Pierce walked along the edge of the hallway, in what he’d begun to think of as “his space.” It was mid-morning, as far as the titans were concerned anyway, and Tylum was in class. From what he could hear, the girls who were still home were downstairs and he was a bit bored. So he decided to brave the hallway to see what they were up to.

 

It had been a full day since the Princess and her body guard had joined them in the house, and as far as Pierce knew they were still unaware of his existence, which was mostly by design on Pierce’s part. Tylum had chuckled and rolled her eyes at him a little when he’d made her promise not to say anything, but she’d agreed nonetheless. It wasn’t that he was deliberately trying to hide himself from them; he just wasn’t exactly sure how he should go about making the introduction.

 

After all, how did you introduce yourself to a princess… who was an alien … and a giant … and probably thought you were an animal…

 

There was a loud clunk high above him, followed by a groan as the door which he’d just passed slowly swung open. Pierce only gave it a cursory glance as he continued walking down the hall. He wasn’t too worried about it, because after all the girls had all agreed to watch where they walked.

 

All except for Rhionne… who as yet did not know he existed.

 

Uh oh.

 

There was a dull thud that reverberated up his legs as Rhionne took a step outside her bedroom. Pierce looked up and saw, much to his horror, that she had her nose pressed into a book. She wasn’t even watching where she was going, let alone down on the floor.

 

Another thud as her other foot crashed down on the ground. She paused for a moment to pull her bedroom door shut behind her, which Pierce took as an opportunity to put as much distance between them as possible.

 

He ran full tilt down the hallway, with the giant princess in pursuit and completely ignorant of his existence. He felt each thud of her steps and knew, without looking, that she was drawing closer. It was inevitable; he took roughly a dozen steps for every one of hers.

 

Another dull thud rattled up his legs, the edge of her shadow was just beginning to cover him. His panicked heart thudded in his chest and he hugged the wall in the vain hope that she would just pass him by.

 

A sharp current of air buzzed his scalp and a beige colored blur descended in front of him. Pierce only had a split second to recognize the shape of the back of her heel before he collided with it, sending him sprawling to the ground.

 

 

“Oh!”

 

Pierce heard the gasp above him. He blinked up at the pair of identical giants standing above him, both with surprised looks on their faces. He tried to stand but was finding it surprisingly difficult to get his bearings. Therefore, he elected to remain on the floor even as the twin titanesses reached a hand… or two… down to him, and he felt her nine (six, er, four?) fingers wrap around his body.

 

“Are you all right?” Her voice was soft and gentle, and carried an amused tone. Pierce shook his head until his double-vision resolved itself into the pretty green eyes and amused smirk of the giant princess who now held him in her grasp.

 

Pierce gulped nervously and tried to think of something fantastic to say to try and salvage this first impression.

 

“Uh… yeah. I guess so.”

 

Brilliant.

 

Rhionne giggled again and softly stroked his back with the tip of her smallest finger, both as a form of comfort and a way to surreptitiously check the little human for injuries. “Good. I’d hate to think I accidentally hurt you or anything. What were you doing on the floor anyway?”

 

“How else am I supposed to get downstairs?” Pierce replied, still trying to clear the static out of his head.

 

“So your owner just lets you run loose?” Rhionne asked, her eyes widening in surprise. “That doesn’t seem very responsible to me.”

 

Pierce ignored the reference to Tylum being his owner for the moment. It wasn’t exactly a discussion he wanted to have just then. After all, it was a little difficult to convince someone that you’re a person when they’d just knocked you for a loop merely by walking.

 

“For the most part the girls all know to watch where they walk so they don’t step on me, and I stick close to the walls to make it easier on them.” Pierce responded, rubbing his temples.

 

“I see.” Rhionne muttered, eyes narrowing. “I’m afraid somebody forgot to mention that to me when I arrived.”

 

“Yeah I know.” Pierce sighed. “It’s not your fault.”

 

“Well.” Rhionne smiled. “I’m still sorry I almost stepped on you. What’s your name?”

 

“Pierce.”

 

“Hmm, that is an unusual name.” Rhionne responded. “And where were you going, before I interrupted you?”

 

“I… um…” Pierce stammered. “Downstairs, I guess.”

 

Rhionne smiled and Pierce felt his face go red, which he hoped she wouldn’t notice. “What a coincidence, I’m going that way too. Would you like some help?”

 

Pierce was torn. On the one hand, it was awful hard to make a case for independence when one took assistance every time it was offered. On the other… she was very pretty.

 

“Um… okay…” Pierce gulped nervously. There would be time for independence later.  Once again he found himself being carried down the stairs. The ride was a little rough and Pierce suspected that Rhionne wasn’t used to handling humans, but he made it to the bottom of the stairs in one piece and completely unharmed. Really couldn’t ask for more than that.

 

The Princess dismounted the staircase and they found themselves in the living room again. Most of the girls were in class, the only ones still around were Daz and Myona.

 

Rhionne turned and went into the kitchen. There she found Myona busy at the stove cooking something that smelled delicious to Pierce, and Daz was sitting on the counter with her feet dangling above the floor.

 

“Hi Princess!” Myona chirped as she gave whatever it was she was cooking in the pan a stir. “I’m making spakkal and eggs, for breakfast. Are you hungry?”

 

“I would love some!” Rhionne replied. “But, please, don’t call me princess. Rhionne will do just fine, thank you.”

 

“You got it, Princess!”

 

“I’m just glad we don’t have to call you ‘Rhina’ ” Daz snickered. “What were you thinking? At least pick a name that’s a bit further from your real one.”

 

Rhionne didn’t reply, instead she carefully set Pierce on the counter between where Daz was sitting and Myona standing. She peered at Daz as if she were a puzzle the young woman was trying to figure out.

 

“Have we met before?” She finally asked.

 

“What?” The smug look disappeared from Daz’s face, but only for a short moment. Then she rolled her eyes and snorted derisively. When she spoke again her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Oh sure. You were probably at my cotillion at the garden club or something.”

 

“Yeah, you’re right, probably not. You do look very familiar though.” Rhionne shook her head and turned to peek over Myona’s shoulder as the red haired woman continued to push the food around in her pan with a short metal utensil.

 

“I don’t know what to tell you, Princess.” Daz muttered. “I just have one of those faces, I guess.”

 

“Yeah a big old grumpy face.” Myona giggled.

 

“Shut up, Myona.” Daz grumbled half-heartedly.

 

The food in Myona’s pan continued to sizzle as the room fell silent. Pierce still felt a little uneasy, being surrounded by giants. He knew, intellectually, that they didn’t intend to harm him; but it was still hard not to jump every time one of them even twitched.

 

“You okay there, shortstuff?” Daz asked when he’d stumbled back from Myona’s hand and ended up leaning on Daz’s thigh.

 

“What? Oh yeah.” Pierce muttered. “I’m fine.”

 

“Good. Then get off of me.” Daz snickered, pushing Pierce away with her leg.

 

“Oh be nice to him.” Rhionne admonished. “He’s a  human, he doesn’t know any better.”

 

“He’s probably feeling crowded.” Myona replied. “Here, this will help.” Before Pierce, or anyone else, could react, the young woman’s hand swooped down and lifted Pierce from the countertop and deposited him gently on top of her head.

 

When he’d regained his bearings, Pierce found himself surrounded by a plateau of curly, fire red hair. He looked up and saw Daz and Rhionne gazing down at him with expressions of mixed amusement and confusion.

 

“There.” Myona said matter-of-factly, as she began to dish up the food she’d prepared. “Now you’re not the shortest one in the room anymore.”

 

“Anyway…” Daz took a bite of her eggs. “Where’s your bodyguard, Rhionne? How come she’s not hovering behind you, glowering at anybody who happens to glance in your direction?”

 

“Because she’s actually competent enough to know when I’m being threatened and when I’m not.” Rhionne responded coolly. “And she’s out for a jog.”

 

The surface underneath Pierce began to slowly tilt sideways. Instinctively, he grabbed on to t a lock of the hair underneath him. As the angle steepened, he began to slide down the hair like it was a rope. Pierce risked a glance down and saw Myona’s hand underneath him, ready to catch him if he happened to slip.

 

Eventually, he reached the tip of the lock of hair, which slipped through his grip. He fell the remaining couple feet onto Myona’s palm, which gently deposited him back on the countertop, in front of a spoon that held what to the Titans were mere crumbs of the bacon-like Spakkal and the eggs, but to Pierce was more than enough to make a meal from.

 

“There you go!” Myona smiled. “Eat up.”

 

For a moment, Pierce was self-conscious. He didn’t have a fork or anything, how was he supposed to eat? As if sensing his distress, Myona supplied him with a small piece of a thin, crispy bread. Looking up at the giant women, Pierce saw them using the bread as a utensil. Scooping the food into their mouths.

 

Skeptically, Pierce tried the same maneuver. The first time, his bread snapped in half before it reached his mouth. The second time, he tried it with a smaller bite of food and successfully managed to feed himself.

 

He was shocked at how closely the Titan’s food mirrored the analogous dish back on earth. The spakkal was a little gamier than bacon was, and a tad bit spicier (although that could very well have been thanks to Myona’s preparation as well.) the eggs were thick and runny, just like he liked them back home.

 

He heard a snort above him and he looked up to see the three women all looking down on him, all with expressions that showed varying degrees of amusement.

 

“Good?” Myona asked with a wide grin on her face.

 

“Very.” Pierce responded politely. “Thank you.”

 

Myona beamed and went back to her own meal. Pierce, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Rhionne. Even doing something as simple as eating breakfast, she seemed breath taking to him. He had no trouble believing she was royalty.

 

They ate in relative silence for several minutes before they heard the sound of a door opening.

 

“I’m home!” Tylum called into the house. “Anybody else here?”

 

Rhionne looked confused and glanced at the chrono on the wall. “Shaka, I need to get to my class!”

 

She stashed her dishes in the washer and made her way through the door to the living room. “Thanks for breakfast Myona!”

 

“You’re welcome!” Myona said, then yelled into the living room. “We’re in the kitchen, Tylum!”

 

A moment later, Tylum walked through the doorway

 

“You’re home early.” Daz observed.

 

“Last class got canceled.” Tylum explained. “Professor got sick or something. Wow, what smells so good?”

 

“Here, have some!” Myona handed her a steaming plate.

 

“Thanks! I need to eat it in my room though.” Tylum muttered around a mouthful of food. “I figured I’d use the free time to finish an essay I’d been neglecting.”

 

She turned to leave.

 

“Tylum wait! Can I keep you company?” Pierce asked.

 

The titaness smiled and lowered a hand to the countertop for Pierce to climb into. “Sure, I’d like that.”

 

She carried him, and her plate of food, back into her bedroom where she deposited them both on her desktop.

 

“So…” Tylum drawled, an amused smirk on her face. “I see you finally met Rhionne…”

 

“Uh… yeah.”

 

“So what happened?” Tylum persisted.

 

“She almost stepped on me.”

 

“…What?!”

 

“It was an accident!” Pierce hastened to respond. “Nobody told her about my walking arrangements so she wasn’t watching her step when we were in the hall. It wasn’t anything she did on purpose. “

 

“Okay.” Tylum nodded. “Really, that’s my fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

 

“Yeah.” Pierce chuckled. “Me too.”

 

There was a moment of silence as Tylum booted up her computer and dug her textbooks out of her bag.

 

“So…” She prompted.

 

“So what?”

 

“So what did you think of her?”

 

“Well… I think she’s interesting. Who is she Tylum?” Pierce asked. “I want to know about her, tell me everything you know about her!” Pierce sat on the edge of Tylum’s desk watching her intently as she tried to think of a way to start the essay for her Early Archavian History class.

 

“I don’t know what to tell you Pierce.” Tylum responded, smiling indulgently at him. “She’s a princess, second born daughter of Emperor Tiernan and Empress Rajenlif. Middle child of three. Beyond that everything I know about her comes from stupid tabloid articles and gossip, and I’m fairly certain there’s no point in trusting anything they say.”

 

“Probably true.”

 

“Why are you so fascinated by her?” Tylum asked curiously. “I mean all these questions it’s almost as if… oh…”

 

“What?” Pierce suddenly had an apprehensive feeling in his chest, especially when he saw the sly grin forming on Tylum’s face.

 

“You like her!”

 

“Well…” Pierce muttered evasively. “I mean she seems nice enough I guess but…”

 

“Oh no!” Tylum crowed. “No I mean you really like her.”

 

“Well, but I um…” Pierce spluttered.

 

“That is adorable.” Tylum giggled. “Man, you really shoot for the moon, Pierce.”

 

“Oh well, but…” Pierce continued to try and find his footing in the conversation. “I mean, maybe, but… well what’s it matter? You said it yourself. She’s a freaking princess, and I’m just a human right?”

 

“Well…” Tylum shrugged even as she began to type the opening paragraph of her essay. “It’s not common, but it’s not unheard of either… it’s sort of one of  those things people don’t talk about and try to pretend doesn’t exist.”

 

“Well, but…”

 

”I guess my best advice is to tell you that you never know what might happen until you try.” Tylum replied gently.

 

“I guess.”

 

“So…” That sly tone was back in Tylum’s voice again. “How are you going to ask her out?”

 

“Oh come on!”