The hairs on Ashton's body stiffened as he was transferred from Chandler's warm palms to the cold, hard surface of the kitchen island. Chandler handed him a huge grape to nibble on, then turned away to make his own snack. He looked around the kitchen warily, as if something was going to pop out at him. After concluding that he felt relatively safe, he took a small bite out of his grape, watching Chandler grab a big bowl and an un-microwaved bag of popcorn.
Ashton sat contently for a while, staring off into nowhere. He caught himself staring at Chandler, who was absentmindedly scrolling through Twitter while waiting for his popcorn to finish. He blushed and directed his attention back to his grape, nibbling more off of it. He found the skin a little tough to break, so he gnawed at it a bit harder, looking like a dog with a chew toy. A small chuckle from above made Ashton gasp and jerk his head up to see who was there, clearly startled by the sudden presence. He found Chandler looming over him non-menacingly, resting his chin on his hands, elbows propping him on the table.
"You're so cute when you eat at this size!" Chandler gushed, making the tinier of the two frown.
"No, I'm not." He retorted, trying to hide his embarrassed blush.
"Yes, you are."
"No."
"Yes."
"No. No. No. No."
Chandler just smirked, and ruffled Ashton's hair, messing it all up.
"Whatever you say, little guy." He teased, turning back to the microwave to remove his now freshly popped popcorn. Ashton scowled at the little pet name, then his eyes widened.
"Chandler...?" He piped up, a sudden timidness overcoming him as the giant older teen turned to face him. "I...I'm not a, uh...not a p-pet...or anything, r-right? You're not...not keeping me or anything?" He asked, stuttering nervously, unable to make eye contact with him. The sound of pouring popcorn stopped abruptly, and Ashton felt himself being scooped off of the table almost instantly.
"Ash, believe me when I say this, alright? Just because you shrunk down to the size of a human finger, doesn't make you any less human, or some kind of pet for that matter. I'm still gonna treat you as normal as I'd treat Eli, or my sister, or anyone. So don't ever feel like you're less than anybody, because you're not." Chandler reassured him,
"Thanks, Chandler. That made me feel better." Ashton said after a long silence, clinging to his fingers as he sat in Chandler's nice, warm palms again, "you ready to go sit on our asses, doing nothing, and watch some TV?" He asked. Chandler's lips curled into a smile.
"Hell yeah!" He replied. Then he looked confused. "Uh, where should I...put you? Does that sound...not wrong? I don't..." He stuttered.
"Do you have a shirt pocket?" Ashton asked. Chandler nodded.
"Put your hand level with the flap, so I can climb in." He instructed. It felt strange, giving orders to a colossal being. He steadied himself as Chandler's hand moved to chest level, even with his shirt pocket. Ashton walked along the giant's hand, feeling it twitch under him, his small shoes were probably tickling his palm. He shoved the button flap open, hopping in quickly before it fell back down. Once inside, Ashton took a second to adjust himself in a comfy position for the short ride, which was leaning against the teen's warm chest.
Chandler watched the tiny boy cuddle up against him. It took a lot of willpower to not just scoop him out and just gush over his small, cute body. He just let out a small giggle.
"Oh, come on! You have to admit you're being cute now! Or maybe you're just doing it on purpose to get these reactions out of me?" He questioned.
"Call me cute again and I'm gonna pinch you." Came the stern response.
"If you pinch me, I'm trapping you in there, so I wouldn't--OWWW!!!" Chandler was cut off as sudden pain shot through his chest, right where Ashton was... The little sneaky shit had actually pinched him.
"Alright...you asked for it." Chandler smirked, buttoning his shirt pocket, trapping his friend in darkness, warmth, and confusion. He felt tiny little hands push outward on the fabric, then they started pulling at the shirt desperately.
"Hey! Let. Me. OUT!!!" Came the muffled, frustrated cry.
"Nope." Was Chandler's sly response. He felt the toe of a tiny shoe kick him in the chest. Barely anything. He put his hand on the pocket, lightly pushing Ashton to his chest. Even though nobody could see it, he made a face of mock hurt.
"You want to get away from me that badly? I'm offended!" The giant boy pouted, grabbing his popcorn bowl and heading to the living room. He felt his little friend pound and flail around in the sealed pocket until he sat down, got comfortable, taking extra long time just so he would be annoying, and turned the TV on, heading to Netflix.
Chandler finally unbuttoned the pocket, gently grabbing Ashton in a loose fist, and setting him down on the sofa cushion next to him. Ashton decided to bite one of the fingers curled around him. Chandler yelped and dropped Ashton the last two or so inches onto the couch.
"Why'd you bite me?!" Chandler asked, examining the small teeth marks. Ashton shrugged, keeping his straight face the best he could.
"Because you imprisoned me against my will. I figured that was adequate payback." He deadpanned, grinning widely by the time he finished. He hoped Chandler wasn't actually mad at him for biting. He looked around the room awkwardly, plopping down on the cushion.
"So, what are we watching?" Ashton asked, looking up to his friend, who had already started eating the popcorn.
"Not sure, let's see if we can find something." Chandler suggested, flipping through Netflix suggestions. "What about this movie? Keep Watching?" He asked. Ashton shook his head.
"Uh-uh. Looks like a horror movie, and I don't need giant jumpscares. They'll be much louder, too. And I don't want to be deaf and tiny." He explained.
"Alright, then. What about..." Chandler trailed off as he flipped through movies and tv shows, pausing as he saw an interesting one, "ooh! How about The Walking Dead?" He asked, looking down at his friend, whose eyes lit up. He nodded.
"I've been meaning to start watching, so I guess there's no time like the present!" Ashton said. So, Chandler began playing the pilot episode. Ashton found himself scooting closer to his friend until he was leaning on him. Chandler smiled, feeling the light weight of his friend lean against him. He slowly reached his hand around, resting it lightly against Ashton protectively.
"H-Hey Chandler?" Ashton's voice croaked a little.
"Yeah, Ash?"
"Why are my parents not looking for me?" He asked, only now realizing his mother hadn't been frantically calling and texting him.
"Oh! Shit, I forgot to tell you! I, uh, texted your mom and told her you were staying the whole weekend over at my house. I didn't feel right going on your phone while you were in that state, but I just didn't want your parents to worry where you were. I'm sorry." Chandler felt guilty for not telling him. Ashton had probably felt like his parents didn't even care.
"No, no it's totally fine! I was just wondering, that's all..." Ashton fell silent after that, curling back up against his friend's body, focusing on the show. He was glad to have someone like Chandler.
~~~~~~
"NOOO!!" The teens cried out in unison, watching as some zombies invaded the characters' camp. They both cringed as background characters were devoured onscreen. Ashton found himself gravitating closer and closer to Chandler until he seemed to get the message, lifting him into his lap. They made several more outbursts as a main character was bitten on the neck. A ghost of a smile formed on Ashton's face. This just felt...normal. In the short time that this had happened to him, this was just something normal that he could do with a friend. Just chilling out, watching a TV show. The credits for that episode began playing on the screen, causing Chandler to pause it.
"Oh man, that one was epic!" He thought out loud.
"Definitely. Just think, we've got seven whole seasons to catch up on! Oh god, if they kill off my favorites I'm gonna be a mess!" Ashton over-dramatized, slumping into Chandler, causing them both to giggle. Ashton surveyed the living room, something he hadn't done yet. He noticed a framed photo of who he assumed to be Chandler from when he was younger, he looked around 9 or 10 in it.
"Is that you when you were younger?" Ashton asked, pointing to the photo.
"Oh, yeah. Why?"
"Don't you think that Carl looks an awful lot like you, it's like you and his actor are the same person!"
"Eh, I don't see it." Chandler shrugged it off.
"Oh, come on! Look again, maybe you'll see it. There's definitely some creepy doppelgänger shit going down here." Ashton quipped. Bored, he flopped over on the cushion, looking like he was dead.
Ashton was about to sit up again, when a massive finger suddenly began prodding his sides. He laughed out loud, trying to shove the digit off of him, but to no avail.
Chandler began mercilessly tickling the tiny boy, (but obviously not that mercilessly, because he didn't want to hurt his lil bean) watching him squirm. He planned to stop after a few more seconds, he just wanted some good-natured payback for that bite earlier...
"S-Stop! Stop!" Ashton begged between laughs, "Y-You win at wha-whatever this is-s-s-s!" Ashton's words were dragged out and slightly distorted while he talked and laughed at the same time. To his relief, Chandler's fingers relented, his hand snaking away smugly.
"That was payback for you biting me." Chandler deadpanned with a sly smirk on his face, staring down at the weary tiny human.
"I'll...get you...back...soon..." Ashton huffed between deep breaths, after stabilizing his breathing once again, he turned back to his friend, "why couldn't you just have, I dunno, bitten me back?" He asked.
"And bite one of your tiny limbs off?! No way!"
"What about pinching me back, then?"
"And crush one of your tiny limbs? Nuh uh."
"What about poking me back?"
"Risk pushing you off of something and have you fall to your death?!"
"Oh my god you're being such a mom right now!" Ashton exclaimed, "can't you look at the positives? Or at least don't focus on the negatives too hard?" He added.
"What, you don't want me to care about you?" Chandler asked, smirking.
"That...that's not what I meant." Ashton replied, his response confusing his train of thought, then his confused look shifted to an annoyed one. Chandler just laughed.
"I'm sorry, I'm just in a mom mode right now. Thinking of everything bad that could happen, realistic or not. I'll try to be better, though. I don't want to scare you with my 'worst case scenarios'." Chandler said, fixing Ashton's hair like a true mother.
"Hey! Not the hair!" Ashton grumbled, shoving his finger away, "how about you put that finger to good use and give me back rubs?" He asked in a cutesy voice.
"Gah, you've got me under your spell! Your wish is my command." Chandler joked, massaging Ashton's back.
"Normally I'd make fun of that reply, but damn your back rubs feel nice." Ashton admitted. Chandler blushed a little bit at that compliment.
They sat like that for awhile. In silence, Chandler slowly stroking Ashton's back, while Ashton leaned into it, fighting off sleep from the relaxing touch of the giant. Both of them were smiling, but the other didn't even realize.
The sound of the front door being unlocked made Ashton suddenly flinch. Chandler froze in realization as he heard two pairs of footsteps entering the house. They'd spent so long watching The Walking Dead, they lost track of time and forgot about when Chandler's family would be home.
"Shit! I forgot about dad and Kinsley!" Chandler whispered to himself. Looking down at Ashton, who was now staring back up at him, eyes wide with fear, and his body starting to tremble at the thought of more people seeing him.
"Chandler? We're home!" His dad called out.
What do I do?! Chandler thought, desperately searching for an answer.
Oooooo a half fluffy filler half plotty plot chapter the PERFECT MIX, plus this chapter ran a lot longer than most, reaching about 2100 words (not including this end A/N, with it it's about 2300 words) SOOO MEGA CHAPTER...kinda!!!
I'm sorry I just had to include Chandler Riggs references in this and there will be more believe me. Since Chandler starred in both TWD and that movie Keep Watching (and I don't think his character died in it so thank god my bb is safe)
And also for anybody who misses the character Eli, he'll be making his epic return by Chapter 6 or 7 *PROMISE*
G/T WOULD YOU RATHER!
Be in the presence of your giant celeb crush? OR Be in the presence of your tiny celeb crush?
My answer would be being with my giant celeb crush because GIANT CHANDLER RIGGS FUCK YEAH GET ME SOME TOL CHANDLER CUDDLES FUCK EVERYTHING ELSE
If there are typos I'm going to start throwing things because I've proofread this like 4 times
Oke that's all now see ya in the next chappy! Peace out my dudes!✌🏻️🍪