The Hidden

Chapter 28

I just laid there, shaking my head back and forth as I slowly exhaled and inhaled in an attempt to steady my breathing. I knew the sight of the massive human looming above me would do no good towards calming my nerves so I kept my eyes held shut. 

The second event of being in human hands had been no better than the last, however at least this time I hadn't been forced into his pocket and surprisingly enough he had actually put me down when I had asked. After all the shit these humans had forced me through thus far, I had expected my plea to be ignored, and yet for once Connor had complied. Was this progress? I figured that had to be too much to hope for.

After a solid three minutes of lying there in silence with my eyes closed, Connor decided it was time to speak up. "Uh...are you going to be okay?" He asked, clearly unsure of what exactly was going on with me.

I let out a long sigh and slapped a hand onto my face and rubbed my eyes tiredly. "L-let's not do that again." I mumbled. 

Though I had been quiet, Connor must have been straining his ears enough to hear my words because I heard him make a noise in response. I pulled my hand away from my face and somewhat reluctantly dragged my eyelids open just as Connor lowered himself so that he was sitting in front of me. Feeling very uncomfortable laying out in front of him, I quickly pulled myself up into a sitting position.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Connor asked uncertainly, something akin to worry ebbing into his tone.

I raised my eyes up so that I was looking up into his face rather than his jean clad legs and shook my head 'no'.  When Connor saw my response he raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Really, because you kind of acted like it." He said, sounding once again frustrated at his lack of understanding of my behavior. 

I made a scoffing sound in my throat. He really didn't get that being picked up by someone about eighteen times larger than you was horribly unpleasant and incredibly intimidating. Little made you feel smaller than when someone held your entire body in single hand, a hand that could either crush the life out of you or drop you from a deadly height. 

"You try being literally manhandled." I grumbled, pulling my gaze away from the human to look at the ground instead.

"Are you saying me picking you up like that is scary for you?" Connor asked. He was probably being genuine in his question, but it came out sounding like an accusation to my prideful ego. 

"I--it's not scary, just weird!" I spluttered out the lie. I was not going to be seen as some scared little girl.

"Weird how?" Connor asked, sounding legitimately curious. I was admittedly surprised, the human actually considering my perspective of things was something of a new thing. 

I shifted into a cross legged position but kept my eyes down from looking into those massive brown eyes. I shrugged my shoulders in response to his question. How did one explain to someone that had always been a giant in their world what it was like to feel tiny? 

"I don't know...don't you think it'd be weird being in a giant hand?!" I exclaimed, finally pulling my gaze up to look at Connor as I threw my arm out to gesture to his much larger appendage resting on his knee.

Connor seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding. "Yeah I guess so. I've never really thought of it before to be honest." He said with a shrug. 

I rolled my eyes. "Well you may want to consider thinking about if before inflicting it on others." I told him, a bit more cheek thrown into the words than I necessarily meant to.

Connor smirked, apparently amused by my attitude rather than enraged as I had been expecting. "You may be right." He said with a chuckle. 

I watched as the smile on Connor's face slowly faded and morphed into one of concerned contemplation, I could tell by the unfocused look in his eyes that he was giving thought to something he hadn't ever before. He then pulled himself out of his daze and focused his gaze back onto me, though his eyebrows remained pulled together in thought. "So what is it really like?" He asked me seriously.

I raised an eyebrow up at him. "What is what like?" I asked, though I already had a pretty good idea what he meant.

Connor's steady gaze on me didn't waver, even after I pulled my eyes away from his uncomfortably and focused down on my hands in my lap instead. "Y'know, being small." He clarified bluntly. 

I rolled my eyes at being called "small". I still hung onto my belief that I, as well as all of the hidden, weren't just some weird aberration of the human race. For me, being the size I was was normal, in fact I was actually considered a little tall for my age. Just because the humans seemed to dominate the world because they were so big, didn't mean they were necessarily the so called 'normal' ones. 

"I am not small, you are just big." I stated crossly as I folded my arms over my chest and looked up at Connor's vast face.

Connor chuckled at that, which only succeeded in irritating me further. "If that's what you want to think, then go ahead." He told me, holding his hands up in a surrender way as if to say 'whatever works for you'.

I opened my mouth, about to send back a retort, but before I could Connor spoke up again. "But seriously, I want to know what it's like." He said.

I was surprised by Connor's sudden strong interest in seeing things from my point of view. It seemed he was finally attempting to get out of his own head and see things somebody else's way. I uncrossed my arms as I looked up into his eyes to find sincerity in them. He didn't seem to be just stringing me along or something at least.

I lifted my eyebrows uncertainly but nodded anyways. "Alright, well what exactly is it you want to know?" I asked, unsure of what it was he was looking for from me.

Connor shrugged, it appeared he didn't exactly know what it was he wanted to know either. "Uh I don't know. Um...well I guess...I guess what am I like to you, I mean what are human sized people like to you?" He finally got out. "I mean I know you told me you're not scared of me or anything, but..." He trailed off.

I furrowed my eyebrows together and looked back down at my lap. If I were to answer the question honestly, the first thing I would have said would have been 'utterly terrifying', but since I was still playing the not-afraid card, I had to think of something else. I didn't really know how exactly to describe what it was like seeing a gigantic person without describing the fear it instilled in me. 

My gaze remained on my lap even as I began to speak. "I--uh, I guess to you it'd be like a tall building that could walk and talk." I told him quietly, before adding a shrug at the end for good measure.

I heard Connor make a 'huh' sound. "So kind of like if the Statue of Liberty hopped off her pedestal and started walking around." He said thoughtfully. I didn't know what a 'statue of liberty' was, but I didn't press. 

"I guess that would be pretty fricking weird." Connor admitted. I could feel his eyes on me, though I wasn't looking up to see for sure. I could tell he was imagining himself from my perspective. Without thinking about it I then began to imagine myself from his perspective. A small shiver ran down my spine as I imagined how minuscule I would appear from his viewpoint. I tried to brush away the image from my mind, all it did was make me feel unbearably tiny and I was trying so hard not to let myself think that way. 

I glanced up to see Connor looking down at me with a smirk. "I guess if I were you I'd think I was a giant too."