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Mira struggled in the grip of a giant she thought she’d never see again. She couldn’t remember how this happened, but their glare was enough to terrify her. She wanted to go home, she needed help. They just smiled as her struggles started to die down. She couldn’t break their hold, not without a weapon or some help.
“Aww finally losing your fire, little doll?” they crooned. She flinched at the words. She opened her mouth to speak, but the fingers around her tightened and squeezed the breath from her. “Don’t you dare talk back to me this time. No one is going to save you. Not when your dumb friend handed you to me himself.”
“What?” she squeaked out. The fingers tightened again, she was sure her bones were about to break.
“What was his name again? Corus? He told me all about how he got you away from the ones who’d save you just to give you to me. Did you really think a giant would marry someone like you? A little human who can barely look in his eyes?”
She felt tears roll down her face. Of course Corus didn’t want to actually marry her. It was all to get her trapped again. She felt her heart start racing when he appeared in the room. Corus looked at her with disdain. She felt her heart breaking as he walked up close enough to see her clearly.
“Stop playing around and get rid of it already,” Corus said, his voice cold. That ignited something in her heart, she squeezed her eyes shut before getting ready to scream.
“Let go of me you damned monsters!” she screamed.
The feeling of the fingers squeezing her disappeared. She was on something soft and a warmth radiated from nearby. She slipped her eyes open a new bout of panic taking over when she found Corus staring at her. She started to scramble back desperate to get away. His eyes widened and a hand blocked the path behind her. She started to struggle breathing.
“Woah woah, calm down deep breaths. In,” he said. He took in his own deep breath pulling her hair forward. He let his breath out and blew the hair back in response. “And out.”
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even think. He was there and his breath kept washing over her. Spots started to coat her vision, she had to get away. She started to sob as she tried to get a breath. Her head was spinning.
“Ok not working, how about… can you tell me five things you can see?” She shook her head, she couldn’t breathe or speak. “Please, just try.”
“I…” she wheezed. His eyes were pleading with her. “I see your eyes… th-the pillow… your shirt… your arm… a-and your hands.”
“Good, good. How about four things you can touch?” She nodded and was able to get the smallest breath more.
“The pillow case, my shirt, my hair… your hand.”
“Three things you can hear?”
“My heartbeat, your breathing, the birds outside.”
“Two things you can smell?” She smiled a little bit.
“Your morning breath and the body wash you use.” He laughed a bit before looking serious again.
“One thing you can taste?”
“...oranges, my mouth tastes like oranges.”
“Great, did that help at all?”
“I can breathe again…a bit.” He nodded before pulling his hand from behind her. She was able to calm down more now that he wasn’t touching her anymore. She backed away a little more, guilt grabbing her heart when he looked hurt.
“It was a pretty bad one this time then?” She nodded, he sighed and it made her shiver. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“You’ll hate me if I do…” She wasn’t sure he’d hear her, but he moved his face just a bit closer. She hugged herself tightly, terrified of what he could do rather than would do.
“I wouldn’t hate you even if you left me for being a giant. You can tell me Mira.” His voice was quiet too, it was almost reassuring. She nodded, closing her eyes again.
“They had me again… they were crushing me in their grip. I couldn’t believe my bones weren’t broken yet. Then they…” She trailed off, she couldn’t say it to him. She didn’t want to lose him even if she just saw that cold face staring at her.
“What did they do, Mira?” She started crying as she tried to force the words out.
“They told me you.. That you just wanted to get me away from everyone and would never want to marry someone like me. A human like me. Then you were there and just looked at me like I was trash and asked why they hadn’t…” She started sobbing and had to try and calm herself. “Why they hadn’t crushed me yet…”
Mira heard the fabric shifting as Corus moved. She curled in on herself, sure he’d be grabbing her to get rid of her. He kept trying and she kept thinking he’d just kill her or get rid of her eventually. She felt as his weight left the bed and tried to act stoic. She can’t be upset when he gets tired of being seen as a monster. She heard him moving more, she hoped he wouldn’t grab her tightly.
Warmth radiated off the hands approaching her. She tensed at the sound of his weight hitting the ground. She relaxed a bit as a finger touched her, tensing more than before as she felt another on her side. He pinched her gently before lifting her to a sitting position. She had her eyes closed still, but he put a finger under her chin and held her face up. She knew he wanted her to see him. She felt his sigh and peeked open her eyes before he spoke.
“Mira,” he whispered. He had a smile before coming closer. He was everything around her. “I would never let that happen. If you were in danger like that I’d do whatever it takes to save you from it.”
She leaned her head into his finger. He wrapped his hand around her and lifted her off the pillow. Her heart was racing, all the possibilities running through her mind. He brought her up to his face and slowly placed a kiss on her. She gasped, a blush spreading over her face. He didn’t give her a chance to say anything pulling her down to his chest and over his heart. This sound was relaxing more than she could ever admit.
“How about I make some breakfast? You said you liked the way I make french toast,” he asked.
“You just want french toast, I can barely eat any of it,” she laughed. Corus laughed too, walking off with her held tightly against him. He was the only person who could calm her so easily, and it was just one more thing to make her love him.