Niall stood on the floor in front of Naskia’s full length mirror. It stretched 140 feet into the sky and was easily big enough for Naskia to admire herself, never mind the 0.046 unit tall Human.

He breathed out a long, slow breath and tried to relax as he examined his reflection. It had been almost a year since he last stood before a mirror and made sure he looked as close to perfect as possible. Perfect used to be a particular style of messiness, just enough hair out of place, just enough stubble so he looked rugged but all wrapped up in a fine suit that oozed style. Perfect was totally different now.

He adjusted his tie and cuffs. Naskia had spent hours the night before adjusting the suit she’d made for him so it was a bit less garish and fit better. It was still no Armani but it was hand made for him by the woman he loved so it was more than good enough. The deep red jacket and trousers with blue shirt wasn’t stylish by Earth standards but both Naskia and Loona assured him it was all rage on Archavia. He’d cut his hair and brushed it neatly and was clean shaven, it felt very odd indeed.

He stared nervously at himself for a few minutes trying to focus more on his appearance than the day he was about to face. The next few days would be key to his future and there wasn’t much that could take his mind off that fact. He heard loud clicks from behind him as Naskia walked in from the living area. She was wearing her nice pair of black shoes with six feet heels, Niall resented her feeling the need to make herself taller when she was already so massive. She wore dark tights that stretched over her legs to a black dress that came to her knees. It was tight and hugged her figure and displayed a hint of cleavage though the skirt at the bottom was loose and pleated in contrast to the top of the dress.

Niall turned around before she noticed him and looked back into the mirror at his own image. A few seconds later the two enormous black shoes appeared in the mirror behind him, he couldn’t see anymore of her apart from them.

“And you mock me for the amount of time I spend in front of the mirror?” her voice joked far above him.

Niall turned and craned his neck up, she was standing so close he couldn’t see her face. The canopy of her skirt, big enough for a small circus, blocked his view. He did get a nice view of her white cotton panties with flowers on underneath her dark tights. Naskia was too busy ensuring her make-up was perfect to notice Niall enjoying the view she had inadvertently given him.

Satisfied she was presentable Naskia stepped back from the mirror and dropped to her front, she lay down on the floor and set her chin on the carpet a few feet behind Niall. Niall enjoyed the few seconds of cleavage he caught before her pretty face blocked the view. She grimaced as she watched her clearly nervous partner in the mirror.

“Nervous sweetie?” she asked.

Niall took a few seconds as he considered lying but decided to be honest. “Yeah…you could say that. Terrified would be more accurate.”

Naskia’s face pouted like a girl who had found a lost kitten. She reached out and gently stroked his back with the back of her index finger, she could feel how tense he was but he relaxed a bit after a few strokes. She smiled sweetly happy to be able to make him feel better.

“You know no matter what happens here, no matter what these people say I’ll always see you as my equal.” She said still stroking him.

Niall didn’t turn around; he just let himself enjoy her affections. “I know…it’s just I want to be your equal in every way. I want to be able to provide for you and look after you when you need me, not have you give me everything like I’m some helpless child.”

Naskia stopped stroking and gently wrapped her hand around her little man taking great care not to wrinkle his suit, she left him enough room to turn around him her grip as she lifted him to her face.

“No matter what happens, you will always, ALWAYS have me. I’ll never abandon you and the only thing you have to give me in return is your love ok?” She said locking her shimmering blue eyes on to his.

Niall couldn’t argue with her. Not like this, not with her huge eyes filled with love peering into him. He felt his throat catch, he wanted to cry he was so overwhelmed by her affections but he held himself together. “I know, I really do love you. I’d never have made it this far without you.”

“Oh and as long as you help me with anything I get stuck on too…” she grinned ignoring his obvious emotion. If he cried then she’d cry and it would ruin her make-up.

Niall leaned down and kissed the top of her hand. Naskia smiled back.

“I’d kiss you too sweetie but then you’d be covered in lipstick. Now c’mon, time to go.” She said getting up.

Naskia took her seat beside Loona in the small lecture hall that had been converted for the purposes of the hearing. A table and chair had been placed at the front of the lecture hall for witnesses, facing it were two separate tables with two chairs each; one table for Loona and Naskia and one table for Lyroo and her partner. At the side of the lecture area was a long row of desks with 7 chairs for the committee members who would make the decision. Behind them there was an already very full seating area stretching all the way up the stairs to the door. There were easily 120 people here; some debating amongst themselves, some pointing down at Naskia and Loona and others tapping away on pads.

“Nervous?” Loona asked her.

“No…” Naskia replied as she carefully lifted Niall out of her pocket and set him on the table in close proximity to her. She was nervous him being in the open around so many people.

Niall could easily tell she was lying, he could feel her hands shaking as she lifted him. He walked over to her hand, placed palm down in the table and stroked it. She shot him a nervous smile, she was fighting off the childhood urge to start chewing on her hair to calm her down.

“We’ve good support from the looks of it. I took a quick poll of the crowd outside on the way in and it looked like two thirds were behind us. The fact they feel strongly enough to show up says a lot too.” Loona said looking back.

Naskia couldn’t believe how calm and serene Loona appeared, her hands daintily clasped together on the table in front of her, her shoulders and head held high as she judged the mood in the room. She looked nothing but professional wearing a dark jacket, a tight pinstripe shirt and a dark pencil skirt with a pair of flat shoes. Loona was well aware that male Titans could be intimidated by her height.

Naskia sat nervously waiting for the other parties to arrive. Niall sat on her hand and she gently stroked his back with her thumb, both to relax him and to calm her own nerves. After a few minutes Niall stood up quickly, his eyes tracking a pretty blonde woman as she sat at the opposing party’s table. His face was like thunder as he recognised Lyroo from the debate with Loona. Naskia lifted her hand and placed it in front of him in case he tried something.

“Not yet sweetie…” she smiled “You can punch my hand if it will make you feel better.”

Niall decided not to take her up on her offer and continued to pace behind her hand as committee members started to arrive and the level of noise in the room picked up.

“Quiet down please!” The committee head called over the tannoy. “This session will now come to order.”

The noise in the room dropped to a whisper as everyone brought their attention to the committee members. Loona noticed the committee was made up of six department heads and the leader of the student council. She knew from experience the student council leader was liberal so he should be in the bag as would the Physics Department head. She only needed to sway two votes to win, definitely doable.

“My name is Professor Kurathen. This session has been called as an appointment to the Physics Department has been challenged by a recognised student organisation. The Human Owners Society challenges the appointment of Dr Niall Freeman on the grounds of he is not an Imperial Citizen and therefore cannot be employed at Tannhauser Gate University as per our charter. Acting on behalf of The Human Owners Society is Lyroo Prenn and behalf of Dr Freeman is Loona Armac.” The committee head spoke, his voice echoing through the broadcast system in the lecture hall.

“Miss Prenn, as per protocol you may present five arguments. As you are contesting the appointment you shall proceed first. Are there any questions before we proceed?” He continued.

There was silence in the room as Loona and Lyroo sat quietly, both looking as confident as each other. Naskia wanted to hold Niall she was so nervous, she felt like she would be sick at any minute but decided it could give the committee a bad impression.

“Very well, Miss Prenn you may proceed.” Professor Kurathen finished.

Lyroo took a minute to collect her thoughts before standing up and walking to the lecture stage. She was a pretty girl about 23 years old. Average height with blonde hair pinned back in a bun, she was dressed similar to Loona except she wore dark trousers and small heels. She paced on the stage briefly while looking around the audience before she spoke.

“I grew up on a human breeding farm, far outside the nearest town. I rarely got to see my friends outside of school and I have no brothers or sisters. My childhood friends were Humans. They were great friends to have; loving, playful, always loyal and always there. I love Humans, I respect Humans and I care deeply for them. I am not here to contest this appointment because I think Humans are less than us, I don’t believe that. They are different from us though, they haven’t been poisoned by concepts such as greed, jealousy and lust for power. They are much simpler creatures who only seek to live their short lives being happy and bringing happiness to those around them. I am here because I firmly believe that this appointment risks all of that. If we start pushing Humans to work in our society, to provide for themselves then we risk destroying millions of lives and losing all the happiness they create in our society. This appointment is the first step down that road and once we start down that road it will be hard to turn back.” Lyroo said pacing back and forth across the stage. Niall wondered if she actually meant what she said.

“Mr Freeman has proved himself to be exceptionally intelligent on more than one occasion and I do not doubt for a second that he is just as intelligent as any Titan. But this debate is about much more than him, much more than intelligence, it is about what it truly means to be an Imperial Citizen. We Titans are renowned through the galaxy for our culture, we surpass every other species. Our art is the most impressive, our music is the most complex, our food is the most divine and our screenplays the most moving. To be Titan is to be more than intelligent, it is to understand, to appreciate and to aspire to meet these concepts. And as much as I love and adore my Humans I know that they will never appreciate the Great Steps of Tarvin 4 or be able to listen to and understand The Voice of Harasi, these great pieces of art and music are lost on them as I’m sure they are lost on all Humans.” Lyroo said, Niall felt her eyes dart to him just for a second, as if to press her point home.

Lyroo continued to pace, deliberately making eye contact with as many people in the crowd as possible as she pressed her point home. “I love Humans, I adore Humans. I am not here as a bigot or as someone who believes she is better or more entitled than Humans but someone who is here to protect them. This must be my first argument; To be Titan is to be completely different to being Human, try as they might, a Human could never match a Titan culturally, even if they can match us intellectually.”

—————————————————————————————————————

Lyroo walked over to the table and set a case on the surface and opened the front.

“C’mon out…it’s ok. I’m here, there’s no need to be afraid.” Lyroo said.

Slowly a young Human male crawled out of the case and on to Lyroo’s waiting hand. He couldn’t have been more than 19 and had scruffy blonde hair and looked a bit weedy. Lyroo lifted him from the table and presented him to the room.

“Don’t be scared, tell all the people your name.” Lyroo said softly as she stroked the little human.

He stayed low in her palm, instinctively terrified of all the giant beings around him. Niall watched him, half enraged by how weak he appeared and half sorry for the humiliation he was going through.

“Scroof….my name is Scroof.”The small male Human spoke nervously.

There were several murmurs from the public gallery and an audible “Awwww.”

“How did you get that name Scroof?” Lyroo asked him with her hand still extended to the crowd.

“Ehhh…you gave it to me?” Scroof said still visibly nervous.

“And would you like another name?” Lyroo quizzed.

“No Lyroo. I like my name.” he replied quickly.

Lyroo smiled at her little pet. “And why do you like your name Scroof?”

“You gave it to me and I like you.” Scroof said finding the courage to stand up in her hand, glancing nervously at the crowd.

“And why do you like me?” Lyroo asked batting her long eye lashes.

Scroof shifted on his feet nervously as he slowly realised he was being interrogated. “Because you love me, pet me, look after me. You don’t have to…but you do. You are very nice. And pretty.”

Lyroo smiled at her pet. “Tell me Scroof, would you like to be free?”

“Free? As in…be on my own, look after myself?” he said, his eyes widening.

“Yes exactly.”

“No! It’d be scary…I don’t know what to do…all I want to do is make you happy. Have I made you mad?” Scroof said it was clear his eyes were wide from terror and not hope.

Lyroo stroked him and shushed him. “Don’t worry pet, I’m not going to let you go. I just want you to do one last thing for me.”

“Anything.” He grinned. He was so happy to learn he wouldn’t be abandoned.

“Do whatever makes you happy.” Lyroo said.

Scroof grinned and took off up her arm to her shoulder, he grabbed hold of her hair and pulled himself to the side of her face before stroking her gently. Lyroo smiled as he did. She walked to the table and set Scroof down on the table.

“One last thing before you go home, can you do some tricks?” Lyroo asked.

Scroof smiled and bent his knees and coiled his body. After tensing like a spring for a few seconds he sprung back leaping ten feet into the air and flipping over backwards, curling into a ball as he did, just as his feet hit the table he sprung up again pushing himself higher into the air and twirling round, his arms tucked into his sides, as he did. As he hit the table he bounded up pushing harder with his legs and jumped a full twenty feet into the air flipping over backwards as he did before landing gracefully. No Titan athlete could ever have hoped to do the same but a Human could easily make such jumps in low gravity.

Lyroo smiled at Scroof and stroked him before setting him back in his case, securing him.

Lyroo turned to the audience and wiped the smile from her face. “This is what a Human is like, happy, friendly and innocent. They need us and we love being needed. They love us and we love being loved. Scroof could not survive without me, just like all Humans could not survive without us. If we forget that then we risk all of their lives.”

All Niall could do was fume, not having a chance to intervene just yet he had to let what he saw as a farce go unchallenged.

——————————————————————————————————-

Lyroo stood patiently as her second witness got settled in the seat behind the table on the stage facing the lecture hall seating area. He was a large man of medium height, late 50s and balding. He wore what could best be described as a tweed suit in Human terms.

“Could you please state your name, qualifications and speciality for the committee please?” Lyroo asked calmly.

The witness cleared his throat before speaking. “My name is Professor Ardal Yerhip, I’m a board certified psychologist and xenologist, specialising in Humans.”

“And when this hearing was announced I approached you and asked you to use your unique skills to analyse the relationship of Miss Bass with her Human, could you please explain your methods and findings?” Lyroo asked.

“Well due to the nature of this type of hearing I was granted permission to unseal Miss Bass’s psychological records.” Professor Yerhip said.

Naskia was nearly sick as panic shot through her as she heard her records had been unsealed. It was not unheard of for this type of thing to happen but she hadn’t thought this hearing would warrant it. Everything she had said, what she had done to Niall and Nonah could now be disclosed. She could lose Niall if someone filed a complaint against her. She could lose Loona if she found out what happened between her and Nonah.

“I also spent a great deal of time reading the content of the Human’s blog posting, they were very interesting and unique to say the least. I also had a chance to read over the Physics Department’s transcripts of testing score and his interview.” Professor Yerhip stopped for a moment taking a sip of water. “The Human, Niall, is clearly exceptionally intelligent. His academic achievements alone testify to this but his blog is remarkable. He describes in detail his life, work and relationship with Miss Bass. He responds to challenges against him with skill and is able to deconstruct arguments with ease, usually into several component fallacies before responding to each fallacy individually. Had he not been sitting before me I would assume it was a work of fiction by a Titan. The issue however with this as a source is that it is biased. While it demonstrates his intelligence it does not demonstrate he is more emotionally or culturally developed than your pet Scroof. The Physics Department also recognised his intelligence but were and still are I suspect, extremely worried about Niall’s ability to relate to other staff and students and cope with day to day life.”

Niall wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or not. It was not the first time a psychologist had wondered if he was able to work well with people on a day to day basis, even before he was taken from Earth.

“Miss Bass is just as interesting her own right. She comes from a well renowned family, is exceptionally intelligent and hard working. However she also appears to be quite troubled. She is somewhat reclusive and appears to have difficulty socialising and making friends. She also has an inferiority complex, is very nervous and can be pressed quite easily. It was these traits that allowed Niall to remove himself from the pet role and eventually gain her affections.” Professor Yerhip said.

“What is your analysis of their relationship Professor?” Lyroo asked.

“From a psychological perspective Miss Bass seems to be living in the shadow of the men in her life; her father and brothers are all incredibly successful and she strives to match them, not in itself a bad thing, however she has shut down many parts of her life in order to work towards this goal. Niall’s position of being trapped in her life has given him access to her that she has denied Titan men of her own age. He has used his intelligence to manipulate her vulnerabilities and place himself as a source of strength for her. He has used this position to advance his own agenda to the point that we find ourselves here today. Judging from the notes she has made progress in resolving some of her issues which she has credited to her relationship with Niall though I can’t help but feel that she would have made more progress if she had a bigger pool of friends or even a supportive Titan spouse. At some point Miss Bass will resolve her issues and will be left in an awkward position. Committed to a spouse who will be dead by the time she is forty, who she cannot marry, cannot have children with and the stronger she gets the more distant she will feel from him.” The Professor said.

Naskia couldn’t help but stroke Niall gently. She could see through the back of his head he was fuming and she didn’t want him to have an outburst. Everything this man was saying was totally wrong, she loved him and would always love him. Would she?

“And what would be your recommendations?” Lyroo asked.

Professor Yerhip turned and looked straight into Naskia’s eyes. “Sell him. As soon as possible. To the University Physics Department if you wish him to be happy. This relationship is built on your own faults and is both unstable and unhealthy. This will only end in heartache for both of you, it is unavoidable. Limiting that heartache is the only option.”

Naskia felt a lump in her throat and her eyes well listening to the Professor. She choked down her tears and kept her composure, she couldn’t imagine how Niall must feel hearing this.

“Thank you for your time and insight Professor.” Lyroo said smiling, satisfied with her witness.

“I think this would be a good time for a recess. We are adjourned for 3 hours.” Dr Kurathen spoke before getting up.

Niall stared at Lyroo as she gathered her belongings. He felt Naskia stroke his back as he shot daggers at his opponent.

“Don’t worry sweetie…it’ll be ok…” Naskia said not sure if she believed her own words.