Naskia was lying curled up in her bed in her parent’s house. Her face was red and puffy and ached from crying for hours on end. She had cried herself out and was now just lying there wallowing in guilt. She was running and rerunning the evening’s events in her mind over and over again.
“Why did I hit him? I’m an idiot! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” she said cursing herself.
The things Niall had said to her. Those nasty, horrible things, some of which were a bit too close to the bone for Naskia to take had combined on top of years of prodding and criticism from people around her like her mother and Kiri. She had finally snapped and it just so happened that the person she had snapped on was the one person not capable of taking it without serious injury.
Niall had flown through the air like he was nothing. His body offered no resistance at all to her dainty hand. He was far smaller and frailer than any doll she had when she was a child. Niall hit the wall with such force that even Naskia heard the sound his ribs made as they cracked on impact. He then fell and hit his head and passed out.
As Niall lay unconscious Naskia instantly snapped out of her rage induced mist and immediately regretted her actions. She didn’t even remember swinging for him but she knew she had done it. It was not in her nature to hit anyone let alone a defenceless human. She had quickly scooped up Niall’s limp and battered body and ran through to the kitchen and scanned him with the medical scanner. It said he had internal bleeding in his torso and cracked ribs. Naskia used the first aid kit to take care of the internal bleeding and started the ribs healing but Niall would be in pain for a few weeks.
“I’m sure the blog wasn’t even that bad. I just overreacted. Niall had every right to say those things to me.” Her guilt was doing most of the talking now.
There were also enough injuries there to send Naskia to prison for animal cruelty for a few weeks if Kiri hadn’t been such a good friend and offered to help her.
Kiri had suggested that she take Niall through to her room as Niall would most likely be terrified when he came round. She would keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t get any worse. Kiri would also tell Niall just how sorry and upset Naskia was and see if he would be ok seeing Naskia.
After a few hours of tensely sitting by herself in the living area Kiri had come out of her room and told her that Niall was awake and ok but totally terrified. He would barely let Kiri near him. She said he didn’t want anything to do with Naskia anymore and wanted Kiri to look after him. Kiri had held Naskia as she cried and told her over and over again how sorry she was and explained what had happened.
Kiri had suggested since her father was on the planet anyway she should go home for a few days to try to calm down. When she came back Niall would be off to the psychology lab where Kiri would help get his freedom.
“Maybe he’ll calm down in a few days and I can say sorry in person….” Naskia said to herself.
Naskia had agreed and been picked up by her father. She was too ashamed to tell him what happened and had sat in silence for the hour long journey to the other side of the planet where she grew up. She thought the comforts of her childhood bedroom would help her feel better but it wasn’t working. The posters of beautiful nebula and planets only reminded her of him. She wished she had Niall there to curl up with her and make her feel better but now she would never hold him again.
Niall slowly woke. His insides ached and his head was killing him. He tried to clear his head and think back to what had happened. The last thing he remembered was looking at Naskia’s beautiful, rage filled face before her hand struck him and sent him flying across the table.
“Niall you idiot…..” he told himself. He had totally lost it. He had assumed Naskia would buckle under his insults but he had totally misjudged her.
“It’s my own fault. I should have trusted her with my blog, I shouldn’t have said those things to her. Why am I always such a dickhead?” He said to himself.
He slowly opened his eyes and sat up using his arms to help him. His torso and legs hurt too much. He examined himself. He had a massive purple bruise running all the way down him from his shoulders to his knees. There were two darker patches where Naskia’s knuckles had made contact with him.
“Ahhh….this looks bad.” He said out loud.
“You had 4 broken ribs and pretty bad internal bleeding. I used the medkit to heal the worst of it but you’ll be recovering for a few weeks. Naskia was quite happy to leave you. She said you deserved it.” A feminine voice said in the darkness.
The lights came on. Niall shielded his eyes as they adjusted to the light. His surroundings were totally different. He had expected the familiar sight of Naskia’s room but instead he was high up on a shelf in Kiri’s room. He looked down at the bed on the other side of the room. Kiri was lying there reading a pad. She got up and walked over to Niall’s tank which was about head height.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“Sore…where’s Naskia?” He replied.
“You’re lucky to be alive. Frankly, if you had of called me a whore I probably would have ground you into paste then and there.” Kiri ignored his question.
“Where’s Naskia?” Niall repeated. He had a bad feeling about this.
“Her parent’s house. She was so angry and upset with you she said she didn’t want to be anywhere near you. She’s given you to me. She said she wants me to move you to the psychology lab before she gets back.” Kiri replied her tone totally flat.
“Can you give me your pad so I can try to call her? I need to apologise.” Niall said hauling himself to his feet. Everything ached.
He suddenly realised some things were different. The home he had created in his terrarium was gone. The cheap exercise equipment and litter tray had returned. He was totally naked and his clothes were nowhere in sight.
“No.” Kiri said flat out.
“What the hell is going on here Kiri?” Niall replied, his panic rising.
“You’re mine now, not Naskia’s. This equality rubbish is over. You’ll do as you’re told. I’ve left you water but there’s no food for you and I’m not giving you any of mine. You can have some tomorrow once you’ve done a few tests for me.” Kiri said her tone not changing.
Kiri brought her face right up to the tank to emphasize her superiority.
“You can’t do this to me!” Niall yelled hobbling over to the glass. Kiri had taped over the door so he couldn’t get out.
“I’m going to tell you this once and once alone. You are not a pet here, you are my experiment. If you cooperate I will ensure you have food, water and are unharmed. If you don’t then I will be forced to cancel the experiment and you along with it.”
Niall looked into her cold unfeeling eyes. He was unconsciously stepping backwards away from her. She wasn’t like Naskia at all, she only saw him as a thing. She was terrifying.
“I won’t use you to pleasure myself as Naskia did. Dominating tiny men is her thing. It makes her feel powerful. True power is getting a much stronger man to hang on your every word and bend to your every whim. Getting off on dominating a tiny, pathetic animal such as you is just sad.” Kiri spat.
“You know I won’t cooperate. I’d rather die than live as a slave.” Niall said. He was mentally preparing himself for the struggle he knew was coming.
Kiri just smiled at him. She didn’t look angry or even remotely bothered by his defiance. She reached in and pinched his hand between her thumb and forefinger. She lifted him to her face and closed one eye and brought him to within spitting distance of her open eye. The eye was much bigger than his head. The iris was about the same size of his head, he could see the pupil contract as it focused on him. Niall felt very, very small and guessed that this was Kiri’s intention.
“Naskia told me about how terrified you are of being swallowed alive. If you don’t cooperate with me then I won’t bother wasting my time. I will simply lower you into my mouth, close my lips and swallow you whole. I’ll let you rot away inside me like a piece of meat. Titan digestion takes a two full days at least. How does 168 hours of sitting in me while I slowly dissolve you sound?” Kiri said keeping her smile on her face.
Kiri lowered him to her mouth and opened it wide giving Niall a glimpse of what awaited him if he defied her.
“You better get the message. You are nothing to me. This is where you will go if you give even the slightest bit of trouble. Do you understand?” Kiri said emphasizing every word knowing Niall was just a hair’s breadth away from her lips.
“I do…” Niall squeaked.
She dropped him down on his mat. He was shaking in terror. He could see from the look in her eyes that she meant it. She wouldn’t think twice about it. He couldn’t stay here. He felt his mind starting to lose control as fear took over. He consciously took over his breathing and calmed himself. He couldn’t pass out in front of her. He would try to escape but now was not the time. Without responding he went to his mat and curled up into a ball. He wanted Kiri to think he was broken.
“There’s a good boy. Rest up and we’ll talk more tomorrow. Do not wake me up for any reason unless you’re dying.” Kiri said.
She set her pad down on her bedside table and got into bed. Kiri turned out the light and then rolled over to go to sleep.
Niall decided he best get some sleep too. He was still exhausted and aching in pain. He would wake up before she did and he could plan his escape then. He had no idea where he’d go or what he would do but he knew he had to get away from Kiri.
Niall woke up still feeling terrible. He was still aching all over but his head felt a good bit clearer. He sat up and looked to the window. It was still pitch black outside so he had a few hours to come up with a plan and put it into action. Niall hobbled back and forth trying to loosen up his stiff limbs as he thought.
He was trying to think of anywhere he could go that he’d be safe. Once he left the flat he’d have to deal with any Titans that were roaming the halls and could potentially see him and take him. When he got outside there would be further problems. It was always cold on this northern island and he had no clothes so he risked hypothermia, there were numerous animals which were small to a Titan but huge to him that could make short work of him. Even if he could make it out of the building and safely move around where would he go? He knew no one, trusted no one.
The more he thought the more he kept coming to the same conclusion.
“I need Naskia.” He thought “I will have to beg her, plead with her to forgive me. I could offer to be her pet…it’d be better than being Kiri’s experiment. Naskia isn’t a bad person; she’d be nice to me no matter what. Maybe she’d even let me keep some of the stuff she got me or wear clothes or something. Anything would be better than Kiri.”
He had 2 options. Either get to Naskia’s room and hide until she returned or try to use Kiri’s pad to contact her. The pad was his best option. It could be days on until she was home. He couldn’t go without food or water for that length of time. Kiri’s pad was on her bedside table, he would need to work his way over there.
Niall pulled down a basketball net that was in the side of the terrarium. The pole was 10 foot long and made from a flimsy metal. Niall stood on the back of it and rocked back and forth, eventually snapping the end of it off. It was sharp enough that it could give Kiri a nasty cut but it would only make her mad and would only slow her down for a second. It wasn’t for use on her anyway.
Niall grabbed his pike and ran at the tape Kiri had used to seal his tank. The pike went straight through the tape and Niall pushed it up ripping the tape as it went. He then grabbed the tape and pulled it back giving him space to crawl out on to the shelf.
It was 30 feet to the shelf below and 30 feet to the desk below that. Normally Niall could drop down one by one but he was in a lot of pain already and didn’t want to risk further injury. He walked the length of the shelf until he saw an alternative. Kiri’s laundry basket was on the floor beside the desk sitting about 30 feet out from the shelf.
“The 100 foot drop will be fun….” He said to himself as he took a running jump. He curled up into a ball as he felt gravity take him and the air whistled by him as fell faster and faster. He hit the pile of clothes with a soft thud and scrambled up as quickly as he could in case Kiri had heard him. He pulled himself to the edge and extracted himself from the t-shirt he had landed in. Kiri was still sound asleep.
He clambered down the outside of the basket; it had holes in it so it was not too hard. He cursed under his breath as his arms and legs complained at the strain they were under when he should have been resting. He decided to walk towards Kiri’s bedside and save his strength for the 50 foot climb to the bedside table. The walk across the bedroom took a few minutes at a Niall’s reduced pace. Niall stopped once he neared the table realising he had a problem.
Naskia and Kiri had identical bedside tables with 3 drawers. He could, with a bit of effort and help from the low gravity, jump the 10 feet to the bottom handle and then use the momentum to throw himself up each handle until he got to the top. It had taken time and skill to learn that and it required all his strength to do. He was in no shape to do it. He looked around for alternatives.
Kiri’s covers were hanging down from her bed. Niall would have to haul himself up the 50 feet to the bed and then jump the gap to the table. It would be hard work but he had more chance of doing that than pulling himself up the handles. He grabbed a hold of the covers with his arms and heaved himself up. There was nowhere for him to put his feet so his arms took all the strain.
Niall was aching all over. He had been climbing for minutes and he was only half way up. His arms felt like they were going to lock into place they were so sore. His insides felt like they were about to spill out but he had no choice but to force himself on. He wanted to think this would all be worth it at the end but he knew that he would have to beg and plead with Naskia for her to save him. She could forgive him, she could demand he submit to her in exchange for her protection or she could condemn him to stay with Kiri permanently. He didn’t know.
After another few minutes he hauled himself over the edge of the bed and on to his back. He was breathing heavily and still hurting. He just lay there panting trying to will the pain away. He looked over at the sleeping Titaness. She did not look like the malevolent, manipulative creature who had threatened to swallow him whole earlier in the night. He had seen just how small Naskia was for a Titan and she was much bigger than Kiri. If Kiri were Human he doubted she would even reach 5 feet tall. Just looking at her filled him with rage and spurred him on.
He got up and carefully crept along the bed, he had no desire to wake Kiri. He took a running jump once he got near enough to the table and just about made it.
Niall let out a sigh of relief and activated the pad. Naskia’s picture was on the contacts section of the pad. Niall’s hand was shaking as he reached out to touch her face and contact her, he could hear his heart pounding in his ears and he felt like he was going to be sick. He swallowed hard and tapped the screen.
“Connecting….” Flashed up on the screen.
Niall got more and more nervous the longer the message was on the screen. He was pretty much ready to throw up he was so nervous.
“Messaging service activated. Please leave your message.” Appeared and the camera light turned on. Niall hadn’t planned what to say so he just started talking.
“Naskia…it’s me. I know you don’t want to hear from me right now but I’ve no choice. You have plenty of reasons to hate me; I said some terrible, horrible things to you. I want you to know how sorry I am.” Niall said. His eyes started to well up as he spoke the last sentence.
“I’m so, so sorry. You didn’t deserve it. I should have trusted you with everything, I wasn’t trying to lie to you or deceive you, I just didn’t think. I was arrogant and stupid. I didn’t realise just what I had with you until it was gone.” Niall dropped to his knees and started to openly weep.
“Kiri says she will kill me; swallow me whole, unless I cooperate with her experiments. I can’t be a lab rat. I can’t do it Nas. The only option I have is to take a quick way out before she wakes up and I’m robbed of the option. If you save me I promise I’ll be a good pet. I’ll do anything you want.” Niall wiped his eyes with the back of a hand. His tears were dripping on to Kiri’s pad.
“I was hoping I’d get to talk to you one last time properly, plead for my life but it’s not going to happen. I wanted to tell you something actually….I only figured it out as I was recording this message. It’s not like I had any way of knowing or telling before but I love you Naskia. I think I’ve loved you for a while now and just didn’t know. The only other person I’ve ever said that to is my mother and I just want you to kn…..”
Niall was cut off as a hand landed on top of him and forced him into the surface of the pad before lifting him into the air.
Kiri sat up and dangled the little man she had heard talking, by his arm.
“You woke me up you piece of filth!” she spat.
Niall didn’t say anything; he just squirmed and tried to break free.
“One last chance, right here, right now; beg for your life and if I’m happy you can come with me tomorrow to your new life in the lab or I eat you alive right now. What will it be?” she said bluntly.
Niall didn’t reply. He kicked and pulled trying to free himself from her grip. He wanted to fall to the floor and die there.
Kiri stood up.
“Fine, have it your way.” She said.
“I’ll just scare him….” Kiri thought to herself.
She raised Niall up and tilted her head back. She opened her mouth wide and slowly lowered Niall towards the darkness of her throat.
Niall shouted and screamed. He called for Naskia to help him in panic even though he knew she was on the opposite side of the planet.
“I could swallow him….just to see what it feels like…could be interesting having a little man thrashing around inside me.” Kiri’s mind continued.
He kicked as Kiri’s tongue made contact with his feet. She didn’t giggle or react like Naskia did. This process was more disposal than pleasure to her. Niall panicked more and more as Kiri lowered him further and further into her mouth. Her warm breath washed over him and the light lowered as he went deeper and deeper into her mouth.
“I can always throw him back up. It would be worth it to see what it feels like.” Kiri liked that idea.
As his head passed into her mouth he stopped shouting and became very quiet. Everything was dripping with saliva. Niall pictured what awaited him, total darkness, stomach acid, churning and mixing with rancid food. There must be a way out, a way to free himself. He looked around for options clinging to hope he could escape.
There was no way out of this.
“This is it….”He thought to himself.
His feet touched the uvula at the back of her throat. Kiri locked her lips shut around his arm and locked Niall in total darkness. All he could feel was saliva dripping across his body and the tight grip that Kiri had on his hand that would soon drop him into her gullet.
“Or I could just leave him in there….maybe….maybe.” she thought.
Niall heard a laugh rumble up from within her.
“This is it…” he said.