“You may begin.”

Kiri leaned back in her office chair and watched as the two humans on her desktop concentrated on the tiny screens in front of them. Though she’d probably never admit it, she was grateful that Naskia’s connection to Pryvani Tarsuss, and by extension Avalon, had facilitated the procurement of two human-sized computers for her research subjects to use. It made administering the intelligence tests, especially the timed ones, far easier and therefore made the results much more accurate.

Pryvani hadn’t exactly been happy about the direction of Kiri’s research, the heiress having considered the question of human intelligence asked and thoroughly answered. However, as scatterbrained as Pryvani Tarsuss was, even she could recognize the value of having scientific data to back up even the most obvious of facts. Especially when those facts are hard to swallow.

As she watched them, the young psychologist could tell that Oteo was focusing a bit more on the questions being posed to him than perhaps Lishda was.

Kiri had been working with the two humans for nearly a full month and had noted an increasing sense of lethargy in her female subject. Having spoken many times to the girl, Kiri had been able to learn that Lishda was in mourning for her former owner.

She could tell that the girl’s reluctance to participate was affecting her test scores, which was potentially disastrous for Kiri’s research.

Her pad beeped, rousing Kiri from her train of thought. Both of them had completed the test, and an alert on her screen was displaying their test results.

Idly, Kiri reached over and examined the information displayed on her data pad. Unsurprisingly, neither human was on the same level as Niall Freeman had been, but the scores weren’t bad. Both humans displayed scores that were roughly that of an average Titan.

“Very good.” Kiri told the two humans in front of her. “I must say, your scores are very impressive. For humans, that is.”

Oteo rolled his eyes at the backhanded compliment.

“I think that’s enough for today.” Kiri stated, closing her datapad and stowing it back in the pocket of her jacket. “There are other things I wish to do with the two of you, but they can wait for another time.”

Kiri gathered the two humans in her hand and made to leave her office. As she walked, she paid close attention to Lishda, who seemed to be ignoring everything around her, even as she sat in Kiri’s palm.

Yes, the little human’s emotional state would have to be dealt with if Kiri had any hope of getting any accurate data from her.

*.*.*.*.*

Elena pulled up short as she saw Andimem raise his hand in the signal for “Stop.”

A moment later Mihiya ran right into her. Elena looked over her shoulder to level a mock glare at the other woman, to which Mihiya responded by sticking out her tongue.

Elena faced forward just in time to see a massive brown boot slam directly in front of the space the three of them were standing, which went a long way to explaining why Andimem had them stop so suddenly. Elena had time to admire the towering leather form, wistfully remembering the comfortable hiking boots she wore back in Costa Rica, before the giant moved on.

Andimem waited for a moment longer, before signaling that the path ahead was clear. Cautiously, the trio of people continued their explorations.

They travelled in the shadows under a wall of lockers off the main through-way. Elena took this time to gather her thoughts. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since she and Mihiya had been taken in by Andimem and his enclave, but knew that it was becoming easier for her to understand their language.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about having to steal jewelry, other valuables, and what she suspected was money from the giants in order for them to survive. On the one hand, it was stealing to survive which is what she and Mihiya had been doing all along… on the other, Elena was certain that Essni was taking advantage of that fact. However, life under the giant woman’s protection was infinitely easier than without it, so for the time being Elena was content to keep with the status quo.

Andimem paused at the edge of their cover and peered out into the corridor of the spaceport. When he turned back around to look at them, he had a wide-and somewhat unsettling-grin on his face.

“Want to try something wild?”

“Surviving is wild enough.” Mihiya muttered. “I can’t imagine what you might have in mind.”

“Look, over there, in the terminal.” Andimem raised his hand and pointed. In the distance, though undoubtedly it wasn’t very far for a Titan, a young woman was passed out in one of the chairs in the waiting terminal.

At first Elena was confused, unsure exactly what Andimem was pointing out, until the sleeping woman’s hand arm shifted and her hand fell to her side. On her wrist, what looked like a solid gold band glinted in the light of the terminal.

“You are crazy.” Elena observed mildly, though there was a part of her that couldn’t help but be impressed by his daring. “You’re not seriously suggesting with swipe that woman’s jewelry right off her body?”

“Yeah.” Andimem’s grin widened just a little.

Mihiya rolled her eyes. “You’re going to do this whether we go along with it or not, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Andimem answered.

“Well then, come on Elena, we better make sure he doesn’t kill himself. Or worse, get captured.”

Elena followed after her companions, but she couldn’t seem to keep the amused smile off her face.

It didn’t take long for them to make their way towards the woman’s chair. Elena, even after all this time, couldn’t help but marvel at the way the woman seemed to loom over them the closer they got. Soon enough, the trio were standing in the shadow of the underside of the chair, warily watching as the woman’s feet shifted in her sleep.

“Okay, Mihiya you keep a lookout. Elena, come with me” Andimem said as he shimmied up the leg of the chair.

Elena wasn’t sure whether she should feel honored or not by the assignment, but followed after with no comment beyond a long suffering sigh.

It only took them a few minutes to make it to the woman’s lap. Above them, the Titan snored away. The noise reminded Elena of the beat up old pickup truck her Uncle had driven for a few years when she was a kid. Nevertheless, Elena didn’t mind the sound. As long as the woman kept making it, it meant she was blissfully unaware of what they were doing, which meant they were still safe.

“Nice looking chain around her neck too.” Andimem observed. “Bet we could get that if we worked together, yeah?”

Elena scratched the back of her neck. They were already walking on a razor’s edge and they were damned lucky it was late enough at night that this part of the spaceport was largely deserted.

Still, there was something about that cocky grin of his.

“All right.” Elena rolled her eyes. “You’re on. Let’s get this first though.”

“Right.” Andimem and Elena squeezed between the edge of the chair and the woman’s thigh to where her wrist was hanging limply from the armrest. The gold band hung loose around her wrist and almost seemed to taunt them.

“Simple clasp.” Andimem muttered. “Shouldn’t be too hard to push open if we both work at it.”

“Here.” Without warning, his hand clamped around her arm and pulled her forward, placing her hand against the clasp. “When I tell you to, push here as hard as you can.”

“R…Right.” Elena stuttered, her face suddenly feeling very warm.

“And… go!” Both shoved as hard as they could against the bracelet’s clasp. Elena discovered it was very hard to exert oneself quietly, and more than once she thought she might collapse but after an indeterminate length of time that felt really long, the clasp popped open. Gravity pulled the chain loose from the woman’s wrist which then fell to the floor to be collected by Mihiya.

“Good job.” Andimem said with a grin. “So what about that necklace?”

Elena’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel like you have another motive?”

“That’s probably because I do have another motive.” The young man’s grin widened. “I can’t help it if she’s pretty.”

Elena rolled her eyes, before lightly shoving his shoulder. “Just get to it.”

Andimem pushed himself further along the edge of the chair, until he was able to hoist himself up onto the giant’s thigh.

This is where things would get tricky.

Andimem carefully traversed the grey material of the giant woman’s skirt, until he made it to her torso and began to climb hand over hand up the front of her blouse. At first he was worried that his weight tugging on her clothes would cause her to awaken, but even after several minutes of climbing, he could both feel and hear the woman’s snores.

Down below, Elena watched apprehensively. She was certain that at any moment the Titan would awaken, spot them both- and possibly Mihiya too- and by nightfall they’d all be in a cage in her bedroom… or worse.

But apparently the brunette giantess was the heaviest sleeper in the galaxy. She continued to snore away, blissfully unaware that her valuables were in the process of being pilfered. Or that she was in public.

Andimem made it to her shoulder, but that was hardly a cause of relief for Elena.

However, he didn’t seem concerned in the slightest. He pulled himself to his feet and carefully stepped across the collar of the woman’s jacket and towards the golden chain hanging around her neck.

“Hurry up!” Elena hissed. She was trying desperately to ignore the way her heart pounded. Nothing about this seemed like a good idea. But Andimem waved away her concern.

He hefted the gold chain in his hands, feeling the weight. He realized that while he’d be able to undo the clasp quite easily, getting it down was another matter entirely. It was, after all, about twice as long as the bracelet had been, and weighed accordingly.

In fact he was certain that were he to undo the chain, it would swiftly disappear into the depths of the woman’s blouse. And while Andimem would acknowledge that going after it seemed like a fun prospect, he was savvy enough to understand that that would only end in disaster.

He was running out of time. Andimem needed to decide whether to cut his losses and get out while he still could, or figure out a way to salvage the situation. After taking half a second to think about it Andimem –

“Nonik, wake up, I can hear you snoring halfway across the terminal!”

“Huh? Wha…?”

The body underneath him jerked awake and Andimem lost his balance. He teetered for a moment on the edge of oblivion, before slipping off the woman’s shoulder. He slid down the fabric covering her torso, giving himself a pretty bad friction burn on his thigh before landing into the darkened interior of her jacket pocket.

Elena, meanwhile, was also caught off guard as the giant jerked back into consciousness. She wasn’t prepared to be steamrolled by the thigh she was standing next to. With a muffled yelp, she rolled off the side of the chair and plummeted to the ground below.

Not for the first time, she was thankful for the reduced gravity of the giant’s planet. What would have been a bone breaking fall back on Earth merely left her momentarily disoriented. Fortunately, Mihiya was there to drag her out of view of the Titans and into the relative safety beneath the chair.

“Are you okay?” The redheaded woman asked.

Elena nodded and fought to regain her breath. She was much more worried about how Andimem was faring.

“Come on.” The voice above them rumbled. “They just announced that our ship’s being docked on a different terminal.”

“Of course it is.” The brunette muttered resignedly as she heaved herself to her feet.

“I never knew you snored so loudly.” Her blonde friend commented as the pair of them walked away, unknowingly carrying Andimem with them.

“I’m just lagged.” The brunette replied. “I can’t wait to get home.”

Andimem, meanwhile, was facing a bit of a dilemma. He had to get out of the woman’s pocket, and the best time to do that was while she was moving-and therefore distracted. However, navigating a a pocket attached to a moving giant is easier said than done. Plus, he had to do so in such a way that she did not notice him.

“You got the boarding passes right?”

“Yeah, on my pad.”

Andimem looked up just in time to see her long fingers burrow into her pocket. The slender digits probed around him, barely missing him as they searched for the electronic device which Andimem realized was behind him.

He pressed himself against the smooth plastic surface as he narrowly avoided her searching fingers. Andimem had just enough time to admire the large ruby ring on the woman’s finger before they grasped the edge of her data pad and lifted it through the opening of the pocket, thankfully leaving him behind.

Of course, that didn’t change much about his current situation. It was a struggle just to stay upright as his surroundings rocked back and forth with each of the giant’s steps.

Also, she was about to board a starship to who-knows-where.

There was nothing else for it. He was going to have to jump. Andimem took a deep breath and grabbed the lip of the pocket, hoisting himself up.

He glanced up at the Titans above him, but the two women were chatting amicably.

“Hurry up you two!” A new voice yelled. “They’re starting to board.

Andimem looked forward and saw a silver haired Titan waving frantically for her two companions to hurry.

Now or never. Andimem thought to himself before throwing himself from the pocket.

He tried to push himself away from the Titan’s body as much as he could, but didn’t have much success. The air was knocked from his lungs as he impacted against the giant woman’s thigh. He fell, disoriented, to the ground. He had just enough presence of mind to roll his battered body away from the trampling feet of the woman and her companion. The impacts of their footfalls on the ground shook the world around him for a few terrifying seconds before they passed by him, still completely unaware of his presence.

Not that he had much time to rest. He was in the middle of the spaceport corridor, which was becoming more crowded by the minute.

Despite the fact that his entire body was screaming in pain, Andimem hauled himself back to his feet and dragged himself towards the wall and to the relative safety of the shadows. Fortunately, he made it to the edge with no further incident and collapsed against the wall, watching for a brief minute as the crowd of Titans passed by, their footsteps rumbling the floor beneath him.

It didn’t take long for Mihiya and Elena to make it to where Andimem sat, dragging the bracelet between them.

“Are you okay?” Elena asked, kneeling down beside him and showing a concerned expression on her face.

“Yeah.” Andimem grunted, carefully rising to his feet. “I’m fine. I’ve fallen further than that loads of times.”

“Not from a Titan’s pocket, I’ll bet.” Mihiya observed.

“No.” the worn out human conceded. “This was a new one. Too bad I couldn’t have grabbed the necklace, but at least we got the bracelet. Essni will like that.”

“Yeah.” Elena sighed. “I just hope it was worth it.”

*.*.*.*

Essni’s fingernails tapped idly on her desktop as she examined the latest haul from one of her scavenging crews.

It wasn’t much. A couple credit chits and a cheap ring that looked more valuable than it probably was. Still, she knew that it wasn’t fair to expect a human to have a good eye for quality. They liked shiny things, so they brought her shiny things.

Fortunately, the humans mostly took care of themselves and didn’t really cost her much to take care of. Essni figured the law of averages dictated that eventually one of them would bring her the bank codes to Pryvani Tarsuss’s accounts or the gems from off Princess Rhionne’s jewelry. Until then, she was content to take whatever little bits and baubles they managed to scrape together, in exchange for a bit of food or cloth.

The humans would be scrounging the spaceport either way, why shouldn’t they be doing something useful while they did? She kept them safe, and they earned their keep for it. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Sure, sometimes one or two of them would go missing, but there always seemed to be another one or two to replace them when they did.

Like those new girls that Andimem had brought around. They certainly were pretty little things, and Essni had no doubt that the little rogue had ulterior motives for bringing them into the fold.

Dirty little animal that he was.

Essni snickered to herself as she finished typing up a daily report. Shockingly, the credits her little troops swiped for her weren’t quite enough for her to be able to retire, so she still had to keep trudging away at her job as one of the security supervisors for the station. Recently, somebody with more money than Essni would likely ever see in her lifetime had passed through the station and had requested a passive security escort.

The whole thing had been a massive pain in Essni’s neck, and something of a logistics nightmare. But it had gone off without a hitch and now the actress, or whoever she was, was someone else’s problem. That didn’t mean there wouldn’t be paperwork.

There was always paperwork.

A soft rustling noise caused Essni to look over into the corner of her office. Andimem squeezed through a small crack in the paneling, followed by his little entourage. Essni smiled indulgently. The two were good workers, that much was true. And if there was something else going on, well, she wasn’t about to begrudge the little man his pleasures.

At first Essni had wondered about the dark haired human though. Poor little thing didn’t seem able to speak in anything but strange gibberish. Essni had thought the girl had been addled by living alone, even though the other… whatever her name was… had insisted that the girl was just speaking some other language.

It wasn’t any language Essni had ever heard, and frankly after working in one of the largest spaceports in the Empire for as many years as she had… she’d heard them all.

But, eventually, the girl had learned to speak properly, if not a little slowly. Perhaps she’d just spent too long by herself.

As they pushed their way into her office, Essni noticed something shiny being pulled along behind them.

“Hello little friends.” The titan woman cooed, as she stepped over to where they were dusting themselves off. “What have you brought for me?”

The two women lifted the gold chain they bore between them above their heads, but of course Essni still had to bend down to pluck it up between her fingers.

She examined it as she rose back to her full height.

It didn’t look like high end jewelry, but the chain was definitely genuine gold. It had probably fallen from the wrist of some middle management type as they hurried to get to their terminal. It would probably fetch a few credits. Or maybe she’d just give it to her niece for her next birthday.

“Well done little ones.” Essni praised her little minions. “This was an excellent find!”

Satisfied that she’d kept the humans mollified for the moment, Essni turned back to her work. She casually dropped the bracelet on her desk before sitting down again.