Rowan was absolutely terrified. His worst nightmare was coming true as he locked eyes with the human who had walked in on him. He couldn’t hope to believe they might not have seen them, given the scream they had let out just seconds before. Tears began to well in his eyes as he realized this was probably how he was going to die– either at the hands of the giant or by the cold marble below him.
Rowan could hear the human murmur a soft explicative and he scrunched his eyes shut tight as he felt the rumble of their approach. His arms were raw and he could feel the last drops of his strength sapped by the resignation he couldn’t escape. Fingertips slipped roughly from the cabinet ledge, and all Rowan could hope was that the fall brought his death mercifully quick. But the counter never came up to meet him.
Ben was at a loss. Burnt red met with icy blue as shot neurons tried desperately to grasp the situation before him. There was a guy in his kitchen. But not a guy-guy. Tiny guy. Dangling from his cabinets. …. And Crying.
A few colorful words slipped quietly from his lips as he grappled with the options before him. He could maybe find a cup and paper–attempt to bring it outside like he might with a spider or mouse. Or he could kill it. Ben promptly crumpled up that idea and burned it. He was not going to kill anything that looked so… human. With slow steps, he moved closer to the humanoid, all too aware of how heavy each footfall was against the tile floors. Then small fingers slipped from their exhausted hold, and Ben could only lunge out in an attempt to stop their fatal freefall.
Soft hands caught them well before the counter would have broken the tiny form, and Ben could only marvel at the person he was now cradling like glass. They weren’t moving, but he could feel their chest shift with each fast, heavy breath. A gentle sigh escaped Ben’s lips as he processed his new passenger was perceptively unharmed. His relief was short lived though, as the tiny’s brain caught up with the situation and they promptly dissolved into sobs.
He was going to die. The human was going to kill him. Or torture him for being in his house. Or maybe even eat him. Tears were flowing wildly now, and Rowan took shuddering gasps to keep himself from drowning in his own salty downpour. All he could hope to do was curl up and pray they would make it quick.
The minutes of sobbing dragged on, seemingly indefinite, before the wells of adrenaline ran dry and Rowan became horridly aware of his surroundings again. The first thing he understood was that he was being touched– a giant thumb running softly down his spine in a repeated pattern– and he suppressed a shudder at the feeling. The second thing was the even softer words, feathery and honey-coated, whispering soothing bits of encouragement and safety into his ringing ears.
“Please…” he rasped out, and the petting and whispers abruptly stopped.
The hand beneath him twitched slightly, and as he raised his gaze to make eye contact with the giant holding him captive, he faltered. Deep red eyes stared down at him with what could only be described as… guilt?
“I'm not-” Rowan was surprised to hear the giant– the massive being of overwhelming power– have such trepidation in their tone.
“I’m so sorry. I’m not- I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.” Now Rowan was actually buffering. He grasped desperately at any sort of comprehension of the situation. All he could mutter out was a befuddled “What?”
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, honest,” Ben didn’t know what words would help to make him seem like less of a threat.
“Do you.. “ He hesitated. ”How did you get in here?” He panicked at the feeling of small muscles tensing against his skin and quickly worked to backtrack.
“No, no, I’m sorry. Don’t worry about it. But…” Ben swallowed thickly, “You fell from pretty high before I caught you. You didn’t get hurt did you? ..I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Ben felt shrivelled and hopeless. Everything he tried to say felt wrong, and he steeled himself for some sort of confirmation that he did, in fact, somehow injure the small friend in his hands. Nothing could have prepared him for the look of absolute confusion the tiny gave him.
“Why would you care if I’m okay or not?” Rowan couldn’t understand. Was this some sort of ploy for him to let his guard down? A feign of mercy before the inevitable swoop in of malice, where those red eyes would suddenly shift to cruel amusement and the human would laugh out “Ha! I got you!” and squish him to a paste? He couldn’t fall for it. If he was going to die by the hands of this monster, it would be face to face; no tricks involved.
The human started to speak again, but Rowan cut them off.
“Just let me go!” He sobbed through the fury; He didn’t know why he bothered. Surely the giant would have no interest in complying. But to his confoundment, the hand he was sprawled across lowered slowly to the top of the counter and rested open-palm on the cool marble. They didn’t move when Rowan scrambled off. They didn’t try to grab him back again.
“I- look, I know you probably don’t believe me, but I really don’t want to hurt you.” There was a pause, and the human fished around in his pocket for a second before pulling out a small hook and collection of thin twine. His hook. “I think this belongs to you.”
Ben gently slid the bundle towards the tiny, taking care not to startle him again. Once again, red eyes met blue ones, and all he could offer was a small smile. The smaller stuttered out a small “thank you” and Ben retreated to a more amiable distance.
The gears in Rowan’s head were turning, but instead of sitting with the absurd revelations trying to peak through, he simply turned and scurried back to one of the loose tiles in the wall, prying it back and scampering into the dark. He stopped at the sharp voice that called after him.
“Wait!” Rowan paused and slowly backtracked to the opening, back into view.
“What’s your name?” He paused.
“....Rowan” The human smiled at him, genuine and bright.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ben.”
I finally finished the short drabble I made for Rowan and Ben ages ago; honestly I didn't know if I'd ever get back to it, but I've been sneaking bits of my freak into my creative writing class assignments and finishing it as a short story for class gave me the will to actually wrap up the piece.
here's the first part if anyone missed it:
https://www.tumblr.com/boiled-ginger-ale/742949152700399616/meeting?source=share
