Chapter Thirty Five: a rainy night of dangerous surprises.

"how awkward."
-a thought from emperorwolf, after writing this chapter.


rain pelted down outside in the night.

kevin and oriado sat on kevin's bed, looking lovingly into each other's eyes.
"love you, Ori"
"love you, Kev"
they shared a lovers kiss, and they knew, conclusively, that they were meant to be married, it had happened for a reason.
then there was a knock on the door downstairs.

they got up and went down to see who it was, and kevin couldn't help but notice the ferocity with which oriado's tail swung, clearly he was happy.
oriado opened the door to see a drenched white rabbit standing on the porch.
the rabbit shivered. "c-can i c-come in? please?"
oriado lead him inside, and looked him over.
he was a teenager, roughly 15-17 years of age, he wore a black choker band around his throat adorned with a blue pawprint tag hanging from it, like a pet's collar.
he noticed he held his paws together, cradling something to his chest.
oriado gasped.
"wait... you're that guy from the other day, aren't you?"
he nodded "X-Xavier..." he shuddered
kevin nodded in understanding "huh. so this is one of the two guys you mentioned?"
xavier unfolded his paws to reveal the little handicapped squirrel, jeremiah.
he looked to be asleep.
"jeremy and i were talking in the woods, i was relaxing while he told me about Gentiki, then we got caught in the storm and i... i panicked..."
oriado narrowed his gaze "what happened?"
"i..." xavier began to cry "i got up and i... i stepped..."
kevin put his paws to his muzzle in shock "no..."
they looked down at the 'sleeping' body and now noticed patches of fur near his ears that were redder than the rest.
and that his body was slightly compressed.

xavier clenched his eyes shut "what do i do?! i need to save him!"
oriado lost all fear and seemingly, all emotion.
"when did this occur?"
"t-two minutes ago..."
oriado closed his eyes.
"give him to me."
the rabbit handed the squirrel over, and after oriado lifted the squirrel to his ear momentarily, he withdrew one of the gifts they'd recieved the other day from his pocket.
a vial of green fluid labelled 'Resilix Omega'
"kev, i need something to administer the dose, something small." kevin bolted upstairs "xavier, i need you to get on the phone and dial 090, ask for Benson Appolo Palmer, code is 'alpha-omega reverseable' do it now!"
xavier hurriedly took out his phone and dialled the number, and began a hurried and panicked conversation with the operator.
oriado shook the vial, and then rotated it in his paw, until it showed faint blue glimmers.
kevin leapt down the stairs, a sewing thimble in his grasp.

oriado tipped some of the fluid into the thimble, and held it before the squirrel's mouth.
"listen, little guy, if you aren't gone yet, you need to swallow this!"
there was the faintest murmur from the tiny body, and the little mouth opened.
it was a good sign, it meant he wasn't completely dead yet.
oriado poured the liquid into jeremiah's mouth, and rubbed his throat with a finger to trigger a swallow.
the squirrel coughed, choked, and flailed around from the waist up.
his compressed body filled back out like a balloon filling with air, and he screamed.
a scream was good.

xavier had managed to reach benson, and explained who he was, and relayed the situation to the fox before handing the phone to oriado.
"ben, it's working, he's decompressing and he's moving around quite a bit."
""hold him down!""
oriado did so with his thumb, and kept talking "he's screaming."
""good, that means he hasn't lost feeling, if he stops without opening his eyes, that's bad""

the three giants endured ten minutes of screaming as the squirrel's body slowly filled out, the formula woking to uncrush him.
finally, the screams stopped, and his eyes shot open.
"AGH!" he started hyperventilating "XAVIER, NO!" then he looked around, taking in his surroundings as he sat up "where? what? how?"
oriado pressed his thumb down lightly "calm down.  you're safe now."
the squirrel slowed his breathing, and looked at the terrified rabbit.
"jeremy! i'm so sorry!" he pleaded, his paws up in a begging position "i'm so freaking sorry! i was stupid! i didn't look where i-!"
the squirrel raised his paws to silence him.
"xavier, no. there's nothing you coulda done. you moved on instinct, on reflexes, you couldn't have had any control over what happened... and it's not like i haven't gotten... underfoot... before..." as he said the last part, he looked down at his legs, and suddenly his extreme nerves over finding out his friend was a giant made total sense to everyone. they had not been nerves of surprise, but a painful reminder of past torture.
one that had come at an obvious cost.
xavier covered his face with his paws "oh fuck... i didn't know... i'm so horrible... i can walk, i'm part of a race famous for our legs, AND i'm a monster who didn't look where he stepped! i'm a living insult to you!"
surprisingly, jeremiah smiled "well, the term 'lucky rabbit's foot' will take on a whole new meaning for me now, because if you'd stepped down full pressure right away, i wouldn't be here. you stepped down *just light enough* not to kill me right away. if that isn't lucky, i don't know what is!" he offered reassuringly.

xavier whimpered pitifully, and somehow, he felt smaller than his tiny friend.
"xave, stop crying. you saved me. sure, the wolf here did the actual 'saving' part, but *you* got me here, *you* made it possible to save me before my lungs collapsed, *you're* my hero, *YOU* are *my* hero, xave"
jeremiah reached out to him "and i won't soon forget it, trust me. now, buck up *cottontail*, *'big boys'* don't cry!"
xavier sniffled and let out a tiny laugh.
"go suck an acorn." he said tauntingly, with the hint of a smile.
jeremiah beamed at him "mission accomplished."
suddenly, oriado sneezed, and his paws clenched tightly.
everyone stared at the squeezed paw that had held the squirrel.
"oh... holy.... fuck....." oriado whimpered

"cn yww lt gww uff mmm?!" came a muffled voice from within the fist "ss uncfftrble n hrr!"

everyone stared in astonishment as oriado reopened his paw...
and the squirrel was unharmed.
kevin jumped around and whooped "it works, IT FUCKING WORKS!!"
""WHAT?! REALLY?!"" came benson's voice from the phone, extatic ""RESILIX WORKS, RESILIX WORKS!""
jeremiah looked confuesedly at the german shepherd "what's *'resilix'* by the way?"
""a prototype serum we've been developing, it temporarily raises a non-giant's physical perameters to equal those of a giant! ergo; ultrastrength, megadurability, superspeed, hyperplyometrics, hightened senses of awareness, and no crushing!""
xavier stared at the tiny squirrel in amazement.
jeremiah motioned for the rabbit to come closer, and smiled kindly.
"this is incredible..."
as the huge white paw approached, he grabbed one of his friend's fingers and squeezed, causing a wince of pain to come from his friend.
jeremiah gawked in surprise, then laughed "sorry, xave! i don't know my own strength right now!"
xavier offered a pained smile to the squirrel "n-no trouble... but that kinda hurts... sooooooo...."
jeremiah understood, and lessened his grip.
then he dragged himself up onto the rabbit's paw, still smiling even as the ground lay miles beneath him.
"xave, remember this: there is absolutely NO WAY for me to hold a grudge on you... accidents happen, but let's try to keep *that one* from happening again, kay?"
xavier brought his paw up to his face, and said clearly, and rather loudly "you can consider that a definite promise, you *small squirrel*!"
jeremiah rubbed his paws through the fur next to xavier's nose "okay then, you *big bunny*, i will!"
there was a moment of silence, then everyone broke out in laughter.
"alliteration? really?!" xavier asked through his laughter
jeremiah slapped the rabbit playfully and lightly across the nose "you started it! and don't call me *'small squirrel'* ever again!" he laughed
"jeremy," xavier bellowed with laughter "i won't, as long as *'big bunny'* stays away, too!"

*  *  *

-benson's and lily's bedroom-

benson hung up, and looked at the little feline sitting on his knee, who was in turn, looking up at him.
"resilix works perfectly. you're a genius, lil!"
she blushed "oh stop..."
he raised an eyebrow and smiled "really?"
she smiled, and ran over to his torso, snuggling into the soft abdominal fur beneath his shirt "no benny, please keep going!"
he put his paws over her and kept complimenting her "you're the smartest, kindest, most beautiful girl i've ever met, and i'm proud to be able to say that you're my girlfriend, any size differences don't matter, because *you're you*, and i wouldn't have it any other way. accept no substitutes."
she snuggled further against him, running her arms through the thick fur, and recited a poem "you plus me, two we be, and we go on endlessly into infinity... say you'll never leave me, and then yours i will forever be... i love you, and you love me."
he gently closed his paws around her, and raised her to his chest, gently hugging her to himself "like i said, lil, i wouldn't have it any other way. except that i'd *prefer* to be more than boyfriend and girlfriend..."
she pressed her head to his chest, hearing his slow, ponderous rhythm speed up as she did "yeah, i'd prefer for us to be husband and wife, too..."
he peered down through his shirt collar, to the two tiny yellow lights that were lily's eyes in the darkness. "i will always love you, lil... even if Virada *never* legalises intersize marrage, i promise you but one thing, and one thing only..."
she stopped snuggling, and meerly pressed herself against him "what is it?" she asked nervously
"my heart, as you hear it now, belongs to you, and you alone. as far as i'm concerned, you *own* me, my little starlight beauty." he said with no degree of insincerity, and his big, kind eyes proved to her that he meant it whole heartedly and truthfully.
"w-well i could say the same to you, my big moonlight treasure." she said hesitantly, but honestly.
he slowly pulled her out from beneath his shirt, and nestled her upon his nose.
"no matter what, lil, i'm yours."
she lay upon his muzzle and hugged it as much as she could "same here... benny..."

his eyes closed "do... do you trust me?"
she looked up at his face uncertainly, unsure exactly what he meant "u-uh... yeah, of course i do... explicitly, even..."
his eyes reopened, looking serious "do you truthfully say you trust me no matter what? under any and all  circumstances?"
the words made her feel uneasy, but she decided to say what she felt was the truth "yes... no matter what you have in mind... i trust you..."
his green eye began glowing.

he saw her in an xray-type vision, and saw a pink flame burning brightly inside her chest; that was love, but a small blue flame burned inside it...
fear.

she was lying.

"you're lying. you're afraid of me, aren't you?"
she shook her head "no! i'm not, i promise!"
"lil... i can see it. your fear's as plain as day. it's *inside* your love, which means you love something you are afraid of..." his eyes began to well up with tears "you're scared of me..."
she looked away for a moment, then looked back into his huge eyes "ben... i might not have eyes like yours, but even i can tell that my feelings for you *vastly* outweigh that fear... i don't need an all-seeing-eye to know that's the truth."
he lidded his eyes, nearly closed, and looked away "do you really mean that?"
she rubbed his muzzle slowly with her paws "i do... now, what did you want to do?"
without answering, he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, then looked back at her, both his eyes, green and blue, were full of uncertainty.
"i want... the impossible... i want to..."
she moved closer to his eyes, never once breaking the lock "yes, go on, i won't hate you, no matter what you say, ben, go ahead and speak your mind."
he clenched his eyes shut tightly, and blurted it out

"i want to be a father!"

she lay flat on her stomach upon his muzzle, dumbstruck.
"i want... to be... a father..." he repeated slower "to be... a parent..."
he started to fully cry, his tears flowing in great rivulets down his face "to have a family... with you..."
she was stunned "i... i- i don't know what to say... wow..."
he fidgeted nervously, his ears splayed out to the sides, and he removed her from his face, putting her down beside him.
and then he got off the bed and walked out of the room.

down the hall, she could hear him banging his head against something
"stupid! Stupid!! STUPID!!!" she heard him cry out "why the hell'd i say it?! why?! i'm such an idiot!"
she felt bad, obviously he'd taken her shock at his desire as a sign that he'd insulted her somehow...
"`i'm the stupid one... i want it as much as he does...`"
she looked at the silver blowwhistle that hung from a platinum chain around her neck, benson had given it to her as a way for her to get his attention whenever she needed to, so that he'd never ignore her...
she blew on it, letting the piercing sound ring out through the hugely scaled bedroom.

a depressed "yes?" came from down the hall
she blew on the whistle in rapid succession, until the fox's head peeked around the edge of the dooway.
"ben..." she said slowly, unsure if he even heard her tiny voice "i... want to be... a mother... and i want you to be the... father..."
his eye widened, and his ear perked "s-say again?"
"i want to... be a mother... and you... to be the father..."
he slowly came out into full view in the doorway, his tail between his legs, and his expression one of pure and utter disbelief.
his green eye wasn't glowing, and he asked "you're serious...?" trusting what he would hear her say with his ears over what he would see in her heart with his eyes.

she nodded "i have a few ideas... on how we'd go about it... if you're willing to try, that is..."
he looked away nervously.
she smirked "and *now* who's afraid, eh?"
he trembled "what if... i hurt you...? i couldn't... deal with that..."
"ben..." she said reassuringly, now completely unafraid "you said it yourself, resilix works..."
he didn't look so sure "what if it malfunctions...? or whatever... what if something goes wrong...?" he looked fearfully at her small form "what if *I* do something wrong?"
she beckoned him over, and he sat on the edge of the matress beside her.
lily placed her paw on his thigh, and he looked down at her "you won't, ben, i know you. you wouldn't allow yourself to put me in danger."
she stood up, and climbed his track-pants to the top of his leg "shall we?"
he became even more nervous, and his tail began twisting and thrashing a little
"you're... sure about this?"
she once again moved to his abdomen, and snuggled into the thick white fur "i've never wanted something so much in my whole life... i'm sure."
hesitantly, he grabbed the vial beside the bed, and poured some of it into a small glass on the bedside table.

he nervously, but carefully handed the glass to lily, who drank it, and trembled.
he looked into her eyes, and felt heat rush to his face.
she moved to his waist, and smiled up at him...

*  *  *

carl lay asleep in the apartment, but syrus was still up.
he sat in the kitchen area, and checked his watch, 2:00AM SUNDAY.
he sighed.
(can't sleep... freaking insomnia.)
he decided to eat something, and slid down a fireman's pole at the edge of the bench.
the apartment was scaled appropriately to carl's dimensions, but of course, not to his own, so it took him about four minutes to walk from the bottom of the bench to the fridge across the vast plain of linoleum.
there was an elevator door built into the side of it, and he used it to get up into the fridge.
his fur insulated him from the cold, and the lights came on as he entered out onto the shelf where all of his own food was kept.
below him was an assortment of regular groceries and whatnot, stuff you'd find in any fridge, except that they were ten times larger.
that was carl's food, kept on every lower shelf, and they kept syrus' separately on the top shelf.
syrus walked over to a tub with half a pizza inside and started eating from it.
it was an ice cold supreme with seafood toppings, just how he liked it.
minus the 'ice cold' part.

suddenly, the fridge door opened, and he saw the leopard looking in at him, smiling.
"can't sleep, sy?"
syrus sighed "you know i can't. insomnia is a curse, seriously."
"and will eating *really* help that at all?"
syrus groaned, and took another bite of the pizza "no..."
carl tickled him beneath his jaw with a finger "stupid otter."
syrus pushed the massive digit away "why're you up?"
carl picked him up carefully, and nuzzled him against his nose "i can't sleep without my little otter close by~" he said playfully, grinning broadly as he spoke.
syrus groaned, and looked up into the big yellow globes of carl's eyes "it's always about you, isn't it carl?"
carl meerly gave syrus's face a little lick "i bet *i'm* more comfortable than the bedding though, ain't i?"
syrus brushed his face, wiping off the leopard's saliva "ughh... you get nothing 'till you apologise for that. seriously, little warning next time?" he said uncomfortably.
carl braced him in a gentle hug, allowing the otter to wipe himself off on his chest fur "okay, okay, point taken." he dipped his head closer to syrus "i'm sorry, my little musteline Paragon." he said with a 'cooing' in his voice, clearly having no qualms about expressing his feelings for the little otter when they were alone together, not even at just after two AM in the morning.
"oh go and vocabularise someone else, you big spotty moron!"
carl brought him up to his cheek and pressed the otter into it "oh shuttup, you little brown idiot."
then a miscevous glint entered carl's eyes, and he licked syrus again, making the little otter curse at him
"correction, little *wet* idiot" he laughed.
syrus beat against the leopard's face with his fists "Goddammit, carl! you promised!!"
"oh, so sorry, let me appologise, by givin' you a little *'gift'* later... if you get my meaning..."
the little otter growled, then pressed himself to carl's face "there's just no 'normal' with you when we're alone, is there?" he crooned

he lifted and bent syrus so that his waist-up was laying on top of his nose, and the otter's waist down dangled across the front of it.
"nope. normal's for in public. i prefer to be myself when i'm alone with my little otter."
syrus slapped carl's nose "i guess i like being myself with my *big cat*, too."
carl laughed and narrowed his eyes "what?"
"you're classified as a 'big cat'... y'know; leopards, lions, tigers, cheetahs, etcetera. and you're also *big!*, it just works!"
carl stared at him condescendingly down his face, but syrus just smiled back at him mockingly.
"hey, i'm an insomniac otter born on Gentiki, who moved to Virada to attend school, and who's in an intimate relationship with a leopard born on Virada who happens to be ten times my size, what do you want from me?"
carl rolled his eyes, and stuck his tongue out, draping it over the otter on his nose, then looked down at the otter through slitted eyes, as if for approval.
syrus nodded, "i guess i should check." and carl drew the otter into his mouth.
carl could feel him moving around, and then the otter knocked on one of his teeth
"NNNNGH!"
carl opened his mouth again, and the otter started talking
"okay, i found the loose fang, it's the 'wisdom location' one on the lower left, furthest one back."
"UUUGHHH!" carl groaned while the otter walked around on his tongue, annoyed at the tooth, not his boyfriend.
syrus tapped the sharp tip of the fang.
"UH-UH, NRRRR!"

syrus scoffed "calm down, carl, i'm not gonna impale myself in your mouth!"
"RRRRRRRRRRGH! NNGT, NRRRR!"
"carl, please, *who* studied dental?"
"YRRRRR..."
"that's right, ME. not you. ME."
"UUUGHHH. FUHHHH YRRRR, SUHHHH"
"yeah yeah, whatever, keep saying 'fuck you, sy' and i'll just hit that loose fang, carl."
"GUHHHH."
"whatever. it looks like it'll get loose enough to pull any day now."
syrus moved to the front of the leopard's mouth, where he climbed carefully over the deadly white blades that were carl's teeth, out into his waiting paws.
"i still don't like having to get you to do that." carl complained
"well, there're still no dentists for giants, and actually being able to roam around your Maw is a really great learning tool for me, since i'm studying dentistry."
"you know how hard it is not to swallow when you 'roam' all over my tongue?"
syrus laughed uncertainly "no i do not..." he had a random thought, and fiddled uncomfortably "uh... just asking... but... how do i... um... taste?"
carl smiled miscevously "delicious. so much that you need to be savoured, enjoyed."
carl noticed the otter's discomfort, and smiled reassuringly "s'okay, sy, i wouldn't eat you. if i ever *DO* swallow you by mistake, i promise to make myself puke, and bring you right back up."
syrus pinched the black fleshy lip in front of the pearly fangs, making carl jump.
syrus watched as the leopard's paw around him immediately cupped, and smiled "good boy"
he was glared at.
"just checking your reflexes, good to see you instinctively..." syrus motioned to the surrounding paw "you know. it's good to know you've trained yourself to do that."
carl rolled his eyes "a little warning next time?"
"if i'd warned you, it wouldn't have been a reflex, now would it?"
"well..."
"c'mere y'big glorified pussycat!" syrus hugged the hovering head as it approached "yeah, that's what i thought you'd do if i asked you to."
carl smiled, and closed the fridge
"let's get back to our room, sy... **Yawn** i'm real tired..."
syrus submitted "yeah, okay, you big kitten, time for bed. and kitty can't sleep without his little otter can he?" syrus taunted, implying carl used him like a child uses a teddy-bear for comfort when sleeping.
carl yawned yet again "yeah yeah, *'kitty'* needs his *'sy sy'*" he laughed
syrus hugged his thumb "well, *'sy sy'* has his needs, too... like *'kitty'* not rolling over onto him while he sleeps at night."
carl laughed tiredly "oh, *'kitty'* can fix that. he can fix it, all right. *'sy sy'* won't get crushed."


carl kept his promise by keeping syrus on the side of his neck, along with his paw, the warm pads on it far superior to a blanket in terms of keeping the cold winter chill away.
but syrus still couldn't sleep.
"crazy cat. can't sleep without me... how'd he ever sleep *before* he met me?"
"he *mmh*... had a plush *ngh* toy..." carl answered, semi-asleep.
syrus snuggled into carl's neck, making the leopard quietly purr happily, "so i really am *'sy sy'* to a big, overgrown kitten...? i'm just a toy to you?"
"no... you're *mmm* WAY better than a toy... believe **yawn** me..."
syrus rubbed the leopard's neck, taking pride in bringing out the deep, contented pur from the big cat "why's that?" he asked curiously.
"a toy.... *mnnn* can't love you back.... *ngh* like a lover can..."
syrus continued comforting the huge leopard "hope you have sweet dreams, my big leopard."
"g'night... my... **yawn** little otter..."
carl's breathing deepened, and it wasn't until five minutes after he was fully asleep did he stop purring.
syrus smiled, and nestled in between the leopard's neck and paw, enjoying the closeness and warmth he provided in the dreadfully horrible chill of mid-winter in their already cold climate.
(definitely better than a blanket) he thought to himself.
even if sleep eluded him, he could still enjoy being with his big leopard in peace.

he started thinking.
there wasn't really anything about carl he *didn't* like.
his soft fur.
his wonderful voice.
his warmth.
his personality.
the way he purred whenever he scratched him under the chin. :3
his size, oh, definitely his size. X3
but most of all, it was that beneath the towering hulk of his body, he was just like any other person who was a tenth of his size, unlike most giants, he didn't abuse his massive proportions, and he was very courteous to non-giants, ESSPECIALLY to syrus.
if you couldn't see at a concert, he'd lift you up.
if you had no food, he'd offer you some of his own.
if you were cold, he'd allow you to warm up in his pocket.
where other giants talked of destuction, he talked about building (and rebuilding).
where other giants abused you and ordered you around, he would always be friendly and eager to help out.
where other giants would demand a massage given to them, he offered one out... and a damn good one at that. X3
he was the best, the best at being a humane inhuman.
before he slipped on his headphones and listened to his music to pass his insomnia-filled time, he whispered something to carl, though he doubted he heard it.
"love you, carl... my handsome, proud leopard..."

little did he know, carl was yet again, faking sleep.
carl smiled (how embarassing it'd be if he knew i heard that... must... not... laugh...)
he managed to suppress his laughter, syrus might be traumatised if he returned his kind words with laughter.
however, he knew that dispite his small size, syrus was as proud and brave as if he was twenty times bigger than he actually was, but he still respected others where respect was due.
syrus was the perfect partner, carl figured that he wouldn't trade him in, even if he met someone his own size with all the same qualities and was better looking... difficult as that would be, because his feelings ran deeper than physical ones, they ran right down to the soul.
in his opinion, even if he was able to get into heaven, there was no paradise without his little otter.
if syrus was cast into the abyss, he'd gladly jump down there with him.
if only one of them could get into heaven, he wouldn't let syrus say 'no'
he vastly deserved it more, as he'd proved when he nearly died, syrus was more important than he was.
that was what he believed.

syrus was humming the tune of a song
"hm hmm hm *'passing o-ver you like a* hm hm hmm, *so catch me as i fall'*..."
carl gently pressed syrus into his neck, enjoying his presence, like an anchor to reality, so he didn't fall into a dreamworld and lose his otter. he would trade his sleep for syrus' insomnia just so he could stay awake to enjoy the little body's touch against his own.
he could feel the miniature body's pulse on his neck, alongside his carotid artery
feeling his boyfriend's heartbeat so small and fragile next to his own, reminding him every second that dispite his boyfriend's brevity, outspoken ways, cool demeanor and self respect, he was still quite small and all too easily broken.
he found it humbling, knowing that he had to mind himself, it kept him from getting a big head, no pun intended, of course.

as he drifted off to sleep, his mind strayed off into a time from his past...

(Next chapter: a one shot about Syrus and Carl's time in boarding school.)