“Aisell…Aisell…make it stop…” Luke groaned.

His head was killing him and the sound of Aisell’s alarm going off was mercilessly pounding away like a bass drum inside his tender, mushy brain. His whole body ached. Every part of him felt like it’d been through a meat tenderizer. He didn’t know how long it had been going off but he was pretty sure it was hours. He couldn’t even get up. At some point in the night Aisell had rested a hand across him. It was nice that it kept him warm but it was now also pinning him to her soft chest.

“Aisell!” He managed to force out a bit louder this time.

The Titaness didn’t so much as flinch. He tried squirming under the weight of her hand but it was no use. He was stuck fast and he was going to have to endure the torture of the alarm clock until Aisell woke up. He allowed flashes of the night before to run through his mind. He tried to picture almost every inch of the beautiful Titaness he had spent the evening drunkenly exploring. Then another thought crossed his very painful mind.

What did last night mean? Would it change things between them? She said before she didn’t see Humans like that but then again she also didn’t realise they could carve faces into the side of mountains. He had felt closer to her since their movie night. And she’d had that dream. He felt sick in his stomach. Torn. Getting home had been his singular goal over the last year and a half. Nothing else mattered. But now if there was something here between them, if they could be more than simple friends he had a reason to stay. It made him want to stay. But there was still that voice inside of him, yelling and screaming that he couldn’t stay. He didn’t belong here. No matter what.

“Eugh…wake up ya big bimbo!” Luke grumbled as he squeezed his eyes shut in a vain effort to fall back to sleep.

Luke didn’t know how long he lay there. His mouth parched and his head pounding. He needed a big drink of water, something greasy to eat and a long shower. In the few short instances he managed to shake Aisell from his mind he pictured the greasy scraps of burger he’d eaten before Aisell had discovered him. What he wouldn’t give for a cheeseburger right now. And for that damned noise to end.

And then it did.

“Erghhhhhhh” Aisell groaned “Emperor’s Mercy…my head…what in the universe happened last night…”

She felt something squirm under her hand against her chest. She recognised the shape and feel, it was definitely Luke. “Why is Luke…lying on my boob…?” She sat up slightly realising she wasn’t wearing anything.

She grasped Luke gently in her hand and lifted him to her face. “Luke…wanna tell me why we’re both naked and you’re spooning my nipple? And why my head feels like it has a herd of vashana stampeding inside of it?” Her voice sounded quiet and soft and she looked as bad as Luke felt.

“Close your eyes…think back. What do you remember last?” Luke prompted her gently.

Aisell did as he asked and closed her eyes. Rerunning the fractured events her mind could recall.

“Ohhh…Hustain…how much of it did we drink?” Aisell said opening her eyes.

“The bottle’s on the floor…”

Aisell bent down and lifted the bottle. Its contents shifted and sloshed as she lifted it. It felt the same inside her stomach. She felt very queasy indeed. She looked at the green liquid. There was only about a third of the bottle left. There was no way Luke had drank an equal share so it was obvious she’d managed it all on her own. She’d have been impressed if she didn’t feel so awful.

“Ohhh…why did you let me drink so much?” Aisell said to Luke, hanging in front of her face still.

Luke furrowed his brow. “How could I possibly stop you?”

“I dunno…just somehow you should have stopped me…” Aisell closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall.

Luke swallowed as he thought of the best possible phrasing for the question he urgently wanted answered. “So…what else do you remember?”

“Hold that thought!” Aisell’s eyes bolted open and she quickly dropped Luke to the bed covers and bolted across the room to the sink.

Luke grimaced as he watched the normally composed and graceful Aisell retch chunks and thousands of litres of stomach contents into the sink. He was particularly grateful she had the presence of mind to leave him on the bed. He could see her hair was matted by sweat and sticking to her face and her legs were trembling. She was struggling to keep herself standing as he vomited over and over again into the sink.

Aisell eventually finished her retching and slumped her massive, naked form to the cold metal floor. She was curled into a ball and shivering.

“Aisell…you ok?” Luke called.

“Eugh…I just wanna crawl into a hole somewhere forever…” she said and dragged herself along the floor before crawling in under the covers, buffeting Luke a bit.

“I think we both need water…lots of it. And food. Greasy, unhealthy food. It’ll sort us right out.” He suggested crawling along the surface of the covers towards her face.

“Uh huh…just lemme sleep for a bit…”

Luke recalled the alarm that had tortured him for god knows how long. “When do you have to be in work?”

“Ehhhh…” Aisell reached out and picked up her pad to check the time. Her bloodshot eyes shot open wide. “An hour ago!”

She grabbed Luke roughly in her hand and tossed the covers back. She deposited Luke on her bedside table in his cloth and hurriedly dressed herself and doused her face and hair with cold water. She gave her hair a quick brush so she looked at least semi presentable but she didn’t have time to apply any makeup to hide her deathly pale face or the deep, dark bags under her eyes. Luke saw her hand descend on top of him and roll the cloth over him. She picked up the cloth and stuffed it into her pocket and rushed out the door towards the market with Luke bouncing along with her.

“Ohhhh…this does not feel nice.” Luke’s hands clung to his head. “At least I don’t have anything else left to throw up.”

“Oh I could really do with some of that!” Luke was approaching a large chunk of greasy burger meat. He slowly dragged his aching form, step by step, towards the potential hangover cure. The chunk was about the size of his leg and lying on the floor under a table.

“Bobye hangover!” Luke said cheerily as he reached out to grab a chunk of the juicy meat.

“WAH!” He yelled as he felt a tug at the back of his tunic and the ground shot away beneath him. He landed gently on top of a table and looked up to Aisell’s gaunt face.

“No eating off floor when you’re with me!” she said, more telling than asking.

Luke sat down, feeling slightly defeated. “Well can you get me some food then? I need something to kill this hangover before it kills me. That hustain stuff you gave me is rocket fuel!”

Aisell looked around at the rather grubby looking canteen, grease paper, food scraps and various bits of detritus littered the area. “Can it wait until I’m finished here…not sure if I can face food just yet.”

“C’mon Ais! Some of us have a fast metabolism. I’m starving…” Luke sighed.

“Will some mosaberries tide you over?”

“I doubt it. I need something greasy and unhealthy! You should eat too. It’ll fix you right up.” Luke stood up and tried to sound encouraging.

“Uhhhh” Aisell sighed “Fine! But I throw up again you’re cleaning it up!”

“Deal!” Luke shot back and jumped to his feet, desperate for something to fill his stomach.

The Titaness set down the decon unit and walked over to a food dispenser and popped some tokens into a slot in its face. Luke watched from the table as she pressed some buttons and then grabbed some items from a slot in the dispenser. She quickly returned to the table and sat down in front of Luke and set two large, grease paper wrapped burgers down on the table.

“TWO burgers!?” Luke said excited.

Aisell picked one up and unwrapped it. “Well if that’s what you guys call them.”

“One for me and one for you?” Luke enquired.

“Yeah it’s not fair on you just getting my scraps…” Aisell said taking a bite and setting the burger back down.

“Seriously!?”

“NO! One of these is ten times your size!” Aisell tore a chunk from her gigantic meal and set it down in front of Luke. Despite being minute to her it was still the size of his leg.

“I’m pretty sure I could have eaten a whole one…” Luke said trying to guilt his host as he took a bite from the warm, greasy meat. “Oh god…so good! Way better fresh!”

“Yeah well I can’t afford three and I need at least two. I was reluctant enough to give you that bit!” Aisell said with her mouth full.

“How can you eat two? You’re so scrawny! I’ve been starved for months. What’s your excuse?” Luke joked between bites.

Aisell shrugged and took another mattress sized bite from her burger. “I dunno, I’ve always been like this…I can eat what I want and stay skinny. I wouldn’t mind being a bit bigger…get some curves on me, ya know?”

“Well from what I saw of you last night you look perfect!” There was a hint of flirtation in his voice.

Aisell sighed and set her burger down on the table. “Luke…about that. I’d appreciate you…not mentioning it again.”

“Come again?”

“Well…I meant what I said…I don’t see Humans in that way. I was really drunk and it was a stupid thing to do.” Aisell said softly but firmly.

“Come on Aisell! We had a great night! You can’t just write it off as a drunken fumble!” Luke argued back.

Aisell looked down at him and frowned unhappily. She’d hoped Luke would have accepted what she said without fighting back.

“Seriously Aisell…it wasn’t just drunken. You care about me, I can tell.” Luke sighed.

“And I do care, just not like that. I was just drunk n lonely and it was stupid. It didn’t mean anything. I’m leaving tomorrow and I don’t want our last day being awkward ok?” Aisell said a bit firmer this time.

“Please Ais…it wasn’t just some drunken fuck, there’s something here!” Luke said. He hadn’t realised it until she’d rejected him but he’d grown quite attached to her. Maybe more attached than he should have. She was the first person in more than a year and a half he’d had any real contact with and they just seemed to get on well. He looked up into her ice blue eyes staring down at him, cogs clearly turning in her mind.

“Don’t say there isn’t cuz there is…” Luke pleaded.

BANG!

Aisell’s open palm slapped down beside him sending a jolt through the tabletop and scaring the wits out of the startled Human.

“No, there’s not! Now drop it!” She half yelled, her eyes pinning Luke to the table.

She stood up and took her burger with her. “I’ve work to do. You can stay here and eat. I’ll check in on you okay?”

“Ok…” Luke was feeling rather sore. “Aisell I…”

“No Luke. Don’t bring it up again. Don’t make me leave you a day early…” She picked up the decon unit and stomped across the canteen.

“Sorry Aisell…” Luke sat down and stared at his chunk of burger. He didn’t feel like eating anymore.

Luke sat on Aisell’s bedside table staring at the writing on the pad’s screen. He had long since given up reading. He wasn’t able to focus properly. He kept reading the same paragraph over and over again as his mind replayed their earlier conversation. Images of her angry face filled his mind and a sick feeling of rejection filled his chest. He tried not to think of how close her hand had come to landing on him, it made his heart beat faster just thinking about it. He could hear her breathing behind him on her bed as she slept. She hadn’t said so much as two words to him since their argument earlier.

“Well at least that hangover’s lifted…” he sighed.

Aisell lay on her side facing the wall with her eyes scrunched shut. Her head was still pounding to the point she could hear her pulse in her head and she was exhausted after a long hungover shift. She’d been lying there for a while trying to sleep but no matter what she did her mind wouldn’t switch off. She was replaying the conversation with Luke over and over again. Sure it had to be said but did she really need to snap like angry shaar? He’d looked terrified when she’d slammed her hand down beside him. She hadn’t deliberately tried to scare him, she just did it without thinking. She sighed as she felt another pang of guilt worm its way up from her gut. There was no way she was getting any sleep as long as she felt like this.

Her head swirled as she sat up and swung her legs over the bed, her feet landing on the cold floor. She looked down at Luke sitting in the warm glow of the pad’s light.

“Luke…can we talk?” she said gingerly.

“It’s ok Aisell…I get it already…” he replied without turning round.

Aisell reached out and grabbed the corner of the cloth the finger sized man was sitting in and pulled it round until Luke was facing her. “I wanted to say sorry.”

“For what?”

“For how mean I was earlier…” She placed her elbows on her knees and rested her weary head in her upturned palms. “You really didn’t deserve it. I can’t put into words how badly I handled that.”

“Well on Earth we’d say you were a bit of a bitch…” Luke’s voice was filled with more than a little bitterness.

“That sounds about right…” she sighed. “I really can’t tell you enough how sorry I am. I didn’t even realise at the time but I slammed my hand down right beside you…that must have been terrifying.”

Luke could see her swallow uncomfortably as she waited for his reply. Her tired face had guilt etched into it.

“It’s ok…don’t worry about it…” was all the response he could muster.

“No it’s really not. It was a terrible thing I did and not like me at all! I’ve never done anything like that…I just think you hit a nerve or something.” Aisell shifted uncomfortably.

Luke stood up and walked to the edge of the table and looked up the steep angle to her face. He smiled softly feeling some of the bitterness leave him. “Well I did push when you told me not to…”

“Hmmm you did…but it still didn’t give me the right to treat you like that.”

“Do you still feel the same way?” Luke asked nervously.

“What do you mean?” Aisell raised a brow curiously.

Luke looked down at the floor. He was too nervous to keep his focus on her face. “That…you think there’s nothing between us.”

Aisell sighed. She really wished he was Titan. He was so nice and funny and they just got on so well. He was a gentleman and always turned away when she got changed and he’d never once tried to take advantage of her. Not even when he was drunk. She was the one who had to initiate. And she had to admit, for being the same size as her middle finger he did a great job the night before. Better than one or two of the Titan men she’d been with.

“Sorry Luke…it’d never work. Besides, I’m leaving tomorrow and in all probability we’ll never see each other again.” Aisell lowered her hand and set it in front of Luke allowing him to step on. It felt good to touch her again. Not talking had made him feel very isolated and alone. He hated it. He hated it more knowing they only had another day together before he was back on his own.

“I suppose you’re right.” He sighed as he sat in her hand. He looked at the pale skin floor as he felt the world pass him by as she raised him up. Something very large, warm and moist pressed into the side of his head, nearly swallowing all of it. It felt nice and lasted for a few seconds. He turned around to see her plush lips retreating.

“If things were different…if I was Human or you were Titan…but they aren’t. It sucks but that’s the way it is.” Aisell sounded quite sad as she spoke.

Luke just nodded.

Aisell paused for a second not quite sure where to go from here. Everything she’d said to Luke since she had woken up had caused a problem one way or another. Even when she was trying to be nice. She decided the best thing she could say was nothing at all. She tucked her hand into her stomach and lay down, propping herself up against the wall.

“Eugh…” Aisell spoke after a few minutes of silence.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked snapping out of a weary daze.

“My head is killing me…you told me greasy food would cure me!” she groaned and slouched further against the wall.

Luke shrugged. “It worked fine for me…it should work for you too…”

“Maybe the universe is just punishing me for being a…what did you call it? Bitch?”

Luke laughed as Aisell lifted her hand up in front of her face. “Why don’t you just go to sleep?”

“Can’t” Aisell sighed. “I’ve been trying for ages.”

“Well what’s stopping you?”

The blonde Titaness’ eyes fluttered away and then back to the little man in her hand. “I feel bad…guilty…about our argument earlier.”

“I told you not to worry about it, I’m fine. There ya go you can sleep now.” Luke smiled and shook his head.

“I still feel bad though…”

Luke lay down and spread himself out across the seven foot wide palm, keeping his eyes focused on hers. “I tell you what. I’ll lie here in your very soft, warm hand and you can do that thing you do with your fingers…”

“You mean stroke you?”

“Haha…yeah…” Luke blushed “It feels pretty nice…”

“Some non-pet, independent Human you are!” Aisell smiled and stuck her tongue out.

She lay over on her side and held her hand out close to her face so she could watch Luke looking back at her and brought her free hand up and gently stroked him back and forth.

“Our last sleep…” Aisell said forcing a smile.

“Not tomorrow after work?” Luke was sounding very relaxed as Aisell’s finger worked its way up his back.

Aisell softly shook her head, her hair making a rustling sound on the pillow. “I have to pack and then be at the hanger for my flight a few hours after my shift…I won’t have time.”

“That’s too bad…I’m gonna miss this.” Luke groaned barely able to stay awake.

“I know…” Aisell paused starting to feel sleepy herself. Petting Luke seemed to relax her just as much as it relaxed him.

“Aisell…”

“Yeah Luke?”

“I’ll miss you as well…” he said softly.

Aisell opened her eyes and looked down at the dozing man. She felt her heart sink. “I’ll miss you too Luke.”