somehow installing a tiny treadmill on the inside of a car by the bottom of the window. so a tiny can run there like they're running on the sidewalk from the giant's perspective.
(Like how as a kid some people imagine a little guy running on the sidewalk doing parkour on a road trip)
When I first saw her… it was odd to say the least. I hadn't seen another person with powers in years.
She was so confident, against someone who was in the public eye for their entire life.
Against one of the most notorious Villains in the state. Against me.
I had no way of expecting her power. No symbols on her suit to give it away. No insights I could detect.
It was sudden. I barely blinked before she was the height of a skyscraper. I was lucky she spared my life.
She plucked me from the ground, holding me in front of her face. I was scared out of my mind.
It was embarrassing. I must have yelped several times, while desperately trying to tell her I forfeit. I had no way to prepare, the shock of everything had given me more of a fright than I had ever expected.
The next time I saw her, she was just on the street. I could recognize those eyes anywhere. Especially after they were as tall as me and only a few feet away. I was frozen on the sidewalk for several moments, looking back after her. Trying to convince myself of what I had seen.
It gave me quite the advantage in our next fight. When she tried the same move of sweeping me up several dozen feet, I relayed the encounter to her.
Told her exactly where it was and what she was wearing. Of course she didn't even see me. She didn't remember, not anymore. Before I told her I had enough time to erase my appearance from the memory.
Instead of denial or trying to hurt me, she shrank about halfway down. Just enough so she could manage to slide her fingers under my mask. She ripped it in half, pulling my hood back in the same move. It was a fair trade, at least it would have been before she shoved me directly in front of a news helicopter. Showing my identity to anyone watching.
That was too far. We could have had a truce. What choice did I have but to hypnotize the surrounding area, and destroy the camera. I would have to make up for the remaining damage later with more memory wipes. How exhausting that was. Unfortunately, in all of the chaos, I wiped her memory of the event as well.
Several times over she would attempt to reveal my identity, and again and again I would have to wipe more and more memories. It was tiresome, even with the practice and discipline over my powers it gave.
I was finally able to narrow it down to the surrounding crowds, and exclude her from the memory wipe. She only tried two more times to reveal my identity before she gave up.
So, we were finally in a stalemate. She knew my identity, I knew hers.
It was… peaceful for a few months. We didn't fight, we didn't see each other around, and the citizens were able to return to their normal lives.
I was able to take back over my cafe. It was a small little coffee shop I ran in the outskirts of the city. Calm and quiet. Away from any drama. This meant I could start hiring again. For the past few months an old friend of mine ran it for me. We were co-owners, taking over for the other when things came up.
I put up 'We're Hiring!' signs around and managed the cafe. He would do all the interviews and take the rare customer that would come in.
So I had no way of knowing that he hired her.
Autumn.
It was nice to get a name to the face for once. On the other hand she tried to quit immediately upon seeing me. My friend was able to beg and convince her to stay. We were desperate to get colleagues that weren't high schoolers on break.
After a few more people were hired, she started filing complaints against me. Clearly my friend didn't tell her I owned the place. Every 'formal' complaint -little slips of paper into the back office door- all came to me.
I trashed most of them, everything that wasn't true. The others… well I corrected my behavior. Tried to make her feel more comfortable. I gave her a bigger locker, tried to give her better shifts, I even ended up giving her a raise after she would spend extra time to clean up. I stopped trying to make conversation with her about anything.
There was only one problem. She was constantly hostile to me. She would ignore me unless necessary. She would only call me by my name if people were around, if we were alone she would spit out "Splitter." like the word burned her tongue.
Weeks more would pass in this uncomfortable tension. Eventually fights between other 'Supers' would start to break out again in the main city. She and I would have to step in from time to time, on opposing sides as always. But, we never once fought face to face.
One night, while the two of us were closing, she stepped into the back in a rush. I was used to her trying to avoid me at all costs, so I let it be. Until I heard the back door open, and the wind slammed it shut. She would always leave the room I was in, if she was able, but she never left the building like this before.
I turned off all the lights and locked the main entrance before heading through the break room and out into the alleyway. Her hoodie and apron were on the ground beside the dumpster.
"Autumn?"
Nothing. Only the wind against the trees and… was that… breathing?
Small intakes of air from under the dumpster.
Was there an animal or something?
I took off my apron and crouched down to look underneath.
…Autumn…?
A small silhouette in the back corner, shaking as it started up at me.
"D-don't come any closer!"
"What… what happened to you..?"
"Just… just go back inside…. please, leave me alone."
"I'm not just going to leave you here. Can you at least come back inside? I don't want you to freeze out here."
"I… no. Just… forget this ever happened."
"Autumn… please." I moved around to the back of the dumpster where she was. She swiftly scooted away from me, trying to maintain a consistent distance.
"Don't touch me!" I started to reach towards her, hoodie in hand.
"Autumn. I'm trying to help you please. We don't have to talk about it. I only want you to stay safe." While she continued to scoot back, I reached up to move the dumpster. Revealing her to the soft moonlight.
Her breathing began to hasten as she backed herself against the wall.
"Let's get you inside where it's warm okay?" I propped her hoodie around her, using it to lift her without touching her myself.
She was shaking violently, from more than just the cold. I brought her back inside the cafe, placing her and the hoodie on a table.
"What happened to you?"
"I.. I don't need to tell you anything!"
"You can shrink too?"
'She's panicking.'
I crouched down so she could be at eye level.
"P-please… just get away from me."
"I don't trust you to get home like this."
"What…. what's that supposed to mean…?"
"I'll clean up here, and if you don't feel better by then… I'd prefer to bring you back to my house to keep you safe."
"You can't do that…!" She backed away further into her hoodie, dragging it with her towards the wall.
"I only want to make sure you're safe. I know you're an adult, but I can't leave you here in good conscience." I pulled the hoodie back towards me, tucking her into it like a bird's nest. She flinched away from me.
There was little I had to do, pack up hers and my stuff, shut down any electronics, and clean up the counters. Yet in that time she was able to get down off the table.
I found her hoodie jammed under a napkin box and hung off the side of the table, likely using it to climb down safely.
Yet again I had to crouch down onto the floor, this time finding her hidden behind a chair leg.
"Leave me alone." She was still shaking, albeit slightly less now. Even still, she wasn't back to normal yet.
I knew she would just continue to fight me. It was easier to just pick her up and get it over with. I retrieved her hoodie and lifted her into it. She kicked and punched my hands the whole way.
"Shh… hey, stop. I don't want you to hurt yourself." I put slightly more pressure on her to discourage her squirming.
I got back to the break room, clocked us both out, and went out to my car. I threw my bag and her hoodie in the back. She shivered more when swapped to my hand, as well as starting to squirm again.
I gently set her down into my cup holder and started the car. Also making sure to point my AC at her with warm air flowing out.
"My house isn't too far away… and, I'm sorry. For all this. I just want to make sure you're safe. When we get there I can get a bed set up for you and as soon as you're better I'll drive you back to the cafe."
"You know this is kidnapping right?"
"I think we've both done worse than that. Besides I'm only trying to help you."
"That's just what I would expect you scum to think."
"Us Scum?"
"Antagonistic murderers."
I didn't know how to react to that. I don't think I wanted to.
The rest of the drive was silent. She faced away from me the entire time. Although I suppose I should be thankful she didn't try to climb from the cup holder while I was focused on the road.
When I got home I slipped on my bag and lifted her up in her hoodie. I doubt she would have tolerated me holding her with my bare hands.
I headed inside and set her down on my living room couch.
"I can put something together for dinner for the two of us."
"I'm not hungry. Leave me alone."
"…You haven't eaten since lunch. You need something."
"I had a big lunch. I can eat in the morning. I don't need anymore 'help' from you."
"Fine. Can I at least get you some water, or any bedding?"
I figured I might as well offer something, even if I doubted she would need bedding at her height.
"…Sure I'll take some water." She seemed reluctant to take anything from me.
"Thank you."
After I gave her water we didn't talk for the rest of the night. I left her on the couch and tried my best to sleep until the morning.
When I woke up to she was gone with only a note left on the counter, part of me wished I didn't leave her belongings out on my coffee table. So she would have to have stayed longer and we could have at least talked.
But, there wasn't much I could change now. She must have returned to normal height after all.
The note was only one line. "Never speak of this again."
human in their room singing and dancing to music like they're in an edit, meanwhile the giant is watching them from outside their window with extreme second hand embarrassment
(only after finishing this did I realize I forgot to write for prompt 5. So I will post that once I finish it) T-T
Word Count: 802
*TW: Mentions of Death, Depression, Yelling, lack of trust, refusing to grieve*
In a world of superheroes you have to be careful of protecting your identity. Especially against any villains or your nemesis.
Unless they somehow willingly reveal theirs to you.
Even after Splitter had wiped his face from countless memories, I was still constantly aware of his face. Since he had recognized me in passing before, it seemed that he found it only fair that I knew who he was. A truce. He wouldn't reveal my identity, I wouldn't reveal his.
Then I got hired at his cafe. Long story short, resentment has built up over many months. I refuse to call him his real name in private, and he constantly hassles me about my personal life.
Well, more like he's concerned for my emotional well being and I tell him to 'piss off'. Regardless, we have no respect for each other.
It all started when I had a panic attack after work, and I uncontrollably shrunk down.
Right. I can size shift, albeit uncontrollably, unless I'm wearing my suit. He can wipe memories, and make people hallucinate. He is brains, while I'm the brawn.
He found me outside the cafe shaking, and brought me to his house to 'calm me down'. We both know he was just trying to learn more about this weakness.
Ever since then he's pretended to care, checking up on me constantly. He even went around and got my number from our coworkers.
Finally, after constant prying, he put his plan into place. He stole my pendant. A small charm that I use to control my height. Usually I have it slotted into the upper back of my suit. But this weekend I was having a rough time with some rather… personal anecdotes. So I carried it around with me for a few days. It suppresses my 'larger' emotions, making it risky to carry around twenty four seven.
I was careless.
I had it in my bag, but when I clocked in, I had put it in my locker and switched the charm to my pocket.
I didn't even notice the lack of weight until I clocked back out.
It wasn't in my apron, any of my pockets, my locker, or anywhere on the ground. It was just gone.
He saw me stressed out.
Everyone had already left.
He cornered me in the break room.
"You took it." If only looks could kill.
"Autumn. You can't just go around feeling numb all week."
"Oh here we fucking go. Don't act like you give a shit about me." He always did this. Put up the sympathy act.
"Please, just listen to me."
"No! You always do this! Give it back or I tell the media where our dear little Sight Splitter lives."
"Autumn!" He grabbed my arms. "Please."
"Don't call me that goddammit! You have no right. Fucking give it back." I used my body weight to rip my arms free and shove him back. I could already feel the room getting smaller.
"Whoa whoa whoa wait! …Can we at least do this somewhere that won't destroy my ceiling?"
"I can do whatever I please to your god damned roof if you don't give me my pendant!"
"I want to give it back. But I want to talk first. Please."
"I have no reason to trust you." He almost flinched at that.
"You really feel that way? After… after everything? I thought…"
"After everything?! Every lie you tell me to get closer to me? Every time you've broken my trust? Forcing me to keep your identity secret? Kidnapping me? Stealing my one hope for some semblance of being normal?! How dare you?" He shoves something into my hand. My… pendant.
"Autumn. I really do care about you. All I want is for you to stop forcing yourself to be fine. I heard about your friend. I just want you to take real time to grieve. Please just take the next week off. If you need more time, I don't mind covering for your shifts."
what?
"If you don't mind, I'd prefer to keep this here with me. Or in your locker. Just so you don't bottle this all up. I won't cause any trouble. If someone does, I can take care of that too. Just be you for a while, okay?"
"How… how did you hear about him…?"
"The crash was all over the news. I recognized his car. He came into the cafe pretty often to see you."
"I…" I didn't know how to feel.
I pressed the charm back into his hands. Letting myself cry.
Everything came crashing down in my mind. And ever so slowly, the room became bigger.
I heard my pendant fall to the ground, and his arms wrapped around me; becoming ever more encompassing until only his hands held me against his chest.
human in their room singing and dancing to music like they're in an edit, meanwhile the giant is watching them from outside their window with extreme second hand embarrassment
haven't posted any of my art here in a while (mainly because non of it is g/t) but I wanted to share!
At first only made Lynette and Wanderer because they're my main genshin favorites, but then I found the Lyney and Freminet designs so I had to make them to accompany Lynette (the pixel art designs aren't mine, I just copied them onto graph paper)
I also made tadc art for the main cast (although I was tempted to make them for queenie and gummigoo)
I really love checkerboard art as you can probably tell.
I like making little Knick Knacks for the games I play like the primogem above. I don't have photos of them but I also made similar doodles for stellar jades and polychromes.
tiny who's crushing on the giant they live with. they're doing something in the giant's kitchen, and somehow almost falls off the counter. but as soon as they hear the giant's footsteps approaching they manage to muster up the strength to pull themselves back up. they can't be embarrassing themselves in front of the giant after all. not to mention how hard they would be blushing if the giant had to catch them or hold them.
so they get back on the counter, still panicked from the potential incident. so they're breathing really quickly, their hair is messed up, they're trying to fix themselves up before the giant sees them.
and when the giant turns the corner the tiny is just laying there, very disheveled, like this
as they quietly stammer out an excuse for why they're so spooked. also trying to keep up the act of not knowing that the giant was there.
"O-oh! Hey...___ I.. I didn't see you there...! Huh? Oh no no no I'm fine just... ah... nothing to worry about..."
either the giant is a bit worried and confused or they know the tiny is completely bullshitting.
The red thread was just another thing my kind could not partake in. None of my family has ever found where theirs led. Something else we could only watch.
For humans the feeling of it was just an inconvenience. A thread so small it slips past their perception. For us it was heavy rope that itched at our fingers.
Most of us learned to ignore it. It was just another part of life. Another burden, another curse.
My parents didn't understand why they, out of everyone, were not soulmates. After all, they didn't share the thread with anyone else in the village. How could soulmates be destined if they were too far apart to ever meet?
The others in the community had thread that sagged on the ground for most of the time, but mine was always… higher.
Everyone told me that whoever it was likely lived in a larger building, so they lurked on taller ground.
My fear never quelled.
It realized.
I had only just moved away from my creek side home, and into a cabin just down the trail. I wanted solitude. The family I had was… talkative. Couldn't do one thing without the whole neighborhood knowing. The risk of getting caught was more comforting than having all of my thoughts and feelings exposed. Ironic as that was.
So, after several days of hiking, I moved in silently. The tension from my thread slacked the closer I got. Even after 'magically' tightening again, it would always limp down soon enough.
Maybe someone else already lived in the walls of that cabin. Maybe I would be the first in my area to actually find their soulmate. It was an oddly exciting feeling, even when mixed with the nerves of being away from the safety of the village.
When I got there, my hope was swiftly crushed. The interior of the paneling was covered in cobwebs. There was no sign of previous tenancy. I had to start fresh, and alone. While that was what I wanted, it was disappointing none the less.
It took less than a week for the human to notice something was off. I don't know how, but they did. It was obvious by how they started searching around the house manically. Looking around outside, sighing loudly when there wasn't anything.
It took me two more days to understand why.
I was in the kitchen stealing grabbing some of their basic ingredients to stock up, when I noticed it. The thread around my finger moving back and forth when I moved across their counter. Leading straight to their bedroom.
Everything started spinning. Lights began pulsating across my vision. My heart followed, pounding in my ears. I ended up dropping my bag from how hard I shook.
'It couldn't be.'
'T-that's impossible.'
"No. N-no no no no no…"
'This isn't happening.'
'Please… no this isn't happening.'
'Not to me… w-why to me…?'
'Fuck fuck fuck…!'
'I should go back.'
'I need to go home.'
My thoughts were going too quick to notice the thumps across the floor over my own heartbeat.
To feel the small vibrations from the floor over my own shaking.
To hear their breathing over my frantic gasps.
Something tugged at my finger. Just enough to bring my attention back from the panicking.
My head swung up.
Their shadow was cast over me, blocking the small hope of moonlight seeping through the windows.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't cry.
I couldn't scream.
No matter how much I wanted to.
My eyes lingered on the cursed thread rising from my finger to theirs.
Now more than ever I wish the damned thing could be cut.
They didn't move. Were they in awe? In shock? Were they confused? If the world was perfect they could be sleep walking. But, then again, in a perfect world this interaction would not exist.
Minutes passed while we stared at each other. A standoff of wills. Who would break first?
The answer was them.
While I was still in the middle of a moral crisis, they reached their hand towards me.
My body decided that it could start functioning again as soon as I saw them move.
I staggered backwards, I didn't have any plan set. Without any emergency holes built, I had nowhere to go.
Except down.
My rope was hung off the side of the counter, I could go down it fast. Rope burned hands was a risk I was willing to take.
If I had any time to give this idea a second thought, I wouldn't have done it.
But I was desperate.
My feet almost slipped under me numerous times as I sprinted to the counter edge.
Their hands followed in quick succession, and I was lucky enough to evade them every time they attempted to grasp me.
My heart raced rapidly, I had no time to hesitate when I got to my hook. I threw my legs off the edge and narrowly caught the rope with my hands. Gravity did most of the work as I slid closer and closer to the ground.
Until, the distance stopped getting smaller. The wind rushed past me as the rope was lifted into the air, with me at the bottom.
I tried to swing myself to the counter yet again, but they held the rope still.
Soon enough I was brought to their face.
Unlike the anger or confusion I expected, I saw only concern..?
Maybe they pitied my horror. My futile attempts to outrun them.
Yet the hint of fear in their eyes silenced that thought.
Their hand started to clasp around me, and with one last ditch effort I tried to climb up. To their other hand. I knew it wouldn't work. I knew they would still catch me. But sometimes fear is stronger than common sense.
With a sense of finality their fingers embraced me in their warm hold. I didn't even notice my shivering until it stopped.
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
titsay
prguitarman
