Lani stared down the beanstalk. She hadn’t begun climbing. She could actually be going home, down the beanstalk. Back to the human lands.
“Come on Lani. Just go home. It’ll all be over.” The ground was almost clouds where Lani was standing. It was strange up here, in the sky. But it didn’t feel like that, the clouds reminded her. She turned around, staring at the giant grass stalks before her. She tapped her foot, how long had she been standing there? “Ugh!” She exclaimed and headed back to Noi’s house.
Lani froze and looked up. Noi towered above the grass. He really did look wonderful in that outfit. His head was so far up, but she could see it pass the grass. He must’ve been standing on that ledge, as he seemed even taller than before. A dark shadow cast over Lani, she realized Noi was about to take a step. Now would be the perfect time to speak up.
“Uh, Noi!?!” The house sized foot above Lani’s head dipped to the side, landing beside Lani causing the ground to shake. Noi had to have heard her.
“Lani?!” The mountain of a beautiful man lowered down. His hands appeared on either side of her. “You’re not gone? I thought you left.”
“Well, I…I didn’t.” Lani gave him a sheepish smile.
“Oh.” Lani was suddenly scooped up in Noi’s hands. “Did you want your sword?”
“Yeah, but…I kind of wanted to come back.” Lani fidgeted. “Unless…are you going to that dinner party?”
“Mmm, I was gonna but, you’re here now so…what’s the point?” Noi’s hand rose, Lani fell over.
“Do you want to go?” She asked.
“I told Terran that I’d attend. I probably should.”
“I don’t think you specifically stated that you would go.” Lani tried to recall what the giant had said earlier.
“I really should. I guess you could stay in my house for the-”
“I’ll go with you!” Lani blurted out.
“I’m going to be with giants, you know that right?” Noi sounded slightly worried.
“Yes, but I came back for…for you.” Lani sighed and looked away from Noi. “I can just hide.”
“You came back for…me?” Noi froze. Lani noticed red appearing on the giant’s face. “I…you came back. I didn’t think…”
Lani heard and felt the air flutter past her as Noi sucked in a breath.
“I was a terrible friend.”
Noi wasn’t a terrible friend. He was anything but that!
“Noi, you’ve been a great friend! I know we’ve only known each other for a few days, but…I care about you! I…do you care about me, Noi? Are you my friend?” Lani stood up, she wanted to cry, but she wasn’t sure why.
“I…I don’t know, Lani. I want to be your friend.” Lani stared up at Noi, noticing the tears that were forming in his eyes. “Can I be your friend, Lani Jack?”
“Of course Noi!” Lani wiped her eyes and smiled. “I didn’t break into your house a few days ago for nothing!”
The hand to the left of Lani moved up and wiped Noi’s eyes. Lani saw the hair atop Noi’s head begin glowing.
“Oh.” A smile appeared on Noi’s face, tears still running down his face. “Don’t worry. It’s never glowed for a good reason before. But, it glows in pure emotion. I guess this is one of those moments. It’s hard to hide that.”
“Oh, sorry. I was worried for a moment.” Lani fell backwards into Noi’s palm and stared up at the giant’s face. She smiled.
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to spend time with someone that wasn’t my parents before.” Noi’s fingertip brushed over Lani’s head. “You’re the first.”
“Wow.” Lani glanced up at the giant. She felt kind of honored about that.“Uh, thank you?”
Noi chuckled, he gave a strange smile. “Yeah. I…just thank you for being here.”
“Yeah. I wish the world could just always be this peaceful.” Lani leaned against Noi’s chest beyond her. She could hear Noi’s heartbeat, it was quite calming. She felt like she didn’t have to worry about anything for once. She hadn’t felt like that since…since she was nine.
“Yeah, me too.” Noi’s voice rumbled. “We still have things to worry about-”
“We don’t need to right now!” Lani pressed her face into Noi’s chest, then put her arms out as if she was giving him a hug. “We’re here. Let’s do something good. Nice. Okay?”
“What do you like doing in your free time?” Noi asked, Lani paused. She mostly did small quests or training stuff. She didn’t really have free time, and if she did? She usually napped or rested.
“I…I don’t have much free time.” Lani fell backwards onto Noi’s hand and sighed. “What do you do?”
“Garden.” Noi said it very quickly, his hand suddenly launched up to his face. Lani stared at Noi’s face. There was a sparkle in his eyes. “I love gardening.”
“Yes!” Noi didn’t even wait for Lani to finish the question. Lani tried to stand up, but Noi’s hand jerked to his shoulder, causing her to fall over again. “C’mon! Let me get my stuff! We can-”
“I don’t want to rain on your parade Noi, but it’s too cold-”
“Oh…here, you can stay with me, I can keep you warm.” Noi’s hand tipped and Lani slipped onto his shoulder. Noi seemed very passionate about gardening.
Lani was left outside of Noi’s room as he remembered that he should change out of his beautiful and fancy clothes. Then she was grabbed back up by Noi and put back on his shoulder as he put on his gardening boots, which were beside the door. Lani pressed herself up against his neck as he went outside because of how cold it was. It had gotten colder too, so she was very thankful. This was probably the happiest she’d seen Noi the whole time she’d known him.
“Okay, okay, okay. How do you grow this stuff?” Lani watched as Noi tugged a plant from the garden. She laughed. It appeared to be a carrot.
“You plant the seeds, water it, wait for it to grow, then this. I can make all sorts of stuff with the stuff I grow in my garden, especially since I’m vegetarian.” Noi moved the carrot into the basket he’d brought out with them. Lani gripped Noi’s shirt as he leaned over.
“I guess it’s just very impressive. It’s like a forest of edible plants.” Lani tried to pull herself back up, but her left shoulder (the one that was stabbed, y’know) gave out. “Ow, agh!”
Lani fell into the garden. Now it really was like a forest.
“Oof.” The wind had been knocked from her lungs. She was immediately colder.“Uh, Noi?”
“Oop, sorry, here.” Noi’s hand came through the leaves and picked up Lani and a little bit of dirt.
“Thank you.” Lani brushed herself off. Her shoulder throbbed with pain, but she smiled. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just a little dirty.” Lani stood up and walked away from the dirt in Noi’s hand. Noi’s hand moved back up to his shoulder, making Lani wobble.
“Oh, sorry.” Lani climbed onto Noi’s shoulder and watched as he wiped his hands off on his pants. He then continued to put plants into his basket. “Let’s go inside. I’ll make dinner.”
“Do you like soup?” Noi set the basket and Lani herself on the counter.
“Yeah. Soup sounds good. Honestly anything you make sounds good.” Lani remembered the salsa Noi’d made earlier. She really did think Noi was good at making food.
“Okay.” Noi disappeared below the counter for a moment, reappearing with a cutting board and a pot. It sounded like there was something in the pot. It must’ve been a knife. He set the objects on the counter, causing a little tremor. “Okay, uh, lemme just…” Noi lifted the knife out of the pot and set it on the counter. Lani was just shocked at the size of the objects Noi was casually holding. The pot could hold a small lake, and Noi was just casually carrying it to the fire.
Noi washed off the vegetables from the garden and began cutting them. Lani thought about how sharp the blade had to be to cut though those giant plants. Oh! She never got her sword back from Noi. She should probably ask for him to take her to the nightstand so she could get it.
“Hmm?” Noi looked down at Lani.
“Could you go get my sword or at least-”
“Oh yeah!” Noi dropped the knife and reached up to his neck, pulling a chain. It was a locket. “I, uh, I put it in here because I didn’t want to lose it.”
“Oh?” Lani watched as Noi opened the locket with his fingernails. His hand loomed above Lani for a moment, before lowering. Lani saw the glint of her sword on his hand. She pulled herself up onto the giant’s hand and sprinted to it, grabbing her sword. “Finally! Thank you!”
“Mhm.” Noi's hand shook slightly, leaving Lani confused for a moment. “Now, get off, I have to continue dinner.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” Lani quickly made her way off Noi’s hand.
“Okay, here, I cut everything up so you could eat it.” A giant ladle was held in front of Lani, she could feel the heat coming off of it, as well as being able to see the steam. The amount of soup in the ladle was enough to feed an army.
“I…Noi, I don’t think I can eat that much.” Lani laughed. “I bet it’s wonderful though.”
“Oh, I guess I didn’t think about that.”
(They ate food but I don’t want to write about it.)
“I’m stuffed.” Noi leaned on his arm, sighing. He felt full, he could feel the warmth of the soup in his stomach.
“Me too.” Lani was laying down, right below Noi’s head, her hand on her stomach. “I think I ate more today than at all in the past few days. It was absolutely wonderful though.”
“Thank you…welp, I have to take care of this so…” Noi pushed himself off of the stool and grabbed the pot.
“Have you ever had mead before?” Lani stood at the edge of the counter. Noi furrowed his brow, he was of age, but he didn’t drink. Briie, Terran’s fiance, made mead and gave Noi some.
“No, but I do have some.” Giants had higher, stronger health than other beings. “Do you want some?”
“I will get it.” Noi bent down and opened the cabinet, he pulled the jar of mead Briie had given to him out and stood up. He said the jar on the counter. “Here.”
“Oh, thank you. Could you-”
“Yeah, I’ll get you some. Just be careful with how much you drink.” Noi opened the lid and looked around. He didn’t have any good things to hold the smallest amount of mead. He’d have to give her less than a drop. How could he do that?
“Do you have anything to drink out of?” Noi asked Lani.
“Oh, uh, no, sorry. If there’s not anything for me to drink out of, it’s fine.” Lani stood by Noi’s hand.
“Oh, no, no, it’s fine. I think you’re responsible enough to drink from a…my size(?) shot glass.” Noi turned around and kneeled down, opened his non-food cabinet and searched for a shot glass. He personally didn’t use them, but they were gifted to him so he kept them. Lani was nice, he could let her use them.
Noi realized his face was warm.
“So, uh, here.” Noi poured the mead into the shot. He then realized Lani could not reach the mead in the shot glass. Gods, he was stupid. Noi glanced around, he could-
“Noi, it’s fine!” Lani’s voice was loud, bursting through Noi’s thoughts. “I don’t need any. I’ll be fine-”
“Lani, it’s alright, okay? I’ll go get something.” Noi shook his head and motioned around. Maybe he could grab a small rock for Lani to use as a stepping stool. Yeah. That would work.
“Take the shot.” Lani stood next to the shot glass. Noi stared down at her.
“It’s a shot, it’s not that much. Well, to you.” Lani faced the glass, she was so small, and appeared to be pushing it. Or at least trying to. “Take it. You…you deserved it.”
Noi reached down, grabbing the shot glass between his forefinger and thumb. He lifted it, and Lani fell over. Noi felt bad.
“You okay?” Noi tilted his head and lowered his head to Lani’s height.
“I’m fine.” Lani stood up. “It’s fine.”
Noi stared at the shot glass in his hand. He’d never tasted mead, but he was a giant, he’d be fine. (He is actually gonna be fine, don’t worry. Lani is not peer pressuring him.)
Noi drank the shot. Hmmm. He didn’t know what to think about it. Noi didn’t feel much anything from drinking it. He was a little thirsty, so he supposed it was nice. He should give some to Lani, he had to be nice. Yeah. He had to get a rock or something for her to use.
“So, uh, I’ll grab a different glass for you.” Noi set the glass he’d used down and turned to grab a new one.
“It’s fine, I’ll use the same one.”
“No. I’m getting a new glass.” Noi grabbed a new glass and filled it. “Now I will go get a rock.”
“This, this is good mead. Where’d you get it?" Lani was leaning over the edge of the shot glass, dunking her face into the mead. Noi was slightly concerned about the amount she was drinking. A safe amount was less than a drop, Lani’d definitely had more than that. She looked wobbly.
“Hey, uh, Lani, maybe don’t drink anymore.” Noi reached out for the shot glass.
“Noooo! I don’t wanna give it up! I want to drink it. It’s good.” Lani’s voice was slurred. She tipped forward. “Woah!”
“Lani!” Noi watched as the small human fell into the mead. She was definitely drunk. “Oh Lani.” Noi lifted the shot of mead and slowly dumped it into his dirty glass. He stopped when Lani was sitting at the bottom, soaked in mead.
“Are you okay?” Noi held Lani up in the bowl he’d made as a bath. She floated above his fingers, her clothes and hair puffing out in the water.
“I get to stare at you, I’m more than okay! I’m floating.” Noi blushed, he couldn’t help it. Lani looked as if she was admiring him.
“Yes. You’re in the water.”
“You ever swam, Noi? I like swimming. I don’t do it often though.” Lani tried to leave Noi’s fingers, Noi quickly lifted her from the water. He didn’t want her to drown.
“Yes, I have. You shouldn’t swim right now. Stop it.” Noi sighed.
“I’ll be fine! I can swim! I can…I’ll be fine!” Noi wished he had ear plugs.
“You’re so pretty! And talented!” Noi’s face reddened even more at Lani’s words. He wanted to cover his face, but he had to keep Lani from drowning. He also wanted to cover his ears. Noi lifted Lani from the water, keeping her on his pointer finger. “Woah! I’m floating again!” Noi sighed.
“I will be right back. I’m gonna grab something for you to dry off with, okay?” Noi gave the human a ‘stay put’ motion. He quickly walked to his room, he kept a basket of towels in his closet. He dug through the basket, looking for the smallest towel.
A child’s washcloth, it was about as big as his palm.
Not nearly small enough, but it would work.
“Lani, I got something-holy crap!” Noi rushed forward as Lani was leaning backwards over the edge of the counter, wobbling. He slammed against the counter, holding his hand up. He sighed in relief as he felt Lani’s tiny form land in his hand. He closed his hand and slid to the ground, his back against the counter.
“Hehe…I fell. You caught me!” Noi heard Lani giggling. He slowly opened his hand in front of his face. Lani was laying down and laughing. Noi bit his lip and huffed.
“Are you okay?” Noi grabbed the washcloth, which he’d dropped. “Let’s dry you off.”
“You know something, Noi…I really like you.” Noi dropped the washcloth on Lani and covered his face, which was feeling quite warm.
“I’m tired…” Lani said. Noi lifted the washcloth. Lani looked tired now. He patted Lani to see if she was completely dry, he couldn’t tell since she was so small.
“Go to sleep. I’ll go put you…” It appeared Lani had already fallen asleep. Noi stood and walked down the hall to his room. He set Lani on the makeshift bed he’d made her. He’d done this before.
“Goodnight Lani. I really like you too.”
I feel like i should tag @wildlegacy so I am. i hope this chapter is good fluff.
