trophyMoth"WAHHH! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" Aiden ducked and flinched as the strange little creature fluttered around him, giving him the shock of his life. Richard stood by the shrunken Wile as he watched the ladder flail about. The sight of this was hysterical but the larger Wile had chosen to be discreet about it. "You're scared of a butterfly..." "Is this what a butterfly is?!" Aiden practically wailed. "I always thought that they were pretty little things, not murderous monsters out for blood!" Richard fell out laughing. "You're too much, you know that?" "Easy for you to say! Why don't you come down to my level and see just how terrifying this thing is with your own eyes?" Richard cracked a side grin. "I know what insects are like. Sure, they take some getting used to, especially when you realize that some of them defy the laws of physics as we Beanstalks know it. But once you can get past how freaky they are, they're not so bad... usually." "What in the world is going on here?" Jillian questioned as she walked in through the human entrance. As soon he saw her, Aiden bolted forward and made a flimsy attempt to hide behind the elf. Upon spotting what he was running from, Jillian held a hand to her mouth with endearment. "That's what the problem is?" "It was attacking me earlier!!" "It's a little white poodle moth! Such a gorgeous creature.. Why would you be so scared of this itty bitty guy?" It was obvious Jill was teasing the red head at this point. "You should have seen him earlier, he was practically being chased." Richard replied with a toothy grin. "Yeah! What he said!" Aiden cried. The moth was currently perched atop a Sprout-scaled shelf, sulking the bristles on its legs as it observed the commotion below. "Are you pulling my leg?" Jillian said. "I'm telling you! That bug wouldn't leave me alone!" Aiden then told his account while waving his arms around to set the scene. "I was here, just minding my own business. When suddenly that creature swooped down and crashed onto my head! And it kept doing it too! And no matter what I did to avoid it, it just dived and flung and loop-the-looped! I have no idea what it's deal was!" While listening to Aiden's testimony, Jillian gestured lightly for the moth to come closer to her. The insect's antennae twitched as it turned it's body towards the elf's coos and whistles. It then flew off of its resting post and swooped onto Jillian's finger. Which instantly caused the chicken-hearted Wile to hide for the nearest cover. "Aren't you a pretty little thing! Yes you are!" Jillian hummed as she hovered a finger over it. She took particular care to prevent touching any part of the moth's delicate body. Aiden slowly came out of his curled position to take a closer look, though he remained cautious. "You.. you tamed it." "Nah! These kinds of moths just feel relaxed around elves. We've had them as companion pets since ancient times so it's likely ingrained into their DNA! This one's in such prime shape too! I better work on getting it some life extension potions so I can rehome it to someone who can take good care of it." "Yeah.. you do that. So long as it stays clear away from me, I'll be... happy for it..." "Aiden. Aren't you wearing that woolly sweater?" "Um... yeah? Why?" "Well no wonder! I just found out that this is a little lady! So no, she wasn't really coming after you, she most likely just wanted to lay her eggs on your clothes." Aiden took a moment to fully process what he just heard. Before the realization settled in... and the start of a small, high-pitched scream commenced, which had increased in volume and intensity by the second. "All right!" Jillian shouted. "I'm taking her with me for now! Try to relax, will ya!" Jillian kept the moth by her side as she made her way back to her workshop. Along with getting her new charge somewhere safe, her ears needed a break as well. Aiden wouldn't dream of doing the last thing she said until the elf had shut the door behind him. It was only then that his bundle of nerves settled, if only slightly. He turned around to face the front of the giant sized desk he stood on and wondered where Richard had gone. Only to discover shortly after that the Wile giant was hunched over on the side of the furniture with a look of someone who was in pain. He immedietly exploded in laughter in spite of himself. "You're no better than Jac." Aiden pouted. "I'm sorry...!" Richard uttered before releasing the heckling maniac that he was trying his best to tie down. "If you can't handle a moth, I wonder how you would fare with other bugs? Like jumping spiders?" "Jumping what?!!" Aiden squealed. Richard almost wanted to tease him a little more, but he thought it'd be best to hold back... for now at least. After all, his friend has already had enough scares for one day.Secret“Jackie Newton? Is that really you?” Jac’s eyes shot open upon hearing that name. She turned around to see an older blonde haired woman with a large pink hat who was bent on walking towards her, much to Jac’s dismay. The young woman failed to recognize her, which immediately caused all of the alarm bells in her head to sound off. Her legs began to tremble as an unrelenting panic crept up into the deep corridors of her mind. Concurrently, Aiden stepped into the picnic area with an ice cream cone in each hand, one of which was appropriately sized for his much smaller friend. The Wile giant had arrived the moment the older woman walked up to Jac, and he thought nothing of the conversation at first. Just a friendly “how do you do” and all the casual chatter that was to be expected in a public park. That immediately changed however, when Aiden sensed the the ever bubbling terror that radiated from his human friend. Which in turn caused him to respond with a deep, guttural snarl. Jac had took notice of his low rumblings straight away, as did the stranger. “Is that…? Oh god!” The older woman backed up just as she was beginning to realize what she was potentially dealing with. A giant by themself was threatening enough, but a Wile giant was a whole nother issue altogether. “Aiden!” Jac shouted, as she put herself between the woman and the teeth baring giant. “It’s alright! She’s not here to cause trouble!” “Wa-huh?” Aiden paused just as he was leaning over the two humans, which caused the older lady to fall under the giant’s shadow. She cowered immensely from the pressure of those enormous copper eyes that stared directly at her, as she folded herself into a ball behind the more defiant Jac. “Uh, I thought…?” Aiden looked between the two several times. As he realized that he had caused the attention to shift towards him, he mellowed out instantly and stammered. “Oh! I’m sorry!! My bad.” “It’s okay.” Jac said as she patted the Wile giant on the hand that was firmly on the ground next to her. “You sensed my nervousness, and you were right to be worried about me! But I’m fine now, so try to relax!” Aiden turned to the woman, and gulped nervously when he saw her flinch at the mere notion. “Uh! I didn’t mean to scare you… uhmm…” The Wile figured that the best course of action was to back away as much as possible. He returned to the picnic mat several yards away, though he made sure to keep the two humans within his line of sight just in case. The older woman spent several minutes in a dumbfounded trance and took her time to get her bearings together. Jac rolled her eyes but did offer to help the lady back on her feet, which helped to calm the latter down considerably. “I… I can’t believe you actually tamed that… that Wile giant…” The woman finally uttered. “I don’t really care for such a condescending word. He left of his own will.” Jac spoke with a slight sternness in her tone. “Still, it was really brave of you to stand up to him! He was quite ferocious.” Jac had to hold back laughter. “Aiden’s the least ferocious Wile giant I’ve ever met! He wouldn’t hurt a fly, quite literally.” That still failed to put all of the lady’s fears to rest, though in hindsight it may have been for the best. Knowing that there was a "predatory" giant that seemed to come to Jac’s beck and call was enough to keep her from overstepping. And yet as the two began to talk once more, Jac’s wariness never fully ceased. For the woman, who had revealed herself to be a retired tax collector from Petithiem, would bring up things from Jac’s past that had made her substantially uncomfortable. Aiden meanwhile could not retain his focus on anything else as the human’s conversation continued. Perhaps most irritating for the inquisitive giant was the fact that, per Jac’s request, the rest of their discussion took on the form of near whispers. Which made it difficult for the Wile giant to hear amidst the distraction of other outdoor noises. Though even then, Aiden’s sharp hearing was able to pick up bits and pieces. This helped to fuel some of his anxieties however, but it was thankfully short lived. For just as sudden as she came, the woman had bid adieu to Jac and went on her way. Jac slowly walked up to her giant friend with a heavy look in her eyes. “How much of it did you hear?” She asked. “Not that much.” Aiden replied. “What part?” Aiden cleared his throat lightly as he lowered his palm to the ground, which Jac hopped aboard without question. “What was that lady’s deal anyway?” He whispered instead. “She didn’t even get your name right.” “She… she did.” Jac felt like she had no other choice but to explain at least the bullet points of what he had witnessed. As she was lifted up to his ear, Jac briefly gave him the rundown of her name, what it had connections with, and why the woman spoke to her the way she did. Jac made it very clear that the elder must never tell anyone else back in Petithiem where the former was today, in which the woman replied that she wasn’t planning on returning to that “stuffy old port town” if she could help it anyway, so her “secret would be kept safe.” Having the Wile giant around would insure that the older woman would make good on her promise. Aiden took all of this in without saying a word. He wanted to, but he just couldn’t find his voice after hearing this influx of eye-opening revelations. He was well aware of some of the heavier details from previous chance meetings, but it still brought a slight tear in his eye when he learned just how complicated and hard this was on his human friend. After a few minutes of processing what just happened, Jac broke the silence. “Promise me one thing. Please don’t tell anyone what happened today. We’ll take this to our graves if we have to.” “Of course.” Aiden replied softly. “Another added to the pile. But… what about Richard?” “Especially Richard!” Jac exclaimed, before she looked around and lowered her volume to a mere mumble once more. “He doesn’t even recognize the dag… err…” “I’m aware… But… but why though? Shouldn’t he of all people need to know?” “Please don’t…” Jac was in the verge of tears for a brief second before she collected herself again. “I beg of you…” Sensing the severity of the moment, Aiden quietly relented, speaking softly while gently wiping her eyes with the tip of his finger. “All right. I promise.” Relief washed over the tiny human as she fell back into the digits that were supporting her. As he brought her back up to the front of his face, Aiden smiled. Whether he agreed with Jac or not, he was much more inclined to respect her wishes if it meant that even a fraction of pressure could be lifted off her shoulders. Now that the tension had passed, the Wile giant felt that a nice cold treat was the best thing they could have for this occasion. But as he looked back at the cones on the laid out picnic cloth, he sighed. “The ice cream is probably a puddle by now. I could get you another.” “Mmmm, melted ice cream…” Jac mused, the thought of it made her relax even more. “Just what I needed today. But since you’re offering… ehh, I don’t mind seconds.” Aiden had to sigh again at that response. Not that he minded, of course.Gentle Bo stared at the potted plant for a good minute or so as the leaves quivered ever so slightly. He went to get a closer look, only to see a fraction of what appeared to be a much smaller being as they scurried to get away from sight. Bo could barely make out a figure, he could have sworn that he saw a familiar sleeve. There was only one person he knew who wore that particular hand-knitted sweater. "Rod...?" Bo uttered in the tiniest voice he could muster. The sound of his name caused the elf's ears to perk right up, as he scooted further into the cover of the leaves. "GO AWAY!!" He shouted desperately at the top of his lungs. He was pretty sure the giant couldn't hear him, but Bo was able to read the message well enough based one how intensely the leaves shook. Bo had never seen the elf in his normal five inch height. He was well aware that Rod would never show his true form out in the open, so that was enough to tell him that something was up. Bo also understood however that he couldn't just straight up talk to him upfront, as the latter would least likely trust someone so massive in his current state. The giant needed to approach this with care. After putting his thinking cap on for a moment, Bo pulled out his phone. He decided that the best solution was to make a call. In a moment's time, a faint fragment of a familiar ring tone sounded off from between the leaves. Realizing that there was no way to convince the giant to ignore this, Rod caved in and answered, though he said nothing at first. "Rod? What happened?" Bo talked not through the device in his hand, but in the same barely audible way as he did before. "Please, I want to help." After a minute of consideration, and much sighing, Rod finally spoke. "My magic just suddenly died on me. It happens when I've gotten low on energy..." "And you didn't want me to see you like this?" "I trust you as a friend. And yet.. I don't enjoy knowing that larger folks can see me in my vulnerable state... especially since, you know..." "Say no more! I can certainly see where you're coming from." Bo replied. "Even though I've never been in your position, I can figure out how uncomfortable you must be with someone like me at this time, friend or not. Although..." Bo rested his hand under his chin. "Was it your intention to be hanging around the plants?" "Um...no..." "So you're stuck..." "I can get off of this platform on my own...given enough time..." "Listen man... I know it seems like I'm the scariest thing in the world right now, but you're going to have to trust me on this one." Bo said with determination in his whispered words. "I've had to hold tiny elves and other smaller folks before. You've seen that with your own eyes! So please, let me get you out of there and into someplace more secluded. Okay?" Bo then took out a single finger, pointing it just before he touched the little pot itself. Rod looked at the digit with fear welling up in his core. He could see the fingerprints form craters on its tip; this in turn would cause the elven man to gulp, and vibrate even more. Sensing the tension from the silence, Bo did his best to remain calm for his bud no matter how much of his own nerves he had to quell. He took a deep breath from his nose, and said: "It's going to be okay. I'll be gentle. I promise." A minute passed. Then two. When it had seemed like nothing would change from this situation, Rod finally made his move. Carefully and gingerly, he placed his hands onto the warm surface of Bo's fingertip, and began to crawl. The tiny elf wrapped his arms and legs around as much of the skin he could hold onto, and he still shivered as if he was freezing despite the heat all around him. He remained silent throughout, but Bo knew from experience that Rod was about as good and ready as he'll ever be. As steadily as possible, without a single shake or sway, Bo transported his tiny passenger with his finger still extended throughout. After the initial uncertainty, Rod managed to return to his usual calm self gradually but surely. It would not be long before he began to feel grateful for this improvised ride. After all, this was certainly better than many cases of being held by other giants and even humans. Bo really did earn the title of one of the Beanstalk Society's gentlest giants. After Bo sat the elf down in front of the hole in the wall as per instruction, Rod got off sporting a weary smile. His confidence boosted profoundly once he got off of his carrier; he was relieved that this was over, but was also humbled by the events that took place. Bo noticed this as well, and had instantly released the bundled up worry he had been shouldering throughout this time. "Thank you, my friend," Rod said. "You were a great help." "Anytime." Bo chuckled. "Would you have expected any less?" Rod made a side glance to his giant companion and gave out a small grin. "Of course not." He replied. The elf would then retreat into the walls, retiring for the day and starting the process of regaining his magic as the night went on.play_arrow