate: “Where did you find him?”

“Well, that’s the tough part. It was standing beside one of your shoes, I think he was inside”

“Wha…you mean she was in my shoe??” The dragongirl gasped “How could have he gotten inside it, and why?”

“Well, those look like training clothes, so he probably got in the gym. Maybe you had it in your shoe the entire way home”

Her eyes widened as she turned again towards the little man.
Suddenly, everything made sense to her. His appearance; his left arm, limp at his side; the look of absolute, manic fear in his eyes.

She felt a heavy lump in her throat. She could have easily killed him, in a split second he could have died, crushed under her foot, or sliced in two by her toe claws, and she would have been none of the wiser, completely unaware of having taken another person’s life.

She had almost murdered a person.

Tears started raining down her cheeks, a pang of deep, profound guilt in her. He had all the right to be scared, she was a monster. She deserved his fear and mistrust. She finally understood why other people didn’t trust her species, how can you trust someone who can kill you in the blink of an eye without even noticing?

Such were her thoughts as she continued to cry, managing to articulate only a few words between the sobs.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to… it’s all my fault…The arm, it looks very bad...I’m terribly sorry!”

“Shhhhh, there, there Ayla, it wasn’t your fault...you didn’t know that he was there…calm down please”

“It doesn’t matter…” Ayla said, still sobbing “I should have checked…I’ve almost killed a person…no wonder he’s scared…I’m a monster.”

 

Still sitting in Rhea’s hand, looking up at the dragongirl, Ryan was completely flabbergasted. Of all the reactions he thought that his sight would cause in the huge reptilian, this was certainly the least expected. Was she really crying?

He started to feel sorry for the girl; Now that he thought about it, Spike had mentioned that they wanted to look like an incident and wondered what would happen to his killer. He knew that sadly, there were plenty of accidental killings of smaller people by the bigger folks, but she would still face a murder trial, and, seeing her crying like that, he doubted that she would be able to withstand a jury.

Fighting the rational voice inside of his mind, that told him that harpies were tricksy and devious creatures and that trusting them could end only with him in one of the two colossal girls’ gullets, he opened his mouth, yelling at the top of his lungs to make himself heard.

“Hey, hey,  …I’m fine, just a bit bruised. No worries, I’m good. It isn’t the first time that I've gotten inside a shoe haha, I know my way around it” He lied, reasoning that even though being stepped on was a common risk he faced, he had never had to fight for his life inside of footwear, especially one as big as the sneaker he had just come out of.

The two girls blinked, immediately turning their gaze at him, tears still crossing the eye of the bigger girl, while the harpy spoke in a soft tone, still very loud for the mousemin’s ears:

“Are you sure about it? That arm looks broken…”

He turned towards the reptilian girl, resisting the primal fear that her sheer size caused in the back of his mind: “No, no, it’s fine, it wasn’t really your fault, no worries!”
He immediately bit his tongue. Why had he told them that?

The reptilian girl sniffled heavily, the air ruffling his fur a bit, and gazed at him, a slightly more relaxed expression on her reddened eyes.

“What…what do you mean? I...I didn’t do it?”

Shit, he knew that they would ask him about it now. He had said it out of guilt, he couldn’t stand the girl crying and taking the blame for a thing that she for the most wasn’t guilty of.  Still, what should he do now?

He wasn’t still sure that the harpy was completely honest, she could have pretended to appear kind and amicable only to make him lower his guard, but he didn’t know… perhaps they really were genuine in their intents, and maybe they could even help him.

On the other hand, was this true, he couldn’t get two innocent girls, moreover two strangers to him, in trouble with Spike and his associates, they were dangerous people.

He had to come up with a convincing story, and fast.

“Well, you see….I had a bad football accident a few months back, where I broke my arm; It was my first time in a gym after that, and maybe my bones weren’t fully healed, and I’ve had a relapse”

He trembled a bit as he turned, seeing the amber eyes of the harpy staring at him, her head slightly tilted:

“Uhm…it wasn’t a great idea to go the gym in your state,” She said, a hint of doubt in her voice.

“Hahaha, it really wasn’t…” He answered, his lips curling in his best attempt at a smile, while he used his sane arm to stroke the back of his head.

 

He saw the other girl’s eyes widening, and her lips erupting in a loud GASP, the volume startling him a little.

“You mean that you were healing and had a relapse? But this is almost worse! We should go to the hospital right now, who knows what could happen in this situation? You could lose the use of your arm!” She said, a worried expression on her face.

He paled at her words, his ears ringing a bit at the sheer power of the drakonid’s full voice.
Fuck, going to the hospital was the worst thing to do with the mob at his heels, they would leave records of his presence there, and Spike and his friends would realize that he had survived. No, he needed to leave them in the dark about his fate for as long as he could, it was the only advantage he had on them.

He turned towards the massive snout of his interlocutor, her blue eyes still fixated on him.

“No, that’s fine, thank you, but I’m sure is not needed. I just need to rest a bit” As he finished this sentence, a sudden jolt of pain came from his side, the strongest one yet, and he couldn’t hide the pained expression that had crossed his face. Shit, maybe the situation was worse than he thought.

The girl holding him curled her fingers a bit, and she moved her face slightly closer to her hand.

“What do you mean is fine? From what we know, you could have several internal bleeding. We’re carrying you there right now!”

Still feeling the pain at his side, the mousemin stumbled on his feet, managing to stand on his legs with great difficulty.

“I said I’m good, you don’t need to worry this much for….” His reply was interrupted by a sharp headache, a sudden sense of tiredness overtaking him. All his muscles began aching simultaneously, and he couldn’t stifle a pained moan. As he stumbled forward, he made only a couple of steps, before his vision blurred, his head becoming light before he fell unconscious for the third time that day, dropping face first on the harpy’s palm.

 

As they saw his unconscious form lying on Rhea’s hand, the two girls began panicking, and Ayla’s eyes began tearing again, her voice trembling:

“Oh gods….please, please wake up! What do we do?”

“No-no panic,” Rhea said, stuttering as she tried to hold her hand as still as possible “I’m sure he’ll li-live, but we need to get help soon. The-there is a small people’s clinic on the other side of the di-district, a friend of A-Alex works there, I think. Take him, you should be able to reach it faster than me, and I don’t have pockets where to keep him. I don’t  wanna put him in my bag, he could get hu-hurt.”

“O..Okay”  Ayla replied, and extended her right hand towards her roommate, As the harpy gently tilted her claw, making the mousemin slowly slide into the bigger girl’s hand, Ayla marveled again at his utterly minuscule form. He was probably as tall as half of one of her scales were long, almost invisible in her palm.

He pinched his little form in between the tip of her thumb and index nails, realizing that maybe a dozen of them would have fitted under her two-inch claws, and proceeded to move him towards the small pocket in front of her jeans, as slowly and as gently as she could, releasing him when she felt sure that the fabric would cushion his fall.

“Okay...I hope that is safe for him like this…lead the way then.”

“I just texted Alex’s friend, he will wait for us in the ambulance parking lot, near the entrance. Let’s go!”

They moved swiftly, quickly traversing the streets of the neighborhood, arriving in sight of the clinic in a matter of minutes. The clinic itself was a simple, 4-story building, with white walls and large windows, unimpressive even in a neighborhood of mostly Small low-rises.

Upon reaching the parking lot, Ayla stopped, and scanned her surroundings at her feet, looking for the guy that Alex had indicated.  She saw that their arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed: the 8 or so nurses and paramedics that were in front of the entrance had turned their attention to the big newcomers, especially at the drakonid.

The fact that Ayla’s shoe-covered feet occupied a sizable portion of the parking lot, like badly parked 18-wheelers, was certainly not helping in making her inconspicuous.

The harpy was the first to notice that amongst the startled employees, one of them had started gesturing for them, flailing his arms up in the air in his best effort to get their attention: It was a young-looking grey-furred catfolk, dressed in a light blue v-neck shirt and red pants, one of the only two that wore working boots instead of clogs.

“I think that’s the guy!” she said to her friend, pointing at the paramedic.

At her remark, Ayla moved a hand towards her pocket, slowly extracting the mousemin within it. He was still unconscious and looked a bit pale, but for the rest, it seemed no different than a few minutes before, she could also see him breathing. She sighed, relieved that he was still...fine maybe?

Putting him in the center of her open palm, which could probably fit a few dozen of them, Ayla slowly crouched, trying her best to keep their hand steady, realizing that a drop from this height would probably be fatal for the guy.

“He’s hurt… we found it near my shoe…it has a lot of bruises…a broken arm…he fell unconscious before and has been like this since…ple-please help him!” She said, blabbering out of panic as she lowered her palm, the back of her hand touching the ground as a couple of sniffles escaped her lips.

At the sight of the injured tiny, the clinic personnel awoke from their stupor, immediately trying to climb what to them was a foot-tall step formed by the digits, carefully putting the mousemin on an appropriately sized stretcher, checking the condition of the wounded mousemin, rapidly putting him on an appropriately sized stretcher, and arranging an oxygen mask for him to breathe in.

The catfolk, who introduced himself as Will, grabbed one of the stretcher’s handles, taking a quick look at the unconscious Ryan.

“So, tell me what happened, miss…?” 

“Sniff…Ayla Jorgensen” Ayla said, suppressing a sob.
“Miss Ayla, tell me what happened.

“I don’t know…Rhea found it near my shoe when I got home from the gym...I suppose he must have fallen there somehow…he said the arm was an old injury, but I don’t know, it looks limp…then he fell unconscious… I swear it was an accident…I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone...I didn’t notice him”

Will looked at the girl. Like most people in the city, he hadn’t met a lot of drakonids, but it was pretty evident that her stepping on him wasn’t a trivial matter. The guy was lucky to be alive.
He also knew that, even in cities like Reidsville, where the coexistence between races was harmonious for the most part, many of the big races loved to “mess around” with the smaller inhabitants, resulting in many “accidental” broken limbs, strained ankles and cracked ribs.
Furthermore, for whatever reason, the hospital had been flooded with emergencies like this in the last couple of months, and, for a moment, he wondered if that was one of those cases. He, along with the rest of the employees, was fed up with the blatant bullying that Small and Tinys had to withstand from careless or utterly malevolent bigs. He was gonna tell them to go to hell.

Then, he looked at her better: Her eyes were red, she had cried, and her body was shaking. This, combined with her panicked voice, reassured the paramedic that she was sincere in her apologetic behavior and that her worry for the mousemin was genuine.

More than that, she looked on the verge of a panic attack, the situation must have troubled her a lot.

His lips turned in a wide, warm smile, and he spoke in a much more comforting voice.

“It’s okay, these things happen sometimes. Don’t worry, we are equipped to deal with such accidents, you can stay assured we will help him as best as we can.”

“Dunno if it helps, but he seemed in an utter state of shock” added Rhea, crouching to get on the same level with her interlocutor. “He was almost frothing at the mouth on a couple of occasions, before losing conscience”
“ I can imagine it, it must have been traumatic for him,” Will said, biting his tongue immediately as he saw the deathly worried expression of the reptilian girl.
“At least you got here quickly, that will help the doctors. Are you okay, Miss Jorgensen?”

Ayla audibly gulped at the question “Ye-yes, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Will asked, trying to ascertain if the girl could handle herself.

The drakonid nervously nodded, her nose drooling a bit.

“Good. Fear not, we will get him checked immediately, just wait here please.”

With that, the paramedic moved towards the entrance door, opening the door to allow the stretcher to pass through, closing it then behind him, giving a quick nod at the two girls.

Now alone with her roommate, Ayla stood up, voicing her concern to her friend.

“Do you think they can do something? This is bad, this is bad, this is bad…what if he’s seriously hurt….what if he has some permanent injury…what if he remains paralyzed, or worse…” Ayla couldn’t finish her last sentence, feeling her eyes tearing up again. The two nurses that had remained on watch outside heard what sounded like heavy rain; as they looked up, they were flabbergasted as they discovered that it came from a stream of liter-worth tears that were slowly falling from her cheeks.

Rhea looked at her with a worried expression, taking off, reaching the drakonid face in a couple of wingbeats, grabbing the two sides of Ayla’s snout in her hands as best as she could.

“Hey, hey, stop crying! As the guy said, they can help him here, don’t worry. I’m sure it all will be fine. Try to calm down now, I’m here with you.”

“Are…are you sure?”

“I’m positive” Rhea answered, smiling warmly at her. “It will all end well!”

“O..okay then” Ayla breathed in, putting a hand on her chest, seeming able to calm down “I’m sorry, I’m always such a crybaby…”

“No, you aren’t, you’re just sensitive and caring, and that is a good thing. That means you care about people.”

Ayla looked back at her, managing to crack up a weak smile, as she instinctively grabbed the harpy, guiding her into her chest for a hug.

“Thank you, Rhea, you’re a great friend!” she said, putting her hand behind her friend's back, pressing her gently into her torso.

“Don’t get too used to it, you lizard face” Rhea said, extending her arms around the expansive torso, her head brushing the underside of the dragon’s chest. “This feels nice though” she cooed, as she rested her head into her friend’s shirt for some time, longer than she did usually, before slipping away from her embrace, and looking at the sky. It looked like there was maybe an hour before sunset.

“You know what? Why don’t we get ice cream on the way back home when we’re done here?”

“That would be lovely, yes” the drakonid agreed, nodding happily.

After a couple of minutes, the door opened again, and the familiar face of Will appeared. As he approached the two girls, Rhea was reassured by his demeanor, much calmer than before.

“Okay, the guy had it rough, some of the cuts and lacerations were pretty deep, he had a strained knee, and the left arm was fractured, but he will live. Dr. Edwards is visiting him right now, I told him to call you when he’s done”

“Oh…that’s a relief…thank you”. Ayla sighed, a massive weight being lifted off of her chest.

“See, I told you!” Rhea said, smiling as she got engulfed in another bear hug by her friend.

Their embrace was interrupted by the paramedic's voice.

“On an unrelated note…miss, I feel you need to move away from that spot there, you’re kinda blocking the smaller ambulances from passing through” he said in a serious, if embarrassed, tone.

“Uh?” She suddenly became aware of the faint honking noise that came from her foot. She looked down, and she saw that it came from two tiny ambulances, that were standing in front of the parking, their road blocked by the leftmost toe of her left foot, which looked around 4 to 5 times their length.

She immediately got beet red, managing to utter a weak apology while lifting her foot.

“So-sorry!”

---

The first sensations that Ryan had when he woke up, even before regaining his consciousness completely, were the great headache he felt, and a strange taste in his mouth, along with the smell of disinfectant that permeated the air.

As he opened his eyes, he saw a white ceiling above his head, and he felt a comfy cushion behind his back.

As he sat up, he noticed immediately that his left shoulder felt a bit stiff and the arm seemed more difficult to move, as if it was fixed in his pace. Curious, he turned to look at it, seeing that his arm was covered in a cast up to two-thirds of its length.
Looks like they had brought him to the hospital in the end, but when?

He tried to focus, to see what it could remember, but he must have blacked out at some point. Maybe the girls got scared, and that’s when they brought him there.

Shit, he thought, this meant that he was recorded somewhere. He had had his gym badge around his neck all this time, and they were surely able to find out who he was.

At this point, he could only hope that Spike’s dogs wouldn’t go check here…Wherever here was…

As he went to look outside the window, to try and understand in which neighborhood he was, he heard a male voice coming from behind his head.

“Oh, you’re awake I see. How are you feeling, Mr…?”

“Jackson” Ryan groaned instinctively as he turned around, seeing a middle-aged black-furred weaselian, dressed in a long-sleeved lab coat, who was looking at him from above a pair of square-lensed glasses. Judging by the tone of voice and the occasional grey patches of fur, he was probably around his mid-50s.

Ryan looked up, taking a moment to answer in his cotton-mouthed state.

“Urgh…I could live without the headache, and I have a strange taste on my tongue, Dr…”

“…Edwards; and that must have been the painkiller we gave you. Don’t worry, the effect should be over in around 20 minutes. “Dr. Edwards said, looking at his smartwatch: “So, young boy, mind telling me what happened? The two girls that brought you here told me it was an accident, that they found you inside one of their shoes by chance, is that true?”

Something in his tone made Ryan understand that he was quite skeptical of this version, he wanted to know more.

“Tha-that would be what happened, yes”

“You could talk freely here, don’t worry. We’re here to help you.”

“Okay, but as they said, it was an accident”

Dr Edwards moved towards the foot of the bed and took the medical chart that was hanging from it. As he flipped through the pages, he resumed speaking.

“I apologize if I am being blunt, but we have had cases of Giants and Titans harassing smaller people, and some of your injuries correspond to what we usually find in these cases. For instance, looks like the arm was hit repeatedly with a heavy blunt object. Moreover, there are a lot of cuts and bruises that look purposely inflicted all over your body. I will just say that you don’t need to be afraid, and you can tell us if those girls have harassed you, we are able to help” Dr Edwards said in a serious tone.
He hated to do that when the patient was still in bed, but they had told him that the girls were waiting outside, and he wanted to know if the mousemin was in danger.

“Wait, what?” Ryan’s eyes widened in disbelief “They brought me here, why would they do that?”

“Maybe they didn’t want to hurt you, they thought it was just a game, bigs tend to do that, they underestimate how strong they are and how much they can hurt the smaller folks. If that is the case, please tell us, and we will try our best to keep them away from you.”

“That-that’s not true…it was an accident, it wasn’t theirs, or nobody’s, fault” At the last word, he gulped audibly. For a moment, he wondered if it wasn’t better to tell them exactly whose fault this whole situation was, but he kept his mouth shut, fearing certain retaliation.

“Okay…I deeply apologize for that, but as I said, size-related harassment and violence have been rampant in the area lately, and so we wanted to know if we had to send them away.”

“Don’t worry, that’s fine” Ryan couldn’t believe what he was saying. Just an hour ago he was screaming and trying his damnest to escape the two girls, and now it was taking their defence.

In the end, he reasoned, he was only telling the truth, or, at least, the truth about the role that those two girls had in his bruises. He didn’t want people to get in trouble, even more so judging how they had helped him and how shocked they seemed about the whole situation, especially the reptilian girl.

Even though a big’s assault was probably the easiest way to justify his bruises, the girls didn’t deserve that.

His train of thought stopped when he noticed that Dr. Edwards, after briefly reading through his medical record, had resumed talking.

“Anyway… according to your record, you had multiple lacerations and hematomas, and the left radius was fractured. Considering that most of the lacerations were superficial and that the hematomas seem to be already reabsorbing, we will keep you here a couple of days, and, if complications don’t emerge, you’re free to go on Tuesday morning.”

“Okay, thank you”

“I suggest you get some rest now, tomorrow you will probably feel better.” Dr Edwards said, smiling.

 

“Have a good night, Mr Jackson” 
He proceeded to walk towards the door, closing it behind his back.
 Ryan tried his best to smile, even if there wasn’t anything to smile about. Sure, he was fine, but the mob would have ample time to get back at him…

Still, what could he do? He could try to escape the room at night, but he had nowhere to go. They knew his address, and, considering where they had found him, they presumably knew the places he frequented, including his friends’ homes.  He would need another place.
Besides, today had been exhausting, to put it mildly, and now he felt as if he had been run over by a truck…. he couldn’t even think straight in this state, better to follow the doctor’s advice.

He stretched out, put his head on the pillow, and closed his eyes, immediately falling into a deep slumber.

---

Outside of the hospital, Rhea and Ayla had moved to a small park just on the other side of the road, sitting down in the grass, the smaller girls sitting on top of the dragongirl’s knee, her legs straddling the thick limb.

Here, the harpy had rapidly noticed that the drakonid was fidgeting with a hair band, casting nervous glances at the hospital from time to time.

“Still not at ease, hey?”

“Not really…It’s just that…the guy was in rough shape...I hope he’s doing fine”

“Yeah, he was. It will probably take some time to recover, that’s why they haven’t called us yet. “

As she said that, she put a finger on her chin, her head slightly tilted in a pensive expression.

“Besides, we didn’t get to know how he managed to get stuck there. What was he doing in the Titan’s female changing room?”

Ayla’s brow furrowed, her gaze moving to her right side slightly
“I…don’t know. Maybe… it was some kind of a prank, or a dare? Maybe his friends challenged him to sneak in.”

 “Or maybe it was a peeping Tom” the harpy answered, her tone slightly annoyed. “uhhhgg…why do guys have to be like this...”

“The thing that I don’t understand is that the gym has a pretty strict timesheet. If you violate it, you risk getting banned. And this seems a very dumb reason to get in trouble for.”

“Not to mention that you could have easily squished him under one of your big, fat toes without noticing.” Rhea giggled

“…Thanks, I just needed to be reminded of that.” The drakonid said in a dead tone.

“Come on, it was just a joke! Just to cheer you up a little bit!” the harpy replied, a goofy grin on her face.

“Ha-ha…so funny.”

At that moment, they glanced at the other side of the road, just in time to see the hospital's main door opening, and a female calico catfolk nurse exiting from it, appearing to be hastily scribbling something on a notebook. It took the two girls a couple of moments to notice the smaller figure at the nurse’s side, reaching around her mid-thigh in height. His facial features were not easy to distinguish from a distance, but the long-sleeved lab coat that he wore on top of a greyish shirt qualified him as a doctor. The two girls watched as the nurse turned her gaze at them, gesturing for them to come closer.

Immediately, Ayla rose from her seated position, her movement so sudden that it caught the harpy off guard, making her fall towards the ground briefly before she managed to catch herself, flapping her wings to stabilize in the air.

“HEY, what the hell was that?”

Ayla didn’t answer, already halfway through what to her was a 20-foot distance that separated her previous seating spot from the hospital’s parking.

When she reached the two small people, she was finally able to take a good look at the third of an inch-tall doctor, recognizing that it was a middle-aged weaselian. She concluded that this was probably the doctor that was taking care of the mousemin.

On the other side, Dr Edwards was startled. It had been a couple of years since he had seen a drakonid up close, and while Will had informed him of the nature of the girls waiting outside, seeing it in person was another thing. /He couldn’t help but gulp nervously as he glanced at her shoe, realizing that it probably wasn’t much smaller than the Tiny section of the hospital/ He gulped nervously as tried his best to maintain his composure, proceeding to greet her in the calmest tone he could manage.

Realizing that despite her keen senses, she could not understand what the doctor was trying to say to her from her lofty point of view, the drakonid interrupted the man.

“Sorry mister, I can’t exactly hear you from here…let me get a bit closer”  she whispered, proceeding to get on her knees, her movements slow and deliberate to avoid damaging the parking lot or knocking down the couple with her right knee, lowering herself until the bottom of her head was hanging at about a foot above the ground, in a way that they could look at each other comfortably.

She immediately noticed that the nurse, a girl probably no older than her, with green eyes and long brown hair, was hopping from one foot to the other, trembling slightly.

“Go...good afternoon mi-miss!” the nurse managed to articulate, before turning again toward the notebook, avoiding further eye contact.

“Well, Miss Gray, why don’t you go back to your workplace inside? I can handle the situation from here, thanks” the doctor’s crisp voice said, looking up and smiling at the nurse.

“Su-sure, Dr Edwards...as you say. Have a nice day, miss!” She said, smiling weakly as she turned around, stumbling back toward the entrance of the hospital.

“Thanks, you too!” Ayla answered in a cheerful tone, loud and clear even if she was whispering.

“I…deeply apologize for my staff behavior, we are just not used to seeing drakonids around here”

“Don’t worry, I’m used to such reactions” the girl sighed, glancing at her side, seeing Rhea approach behind her shoulder, landing just at her left, her gaze darting between her friend and the doctor.

“I suppose you are Miss Jorgensen, aren’t you? I’m Doctor Blaine Edwards, I’ve been visiting your friend”

At the mention of the mousemin, Ayla’s eyes widened, the worry making her forget the mental note she had taken about whispering in front of the tinies.

“Really?? Is he fine? Has he got injuries? Will he live??“

Slowly and methodically, Dr. Edwards put a hand inside his shirt pocket, taking out a handkerchief, gently rubbing it on his glasses’ lenses to remove it from the spit that the drakonid had sprayed all over his face, before answering

“Of course, he will live, he had numerous lacerations, and the arm was indeed broken, but we put it in a cast, and luckily, we managed to stop his internal bleeding. In a couple of days, we can let him out, and in three weeks to a month he will recover completely”

She smiled sheepishly as she resumed her whispering, muttering an embarrassed apology “Sorry about that…praise the gods, I’m so happy to hear that he’s fine.”

She then bit her lower lip, looking at the ground.

“Doc, may I ask for a favor?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Well…I feel really guilty about this whole thing…could I please see him? I would love to apologize to him directly, if that’s possible“ She muttered meekly.

“Well, my dear…the hospital is not really set to accommodate people like you, but come again tomorrow around 5 p.m., and we will see what we can do, okay?” Dr.Edwards said with an unconvincing smile.

 

“Oh..okay, thanks!” She responded, the tone of her voice doing little to hide her disappointment at the doctor’s words.

“Do not worry however, I will send him your apology, and hopefully in a couple of days he will be out” He then looked at his wrist, taking note of the time “Well, I hope you can pardon me, but I have to finish my round of visits before the evening, so I must bid you farewell.  Hope you both have a nice evening”

He then turned around and walked away at a calm pace, the doors of the hospital opening to allow him to enter.

 

Now alone, the two girls stood up, until Ayla’s knee felt something small grazing against her knee. Looking down, she saw a parked grey estate car that looked out of position, its nose well outside the delimitation. Taking a better look, she saw a noticeable dent on the bonnet. She immediately moved her knee out of the way, rising as carefully as possible to avoid further accidents.

“Uhh…I’m sure they don’t mind that” Rhea said, glancing at the parking lot while she flew up to Ayla’s face. “Well, it went well, didn’t it? In the end, it was like I said! No reason to be worried!”

“I suppose you were right” Ayla smiled “We got lucky he was mostly unscathed”

“We will come to check on him tomorrow, don’t worry.”

At that point, Ayla’s phone vibrated. It was Daphne.

Hey, where are you guys? Why did you leave a mess in the living room?

Ayla looked up, the sun low on the horizon. The afternoon was coming to an end.

“Let’s go home now…I want to get that ice cream and work on my assignment before dinner, and you have to finish cleaning up” She said, pointing at the harpy, who answered with an annoyed frown, before turning around and starting to follow her friend, the couple turning towards the main road.

 

---

When the two girls arrived home, they were greeted by Daphne, dressed in tight jeans and a wide-neck t-shirt, a fancy-looking bikini visible underneath, and a miffed expression on her large green eyes.

“Where did you guys go? Why is there a hoodie on the couch?”

“Sorry, Daphne… that’s mine…” Rhea said as she zoomed past her to recover her clothes.

At 27, Daphne was the oldest of them, and sometimes felt like their big sister, disciplining them and controlling what they did. She focused extra attention on making sure that they kept the house tidy and clean, having a strong contempt for mess and clutter.

“Hey, Daphne” Ayla greeted the sphinx, moving closer to her “How was the shoot?”

“It was good, lots of good shots. I can’t wait to let you see the set when they print it” Daphne said while looking up at her friend, the sphinx barely able to clear her crotch in her high-heeled sandals.

“That’s great to hear” the drakonid mused as she unceremoniously crashed on a chair. She was suddenly feeling very tired.

“What about you two, what have you been up to? Don’t tell me you went to get ice cream without waiting for me!” Dafne inquired, jokingly pouting at the end of the last sentence, pointing at the chocolate residues on Ayla’s face.

“Well…about that…something happened…can you come to take a seat? It’s a long story”

Furrowing her brow a little, in the expression of someone wanting to investigate further, she walked towards the table, sliding out a chair to sit in front of the drakonid.

“What happened? Is there something wrong?

As Ayla proceeded to recount the last events under Daphne's attentive gaze, the lump in her throat reappeared. She still felt somewhat at fault for the fate of the mousemin…if only she had checked….

At the end of her tale, she was practically sobbing, so much so that the Sphinx slinked past the dining table, putting a hand on the larger girl's shoulder.

“I think you did the sensible thing. Don’t worry, he will be fine, as you already saw.”

“You’re probably right…still…”

“No still, it wasn’t your fault, I said stop worrying about it! Now let’s go get something to eat and then you will get changed, because we’re going out!”

Nausea. That was the first thing that Ayla felt as she regained consciousness. Nausea and a slightly uncomfortable pressure on her snout. She was leaning face-first on a cushioned surface, harder than the one on her bed. She opened her eyes, seeing a dark orange cushion before her. Her couch.
Forcing down a lump of acid bile that was making its way up to her throat, she stood up, her dizziness forcing her to hold onto one of the pillows to keep her balance.
Glancing down, she noticed that she was still wearing her tight jeans and the shirt she had on the night before, the shirt’s collar now soaked in what appeared to be drool.

Just how much had they drunk yesterday?

Her eyes glanced around the room, noticing a small brown thing curled up on the kitchen table, that seemed to be rhythmically rising up and down. Looking closer at that strange mass, she couldn’t stifle a giggle as she recognized Rhea, who seemed to be sleeping soundly, her light snoring the only sound audible in the kitchen.

She eyed the clock that was hanging from the kitchen wall. A quarter past twelve. Great.

“Well, at least I didn’t have any lectures in the morning.” Ayla thought. Still, her Sociology class began at 2:00 P.M., better try to have lunch and get at least somewhat presentable for that.  

She walked towards the table, gently nudging at the sleeping harpy with one of her fingers.

“Wakey wakey, Rhea!” she said, her call being met by a ruffling of feathers and a series of sounds coming from the half-conscious form of Rhea. As she poked her friend a bit more, Rhea erupted in an annoyed groaning:

“Come oon moom, I don’t wanna go to school, I’m ill!” mumbled the harpy, turning the other way.

“Come on Rhea, wake up. It’s already noon!”

After this last remark, Ayla noticed Rhea’s form freezing for an instant, before immediately springing up.

“FUUUCK…I had Microbiology at 11! Shit, that’s the third time this semester!”

“Take note: do not get drunk on Sunday evening” Ayla mused, rubbing her head with her left hand “Well, there’s not much you can do about that now. I’m making lunch and then heading out for my lecture, wanna join me?”

“Sure,” the harpy said, as she stroked her face with one of her wings, ruffling her feathers. “Fucking Mondays…I think there was some beef in the fridge, I would love some.”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me” answered Ayla, opening the fridge’s door, and grabbing a few steaks.

“Besides, where’s Daphne?”

“I have no idea,” Ayla said, taking a moment to retrace the events of the previous evening “I think she had hooked up with someone, so maybe it’s at his place”. As she took the grilling pan from the counter, she heard the sound of heels descending from upstairs.

“Good morning sleepyheads” called out Daphne, as she came down the stairs, dressed in a formal button-up shirt and a dark grey blazer with a matching tight skirt.

“Oohh, we’re sexy today, aren’t we” Rhea cooed.

“Stop it! It’s for my job interview. Give me your opinion girls, does this look too easy on the eyes? I really want to make a nice impression.”

“Ah, right…that was today, wasn’t it?” Ayla said.
“Yes, they called me an hour ago, they had to reschedule it from 3 to 1 p.m. The cab should be here in a few minutes. So, tell me, do you like the outfit?”  Daphne answered, a nervous smile on her face as she tried to strike a pose.

Ayla smiled. From what Daphne had told them, this was her first real job interview after college, moreover in a manufacturing company that had been a partner of her father and uncle's company for many years. She certainly had a lot of hope in this interview.

For its part, her attire was excellent, the darker color creating a nice contrast with both her strawberry blond hair and her beige fur, and, as always, her makeup was spot-on, enhancing her beautiful green eyes. However, it was easy to see why her friend was worried, as the form-fitting suit did a poor job of hiding her curves. Well, Ayla reasoned, with a body like that it couldn’t be helped, and it was easy to see that the effect was not intended, with the outfit and make-up giving her a very professional look.

“You look gorgeous. You will certainly make some head turn. I love your hair” Ayla answered. She couldn’t help but feel the tiniest sting of envy in her voice as she looked at her mane, styled in a series of shoulder-length wavy locks.

“Oh, you’re too kind, I just hope to not let my uncle down. Besides, modeling is fun, but using that engineering degree for something would be great, and this seems like a nice job.”

“Yeah, what’s that job about by the way?” Chimed in Rhea.

“From what I understood, with the new cooperation laws that the city has been trying to foster, there has been a lot of interest in mixed sizes furniture and appliances, particularly to facilitate mixed-size living. You know, things like multisized doors, height-adjustable countertops, kitchen tools that can be used by people of various sizes, and even gaming consoles that can adapt to different-sized controllers.  Therefore, they have been moving a lot of their interest in the design and production of such appliances, and I will probably work on that.”

“I, for one, would love higher kitchen counters,” Ayla said as she washed some tomatoes, her back bent to an unnatural angle to be able to reach the countertops, that reached just above her knee.

“And I would love being able to use an actual door to get inside and not have to sit on the table to eat” added Rhea, glancing at the cat-door-like entrance that they had made for her.

“Well, at least you can fly, it could be worse.” Daphne said, taking a seat at the kitchen table “Like, you remember Kaylee, the wolfgirl that I did a bunch of shootings with? I met her the other day at Will’s studio, and she was with her boyfriend, who had come to pick her up. Turns out the guy is a weaselian, a little fella which doesn’t reach her mid-shin.”

“Wow…really?”  said Rhea. “How does it work with the kissing and…stuff?”

“I don’t know, and I obviously didn’t ask, Rhea” Daphne answered, glaring at the harpy. “Point is, they face a lot of problems living together, so it makes sense that they would be interested in ways that make their day-to-day life easier. And they’re not the only ones that I know, although they’re by far the ones with the larger size difference. There’s certainly a market for these pieces of furniture.”

“Yeah, I can see that. It’s nice that they are working on helping those people” Ayla agreed, removing the steak from the grill and placing it on a plate. “Rhea, can you be a dear and cut those tomatoes, please? Daphne, wanna grab a bite? It will only take a couple of minutes to grill another steak if you want!”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll grab something to eat after the interview.”

“Okay, no problem. More for me!” the drakonid mused, as she happily put another steak on the grill.

She then turned towards the table, leaning onto the counter “Changing subject…what was with the cute sphinx in the club yesterday? Is there something you have to tell us, mmmh?”

“Wait…who? Ah, Chris? Nah, not really, he’s a friend and an old collegemate of mine, we were just catching up.”

“Yeah, I saw how eager he was to catch up with you, especially with your lips” Rhea commented, while trying her best to mix the tomato salad with a spoon the size of a small shovel.

“Okay, maybe there’s the occasional flirt here and there, but nothing serious!”

“Too bad, he’s a handsome boy.” the harpy said, a comment that was followed by a whispered “Yeah, he really is” from the drakonid, who had again turned to keep an eye on the stoves.

A whisper loud enough to be registered by the sphinx’s sensitive ears.

“What was that, Ayla?”  

The drakonid turned slowly, seeing the amused expression of her roommate looking at her blushing face “No-nothing.”

“Sooo, you like Chris, hey?” cooed the sphinx.

“I mean…” Ayla started, her cheeks becoming redder with each passing second “…is not that I have a crush on him or something…it’s just that he has a cute face, he obviously hits the gym, and he has that cool, laid-back attitude. It just seems a nice guy to be around, that’s all!”

“…And he’s very tall” added Daphne, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yep, also that… You know how I feel about it.”

“Yeah, I know, always chasing the tall boys…Well, if you want, I can organize something...I don’t remember him being into tall girls, but trying doesn’t certainly hurt. However...” cooed the sphinx, a devious look in her eyes.

“You want something, don’t you.”

“You see, I’m already setting you up with someone this week, with a drakonid nevertheless… I feel like I’m doing all the work here…it’s only fair in my opinion.”

“Well, I can do your laundry for a week” replied Ayla, sheepishly.

Daphne shrugged her shoulders.

“Two weeks!”

“I can take care of my laundry…I want something else…” She started tapping her fingers on the table, thinking about what she could ask her. “You know what, I’ll give myself some time to decide, but you’ll certainly repay me later!”

“Speaking of dates,” Ayla said, “I would love to buy a nice outfit and a pair of new heels for Friday, can you come with me to the mall in the next couple of days?”

“Sure thing. I think I’m free tomorrow afternoon, sounds good?”

“Perfect, I have a lecture until four, but after that It’s fine.”

“It’s set then!”

Their conversation was interrupted by a notification sound on Daphne’s phone, followed by a loud honking.

“Oh, the cab is here, time to go. Wish me luck, girls!” She said, stretching her arms to hug her roommates.

“Break a leg, Daphne!” said Rhea, as their friend waved both girls goodbye, closing the door behind her.

After the sphinx left, the harpy erupted in a loud giggle.

“What’s so funny?”

“She’s totally jealous of you. If I were you, I would watch my back when this Chris is around…”

“Again, I’m not interested in him” groaned Ayla “It’s just objectively an attractive guy, and yes, is tall, I mean, taller than the others at least”

“I can’t understand your fixation with height.”

“It’s just a preference, there’s not anything more to it.”

“Well, you could move behind it, and discover an awesome short guy who’s perfect for you. You could even go the route of our friend Kaylee. A super small boyfriend could be fun, I bet he doesn’t argue with her ever” chuckled Rhea.

“Yeah, I don’t think I really want someone who reminds me what a giant freak I am even more than this.”

“You know that’s not true, and I don’t wanna hear you say it!” She paused for a moment, a single claw scratching the underside of her chin “Speaking of tiny guys, do you remember what was the visiting time at the little guy’s hospital?

“Oh, you wanna come?”

“Well, if you were the one that almost crushed him, I was the one that almost scared him to death…I feel a bit responsible…we harpies have quite a history with mousemins and other small folks, we used to eat them a lot back in the days.”

“Yeah, my ancestors did the same…with practically everything that they could get their jaws on...so I can understand that” sighed Ayla.

“Plus, I wanna make sure that you both are fine and do what I can to help”

“Aww, you’re a dear, you know that?” Ayla cooed, scratching her friend’s head with a finger, causing a happy chirping sound by the harpy “Anyway, I think that that doctor said that visits were 5 to 6 p.m. we have the time to buy and bring him some flowers or something. I dunno, what do you think ?”

“That’s a good idea actually, I’ll see if I can take care of it after lunch.”

Absentmindedly, Ayla glanced at the clock. Twenty past one. “Shit, I’m late! Can you help me with the dishes?”

 

 

On his hospital bed, Ryan was sleeping soundly, enjoying a night’s rest after the long and tiring day he had just experienced.

Suddenly, seeming out of nowhere, he heard a voice, a rugged, deep male voice, loud enough to wake him up instantly. “Wake up, Ryan, there’s a surprise for you!”

As he opened her eyes, he immediately regretted it: Staring right at him was a light grey-furred weaselian, his hardened face crossed by gruesome scars, including a very large one that cut right through his left eye, now veiled by a grey sclera: His sharp teeth were outstretched in a grin, the reflection of the moonlight visible on a long, golden canine. Instinctively, he backed away, his neck colliding with something. Turning, he immediately recognized what he had hit: A large hand, covered in heavy metallic rings, had grasped the headboard of the bed, blocking his other way of escape.

He knew that face very well and clearly remembered how those rings had felt on his stomach and ribs.

“Well well well, it seems that nowadays, cats aren’t the only ones that have nine lives, isn’t that true guys?” He moved his face closer to Ryan’s, the same grin still plastered on his face. “It seems that even little rodents like you got a spare. We need to do something about it!” Swiftly, the weaselian grasped the mousemin’s neck, tightening his grip enough to ensure that he couldn’t call for help.

Ryan grasped the meaty appendage with his own hand, clawing and pulling on the fingers with all of his strength, as he frantically looked around for an escape route, seeing his bed surrounded by two other thugs. However, as much as he tried, the weaselian’s iron grip didn’t budge, and he watched his captor, pale and trembling, as he felt himself rising from the ground, the thug chuckling at him, before addressing him again.

“Honestly, I thought you were done for, that you would become a splot on someone’s shoe, like the little microbe you are,” He said, smiling “but whatever luck had saved you there, now has ended. Now Spike will make sure that you’re taken care of, once and for all. Don’t worry, you’re gonna go to a better place.” He paused for a moment, shrugging his shoulders. “At least, if you believe the priests.”

The weaselian then threw him violently on the bed, before grabbing a pillow from one of the spare beds and beginning to press it on top of the mousemin face, as the other two associates grasped him, blocking any of his attempts to slip away.

Ryan trashed wildly, trying whatever he could to try and escape from the grip and to maintain a pocket of air, but soon, the pressure applied on the large pillow by the thug became overwhelming, and he felt himself slowly suffocating, completely unable to breathe. As his air reserve faded, he put all his remaining strength into a deep inhale, his mouth blocked by the pillow….

…and he almost screamed as he woke up, gasping for air, his nose swollen and his breath heavy and huffed. He found himself in his 4-bed hospital room, lit by the afternoon sun that filtered from the large window on his left side. Still in shock, his eyes darted around, from one corner of the room to the other. Apart from the sleeping form of his roommate, an old ratfolk who was lying two beds away, waiting for a routine checkup, he was alone. Nobody else was in sight, neither in the room nor in the portion of the hallway he could see.

He let his body fall on the bed again, his hyperventilation slowly fading. It had all been a nightmare. Nobody had come for him. All was fine.

Except, he thought as panic grasped him again, he wasn’t so sure of that. From what he knew, the thugs could be already on his tail. Even if they didn't attack the hospital, they were probably just waiting for him to put his nose outside it, and then it would be game over for the poor mousemin.

He had to find a solution. He had to find a hiding place.

He looked at the clock on the opposite wall. A quarter to 5 p.m. According to what Dr. Edwards had said to him in the morning, they would dismiss him the day after tomorrow. Less than 48 hours to solve this, or at least to find a way to buy him some time to find a real solution. He considered coming clean to his parents, explaining to them exactly where the money had come from, and what danger they all were in. It was certainly better than learning it from the news, or worse, to have one of Spike’s associates ring at their doorbell.

On the other hand, his mother would certainly want to go to the police, he knew he couldn’t stop her. He didn’t know if Spike had any clue that he had survived, but he would certainly do if they reported them; and if he knew, they would all be dead.

No, he reminded himself, he needed to leave them in the dark, at least for now. He needed to protect them and maintain whatever advantage he had over the shark. But he also needed someone he could trust.

He sat down on his bed, more than double his length, putting his head between his hands in desperation as he ran mentally to the available options, none of which seemed secure enough to risk it.

His usual friends were off-limits: He had just moved out of Craig’s place when the thugs had tracked him down at the gym, so they had probably started following him from there, meaning that the mobster knew where his friends lived. It would only endanger them for no reason.

His pondering was interrupted by the audible clacking of heels in the hallway. He instinctively froze, still a bit on edge from the nightmare; someone was coming toward his room.

He briefly considered if he should hide, just to be safe, before he heard a thud and a pained yowl, as a white-dressed figure emerged in the doorway.

“Stupid door” a feminine voice mumbled, as a calico catfolk in a nurse attire made her way into the room, ducking her head to enter.

He glanced at her figure: probably younger than him, with brown hair and a lithe body, her expression rapidly changing from a frown into a smile as she straightened herself, looking at him with her light green eyes.

He recognized her, she was the nurse who had taken him to the check-up yesterday, and the one that had accompanied Dr Edwards. He felt a bit more at ease: While he had always been wary of catfolks, she seemed nice and friendly. Plus, she looked extremely goofy as she stroked her forehead, failing to hide the discomfort that bumping her head on the doorframe had caused her.
He also wondered why they had assigned her to this room: it looked pretty cramped for someone her size. Then he remembered that this floor hosted both Tiny and Small patients, so it made sense to have some Small-sized nurses in the area. Still, she reminded him of an older child playing in one of those garden playhouses made for preschoolers, her head scraping the high ceiling.

“Good afternoon, Mr…” She chirped, stopping to check her folder “...Mr Andrews! Hope that you’re feeling better!”

Ryan stood still, taking a moment to examine his state. He for sure felt better than the day before, his bruises aching a lot less. Most of his injuries seemed to have been in the way of healing and the pain that he was feeling all over his body the day before had greatly soothed.

“Yes actually, feeling a lot better today, thank you…but are you okay? That sounded painful, miss…”

“Gray, but you can call me Helen!” said the catfolk, extending a shovel-sized paw towards the mousemin, her lips curled in a big smile, as she continued to stroke her forehead with the other paw “And don’t worry about it, I’m used to it. First time in my life that I’m glad to be short, hahahaha, if I was any taller, I wouldn't probably fit in here” she chirped, erupting in an embarrassed laugh.

Normally, her chirpy, bubbly personality would have really gotten on Ryan’s nerves, but for whatever reason, her energy was contagious, and he couldn’t help but smile as he shook her hand.

“And you can call me Ryan!”

“Agreed!” said Helen, accompanying her comment with a slight wink “Coming to the important part, you have visitors it seems. The girls that dropped you here yesterday wanted to see how you were doing, if that’s all right with you. I have a wheelchair waiting for you just beside the door.”

Oh right, the two girls. He did not know what to do with that, he hadn’t thought he would see them again so soon. On one hand, they seemed to care about him, and he was sure that they were genuinely sorry about how things had gone. On the other hand, every time he looked at them, he felt a hint of primal fear in the back of his head, even if he knew that it was completely irrational. Especially the drakonid: he couldn’t shake from his head the image of her massive toes encroaching upon him, those razor-sharp claws looming above him like inexorable, uncaring monsters.

“Well…” he started, a doubtful expression on his face.

“Look, if you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to worry. We can just send them off and tell them that you’re still recovering, and you can’t see anyone at the moment. As Dr Edwards said yesterday, we understand, and we care about our patients.” Said Helen, a different smile on her face, a warm, comforting one.

Ryan remained silent for a bit, thinking about what she had said. He thought about that other girl, the harpy. She hadn’t really behaved like the stories he had been told as a kid…so maybe they weren’t the monsters he’d always believed them to be? He wasn’t sure if he could confirm it yet, but then again, they had carried him here.
Also, he had bigger problems to face, people he had much more reason to fear.

He inhaled deeply…fuck it, he would go. “Let’s hope I don’t regret it”

“No, okay, it’s fine,” he said, looking up and smiling weakly at the catgirl “Let’s go.”.

“Great!” commented Helen, checking her wristwatch. “They should be here any minute.”

Suddenly, they heard a loud THUMP in the distance, followed by another, and then another one, each, slightly stronger than the last.

The pounding seemed to have a certain rhythm to it, and the sound seemed to get closer and closer. Ryan felt the ground under his bed starting to shake with each thumping sound, and he began to recognize the pacing of it. They were footsteps.

At that point, the shaking was definitely noticeable, strong enough to wake up his roommate, who started yelling and instinctively moved under the bed, his eyes wide in fear.

Ryan looked up and saw that even Helen had started to take notice of the tremors.

“What's...what’s happening.” she asked, grabbing the edge of the bed to try to keep her balance “Please stay calm everyone, it’s only a minor quake” she continued, more to reassure herself than anyone else.

Ryan’s eyes widened as the shaking continued to increase, the chandelier in her room swinging wildly, dust falling off the ceiling.  Apart from that, he was surprised to see that the structure seemed to endure the earthquake fairly well, the weights that were affixed to the heavier furniture seemingly enough to hold them down and avoid having them crash down.

The same couldn’t be said about Helen, whose high heels made maintaining any semblance of equilibrium very challenging, until, following the strongest quake yet, he heard her yell as she slipped, starting to fall flat on her face.

He watched in horror as he realized where her body was going to land: on his bed, directly on top of him.

Swiftly, he tried his best to roll out of the way, managing to avoid having his already broken arm crushed under the catfolk’s body.
Still, it wasn’t swift enough to dodge her completely, and her left shoulder and breast fell directly onto his body, forcibly expelling all the air from his lungs and pinning him to the bed.

“So much for a short girl…” he thought, trying to recover his breath.

Immediately after, the tremors subsided. He let out a sigh, relieved, until he noticed that the bed was still vibrating. He manically looked around, fearing that it wasn’t over yet, before he looked at the body above his, realizing that the source of these last vibrations was the frightened shaking of the 25-ft tall catfolk.

“Hey…” he said in a sliver of voice “could you please…”

Her eyes widened, realizing who was under her, and she sprang up, the sudden movement almost sending the mousemin flying.
“OhmygodImsosorry!” replied the panicked voice of the nurse “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” he coughed “What…what was that?”

“I have no idea…are you okay sir?” she said, moving to assist the old ratfolk, who had collapsed onto his bed, covering his body and head under the sheets, trembling.

She then heard a loud beeping sound from her belt, coming from her pager. She went to check on it, her hand still shaking as she looked at the screen.

“I think your visitors are here…”

 

 

As they reached the hospital’s roof, sitting in a wheelchair, Ryan started having second thoughts on his decision. He had been briefed on the arrangements of the meeting by Helen on the way there, learning that Ayla, the drakonid girl, had called the hospital just after lunch to ask for confirmation, and they had agreed to meet there, in the old helicopter landing area, which stood on a platform one floor taller than the roof of the hospital, making it the highest point of the hospital.

On his left side, Dr Edwards was grasping his wheelchair, having agreed to the hospital’s board to supervise the meeting, to reassure them that everything was under control. As he had told Ryan, having talked with the two girls the day before, he was sure that it had all been an accident this time, and so he had supported this meeting fully, doing the best that he could to arrange it, believing that it would help both Ryan’s recovery and the poor drakonid, who had seemed quite traumatized by the whole experience.

On his right side, he saw the fur-covered leg of Helen, standing a little bit behind him. He could see her leg twitching and trembling, she had confessed to him that yesterday had been the first time she had seen a girl as big as Ayla, and her nervousness was showing.
Still, as he looked up at her, she smiled, giving him a thumbs-up, making him feel just a smidge more at ease.

In front of him, he could see the light blue pillar that was the jeans-covered left leg of Ayla reaching into the sky, The hospital tower reaching about two-thirds the height of her knee even in her slightly stooped position. Looking up at her, Ryan could see two massive amethyst hands emerging from a blue sweater, twiddling their thumbs, the slight tremors caused by her nervous shifting definitively noticeable by the trio standing on the tower.

On the left side of her leg, the smaller, but still imposing form of Rhea, who was sitting down on her knees, the tower reaching just below her nose. She was dressed in a pair of grey baggy pants, and a V-cut black tanktop, which, unbeknownst to her, was giving to a 14-year-old owlin boy, hospitalized on the fifth floor, the view of a lifetime.

She and Edwards were certainly the calmest of the bunch, her face curved in a big, friendly smile.

After a handful of very awkward seconds, the harpy decided to break the ice.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” She said “Hope you are doing well. You seem well, Ryan! Glad to see it!”

Ryan was startled by her affirmation. How could she see him from up there?

“Good afternoon. Ye-yes, I’m doing fine, the bruises hurt a lot less, thanks to the docs here.” Said the mousemin, looking at Dr Edwards, who simply nodded.

“Oh, that’s nice! Very good!” said Rhea, before turning towards the nurse “Oh, I remember you. You were here yesterday, but I didn’t manage to get your name, I think “

“Oh, hello! Yes, nurse Helen Gray, nice to meet you!” Answered Helen, trying her best to smile.

“Nice to meet you, Helen!” said the avian girl, smiling broadly as she gestured towards her standing friend “I’m Rhea, and this is Ayla!”

“Hi-hi” thundered a voice from above. “Nice to meet you.” Said Ayla, moving her hand towards the tower, before stopping herself in mid-motion, unsure if she should go forward with her handshake, ultimately deciding against it.

“Please Ayla, sit down, I don’t think they can see you from there.”

“O-okay, but there isn’t much space…I’ll try to not break anything. I’m sorry in advance, Dr. Edwards!”

The drakonid sat down slowly, her crossed legs occupying most of the backside courtyard of the hospital, arching her back a little to move her head closer to the elevated platform.

Albeit he had already seen her various times, Ryan was still far from used to her size, and seeing her blue eyes looming high above him, and how they were engulfed in her colossal shadow, was making him nervous.  For her part, Helen was even less comfortable, standing there, frozen, a mix of awe and fear in her face.

“Miss Gray, please. Contain yourself” Whispered Dr. Edwards, managing to hide the uneasiness he himself was feeling and maintain a professional demeanor.

“Sorry, doctor.” Answered the nurse, waking up from her shock, and staring at her feet.

“I’m sorry for the lack of accommodation girls, I hope it’s not too uncomfortable for you.” Dr. Edwards said.

“No...no, it’s fine” answered Ayla as she fidgeted with her legs to find a more comfortable seating, bringing a knee up.

“So, Ryan” began Rhea “me and Ayla just wanted to check up with you, and make sure you’re doing okay.”

“Yes” replied the drakonid “And I-I also wanted to apologize again for what I’ve done to you.”

She still felt guilty for that, Ryan thought.

“An-and say that if there is something that I can do to make it right, please let me know.”

I mean, he couldn’t put this on her, she was unaware of him at the time. He thought that he had made it clear yesterday, that part about her not being at fault was true in the end, but maybe she didn’t remember it.

“In the meantime,” said Rhea “we brought a small gift for you, with the wish of a speedy recovery!”

She rustled for a bit on her purse, retrieving a handful of objects from it, that he recognized as a small bouquet of tiny flowers, plus a small, rectangular shape, wrapped in golden and blue paper.

“I had no idea about what flowers you liked, so I bought some of each,” she added, moving those flowers up to the roof. He could see how minuscule those flowers looked in her claw, resembling the small wildflowers that little girls love to pick up from the fields.

At least they did until she brought them to the roof, where it became apparent that each of them was probably the size of a small tree.

They smelled really nice though, covering the area with a fragrant scent.

“And this is a chocolate, from one of my favorite places in town!” Rhea said, depositing the boulder-sized rectangle beside Ryan, realizing only then how big it really was to the mousemin.

“Oh…I’m sorry, this was the smallest one I could find! I’m such a klutz...” said the harpy, lowering her eyes.

For the first time in the last days, Ryan laughed heartily. These girls were nothing but nice, they seemed genuinely interested in helping him, and he had no reason to doubt it.

And then, the realization dawned on him.

These girls had helped him, they had made him avoid the fate that Spike had reserved for him. How could he know that his thugs wouldn’t go after them as well? That he wouldn’t consider them his accomplices?

They needed to know the truth, they deserved to know that they could be in danger.

“Well, at least I don’t need to buy chocolate for a while, hahahahah,” he said, stroking the back of his neck with his right hand. “Thanks anyway, you two are too kind!”

He saw a cute smile forming on both girls’ faces, and he was glad to see their posture getting a bit more relaxed, especially the drakonid. Now that he was more at ease, he noticed that they were both pretty cute. To be fair, even in his panicked state the day before, it hadn’t escaped him that the harpy was attractive, her curves were definitively alluring.
But now, looking at the dragon girl, he noticed there was something in her, something he couldn’t quite put a finger on, in her smile, or maybe in her cerulean eyes, that gave her a lovely girl-next-door look.

Yeah, they weren’t man-eating monsters, he was pretty sure about that now.

“You’re welcome.” said the drakonid “So, how are you feeling? Are you going to get discharged soon?”

Well,” intervened Dr. Edwards “it seems that his values are stable, and he recovered quite quickly, so we will run some more analysis and, if all the parameters are normal, we will let him go on Wednesday.”

“That’s wonderful!” chirped Rhea “You’re a tough little guy, hey?”

“HA-HA” he laughed, embarrassed “s-so it seems.”

“Oh…I’m sorry about that, didn’t want to offend you” replied the harpy, thinking that maybe “little guy” wasn’t the most sensible way to address him.

“It’s fine, really…I’m used to that, hahaha!”

He glanced at his right side, noticing that the long leg of the nurse had stopped twitching. It seemed that Helen was sharing his considerations on the two girls, at least enough to calm her down.

The three continued to chat for the next 20 minutes, mainly about themselves, with the occasional chiming in by Helen and the doctor. He learned that they were both attending the R.U. and that Rhea was studying to become a biologist, even though she wasn’t quite sure yet in which field she wanted to work, while Ayla was hoping to work in a place where she could help foster good relationships between the various-sized folks.

He discovered that the drakonid was quite nerdy, a trait that they had in common, and that she had enjoyed several cons, which apparently were as widespread in Narvias, her hometown, as they were in Revalia.

She also, like him, loved gaming, particularly RPGs, although since her last PC broke, she hadn’t been able to play very often. She had considered getting a console in the meantime but had yet to find a controller that she could comfortably use; they were always too small and unwieldy for her fingers.

He could also clearly hear the harpy’s groans as he and Ayla geeked about their favorite games and fantasy novels, something that made Ryan giggle. He could definitely see he and them becoming friends with each other, with time.

Their small talk was interrupted by a remark by Dr. Edwards “Well, it has been a pleasure, but I have patients to return to, and I feel that Mr. Andrews here would certainly benefit from a little bit more rest, before the final check-up tomorrow. Ms. Gray, if you wouldn’t mind accompanying our guest back to his room… I bid you farewell ladies, have a nice evening” said the middle-aged weaselian, bowing his head at his last sentence, as he started to walk back towards the access to the platform.

“Of course, Dr. Edwards” replied Helen, before looking up at the two girls “Nice to meet you girls, hope to see you again soon” she added, before realizing what she had said. “Wait…that’s not a good thing to wish to someone…I meant…I wish to see you here again…I hope we can meet again… we’ll be on our way then, have a good night!”  She finally said, her cheeks red in embarrassment, crouching to grab the handles of the wheelchair.

As the nurse started to move him away from the edge of the platform, he realized that he still had something to address, something very important. Now it was the right moment. He reached up, grasping the nurse’s hand.

“Wait, Helen. Could you please leave me here for a moment? I have a few things that I wanted to tell Rhea and Ayla if you don’t mind. It will only take a minute. I’ll meet with you at the entrance of the landing spot when I’m done.”

The nurse looked back at him with a puzzled expression, that turned into her usual smile after seeing the subtle “trust me” message that Ryan's eyes transmitted back at her “Sure, I’ll be there then to help you with the elevator. Again, good evening girls!” said the catfolk, waving happily at the two larger girls, who waved back at her, smiling as she lifted the large block of chocolate with two hands, heaving it onto her shoulder as she walked away from them, towards the entrance of the tower.

When the nurse was out of earshot, he grabbed the handle of the motorized controls on the wheelchair, and pushed forward, until he was less than fifty feet from the edge, seeing the two girls moving closer to him, Ayla’s face lowering until her snout was almost on level with the platform.

“What is it, Ryan?” Asked the drakonid, her voice powerful enough at this close distance to push his hair and fur back, even in her soft tone.

“Please, try to keep your voice low,” said the mousemin, using his right hand to adjust his blown-up hair “There is something that I have to tell you, about why you found me where I was.”

He lowered his eyes as he inhaled deeply, seeing her interrogating gaze upon him. “This is it,” he thought “no turning back from here”.

He proceeded to tell them everything, from the money he had asked Spike, to his struggles to pay the absurd interest rates the shark had given him, to his attempts to throw the mob off his scent and to protect his parents, to the final, fateful encounter.
In the middle of his recount, he started to feel the lump on the back of his throat, one that he had felt since he had made his mind to come clear, growing and growing, and a stream of hot, wet tears making their way down his face, soaking his hospital robe.

As he ended his tale, he glanced up: the drakonid was frozen in a state of utter shock, unable to speak properly, only unintelligible stuttering coming from her mouth. For her part, the harpy was also very distressed, her eyes welling with tears. They both couldn’t believe that they had tried to make Ayla into a murderer, almost making her kill an innocent person.

“…So, even if right now I don’t think they know that I have survived and that you have saved me, there is always the possibility that they could see this hospital’s records and retrace my steps to you. So, I would advise you to be careful, they are dangerous people.”

He saw Rhea suddenly standing up, starting to pace around the courtyard, while Ayla remained immovable, still completely in shock “Fuck! If only Daphne was here, she would know what to do!” said the harpy, before turning back “But...what are you gonna do now? Where are you gonna go? You can’t go back home, they know where you live!”

“I…don’t’ know” answered Ryan, discomforted. “I will need to find a hiding place, maybe a motel for the moment, a place where I can book a room anonymously.”

“But you’ve got no money!”

Right, Ryan had forgotten that they had also taken his wallet.

“Shit, that’s right…” He admitted, scratching his head “I’ll figure something out, don’t you worry.”

“Don’t you worry?” replied the harpy, lowering her voice as she realized she was no longer whispering, moving even closer to the mousemin. “You have a dangerous mobster after you, that knows where you live, presumably knows your parent’s place, you have no money, and you’re telling me to not worry?”

Ryan backed away from her face, his primal instinct kicking in at the sight of her warehouse-sized head approaching him, her short fangs bared in anger, even if he knew that she wasn’t angry at him.

“Yeah, you’re right…I don’t know what to do…”

Suddenly, they saw Ayla’s snout twitching, her face snapping out of the frozen state, as a small rivulet started making its way down her cheek.

“I-I think i kno-know what we can d-do…” She said, her voice trembling, “Y-you and we need so-some time to co-collect our thou-thoughts…you can come to sta-stay with us in the meantime. We ha-have to ask Daphne about th-this, but I’m su-sure she will understand.”

His eyes widened “Are you sure about this? That could be very dangerous for you.”

The drakonid nodded, sniffling “From what you sa-said, they don’t know who we a-are and that we have go-got anything to do with y-you, and they wouldn’t have an-any reason to look for you in the ho-house of three Ti-titan college girls, It’s...it’s probably one of the mo-most dangerous places for you to b-be in” she stopped for a second, cleaning her tears with a handkerchief, sniffling loudly “…besides, you sa-said we could be al-already in danger. I thi-think we a-are in this tog-together.”

The harpy walked to her friend’s side, stroking her upright leg with her hand, as she wiped her tears from her eyes “You know…that is actually a nice idea, we’ve got plenty of space, and we can also maybe protect you, if” She stopped, audibly gulping “if they come for you there.”

“Also that...I’m not a fi-fighter,” nodded Ayla “bu-but maybe they will be sca-scared of us.”

He looked at the two girls, the harpy reprising her big, goofy grin, while the drakonid finished drying her tears, inhaling deeply to calm herself down before smiling weakly at him.

“I’m not sure about that, but…thank you, sincerely.”

“Don’t mention it, Ryan.” Answered the harpy.

“Yeah, we’re ha-happy to help!” chimed in Ayla “So, are we set?”

He smiled, looking up at her. “Yes, we’re set.”

“As long as you pull off your weight in the house” commented Rhea “You know, each roomie has to wash their dishes, sweep the floor…and given that we’re not making you pay the rent, maybe you should do our laundry.” She added, seriously “Can’t say that I envy you, Ayla’s gym clothes really stink!”

“Sh-Shut up!” replied the drakonid, blushing slightly “Remind me who’s the little kid who always makes a mess of herself while eating?” she added, narrowing her eyes towards Rhea, who answered by simply sticking her tongue out “Don’t worry, she’s just messing with you Ryan, you don’t have to do anything.”

“I mean, if he wants, I’m not complaining,” said the harpy, shrugging her shoulders. “On a more serious note, the doc said that they’re gonna discharge you on Wednesday, we should exchange numbers, so we can arrange for one of us to come pick you up. Our house is quite far from here, it’s gonna take you a lot of time to reach it on foot.”

“That’s good!” replied Ayla, “In the meantime, we will check with Daphne and prepare your room.”

“I…I don’t know what to say” said the mousemin, weakly. He really did not. He imagined that they would have offered him their help, but this was well beyond his expectations. He already owed them a lot, and now they were putting themselves in danger for a stranger, a person that they practically knew nothing about.

“You don’t need to say anything,” said Ayla, now smiling broadly, lifting a lock of her purple hair away from her face “It’s just until we’ve decided our next course of action, I’m sure all will work out in the end.”

“I don’t have a phone though... it was in my gym bag.”

“You could have someone in the hospital write it somewhere, I don’t know. Maybe to that nurse that was with you,” said Rhea.

“Okay…makes sense… she seems nice, we can keep in contact through her” suggested Ryan.

“Yeah, that’s good. Just tell her that we wanted to invite you out to celebrate your recovery, or apologize, or something. After you’re settled in, we will work out things like the phone, some clothes, etc…”

“Yeah…I suppose I cannot get those from my house” replied Ryan.

“We’ll figure something out, don’t worry.” said Ayla.

“Great, I think it’s all settled then! We will wait for you on Wednesday…” commented Rhea “…new roomie” she added, winking.

She then looked at the sky, the afternoon sun slowly getting lower on the horizon.

“I suppose we should leave you now, you need to rest.”

“Yeah, I think visitor’s time is almost up, we should go home.” commented Ayla “Rest well, Ryan, see you soon!” she added, waving at him and smiling, before standing up, her jeans-covered calf now facing Ryan.

“Bye Ryan” chimed in Rhea, flapping her wings to take off as she waved at him, generating a strong enough to force him into his chair and blow all his fur back.

“Goodbye girls, and thanks again!” said Ryan, smiling.

He watched for a little bit as the two girls made their way south, in one of the largest streets away from the hospital, giggling as he saw the drakonid watching her every stride, making the ground shake slightly as she walked, even if she was taking extra care to make her steps as soft as possible.

That no-fly area for Titans in the city was certainly tough for someone like her, he thought, looking at how she was keeping her wings completely furled and her tail very close to her body, presumably to avoid inadvertently hitting something.

He continued to watch them a little bit, debating if he had made the right move. Well, he thought, there were certainly worse fates than living with cute college girls, even as massive as them. At least, it was comforting to know that he wasn’t alone in this whole mess anymore.

As the sound of her colossal footfalls faded, he turned, grabbing the cloche of the automatized wheelchair, maneuvering towards the covered stairs that allowed access to the tower, where the nurse was patiently waiting for him.

“I admit, maybe I was more scared than necessary…” said Helen looking down at him, smiling as she pushed the button that called the elevator “I feel that went pretty well in the end, didn’t it?”

“Yeah…” replied the mousemin “pretty well.”

“Here, try these!” said Helen, offering Ryan a pair of dark grey jeans. “They’re not the most stylish, I know, but they’re clean and they seem to be your size.” She added.

Tuesday had passed in a breeze for Ryan, between the final check-ups, the chatting with Helen and Mr. Donovan, the elderly ratfolk that shared the room with him, and the various arrangements that he needed to make to get discharged, and the time at which Rhea would come to pick him up was getting close.

Helen had been more than happy to be the contact between him and the girls, never asking why they among all people were coming today, even if he could tell that she wasn’t completely sold on them;  Not only that, but she had also gone out of her way to find him some spare clothes and shoes, something that he greatly appreciated, considering the state in which his gym clothes laid after his unfortunate trip into Ayla’s shoe.

As the small mousemin grabbed the pants, he realized that there was a small problem.

“Hmmm, Helen? Can you please…” he said, pointing with his eyes at his casted arm. Even if the doctors had reduced the cast and freed his left hand, many movements were limited.

“Of course, Ryan!” answered the catfolk, kneeling, grabbing his pajama pants, and pulling them down gently, realizing that she wouldn’t easily be able to bend enough to remove them.
“Hmm...” she mused, “Do you mind a little lift? It will probably be easier and faster for me that way.”

“Okay…but please, be careful,” said Ryan, looking up at her.
“Don’t worry, I have a brother who’s 14 years my younger, I did this a lot as a teenager!” she answered, smiling, as she grabbed the mousemin waist, hoisting him up a good 15 feet in the air, holding it against her chest like a little kid as she finished pulling off his pants.  

Ryan’s face reddened as he felt a soft, pillowy surface behind his back. She was probably a C-cup at best, but given their size difference, her breasts felt like veritable beach balls against his body.

She snatched the jeans away from his hands, pulling them on him with a single, swift motion before she lowered the smaller man to the ground.

“There! Turn around…I think they fit, don’t they?” she asked, while buttoning them.

He looked at his legs, standing on his tiptoes, first with one foot, then with the other. E could have lived without the rips and holes, but they weren’t excessively tight or baggy.

“Beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.” he thought.

“Yeah, they could do.” He said to the nurse.

“I think they’re perfect,” replied Helen, looking intently at him…maybe a little too intently, thought Ryan. Was she checking him out?

Before he could wonder if that was true, he heard a strange buzz coming from his nightstand; they both took a moment to understand that it was a notification from Ryan’s “new” phone.  He was grateful that the hospital had been able to provide him with that; Apparently, the common occurrence of the “accidents” of patients with bigs made so that they kept a stock available for those who might need it.

As he grabbed the mobile, he saw that it was a message from someone, that from the profile pic he recognized as Rhea.

Heyyyy, Rhea speaking!
Helen gave me the number this morning, so we can message here.
Also, I’m on my way, I’ll be there in around 15 minutes.

See ya soon!

“I think I’ll take them, Rhea is almost here,” he said, smiling back at the nurse, while he grabbed the blue hoodie that was lying on the bed, struggling to get it on due to the shoulder band.

“No, not like this Ryan, you’re gonna hurt yourself.” commented Helen “Here” she added, stretching the hoodie’s neck to its limit, before sliding it onto his left arm, and then onto the right arm. “There you go.”

“Thank you, Helen,” said Ryan, looking up at her “For everything…the clothes, the help…if there’s something I can do to make it up to you.”

“Nah, don’t worry, silly...it’s my job.” replied the nurse, smiling back at him, a slight blush on her cheeks. “Let’s finish packing your things, okay ?” she added, looking away from him.

 

 

As they made their way out of the hospital, into the main parking lot, they saw a bunch of people, including Mr. Donovan, sitting on a bench, that was enjoying the morning air.

“Hello Ryan,” said the older ratfolk, glancing at the backpack that Helen was carrying  “So you’re getting discharged today, aren’t you?”

“Good morning Mr. Donovan,” said Ryan “Yes, it seems so!”

“Glad to hear it lad, glad to hear it. I had caught wind about what had happened to you, damn bigs, but you seem to be doing good now. I suppose you young fellows are pretty resilient; if one of those bullies had caught me in your stance, I probably wouldn’t be here now to tell the tale, hahaha!” he commented, ending the last sentence with a raspy laugh.

He forced himself to smile; the old man reminded him a lot of his grandfather, and Ryan imagined that, just like him, he had already made up his mind on what had happened to Ryan based on his own views about bigs. He couldn’t blame Mr. Donovan though: until a few days ago, Ryan shared some of his beliefs.

Before Ryan could reply, he felt a heavy breeze washing on his face and body, strong enough to push back some pieces of paper and fragments of garbage that were scattered around the lot. As he looked up, he saw a huge, black talon, its claws covered in purple nail polish, slowly descending onto the ground, finally landing with a heavy THUD a hundred feet to his left.  Another one, similarly huge, landed a couple hundred feet to his right, and as he looked further up, he saw the brown-feathered body of Rhea, a large smile on her face as she waved down at him.

“Hi, Ryan!”

He waved back at her, glancing with one eye towards his interlocutor, only to find that it was not there anymore; confused, he looked around, until he saw him hiding under a bench, the farthest one from Rhea’s position, staring up at the harpy in fear.  

The avian girl didn’t seem to have noticed it, as she slowly adjusted her position to be able to look at Ryan better, looking around attentively to avoid hitting any of the people or scraping the (to her) toe-height ambulances.

He realized that each of the talons was at least 1 and a half times the length of the parked vehicles, while he didn’t even clear the height of their tires. No wonder she was so careful.

He turned back at her, seeing that she was dressed in a grey T-shirt with the aerography of a stylized dog, cargo shorts on her legs, and a red backpack strapped to her shoulders.

“Morning to you as well, Helen! Sorry I’m late, the professor went on and on today,” said the harpy, “I ended up sneaking out of the class in the end” she added, giggling.

“No worries, we have just arrived.” replied Ryan.

“So, that’s what you have?” said the harpy, pointing at the gym bag that Helen was carrying, “Let me take care of that,” she offered, moving her clawed hand toward them, pinching the tiny bag between her thumb and forefinger.

“There is nothing fragile here, right?” she asked, unzipping a lateral pocket of her backpack, and putting it in.

“I… don’t think so,” said Ryan. At least he hoped.

“Anyway, I think we should get going. I dunno you, but I’m starving,”

Ryan’s stomach was starting to growl, it was almost half past noon after all.

“Yeah, I guess we can. I’m ready.”

“Soo…any preferences on where you wanna ride?” Asked Rhea, smiling.

“What do you mean?” He wondered.

“Well, you can either sit on my head, so you can enjoy the view, although it could get very windy, or you can stay in my breast pocket, which is certainly comfier and safer. Choice’s yours!”

He looked up at her, remembering his previous time inside her bra…it surely was comfy….

“I think the breast pocket is a little more secure…I’m not sure I can hold on to your head with this arm.”

“Of course, you choose the place right on my boobs...men, always like this, right?” she mused, winking toward Helen.

Ryan’s face became deep red, and he immediately tried to retract its previous statement.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just…”

A roaring laugh erupted from the harpy’s mouth.

“Hahaha, you should’ve seen your face! Relax silly, I’m just kidding! I wore this tee exactly for this reason.” she said, extending her hand toward him, before stopping it a dozen feet from him.

“May I?” she asked, the amusement still visible on her face.

He nodded “Sure!”

He felt her thumb and forefinger clasping his form, enveloping his body in a firm, but gentle pinch. She smiled at him as she slowly lifted the mousemin, her voice turned into a more serious, “professional” tone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Rhea’s Airlines. This is your captain speaking, we thank you for choosing to travel with us.”  She announced, reaching the hem of the breast pocket with her hand before releasing her grip, letting Ryan drop a dozen feet, his fall stopped by a soft, cottony material. After she had made sure he was safe and secure, Rhea waved down at Helen, smiling, before concluding her announcement.

“Now sit down, relax, and enjoy your flight.”

Then, with a flutter of wings, which generated a gale so strong that the nurse was forced to close her eyes, she took flight, the inertia pressing Ryan deep into the pocket, his eyes shutting reflexively as well as a strong wind began pressing on his face.

It took him a couple of minutes to muster the courage to open them back, but when he did it, he was met with a view that, even if partially obscured by the cloth, he couldn’t describe as anything but breathtaking:

The Small neighborhood was sprawled hundreds of feet below him, dozens and dozens of blocks passing rapidly in front of his eyes, with small, bug-sized cars zooming between the narrow streets, and hundreds of even smaller people scattered about the blocks.

As he marveled at the vision below, he felt himself being pushed to the left as Rhea took a sharp turn, and he saw the crowded apartments of the Small neighborhood being slowly replaced by different buildings, larger, fewer in numbers. He saw the form of the harpy maneuver between enormous trees and equally large houses, into blocks that had the typical appearance of a series of terrace houses, connected by large paved sideways mostly devoid of cars.

“They probably don’t need them most of the time” Thought Ryan.
A little ways beside it, he could see what he recognized as the Titan’s neighborhood leaving the way to one of the historical quarters of the city, the one that the mixed-sized neighborhood also bordered. At the center of this ward, on the borders of his vision, he could see a large, ancient-looking building, made mostly of red stone bricks, surrounded by a crowd of what seemed like young college students. Before they could reach the campus however, Rhea turned again to enter a large road, delimited by impossibly high walls. They were probably imposing even at her size. As he felt the harpy slowing down, he looked at what seemed to be their destination.

There, standing in front of them, was the largest house he had ever seen. Painted in a white tone, with a light blue hue for the lower floor, it stood 2 stories tall, surrounded by a small courtyard, that separated it from other, similarly colossal homesteads. A driveway made of stone crossed the middle of the courtyard, stopping just in front of a thick, half-a-mile-tall door made of light brown wood, that they were rapidly approaching.

Enthralled, completely immersed in this view, he hadn’t even realized that Rhea was slowly stopping, just in front of a smaller, but still imposing, skyscraper-sized door carved inside the larger one, just above the central wooden beam.

“Here we are!” boomed the harpy’s voice, and Ryan felt himself plummet a couple of dozen feet, falling towards the cushioned end of the pocket, as she suddenly became vertical, landing on top of the central horizontal wooden beam. He heard a heavy rustling of keys as the large door beside him opened, revealing an expansive, modestly decorated living room, with a dark orange couch visible on the corner, and a large kitchen table appearing on the other side.

“Hey Ayla, we’re home!” called out Rhea, her voice making Ryan’s ears ring.

“Cooming!... Did you brush your talons on the doormat?” replied Ayla.

“Right...” she groaned “Come take Ryan, and I’ll do it in the meantime.”

He then heard something very heavy hitting the ground, just out of view, followed by a series of rhythmic footsteps, before something very large emerged in his field of vision. At the same time, he saw light pouring through the opening of his prison of cloth before the clawed hand of Rhea emerged, her fingers surrounding the mousemin as they gently pinched him on his chest and back, lifting him out of the pocket. Before him, occupying his whole field of vision, stood the hem of a pair of navy blue pants, kept up by a black belt with a silvery buckle. At the side of that, the form-fitting pants folded, covering her upper legs and her shapely thighs, barely visible at the corner of his eyes.

She certainly kept herself in shape.

Ryan hadn’t asked her her height and had not paid much attention to the size of their furniture, but still, judging by the position of the sort of “elevated cat door” that they stood on, it was evident that Ayla was taller than the door, and not by a small margin.

While he tried to do some mental calculations, again dumbfounded by the mere presence of such a massive being, even when he thought he was starting to acclimate to her magnitude, he saw her belt disappearing as her legs bent, her knees dropping onto the ground as her city-block sized snout came into view, a happy light in her blue eyes.

“Hi Ryan, welcome!” she chirped, smiling,

“H-hi Ayla!” he answered, caught completely off guard by the swiftness of her movements.

“Did you have a nice trip?” asked the drakonid.

“It was actually fun, the view is great from up there,” he said, speaking in a loud tone, a bit calmer than before.

“So…you’ll recommend Rhea Airlines to friends and family?” Mused Rhea, as she turned to unzip the lateral pocket of her backpack.

“I will certainly do!” he laughed.

“Man, what I would do to be able to fly around here, but alas, it is what it is,” she sighed. “At least the city is pretty easy to travel on foot,” she added, reprising her smile as she brought her outstretched palm close to the elevated cat door.

Ryan watched as his body, carried by the harpy, descended towards the vast amethyst surface, landing just beside his bag, which Rhea was carrying in her other hand.

Immediately, he felt himself rising hundreds of feet in an instant, the sudden change of elevation making him dizzy.

Ayla noticed that, stopping her movement and giving him a concerned look.

“Are you okay?”

As he looked up at her, he froze: She was looking at him from up close, her eye only a handful of (to her) centimeters from him. From this distance, Ryan was able to see all the patterns of her cornea, every intricate motif of her blue iris displayed before him like an abstract painting. Many of those were probably too small for her to notice, but to him, every single detail was visible. Every, mesmerizing pattern of her…

He shook his head, considering that it wasn’t the place nor the time to gawk at her, before answering.

“Ye-yeah, I’m fine. Just, try to stand up a bit more slowly maybe.”

“Oh...I’m sorry, I will try to be more careful.” Answered Ayla. “Anyways, time for a little tour of the house!” she added happily, describing the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms, and the bathroom, accompanying her description with ample rotations and arching gestures, that were making Ryan’s insides violently churn.

She didn’t notice his discomfort until he was bent on his knees, struggling to keep his breakfast in his stomach.

“Hey Ryan…wha-what’s happening? Are you feeling good?” she gasped, before realizing what was the cause of his distress, “So-sorry, I will put you on the ground now…” she mumbled, her eyes low as she slowly lowered him onto the coffee table, pinching him between two of her claw tips, making sure to descend at a snail’s pace.

“Th-there you go.”

It took Ryan a moment to regain his footing and become able to look up, where he saw the drakonid sitting on the expansive couch in front of him, looking at her left side, averting her gaze.

As she glanced at him from the corner of an eye, seeing that he was fine, she relaxed her posture a little, lowering her knees.

“So, do you like it?” she asked, her legs curled.

“Yeah, it's cozy, comfortable, certainly better than my bachelor flat. And there is so much space!”

She laughed sheepishly, as Rhea swooshed in on their left side, letting herself fall on the couch, her head resting on Ayla’s upper leg.

“Man, am I tired,” she mumbled.

“But it’s only noon.” convened the drakonid.

“After four consecutive hours of lectures, this feels more like midnight.”

“Anyways, coming to the important things.” Began Ayla, turning towards the mousemin again “Ryan, we’re very glad that you’re staying with us n for the time being, and Daphne is looking forward to meeting you when she comes home from work in the evening. However, there’s a couple of rules that we wanted to discuss with you, you know, to ensure your safety while you’re here if you don’t mind.”

“Makes sense,” said Ryan, who was very aware of the danger that everything in the gigantic house could pose.

“First of all, a general rule, the shoes come off when you get home, Daphne doesn’t like having to clean up the footprints around the house.” She glanced at his feet, covered in his gym sneakers. “Although she won’t probably even notice yours…but still, try to keep them at least clean, okay? Also, it would probably be easier to feel you under our bare toes, were you …to be stepped on,” she concludes, speaking the last sentence with a sliver of voice.

He glanced down, his gaze immediately captured by the building-sized feet resting below the coffee table he was on, Ayla’s clawed toes absentmindedly scrunching as she spoke. He couldn’t help but gulp as he imagined himself under those digits again.

“That brings me to the second rule: try to avoid staying on the floor if it is not of the utmost necessity. We realize that this is not the most comfortable arrangement to stay in for someone like…well, like you, but there is always someone here, and we are all more than happy to help you move around the house, or get you anything you need.”

“Third: make sure that at least one of us knows where you are at all times. We will respect your privacy, but at the same time we want to avoid you getting in danger because of our absentmindedness.”

“Okay, those seem pretty sensible,” commented Ryan, his mind still thinking about those black claws.

“Another thing,” started Rhea, “Daphne is trying to see if she can procure some Tiny-sized furniture, to make your life a bit easier…in the meantime, we have made some arrangements for you, in terms of bathroom and sleeping. Considering that Daphne is not here, and I’m kinda dating someone at the moment, so…you know…”

“Plus, you’re kind of a klutz.” intervened Ayla, gently tapping Rhea’s nose with her index finger.

“HEY…but yes, that’s true.” resumed the harpy, scratching her nose “We can either put those in the living room or Ayla’s room. Your choice.”

He thought about it. They had a point, it was very easy for the girls to lose sight of where he was, and that could create all sorts of grievous accidents, so staying in the living room all alone was not a great idea. At the same time, Ryan thought, the utter massiveness of the form of Ayla scared him, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous at the thought of being right next to such a colossal being all the time. Sure, she was friendly, but this didn’t change the fact that she could snuff his life out in an instant, without even noticing.
But then again, the same could be said about the harpy, and most likely about the other roommate, that Daphne. He hadn’t seen her yet, but given the size of the house they lived in, there was little doubt of her being bigger than Rhea.

He looked at the drakonid, her cerulean eyes eyeing him intently, waiting for an answer. In the end, they seemed to have made all the arrangements that they could to make him feel at ease, not to mention that they were risking a lot, so maybe it was a bit pretentious of him to have so many doubts about them. Hoping that they would be as careful as they seemed, he finally spoke.

“Well, considering what you guys said about always knowing where I am, I think that Ayla’s room is the best choice. So she can always keep an eye on me, maybe?”

Ayla’s face curved in a warm smile.

“Okay then,” said the dragongirl, smiling. “I’ll bring the arrangements to my room, while Rhea heats the stoves.”  

“Roger that,” said the harpy, “What are we eating?”

“Well, I remembered this morning that Ryan likes seafood, so I went ahead and bought some frozen prawns. They are in a bowl in the sink, if you could please rinse them. ”

Oh, how considerate, thought Ryan.

“Oooh, I like the sound of it.” said the harpy, as Ayla moved upstairs.

She returned briefly afterward, announced by the slight tremors of the glassy surface of the coffee table Ryan was still on.

He watched her pillar-like jeans move past him and towards the stoves, starting to prepare lunch.

It didn’t take long until his nose was hit by the smell of grilled seafood. After three days of hospital food, the aroma was enough to make his mouth water.

In the meantime, he saw Rhea fluttering towards the coffee table, crossing her legs as she landed on the glassy surface.

“Ah, I had almost forgotten something,” she said, looking down at him “We have a little present for you!” she added, adjusting her position to pull out something from her jeans’ front pocket, a small metallic box, slightly dented in places, utterly minuscule between the tips of her nails.

“Shit,” she muttered, noticing the state of the box “Please don’t be broken, please don’t be broken.” she prayed, depositing the box on the ground, in the middle between the 30 or so feet distance between them, opening it up with a slight flick of her fingertip.

“Oh, it seems alright, thankfully.” she sighed. “Come, take a look at it.” she added.

He moved towards the open container, seeing a pair of tiny-sized and very high-tech-looking, if a bit worn, headphones, complete with a microphone and a charger. The only thing that seemed a bit off was their flashy, bright purple color.

“Now, I’m not the most familiar with the technical jargon of you engineers and programmers,” said Rhea, looming high above him, “but if I understood correctly, this will allow us to communicate a bit better with each other.”

Ah yes. Now he knew why they seemed familiar. There had been a lot of talk about this new system of communication in the last 4-5 months. They weren’t still the most accessible and widespread, but they were getting cheaper by the week.

“We already have our earpieces on,” she said, gesturing towards her right ear, where a silvery button-like earring stood, just below the ear canal, “So you just need to turn on these headphones, and you won’t need to shout the whole time when you want to talk with us…yes, yours is a bit more uncomfortable, but as I understood you need this whole shebang to amplify your voice and filter and reduce ours,”

“No worries…thanks, it must  have been expensive.”

“Nah, not really. A colleague of mine had it for her girlfriend, but then she bought the new model, so she gladly gave me this.”

“That explains the color,” he said, putting it on.

“Lol, let me see,” she said, moving her face closer to him, “It kinda suits you. You could totally open a gamer girl channel now or something,” she added, chuckling a little.

He let out a small laugh, “Yeah, streaming is probably not a great idea if I want to fly under the radar.”

“I guess not…” she convened, lowering her eyes.

“Although, I’m sure it would be a hit if I did,” He said, “Grandma says that I’m a handsome young man.” He added, trying his best at a flirty pose to underline his statement.

Rhea laughed.

“Grandma sure knows best,” commented the harpy, as she lowered her open palm towards him.

“Wanna clean yourself before lunch?”

“That would be lovely,” he answered, looking up at her as he climbed on the huge hand.

It took Rhea only a couple of seconds to reach Ayla’s room, the door open enough to allow the comparatively small harpy to slip through without trouble.

As they went inside, they were met with a simple, if spacious bedroom, that Ryan would probably define as a typical “nerdy” girl room: A plain, double bed, with light blue sheets on top of which stood two elongated pillows; A small, square night table equipped with a bedside lamp, where a relatively thin book, the title unreadable from this distance, rested; On the light brown wooden desk laid a couple of wireless headphones, a controller leaning on the side of the charger, a series of notebooks and pads sprawled on the wooded surface, some on top of a large, grey laptop; At the side of the desk was a small bookcase, its first two rows filled with several neatly ordered books, while the third row contained a number of small pouches and satchels, and what looked to be an elongated case made of neatly polished wood, laying on top of various sheets of blank paper; Several plushies and plastic dolls decorated the topmost layer of the bookcase, representing mostly cartoon animals and characters that Ryan couldn’t identify. As they moved closer to the bed, he started to recognize the largest one, that was resting on top of the bed: Geltharas the Red Tyrant, a giant red dragon that was the villain of Last Fantasy, one of the most famous RPG sagas. He had never seen a plushy of that, he didn’t even know they sold them; It also looked a bit off,  far less menacing and far cuter than the other representations he had seen.

A shiver ran down his spine as he realized that that doll, most likely not taller than a regular doll to Ayla, would have looked like a veritable kaiju in his neighborhood, towering over most of the buildings.

“At least, it doesn’t look that threatening.” he thought with a chuckle.

As they closed the distance with the bedpost, he noticed something small on top of the night table, something that had previously been hidden by the far bigger lamp in front of it: a matchstick box, with his top side cut off.

 

From his advantageous position, on top of the harpy’s breast pocket, he could see some peculiar objects inside of it, including some strange makeshift objects made of playdough covered by thin cardboard, the shape of which reminded him of chairs and pieces of furniture, placed around a small rubber; a pair of cotton balls rested in an angle, the largest of which, to him the size of a car, was covered with a square of thick cloth; smaller pieces of a similar colored cloth were visible on the other side, placed neatly beside a bottlecap filled with water.
He smiled. He couldn’t believe his eyes:

An apartment of his size, complete with a bed, a washing basin, and even a sofa!

“Home sweet home,” Said Rhea as she landed, slowly lowering Ryan to the ground “We tried to put in everything you might need, and we cut off the top to give you light. It’s not the fanciest of accommodations, I know. Let’s hope that Daphne can find something  resembling real furniture.”

“What do you mean?” He said, “It’s perfect…it really wasn’t necessary.” He added, looking up at her, past her pillar-like legs.

“Nah, no worries. I hadn’t played with the playdough since 1st grade, it was a lot of fun,”
“Well, maybe you can start a career in tiny furniture manufacturing” he joked.

She laughed back at him, “Come on, go inside, tell me how it is” she added, pointing towards the opening that had been cut on the side of the box, acting as a front door.
As he moved towards his new living quarters, he noticed that it wasn’t properly scaled for his size, beginning with the door, the archway reaching well above the height of a single-story building.
The same could be said for the furniture, with the low sofa standing at the height of bar stools, and the cotton swab that was supposed to be his mattress that looked around the size of a car.

Rhea immediately took notice of that, cursing under her breath as she looked down at the oversized furniture.
“Shit…I’m so sorry, I’ve tried to make them as small as possible, even used needles, toothpicks, and stuff,” she commented, lowering her face.

He looked up at her. Even though the matchstick box was scaled for Ayla’s size, he could see how she still loomed over the whole thing, her hand probably not much smaller than the length of the whole box. He couldn’t really fault her for being inaccurate. In the end, all things considered, the makeshift furniture was still serviceable.

“It’s…it’s fine. A tad big, maybe, but it’s perfect. You went above and beyond what you needed to do. I even have my own Jacuzzi!” he joked, pointing at the bottlecap.

She smiled, before reaching out to her jeans pocket, extracting Ryan’s bag from it.

“Anyways, here’s your clothes.” said the harpy, lowering the bag to the side of the cotton bed.
“I’ll give you some privacy...if you need anything, just tell me,” She said, standing up and turning away, sitting on the edge of the night table with her back turned to the box.

After a quick freshening, they made their way back to the dining room, where they were met with the delicious smell of cooked seafood.
“There you are!” said Ayla, plates in hand, as she moved towards the kitchen table “I was calling for you. Lunch is ready!” she commented.

“Yeah, I was just showing Ryan around,” said Rhea, as she deposited him on the table, not far from a chair, before fluttering to what he assumed was a tall bar stool, while the drakonid put a small plate, containing a couple of king prawns, in front of the harpy.

“How did you find your room, Ryan? Hope everything is alright.” said Ayla, putting a similar plate in front of him, the simple gesture enough to make the ground at his feet tremble slightly.

Ryan didn’t even notice that, dumbstruck as he was at the sight of the bus-sized crustaceans.

He didn’t know how much time had passed until he heard Ayla’s voice.

“Ryan? Is everything okay ?” she said, looking down at him, concern audible in her tone.

He snapped out of it, shaking his head.

“Yeah, yeah…the room was fine, more than fine actually. Certainly more than I would have hoped for.”

“That’s nice to hear, we tried our best,” she said, smiling warmly as she sat down in front of him, her plate filled with a veritable small mountain of prawns.

“I wasn’t sure if the night table was a good place to put it, but I felt it would be more comfortable than the desk, given that I don’t use that old lamp that much anymore. I can also see that Rhea gave you the headphones!“ She said, pointing at the set resting against his upper chest  “Remember, whatever you might need…” she said, gesturing at a small pearl embedded in the frill that constituted the auricle in her species.

He nodded, smiling.

“Now, let’s eat! Hope you like it, this is a family recipe.”

“Finally!” mumbled Rhea, as she grabbed a peeled prawn with both hands and started scarfing it happily. 

“Look at you, Queen of the Jungle,” giggled Ayla.

“I’m starving, okay? Flying all across the city is fucking exhausting” replied the harpy, putting the, grabbing the fork and knife at either side of her plate.

With a chuckle, Ryan started to walk on his plate, towards the quarter of a prawn that she had cut for him, which stood between two and three times his size when he realized a little problem.

“Erm…how should I” he whispered, trying to break some pieces off the prawn, the casted arm strapped to his right shoulder making the whole affair quite a bit trickier.

After several seconds, he had managed to cut a couple of small pieces of meat, before Ayla took notice of his struggles.

“Of course...how could I…step aside, I’ll cut it for you.”

“No…that’s not needed.”

“Yes, it is…no worries, I don’t mind,” said the dragongirl, grabbing a knife.

He moved away from the prawn, watching her blade moving swiftly, as his masculine pride made him fume.

Sure, he was diminutive compared to them, but he was able to cut his own food! He wasn’t a kid, gods dammit! That was only a broken arm!

Still, it took Ayla only a handful of seconds to complete her task, the prawn now cut into pieces roughly the size of his head.

He grabbed the one closest to him, taking a bite. As the fish hit his tastebuds, he immediately forgot his wounded pride: It tasted amazing.

It reminded him of the grilled crayfish his father used to make during their summer vacation when he was a kid.

He sighed at the thought of his parents. They didn’t call or text him every day, but still, when he finally managed to contact them, they told him that they had tried calling him several times, and they seriously freaked when he didn't answer them; Luckily, she seemed to have believed him when he told her that his phone had broke, and Spike didn’t seem to have bothered them, meaning that most likely he was oblivious to these calls.

Still, he hated having to lie to his parents. He hoped that he could come clean to them soon…

“Earth calls Ryan.” boomed Ayla’s voice, the tone even more worried than before, “What’s up?”

“Nothing, it's delicious,” he said, taking another big bite, savoring the flavor, trying not to think about his parents.

He ended up eating the whole piece, and more than a half of the other, before he leaned on the table, satisfied.

“Okay, I’m done.” he said, rubbing his belly.

“Are you sure you’re full?” Asked Ayla. “You haven’t eaten almost any of it!”

“Yeah, thank you, but this is enough to feed me for a week if not more. It was amazing though.”

Ayla smiled, grabbing his plate and glancing at the clock.

“Well, I have no lectures this afternoon, and we have at least a few hours until Daphne comes home, hopefully with some of the stuff you need, so what do you want to do?”

He looked up at her “I dunno, I usually am at work at this time, but I don’t even have a PC available to me at the moment.”

Ayla remained silent for a moment, immersed in her thoughts.

“Yeah, that’s also something we should take care of. I dunno how we should go about this. Do you think that that shark, Spike, would have any reason to keep watch of your house?  Cause if not, you can tell one of your friends to fill a bag with things you might need at the moment, and organize a rendezvous with us.”

He looked up at her. He hadn’t thought about that, but it wasn’t the worst idea.

“Mmhh…I suppose that could work. The doorman knows Alan, so if the coast is clear, he could ask him for the spare key. How shall we check that though? You guys are not exactly…inconspicuous, you know.” He said, keeping his eyes low.

“R-right,” muttered the dragongirl, as Rhea glared at him.

“Are you saying I’m fat?” she snarled, crouching towards him.

The mousemin immediately turned white, his eyes wide as he stared at the building-sized girl looming above him menacingly.

“O-of course not. I-I wouldn’t dare..you look g-great.” He blabbered, gulping heavily.
Seeing that, Ayla shook her head, grasping the harpy’s right shoulder, pulling her away from him, a bit more forcefully than she needed.

“Rhea, stop messing with him! You’re actually getting annoying.”

“Yowch.” yelped Rhea, looking down at him “I’m sorry, it was just a prank. Didn’t mean to scare you this much.”

“That was completely uncalled for, we’re supposed to help Ryan, not scare the heck out of him!”

“Well, your grasp was also not pleasant. That hurt.” She exclaimed, rubbing her arm.

A few feathers were torn or broken.

“Maybe, but you deserved it. Apologize to him.”

“I already did, but okay. I’m sorry, I was just messing with you Ryan, I didn’t think how scary it would look from your point of view.”

She rose up from her position, her face still, immersed in her thoughts.

“Tell you what: I have to go out with Alex later, so we can maybe take a little detour and check if anyone is spying outside of your apartment complex. Nobody would suspect of two harpies on a date flying around the area.”

“...That’s..that’s actually a great idea,” said Ryan, his tone still a bit uneasy.

“Very well then, we’re set. I’ll text you if something unusual happens.” She stated, looking at her phone, “Now I have to go, or I will be late for my lecture. See you guys later!” she said, rubbing her shoulder while she shot an annoyed look at Ayla, before grabbing her backpack from the living room and leaving.

As the door closed, Ayla sighed heavily.

“I’m sorry about her…Rhea is not mean-spirited, she means well, but she can be a handful.”

“No worries, I’ve gathered that much. I was just a bit… startled, that’s all. You guys look really scary when you get angry.”

“I can see that,” she admitted, her head low “Still, she even made all the furniture in your room mostly by herself.”

“Yeah, she had mentioned that. What was that about then ?”

“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure.” Answered Ayla, “Maybe her instincts kicked in, harpies typically love to play with small, cute things.”

He let out an embarrassed, stiff chuckle, as he glanced at the front door in the distance.

“Oh, so she finds me cute?”

“Well,  you are kinda cute,” she said, stopping abruptly as soon as those words left her mouth.

Taken aback by her comment, Ryan turned and looked up at Ayla, whose face had turned the deepest shade of crimson he had ever seen.

“I mmm-mean, y-y-you…excusemeihavetogotothebathroom. I’llbebackinasec!” she blurted out, avoiding his gaze as she bolted out of the dining room, the tremors created by her frantic steps strong enough to make Ryan fall on his ass.

Upon reaching the bathroom, Ayla turned on the faucet,  splashing cold water on her face.
She looked up, seeing her reflection staring at her, the water dripping from her chin as nervous tears were already welling up in her eyes.

“You idiot,” she said to the mirror, “You big, dumb, idiot. Why did you say that? When will you learn to think before you speak?” she asked, sighing heavily.

She grabbed a towel, pressing her face on it, yelling in frustration inside the cloth.

She sat down on the toilet, her arms falling at her sides.
“Why you should rush things like that? You just met him!” she continued, “It’s exactly like that guy at the bar, the other week. You need to stay calm. Remember what Daphne said? “Do not jump straight there, give yourself some time, see what those feelings are.” You’re just sorry for him, nothing else. It’s a guy who needed a hand and a place to stay, and we decided to help him. Nothing more than that.”
She sighed, beating her temple with her fist.
“Fuck. I was the one who said he could come live with us. Now, he probably thinks I’m a weirdo, a predator, or something. And I have to share a room with him.”

She stood up, leaning on the wall.

“Besides, if there really is something to it, what could you do about that?” she asked “Sorry, I know that I almost killed you the other day, would you like to go on a date sometimes?” She said, a knot beginning to form in her throat.

She remembered their first meeting, the primal fear that she had seen in his eyes as her face approached him, and a tear started to move across her cheek. She wasn’t sure, his face was too far from hers, but she could swear to have seen that same expression today when he had glanced down at her claws while he stood on their coffee table. And of course, Ayla had seen his reaction at Rhea’s stupid prank. Rhea, who was so small compared to her.
“Get real girl.” She thought, “You may have more than a few things in common, but you’re hundreds of times his size. To his eyes, you are a huge, scary monster. Sure, he maybe won’t  say it to your face, but that’s what he thinks, and I cannot blame him.”
She grabbed the glass that she always kept beside the sink, filling it with water.

“Okay, better to come back downstairs, I’ve been here for some time, he’s gonna start wondering what I’m doing,” she thought, as she downed the glass of water in a single motion, “Try to be cool Ayla, maybe you can salvage this.”

Back in the kitchen, Ryan stood there, completely dumbfounded by her reaction.

“What the hell…” he began “Did she … is she maybe…” he stuttered, unable to process what had happened. It was just a compliment after all, why would she be so flustered about it?

Unless…
He shook his head. That didn’t make sense, they were strangers to each other 48 hours before. There couldn’t possibly be any other meaning to that.

Oh shit, maybe she had caught him ogling her before! Dragons do have a great sight, don’t they?

Great job Ryan, caught perving on your roommate the day you started living at their place. “I’m sure that won’t be awkward,” he thought.
He could just hope that Rhea wouldn’t kill him when she got home if she heard what he had done.

Then again….Ayla didn’t mention or show indications that she had seen him staring at her.

Still, he couldn’t believe that a girl like her would have a crush on an ant-sized thing like him. Sure, the compliment felt nice, and they seemed to share some interests, but she was a pretty, statuesque girl at the top of the food chain, while he was a meek, nerdy, tiny loser, that everyone could push around, a quarter the size of her toenails. He was close to insignificant to her.
There must be another explanation.

As he continued to wonder about her behavior, he started to hear heavy steps coming from the stairs.

Whatever was the case, he thought, better apologize, and leave the ball in her court.

He saw Ayla’s denim jeans coming into view briefly, before she stopped to his level, her face directly in front of him, her eyes looking down at the mousemin. Pushing down the anxiety at seeing her effortlessly looming above him, even in her crouched position, he took a deep breath and spoke.

“I’m sorry, that was unwarranted.” they both said in unison, the booming voice of the drakonid almost completely covering Ryan’s, even if she was whispering.

They both took a step back, looking at each other nervously.

“Uhm, you go first.” said the drakonid, rubbing her left arm.

“I’m sorry if I stared at you before, I know it’s inappropriate. I know you shouldn’t take me at my word, but I apologize, I swear I’m not that kind of guy. I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

Ayla was taken aback by his answer.

“I-I didn’t even notice,” she admitted.

“You didn’t?” asked Ryan, puzzled.

“No…not really. Thank you for admitting that though.“ she answered.

She looked at him. For whatever reason, she didn’t know whether she should be mad at him or…relieved? …That he found her attractive, she guessed? She decided to go with a mix of the two.

“Still, that was definitely inappropriate…Although, I guess I can’t be too mad at you, I suppose we’re very easy to see from your point of view,” she said sheepishly, before assuming a more serious expression. “Try not to do that anymore though, okay? I’m sure that Rhea and Daphne would be far less accommodating if they ever were to catch you staring at them.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Well, if that’s everything you wanted to say, I guess it’s my turn.” Said the drakonid.
She spent the next handful of seconds twiddling her thumbs, biting her lips while she mustered the courage to say what she had on her mind. She sighed.

“Here it goes…I wanted to apologize for what I’ve said before. It was weird saying that to someone you don’t know. I don’t want you to think that I’m some kind of predator, someone that took you in because…. I take advantage of people who need help or something.” she stated, her voice almost breaking at the last sentence.

He looked up at her, dumbfounded.

“Why would I think that?” answered Ryan, “It was just a compliment, you’re fine. No big deal. Honestly, it was nice to hear it, after two of the shittiest days of my life, so thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, her lips curling in a smile, her eyes beaming with relief at his words. Maybe he didn’t see her as a monster, after all.

Ryan’s eyes fixated on her lips for a moment. There was something to her, something he couldn’t really wrap his head around. The only thing that he knew was that something about that expression, that smile, had almost made him forget all his penance for a moment.

He was tempted to add, “Especially from a girl as pretty as yourself.” to his previous remark, but he ultimately decided against it. It would have done nothing but fluster the poor girl again.

“Okay, let’s change the subject, shall we?” said Ryan, “What do you want to do?”

“Well,” she began, leaning on the fridge, “I should be studying, but I suppose I can take the afternoon off, at least until Daphne comes, and we can watch some TV. There is a new anime that I’ve wanted to watch for some time now if that’s alright with you. You’re the guest though, so we can do something else if you want.”

“Sounds great!” he said. He immediately saw her step towards the table again, lowering a hand towards him.

“Hop on then,” she instructed.

He looked at the appendage right in front of him. Even laying flat on the table, the side of her hand towered above him, standing between 1 and 2 stories tall. Considering the rough texture of her scaled skin, he guessed he could have climbed the thing without too much trouble. That is if both his arms were fully functional.

“Oh…” she said, seeing how the tiny mousemin compared to her hand “May I?” she asked, approaching his form with the other hand.

He nodded, and he saw the drakonid’s van-sized nails pinching him on his chest and back, slowly rising him up, before depositing him on the cupped palm of her other hand.

It took Ayla only a few steps to reach the couch, and as she sat on the cushions, she lowered her hand on her thigh, enough to make him roll safely on her leg, not too far from her lap.

“Is that okay? Can you see the TV? Or would you prefer staying on my shoulder?” She asked, stretching her legs out to make sure that they were not obstructing his sight.

“It’s fine.” He said, laying on his back as he looked up at her, seeing her lips turn into a smile.

A smile that was even cuter than before.

As she turned on the TV, he looked around, seeing the humongous living room sprawling before him, as he absentmindedly touched the jeans fabric below him.
He couldn’t explain why, but the apartment felt less alien than before; Weirdly enough, it almost started to feel a little like…a home.

Back at his hospital room, Mr. Jack Donovan, the elderly roommate of Ryan, had spent the last two hours mumbling about the noon encounter, expressing his complaints at a bored nurse, who was practically ignoring him.

“How is that possible for a monster like that one to be able to come here, in a place of healing, and scare off everyone?”
“For the last time, Mr Donovan,” groaned the nurse “This is a hospital, not a military base. We welcome everyone here.”

“It doesn’t matter! There should be some protection, those…things are dangerous, they are a threat to us smalls! You should know that!”

“The fact that some of them intentionally hurt some small people, does not mean that every Big is a ruthless bastard with no regard for smaller folks. They are people like us!”

“But you saw her! Those talons were the size of cars, how can you feel safe around that? That Ryan, poor fella, that harpy has probably disemboweled and eaten him by now! How could you let that happen!”

“Whatever, Mr. Donovan,” cut the nurse, annoyed. “I think we should return to your room, someone is coming to visit you.”

“Actually, I’m already here.” came a voice from behind a corner, as a middle-aged, overweight ratfolk appeared in the hallway.

Jack Donovan paled. He knew that figure very well.

As the sharply dressed ratfolk moved towards them, he gave him a cursory glance, to which the old man responded with a forced smile, trying his best to hide his discomfort at the sudden appearance of the shark.

“Jack! How are you doing, old friend!”

“S-spike!” said Mr. Donovan, immediately “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I haven’t seen you in a long time, I just wanted to see how you were faring. I’d heard that you were recovered here, and I figured that now it was a good time as any to pay you a visit.”

He then turned towards the nurse.
“Mind if I take him back to his room? We have some catching up to do.”

The nurse looked around. “Well, that is not really the procedure, you see…”

“Do not worry, I’ve been the caretaker of my father for years, I know how to handle a man on a wheelchair. Trust me, we’re old friends.”

“Alright” conceded the nurse, who was more than a little fed up of Mr. Donovan blabbering .“But each visit is fifteen minutes, not one more. Mr Donovan needs to rest. Am I made myself clear?”
“Agreed,” said Spike, nodding.

As the nurse made his way away from the hallway, Spike grasped the handle of the wheelchair and began pushing it forward, towards the elevator.

“What do you want?” said the elderly ratfolk, dryly.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?” was the gangster’s only answer, a wicked smile on his face.

“I’ve already told your men,” Said Mr. Donovan, “I can pay you; I just need ten days or two weeks more.”
“Really?” began Spike, ensuring that no one else was in the elevator as he pushed Donovan’s wheelchair in “Because from what I remember, you’re already more than a month behind with your payments. I will need something more than a promise.”

“Please, I’ve always been on time with my quotas,” said the elderly ratfolk in a trembling tone, looking up at the gangster. “Bu-but the company hasn’t got any contracts in months, and I cannot steal the funds from the company’s budget a-anymore. We need that money.”

“That is true, you have been very diligent so far.  That’s exactly the reason why my guys haven’t come to visit you yet. But my patience is starting to run thin…”

“Ple-please, I can’t do that. How would I pay my employees?”

“You’re a smart guy, Jack. You’ll figure something out. Or maybe we should discuss this with your girl…how is she doing by the way? I haven’t seen her in a long time. Is her law firm going well?”

Mr. Donovan paled.

“I-I-I...” he stuttered.

“Maybe we could ask her if she can spare some money,” said Spike, “I’ve seen lots of people come and go from her office downtown.”
To reiterate this, he took a piece of paper from a pocket on his jacket and showed it to Jack Donovan.

Sophie Donovan, Criminal lawyer

Legal counseling, at a fair price
Available Monday to Tuesday, 8-16

Jack Donovan lowered his head, looking away from the business card.

“I-I beg you, Spike…leave Sophie out of this.”

“Why? Don’t you think she would like to help her old man?”

“Please…it’s everything I’ve left.”

Spike played with the business card in his hands, passing it through his fingers multiple times, before he curled the small piece of paper into a ball.

Suddenly, the mobster what he had overhead Donovan saying to the nurse, back in the hallway, and an idea came to his mind.

“Very well,” he said, tossing the paper ball into the trash “never to say I’m a heartless bastard. I will not bother your daughter. However,  if you can’t give me my money, you’ll have to pay in some other way.”

“S-sure!” answered the old ratfolk “A-anything you want!”

“Say,” began the shark, sitting down on the chair beside Mr. Donovan's bed, his arms crossed over the backrest,

“I heard you chatting with the nurse, while I was in the hallway, you were talking about something unusual. From what I’ve understood, a harpy came to the hospital today, is that right? And they took someone with them?”

The old man froze, nodding weakly.

“What was the guy’s name? Was that Ryan perchance?”

Mr. Donovan bit his tongue. He was already regretting having agreed to do everything.

“I...I don’t remember it now.”

Spike glared at the elderly man, a look that made the elderly man’s blood freeze in his veins”

“Now, now, Jack. You know me, you can say many things about me, but not that I’m stupid.
You see, call it a coincidence or whatnot, but there was a certain Ryan, a boy in the same course as my nephew Jimmy, you remember Jimmy? Anyway,  from what my nephew told me this boy has had a very bad accident with a harpy. Suffice to say that his car got destroyed and he found himself at the ER, in a very rough shape.”

“I was  taking advantage of our meeting to see if he was in here,” he lied “to tell my nephew, so he could come pay a visit, but it’s my understanding that he’s not here anymore, is he?”

Mr. Donovan simply looked at the starkly clean floor, refusing to answer.

“I’ll tell you what: why don’t you tell me what you gathered about this kid, and I will give you your two weeks. Have we got a deal?”

The old man looked up at him.

“I-I didn’t see anything in particular, I was scared out of my wits.”

“Don’t worry, friend. Just tell me what you remember. I just want to make sure that the poor kid is safe.”

“Be-besides,” stated the old man “she seemed a sort of acquaintance of his, he seemed  to be at ease with her.”

“Acquaintance? She almost killed him!” said Spike, moving closer to the elderly ratfolk, “And she had come to take him and finish the work, out of prying eyes”. She probably fluttered her lashes, acted all apologetic, and convinced him that it was an accident, and she was helping him. But it’s all a ruse.”

Mr. Donovan stayed there, stunned.

“You said it yourself, Jack. They are dangerous, his life is at risk. We need to save him, and we need to be quick about it.”

“I-I don’t know.”

“The big folks are monsters, they don’t care about us.” he stated, matter-of-factly. “Despite what the government wants us to believe. Hell, they ate us by the dozens up until a few years ago! We are their prey, their playthings. They don’t see us as people. Only other small folks can help us. We should stick together against them!”

The old ratfolk looked up at the shark. He was right, he thought, the big races were a danger to their survival. Ryan was so young, he didn’t deserve to die like that. They should help him.

He inhaled deeply, seeing what looked like an expression of genuine worry in the face of the gangster, and finally spoke.

“Very well…I’ll tell you everything.”

 

 

“Well, that was disappointing.” Said Ayla, stretching out her arms.

They had spent the last three and a half hours binge-watching the first half-season of Ryders of the Black Valley, the new fantasy anime that according to some websites, was a revelation in fantasy storytelling.

The revelation was that it was incredibly dull and stereotyped.

“Yeah. I dunno what those reviewers smoked. This is definitely NOT a 4.5 stars/5 show,” said Ryan.

“Absolutely overblown,” convened Ayla, looking down at the little man on her lap “and I hate when they put gore and violence all over the place, to justify any lack of plot.”

“I assume we aren’t watching the other half?” asked the mousemin.

“Hell no, it’s a waste of time. I’m in the mood for some Last Fantasy if you don’t mind watching. I have a couple of quests that I would like to get on with. Perhaps we can also play together if I manage to connect your tablet”

“Sure, I would love to do that. Been some time since I enjoyed some games.”

“Okay then. I’m gonna go to the bathroom, and then I’ll bring the console and controller here,” she said, smiling as she picked him up between the tips of her thumb and forefinger’s nails.

As he rose up, he noticed that the ascent felt much smoother than before; he didn’t feel dizzy as much, and his stomach was also feeling better than usual. He couldn’t say that it was because it was getting used to getting handled like that or because Ayla was being more careful than before.

The trip was short-lived, and he rapidly found himself lowered towards the center of the coffee table.

“Stay here, I’ll be back in a moment. Stay away from the edges,” she recommended.

Instinctively, he looked over the edges of the table, the ground far below him. He backed away; he didn’t know what would happen if he were to fall, but he certainly didn’t want to discover it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a heavy rustling of keys coming from the entrance, followed by the opening of the front door.

“FIIIINALLY. Rhea, Ayla, I’m home!” Boomed an unknown voice.

Immediately after, two loud thumps reached his ears, and then, a rhythmic series of booms, signaling that a figure was making its way toward the living room.

As the steps got closer, the figure finally appeared into view: A gigantic, barefoot girl, who from this distance didn’t seem that much smaller than Ayla.

Her roundish face betrayed leonine features, including three pairs of long, thin whiskers, and shorter, three-toed paws.

She was certainly attractive: Her body, contained inside a form-fitting blazer, was shapely and feminine, and she was blessed with an almost perfect hourglass figure. Her strawberry blonde locks paired very well with her golden-brown fur. She would have perfectly fit on the cover of one of those swimsuit magazines. Hell, the girl who was posing in lingerie on the billboard in front of his apartment complex had almost the same physique. Moreover, there was something about her way of carrying herself,  even in her casual strut, that made him feel like he was looking at a movie star.

“This must be Daphne.” He thought, “Rhea and Ayla weren’t exaggerating then.”

As she entered the living room, gazing around with her emerald-colored eyes, he heard her voice thundering again:

“Girls? Is anyone home? Hello?”

She was louder than he had expected her to be, and the buzzing sound that he heard from his headset was not a good sign. He realized then that Ayla and Rhea had whispered to him all the time.

He immediately went ahead and started yelling at her:

“Hi, you must be Daphne. I’m the new roommate, Ryan. I’m here on the coffee table!”

Unbeknownst to him, the sphinx had taken their amplifying earrings off at noon, wanting to impress her new boss with some fancy silvery circlets at their first business lunch, and she had forgotten to put them back on afterward. There was no way she could hear him over the sound of her own steps.

She came closer to the couch, her steps strong enough to make the coffee table shake.

She turned, her magnificent ass right on top of Ryan, three hundred feet above his head, as her tail swished around absentmindedly.

“Hmmm, either she left with the TV on and with chips all around the couch, or she’s in the bathroom. I hope for her that the is the latter.” thundered the colossal girl, her annoyance evident in her tone.

Suddenly, she crouched, and then, with a leap, she sat on the couch, the wind created by her rapid movement ruffling’s Ryan’s fur.

“Fuck, what a day,” boomed the sphinx voice, before suddenly, the ground below him shook, as her paws collided with the outer wooden frame of the coffee table, the force of the shockwave making him fall on his ass and tumble on the ground, stopping ten feet behind.

As he rose up again, he saw two huge, golden-brown furred paws forty feet or so from him, each standing as tall as a 20+ story skyscraper.

“What was she watching by the way?” blared Daphne, completely unaware of his existence.

He panicked, redoubling his efforts to try and get noticed by her, starting to jump up and down to signal the Sphinx of his presence, even moving right next to her and trying to punch her meaty sole, but it was all useless.

Even if his voice could have reached her ears, the sound of the TV was covering it completely, and the girl was too fixated on the anime that he and Ayla had been watching a few minutes before.

There, the girl stood, totally unresponsive to his efforts, at least until her right paw started to move forward, rapidly colliding with his body, which was unable to offer any meaningful resistance against the mighty foot, causing the mousemin to be thrown further away from it.

Laying on the ground, he saw the long shadow under him extending, the light getting dimmer by the second. As he looked up, he froze: Slowly, but inexorably, her right paw was starting to descend towards him, the dark brown sole getting closer and closer, a building collapsing on top of him.

Frantically, he scrambled to get up, and began running. In his panicked state, he didn’t even realize that, had he moved towards the left, he would have easily avoided the falling monolith. Instead, he ran straight ahead, hoping to outrun the approaching appendix.

A futile endeavor, considering the sheer size of the paw and the handful of seconds he had lost staring at it in awe.
If that wasn’t enough, when he had cleared around half the length of the foot,  a single, huge drop of sweat fell from the ball of the paw, straight towards him, hitting him with the equivalent of two gallons of water, enough to make him lose his balance; as he stumbled up, he saw that it was too late, the dark brown fur of her insole was directly on top of him. In a split second, the paw made contact with his body, and he fell, trapped below a mountain of fur, pressed between the appendix and the hard surface.

Luckily for him, her feet were only lying on the table, lightly leaning against the glass, the girl mindful of not leaving her full imprints on the coffee table. While the weight was still enough to leave him pinned, unable to move, that position, along with the cushiony effect of her soft, moisturized fur protected Ryan’s body from being crushed like a grape by the colossal appendage.

On the other hand, while the lavender scent of her lotion kept the smell somewhat bearable, the heat emanating from her foot, combined with the dampness of her fur, which surrounded him in three directions, was making the situation rapidly becoming unbearable, his clothes drenched from both her and his own sweat.

Plus, if she wasn’t able to hear him before, she most certainly won’t be now. He screamed, hoping that Ayla at least could hear him, if she had come down from upstairs.
His prayers seemed to have been answered, when he felt the pressure on his torso and abdomen decrease slightly. He looked down, and he saw that he was finally able to see the glassy terrain under him, more and more of the transparent surface coming into view as he appeared to be…rising?

He turned his head, and the realization dawned on him: he was stuck on the paw, 30 or so feet above the surface of the table, her sweat apparently enough to glue him to the insole.

He struggled, thinking that it would be enough to free himself, but he immediately realized that her rope-thick hairs had become entangled around his legs and abdomen, blocking his every chance of escape.

As he breathed heavily, he noticed something coming into view: a large, thick finger, its fingerpad wider than he was tall. Before he could do anything, the digit collided with him, rubbing him up and down, left and right on the fur-covered surface, kneading him like he was a piece of playdough.

It didn’t necessarily hurt, but she wasn’t certainly careful nor gentle in her movement.

But maybe, he thought, she would feel the weird shape of what was on her sole, and finally take notice of him.

His hope shattered when he heard a thunderous sigh above him, followed by an equally loud voice.

“Mmmh, I definitely need to change these shoes,” the towering girl boomed.

As soon as she finished her sentence, the rubbing stopped, and her finger disappeared. The relief only lasted a moment, before he saw the coffee table surface approaching again, his body unceremoniously slapped against the glassy terrain. This whole endeavor was gonna leave him very sore tomorrow.

He remained trapped there for what seemed an eternity, tormented by the heat and the dampness, trying in vain to wiggle himself free from his prison, more and more exhausted.

Then, just when he seemed close to passing out, he felt himself rising again, the gigantic pad carrying him like the world’s biggest crane, until he was standing vertically, still pressed against the paw, his arms lolling at his sides.

In his hazy state, he looked around, a faint smile on his lips as the now-familiar house-sized blue eyes appeared directly in front of him.

As Daphne opened the door, she was almost leaning against the doorframe.

She was fucking exhausted. The manufacturers never bothered to show up, leaving her whole department hanging all afternoon, before emailing her that they would come tomorrow.

She looked at her wristwatch: Half past 5. Her usual time, if not for the fact that she had had to come to the office one hour earlier than usual. Today had felt like an eternity.

At least, that trip in the warehouse made her obtain the furniture for the new roommate, she thought, clutching a package with her right arm.

She pushed the door, a briefcase in her left hand, erupting in a tired sigh.

“FIIIINALLY. Rhea, Ayla, I’m home!” she called out.

Nobody answered.

Curious, she removed her 4-inch grey stilettos, sighing in relief as her poor paws were freed from their prison.

She started to walk towards the living room.

“Girls? Is anyone home? Hello?” she asked. After receiving no answer, she made her way towards the couch. The two girls were nowhere to be found.

“Rhea must still be at the campus,” she thought, “While Ayla maybe went picking up the new guy”?

Her eyes darted around the room until she saw a bowl half-filled with potato chips resting on top of one of the cushions of the couch. The TV was also on, a weird cartoon of sorts on it, on hold. A quarter-filled bottle of beer was on top of the coffee table.

“Hmmm, either she left with the TV on and with chips all around the couch, or she’s in the bathroom. I hope for her that is the latter.” She stated, annoyed.

A sudden jolt of pain came from her paws. Those shoes were pretty, but they weren’t made to pace up and down the office.

She removed her nylons, folding them expertly, before tossing them in the bin of the dirty clothes and jumping on the central cushion of the couch.

“Fuck, what a day,” she said, plopping up her paws on top of the coffee table. Whatever, she will clean any footprints later.

“What was she watching by the way?”  she said, pressing the “play” button on the remote.

She immediately saw a very strange opening sequence, with guys in armor cutting demons and monsters open, and scantily clad girls throwing spells and dancing around.

“Ah okay, the usual weird-ass anime…What a nerd,” she thought. The two girls of the group did have some nice tits though, she reasoned, as she absentmindedly began lowering her paws on the coffee table completely.

“Wow, this is pretty violent,” she commented, stroking and massaging her insteps. “Ayla does have some strange tastes.”

Still, it didn’t matter that much, she was in the mood for some mindless shit, something to completely turn off her brain. Absentmindedly, she raised her paws slightly, rubbing the soles with her fingers.

She noticed a small, weird lump just below the second toe of her right paw. A callus maybe?

“I definitely need to change these shoes,” she sighed, her sole on the table again, while she started massaging the underside of her other foot.

After a couple of minutes, she heard the sound of someone coming from upstairs.

“Did I leave the TV on... oh Hi Daphne!” she said, smiling at the Sphinx sitting on the couch “When did you get home?”

“I’ve just arrived.” she stated, sighing heavily, as she leaned on the couch’s backrest. “I’m so tired.”

“Bad day at work?”

“The worst, you have no idea... I’ve wasted hours chasing the manufacturers at the workshop, to start the production line…

“Sounds exhausting.”

She nodded.
“I don’t really wanna talk about it…I just wanna relax, watch some TV…even this dumb ass thing you were watching works, no…it’s perfect, I really need to shut my brain off for a moment”

Ayla laughed.

“We can watch something else if you want, me and Ryan were just considering turning it off,  maybe play some games,” she said, pointing at the controller in her hand.

“Ah, the new guy is already home? I didn’t see him.”

“What do you mean you didn’t see him?” asked Ayla, looking at the coffee table “He is…” she froze, her eyes wide, fixated on the perfectly manicured toes of Daphne's paws “Right…here.” she said, her voice growing weaker with each word.

“Where?” said the sphinx, a hint of concern in her voice, looking up at Ayla, the drakonid pale as a ghost.

If Ryan had a nickel for every time this week that a girl hundreds of times his size had almost crushed him to death under her soles while being completely oblivious to her existence, he would have two nickels.

Which is not a lot, he thought, but it's weird that it happened twice.

On the other side of the table, Daphne was keeping her eyes low after having gently peeled him off her paws, muttering how sorry she was and what she could do to make up for it.

Before he could reply to her apology, he felt the air leaving his lungs, his surroundings briefly becoming a pinkish color, his stomach turning as he felt himself hoisted up hundreds of feet into the air, before he heard the booming voice of Ayla, loud enough to make his ears ring slightly, even with the protection of the headphones.

“Oh Ryan, thank the gods you’re okay! I’m so sorry, I will make sure nothing ever happens to you again” said the drakonid, pressing his tiny body against the side of her snout with a finger, gently rubbing him against her cheek.

Ryan tried to protest, but having his face buried against an amethyst wall wasn’t exactly making it easy. Not that he didn’t mind it that much, it felt almost like getting a full body massage while lying against a rough carpet. It was certainly miles better than the place he had just left, and it was evident that she was being extra careful.

“You need to look where you’re stepping, Daphne. I thought you were the level-headed one here.” Ayla said, annoyed, releasing her grip on the mousemin a little.

“I’m sorry, I had no idea he was already here.” Said Daphne, her eyes low.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you get my message?”

“As I said, work was hell today, I didn’t have time to check my phone since lunch.”

While the girls were immersed in her conversation, Ryan's eyes wandered around, glancing downward. He froze, a mixture of awe and fear overtaking him, as he glanced at the wooden floor more than two thousand feet below. He was never one to be afraid of heights, but this was on another level.

He doubted there would be anything left of him if he were to fall from such a height.

He instinctively grasped Ayla’s skin with his sweaty palms, the wall of barrel-top-sized scales being the nearest anchor available to him.

The massive girl's skin twitched, as she felt his incredibly tiny hands against her cheeks; She marveled at the sensation, it was nothing like anything she had ever felt…

“A-Ayla? Can y-you put me down please?”

His words awoke her from her stupor.

“Oh...yeah, of course Ryan, sorry if I startled you.” said the drakonid, lowering her pinched fingers towards the coffee table as carefully as she could manage.

As he scrambled to get up on the glassy surface, he turned towards the two girls.

“I’m actually fine, it was more the scare than anything else” he lied, “I’m Ryan, by the way, nice to meet you.” he stated, turning towards the Sphinx, extending his hand outwards “I assume you must be Daphne.”

She nodded, extending her pinky finger towards the outstretched arm. Ryan gripped the last fingerpad, trying to move it with all of his might, but it wasn’t enough to shake the bus-sized finger.

“Yes, that would be me,” said Daphne, barely stifling a giggle as she saw how he was struggling. “I’m glad to see that you’re okay. I hope that this isn’t gonna sound weird, but I brought you some stuff,” she added, pointing at the box that was lying on the left side of the table.

“Oh, you did find it in the end,” said Ayla.

“Yeah, hope it will work out for you, it wasn’t easy to get it with such a small notice.”

“Well, I think that the best thing we can do is try it out now,” said Ayla “Although, I suppose  Ryan would want a bath or something first…he doesn’t smell that great,” she added, eyeing Daphne, whose remained motionless, averting her gaze.

“Yeah, a bath would be great, thank you.” convened the mousemin, avoiding the topic.

“I’ll bring you to your room then.” said the drakonid, putting her hand just below the table’s surface to allow Ryan to hop on.

As she reached the second floor, she slowly raised her hand to her eye level, looking at the quarter of an inch tall mousemin with a pang of guilt.

“I’m sorry if I overreacted before, I was just worried about you. I should have asked before picking you up.”

“No worries,” he said, smiling up at her “I understand…that made me realize that maybe I should be more careful myself though.”

“Yeah, I thought that me and Rhea had taken care of everything, and that we could handle this situation, but maybe we rushed things off too much. I didn’t consider the fact that you can easily become practically invisible to us when we take the earrings off.”

Ryan lowered his eyes. Yeah, that was a tangible risk. Even if they had been very attentive, their size difference was too big.

Still, he doubted that reminding her of that would have helped much in this situation.

“Hey, I’m sure it will be fine. We will find a way to make it work, okay? Maybe I just need to, I dunno…buy a couple of high-visibility jackets, and wear them all day?”

She chuckled, opening the door to her room with her other hand.

“That could be a possibility, yes.”

She reached the night table at the side of her bed in only a few steps, lowering the hand that she carried Ryan with up to the table’s level, pinching the small guy between the tip of her thumb and forefinger, slowly lowering it inside his makeshift house, her fingers barely fitting inside.
So cramped was the space for her fingerpads, that as she went to release him on the ground near his wash basin, her index finger bumped into the cardboard wall of the box, causing the flimsy barrier to bend and fly a few feet forward, the blow strong enough to make the whole box to shake, and Ryan to fall onto his ass.

“Shit!” she exclaimed “I’m s-sorry. Do not worry, I will ask Rhea to fix it. I-I will leave you a-alone now, text me when you’re done, and we will try to put in the furniture.”

He smiled, giving her a thumbs up.
Rapidly, Ayla came back down, finding Daphne bent towards the kitchen table, checking the furniture. “Okay, the furniture seems in good condition,” said the Sphinx “just like I had first gathered. Let’s just hope it’s the right size for him, the stock clerk seemed a bit unreliable for that.”

“Alright, that’s a relief. The poor guy needs a bit of a semblance of normal life. Ma-maybe we should wait for Rhea to come back to install it though, I don’t wanna break anything else.”

“Yeah, they do seem pretty fragile,” sighed Daphne, deciding to not investigate her last sentence.

She then turned away from the table “I hope I didn’t frighten him too much.”
“Yeah, I apologize, maybe I was a bit too brash. But Rhea had just tried to scare him, as a prank, so he was already a bit on edge. We really aren’t starting this cohabitation with the right foot.”

“Poor little guy, Rhea is sometimes a lot to deal with at our size, I can’t imagine how it would look like for someone like him. I am the one to apologize though, I should have checked your texts, or at least worn the earrings, just to be on the safer side.”

“He looked so scared…” commented Ayla.

“Yeah, I can see that. Do you think he’s scared of me now?”

“I can’t say for sure, he seemed fine, but it certainly didn’t put him at ease.”

The sphinx looked at the floor, her ears flopping down.

“I’m sure it will be fine, though,” said Ayla, trying to cheer her friend “It was only an accident after all,”

“Yeah, that’s true,” convened Daphne, smiling.

The two girls then stood there, looking at their feet, nobody wanting to speak a single word.

After two interminable minutes, the silence was broken by Daphne.

“Shit,” she sighed, putting her head between her hands. “Look, I really apologize. I’ve been a fucking disaster this whole week, my head has been on the clouds all the time. I’m glad we managed to avoid the worst, but I still want to make up for it.  I know you guys look up to me, because I’m the older one, and usually the most mature, but I can't say I’m doing a good job at being the big sister in this period.”

Ayla moved closer to the sphinx, putting a hand over her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. We are adults, we can take care of ourselves. You are already doing a lot, you shouldn’t make it your exclusive responsibility.”

The leonine girl ignored her taller roommate’s words.

“I can’t believe I almost killed him without even noticing.” She ranted, “The guy needs a place where he can be safe, not to be scared every time he’s in the house because a big klutz is gonna trample all over him.”

Ayla froze. Even if Daphne didn’t seem to feel something for Ryan, her words sounded so similar to the doubts she had experienced all along the last few days. She was almost tempted to reveal to her friend what she herself had gone through, only a few hours before.

She opened her mouth, hesitating, slamming it shut shortly afterward. Maybe not, she didn’t feel like talking with anyone about the thing before she had figured them out herself.

Instead, Ayla moved her arm across the sphinx’s body, lifting the considerably smaller sphinx up a little to squeeze her into a tight hug.

“Hey, stop beating yourself up. I’m sure he will forgive you. Heck, maybe he already has,” she stated, to convince herself as much as Daphne.

The sphinx looked down, startled at suddenly seeing her feet considerably away from the ground. “Wow, I keep forgetting how strong you are,” she stated.

Ayla giggled, lowering her roommate.

“I’m a big, strong girl.” the drakonid said, flexing her biceps playfully.

Daphne smiled and looked up at her drakonid friend.

“But thank you,” the sphinx added, “I needed it.”

She raised an eyebrow, eyeing her roommate intently.

“What’s wrong, Ayla?” she asked. She had seen a strange expression on the drakonid’s face.

The taller girl shook, spooked by her roommate's remark. “Crap!” she thought “Read like a book.”

“No-nothing!” she blabbered. “I’m fine. Never felt better!” she exclaimed, her lips curved in a forced smile.

“Hmmmmm…” muttered Daphne, unconvinced. Something was up, she should investigate more.

Better to change the subject for now though, she knew how cagey Ayla tended to get when she was anxious like this.

“By the way, did you manage to find something for Friday? You seemed worried about that earlier,”

“Oh,” Ayla said, relieved that Daphne hadn’t seen through her anxiety.  “Yeah, I did find some cute shoes, but I had some doubts about what outfit they would go better with. How tall is this David?”

“Hmmm…I actually don’t know that, to be fair, I’ve seen him only a couple of times, and the first time he was sitting.” She looked up and down at her drakonid friend “How tall are you?”

“115 feet.” 

“I think he’s a bit taller than that, 120 feet give or take”
“Shit,” thought Ayla. Both the heels she had chosen were taller than 5 feet, if slightly. She wasn’t looking forward to being taller than her date, even in her heels. She could only hope he wouldn’t mind.

Her doubts were interrupted by the sound of Daphne’s voice.

“Well, before deciding if we should ditch the heels, we should maybe check out what fits you came up with…”
A sudden idea crossed the leonine girl's mind.

“You know what? Let’s also ask Ryan for advice. He’s a guy, maybe a male perspective will help you choose.”

“W-what do you mean?” said Ayla, whose anxiety was again rising.

“You know, a straight guy could for sure tell you what looks sexier to a man better than a girl.”

The drakonid’s cheeks reddened.

“S-sexier? Why d-do you think I would w-want that for a first date?”

Daphne sighed.

“Girl, how much time has passed since your last date? Around two years?”

Ayla nodded. “Roughly…yes. since a bit before I came here”

“I’m not saying that you have to jump straight on top of him. I’m just telling you to be open to the possibility of it happening. You’re 24, dammit, you shouldn’t be scared or embarrassed about that.”

“O-Okay, if you say so,” she said, as her phone buzzed, revealing a text from the mousemin.

“L-let’s grab everything and move upstairs, then.” Decided Ayla, cutting the topic short.

Back in “his” room, Ryan was taking a breather, sitting in one of the makeshift chairs after having washed most of Daphne’s lotion off from his body.

“Man, this will be a lot to deal with,” he sighed.

After a handful of seconds, he heard a distant, yet loud knock, followed by the sound of the door opening.

He looked up, over the walls of his cardboard apartment, seeing Ayla’s snout appearing into view, squeezed between the ajar door and the room’s wall.

“Hmm, Ryan? Can I come in?” she asked.

“Of course, that’s why I texted you!” he replied.

She pushed the door open, her figure filling the doorframe, followed by the smaller form of Daphne, who was carrying the same box he had seen on the coffee table.

“Okay,” the drakonid began, “Good news! We checked the furniture, and while not new nor fancy, is in decent condition, so when Rhea will be back, you two can work together to figure out where to put everything.”

He smiled.

“I thought you said she was a klutz.” He joked.

“Well…she can be careful if she focuses. But mostly, because I fear that I’m too big to handle them properly.”

“Ehrm…” said a voice from behind Ayla, its owner stepping into view, her head low.

“To be f-fair, I’m q-qualified to handle objects like these,” explained Daphne “I-I’ve received some t-training…maybe I can help you as well?...n-naturally, i-if you want me to.” she offered, averting Ryan’s gaze all the time.

He smiled, looking up at her,

“Sure, why wouldn’t I? From what I’ve gathered, it’s stuff that you manufacture, so you must know the ins and outs of them.”

The girl looked back at him, a huge weight being dropped off her shoulders.

“Well…more or less...” she said, reciprocating his smile “before that though, Ayla wanted to ask you something.”

“W-what? W-why me?” asked Ayla, caught off-guard.

“I mean, those are your things, aren’t they.”

“Yeah, I suppose so…well, It’s nothing, really,” she said, noticing that she was stammering more than she would have thought. She inhaled deeply,

“It’s just…I have a date this Friday, and, given that…the guy is very cute, I was wondering if…you know”

“If you would help her decide on what to wear for the occasion.” intervened Daphne.

Ayla’s cheek reddened,
“H-hey, I was able to tell him myself...but yes, I would love some advice.”

As he heard her words, Ryan was almost relieved.

“Oh, she’s seeing someone then. Good, this means that she doesn’t feel that way about you, you were right.” he thought, praising himself for not having voiced his sensations in front of her. That would have been awkward.

On the other hand…he couldn’t help but feel, on the back of his mind, a strange sensation, a thin, impalpable hint of…sadness?”

He shook those thoughts away, looking up at her.

“I dunno what help I can be, I’m not really an expert in this, but sure. No problem!”

“Oh, thank you,” said Ayla, a shy smile on her lips

“Well, we don’t need an expert” Daphne explained, leaning against Ayla’s desk “Just someone that can tell you how they look from a male perspective. You know, which one looks more…alluring.”

Ayla’s cheeks were now deep red.

“Come on girl, stop blushing and get changed!” the sphinx exhorted, rising up from the desk, and moving towards the night table.

Suddenly, Ryan’s surroundings became shrouded in darkness, as a pair of voluptuous, skirt-covered thighs filled the sky, rapidly replaced by Daphne’s leonine face.

 “Sorry dude, I didn’t want to startle you, but we should give the girl a bit of privacy.”

“O-of course,” muttered Ryan.

He spent the next three minutes or so talking with the sphinx that was crouching before him, her right arm lying against the night table for support. Just as their conversation veered towards their college careers, which they had discovered to have been very similar, they heard a small “Ahem” coming from above them.

Ryan saw Daphne turning towards her draconic friend.

“Oh, those pants look great” she commented, as the mousemin’s vision was still obstructed by the sphinx's expansive shoulder blades, as she leaned on the night table.
She must have noticed that, because she immediately moved a bit sideways, revealing the standing form of her roommate behind her.

Ayla was dressed in a casual, yet classy outfit, consisting of a light grey shirt with a form-fitting blazer, and a pair of tight, long black pants, that hugged her legs beautifully, making them appear even longer than they already were.

He looked down, seeing her claws next to the night table, clad in black, open-toed heels, that sported what he realized must have been the equivalent of a 3-inch heel. It was difficult to tell, considering that from his perspective, they stood taller than an 8-story building.

Still, looking up at her, he could see why she had chosen such footwear, it really complemented her figure,  making her appear even more statuesque than usual.

Had he found her hanging around in a cocktail bar his size looking like that, he would have definitely hit on her.

Seeing that she was staring at him with anticipation, he spoke.

“Y-you look gorgeous. Those pants suit your figure very well.”

“Okay” intervened Daphne “So this is something that we’ll keep, even if you don’t decide to use it for the date. Next!” she commented, urging her roommate to try on the other outfit.

After 5 more minutes or so, Ayla revealed herself to her judges again.

“WOAH….this is freaking gorgeous” was Daphne's only comment.

A the drakonid appeared into view, Ryan couldn’t help but agree, rendered completely speechless by the view in front of him. Ayla was clad in a sky-blue, ample dress, whose skirt reached up to her mid-thigh, most of her scaled leg exposed. Legs that, as now Ryan could see, were toned and muscular, with the lines of her quads and calf muscles clearly visible, proof of her years as a volleyball player. At her feet, two open-toed heels of a slightly darker blue, that reached well above half of the night table, noticeably taller than the previous ones.
So high did her ankle appear to Ryan that for a moment, he wondered if, was he to jump from the night table, he would have landed on the back of Ayla’s foot before gravity would make the fall dangerous.

Instinctively, he looked up at her, her face curled in an embarrassed smile from Daphne’s comment, while the necklace she had matched with the outfit shone in the afternoon light.

He remembered, as a kid, seeing the mountains up close for the first time. He felt the same mixture of awe, amazement, and bewilderment as that moment, all of those years ago. Staring up as a living, beautiful mountain like that was something else.

“I’ve chosen this b-because it reminded me of my p-prom dress, which Momma always said looked r-really good on me.” Explained Ayla, crouching a bit to avoid scraping the ceiling with her horns “Maybe it’s a bit too much, what do you guys think ?”

At the question, he abruptly awoke from his daydreaming.

“This one!” he erupted, maybe a bit too eagerly. Both girls looked at him startled.

“I t-think that this one looks a-absolutely stunning, I love the color!” he explained, trying to recollect himself.

Immediately, he saw Ayla’s cheeks turning beet-red.

“I agree,” said Daphne, smiling broadly, “This is perfect, you’re gonna make everyone’s head turn.”

“T-thanks. So this one it is then,” said Ayla, averting Ryan’s gaze, her face still crimson.

As they came back down the stairs, Daphne was certain of something: What she had initially dismissed as a fleeting sensation was back, now turned into a tangible hunch.

And although she couldn’t read Ryan’s facial expressions as well, it was pretty evident from how he spoke that he felt the same way, at least a little.

But who knows, maybe he was just really overwhelmed by the whole ordeal, that was understandable.

She will have to investigate more, for sure, but if her suspicions were confirmed, they would need some help. If she left Ayla to her devices, she would never do something about it.

The remainder of the afternoon passed in a breeze, as the girls helped Ryan adjust to his new quarters, putting down the furniture wherever it was needed and repairing the walls that Ayla had smashed.

Then, when dinner time came, Ayla and Ryan decided to order pizza and eat it in front of the TV, much to Daphne’s protest, watching the extended version of one of the most famous fantasy blockbusters.

“I don’t understand why you are watching that same movie for the umpteenth time. I’m pretty sure I saw you having it on at least twice in the last year.” Commented Daphne, looking at the dragongirl “Isn’t there something else on TV?” she asked, mindlessly scrolling at her phone.

“It’s always time for a masterpiece,” said Ayla, scarfing down a large slice of salami and olives pizza.

“Plus, this version has the original soundtrack by Edward Beach,” said Ryan, struggling to lift the half-an-inch-wide piece of pizza that was cut out for him.

“Nerds,” thought Daphne, her eyes still glued on her phone, texting a couple of friends.

After around half an hour, the large meal started to take effect on Ryan, and the small mousemin couldn’t suppress a yawn.

“Oh oh, someone’s tired,” said Daphne.

“I’m fine, maybe a little bit.” Answered the mousemin.

“Well, I do think that you should make sure to get a lot of rest.  It would help a lot with your recovery.” Daphne reasoned, presenting her outstretched palm in front of Ryan, “Come on, I’m also going to bed, I have to come to work early tomorrow, I can give you a lift towards your room,” she explained.

He thanked her and nodded, the sphinx gently picking him up, depositing him on her palm.

“Good night, Daphne.” Said Ayla, smiling, turning towards him “Good night Ryan, sleep well.”

“You too, Ayla,” he said, reciprocating the smile as Daphne began moving.

Swiftly, the sphinx carried him upstairs, entering Ayla’s room, where she gently lowered him onto his makeshift apartment.

“It’s all right here? Do you need anything? some water, something?” She asked, kneeling towards his quarters.

“No, no, I think we had filled all the bottles in the cupboard. Thanks nevertheless!” he exclaimed.

“It’s nothing,” she answered, smiling, “Remember that you have our numbers, ask away if you ever need anything. Hope you’ll find yourself at home here,” said the sphinx.

“I will, and thank you.” He said, smiling.

“Well, I’m off to bed now. Goodnight, Ryan” she said.

“Goodnight, Daphne” he answered, as she moved out of the room, turning off the light.

Immediately, Ryan plopped onto the bed. He could hardly remember a day weirder than the one he just had. Those girls were something, that much was sure, and he hadn’t been able to dislodge what was implanted in the back of his mind. It hurt him to think about it, but he struggled to feel safe inside the colossal house.

He dismissed those thoughts. He was just being irrational, he thought, as he put his headphones on the ground. He couldn’t imagine those girls consciously hurting him, they just all needed that little bit of extra care, and things would go smoothly.

After all, he could imagine hundreds of people killed to be in his situation, co-living with three beautiful, kind, and considerate girls, in a fully furnished apartment, that they had given him without even asking for anything back.

Furniture that moreover appeared of very good quality. He struggled to remember a mattress feeling as nice as this one under his still-sore body.

“Yes, more than nice”, he thought, laying his head back, his eyes slowly closing.

After an hour or so, his sleep was interrupted by a slight tremor on the floor, followed by another, and another.

His eyes shot wide open, and he jumped up from his bed out of instinct, scrambling to get under his kitchen table, thinking that an earthquake was happening, as the tremors continued, each one stronger than the last.

Curled under the wooden table, he grasped his head between his forearms, expecting heavy debris to fall on top of him.

Only that they never came, as the noise and tremors stopped as abruptly as they had started, replaced by the reverberating sound of drawers being opened, and of something falling onto a soft surface.

Curious, he looked up, peering past the cardboard walls of his house, a jaw-dropping view in front of him.

A pair of long, pinkish-scaled bare legs stretched up high, slowly morphing into two-toned thighs, and ending with two shapely, completely naked buttocks.

He tiptoed out of the house, pushing the cardboard door open just enough to allow himself a better view.

There they stood, two mountainous globes, partly covered by Ayla’s thick, long tail, swishing absentmindedly on the rhythm of some mental tune of hers. The fact that one of those cheeks could flatten a whole mousemin city block in a fell swoop didn’t matter to him. Strangely enough, it made them look almost more enticing…

He saw her right leg bending, and as a white pair of panties were being dragged down those amethyst-scaled pillars, her tail moved, revealing a thin, vertical slit in front of the slightly spread buttcheeks, what could only be her…

He felt a bulge grow in his pants, that quickly morphed into a rock-hard erection, his member pressing almost painfully against his boxers.

The whole situation with Spike before, and the hospital after had left Ryan unable to find some time to indulge in his own pleasure, but now, he felt his instincts were resurging. Strongly resurging…

Instinctively, he slapped himself on the face, forcing those thoughts away.

“This is all levels of wrong,” he thought. He felt disgusted by himself, peeping on a girl who was not only hiding him, but she trusted him, a stranger, enough to make him sleep in the same room with her.

As he moved back in, he saw Ayla’s body remaining still for a moment, before she slowly turned, moving towards the night table.

“Fuck,” he thought. The slap must have been louder than he thought it was.
Quickly, he scrambled towards his bed, where he managed to jump in, closing his eyes just as he felt the presence of his colossal roommate right above his living quarters, shivering as her breath was washing on top of the area, making the cardboard walls tremble and rattle from the force of the wind.

“RYAN? ARE YOU AWAKE?” she asked, her unfiltered voice booming at this distance even if she was trying to whisper as softly as she could.

He stayed still, trying his best to look asleep.

She immediately backed away, a hand on her snout, realizing that she could have woken up the mousemin herself.

When she didn’t hear anything from the cardboard house, she sat down on her bed.

“Thank gods,” she sighed, putting on her bra and her pajama top, trying to rehearse the lines that she had had on her mind ever since he went to sleep.

 “You know, I really appreciated your compliments today.” She continued, speaking to herself. “I know that I have a date coming, but I would like to grab a coffee together, one of these days, even just to make it up to you. There is a really nice place near the campus, if you want…”

She abruptly stopped, plopping her body on the mattress, her hands grabbing the pillow from both sides, burying her face into it.
“Why can’t I tell him that? Why? Why does it have to be so difficult?” she thought.

She turned around, eyes on the ceiling of her room.

“On second thought, forget about it.” she whispered, “Goodnight, Ryan,” she added, rolling to her side and closing her eyes, tears already beginning to well inside them.

Unbeknownst to her, Ryan had heard the whole conversation.

“Goodnight, Ayla,” he whispered, feeling even worse than before.

 

The next morning, Ryan woke up late, with the sun already high in the sky, illuminating the rooms of his living quarters in a bright, warm light. As he went to check his phone, he saw three notifications appearing on the screen. One was the expected good morning message from his mom, the second was his boss’s, reminding him of some project deadlines or something else on that note, and the third one…was from Ayla.

He couldn’t help but feel a little bit anxious as he opened her text, that she had sent a quarter of an hour before.

Hi Ryan, please text me if you wake up before 10:30. I’ve made breakfast! ^.^
After that, I’ll be at the campus, but Rhea should be at home all morning. Hit her up for whatever you need : )

He looked at the time on his phone: 9:55. Still on time

After a few minutes, he heard someone knocking on the room’s door.

Come in

he texted Ayla, and before long, her pink-purplish snout appeared on the door.

As they went downstairs, Ayla informed him that Rhea had managed to recover some of his stuff.

“I heard them coming home. She didn’t seem that at ease yesterday, she almost seemed scared.”

“Do you think someone saw her?”

“I didn’t inquire that much, but from what her boyfriend told me, she looked pretty tense as they left the area, even if your friend there didn’t really seem to have a problem recovering your stuff.”

“Hmmm…that would be worth inquiring. Is she up?” asked the mousemin

“No, they came home pretty late, I was considering waking her up before I left.”

“Ah, is he here then?”

“Yeah.” She then noticed Ryan’s face, “Don’t worry, he’s a chill guy, he will not hurt you. And if he were to try something, you tell me, and I’ll speak with him. I think he’s scared of me!” she said, giggling as she winked to him “But yeah, they should be here until I and Daphne come back from the pedi,” she continued, lowering the hand on which Ryan was sitting on the table.

“Oh. Sorry, I should have picked you up,” she said, realizing that it was a long way down for him.

“Do not worry, I can make it,” Ryan said.
He prided himself on having a decent upper body strength, so he figured out that it would be a somewhat doable climb even with a broken arm, if he made sure to use her scales as handles.

She looked at his effort with a satisfied smirk.

“My, my, the little guy certainly keeps himself in shape,” she thought.

As he reached the table surface, she shook her head, trying to remove any trace of the look she had given him.

“What was that?” he asked, having caught her smirk with the corner of his eye.

“N-nothing! Here’s your breakfast,” she said, presenting to him a small plate with scrambled eggs, a piece of strawberry, and a bit of grilled bacon.

He didn’t inquire, and after he ate his fill, which Ryan realized had barely dented the portion that she had prepared for him, Ayla removed his plate, quickly washing the dishes.

“Shit, it’s 10:25,” she muttered, offering her hand to Ryan once again, quickly transporting him onto the coffee table.

“So, your stuff should be in that box there,” Ayla explained, gesturing towards a small package on the other side of the coffee table as she quickly slid her claws inside her white and red sneakers. “Apologize for this, but I’m super late, see you later in the afternoon Ryan,” she added, giving a gentle scratch to his head with the tip of her index claw, ruffling Ryan’s hair in the process.

As the apartment’s front door closed, Ryan realized that he was starting to come around to how “physical” the girls were with him. Sure, being handled wasn’t still the most pleasant experience, but he did enjoy the pampering and caresses, even if they made him feel like a pet at times. He knew that the girls probably couldn’t help it, it seemed almost instinctual for bigs like them, even the kinder ones.

 

He looked at his phone, reading his boss’s text again. He then looked at the date.

“Shit, the deadline is in 10 days” he realized.

With everything that had happened, he had almost forgotten about his work project.

He quickly checked the box: Good, everything was in working order. The girls had even left a power board for him to connect his things, not far from the box.

It had been only 15 minutes or so since he started coding on top of the coffee table when he heard a loud flutter of wings coming in his direction, and he felt his fur swoosh violently around, moved by a strong wind. As he looked up, he saw Rhea’s majestic wings librating in the air, moving towards him.

“Good morning Rhea,” he shouted, as he saw her hoodie-covered form descending swiftly towards the couch, where she landed with a loud Woompf.

“Ahhh,” sighed Rhea, stretching out “Nothing better than a good night’s sleep,” she commented, plopping her feet on top of the coffee table, Ryan’s makeshift workstation almost exactly in the middle of them. As he looked up, he saw her legs stretching for hundreds of feet, the hard, black tissue of her talons gradually being replaced by soft brown feathers.

Before he could repeat the experience of the day before, he looked further up, waving his hands to try and get Rhea’s attention before one of her massive talons was to collide with him.
Luckily, the harpy senses were sharp, and before long, she noticed the small figure waving and shouting at her
  “Oh, good morning Ryan!” her voice boomed, looking down at the diminutive form of the mousemin, before she realized where he was standing.

“Shit,” she mouthed, grabbing her hoodie  and pulling it down to try and hide her panties,
“You didn’t peek, did you?”

“Peek at what?” he answered, somewhat truthfully.

She looked at him sideways.

“Hmmm…” she said, unconvinced, “Oh, I see you were working! I’m sorry to have interrupted you, I just wanted to chill here while I waited for Alex to come down. I hope everything was fine with your things,”

He nodded “Yeah, everything works, thanks. Thank you again for recovering them, by the way.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it wasn’t a problem. It was pretty easy actually,” she commented.

He noticed immediately that something wasn’t right. She was averting his gaze, and, even if her subconscious shifting in her seat would have probably gone unnoticed by someone her size, it was pretty hard to miss from Ryan's point of view.

“What’s wrong Rhea?” he asked.

The harpy froze for a moment. “W-well, you see…” she began, gulping slightly, inhaling deeply before continuing “It’s about your friend, Alan.”

“What? Why? Did something happen to him?”
“I dunno, he looked fine, but he was very agitated.” She explained “He told us that you shouldn’t call him anymore, that very unsavory people had come to his place a few days ago, asking him about you. He felt scared, for him and you, and he thinks that it would be better for both of you to not involve him further.” She said, her tone betraying that some of his fears had washed over her.

“Did he tell anything else?” asked Ryan, frantically “Is someone watching my apartment?”
“I dunno. Me and Alex didn’t see anyone suspicious, but we’re not exactly inconspicuous in a tiny-sized block. They could have beat it when they saw us,” she answered, in a distressed tone.

Suddenly, without warning, he felt two black, clawed hands closing around his body, engulfing his form completely, a strong force pulling him upwards.

“Oh Ryan,” she moaned, bringing him close to her neck and rubbing him up and down against her feathers, “please, promise me that you will be safe. That you will not do something inconsiderate.”

He squirmed in her grasp, trying to free his mouth from the strands of the dark-brown carpet he was gently pressed on.

“Oh, I forgot to ask again, didn’t I?” she asked, a hint of sadness still in her voice.
“It’s fine,” he said, emerging from his feathery prison as her grip loosened a bit, “I’m starting to get used to it. Still yes, I wouldn’t mind you asking before being picked up.”

“Okay, will try to remember it,” she said, nodding, lowering him to the ground as her expression returned serious. “You didn’t answer my question though.”

“Fine.” He sighed, “I won’t do anything that will put me in danger. I’ll try to stay out of trouble.

A smile appeared on her lips.

“There you go, that’s what I wanted to hear!” she said, “By the way…did you come up with a plan about what to do about this whole situation?”

He looked up at her. He didn’t expect such a question

“To be perfectly honest…I don’t really know. Why do you ask?”

“Well…” she began, “I dunno…I confess that I was starting to lower my guard, to get maybe a bit too comfortable until the confrontation with your friend yesterday… I know that you just came out of a shithole of a situation, and you probably don’t want to think about it too much…. but at the same time I feel that they aren’t going to stay still, and we should think about something to gain the upper ground” she said.

“Oh, that’s why Ayla said you looked tense to her…. Why didn’t you tell her anything about this?”

She sighed, looking down.

“You saw her. She’s just beginning to overcome the guilt of what happened in the gym…I thought that it would have caused her another panic attack, and I don’t think it’s right to worry her like that for a simple suspicion.” She explained, the anguish evident in her tone.

“Well, from what you told me, it didn’t seem like a simple suspicion, but you certainly know her better than me,” he said.

He lowered his eyes, looking at his crossed legs.

“To answer your question,” he reprised, “I still haven’t decided what to do…being honest with you, I’m still a bit overwhelmed by what happened. The hospital, coming here, the new room…I didn’t have the chance to really sit down and think about it.”

“Make sense, sorry if the question made you uncomfortable.”

“No worries, I understand where you’re coming from.”

He remained silent for a moment, looking down at his feet.

“Now that you pointed it out, I feel that the best course of action would be to remain hidden for a few days, try to keep a low profile, and hope that they will convince themselves that I’m really dead. I was already thinking about it, but after your encounter with Alan, I’m convinced that we must keep them in the dark about me at all costs, it is really the only advantage we have. And he’s right, cutting out all ties with him, or anyone else for all that matters, is the safest way, he may be already at risk with your meeting yesterday.”

“Yeah, honestly, I was thinking the same thing.” Observed Rhea “Even if they figured out that you aren’t dead, they still hopefully won’t have a clue of where you are, if we don’t give them one. Don’t worry, we will hide you, we will keep you safe and provide for anything.”

He smiled up at her, something that she immediately reciprocated.

He sighed, thinking back at all his loved ones.  “I would really love to avoid this, you know? At least with my parents.” he stated “but It’s all for the better. I hope they’ll understand.”

“I’m sure they will,” Rhea said, smiling softly.

“Thank you,” he said

The harpy nodded.

“And don’t worry, I will talk with Ayla.” She stated, “I just need to…to prepare her, that’s all.”

He looked up at her, thinking about this last sentence. He had seen how close to Ayla she was, and from what she had gathered, she was very open and somewhat disinhibited. A sudden idea made its way up his brain...perhaps he could test the waters, carefully.

She must have noticed his staring, cause she started to look at him, her head tilted.

“Is something up, Ryan?” she asked

He averted his gaze for a moment.

“May I ask you something, Rhea? Something unrelated to this story, also a bit personal.” He stated

“Oh. Of course, shoot!” she said, intrigued and somewhat relieved about switching topics.

“So, yeah…there is this girl…I might have caught feelings for her,” he said, trying to minimize the issue.

“Oh, that’s nice…who is that? A colleague of yours?” she asked, smiling

“No, not really. She’s someone that I met at the gym.”

“I see. Is she pretty?” asked Rhea,

 His mind raced back to the evening before, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. “V-very pretty, yes”

“So, what’s wrong? You’re afraid of making a move because of that?”

“Well, n-no, not only. She’s stunning, yes, but there is another issue. She’s of another species, and she’s b-bigger than me.”

“Oh,” commented the harpy, her curiosity piqued “How much bigger?”

He gulped audibly “Q-quite,” he said.

“So I was wondering, and here’s the part that becomes personal for you…”

“I see where this is going…” mused Rhea, an amused smile on her face “You’re asking me if I have ever dated smaller guys and if I can give you some advice, right?”

He froze for a moment.

“Well, the males of our species are smaller than the females on average, so it’s kind of the norm for us. I know we might all seem equally huge to you, but Alex is quite a bit shorter than me,” she explained, “However, I’ve dated guys even smaller than him... in fact, one of my exes was a catfolk.” she said “We’ve dated for around a year, not too long before I moved here”

He tilted his head
“And how did it go?”

“It went well, he loved cycling and swimming, and was a sporty guy in general, a very fun guy to hang around, but he was also really sweet. We did a lot of things together, trekking, exploring, camping, and we traveled around a lot that summer.

“I see, it does seem like a …”

“…and he was also great in bed, probably the best sex I ever had,” she continued, with a dreaming tone, “how his little body felt against mine, and how he could reach every spot with his little…”

“OKAY, THAT’S ENOUGH” Ryan shouted, interrupting the harpy.

“I mean, you asked me to tell you.” Said Rhea, giggling “No need to be so prudish about it”

“Let-let’s change subject, shall we?” he stated “And why did it end, if you…”

The harpy’s smile quickly faded “Well, at the end of that year, he said that he was supposed to move out of town in a month for his job and that he didn’t really like long-distance relationships,” She sighed, “…honestly, I also wasn’t so keen on seeing him every other week, but when I pressed him, he revealed that the real reason was that his parents, his mother in particular, didn’t approve of us. She wasn’t very fond of bigger races, let’s say that, and she thought that I was taking advantage of him, that I wanted to make him my little pet.”

He thought back at his own parents, wondering if they would behave similarly. Her mother and father had always been very progressive in that sense, but who knows if they would approve of something like that.

“I said to him that it really shouldn’t matter about what her mother thought, he had never been scared of me, and, in a moment of rage, I also said that if his mother couldn’t leave him be with a girl who loved him, maybe she didn’t really know what it was better for him.” She said, her face looking towards the ground, away from Ryan.

“He gestured to me to stoop to his level and gave me a little pecker on the cheek. Then he said he was sorry, called a taxi, and left.” She concluded, her eyes wet. “I’ve never met him again.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry” apologized the mousemin “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It-it’s fine.” She said, sniffling, drying the forming tears with her arm feathers “he was a good guy, but he wasn’t ready to stand to his family. It’s been a while since then, I’m in a new home, I have new friends, and I’m seeing someone that I feel good with. I’m fine.” she told him, ending the last sentence in a big, warm smile.

She then moved a bit closer to him, her towering thigh inches away from Ryan.

“But if the story with Luke has told me anything, is that you shouldn’t have anyone tell you what you should want or should do.” She reprised, “You, and you only decide what you want.” She said, pushing the clawed tip of his finger on his chest for emphasis, a gesture that made him fall on his feet. “So, do you like this girl?” she asked, continuing to press the fingerpad on top of Ryan’s pectoral, keeping him pinned to the soft surface of the sofa.

“I…I’m not sure” he answered, gulping audibly.

“Then rise your butt and figure it out! And if you find out what you’re feeling, you’ll just go for it and tell her!” she exclaimed, still pinning him “Am I made myself clear?” she asked, in a dry tone.

He nodded frantically, his eyes wide at seeing her face looming over him

“Good.” She said, slowly removing her finger from his chest “And don’t worry too much about the size difference, I know that “love tramples any difference” is the corniest shit ever, but it worked out for me and Luke, so I’m positive that it will work out for you,” she added,  moving away from the mousemin slightly, looking at him with a broad smile.

“Besides, I’m sure that plenty of girls would be falling head over heels for a cute, smart, kind little guy like you,” she said, as Ryan scrambled on the surface of the sofa, finally able to stand up again.

“Ya know,” he began “You’re actually scary when you give pieces of advice”

She stuck her tongue out “It’s part of my charm!”

He chuckled. Maybe she was right though. He either went for it, or he didn’t, and in that case, he should stop thinking about it.  If Ayla did really mean what she had said the night before, perhaps being honest with her about his feelings was the best course of action. Then, they could figure out a way to make it work. But he couldn’t really know how unless he told her.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden fluttering of wings coming from upstairs before a black and white feathered harpy came into view.

“Morning sleepy-head,” said Rhea, looking at the newcomer,

“Morning babe,” he answered, slowly descending towards the couch, where he landed with a loud wompf, planting a kiss on the lips of the female harpy, a kiss which she immediately retracted from.

“Alex!” she protested, grabbing and heaving him up a bit “Look where you sit, there was someone there,”

Luckily, Ryan had managed to get out just in time to avoid ending up under the male harpy’s butt.

He looked up, seeing the black and white harpy staring right at him.

For a moment, the mousemin instincts resurged, and he stood there, frozen in fear of what he would do.

He calmed down a little when he saw the boy starting to scratch the back of his head, an embarrassed expression on his round, boyish face.

“Sorry pal, didn’t see ya there,” said the male harpy

“That’s what they always say,” the mousemin replied, jokingly

Rhea giggled

“I’m Ryan,” he said

“Oh, I see, you’re the new roommate! Name’s Alex. Don’t worry, the gals are big, but they don’t bite…well, maybe Rhea does, when she’s hungry.” He moved his face closer “I suggest keeping your eyes open around her, and maybe always have food available around her” he whispered, lowering his face to get on level with him.

“You idiot,” said Rhea, playfully tossing one of the pillows of the sofa at him,

“Jeez Rhea, chill, it was just a joke,” he said, dodging the incoming projectile.

She stood up, eyeing the stoves, then the two guys again.

“Well, now that you’re all here and have become acquainted with each other,” she said, “will you be two gentlemen and help me clean the kitchen?”

“Aww, come on!” groaned the two guys, almost in unison.

 

 

On her way to the esthetician, Ayla’s mind was wandering.

She had spent the whole morning unable to concentrate. Even if it was just a hint of a doubt, the thought appeared to have taken permanent residence in her mind.

She heard her phone buzzing. It was David.

Hey Ayla, just wanted to let you know that I booked a table at Le Rotissier at 7:30 pm tomorrow. Daphne told me you like steakhouses, so I thought you would like it.

She smiled. He seemed so considerate, and he was so handsome. Still…

“Maybe I shouldn’t go on the date tomorrow.” She thought,

Her mind raced at the day before. She and Ryan had spent the whole morning and evening together, sitting one beside the other. They barely knew each other, and they basically came from two different worlds.

Yet for some reason, it felt so… natural. They shared the same interests, liked the same things, had the same humor…like it was supposed to be.

She shook her head vigorously. No, she thought, she was again starting to daydream about a guy she barely knew.

And yet…

A certain moment flashed in her memory: she with the dress on, as he and Daphne looked at her. There was something about his eyes, something about the look he had given her… that made her think that maybe she wasn’t alone in this feeling.

Her daydreaming was abruptly interrupted by a series of squealing, high-pitched blares.

She looked around, trying to see what could have been the cause of the sound amongst the many titan and giant-sized buildings before she absentmindedly glanced down.

There, at the base of her right foot, was a rectangular, red box of metal, a bit smaller than her smartphone, that she recognized as a car, blaring loudly at her. Directly beside it, another half a dozen similar-sized cars stood, forming a line that stretched 60 to 70 feet along the road.

Looking around, she realized that she was near one of the mixed-size intersections and that in her airheadedness, she must have stepped down the sidewalk, and now her foot was transversal to what looked like a Normal double lane, completely blocking it.

“I’m so sorry”, she said, immediately raising her foot up, seeing the cars quickly speed up, the enraged drivers shouted unintelligible insults at her as they drove past her.

She sighed, cursing her huge feet. It was the second time that week.

She heard her phone buzzing.

Hey, are you there Ayla? Asked David

She looked at her phone for a moment, unsure of what to answer him,

Yes, I am, she ended up texting, That sounds wonderful, can’t wait!

She sighed,

“Better speed up. Daphne is probably already there.” She thought, turning towards the entrance of her neighborhood.

 

For many, opening up a shop in the Titans neighborhood as a Small was something that only fools with a death wish would do.

However, Julian Martinez, the dogfolk owner and manager of the Martinez Beauty Salon, had immediately realized the perspective earnings that such an activity could give.

Opening his shop to Titans had ensured lots of potential customers, usually relatively well-off, and who required their services often, considering how many male and female Titans had manual jobs, putting their nails and claws under heavy, continuous stress.

Plus, the fact that they could paint and polish every nook and cranny in a way that Titan estheticians weren’t able to, had ensured that his salon was able to blow up in popularity, especially since he had introduced “tailored services” for the more unusual customers, available for a small supplementary fee.

As he was standing at the checkout inside the expansive warehouse his business was in, he felt some familiar tremors shaking his desk.

“Guys, get ready” he shouted at his staff. “Titans coming” he paused, focusing on the tremors “Two of them!”

One of them made heavier steps than the average, “A big one,” he added, matter-of-factly, as his employees scrambled to accommodate the oversized customers.

“Good afternoon, is there someone here?” boomed a voice from the heavens, as they saw an enormous brown paw, covered in a black heeled sandal appear in front of the entrance of the building, connected to a furred leg reaching almost to the rim of the partially closed portcullis. Even if it had been two years since he had served Titans in his salon, Julian was still amazed at seeing the portcullis rim, as tall as a ten-story building, being dwarfed by a customer like that. Not to mention that, behind the furred leg,  everyone in the salon could see a pair of red and white sneakers, quite a ways bigger than the heels, basically filling all the available space in the parking lot.

“Open up guys,” said Mr. Martinez, ignoring his thoughts about the size of the two people outside, and one of the employees pressed a button, that caused the portcullis to slowly rise, allowing the afternoon sun to enter the warehouse.

“Oh, Daphne Evans!” he said, as the sphinx face appeared into view “It’s always a pleasure to meet you here. I suppose your appointment was for today, right.”

“Good afternoon Mr. Martinez,” she answered, taking a couple steps inside and looking down at him “Yes, we had booked it with Janet.”

“Oh, I see, so you must be Ayla then,” he said, craning his neck to look at the drakonid. He hadn’t served many yet, but he could see that they were truly as huge as people said.

“Yes, that would be me,” said Ayla sheepishly “How do you know that?”

“Well, I like to get to know all of my customers personally. So, Daphne, tell me, what can we do for you today? The usual treatment?”

“For me, yes. Ayla would like the deluxe, she has a date tomorrow”
“Wonderful, wonderful! Don’t worry, you will not be disappointed!” he said, pressing a button on his desk phone,

It didn’t take long for a young, grey-furred wolfgirl to come into view, her black hair combed in a stylish ponytail.

“Yes, Mr. Martinez?” she said, looking down at the dogfolk that barely reached her hip.

“Please, the 3 pm customers have arrived. A standard mani and pedi plus facemask for Daphne, and a deluxe treatment for Ayla. I’ll leave them in your hands, Janet,”

“Of course. Hi Daphne!” she said, turning towards the sphinx.
“Hi Janet, how are you doing?”

“Not bad, not bad. Working, as usual. You’re Ayla, right? Nice to meet you,” she said, looking up at the taller girl.

“Yes, hi,” said Ayla, smiling,

“Now, If you would please follow me,” she said, beginning to move toward the center of the salon.

They reached a couple of large salon chairs, scaled for their size, each with an adequately sized footbath in front of it,

“Please Ayla, sit down,” said Janet, gesturing towards the larger chair on the left, which presented a strange contraption at his side on which several bottles stood,

She sat down, eyeing the machine intently,

“Please remove your shoes, there is a compartment under the chair for them,” stated the wolfgirl, a courteous smile on her face.

After a few seconds, Ayla saw a number of tiny reptilian creatures, each less than the size of her nail, starting to scurry around her feet, stopping just in front of her claws.

She looked at them with a puzzled expression, as they all gathered there, all 30 or something of them, while a girl moved slightly in front of the others, looking up at her,

“Good afternoon ma’am!” said the squadleader. “we’re your estheticians for today. We hope that you will enjoy your treatment. When you’re ready, please put your claws into the basin in front of your seat, and we will start”

She smiled, slightly taken aback by her statement, as she proceeded to carefully put her clawed feet inside the water, fearing that if even a cup of it were to spill out, it would cause serious distress to the tiny lizardmen beside it.

As she finished putting her feet in, an employee pressed a button on the size of the footbath, and large bubbles started to form inside it.

“Ahhh, that’s nice,” she thought. It had been a long time since she had had a hydro massage, and the warm water felt great against her scales. She leaned her head back, enjoying the sensation, closing her eyes before she felt something small starting to crawl on her hands, something that made her almost shoot up on her chair.

“Please keep your arms still, miss” admonished the squad leader, as she saw four lizardmen immersing their hands in a slick, viscous substance until the elbow, approaching the fingers of her right hand and starting to slowly massage them, moving up and down to meticulously spread the moisturizer around her hand and wrist, mirrored by other four estheticians on her left. At their signal, Ayla rose and turned her hands, to allow the guys to apply the soap-like mixture all over her palm.

Meanwhile, she removed her claws from the footbath, feeling hot air washing over them as another dozen little guys used hair dryers to dry their surface completely. After that, one of the lizardmen pressed a button on the side of the chair, and she felt her lower legs rising, as the footrest became horizontal, a platform coming out to the two sides of it.

Immediately, she saw two dozen lizardmen exiting from a small entrance in the chair, and she felt their little hands and feet as they crawled along her legs, scurrying like little ants to reach her peds.

She glanced at her feet: Against them, they looked positively minuscule, as they eagerly started to cover their arms in the same moisturizer they had used for her hands. She had never felt like her size T(titan)9.5 feet was particularly big for her height, but against these lizardmen, they seemed absolutely colossal. She was again reminded of how gargantuan they must have looked to Ryan the first time.

All her thoughts stopped as she started to feel the tiny guys massaging her heel. It was like nothing she had ever felt before: how they kneaded, prodded, and pushed against her hard, scaled hide, along with the sensation of the massage lotion, made her feel like she was getting her foot massage for the first time.
She closed her eyes, and reeled her head back, bathing in the sensation of their little body slowly making their way up her soles, removing whatever hunch, callous, or muscular tension they might had. She was in ecstasy. It was like being touched by an angel, having clouds massage her feet. She barely managed to keep herself from moaning.

She could also see that her masseurs were enjoying themselves as well, hiding in the shade of her house-sized toes or under her sharp nails, using her insteps as a slide, even taking a break between the base of her toes. Some, she realized blushing, were even planting little peckers all around her soles. She almost considered wiggling her toes playfully, before she realized that it would have caused quite a ruckus for her little estheticians.

As they finished their thorough massage, while some of the lizardmen remained to paint and trim her nails, others climbed their way up her legs again, making her feel ticklish, until they reached her abdomen. Climbing down her thighs, they entered another elevator, trying to reach her headrest.

After a minute or so, it became clear that for whatever reason, the elevator was stuck, the squadleader profusely apologized that they couldn’t reach her hair.

“That’s not a problem, I can give you a lift,” she said, smiling at the little guys, as she pinched two of them between the index and thumb, slowly raising them up to her scalp.

However,  her hand was still slick with the moisturizer, and as it passed her shoulder, one of the lizardmen slipped from between her fingers, slowly falling towards her clavicles, bouncing on her collarbone before sliding straight into her cleavage.
“Oh dear,” she said, her cheeks slowly becoming crimson, sitting up immediately to try and find the little guy, a movement that made her masseurs brace strongly against her body to avoid being thrown off.

“Oh. S-sorry” she muttered, putting a hand inside the cleavage. “There you are, are you okay?” she asked the guy she had just fished out, releasing him on her finger.

“Do not worry ma-ma’am, I’m fine. I apologize for falling here” he said, rapidly climbing up her hand and arm to reach Ayla’s head.

She realized then that maybe she could go a different way about this, and she made them climb her hands, sprinkling the tiny lizardmen on her scalp, her purple hair cushioning their fall.

As they reached it, the drakonid almost immediately started to feel all the dozen or so pairs of clawed feet moving on top of her, washing, combing, and trimming hairs to them the size of small trees, before they started massaging her scalp similarly as they had made to her feet. It was almost better than her claw massage.

Then, after they had trimmed and cut her nails, painting them of a sapphire blue tone, cleaned and painted her eyelashes, the leader moved again on top of her snout, announcing in a solemn voice:
“Our treatment is done, ma’am. We hope you enjoyed it,”

“Yes, very much, you were great!” she exclaimed, smiling at them sheepishly.

The squadleader reciprocated, nodding in acknowledgment, and gestured for her crew to move to the elevator.

“Wait, let me help you” offered Ayla, and she quickly realized that she was able to deposit the whole crew of estheticians on the ground in just two handfuls.

“Thank you, ma’am, you’re very kind.” they all said.

She gave them a small smile, admiring their handiwork on her feet, marveling again at the realization that the multitude of lizardmen, sitting and resting beside the chair after their hard work, still occupied an area smaller than half her foot.

After Janet accompanied them out of the salon, Daphne approached Ayla, her golden-brown hair now combed in elegant sidelocks.

“So, how was it?” asked the sphinx,
“It was…Whoa,” said Ayla, “I had no idea they were so good, you were right.”

“Eheh, I saw how you were enjoying yourself. You even put a guy in your cleavage!”

Ayla blushed heavily “It-it was an a-accident!”

“Sure, sure,” teased Daphne “Did you want to bring him home?”

“N-no! What are you thinking? I would n-never!” stuttered the drakonid.

A wicked idea came to the sphinx's mind.

“Why not?” she asked “I would totally keep one of the little guys for myself. You know, it must be fun having them around, getting to be served and pampered, having their little hands massage your body, having them run up and down to satisfy your every need,” she stated, longingly looking at the horizon.

“S-stop it. They’re not toys or slaves. They’re people. I would never do something like that.”

“Never said anything about slaves. They are completely willing, they’re even paid to do that. Besides,” she said, pushing the taller girl as she moved closer to her “you didn’t really seem to mind it a few minutes ago.”

Ayla looked down at her “I mean, it did feel nice,” Ayla admitted, looking down, stroking her right arm with her left hand.

Far better than nice actually.