“Hey Pierce…” Tylum called out in a sing-song voice as she pushed the door open. “I’ve got a surprise for you…”

She peeked her head around the door, a coy smile on her face.

“Pierce?” Tylum’s brows knit in confusion. She stepped into the room, glancing around for her little human friend. For a moment her stomach twisted with disappointment and worry. Had he decided to take off again? But then, after a moment of searching, Tylum found him lying down on a small stuffed toy that sat on the corner of her desk. He was fast asleep and snoring gently.

Tylum mentally kicked herself. Of course he’d be exhausted. Not only had he been dealt the blow of realizing he’d been ripped from the only life he’d known, but he’d also been chased halfway around the house by four giant aliens, and on top of all of that… it had been about three hours since Tylum had gone to get Daz’s help.

“Never mind.” She whispered softly as she dug around in a drawer to find a soft cloth to cover him with. “It can wait. In the meantime, I need to find a better place for you to sleep.”

It was several hours later that Pierce awoke. He sat up and stretched his arms with a big yawn. The cloth that had been covering him fell away and his eyes opened.

“Still here.” He muttered to himself. “So much for it being a weird dream.”

It was then that he glanced over at the other side of the room, he saw Tylum sitting in her bed, idly playing with what looked like a tablet. After a moment, he managed to catch her eye.

“Hi Pierce.” She smiled. “Did you sleep well?”

“Morning.” Pierce muttered. “And I suppose I did, considering I was sleeping in the lap of a giant alien teddy bear.”

“We’ll find you somewhere more comfortable, I promise.” Tylum replied as she stood up. “And it’s still midafternoon, but I’m sure that’s just semantics as far as you’re concerned.”

“Feels like morning to me.” Pierce muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m not surprised; humans usually end up sleeping three times a day here.”

Pierce nodded. He remembered that Tylum had told him that Archavian days were about three times longer than those on Earth. “So how long do Titans sleep for?”

Tylum shrugged. “A good night’s sleep is about seventeen to twenty-two hours or so.”

Pierce blinked. “Wow.”

“In all reality, Titans and Humans sleep about the same amount of time; you just spread it over the course of the day while we get ours in all at once.”

“Right.”

“Oh! I almost forgot.” Tylum reached into her pocket and pulled something out, which she kept hidden in her closed fist.

“I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news, which do you want first?”

“More bad news?” Pierce muttered. “Might as well get that over with.”

“Your cell phone got fried.” Tylum said sheepishly.

“What!?” Pierce cried, jumping to his feet. “But that’s- Wait, what’s the good news?”

Tylum grinned and opened her palm, revealing a long thin object made of what looked like plastic. “Before it got destroyed, we managed to pull the data from it.”

“You did?”

“Yes. Well, Daz mostly.”

“So… my pictures and everything?”

“All right here.” Tylum grinned and sat down in her desk chair. “Look.”

Tylum tapped on her tablet and in a moment a holographic projection appeared in the air. It looked like a command menus, but the writing wasn’t anything Pierce could recognize.

Eventually, the image shifted to what Pierce assumed was a thumbnail menu with all of the pictures he’d had on his phone.

“This is awesome…” He breathed. “Thank you so much.”

Tylum smiled and zoomed in on one of the pictures until it took up the entire “screen.”

“Who are these people?” She asked. The picture showed an adult man and woman, and two young girls.

“Those are my parents and my little sisters.  Jessica is the taller one, and other one is Katelyn”

Now that Tylum looked closer, she could see something of a family resemblance between them. “None of them have your hair color.” She observed, both the parents had brown hair, as well as one of the girls. The other girl had blonde hair. “In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen a human with green hair, is it a recessive gene?”

Pierce laughed.  “My hair’s not actually green, Tylum. It’s dyed. I’ll probably have brown hair again in a few weeks.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Tylum laughed. “People from Aement also dye their hair in bright colors a lot of the time. It used to be in fashion for both men and women, but nowadays it’s mostly just women. My sister even has a few dyed streaks in her hair.”

“Your sister, you mean the one who bought me for you?” Pierce asked archly.

“Er, yeah. That’s the one.” Tylum muttered, blushing in embarrassment.

“Someday, I think I’d like to meet her.” Pierce continued, turning back to the screen.

“Really?” Tylum blinked in surprise. She moved on to the next picture and readied herself for Pierce’s anger.

“Yeah.” Pierce sighed. “Maybe meeting her would help me understand the mindset that thinks owning human pets is an okay thing to do.”

“Oh… um.” Tylum stuttered, as she tried to think of something to say.

“And maybe after meeting me, she’ll come to understand how wrong it is.” Pierce continued.

“I hope so.” Tylum replied.

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the last remaining images of Pierce’s life.

“Tylum,” Pierce finally broke the silence. “Can you lower the screen a bit; I’m starting to get a cramp in my neck.

“Um…” Tylum could understand, but was somewhat reluctant, knowing that she’d then have to look down, which would probably be just as bad for her neck. “Ah! I think I have a better solution.”

She lowered her hand to the desk in an invitation. After a moment’s hesitation, Pierce climbed into her palm. Tylum raised her hand until it was parallel to her shoulder.

“Climb on. Then we’ll both be able to watch.”

Pierce looked at her skeptically, then shrugged and hopped onto her shoulder.

“That is much better.” Pierce admitted.

 

Tylum smiled, and turned back to the projected image. “So who is this person?”

 

“Oh, her.” Pierce muttered. “That’s my ex-girlfriend…”

 

*.*.*.*.*

 

“I’m having second thoughts about this.”

Reevah looked up from the screen of her data pad, only mildly annoyed at having to interrupt her reading right when she’d gotten to the good part. She watched her charge, the Princess, pace frettfully across the floor of their cabin for a few moments before finally setting her data pad aside with a sigh.

“Your highness- ”

“Don’t call me that.” Rhionne responded reflexively.

“We are roughly eighteen hours away from planetfall. I think it might be a little late to be having second thoughts, don’t you?”

“No.” Rhionne sighed, plopping herself onto one of the cabin’s couch cushions. “You’re right. And I’m not really having second thoughts about this. I know this is the right thing to do… I just don’t want to be gawked at because I’m royalty. I don’t want to get special treatment. Personal tutors wouldn’t have gone easy on me, it’s what they’re paid for after all… But at a University?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Reevah muttered, picking her data pad up again and returning to her novel.

“Promise me you won’t tell anybody who I really am, okay?”

Reevah’s eyes peeked sardonically over the edge of her data pad. “Are you serious? What is this, one of the old legends? Are you going to disguise yourself as a beggar too?”

“Just promise.” Rhionne snapped, but her irritation was mostly for show and they both knew it.

“Okay.” Reevah relented with a derisive snort. “If that’s what you want.”

*.*.*.*.*

 

“All right little guy, Just relax. This will be over before you know it.”

Pierce looked up at the dark haired Titaness in front of him nervously. It had taken some convincing, but Tylum had eventually worn Pierce down enough that he’d agreed to let Fara look him over and then give him vaccinations for some of the alien diseases that humans were susceptible to.

Neither of them had used the V word, but Pierce wasn’t stupid enough to not at least suspect that’s what Fara was studying to become.

Still, he had been willing to go along with the fiction; because at least then he might be able to fool himself into thinking he still had some dignity when the entire ordeal was over.

So he stood on the table in the dining room, with Fara in front of him. Alone. At the time he felt this entire ordeal would be embarrassing enough without two of the giants witnessing it. Tylum hadn’t agreed, but wanted to respect his wishes.

However, now that he found himself alone with Fara, the veterinarian in training, he was beginning to regret the decision. He was beginning to wish he’d asked Tylum to stay with him because she was the closest thing he had to a friend in this strange place.

And right now, he really could use someone in his corner.

“Okay, let’s see…” The giantess muttered to herself, as she glanced at a massive textbook she had open on the table.  “The first thing I’m going to do is take a look at his musculature and skeleton and look for any deformities that might cause problems for him later in life.”

“I don’t have any deformities!” Pierce yelled indignantly. Fara either didn’t seem to hear him, she was far to engrossed in reviewing the proper procedure for examining a human as outlined in her textbook.

“Okay, first things first. Let’s get you out of those clothes.” Fara said briskly, and even though she was addressing him, Pierce got the distinct impression she wasn’t actually talking to him. “Now, can you take off your shirt for me?”

Pierce gritted his teeth, but held his tongue. He was burning with humiliated indignity but knew that the sooner he complied with the giantess, the sooner this would all be over. With a resigned sigh, he carefully removed his shirt and set it to the side.

“Good.” Fara smiled encouragingly. “Now, can you get into my hand?”

Pierce eyed the giant palm warily. He still wasn’t comfortable with the giantesses touching him. He was, somewhat, willing to tolerate it from Tylum- because she’d demonstrated that she was capable of seeing him as a person.

So far, Fara had not.

But, again, the need to make this ordeal end outweighed any other consideration. So Pierce clambered into Fara’s soft palm. A moment later the hand underneath him slowly rose until he was right under the young Titaness’s scrutinizing gaze.

Without saying a word, Fara used her other hand to firmly manipulate Pierce’s body until he was lying on his stomach in her hand. Instinctively, Pierce tried to throw off her grip. The titaness responded by pinning him to her palm with the fingers of her other hand.

Eventually, Pierce realized struggling like this was useless and lay still in her hand.

“There we go.” The Titaness cooed, as she began to softly run the tips of her fingers over his body, searching for any sign of injury or abnormality.

After a few minutes, the hand retreated long enough so Fara could turn the page in her book. Then it was back again.

This went on for several minutes. Fara was largely silent during her examination, save for a few muttered observations as she read from her book.

“You’re doing very well!” Fara praised, gently ruffling his green hair with her fingertip.

“Uhm…Thanks.” Pierce gulped nervously, “Hey… Fara, is it? Can I ask you a question?”

The giant eyes above him blinked, as if she hadn’t expected to be addressed by the subject of her examinations. “What is it, little guy?”

“Why you don’t just ask me whatever it is you need to know?”

Fara’s brows creased, but she continued to manipulate Pierce with her fingers. “Why would I need to? I can assess your health myself.”

“Probably.” Pierce conceded, even as Fara’s giant fingers began to gently palpate and move his limbs. “But wouldn’t it make things easier on both of us if I just tell you what’s wrong, if anything?”

“Well…”

“I mean…” Pierce continued. “We’re having a conversation right now, aren’t we? It’s not like you can’t understand what I’m saying, right?”

The examination suddenly stopped. Pierce glanced up at the giant young woman’s face and saw confusion in her eyes.

“I… I guess I never thought about it that way…”

“Well…” Pierce decided to press his advantage. “Why not give it a try?”

“Okay…” Fara bit her lip in thought. “Sure. We can try that. Um…”

The veterinary student paused and consulted her textbook. “Have you had any recent severe injuries, like a broken bone or anything like that?”

“No.” Pierce responded. Fara’s finger tips continued to gently feel his body, but now it didn’t seem quite as intrusive. At least, no more intrusive than any other medical examination he’d had before.

“I see. Good.” Fara smiled.

Her questions continued, and Pierce answered them as best as he could. The longer the inspection went, the more at ease they both seemed to feel with the process.

Then, Fara gently set Pierce down on the table. “Okay swe- …Pierce, I have to give you your vaccinations, are you ready?”

“I… I guess so.” Pierce mumbled nervously.

Fara nodded and stepped away to retrieve a massive black piece of machinery. She set it on the table in front of Pierce with a dull thud that shook the wooden surface under his feet.

“I need you to lay down under this lens right here.” Fara instructed him, tapping her fingers on the table to indicate the spot.

“Okay…” Pierce muttered. He cautiously walked over to the giant piece of machinery and laid down where Fara had told him to.

Fara bent over the machine and adjusted it until the injection needle was over the spot on Pierce’s body where she needed to administer the vaccines.

“Okay, now just relax and don’t move.” Fara instructed. “You’re going to feel a bit of a pinch, and it might hurt or it might not- but everything will be fine. Understand?”

Pierced nodded. “Yes!”

“Okay. On the count of three.” Fara made some last minute adjustments.

“One…” Pierce could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He wondered if “a bit of a pinch” meant the same thing to a Titan as it did to him.

“Two…” He screwed his eyes shut and tried to keep his muscles from tightening.

“Three!” There was a loud click and a whoosh of compressed air, and a millisecond later Pierce felt a sting in his back that reminded him of an insect bite or a bee sting. He bit his lip and groaned to keep from yelping in surprise.

A moment later the mammoth black machine was lifted away and Pierce could see Fara smiling down at him.

“And we’re all done. How do you feel?”

“It hurt a bit.” Pierce admitted. “But it wasn’t too bad.”

“Oh.” Fara’s head disappeared for a moment as she bent to dig in a supply bag at her feet. “Here. I have something that might help with that.”

She held a small jar in her hand. Fara popped the lid from it and dipped her finger inside. When she removed it a glob mint green gel that looked like petroleum jelly clung to the tip of her finger.

“Lie down again.” Fara instructed. “On your stomach.”

Pierce did as he was asked, and a moment later felt the weird stuff being smeared into the small of his back. Once he got over the slight revulsion of the sensation, he realized the gel was also soothing the sting in his back.

“How does that feel?” Fara asked.

“Pretty good, actually.”

“Good.” She wiped her finger off on her shirt and put the cap back on the bottle. “You should probably wait a few moments before putting your shirt back on, to give that stuff a chance to dry.”

Pierce nodded. He was relieved that that hadn’t been as horrible as he’d been imagining. And he even managed to convince Fara to second guess her assumptions about the intelligence of humans, if only a little bit. He suspected he wasn’t quite out of the woods with the veterinary student, and certainly not with the rest of the ladies in the house.

But it was a start, anyway.