A Match Beyond Measure Pt 7

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 7

He froze mid step. Cecilia waited with bated breath as he turned and peered around before he finally looked down. 

His eyes narrowed in confusion, before they widened with realization, “Cecilia?” he stared at her, as if waiting for a response, but all she could offer was a weak nod. She tensed as he moved closer, her hands gripping the edge of the box tighter. “What…. What are you doing here?” 

 Cecilia strained her neck to look up at his face. He was practically on top of her now, his massive shoes planting themselves mere meters away. The impact had been enough to throw her off balance.  

“I uh-” her fingers drummed against the box, “I…. I came to apologize.” 

From this angle, she could just barely see Garret quirk his brow, “Apologize?” 

“For…. for last night and…. How I treated you.”   

His face fell and he glanced away, “For leaving me?” 

Cecilia’s gut churned, “I’m… I’m so sorry. It was stupid and awful of me, and I regret doing it and you really didn’t do anything wrong and didn’t deserve to be treated that way and…. I’m really sorry.”  

She hung her head in shame, glancing up a few seconds later to see Garret staring down at her. His eyes softened and he cracked a smile. 

“Well, I did do a few things wrong. Should have listened to you about the ketchup” his smile faded, “But…. why did you leave? Is it something else I did?” 

For a split second, she thought of telling him, but instead shook her head, “No! no, it was in no way your fault. It’s…. It’s just me.” He tilted his head and before he could say something, Cecilia thrusted the box up at him, “T-this is for you.” 

There was a moment of silence between them. Then, Garret’s towering form bent down, his hand outstretched and his face getting larger and closer. Everything grew darker as his shadow fell upon her, her hair being blown back by the breeze of his movements. Cecilia’s arms trembled as his thick fingers approached, holding her breath as his thumb and middle finger took the box from her.   

Another gust of wind hit her as he straightened, his eyes looking from her to the small box in his hand. Screwing up his face, he raised his other hand and pried open the lid. His eyes widened. 

“Did you make this?” He withdrew his hand, holding up the cookie which now looked much smaller and honestly sort of pathetic.  

“Uh, yes” I should have made more! What kind of person gives someone a single cookie!? “Sorry that-”  

“This is amazing!” he boomed, smiling down at her. 

“W-what?”   

“I mean-” he gestured at the cookie, “It looks so good. How did you even manage to write so neatly?” 

Cecilia went pink, “W-well uh….. Like I said, I like to bake.” 

“Yeah but this is like… professional shit. It almost looks too good to eat” he flashed her a smirk before raising the cookie to his mouth and taking a bite, “Just almost though” he said while still chewing.  For a brief moment, Cecilia felt that same fear she had felt last night. However, it was soon replaced by a warm, comical feeling at the childish grin on Garret’s face, his lips and teeth stained blue from the icing.

“Mmmmm. You know, usually food like this that looks good doesn’t taste good, but this is delicious.” 

Cecilia’s face was slowly turning a deeper shade of red, “I-I’m glad you like it. It’s actually quite easy to make.” she mumbled slightly. Garret was talking so loudly, she was surprised no one had been as startled by it as she was. “So, like I said, I’m so sorry about-” but Garret waved her off. 

“No worries. First date nerves, I get it. And also, not being used to all of this” he gestured to himself. Cecilia’s brain screeched to a halt. Date? Did he just say date? He- he saw that as a date? No no, that would be ridiculous. He must have just been joking. There’s no way he actually saw that as a date. Hell, he would never want to go on a date with her, I mean, why would he? That would be- 

“Say, I was just about to grab some coffee. Would you be interested in tagging along?” 

She froze, slowly turning to look up at him, her eyes as round as saucers. “What?” 

Garret rubbed the back of his neck, “Do you want to get some coffee with me?”  

He- he wants to get coffee?! Wasn’t he still upset with her? Well, he didn’t really seem upset, but still! They had just had a disastrous dinner with each other the night before and now he wants to spend more time with her?! Why? Seriously, why? He….. he couldn’t possibly….. 

“Maybe retry this whole first date thing?” 

He said it. He said it again! He, a giant, asking to go on a date with a human! How was that possible? How was this happening?! Did….. did he like her? Even after last night? Why would he like her? Did she like him? Wait, why is she even entertaining that idea? He’s a giant! But he sure seemed to be entertaining the idea, or else he wouldn’t have asked her. Did she want to go? I mean he was a nice guy, a really nice guy, and not bad looking at all….. But she’s….. He’s…… 

She looked back up at him, at the look in his eyes as he stared down at her. Much like when they had first met, she found her heart melting at the sight. He….. he really wasn’t joking. 

“I….. I don’t really like coffee” she offered lamely. Garret’s smile disappeared, “But….. I could go for a croissant or something.” 

Almost instantly, the sinking frown on Garret’s face turned into a grin. “Sweet!” Suddenly and without warning, his massive body was getting closer as he bent down and Cecilia had the horrifying image of all that slamming down on top of her. Keep it together, keep it together! He stopped, crouched down and swayed slightly overhead. His arm then raised, his hand heading right for her, fingers outstretched.  

She couldn’t do this! Letting out a shriek, her hands flew up to cover her head and ducking down, trembling. After a moment of silence, she heard movement overhead. “Sorry I uh- uh I’ve never done this before. This is just how I've seen other people do it, would it be better if I-” he trailed off, falling completely silent. Cecilia lowered her arms, gazing up and meeting his eyes, fixed upon her. They were narrowed as if he was studying her, her and her expression and posture. 

Garret’s face fell, “You’re still…… you’re still afraid of me, aren’t you.” Cecilia tensed, his words hitting her right in the chest, “Is that why you left last night? Because I…..” he glanced down at his hand, like he had done the night before. 

“I….. I really don’t want to be, and I have no real reason to be” said Cecilia, “But…. yes. I’m sorry.” 

He perked up, “You don’t want to be?”  

She nodded, “Like i said, I really have no real reason to be, it’s just….. I’m not sure how. But I really don’t mean to be, I swear.”  

Garret tilted his head in thought, before he looked down at his hand again and began to slowly raise it. Cecilia felt her heartbeat quicken. Taking a deep breath, she stood her ground as his hand got closer and closer. He laid it down palm up just a few feet away. 

“Maybe I could help? Get you used to people like me? I know I’m probably not the best person for that but I can still try.” He cracked a smile, Cecilia felt her heart flutter slightly. Her eyes flitted over to his awaiting hand and she stepped back slightly, rubbing her forearms to stop herself from shaking. 

“That’s…. Really generous of you. I’m sorry I’m like this in the first place.”   

Garret frowned, “Is this too much? I just thought you know, it would be much quicker if I carried you.” Cecilia stood there, her mind fighting with itself as she stared at the massive hand in front of her, awaiting her. She closed her eyes, breathed, and then took a step forward. Then another, and another. She forced her feet up and off the ground, getting closer and closer until she stopped right in front of the edge of his palm. You can do this, just a little further.  Ever so slowly, she leaned forward and laid her shaking hands down upon his skin. His hand twitched and Cecilia wretched her hands away. “Sorry” he muttered. She breathed, You’re okay, you are okay. Once again, only a bit more quickly, she placed her hands down. His skin was warm to the touch, yet the feeling sent a shiver up her spine. Raising her legs, she slowly began to crawl forward. Her hands and knees sunk slightly into his flesh with every move she made. 

After what felt like a blurred eternity, she sat herself down in the very center of his palm and marveled at the fact that there was still plenty of room to spare. She was almost certain if she laid down, her body wouldn’t even cover the width of his hand. Beneath her, she could make out practically every line, every pore, every stitching together of his skin. 

“This feels weird,” Garret muttered.  

Cecilia tensed, “L-l-like w-what?” 

“Tickles a bit, if I’m being honest. But in an oddly nice way.” 

“S-so you’ve…. R-really never done this b-before?”  

Garret chuckled, “Yeah, always seen my boss being carried around like this, though he’s never let me before, says I’m too much of a klutz.” Cecilia froze and slowly looked up at him. “Which is…. Probably not the best thing to be telling you right now. I promise, I won’t drop you.”  

She slowly looked down, eyes wide with fear. God help me. 

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 8

“You ready?” though her brain screamed no, she slowly nodded, “Okay, here we go.” 

Suddenly, Cecilia was being slammed down against Garret’s palm as it began to move upwards. He was moving at such an alarming speed, her stomach seemingly had been abandoned on the ground. She couldn’t move, sheer G force from his movements keeping her down. Her fingers frantically dug into the flesh beneath her for something, anything to hold onto. She squeezed her eyes shut to avoid watching as the sky grew closer and closer.  

Then, as soon as it had started, it had stopped. Cecilia’s heart pounded against her ribcage as she laid there, eyes still scrunched shut. 

“You okay?” she flinched at Garret’s voice, louder than ever. Slowly, she blinked open her eyes, immediately being met with his massive face looking down at her. Unable to speak, she forcibly nodded her head, “you sure?” 

“T-t-t-too….. Too f-fast” was all she could manage.   

Garret gave her a guilty look, “Slower, got it.” His eyes darted away for a second, as if he was pondering something or maybe to give her whatever space he could to process.

Cecilia, still splayed out on his palm, was still reeling from practically being launched over a hundred feet up. Trembling from head to toe, she heaved herself up until she was sitting upright. She closed her eyes, forcing her breathing to slow. It's okay, it’s okay, you’re fine. 

Opening her eyes, she turned back to look to see Garret’s attention was back solely on her, “Do you mind if….. This is gonna sound weird, but can I move closer? I…. I kinda want to see you… you know, up close.”   

Closer? Closer to his face? Cecilia couldn’t help but feel….touched by this. It had never occurred to her that he had never really been able to see much of her in person when from her view, it was quite the opposite problem. She seemed to be unable to look at anything but him whenever he was nearby whether she liked it or not. He just seemed to block out everything around her.  

She nodded and was instantly thrown forward as Garret’s hand moved. Regaining her balance, she looked up, only to freeze. Her entire vision was consumed by his face, only being held a few feet away from it. Her hair was blown back by the warm breeze that emitted from his large nose with every breath he took. She could make out almost every single strand of black hair atop his head and see all the specks and smudges of dirt from his day at work. His eyes, his bright blue eyes seemed to pin her in place with how intently they were looking at her. She couldn’t help but stare back into them, all the rippling details becoming so clear and her own reflected face staring back at her.  

A small smile appeared on Garret’s face. Cecilia tried to smile back but suddenly she felt like she was falling, air whipping past her and her stomach plummeted as the hand beneath her lowered away. Terrified, she frantically threw herself forward, grabbing onto and wrapping her arms around the closest thing. She let out a small whimper as she closed her eyes.  

She let out a small gasp of relief when everything around her stopped moving, “Oh, sorry, I forgot, slower” boomed Garret. Cecilia opened her eyes, all the color draining from her face at what she saw. Below her was the ground, at the very least fifty miles away. Her grip quickly tightened around whatever it was she had been holding on- wait. What was she holding onto?  

Turning her head, she looked and went red. Her arms were currently wrapped around Garret’s thumb, having been clinging to it for dear life a second ago. She instantly let go, throwing herself back and away from the large digit. Above her, she heard a thunderous chuckle.  

“Scared of heights?” she looked up and nodded, more like scared of falling. “Would it make you feel any better if I used both hands?” 

Cecilia felt a pang of guilt. Was she being a nuisance? She shook her head, “Y-you d-don’t have t-to do th-that.”  

“You sure?” 

“I-I d-don’t w-want to be a h-h-handful.” 

Again, Garret chuckled, “You’re definitely not that. Not even half” he smirked down at her, laughing at his own joke, “Well, if you’re sure. You okay if we get going?” Cecilia stared out at the city before her, before bracing herself and nodding, “Alright. Feel free to hold on.”  

This time, when his hand moved, she was prepared. What she was not prepared for was the rest of him beginning to move. As his hand moved up against his chest, Cecilia started as he began to walk, swaying with his gate and feeling his every step. Glancing at the edge of his palm, she whimpered and began scooting further away from the edge. She tensed when she backpedaled right up against Garret’s chest, but found she’d rather be up against it than any closer to where she could see how high up she was.  

Her heart had not stopped running like a freight train, beating profusely throughout this whole ordeal. She tried to slow it down, breathing in and out like she had been taught, but her body continued to tremble. Trying to relax, she allowed her head to fall back upon the massive wall of flesh behind her. Picking up the muffled booming of Garret’s heartbeat and his breathing, she focused on it. It reminded her of the ocean, the roar of his lungs very similar to the roar of waves crashing against the beach. She closed her eyes, picturing it. Picturing herself there, on the seashore. She imagined the warm soft surface beneath her was sand, and the wind blowing around her smelling like saltwater. 

“Everything alright?” 

She was jolted out of her daydream by Garret’s voice reverberating through his chest, loud and deep like approaching thunder. Looking up, she saw him smiling down at her. Her heart began to beat faster once more.  

“Y-yes.” She lied.   

“Okay good. We’re almost there.” 

That was fast. She strained her neck to peek over the tops of his fingers. This part of town seemed familiar, though that seemed odd since she’d never seen it from this vantage before. Her fear was outweighed by her curiosity and she continued to survey the scene below. 

Though on the giant designated side of the road, they seemed to be in a primarily human area. What with all the human businesses and all the traffic that luckily wasn’t underfoot. One stop in particular caught her attention, Best Bud’s Florals. She’d seen that shop before, passing it every commute to work. Wait a second. 

“W-what cafe a-are we headed to?”  

Garret glanced down at her, “Oh, well I’m not sure the place I usually go to serves humans, So I thought we’d head to one I know serves both.” 

“W-which is?” 

“That one you work at. What’s it called? Grounds and…… I don’t know.” 

Slave to the Light Pt 8

A Baldur's Gate Fanfiction

Lorelai was glad none of the bigfolk had come around to bother her. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there at the base of the yew tree for, but from the ache in her back she was starting to get, it must have been a decent amount of time. She had made use of that time however, at her side now lay the curved riser of a soon to be bow along with half a dozen needle thin arrows with little chunks of pebbles stuck to the tips with some sap she had procured from the tree. Naturally she planned on making more arrows, but for now, she decided to turn her efforts back to finishing the bow. 

A problem had arisen however. She had already scoured around for spider webs, even if they would have made a lackluster string, but hadn’t been able to find even an old strand of cobweb.  

She had been putting off going back into the camp for some time now, quite liking this quiet solitude, but it seemed she had no choice. Gathering up the riser and arrows, she began trekking her way back over to the clearing the bigfolk had made their camp. As she walked, her eyes darted around, locating each and every one of them and was pleased to see they all seemed preoccupied. Gale was sitting outside his tent, reading a book titled The creatures of the Fey wilds and everything you could ever want to know about them. Lorelai rolled her eyes, glancing further left where she got sight of a familiar figure. An elf-like woman with long black hair much like her own, who was kneeling with her head tilted down in a meditative looking state. Shadowheart, that’s what her name had been, yes. She had been the one who’d healed her, useful sort then.  

As Lorelai made her way around the perimeter of the camp site, she caught sight of exactly what she had been looking for. A spool of some sort of string, twine perhaps, lay in a basket set outside a somewhat menacing light blue tent with what looked to be hunting and battle trophies scattered all around the outside. She hurried over to it, stopping so she was right up beside the basket. Her eyes darted around and when they saw no one was approaching, she leapt up, grabbing onto the rim and heaving herself on top of it.  

The spool right in front of her, she leaned forward and pulled loose a strand of string. Taking out the sharp pebble she had found, she sawed at the string until she was able to rip off what she needed.  

String in hand, she hopped back down to the ground, the jump making her calves burn. Sitting herself down against the basket, she grabbed the riser she had left on the ground and began to weave the string through the holes at the tips she had carved out.  She gave the string a quick tug, satisfied when that caused the limbs of the riser to bend.  

“What is this?”

Lorelai tensed when the ground quivered. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a shadow enveloped her. She slowly turned, looking up to see a green, scowling face. A gith? On the material plane? The gith, clearly female, continued to glare down at her. Her miniscule nose scrunched up making it somehow look even smaller. 

“What sort of pest are you to steal my stuff?” From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the gith’s reptilian hands move a fraction of an inch forward. Not a second later, Lorelai had sprung into action. Using her bare foot, she kicked up one of her arrows, loaded it, aimed, and fired. The arrow flew through the air and the gith didn’t have time to even notice it before it had flown right up one of her nostrils. 

In an instant, the gith recoiled, letting out a roar of pain as her hand shot up to her face. Lorelai didn’t wait around, she started to run. 

“Why you little-!” Lorelai threw herself to the ground and out of the way as an armored boot came crashing down right where she would have been had she continued forward. She rolled over, groping for another arrow, looking up and feeling her blood run cold as the gith drew her hand away from her bleeding nose.  

“Tas’ki! I’ll-”  

“Lae’zel wait!” 

Lorelai bounced off the ground as heavy and hurried footsteps approached. The two both looked up to see Karlach running over waving her hands. The gith scowled as Karlach stopped between the two. 

“What are you doing?” 

The gith shot a finger down at Lorelai, her other hand going back to holding her nose “This- whatever it is, was stealing from me and then attacked me! I’m disposing of it” 

Karlach glanced down at Lorelai, “You did?” 

She scooted away, scoffing, “I didn’t know it was hers!”  

The Tiefling turned back to the gith, “Lae’zel, this isn’t a pest. This is Lorelai. Lorelai, Lae’zel.'' She stepped aside to let the two look at each other. The gith- Lae’zel raised a brow, before glaring back down at Lorelai. 

“What are you?” 

“She’s a pixie. Can you believe it?” Karlach flashed a smile down at Lorelai. 

Lae’zel’s eyes widened slightly, “A pixie?” 

“Yes, found her last night. Decided she’ll be joining us.” 

Lae’zel flew back into a glare, “Has she…. Well, tell this Lorelai to stay away from my stuff, unless she wants to become a red stain upon the ground.” she growled before turning, and beginning to leave, but not before she heard her mutter under her breath, “Not a bad shot”. 

Sorry for the short part. If you would rather read longer parts, I post more condensed versions of all my stories on DeviantArt, but post much less often there.

Thank you @pikaglove and everyone who got me to 50 reblogs!

Slave to the Light Pt 7

A Baldur's Gate fanfiction

Lorelai stared up at Gale, shocked and confused, "What do you mean under different circumstances? what possible circumstances are there that would make you travel with a fucking vampire!?"

The vampire, or Astarion as the others seemed to call him, merely scrunched up his nose at her remarks. Gale's eyes fell away from her, clearly pondering something.

"Well, you see" he started, "All of us here happen to be dealing with the same problem that we are all in dire need of rectifying".

She raised a brow, "What kind of problem?"

Gale pursed his lips, as if debating whether he should continue, "All of us.... currently are hosts to illithid parasites".

Lorelai's eyes widened, "What?"

"We basically have these worm-like fuckers swimming around in our brains" chimed in Karlach.

"No- I know what an illithid parasite is, but...." she looked the man before her up and down, "Shouldn't you have.... transformed?"

"Now that, is something we are all wondering about" said Gale, "None of us have shown any real signs of... well, turning into tentacled monsters. So, since we have seemingly been blessed with spare time, we're looking for a cure. Hence the give of us being together."

Lorelai stiffened, "there's more of you?"

"Yes, but you'll meet them later, that is... if you decide to stay." over Gale's shoulder, she saw Karlach grinning down at her.

"You're offering to let me stay? Why?"

Gale chuckled, "Well you're clearly in need of some assistance, and I dare say your presence wouldn't cause much of a hassle" he leaned in closer, lowing his voice, "And to be honest, I don't completely trust Astarion to not.... forget himself."

"I can hear you; you know." grumbled Astarion.

Lorelai looked down. Being with these group seemed to be presenting more risks by the second. First, a vampire, and now illithid parasites. But what about the number of risks if she went it alone? and as dangerous as these big folk might be, they could be of use to her.

She met Gale's eyes again, "Alright, I will take you up on your offer" her gaze hardened, "But if I see any of you begin to sprout tentacles I'm out of here. And if your..... companion tries anything-"

"We'll make sure he doesn't."

"Well, if he does, I won't hesitate to teach him a much harsher lesson than I did last night, perhaps with something much sharper."

Astarion let out a snort of laughter that made her blood boil, "That's cute."

Lorelai's fingers tighten around the needle, wishing she could shove it right through one of those awful red eyes.

Gale straightened, clapping his hands together, "Right, now that's sorted, how abouts we give you some alone time?" the moment he had finished his sentenced, Astarion turned on his heel and quickly made his way out of the tent, shooting Lorelai one last glare.

"That means you too Karlach. I think you may have overstayed your welcome" Gale held the tent flap open and gestured for the Tiefling to follow suit.

"Can't I stay? I know it's your tent and all... but come on" she looked down at Lorelai, "I can stay right?"

Lorelai thought for a moment. She had been deeply looking forward to not being surrounded by towering figures and was about to ask her to leave, but once again Karlach was giving her that hopeful grin.

She sighed, "Yeah sure, you can stay. But just be quiet, alright?"

Karlach beamed at her before smirking at Gale who rolled his eyes before leaving.

To her surprise, the Tiefling was able to stay quiet. She had simply sat herself down and watched Lorelai eagerly as she continued to work. It began to feel a little weird though after twenty minutes went by and Karlach was still staring. Lorelai kept looking up from her work only to be met with the same intense gaze.

After the tenth time of looking over her shoulder to see if there was any change in the Tiefling's behavior, she resigned herself to fully focusing on making something wearable.

Hard to say how much time had gone by when she had finally locked the final stitch and held up her handiwork: A rather small top and a pair of short and baggy pants, both an obnoxious shade of purple.

"Hey, not bad." said Karlach.

Lorelai sighed, "Do you mind staring at something else for a moment?"

"Oh fuck, yeah sorry."

The ground shifted as Karlach spun herself around, so her back was to her.

Lorelai threw the articles of clothing on the ground before going to remove the sorry excuse for a dress she was currently wearing. She had managed to pull it up over her legs before she gasped out, being hit with a stinging pain the moment she tried to pull it up over her back.

"You alright?"

"Fine" she grunted, gritting her teeth. The fabric must have fused itself to her wounds. She groaned before taking hold of her dress again and quickly tossed it over her head. Her back stung with pain that slowly subsided once she had ripped the fabric away from it. Tossing it aside, she reached down and pulled on her newly made shirt and pants.

She poked her head around the pile before stepping out. Karlach peeked over her shoulder before turning back around. She looked Lorelai up and down before an amused smile appeared on her face. The Tiefling let out a snort of laughter, looking away and covering her mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing" she lied; her eyes still upturned, "Just looks a little big on you."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, walking over and heaving herself up onto the plate to snatch up another grape, glaring at it as if it had been the one to make the remark.

She leapt down, tossing the half-eaten fruit aside and began heading for the exit.

"Where are you headed?"

"Outside."

"What for?"

Lorelai groaned, "Does it matter?"

"Can I come with?"

"I don't care."

She continued forward, stepping out into the open. She couldn't help but tense slightly at the sight before her. Four other massive tents were set up in the distance, all of them different colors and had an assortment of items outside their entrances. They all surrounded a campfire that at the moment was nothing but burnt wood and charcoal. But that wasn't what had bothered her, what bothered her was the towering figures meandering around the tents. She could feel through the ground the slight quiver from their steps from here, all of them, lumbering around like big oafs the lot of them.

Lorelai shook her head, focusing back on the task at hand: arming herself. It only took her a moment of looking around before she spotted a patch of trees to the east. She began to make her way over there, her eyes fliting around to look back at the big folk and know where each one of them was at the given moment. She kept an especially close eye out for that vampire, even though he shouldn't have been able to be out in the sun. Being apparently apart of this little team, he was almost certainly still lurking around somewhere.

She had noticed Karlach had left the tent, though she had reframed from following her and had instead gone over to what Lorelai assumed was her own tent. There didn't seem to be too much of a reason to keep an eye on that one, she seemed docile enough.

The grass began to reach up past her waist as she trudged into the beginnings of a forest. The sun was shining down through the many leaves of the trees, illuminating their shape and color, which was exactly what Lorelai had been hoping for.

Her pace slowed as she scrutinized each tree she passed, looking from its leaves to its branches to its trunk. There was a good deal of oak and dogwood, both much too knotty to work with. There was also some hickory, too fragile to moisture, and some elm, too likely to crack. Then she spotted just what she had been looking for, a yew tree.

She hurried over to it, looking over it once more. Yes, it would do very nicely. Looking up, she pinpointed the lowest branch that was the right thickness before she dug her fingers beneath the crevices of the bark. Her muscles strained but ached with an almost pleasant and familiar burn as she scaled up the trunk.

When she was perpendicular to the branch she wanted, she began to shimmy closer over. Securing her feet in the groves of bark, she reached out and took hold of one of the smaller branches. With some effort, she managed to snap it off the main branch, almost losing her balance as she did so. her hands scrambled to grab back onto the bark, stick in hand that she surveyed with a nod.

The trek down was much easier, only made tad harder, having to tow down a stick nearly as long as she was tall down with her.

She jumped the rest of the way back to the ground. Holding the stick now like a great misshapen staff, she looked along the forest floor. Now... all she needed was- that might do.

She bent down and picked up a jagged rock, turning it over in her hand. It would have to suffice. Heading back over to the yew tree, she sat herself down with both rock and stick in hand. Placing the stick on her lap, she turned it over a few times before finding the sharpest side of the rock and getting right to work.

A Match Beyond Measure Pt 9

Cecilia froze. They were going there?! Where she worked, where her friends work, friends who were the ones who had set this all up but had no idea. Friends who knew her, and knew about her nerves. What the hell would they think if they saw her with a giant? She could already imagine Rebecca's reaction who had always made sure Cecilia never had to interact with their few giant patrons and had once flown off the rails when one man had made an unsavory comment towards her.  

As they neared, her mind groped for an excuse, reason, or anything to make him turn around. 

“Why uh…  a-are we g-going there?” 

She flinched as Garret’s hand raised slightly as he shrugged, “Well, like I said, it’ll serve both of us, though I’ve never been to a human run place, anything I should know?” 

“I uh– uh” Suddenly, an idea popped into her head, “Y-you’re p-planning to pay with Lumins right?” Lumins, was the currency that was primarily used by giants. When the two species at first integrated, there had been some trouble when it came to money and purchasing power between the two. When it came to buying food for example, giants required much more. At the cafe, drinks made for giants would cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and no paycheck could support that. So, giants were paid in Lumins. Cecilia didn’t know the exact conversion ratio but those drinks prices when converted to Lumins was just as it was a regular drink, only it would be in Lumins, not dollars.

“Yeah, why?” 

“I t-think it would be easier if w-we ordered separately, m-make it easier on the employees. I’ll h-head inside while someone w-will come out and get your order. Does that….. Make sense?” please say yes, please say yes. 

Garret thought for a moment, before nodding, “Yeah sure, that does sound easier. Hang on.” Suddenly, Cecilia felt as if her stomach was flung up her throat as his palm began to descend down to the ground. Once they stopped, she opened her eyes (having closed them once again) to see that they were standing in the parking lot right outside the cafe. 

Cecilia, unable to stop her body from trembling, scooted her way to the edge of his palm before letting herself fall to the ground. It was an odd sensation, going from being on a surface that felt like a heated mattress only slicker, that sunk slightly with each move you made, to solid, still ground.  

She looked up, only to regret it instantly as she watched Garret unfold his towering form until he was back to standing at his full height, the outline of his figure growing dark as it blocked out the sun. Cecilia began backing away, turning and playing it off like she was just heading towards the cafe, no other reason. 

“I’ll meet you back out here, okay?” she held up a thumbs up before quickening her pace towards the front doors. 

Maybe none of them will be working today. Maybe they won’t even be here to ask about anything. This hope was immediately dashed when she slipped through the glass doors and caught sight of a familiar face. 

Sean, currently at the cash register at the ready, looked up, his eyes landing on Cecilia. He was their manager, though he was the youngest one that worked there. Many had taken to calling him Swan, his blonde hair extremely bright and feathered, his eyes black and beady. Though, he’d never expressed that he hated the nickname. Everyone knew, if he did, they would never hear the end of it.  

A pleasant yet confused smile appeared on his face, “Cecilia, what are you doing here? Thought you said you weren’t going to be in today.”  

“I uh- that’s right. But I thought I'd grab some lunch here. Gotta put that employee discount to good use” she plastered on a fake smile. Sean eyed her, curiously. 

“You look a little…. Frazzled. What’ve you been up to?” 

She continued to awkwardly smile, “Oh, just some uh, errands.” 

“Is that Cecilia?” she hadn’t noticed her before, but drawn over by another familiar voice, she saw Maddie, sitting behind the counter, looking up from her phone. 

Sean groaned in her direction, “Now you’re paying attention I see.” 

All he got in response was a scoff. Maddie was an interesting sort to Cecilia. She always had on an outfit that looked like it had taken ten minutes to plan out along with hair and makeup to boot. She had in the past expressed her desire to take Cecilia over to her place and do her up in the same way but she had always declined, never having a reason to get all done up.  

Looking back down at her phone, Maddie continued to address Cecilia, “Whatcha doing here?”  

“I-” 

“She just said she came here for lunch. Speaking of which, why don’t you get off your ass and help with that” said Sean, his glare fading as he turned to Cecilia, “What can I get you?” 

Cecilia quickly waved her hand, “Oh, you don’t have to make anything, I was just planning to grab something quick. Are there any croissants left?” 

“Sure thing, let me just-” he was cut off suddenly when the ground beneath them shook. Sean strained to peer outside the window before he turned to face the back “Hey Becky! Got a big guy waiting outside!” he called. 

Oh great, so everyone’s here, thought Cecilia as Rebecca poked her head out from the back. 

“Are you serious? And they didn’t call ahead? Damn it! Everyone does that” Rebecca was quite an intimidating woman. She was quite tall, having for the longest time worn her hair in an afro which only made her look taller. As of late however, she had started brushing it out and braiding it into dreadlocks with a few streaks of pink thrown in. She always carried herself with a confidence that seemed well earned, she was quite pretty, or in her boyfriend’s words: sexy as all hell. She grumbled to herself as she stepped out, her angry visage falling when she caught sight of Cecilia, “Hey, what are you doing here?” she frowned, glancing outside, “Actually nevermind, I’ll go take care of that. Be back in a minute.” 

Cecilia nervously watched Rebecca walk out the door before turning back to Sean, “Oh right, croissant, “ he stepped over to the display case which held all their pastries and sandwiches. As he began to put on his gloves, he smirked up at her, “So…….” 

“So what?” 

“How’d it go?” 

She tensed, but tried to look like she had no idea what he was talking about, “How did what go?” 

Maddie scoffed, “Come on, you know what we’re talking about. How did your date go last night?”  

“Oh uh, right. That” she averted her gaze, internally freaking out. This was exactly what she was scared of. What was she supposed to say, “It went….. It went well.” 

Sean raised a practically invisible eyebrow at her, “It went well?” 

“Yes.” 

“That’s all you’re going to tell us? That it went well. Come on, give us a little bit more.”  They both stared at her expectantly. 

“I- I don’t know what else to say other than it went well.” 

“Where’d you end up going?” asked Maddie. 

“Some uh…. Some burger place. Can’t remember the name.”  

“Uh huh, and what do you mean when you say ‘it went well’?’ Sean had grabbed the tongs and had fished her out a croissant. 

Cecilia shrugged, fumbling with her hands, “I don’t know. It was just fine.” 

“Just fine?” said Maddie. 

Sean had bagged up her croissant and had gone back to the register to ring it up. Cecilia used that as an excuse to fall quiet as she dug in her pockets and pulled out her wallet. After she swiped and paid, she went to grab the bag but Sean snatched it up and held it away from her.

“Seriously, what happened? What was Garret like? Did you like him? Did he like you?” 

“I uh- uh-” 

Suddenly, the front doors were thrown open. All three of them turned to see Rebecca, stepping inside, staring dumbfounded at Cecilia. 

“The hell’s wrong with-” started Maddie before she was interrupted by Rebecca marching towards them.

“What is going on?”Cecilia tried to look innocent, like she was just as in the dark as the other two as Rebecca approached her. 

“W-what are you talking about?” 

Rebecca crossed her arms, glancing over at Maddie and Sean, “Has she told you anything?” 

Sean and Maddie shook their heads, both now intently listening. Cecilia shrunk away as Rebecca turned back to her. “You know what just happened?” 

She shook her head. 

“What’s got you all worked up?” asked Sean. 

Rebecca jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, “I just went out to take that guy’s order and-” 

“You still mad he didn’t call in advance?” jeered Maddie, smirking. 

“No! Well yes but that’s not what I’m talking about. I went out there, and couldn’t help but think he looked familiar. 

“So…. one of your regulars who didn’t call in advance, that sucks” said Cecilia, working off of what Maddie had said, getting more jittering by the second.

Rebecca continued as if she hadn’t heard her, “I took his order, and when I asked for a name, I realized why he looked familiar” she suddenly hurried behind the counter, “Maddie, let me see your phone.” 

She scoffed, “No way.” 

“Fine, Sean” she held her hand out. Sean hurriedly dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Rebecca ignored him as she began doing something on his phone. Cecilia held her breath as she watched. 

“Look here,” she shoved the phone under Sean’s nose. Maddie hurried over and peered over his shoulder, “What does that say his name is?” 

“Rebecca, why do you have Garret’s profile pulled up?” asked Sean. Rebecca pointed at him. 

“Right, Garret’s his name. The guy we had Cecilia chat with.” 

Maddie groaned, “Yeah yeah, we remember. Was actually asking her about that before you-” 

“You know what that guy said his name was? That giant?” she emphasized the word giant, “He said his name was Garret!” 

At that moment, Cecilia just wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. To her slight relief however, both Sean and Maddie chuckled. 

“This some kind of joke or are you just being paranoid?” 

“Yeah Becky, there are a lot of people named Garret. It’s sort of a common name.” 

Rebecca groaned, “You’re not listening to me!” she jabbed a finger at the front door, “That guy looks just like this Garret”. 

“Now I know you're joking,” said Sean, “Like Cecilia would even go near a giant, let alone get to know one.” 

Cecilia went rigid at the mention of her name. She tried once again to look as confused and amused as the other two when she was really debating whether it would be a good idea to just turn around and book it for the door.

“Go see for yourselves! It looks just like him.”  

Maddie raised an eyebrow and scoffed. Sean however, stared at her for a moment, before shrugging and beginning to make his way out from behind the counter. Cecilia, feeling glued to the floor, watched in horror as he began making his way over to the front door.