A Giant's Grace

Chapter 11

Grace slowly sat up and yawned, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She was grateful that Aaden hadn't woken her. The past few weeks had been a rollercoaster, and she was only now getting a chance to unwind. 

She briefly peeked her head out of Aaden's pocket to see where they were. It seemed to be a busy shop with merchants selling all kinds of unfamiliar food. As Aaden approached one of the stands, she slipped back down into his pocket. After a brief exchange of words, currency, and food, Aaden headed outside to his car. Grace noted that he sat in the back row of seats this time. His eyes landed on hers before he looked away and blushed. 

"I thought you were still asleep." He spoke softly, still not daring to look. 

"Oh, I woke up a little bit ago." She was also blushing now, and looking down. 

"Well, uh, wanna eat?"

"Yes." Grace finally worked up the courage to look at him again. "Thank you."

"No problem." He smiled. "So, uh, this is sushi. It's basically fish and some other stuff wrapped in rice and seaweed. I got an assorted platter."

"Ok, cool." She didn't have a clue as to what seaweed and rice were (she felt like she had vaguely heard of fish), but everything Aaden had given her so far had tasted wonderful. 

"Could you pass me your blanket?" he requested. Grace held it over her head so that he could grab it. She saw him spread the blanket over one of the seats. He then placed a brown bag next to it. "Grace?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I pick you up?"

"Sure."

Grace felt the warmth of Aaden's hand and then a sense of weightlessness as she was lifted into the air. Then she felt the weight return as she was kept on the blanket. She saw Aaden cut off a slice of some sort of roll and then place it in front of her. While it may have been a thin slice for Aaden, it was a feast to her. 

They both began to dig in. 

"Aaden, this is so good!"

"It's my favorite food."

"It...it might be my favorite, too."

"What was your food like? Back home, I mean."

"Well, it was a lot different from this. We ate a lot of plants and nuts. Mushrooms, berries, and acorns." Grace looked out the window, suddenly yearning to be outside. The security that this strange mobile box provided was convenient, but she missed looking up at the big, open sky.

"You miss being outside, huh?" Aaden asked.

Grace looked at him hopefully.

"It's not really an option right now, though."

Her face dropped. That's what she had expected. It was reasonable, but still disappointing. 

Aaden's face lit up. "Once it's dark, we can go outside and look at the stars."

Grace smiled. "That sounds great."

"We'll do that, then." They both finished up eating, and then talk turned to Grace's accommodations. "Could we get you somewhere to live?" Aaden asked. "I could buy some wooden planks and maybe make a little room for you."

"You would do that for me?"

"Of course."

"Thank...thank you." Grace nearly choked on her words as she held back tears. There were so many nice things Aaden had done for her, and now her feelings of gratitude were boiling out of the cauldron. "C-can I hug you?" She whispered out. Aaden didn't say anything, but he lowered his face and turned his cheek towards Grace, his eyebrows raising slightly in surprise as she rushed into his cheek.

"Is everything okay?" Aaden asked.

"Everything's fine." She gave his cheek one final squeeze before stepping back. 

Aaden was blushing a little from the hug, and he averted Grace's gaze as he spoke. "We might also have some clothes for you, too. The old owners of my house had some doll clothes that they left behind. Maybe you could wear those."

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great," Grace breathed. 

"Ok, let's go buy those planks, and maybe a couple of other stuff for you." Aaden held out his hand, and Grace stepped on, placed into his pocket a few moments later. 

She felt the familiar beating of his heart and the rhythm of his footsteps, and she felt her blanket fall onto her a moment later. She wrapped herself up in her blanket and opened her backpack, pulling out her sketchbook and a pencil. She started to draw, perfectly cozy in her blanket, right by the sound of Aaden's heartbeat.