Daz sat in her room, staring at the computer screen in front of her with a frown on her face. The young Titaness scrolled through the two-dimensional images that she’d recovered from the strange bit of technology that Pierce had kept with him when he was taken from Earth.

They were, themselves, nothing special. Pictures of Pierce with other humans that she assumed were his friends and family, as well as scenery pictures from locations on Earth.

No, it wasn’t the pictures that seemed off to Daz, but the implication they seemed to present to her.

Before her, Daz saw images of humans in an environment that they were themselves designed for. Gravity was that which their bodies had adapted to, the environment was scaled to their size. Without any sort of context, it was difficult to remember that she was looking at humans, and not titans.

The thought that there wasn’t really that much different between Titans and humans made her stomach twist uncomfortably, and she closed the picture file with a scowl.

She sat for a moment, staring at the blank screen in front of her. Then, with a frustrated sigh she stood up from her chair and left the room.

*.*.*.*.*

Pierce was travelling along the edge of the wall towards the staircase that led to the first floor. He and Tylum had had a discussion about the fact that he was unable to move about the house safely by himself. Tylum had seen the point and had arranged it so that she and the other girls would stay away from the walls and always look down when they walked.

It wasn’t perfect, but it allowed Pierce to move about most of the house by himself.

Even if watching the titanic women walk past him from the ground level didn’t still give him a small heart attack every time.

The now-familiar rumble of a titan on the move shook the floor under Pierce’s feet. He stopped where he was and leaned against the wall for support.

Pierce looked back of his shoulder and saw Daz making her way towards him. At first, she didn’t appear to notice him, which made Pierce a little worried.

But, unless he was mistaken, Daz’s pace slowed and her steps seemed to become a bit softer as she passed him. She didn’t say anything as she walked by, but Pierce got the distinct impression she was watching him the entire time.

Pierce watched her walk past for a moment.

“Daz?” He called out, even surprising himself.

At first it looked like she hadn’t heard him, but then Pierce watched her massive form stop and turn around. His gaze travelled up the length of her body until he met those inscrutable red eyes gazing down on him.

“Yes?”

Pierce cleared his throat nervously. Daz was still the titaness he’d had the least amount of contact with, and the little he’d had had left him with the impression that she didn’t exactly like him very much.

“I um… Tylum told me you were the one who managed to get my pictures off my phone.” Pierce called up to her.

“I was.”

“Right.” Pierce nodded. “I just wanted to say thanks. I don’t know how hard it was for you to do that, but I know you didn’t have to do it regardless so um… thanks.”

A tense moment of silence passed between them, meanwhile Daz’s expression remained neutral.

“You’re welcome.” She finally said, but there wasn’t a lot of warmth behind the words.

The titaness turned and walked a few more steps away, but then she stopped.

“Do you want a lift down the stairs?”

Pierce was surprised by the offer, part of him would rather walk the distance on his own, regardless of how long it took, but he wasn’t about to turn Daz down.

“Uh sure.” He muttered, walking towards her.

Daz’s massive form bent down at the knees until she was squatting in front of him. Her hand dove towards him and before Pierce really had time to prepare himself, her fingers hooked behind his body and carefully pressed him into her palm.

She rose back to her full height after that and Pierce was left cradled in the cup of her palm. The entire maneuver had been carefully down, and Pierce hadn’t felt an ounce of discomfort, but after Tylum’s careful insistence on getting his permission every time she handled him, to suddenly be snatched off the ground was a little jarring.

Still, it was progress.

Daz resumed her walk and was soon thundering down the stairs, being as careful as she could not to jar Pierce too much.

When she reached the bottom, she deposited Pierce on the table top in front Fara and Myona, who each had their noses buried in a textbook. Aezhay was across the room, perched on the couch, reading off of a data pad.

Tylum was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t worry Pierce too much.

Daz continued across to the living room, where she shoved Aezhay aside and plopped down on the couch next to the farmgirl. Aezhay looked up from her pad, snorted in amusement and went back to reading.

Pierce wandered over to the book Myona was reading and glanced at the title, but discovered he was unable to read the language. Instead, he wandered over to Fara’s book and found her examining a diagram of the skeletal structure of some strange looking reptile.

Suddenly a shadow appeared in the doorway that led into the kitchen.

“Okay, I just got the call, Our new room mates are going to be arriving on the shuttle port in about an hour, so I’m going to go pick them up.” Tylum said as she entered from the kitchen. “Anybody want to come along?”

She lowered her palm to the table in a clear, if silent invitation. Pierce decided he was curious to see some of the Titan’s world outside their dorm house, so he clambered into her hand and was gently deposited into the pocket of her jacket.

“Oh, I guess I’ll come along for the ride.” Aezhay muttered, rising from the couch with a yawn and a shrug.

“Oh me too.” Fara agreed. “I’d really like to meet them.”

“Me too! Me too!” Myona enthused, bouncing out of the kitchen. “And I’ll drive!”

“Not a chance shortpack.” Daz growled. “There’s no way I’m letting you anywhere near the controls.”

“Oh really…” Myona smiled. “Play ya for it?”

*.*.*.*.*

“Eyes on the sky Myona!” Tylum yelled from the front passenger seat, gripping the console in front of her hard enough that her knuckles turned white.

“Don’t worry so much, Tylum.” Myona giggled as she jerked the yoke of the shuttle, narrowly avoiding the cargo craft lumbering along in front of them. “I got this.”

“So, I guess we’re all going to die.” Aezhay said conversationally, from her place behind Tylum. “I think we had a good run of it, really.”

“And I was just starting to get used to this place!” Pierce groaned from his spot in Tylum’s jacket pocket. “But I suppose as deaths go, a flying shuttle isn’t too bad. I’m sure it’ll be quick…”

Fara had her eyes screwed shut and her hands covering her face, as if that would be enough to ward off impending doom if their shuttle were to be forcibly introduced to the windshield of an oncoming freighter.

“Remind me again why I’m not the one flying right now?” Daz growled angrily from her place behind the driver’s console. “I mean, it’s not like I’m the one of us who’s actually going to school for this or anything. No. That… that would actually make sense and we can’t have that!”

“You’re not flying because I’m the reigning Empress of Dal-Nak-So-Tyn and you lost fair and square.” Myona giggled happily, even as she swerved to avoid an oncoming hoverbike.

“I hereby put for an amendment on rule number twenty-three of our Official House Rules for consideration of the group.” Tylum yelled, eyes wide in fear. “Amendment: That- assuming we live through this- Myona never ever, under any circumstances except the most severe of emergencies, be allowed to fly a shuttle craft for any sort of house business, regardless of the outcomes of any games- chance or otherwise.”

“Seconded!” Daz yelled.

“All in favor?” Tylum called back.

“AYE!”

“Opposed?”

There was silence. Curiously, Tylum turned towards Myona.

“What?” The redhead shrugged.

“Never mind.” Tylum sighed. “There’s the shuttleport right there.”

“You got it!” Myona chirped as she angled downward for a landing.

“Oh praise the Emperor, we’re gonna live!” Aezhay cried happily.

“Assuming she doesn’t drive us into the ground!” Daz yelled, barely resisting the urge to cover her eyes like Fara was.

Suddenly, the shuttle leveled out and very gently landed in the parking stall. There was the smallest of bumps as they touched down on the ground.

“There we go.” Myona giggled. “All done.”

The rest of the girls, and Pierce, watched in confusion as the redheaded young woman nonchalantly undid her safety harness and hopped out of the shuttle, humming indistinctly as she did.

“She’s insane.” Daz muttered finally. “She’s flat out crazy. This is the only possible explanation.”

Tylum groaned and shook her head. “I don’t really care anymore. I think I’m going to be airsick. Let’s just go.”

The group piled out of the shuttle and, after taking a moment to appreciate the fact that they were all still alive, made their way into the section of the shuttle port marked off for incoming flights.

“All right Tylum, which flight are they coming in on anyway?” Aezhay asked, as the group studied the massive electronic board that listed all the landing and departure times.

“Uh…” Tylum muttered, eyes scanning the board. “That one! Flight Ashay-Delta-seven-four-Rho.”

“Gate number Tef-sixteen.” Daz read. “That’s down this way, come on.”

The group traversed the corridors of the spaceport, with Pierce watching everything around him with eyes as wide as saucers. He’d thought being surrounded by five giants at once was incredible, but the seething press of giants that surrounded them made him feel just a little faint.

Around him, towering forms marched oblivious to his presence. Most of them were Titans, and those were disconcerting enough, but every so often he caught a glimpse of something that was completely, well, alien. A silver-furred lemur, or a giant lizard man. As they neared the gate Pierce even thought he saw an enormous bat-like creature, but the thing turned the cover too fast for him to be sure.

Pierce took a deep breath and sunk a little lower into Tylum’s pocket. For once he found the large presence of the Titaness, and the others, to be reassuring rather than intimidating.

They reached their destination without any further incident. The gate reminded Pierce of a number of airport terminals that he’d been in during his life.

A few minutes after they arrived, they watched through the large clear panels as the shuttle they’d been waiting for descended from the heavens and angled down for a landing.

The shuttle was a smooth black form that was vaguely ovoid with propulsion nacelles situated towards the back that glowed with an otherworldly blue light. Green glass portholes dotted the side of the vehicles and the whole thing looked like it would be at home in some deepwater ocean.

It also looked like what Pierce would expect a typical spaceship to look like.

There was a rumble that shook the air around them as the shuttle neared the ground; dirt and debris were thrown up by the air displaced when it finally touched down on the landing strip.

A moment later, the shuttle’s doors opened and a stream of passengers began to disembark.

They watched as the crowd thinned out and streamed into the shuttle port to disperse into the crowds, but so far none of them saw any sign of the girls they were searching for.

“There!” Fara pointed out the window where a pair of women were lugging bags into the terminal. “Is that them?”

“Yeah, that looks like them.” Tylum said.

The group moved away from the window and towards the gate where the last few passengers were entering into the terminal.

The two women stepped through the doorway and were momentarily surprised at the rather large reception they were getting.

Pierce peeked over the edge of Tylum’s pocket at the young women. The shorter of the two had large brown eyes and long dirty-blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. Her skin was pale, and she had a skeptical distrustful frown on her face. She also glanced about periodically, as if constantly assessing the area for threats.

The other girl… Pierce felt his heart leap into his throat. She was beautiful. Her skin was a medium tan that contrasted beautifully with the large and expressive pale green eyes. Her hair was dark and thick, but when the light hit it just right he could see red highlights shot through her hair.

“Uh, hi.” She spoke to the group. “Are you our ride?”

“I guess we are.” Tylum said, stepping forward to clasp wrists with her. “My name’s Tylum, and this is Fara, Aezhay, Myona, and Daz. We’re your new roommates.” She was about to introduce Pierce, but noticed the way he was hiding in her pocket. So instead she decided to refrain until she could ask him how he wanted to proceed with the newcomers.

“Oh uh, nice to meet you.” The tan girl stammered. “My name is Rhi… uh Rhina.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Daz suddenly burst into laughter.

“Daz!” Tylum scolded.

“No, come on” Daz chuckled “Is she seriously going to play the ‘hide the fact I’m a princess’ game? As if her face isn’t plastered all over the place? As if we didn’t have to go through like a million security checks in order for her to live with us?”

“Well, yes, but come on you’re being very rude.”

Rhionne cleared her throat and the blush of embarrassment faded from her cheeks. “I just didn’t want you treating me any differently because of my family.”

“Well, in Daz’s case, she really isn’t.” Aezhay muttered. “She’s like this with everybody.”

“All right, all right.” Daz growled sullenly. “I’m sorry I laughed. I can understand what you were trying to do, believe me.”

“So uhm…” Fara said softly. “Who is your friend then?”

“Oh, of course.” Rhionne turned to her companion. “This is… well, I guess she’s mostly my bodyguard, Reevah Tam.”

“Nice to meet ya!” Myona bounced forward and shook Reevah’s hand just a hair too vigorously.

“You’re a Tam?” Daz snorted derisively, moving in close to the significantly shorter woman. “You don’t look like any Tam I’ve ever seen before.”

Reevah blinked mildly, then grabbed Daz’s wrist and twisted it. The next thing any of them knew, Daz was on the ground with an extremely pained look on her face.

“Okay! Okay!” Daz gasped. “I’m sorry!”

Reevah smirked and let go, allowing Daz to climb back to her feet.

“That was awesome!” The young woman enthused. “You have to show me how you did that.”

Tylum sighed and rolled her eyes. “Come on; let’s go back to the house.”

A/N updated bio page as well