A/N Sorry guys but that image was too fucking adorable to ignore 🤣 Jack's a lot smaller than that though
Cool damp light met Jack's eyes. He blinked, taking in the gentle rays of sunshine. Then he yawned and rolled over. Soft grass tickled his face, and he frowned. Wait... grass? Jack opened his eyes again. Grass isn't black. He shook his head and sat up. He wasn't in his room.
This isn't home! Where's the farm? Suddenly last night's events struck him. Jack's eyes widened as he remembered everything, the good, the mostly bad... and the giant. So it wasn't a dream. He got up, and from head to toe his body ached. Jack frowned, in pain, as he looked around.
Yeah, this is the cave with all of that treasure! And if this isn't grass, then does that mean... Jack took a couple of steps forward and pulled back the soft wild tufts. A tan cheek stretched out before him, adjoining an expanse of black cloth. Jack sighed. The giant was laying on his side, and he looked sound asleep still. At least I'm feeling much better, thanks to him. Jack smiled. With the fear of the fire behind him, he was now giddy. He was still nervous about the giant, but Jack thought it was pretty fucking awesome to come across a sentient being so huge.
It was his childish wonder that made Jack move again. He pushed through the soft locks of hair and stepped past the hairline. Heat radiated under his feet as the Irishman walked onto the side of the giant's face. Jack shivered. Even though the giant was asleep, he still looked so powerful, and he felt like it too.
Jack stopped beside his closed eye. His lashes were as long as his forearm, and the giant was emanating so much body heat that Jack felt really warm. He shivered and looked at his own body. Mud caked his skin and clothes, and his clothes were also ragged and torn. Am I even worthy to be here? Jack suddenly wondered. I'm nothing but a dirty little creature in comparison to him. And yet... Jack sighed. I'm really grateful that he let me stay. But maybe I should just go before he wakes up. I've caused him enough trouble.
Jack turned to look for a way down when the ground suddenly moved under his feet. He gasped and waved his arms as he fell on his back and slid. He yelled and tried to grab onto something, and at the last second he managed to grab onto the giant's ear as the giant groaned and sat up. Jack's breath hitched. He was high up in the air with nothing under his feet.
"Oh jeez, oh jeez, oh god..." Jack gasped as he tried to look for a safe way up or down. When he found neither, he groaned. He had to talk to the giant. "Hey!" Jack yelled. "A little help?" The giant's hand came up sooner than Jack expected. He yelped as huge digits curled around his small body and took him away from the danger. Jack sighed and relaxed in the gentle fist as he was swayed and held up to two large almond brown eyes.
"Thanks," he sighed. He shivered and looked down at the ground, but then he was startled when he received an answer.
"Are you ok?" Jack's head shot up. He looked up with wide eyes and a dropped jaw at the giant. The giant blinked and frowned. "I-I meant your head, how does your head feel?" The giant stammered. Jack blinked three times.
"I- uh, better, It's-it's better." He leaned back and looked the large man up and down, seeing him in a whole new light. "Y-you can talk?" Jack wondered. The giant smiled.
"Can you?" He replied. Jack chuckled, but he was still nervous.
"I guess that's a yes." The giant smiled and put Jack on his thigh.
"What do you call yourself?" He asked.
"Jack." The giant hummed and repeated the Irishman's name to himself, and then he smiled.
"It suits you." He put his hand on his chest. "Mark."
"Nice to meet you, Mark," Jack said quietly. Mark smiled and touched Jack's head, mussing his hair.
"So why did you run in here covered in mud and smoke?" Jack took a deep breath and sat down.
"Well, I'm not sure if I can explain..." he stopped and looked up at Mark. The giant was watching him with wide round eyes. Clearly, he was captivated by the small farmer boy. Jack sighed and gave in. He told Mark about the farm he and his Ma lived on, and how simple but peaceful it was. He explained how his mom had left him in charge, but then the storm had lit the barn roof on fire.
Mark frowned sadly and rubbed Jack's back. "I'm sorry." Jack's eyes widened.
"For what?" He asked. "You saved my sorry ass! If it hadn't been for you, I would have either drowned in that lake, or-or I would have frozen to death, or even died of hunger!"
"I scared you," the giant mumbled. "Scared, you were scared." Jack ran his hand through his hair, pushing his messy bangs out of his face.
"It's fine, dude. You just startled me, that's all," he said.
"No, no." Mark shook his head and insisted, "You got scared and fell in the lake."
"Oh! That was you then, moving all the coins?" Mark nodded, but he looked like a guilty puppy.
"Yes," he muttered and wringed his hands together. "You almost died. I could have killed you. I almost did..." Jack frowned. For a giant, Mark seemed so shy and scared of hurting anybody...
"It's-It's ok, Mark." He leaned and touched the giant's hand. "It was just an accident. I'm fine now, thanks to you." He smiled at the giant, but Mark didn't look comforted.
"I thought you were one of the bad men," he muttered. He shivered, unbalancing Jack.
"What? What are you talking about?" Jack got up and wrapped his arms around Mark's thumb. Mark didn't answer, but his muttering did.
"They come and kill, they steal, they pillage and plunger. My dad said they were bad. He said they were evil..." He shook his head. "They were cursed, greedy. He said that, he said so, and then they killed him...!" Jack's jaw dropped.
"Mark, I... I'm so sorry." He hugged the giant's hand. Warm water splashed on Jack's head, and Jack looked up to see that the giant was crying. "It's ok," Jack murmured. He put his cheek on one of his knuckles. "It's ok, big guy, just let it out..." Mark turned his head and sniffed.
"I'm-I'm sorry." He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "You-you're different. You're not like them. They would have stolen my dad's treasures and killed me." Jack winced. He thought about the emerald he had almost taken, and he felt horrible.
"It is beautiful," Jack murmured. "They were probably just jealous." Mark sniffed.
"Not anymore." Mark grinned. "When they came for me, I killed them." Jack felt a shiver go down his spine. He watched as Mark frowned sadly. "I-I didn't mean to, though..." he whispered. "They tried to kill me. They wanted to catch me. They-they wanted to hurt me." He clenched his eyes shut as more tears spilt and soaked Jack.
"... Come here." Jack held his arms out. Mark sniffed and gave him a confused look.
"Wh-what?" Jack bobbed his head and flexed his fingers.
"Come on, gimme a hug." Mark blinked rapidly a few times and sniffed. His hand slid behind Jack, and his fingers curled around him as he gently hugged the Irishman to his stomach. Jack hugged the giant the best he could, feeling Mark shake with another sniffle. "It's ok, I got ya." Jack felt a little awkward. Mark had been the one who had saved his life, and yet he was the one being comforted. Mark was the one who needed help, not Jack. "How long have you been on your own?" Jack murmured.
"I... I can't remember." Jack looked at the giant's abdomen. His abs felt hard as rock under the tight black shirt, but he also felt skinny despite his muscular physique. Jack frowned.
"Um." Jack cleared his throat and looked up at Mark. "Do you want to go outside with me? I could use some grub?" Mark's eyes lit up.
"I know some good places with rotten trees," he quickly murmured. "They've got lots of good grubs in them." Jack couldn't help but laugh.
"It's a figure of speech!" Mark slanted his head.
"Figure of speech?" He echoed. Jack's smile dropped.
"You don't know what that is?" Mark shook his head. Jack smiled again and pat the giant's hand. "It's ok, I'll teach you. A figure of speech is basically when you say something, but you don't actually mean it. It's not literal. For example," Jack pointed at his head. "My hair is dyed green. If I call it grass, I don't mean it. I'm just kidding that it looks like grass, but it isn't actually grass."
"Floofy," Mark murmured, mussing Jack's hair. Jack grinned.
"Yeah, I'm too lazy to comb through it. It's messy no matter what I do, so I just leave it." Mark hummed, seeming to get the idea. "When I said I could use some grub," Jack continued, "I just meant food. It's a synonym." Mark gave the Irishman a blank look.
"... Synonym?" Jack sighed.
"I'll explain on the way, do you know where we can find some berries?" Mark nodded and picked Jack up.
"How far is your farm?" Mark wondered as he got up and started walking across the gold mounded cave floor.
"I'm not sure," Jack admitted as Mark exit the cave and emerged in the forest."It was pretty dark, and I couldn't see much. I was just running for my life." Mark gave Jack a small squeeze.
"I won't let anything happen to you," the giant promised solemnly. Jack smiled sheepishly.
"Thanks." He tried not to look down. The giant was even taller than he initially thought. Up here, he could see the tops of the trees; far down below, the ground lurked under the trees and bushes. Jack blanched and gripped Mark's finger. Mark looked down at him.
"Something wrong?" He murmured. He looked really worried.
"I'm ok." Jack didn't want the giant to worry. Mark frowned and tasted the air.
"I smell smoke." Jack looked at the horizon.
"Jesus! It's still on fire." The trees at the edge of the woods were burnt to a crisp, but there were still small flames dancing in the branches. Jack shuddered and leaned against Mark, wondering what would have happened if he hadn't gone into the forest. Mark said nothing, watching the burning remnants of the hungry fire. He held Jack close to his chest, and he vowed to protect his new friend with all his might.