"Ugh."
Fern blinked. Who was that? Was he close by? Why was he so loud?
"Why is it so hard to wrap bandages around you?"
Fern jolted, and his eyes flew open as the met the massive face, staring at him. He stumbled back, squeaking at the sight of the giant's fingers right next to his arm.
"Jeez, be careful!" The giant yelped, pulling away quickly. "I don't want to rip off your arm."
Fern ignored the giant, and started running away.
He didn't get very far.
He screamed as his legs buckled underneath him, and he fell face-first onto the table he was on. He twisted around to gaze fearfully at the giant hand that was shooting towards him. He tried to back up, but in seconds, large fingers encircled his comparably tiny body.
"Look. I'm tired, and I don't want to deal with a terrified, tiny person I found in the rain trying to kill himself when I'm trying to help him. Got it? Good."
Fern was gently pinned back down on the table by two fingers, and he tried his best to stay still, not wanting to anger the giant. Who knew what he'd want to do with him when he was healed?
"What's your name?" The giant asked, lightly pinching his bloody right arm to wrap a small cloth around it. "I'm not gonna call you 'Tiny Guy'."
Fern whimpered slightly. He opened his cracked lips, closed them, and then opened them again. "F-Fern."
"Cool. Nice to meet you." The giant muttered absentmindedly, gently rubbing a Q-Tip covered in anti-septic over a shoulder wound. Fern yelped as the stinging sensation struck his body, and he wriggled slightly. "I'm Connor."
"N-nice to m-m-meet you, C-con-nor." He managed to squeak out, cursing his damned shaky, terrified voice.
Connor smiled, and gently used a finger to prop Fern up. "There. All patched up. You feel alright?"
"A-alright." Fern replied, still shivering slightly in fear. "What a-are you going to d-do with me?"
Or to me, he'd wanted to say.
"Dunno." Connor said, shrugging. "Maybe return you to your family? They might be worried about you."
Fern paled. How did Connor know about them? It was like he could read Fern's mind.
"Look," Connor said, further proving Fern's point. "You're probably wondering how I could know that, considering how pale your face is." He chuckled. "It looks like you've seen a ghost."
"Anyways," He continued, "The reason I know, or have an accurate guess, is that - I hope this doesn't offend you or anything - you don't seem like you could survive a day."
Fern's jaw hit the floor, both from shock, and from anger. How dare he?
"Look, look." Connor said, raising his hands in surrender. "You seem pretty young, and I literally found you dying outside. You couldn't have survived so long outside without a caretaker, right?"
Fern's shoulders slumped. Connor was right. Mama and Papa were fierce warriors, and had they not been there, Fern would've died the moment he was born.
"O-ok." He mumbled. "You're right."
"Heh. Figures." Connor laughed. "Now, how about I get you some food and water? You're starving.
From that point on, Fern didn't have one doubt in his mind that Connor could read his thoughts like a book.
...
"You ready?" Connor asks, gently poking his shirt pocket, a giggle emanating from inside.
"I-I'm not too sure." Fern admitted, snuggling deeper into the pocket. "What if my parents don't want me because I interacted with you?"
"Then they're not your real parents." Connor assured him. "They would care about you, no matter what."
Connor walked deeper into the forest.
"I hope you find your parents soon, Fern." Connor whispered, "It's getting really dark."
Suddenly, they both heard shouting.
"Help, Willow!"
"I've got your back, Oak!"
Connor ran toward the noise, and found a dog, snarling at two small people, and biting at them. They were both bloody, and weak.
"Shoo!" Connor yelled, waving his arms at the dog. "Go away!"
"Mama! Papa! Fern cried in anguish, jumping out of Connor's pocket, sliding down shirt and reaching his parents, hugging them. "Are you alright? Answer me, answer me!"
"Fern," Connor said, with a hint of a smile, "Shaking them won't help."
"We're fine, we're fine." Willow smiled, gently running a hand through Fern's hair. "We've missed you so much."
The two adults turned toward the giant teen in front of them. "Uhm, t-thank you, human." Oak stuttered slightly, not able to keep the worry and fear out of his voice.
"The name's Connor, and it was my pleasure." Connor replied politely. "Fern was a delight to meet. Your child is one of the nicest, most respectful people I've ever met. Please, don't ever change that."
"Bye, Connor!" Fern shouted waving to the departing human.
The giant simply grinned and left, like the sun, disappearing behind the trees.
"Looks like you've got a story to tell." Willow said, accepting her son's hand as he helped she and her husband back home.
"Yeah," Fern smiled, "I guess I do."
...
This was absolutely too fast to be an actual story. So, I put it in here!
