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“What happened?”
Jake winced. “Nothing Chula. Needed to do a disappearing act during a mission. It’s fine.”
“You weren’t on a mission, Jake.”
Fuck.
Jake buried his face in the massive pillow. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Really? I hadn’t picked up on that.” Layla’s voice was dry.
Jake lifted his head and turned to face her. “Leave it alone, Layla.”
“And when Marc wakes up to being the size of a Ken doll? How am I supposed to leave that alone?”
Jake slumped back into the swimming pool sized pillow. “He’s gonna be ticked.”
“Probably.” She was lying on her side, so her eye level was close to his. “I know you don’t want to talk. But it’ll help.”
Jake scowled. “Tuve una pesadilla.”
“A nightmare.” Layla had been working on her Spanish. “Can you summon the suit in your sleep?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. Not what happened. I woke up and wasn’t sure what was real.” His eyes were locked on the wall opposite them. “Steven or Marc, they would have tried to run. I did what I do and hid.”
Yes, she’d witnessed both Marc and Steven jump out of bed and attempt to flee when they were hazy on waking reality. “Okay. Why didn’t you wake me up after?”
“What for?”
Oh God, he was genuinely confused. “To talk, or cuddle, or just to keep you company. You’ve been lying there for--”
“Not too long.” He shrugged.
“You didn’t have to be alone.” She placed a finger on his leg.
He didn’t flinch away or lean into it. “I’m fine. I woke up quick enough afterwards.”
“I guess so.” She moved her hand, wriggling it between Jake and the pillow. She cupped his back and he leaned into her touch. “But I don’t like lying next to you when I could squish you and not even know.”
“Please, you sleep like a rock. I’d be more afraid of El Jefe showing up and blowing over a stack of books.”
Always back to humor. “Seriously, wake me up next time. Even if you’re not tiny. You can talk to me.”
He didn’t meet her eyes. “You don’t want to hear about it.”
“Jake Lockley, have you met me? Of course I do.” She gave him a very gentle squeeze, leaving her fingers curled loosely around him. “Have you not seen all the time I waste trying to pry things out of Marc?”
“Yeah, yeah. Steven balances him out, though. If I have to hear about his damned chicken dream one more time--”
“Jake.” Another gentle squeeze. “Tell me. Please.”
He took a deep breath; she could feel his heart hammering. “It’s not a big deal. Nothing new. Some monster was chasing us down and it was more prudent to hide.”
“You usually shrink the body when you’re finishing a mission.” She pointed out. “Avoiding cops and onlookers and such.”
“I know.” An edge crept into his voice. ‘I’m not a maldito coward.”
“I never said you were.” She brushed her thumb over his side, soothing. “But I’ve never seen you do this to avoid a fight.”
“I wasn’t--I don’t wanna talk about this!” He broke from her grasp and darted towards the edge of the bed.
“Jake!” She lunged, tossing the pillow onto the floor on the other side of the bed. He jumped over the side, summoning the suit as he went.
“Fuck.” Layla jumped out of bed, eyes on the floor. She waited to see him race around the corner to try and wedge himself somewhere she couldn’t get to. “Jake, please, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
When Jake didn’t appear, she slowly lowered herself to the floor and peeked around the bed.
Jake was sitting on the pillow, knees to his chest, arms holding them in place. The suit was already gone.
Layla couldn’t quite tell, but she thought she spotted tear tracks on his face.
“Jake, I’m sorry.” She lowered her voice. “I--Marc doesn’t like being held either when you’re small, but I thought--”
“Not that. Didn’t mind that, actually.” He shook his head. “Steven really likes it, y’know? I can get it. Felt nice.”
“Is he…around?”
“No. You’re stuck with me for now, Chula.” He swiped a hand over his face. “Jesus, this is pathetic.”
“It’s not.” Jake was never as wary as Marc when there was a size difference between them. She offered her hands. “We don’t have to talk about it anymore. But if you ever want to, we can.”
He didn’t move. “Sorry I scared you.”
“You’re the only man I know who can do that when you’re the size of a ruler.”
“You got other mini-guys runnin’ around? Marc and Steven’ll freak.” He managed a weak smile.
“Yeah, I’m a regular elfin magnet.” She collected him from the pillow and held him against her chest.
“You better hope Steven doesn’t wake up to this; poor guy would have a heart attack.” Jake started to sound more like himself. “Marc would just bitch about lack of access.”
“And you?” She carried him into the living room. “I think we’ve known each other long enough to get some answers on that front.”
“...Wish I had ‘em.” He said after a moment. “Don’t get me wrong, Layla. You’re awesome. Love you to bits. But I…I don’t think it’s the same for me as it is for the two of them.”
She sat on the couch, but didn’t set him down. “That’s okay, you know.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m perfectly happy being your friend.” She looked down at him. “Not that I have many friends I can literally toss around.”
“Please, you’re an Avatar. You can toss us around no matter what size we are.” Jake laughed, nuzzling her. “Gotta give it to Steven, though. This is nice.”
“It is.” She thought for a moment. “In a while how about I get us some breakfast? I think there’s some turkey bacon squirreled away where Steven can’t find it.”
“Madre de Dios, you said the magic words.”
“I’m gonna buy one of those pints of Ben and Jerry’s and we can just eat ourselves sick.”
“That shit is rich. If we weren’t busy Moon Knighting so much you’d make us fat.”
“So you don’t want ice cream?”
“...I didn’t say that.”
“We could get the peanut butter cup one.” She teased.
“Hm. Peanut butter cups as big as softballs.” Jake mulled this over. “That would be cool.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She dropped her chin, trapping him in a snuggle.
“Hey Cousin It, don’t drown me here!” He complained as her curls piled around him.
She tossed her head, obliging him. “All good?”
“Yeah Chula. All good.”
It was nice to mean it.