H- It is *much* later when they return. Close to 14 hours. A bag of food sways in their free hand as they come up to the cage.
"Morning." They chirp cheerily as they unlock the cage to settle one of the two containers at the orange line for him. They try to ignore the pity they feel for him.
C- Daki slept for most of the time that they were gone, curling up on the furthest edge of the mattress like a cat. He hadn't been in the best spirits since they left. He eventually stirred once he could hear them call out to him. He yawned and stretched, then moved towards the line wordlessly to accept the offerings. Still groggy, he hadn't quite found his voice yet, and offered a small murmur in response.
H- They nod in response to his murmur and step away to unpack their own lunch at their desk.
"How are we feeling today?" They ask.
Inside Daki's own plate was an uncooked steak.
C- Daki drew out the steak, already feeling hungry again. He took the first bite without responding immediately, just focusing on the pleasant meaty flavor to distract his mind.
"Doing fine," he said simply after swallowing, then took another bite. He seemed... reserved... distant.
H- They hum thoughtfully before digging into their own pile of fried rice.
"Any pain? How's the ice treating you?"
C- "Just feeling a little sore," Daki admitted. He wasn't used to his bones being compacted so small for this long.
He continued to silently eat his steak, not looking at Sam.
H- "I see."
"Sore from yesterday or from the ice?" They can't help the tinge of guilt in their voice
C- "The ice," Daki said immediately. He felt a similar feeling of guilt at the mention of yesterday. He really hoped he hadn't hurt Sam too badly, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.
He finished up his steak, then took a drink of water then set the bottle aside. "What do you have planned down here this time?" He kept his voice level, trained, distant. He showed too much emotion yesterday, and now he felt he had to overcompensate.
H- They don't answer right away, content with the giant pile of rice in front of them.
"No plans for you today. Just prep." They finally say.
Their voice is strained, painful. Their throat still felt tight and uncomfortable. They thought they would have bruised, but so far, it was only discomfort.
"You'll get to stretch tomorrow." They offer optimistically. "The ice wears off then." They hesitate to add to that. "I- need to collect some of your blood and saliva tomorrow, too. "
C- "Ah, thought that would be done soon." Daki sighed. "It would be nice not to be stuck tiny for a bit, though."
He still didn't completely face Sam, leaning against the wall of the cage while staring at the opposite wall distantly. He missed the stars already.
"And what are you going to do once I'm normal again? Wouldn't want these cuffs to chop off my hands from regrowing,"
H- "Ah. Don't worry about that. They won't. We have a procedure for this. " he probably won't like it, though.
C- "Mm... Alright," Daki said, though he didn't seem completely reassured. At this point part of him was just... hopeless and resigned to all of this. And he hated it.
H- They note his unenthusiasm. They don't blame him.
"Not looking forward to sticking my hand in your mouth, myself." They grimace dramatically. "You're not a biter, are you?" They ask with amusement, trying to be a little humerous despite having the scars to remind them that giants, do, in fact bite.
C- "Yes, I am. Sometimes," Daki said. He knew he wouldn't bite Sam, though. But with a human's hand stuck in his mouth, he would be so tempted to swallow... he didn't doubt Sam already had some safeguards in place to ensure that didn't happen.
H- They wince. Ergh, not reassuring on their end. They quickly wipe the concern from their face, however.
"Well...at least you're honest." they chuckle. Silver linings - honesty. Though, unfortunately, being honest, didn't mean they would allow them to keep their limbs...
Eh...safeguards, right? Those would surely help right?
"DId you like the food today?" they ask suddenly, curious. "I know it's cold but - I was in a bit of a rush."
C- "I said sometimes, didn't I?" Daki huffed. "I won't bite you."
He glanced down at the empty food container, and pushed it back towards Sam. "It was good. Though I think you sticking your hand in my mouth will make me miss... other foods,"
Well, he was being honest.
H- They raise a brow and tilt their head in a skeptical way that says 'really?' without saying a word. "Bold promise to make to someone whose scraping your insides for ingredients like it's a local super market." they snort, amused.
Then again...he could have hurt them so much more yesterday...and he simply...Had Not. So maybe....But not really something they'd risk on purpose.
C- Daki merely shrugged. "Biting you won't make anything better for me in this situation,"
Well.... The taste of blood was nice— but of course doing that to Sam was not worth it at all. He had promised he wouldn't hurt them. The thought of yesterday, strangling them weighed down heavily upon him in that regard.
H- "No....I suppose not." they sigh, studying him as they go to pick up the plate. "But if it were any other giant, it might just be worth the satisfaction you'd get."
"But you're not just any other giant...."
THey chew on their lip, debating touching the subject or not.
"I brought up some possibilities to the Legion. I'm hoping they'll get back with me on that soon. I still think you'd be much more useful alive with us than dead or against us."
C- Daki looked up with interest. He still appeared guarded and cautious, though there was a small glimmer of hope. A part of him knew the humans would never agree to keep him alive. He was a liability. But still... it was worth trying.
"Thank you," he sighed.
H- "Yea. No problem." They reply, finishing their own food.
"I'm also poking them about the werewolf I'm supervising too. I mean...they're human enough to me? He's pretty nice, too. Maybe - I can change things...Maybe - " they sigh. That's a lot to hope for, but hope they can.
C- "It's worth trying I guess," Daki sighed. "I mean, werewolves and vampires were once human too, so... I mean I can see you guys wanting to capture and mess with me since I was never human, but with the others... It's kind of sad, I guess. Kind of wonder who the monster really is,"
H- They sigh and look away. "It will definitely be harder with you. Especially since your kind is known to target humans specifically....With you as no exception."
"But...I can try."
C- "Yeah, I get it." Daki sighed, looking down. "I don't expect to make it out of here alive anyways... But it's worth a shot,"
H- They hum. "I'll do my best." they wonder if it'd be cruel to promise him a different outcome....To promise him something they couldn't guarantee... "At the very least - I can try to make your stay here a little less unpleasant."
They remember something in their bag "Oh! Speaking of unpleasant. I brought some board games and puzzles if you'd like to try that to pass the time? The werewolf seemed to like them, so...I figured I'd offer you, too." It'd be a little tricky what with needing to stay on one side of the orange tape for it, but, it was doable.
C- Daki snorted in amusement, "The fact that you mentioned that on the topic of unpleasant,"
He shrugged. "I guess it could be good to get my mind off of things, though. I can try them out,"
H- I stammer, embarassed by their wording mistaking. "I, er, didn't mean the games were unpleasant, just, uh, that it could distract from it."
They open the cage again and step inside with a stuffed back pack, careful to stay behind the orange tape. They set the bag down and pull out 3 board games; Mouse Trap, candy Land, and connect the dots. Along side it they pull out a few baggies with varied surprise puzzles.
They point to them and give a quick TLDR of the rules, simplified to the bare minimums for the giant in the hopes of not overwhelming him. Of course, connect the dots was the simplest to explain.
C- Daki snorted in amusement at the descriptions of the games. "Wow your games are so... tame. As a kid we played Rabbits' Teeth and Curfew,"
He was already having trouble determining which game was which. And he couldn't read very well. If he played one game with another game's rules, would it make much of a difference?
H- They tilt their head, smiling with interest, "Rabbits teeth and Curfew?"
C- "Haven't heard of them?" Daki scratched the back of his neck. "Well for rabbit's teeth, that was the only legal one in our clan, and it was sort of a training thing the Elders encouraged. You get two young giants new to camo, one would use camo, and the other would be normal. The small one would have to defend themselves until their camo ran out, and the normal one would have to go extra hard on them. The thing ended when they couldn't hold their camo anymore. The longer you last, the longer you can hold your camo, the better you are. It can sometimes be an all-day competition with pairs competing with the winners until one is the best. But it can get gnarly. Someone from my clan nearly got eaten once," he chuckled.
He never really knew where the title of the game came from, but it just stuck. "It was a popular game for training against hunters. The normal-sized giants would have an opportunity to fight against tiny people, and the giants in camo would train to fight if they got stuck in camo by ice. If they could hold their ground against a giant while in camo, fighting against a human should be easy,"
H- "Sounds kinda like Tag - but more intense." Sam notes, as they sit cross-legged. "Sounds fun!" they chirp. "Miiiiinus the getting eaten part." they snort. Part of them thinks they'd like to play it - but they were human, and, by all means, they technically had. Three times now. And had *lost* each time.... So maybe it wasn't that fun sounding after all.
"What about Curfew? And...Legal? Giants have laws? Do you have giant judges?"
C- "Fun is a word for it," Daki snorted. "Though I've always been pretty good at it— though... my lack of talent for holding camo might be part of it,"
"Curfew just broke some rules against our Elders. It wasn't an official game, and more of a dare. 'Curfew' was the code-word we would use to avoid suspicion. We would select among ourselves one person to do something to the Elders in their sleep without detection. We'd roll a dice for whatever activity they would do. Six and five meant we had to draw on one of the Elders in their sleep. Four and three meant we had to steal something out of their bag. Two and one meant we had to cut a piece of their hair in their sleep. If we were detected, we were in big trouble, so all of these dares were risky. Especially since our actions could be tracked back to our scent when the Elders found out. So sometimes, we would try to disguise ourselves with another clan member's scent to frame them, like using their one of their belongings to mask our scent. It was a great way of getting back at someone we had a grudge with. I was always pretty good at it. I only got caught twice. The second time I had rolled a one, and the Elder half-strangled me when I had cut off one of his braids."
H- They snort. "It's ...comforting - to know that despite our differences, humans and giants still play the same stupid games."
They look between the games and decide on Mouse Trap, unboxing it to reveal the tiny plastic mice and a board with a winding trail and several plastic traps set up ontop of it, the most prominent beging a cage that drops down ontop of whatever goes below it.
"This ones probably the more exciting of the games." And possibly the most insensitive considering where they are...Oops..."The goals simple, don't get your mouse captured."
They of course explain the other basics of the game. Wouldn't want him to be lost. The board sits on the center of the tape with the starting point by sam.
C- "Ah, a goal I could probably learn from," Daki said.
He sat cross-legged on the other side of the board, feeling the chains tugging at his wrists. He looked over the board curiously. Most of the instructions were already alien to him, but he guessed he could just wing it by watching what Sam did.
H- Sam goes first, making sure to walk Daki through when he seems confused or stuck. It was a simple game, just seemed complicated from all the pieces Sam had needed to put together prior to beginning it. Each turn that passed, Sam rotated the board so that their arm never had to cross over the orange, and Daki never had to strain himself on his restraints. It wasn't long before two hours had passed and the game was done with.
Sam checks their phone for the time and tilts their head. "Ah, bit late." they note. "I should get going soon. Did you enjoy the game?"
C- Daki was mostly clueless about the game as they played. Humans seemed to be accustomed to such mundane, safe lives that the calmness of the game was puzzling to him. The trap activation was sometimes entertaining, though he didn't see many real stakes to it. Regardless, he still found it very confusing and was trying his best to keep up with it.
Once that had finished, he sat back with a shrug. "I have no idea. But it did keep me occupied. Your version of games doesn't seem to have any real stakes or dangers."
H- They hum. "No, not particularly. It's not very exciting, but they can be good for killing time." A thought. "I ...can bring real mouse traps or something for *us* to get by if you want to next time" they offer lightly with a grin.
"But. For now. Get some rest. We have collections tomorrow." They advise softly.
C- "That's not what I meant," Daki sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I meant... when you become one of the top predators, and then you get to the point where you're hunting something from the bottom of the food chain... It doesn't really seem worth the effort,"
H- "Where do humans sit on the food chain to you?" They ask curiously.
"I mostly ask because the others seemed to see me as vermin for the most part." They're not judging them for it, hell, yhe giants aren't wrong, they just wonder where they sit on this chain.
C- Daki shrugged. "Not sure. Just somewhere below giants, but on the same level with some predator animals, like lions or wolves. I guess the other giants saying that might've been more referring to their grudges between our kinds instead of your rank on the food chain, but I wasn't there, so I don't know,"
H- "Alongside wolves and lions, huh...?" They murmur thoughtfully, unclear wether to scoff at that or take it at face value and accept it. Humans were many things - and though Sam didn't see them as Apex predators...they couldn't deny that they could be destructive.
"What makes hunting them fun?" They ask, not touching the grudge part. The legions words for monsters proved his point clear enough. They both held grudges and called each other...choice words.
C- "I think it's different for each giant. Some love the power of it, dominating smaller creatures, especially after living our lives in hiding from them, it gives a sort of catharsis. For me, since we've been trained to do it for entire lives, it felt like a purpose I was given, and it made me feel like I was doing something right... I found that exciting, and grew to enjoy every moment of it, from the first moment of the hunt, to, well... you get the point,"
H- They nod, listening - understanding. "I get that...Both cases can be nice." they hum. "The high of knowing you were better or stronger than someone else. The ...." they furrow their brow forgetting the word immediately, "The uh -" they snap their fingers, trying to spark memory. Ah! There it is. "The pride in doing a good job...I get it. Not in the same ways of course - but they are nice feelings."
A thought. "Do you still feel that way?" they ask curiously. "Since you made a human friend, I mean. Has what you do felt different?"
C- "I think it changed when I was banished." Daki said. "I don't want to do anything benefitting the other giants anymore and the stuff they taught me. I guess I'm just still sour about that. I still enjoy the power I feel during a hunt, but you're just the exception... It's different when I ate you— them..."
H- "Hmm. I think that's valid - to be sour. You don't owe them anything. You didn't deserve what they did to you."
They tilt their head, bothered but curious of the other half of his words. "I...find it very hard to imagine myself - or anyone- ever just...letting themselves be eaten...."
"I admit I find it even harder to believe you'd just...cough up your food....I mean. Why would you do that? Eat something just to throw it back up?"
"What made them different? How? I ...have so many Why's...I'm sorry."
C- Daki chuckled, a fond look in his eyes as he reflected on it. He missed the other Sam.
"You actually offered the first time. I don't know why you did. You just stayed in there for a little while and asked me to tell you a story, so I did. I offered to let you go whenever you asked. I found it kind of... nice... I mean, you showed up the moment after I lost my sister and got banished, so you were the only thing that really... kept my going, I guess..." he sighed, glancing away awkwardly.
"But you're so small, and I guess I was afraid of losing you, so... With those little trust exercises, I felt like nothing could hurt you, since I was there,"
H- They raise a brow, confused. "You didn't eat me- them- first? They offered?" thats weird...they think that's weird and it shows, but above that, is pity. "What kept you from eating us -" a sigh, a pinch of the nose, "them - as soon as you saw them? I doubt you were very pleased to see a human regardless of whatever state you were in..."
C- Daki shook his head. "I was a bloody mess when you— they found me. They just took care of me and nursed me back to health. Sure, it was a bumpy road gaining each others' trust, but as time passed, I guess just being around became something that helped me cope..."
H- They hum in thought, nodding understanding. "Do you think you would have ate them if you'd had the strength to?"
They furrow their brows, gnawing on their thumb in thought. "Really would like to know what leads someone to thinking 'ah yes, I will let myself be eaten today. This sounds like a fun task. Yes.'. Frankly, it's terrifying...." they say more to themselves than him.
C- "I considered it, but I didn't want to kill them. More like comfort food than anything, and besides, I was in too bad shape to digest anything anyways," Daki replied.
H- "Interesting..."
"Comfort food...?" They ask skeptically.
C- "Well that's what you said... after I said it... But to be fair, I lost a lot of blood and I wasn't thinking clearly, so I'm not... really sure what I meant by that."
H- They blink, studying him with a skeptical and quirked brow. "I guess blood loss can do weird things to a person. I'm uh...-" hrm would that be weird to say? Ah well, say it. "I'm glad, in that case, it seemed to work out for you both."
A timer goes off in their pocket and they fumble to turn it off. "Aaah. I'm late. I should get going. Tomorrows a big day so we should both rest"
C- "It did," Daki sighed. It didn't feel like things were working out now, however. He wasn't looking forward to tomorrow.
"Right, right. Good day, or night— or whatever time it is out there"
H- "Evening." Sam gently offers him. He deserved to know the time of day. "I'm here usually in the afternoon after work."
They notice his body language and sigh. "It won't hurt. Promise." they try to assure him. "Not you, anyway." they add with a snort even though, personally, they didn't think the idea of being bitten was funny.