piecewise | g/t snippets & drabbles

monochrome (f/m) | snippet #5

Olsen waved dismissively at the greenish light that danced in the corner of his eye.

"Not now," he grumbled.

He slung his dirt-brown pack over his shoulder. As much as he'd love to dissect why it loved to bother him right when the human was somewhere in the vicinity, he would much rather return back to his hiding spot. Groaning when he remembered where he was, the 3-inch wonder slipped back into the pantry, being sure to hide behind all the non-perishables right as the door creaked open.

The being listened for the steps, feeling the quakes as they got closer.

"What a day."

The voice surrounded him as she paused, eyes clearly glossing over the items around his place of camouflage. The light from earlier definitely had a sense of humor - what once was thin and transparent was suddenly taking up a significant portion of his vision. He tried pivoting to the side, but the light followed him. He feebly attempted to swat it away, the annoyance in the corner of his eye enough to distract him from the human's indecisiveness.

"Damn it," he said under his breath. He had no idea what was going on. One second, he was making his way to the hole he lived in, the next he was hiding behind dry sticks of orange-ish gold. To make matters worse, the light persisted still - and at this rate, wouldn't stop to let him plan his escape. He pursed his lips, ears listening in on the human's movements.

She was still browsing, taking each item and weighing it in her hand, or pushing others aside to make them look better. Something about the action was endearing from a distance, but at this vantage point...her hand looming over each object larger and wider than he was...

Olsen pursed his lips. Not the best...

He bit back a grimace. He could only half-see now, and he was running out of time. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before-

"What the fuck?"

He frowned. Spoke too soon. Luckily, somehow, the light had blindsighted him completely, and he had no idea what the human looked like or was doing. Another note of luck, Olsen knew she whispered when she was surprised, so at the very least his ear drums weren't bleeding.

But the heat rushed to his cheeks and ears would definitely say otherwise.

Something touched him then, something fleshly and...large. Olsen jumped back, crashing into a side of the cabinet, dooming himself further. Damn! His thoughts screamed as he froze, the hairs on his arms feeling foreign as his teeth clattered at the possibility. She'd definitely seen him - if not before, then definitely when he jumped back. Weirdly, though, he could feel the light from before beyond his eyelids, almost as if it was...stronger?

He brushed off the thought, brain-racking around ideas of escape. Between his instincts telling him to run, jump, or hide from this height; and the half-baked plan to gain her trust, a pit of despair formed in Olsen's stomach. Both were risky - besides, the human had no idea if he talked, or even understood her. If he admitted it, he could be spared - but living in the hands of multiple humans, let alone one, seemed more dangerous than death itself. Dying was more noble, although barely - Olsen knew his life as a borrower was short, but this...?

"Woah..."

Olsen's eyes had adjusted, as he was face to eye with the gargantuan human in front of him. He winced as the sheer magnitude of her stature blocked off the rest of the light from earlier, which looked solid enough to touch. He grumbled internally as she backed up, likely for her benefit, as the realization settled in that there was no outcome where he could outmaneuver her. He was hundreds of inches in the air, with nowhere to escape, stuck with a bean he could've easily avoided if he hadn't 

And worst of all, he thought to himself, occasionally waving a hand at his vision, the light's annoyance had just gotten worse.

"You okay..." the loud voice questioned, "um-"

"What?" Olsen was surprised when his voice didn't come out the slightest bit shaky. The light continued to dance around his vision, its greenish color dyeing blueish in the human's vicinity. What was going on?

"So you can talk?"

Olsen didn't expect indignance to be the emotion that rose to the surface, but before he could explore why his lips moved to answer the question. "No, I just happen to be mirroring you."

The human scoffed. "You're quite bold for a tiny thing."

The feminine voice that boomed around him had said it endearingly, but Olsen had no idea why he had known it, or even why he'd bothered speaking up in the first place. As Olsen's eyes took in his surroundings, he found himself calm, of all the emotions he thought he'd have. Sure, his heart was beating wildly, but the adrenaline was working against his fight-or-flight for whatever reason. His gaze flitted to the light from earlier, which became much more transparent. 

Maybe *that* had something to do with it.

He cleared his throat. "And you're surprisingly soft for a human. Any idea where the light is coming from?"

The woman squinted. "You mean the windows?" She said, vaguely gesturing to the panes around her dwelling.

He waved about the light entering directly into his eyeballs. "No," he fussed, noting how her hand provided a heat that he was starting to find...comforting, of all things. His cheeks flushed as he let the thought marinate, contemplating his words. "I mean, it may be too tiny for you to see. Like a...beam, I think. Concentrated?"

The bean's confusion only deepened, to the borrower's frustration. He could feel her caution, practically feeling her own frustration layer on his. The mutual feeling created a haste in him he couldn't explain, and suddenly he was holding onto the light beam like he could actually feel it, and-

He paused as the blueish-green color settled in his hands, the beam in question feeling like knitted cotton as he found it in him to yank. He expected to stumble, if anything, he had an inkling that it was connected to him. 

What he didn't expect, was the woman that towered over him to stumble slightly, too. He watched in awe as mirrored his movement, her imbalance causing a domino effect that altered the surface he was lifted on. His stomach dropped as he seemed to notice the ground for the first time, although all he could think about when he looked back up was her. 

His tongue was forming letters, ones that he had heard everywhere but refused to acknowledge for the longest time.

"Nora," he breathed, and was surprised to watch her face melt at the gesture. 

"Olsen," she responded, and he felt his heart leap at the way it sounded, like she had known him their entire lives. The light strengthened in his grip, causing Olsen to let go completely, but neither being was focused on what he had been holding at that moment. A feeling of boldness came over Olsen for what felt like the hundredth time that hour, and as his tiny eyes met hers there seemed to be an electricity that neither could place.

"We need to talk."