Urchins & Urchin-Eaters

An Urchin, an Urchin-Eater, and a Conflict

**Warning: My old writing/not proof-read**

He could feel the presence of a tiny creature yank on his pant leg.
"Yes, Lorelai?" the giant groaned.
"I'm bored," the little girl whined from the bottom of his leg.
"I told you to go back home," he told her dryly.
"But Olcod..." she complained.
"You know I have work to get done," he sighed.
"Can I help?" she asked hopefully.
"Can you write professional letters to the Department of Human Affairs on the terms of Human and Giant Relationships between the Giant's society and your town?" he inquired.
She thought about it for a moment, "Uhh...I can try."
"Sorry, morsel, but you can't spell 'because'."
"I can too!" she objected, "B-E-C-U-S-E."
"You missed the 'a'," he bit back an amused smirk, making the comment sound bitter.
"There's an 'a'?" she cocked her head to the side.
"C'mon dear. I have work to get done. You need to go back home." he peered down at her, "and I thought I told you to stay away from here anyway. You know it's not safe for you here. You're far too delicious of a morsel for other giants to resist." It wasn't too long ago since he had almost failed to resist the delicious morsel's taste.
There was a giant child that the humans had attacked. He was on his side of the border, but the humans still cut his Achilles heel and stabbed him hundreds of times until he bled out. The kid died, minding his own business, on his own side of the border, and his family didn't even eat humans. An eye for an eye was in demand. The little girl was on the giant's side of the border, so she had it coming. Unfortunately, a persisted nagging echoed inside of him. She had nothing to do with the kid getting murdered. She was just a curious little creature peeking on the wrong side of the border. In the end, eating her would just take some random stranger's eye, leaving two eyeless creatures and two unharmed enemies. So...he let her go.
Now, the urchin thought they were friends and kept coming back. Even though he'd never admit it, he honestly was quite fond of the urchin and her visits. He only worried that the wrong giant would get their hands on his urchin.
"But I wanna play!" she wailed. A hand swooped down and yanked her upwards. She let out a gasp that transformed into a giggle.
"Play, eh? You won't get much playing done if these letters don't get out in time to help slow down the progress of giants taking over your land and eating up you and everyone you've ever cared about." he sneered as she sat dumbfoundedly in his open palm.
"Why would giants do that?" she frowned.
He used to be amongst the giants that frivolously ate humans and destroyed homes and families. A lot of that changed after a few visits from her. Don't get him wrong, if a human is over the border, then, depending on their age, they're food. But he doesn't actively seek out humans or cross their border except on business, and he's started to use his political position to push for a law committing all giants that cross the border for ill-intended reasons. He used to push for the opposite, and to this day, he has trouble knowing why. There's no reason to torment the humans. It might even be more beneficial to live peacefully with them. Perhaps since he had power over them, he thought it was okay. Perhaps that's all giant's mindsets. They have the power over humans to do whatever they'd like to them. So why shouldn't they do it? "I can't really tell you, dear. Maybe they do it because no one's really stopping them."
"Oh," she pushed her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Sometimes he forgot that she was only a child. That she didn't really understand everything that was happening around her, but she knew that it was happening. Sometimes she just needed to forget about all of it and play a game.
"What game did you want to play, morsel?" he relented.
She instantly perked up, "Can we play Giant Slayer?" she steadily hopped to her feet.
"Giant Slayer? More like an annoying appetizer." he purred teasingly.
"You darned monster! I'll make you pay for that." she challenged triumphantly.
"Oh, I sure will...when the check comes out for my delicious dinner," he licked his lips.
She gasped, "Meanie!"
"The meanest," he tried to hold character, but he couldn't help but smile.