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.”