“Come on Nas! I don’t want to be late.” Niall said. Naskia saw he was anxious to get moving but didn’t understand why this was so important.

“You told me to dress nice! It takes time.” Naskia said putting the finishing touches to her near perfect hair. She had parted it in the centre and kept it a bit wavy in it rather than pinning the fringe back and having it perfectly straight. Niall thought it suited her.

“Will you please just tell me what this is about?”

“It’s a surprise! That’d ruin the point.” Niall said.

Naskia sighed slightly exasperated. She wasn’t keen on surprises. Surprise birthday parties as a child made her the centre of attention when she would much rather sit quietly on the side lines. Naskia got up happy her hair was now perfect. She walked over to a wardrobe and opened the door, examining her reflection in a full length mirror. She adjusted certain parts of her dress and hmmmed, considering changing her dress. It was a fairly tight maroon dress that came in at the waist with a bottom that flared out and went half way down her knees. It was U-necked and showed off a hint of cleavage.

“Nas!” Niall yelled.

“Ok! Ok! I’m ready.” She said. She grabbed a black cardigan from the wardrobe and shut the door. She then collected Niall’s travel case and set it down optimistically beside him.

“Not a chance” Niall said “Front pocket and can you take my pad?”

“Niall, you have to go in the case.” Naskia replied. She hoped his anxiousness to leave would spur him to capitulate. She waited for him to move but he didn’t. He just kept giving her the same stern look.

“Fine! Ok!” she said picking him up under the arms with 2 fingers and depositing him in the breast pocket of her cardigan and then placing his pad in her bag. “So where are we off to then?”

“Stranner Building, fourth floor.” Niall said grabbing the rim of the pocket and hauling himself to a standing position.

“O……k, want to tell me what’s there?” She said putting her bag over her shoulder.

“Not just yet” he said.

“Ok. Well can you just sit down please and stay out of sight?” Naskia replied heading out the door and locking up.

Niall endured a rather bumpy ride across campus. He knew the case would be more comfortable but he felt the pocket was far less degrading.

“Ok. Fourth floor, where to now?” She asked when no one was about.

Niall stood up and replied “We’re going to Room 412.”

Naskia followed the room numbers along the corridor until she reached room 412. She went to enter but the panel on the wall prompted for an access code.

“The code is 74656” Niall said. Naskia typed it in and the door chimed open.

“Your 3 hours begins now.” A computer voice said from the wall panel as it opened the doors and Naskia walked inside. Naskia examined the room and immediately realised it was a holosuite. She plucked Niall from her pocket and arched her palm underneath him.

“What are we doing in a holosuite?! I don’t have the money to pay for this!” she said getting a bit annoyed at being kept out of the loop.

“I’ll explain in a minute. Put me down in the corner over there. I’ll need my pad too.” Niall said pointing to a corner.

Naskia shot Niall a look showing her annoyance but did as he asked and knelt down and set him on to the floor. She removed his pad from her bag.

“Can you set it against the wall please?”

Naskia did as Niall asked. “Seriously, what are you up to?” she said frustrated.

“I’ll show you now.” Niall said walking to his pad with Naskia looming over him. “Can you move to the centre of the room please?”

Naskia sighed and got up and walked to the centre of the room. Niall hated being at her feet. He was always aware of the size difference between them, it was impossible not to be, but being on the floor as she stood at her full height just reminded him of just how insignificant he was in comparison. The ground shook as her 4 foot heels clicked along the hard surface. Niall thought the heels were really just adding insult to injury.

“Ok. Now will you tell me?” Naskia said still annoyed. Niall started tapping at icons on his pad with Naskia watching him intently.

Naskia crossed her arms and huffed impatiently. Suddenly the walls shimmered as Niall activated a program. The dull light in the room was replaced with bright sunlight. Naskia shielded her eyes from the light until they adapted and then examined her new surroundings.

The sky was a pale blue, completely different from the she sky she was familiar with. She was standing in a park surrounded by happy people talking, children playing and animals running about. The air was filled with the sound of birds tweeting and children laughing. The buildings outside the park were 4 or 5 stories tall and painted in a variety of pale, soft colours. They looked like some of the old style buildings in some of the warmer cities she had been to. She was about to call out for Niall when a deep voice spoke to her from behind.

“Welcome to Earth.” It said.

Naskia turned around to view the figure who’d spoke to her. Her eyes were level with the man’s mouth. He had broad shoulders and a strong chest. He was wearing a smart shirt and trousers combination. She looked up to see a familiar yet totally unfamiliar face.

She gasped and cupped both hands of her mouth. “Niall?!”

“In the flesh.” He beamed “Well, holographic representation of my flesh.”

“How….how are you doing this?” Naskia took a step back out of shock.

“I’ve been working on this program when you were asleep or in class. I’m down in the corner where you left me, you’re still in the middle of the room. The holosuite has rendered one environment for me and an identical larger one for you. It’s created a Human sized avatar of you in my environment and a Titan sized one of me in yours. What do you think?” He said looking very pleased with himself.

“How the hell did you learn to code this…wait never mind, you’re a genius.” She shook her head. “This is amazing. Did you deliberately make yourself really tall? I’m in heels and you still tower over me.”

Niall laughed “No I didn’t. I worked out what height I’d be proportionally if I were a Titan. I’m 1.1 units tall to you.”

“Wow.” Naskia said drinking him in. “You’re really tall. And handsome too.”

Naskia laughed nervously. She spent most of her time studying and didn’t associate with a lot of men. She would never have had the confidence to approach a man who looked like Niall.

“Thanks.” Niall said smiling “You look just as beautiful from this angle as you do normally.”

Naskia blushed and lowered her head out of embarrassment. Niall brushed some of her thick, wavy hair from her face, gently cupped the side of her face with his hand and brought it back to make eye contact with him. His large hand was the length of her head and made her feel quite little. She liked it.

“Don’t be shy. You ARE really pretty. I love your hair like this.” He smiled at her and Naskia felt butterflies in her tummy.

“Shall we make a move?” Niall asked.

“A move? Move to where?” she replied.

“I’ve got us a table at one of my favourite restaurants. This is a city called Turin. I’ve been coming here pretty regularly in the past few months. I love the old style architecture and the peacefulness here.” He said looking around him.

Niall took her small hand in his and led her towards a path a long a river. The river was wide and gentle with trees lining either side. There were people in row boats racing up the river and birds swimming with their young. It was nothing like Naskia would have expected a human city to be like, she’d never actually thought about what an actual human city would be like. Nothing like this anyway.

Niall had never made a lot of effort with women. He was tall, handsome and smart so women invariably came to him. He couldn’t even remember if he had actually attempted to make any effort with a girl before. He knew now he had to make as much an effort as possible with Naskia. Not just because his very survival depended on it or because being close with her could potentially opened up opportunities for him but because he needed her to see him as a person who equalled her in every way. He felt like she didn’t look at him like that when they were in bed together. Standing in front of her in this way, talking, eating a meal and touching her would hopefully leave an impression that would be hard for her to forget.

“Earth really is beautiful; I wish I could see it myself in person.” Naskia said swinging her arm that Niall was holding back and forth as they walked.

Niall laughed “I’d imagine that would cause something of an intergalactic incident….”

“Yeah and I’d need specialist equipment just to stand on your world. I’d be crushed under my own weight without it.” Naskia replied.

“You women are the same on any planet, always complaining about your weight.” Niall joked.

Naskia gave him a jab in the ribs for his cheekiness and laughed.

They continued to talk as they walked up the river towards the restaurant. Naskia was asking questions about Turin and the varying cultural differences between different regions of Earth. Niall did his best to try to turn the conversation towards day to day matters, such as what was happening in her life and plans but Naskia was far too curious. Niall could tell from the glow in her eyes that she was just too enthralled with her surroundings.

The walk to the restaurant took 20 minutes. Niall held the door for Naskia trying to be a gentleman. A waiter led them to their table. Niall pulled a chair out for Naskia, she walked passed him not realising and Niall had to prompt her to sit down. Niall took his seat opposite her and the waiter handed out the menus and left them.

“This is really nice, I can’t remember the last time a guy took me out for a nice meal. I didn’t think you big shot genius types would be in to this kind of thing.” Naskia said.

The restaurant was fairly dark and most of the light was coming from candles on the tables. Naskia loved it, the wooden chairs and tables, the stone floor, the paintings of beautiful scenery on the walls. She realised that Niall had programmed all of this and became suddenly aware that this was really all for her. She started to get nervous and played with the ends of her hair keep her now trembling hands busy.

“Was this a date?” her mind asked her over and over again.

“Yeah I’d usually eat alone or with colleagues. Since you’ve made me so many nice meals I thought I’d return the favour.” Niall opened a menu and Naskia followed him.

“Soooo what would you recommend?” she asked, her mind now completely blank of anything to say except for small talk.

“Well I’m going for the crab risotto to start and then Sausage and pepper tagliatelle.” Niall said.

“Well I have no idea what any of this is so I’ll just have the same.” Naskia said unsure. “How does the program even know what it tastes like?”

“I’m not really sure, something to do with interpreting my memories.” Niall replied.

“Dr Freeman, did I just hear you admit to not knowing something?” Naskia giggled.

The pair placed their orders and the waiter brought a bottle of red wine.

“Please tell me you have alcohol on this planet. If you don’t I’ll have no choice but to escape.” Niall said pouring the wine.

Naskia laughed “Yeah of course we do. I just don’t really drink, usually too busy working.” Naskia took a sip of her wine. “Mmmm, this is good, sweet but bitter.”

“Glad you like it. The flavour is quite strong and I know you like strong.” Niall raised a glass and tapped it against Naskia’s.

“Cheers.” He said. “It’s a custom on Earth.”

Naskia giggled and returned the toast.

“So why are we here then?” Naskia asked swishing her wine.

“Well part thank you and part me getting fed up with picking bits off your plate. It’s pretty tough being that small and thought this would be a good way to get a break. Do you mind?”

“Oh no! This is amazing. It’s almost unbelievable being able to sit like this. I’ve been trying to think of you like this so it really helps getting some perspective.” Naskia said.

Niall laughed. “That may have been an ulterior motive, to help you see me as one of you.”

“It does help but you know I’ll always treat you as well as I possibly can. I wonder would you write another program for me?” She asked.

“What did you have in mind?” Niall said his interest tweaked.

“Could you make my room? I’d like to see it from your perspective. I think it’d help me to empathise with you a bit more.” She said.

“Oh yeah sure, I can do that. It’ll be fun climbing your wardrobe together.” Niall said.

“Whoa, let’s not get carried away, that sounds a lot like physical exertion and I’m not one for exercise.” Naskia said.

The waiter arrived with their starters. Niall moved conversation to day to day life. Asking Naskia how things with her course were, what she wanted to do when she graduated, would she be jealous if he got a theory named after him first. Niall wanted to keep things normal as possible and it was working. Naskia had totally forgotten she was in a holosuite talking to a man the size of her finger. She was enjoying herself. Good conversation, good food and a bit of fuzziness from the wine.

Naskia was noticing little details about Niall she hadn’t noticed before. Like how he good looked with 2 days of beard growth, he wasn’t able to shave often as he wanted to as he needed Naskia’s help. Naskia liked the look. Niall’s expressions were also very restrained, unlike her own very animated face. She was never quite sure what he was thinking. Where she would open her mouth wide while laughing, Niall would just smirk, where she gasped in shock at something, Niall would lean back in his chair stony faced. Naskia noticed she was playing with her hair as Niall was telling her about an old research project. “I need to get a hold of myself” she thought.

The main course arrived shortly after they finished their starters.

“This is absolutely delicious” Naskia said slurping some tomato coated tagliatelle into her mouth.

“Glad you like it. Your food is amazing and I’d thought you’d think our food would be a bit bland.” Niall replied.

Niall was a fairly regular drinker and half a bottle of wine had little effect on him. He noticed Naskia was flushed and quite giggly.

“Are you a bit tipsy?” he asked.

“Nooooo, of course not!” Naskia said her expressive face giving her away.

They soon finished up their meal and left the restaurant. They walked up thin cobbled streets in between old houses and talked about each other’s favourite things, food, drinks, animals and other things. The conversation was made more interesting as neither had really knew what the other was talking about. Naskia had to clutch on to Niall’s arm due to a combination of cobbles and heels and the wine she’d drunk. Niall took Naskia to nearby piazza and took off her shoes.

“What are you doing?” Naskia giggled.

“Another thing I like to do when I’m here.” Niall said taking his shoes off and rolling up his trousers.

He took her hand and led her to a nearby fountain.

“Come on.” He said getting in and wading in water half way to his knees.

Naskia hopped in after him and stood looking around her. She admired the beautiful fountain and the statues around it. The whole place was bustling with people going about their business. There were shops selling all sorts of local goods and pleasant looking coffee shops and bakeries. Naskia loved everything about it.

She spotted Niall watching her as she took in her surroundings. Naskia bent over and splashed him with water.

“One day there will have a day where I don’t end up being soaked by you.” Niall shouted at her before starting to splash her back. Naskia squealed and ran off round the fountain with Niall bearing down after her. She felt her legs come out from under her as she was lifted into the air horizontally. She screamed in surprise.

“Sorry.” Niall said “I just thought you’d like to be the one carried for a change.”

He spun her around and Naskia squealed afraid of being dropped into the water. Niall was enjoying turning the tables on Naskia and making her feel out of control. She felt so light in his arms. He pretended to drop her and Naskia squealed more. She wrapped her arms around Niall’s neck to try to get secure and pulled her head level with his. Niall stopped spinning as her eyes made contact with his own. Naskia wasn’t sure if it was the beautiful surroundings, the spinning or the wine going to her head but she leaned in and pressed her lips to Niall’s.

Niall was taken by surprise and didn’t know what to do. His mind was racing as he tried to think about what to do but he found he was already kissing her back. He couldn’t tell that she was a holographic recreation of Naskia, her lips were warm, soft and gentle. She responded quickly to him as he kissed back and ran her hand up to the back of his head and caressing her lips with her tongue. They fully embraced each other losing themselves in the moment.

Naskia suddenly broke their kiss.

“Computer. Time left?” she said to the sky.

“34 minutes and 12 seconds.” The female voice chimed back.

“Computer. Remove people.” She said grinning. The square suddenly emptied and they were the only people left.

Niall sunk down into the water and leaned against the edge of the fountain and Naskia sat in his lap. Her massive blue eyes still had just as much an effect on him now as they did when he was 3 inches tall. He was totally lost in them. Naskia unzipped the back of her dress and pulled it off over her head. Niall slipped his hands down Naskia’s wet torso to her hips.

“Are you sure you’re ok with this?” He asked.

“Yeah, you have no idea how much I’ve thought about being able to do this with you.” She half panted before putting her hands on the side of his face and starting to kiss him again.

Naskia was walking home from the holosuite across the chilly university campus. Her legs still felt a bit shaky as she walked, she wasn’t sure if the wine was still affecting her or if it was from her activities with Niall in the fountain. She had decided Niall deserved the best possible trip home given the effort he had gone to for her and she had tucked him into her cleavage. She had decided to take the long way home along the river rather than straight across campus. She liked being able to recreate the walk they had been on earlier in the day, even if it was a good bit colder now and she couldn’t hold Niall’s hand.

Despite the cold Naskia still felt warm. She thought it must still the wine playing on her. She actually could not remember being happier, not when she was a child or when she first started her course at the university 5 years ago, not when her father told her how proud he was of her when she graduated top of her class.

She felt Niall squirm in her titanic cleavage, she looked down and saw him trying to free an arm and smiled. She felt the warmth spreading further up through her chest as she helped Niall get comfortable with nothing but a simple press of her index finger. It made her happy knowing he was warm, safe and comfortable. The only way she could possibly be any happier would be if Niall was walking along holding her hand in his making sure she was warm, safe and comfortable.

Naskia stopped. “Oh no….” she quietly said to herself. This feeling was different to anything she’d felt before.

She had promised herself she wouldn’t fall for him. Was she falling for him? “Is this good or bad?” she asked herself as her happiness quickly turned into nervous confusion.