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“DEVON!” the child’s mother cried.
“Let my daughter go right now, you monster!” her father yelled at the young giant.

Devon was hiding between Loëcë’s folded arms, completely invisible for her parents; but she could hear their panicked voices. They were frightened. A few seconds ago, as she was standing on the kitchen table, she had seen their horrified expressions before Loëcë protectively wrapped his arms around her, preventing them from approaching Devon. The child didn’t know what happened yet, but she knew the adults were trying to pry them apart. Her parents wanted to leave. And she didn’t want that.

“Loëcë!” the boy’s father said firmly, grabbing his son’s shoulder. “Let her go immediately! You’re going to hurt her!”

“No!” the child answered as his arms coiled a bit more toward his chest; Devon’s mother gasped. “I didn’t do anything wrong! Leave us alone!”

“Calm down Loëcë,” the boy’s mother interrupted without yelling. “You don’t want to hurt Devon, right? Release her so she can go back to her parents.”

“They said I was a monster…” the young giant whispered harshly, and he felt his little friend clinging to his arm more tightly. “They said they would leave and never come back.”

“They won’t,” his mother reassured him, but her son’s gaze made her think that he didn’t believe her; his bichromic eyes were shining with tears of fright and confusion. But he was also determined to protect Devon. “Please Loëcë, you’re creating problems for nothing. Let her go, prove you’re not a monster.”

Devon’s heart was racing in her small chest. She didn’t want to leave! Besides, she couldn’t forget the two strange giants she had seen a few minutes ago; they were wearing long white coats, and standing in the entrance of the house, close to the already opened door… They wanted Loëcë, and they were going to hurt him. The atmosphere was tense, static, as if the whole world could end in an instant.

“That’s enough!” Devon’s father yelled at the top of his lungs. “Bring him to the doctors! There is still hope for Gabriel! I want you to get him out of that hell!”

Suddenly, Loëcë’s father lurched forward and grabbed his son under the arms to lift him.

“NO!” Devon screamed. “LEAVE HIM ALO-“

She never finished; a sudden movement from Loëcë knocked her out. She didn’t even hear her father’s scream, and her mother’s sobs.

***

“NOOO!”
A shrill scream escaped from my throat as I woke up in a jump. My breathing was ragged, my chest was painful, and my face was wet, as if I had cried for hours.

That dream… That horrible dream. I had never had it before. And it seemed so… real. Once again, I knew it wasn’t a dream; it was a memory.
I hid my face in my hands, doing my best to calm down. But the dream was still haunting every thought in my head; it had been like I had watched the whole scene from two point of views at once; I had been Devon the little five year-old girl, and I had been Devon the teenager, looking at the scene from above.

I peeked through my fingers when I heard footsteps in the dark corridor; someone slowly pushed the door opened, and a huge silhouette entered the vast empty room. Well, now it wasn’t that empty; Loëcë slowly approached the bed, his eyes somewhat managing to spot me in the dark.

“I heard you,” he whispered. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I couldn’t see his face because the room was dark, but when I didn’t answer, Loëcë crouched down by the bed, resting an arm on the edge and leaning toward me.

“Hey,” he breathed almost inaudibly. “Don’t be afraid. It was just a dream.”

I felt his warm breath on my wet face and cold sweat covered skin. I also felt a massive, but gentle touch on my wrists; just like that stormy night, a few days ago, Loëcë carefully pushed my hands away from my face. My hand reached out to grab one of his knuckles, the warm contact somewhat bringing me back to my senses; I looked at him, or at least in the general direction of his eyes. I could feel them on me, and he had laid is large hand next to me.

“S-sorry,” I said in a raspy voice, trying to compose myself. “Sometimes I talk or scream when I have a bad dream. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He shook his massive head; the weak moonlight was outlining his silhouette, and I could tell his black hair was a mess. “I wasn’t even sleeping anyway. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall off the edge.”

I looked down and nervously shook my head. “Don’t worry. It was just… a nightmare.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

A moment of silence passed between us. The boy didn’t want to insist on whatever had made me scream, and I was actually thinking about it. It wasn’t a dream, I was sure of that. Going back to sleep was impossible now, and my strange companion was still here, watching over me. Talking to him seemed to be the right thing to do.

Loëcë was trying to comfort me, but I could tell he was tense. He even seemed to be afraid. Actually, he always seemed to be afraid of something; for a while now I had understood that he had never been disgusted by me, as I had thought before. He was just afraid of the truth I so badly wanted to know about.

Then I told him about my dream, describing every little detail I could remember. I even told him why I woke up screaming; he had hurt me. Not on purpose, but he had.

“It feels like a memory,” I finished in a whisper. “Not a dream.”

When I fell silent, Loëcë remained still for a few seconds, then he looked away.

“I’m sorry Devon.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I… I don’t know, dammit. You said you dreamt about me hurting you. I’m sorry if I look like a monster to you.”

“That’s not it!” I protested firmly and stood up next to his hand, finally releasing his finger, realizing I had been holding it the whole time. “You’re not a monster to anyone.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Well, I don’t give a shit about the ones who think you are. You’re not, that’s all. You’re just the grumpiest head I’ve ever met, but you’re not a monster.”

He huffed, but it also sounded like a laugh. “Oh come on… I came to comfort you and right now it’s quite the other way around. Stop it.”

I smiled. “I’m already feeling a little better. Do you?”

“Yeah… Just a little.”

Loëcë’s gaze came back on me. I sat next to his hand, hugging my knees close to my chest, my back leaning against his warm skin. He didn't seem to mind, because he didn’t move and we stayed like this for a long time.

***

I woke up surrounded in a pleasant heat, but it didn’t come from the early sunlight flooding the room through the window. I noticed I wasn’t in my giant fold-cave anymore, but under a thick “blanket” barely touching my body, though heat was radiating from it. I lifted my head and noticed it was a huge hand; I was curled up under the palm, only my head and shoulders were out in the open. I shifted and slid out to sit down, and saw Loëcë; he was still here, and he was asleep. He had abandoned his right hand to me, and his left arm was folded, his head resting on the edge of the bed, his face mostly hidden in the crook of his elbow. Did he stay here all night? How did he manage to sleep like that?

I couldn’t help smiling deviously as I silently got up and tiptoed closer along his arm. His breathing was slow, deep and steady; he was still asleep.
Reaching for his head, I tugged on a strand of black hair. The giant shifted and turned his head to his right, facing away from me. I pursed my lower lip and walked around his left hand to stand in front of his sleeping face.

“Oh come on… Don’t tell me you’re going to sleep until 11 a.m! You’re blocking the ladder!”

No answer. I sighed and reached forward to press the spot just between his eyes, at the bottom of his forehead. “Wake-“

Loëcë’s huge body suddenly lurched backward as he woke up in a jump. We both landed on the rear, except that his fall made a loud “THUD” on the wooden floor and sent tremors through the room. I looked at him in shock, still breathing rapidly with wide eyes, startled by his reaction; he was still sitting, his hand on his forehead, touching the spot I had pressed and hiding his eyes. He seemed to be in pain.

“A-are you okay, Loëcë?” I dared to speak after a few seconds. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… uh… I didn’t want to-“

“Dammit Devon!” he snarled, still covering his forehead. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

I backed away a little bit, confused and still startled, both by his reaction and his now angry tone. “Uh… I just wanted to wake you up, you fell asleep here during the night…”

“Well, congratulation!” the giant smirked, anger reshaping his voice just like the day we’ve met.

“But… I don’t understand!” I finally found my own voice getting back to normal. “Did I hurt you? I didn’t hit you.”

“Don’t you know about the Goliath’s neuralgic point?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wait, Goliath? Are you serious?”

“This is the perfect name for that strange weakness,” Loëcë sighed, finally beginning to pull his hand back in his lap. “Giants just hate being touched between the eyes. A single touch is so unpleasant that it’s almost painful, and it tickles a retreating reflex. It’s just like… I don’t know… when you’re choking, you just have to cough, and you can’t help it. Whatever... You alright?"

“Y-yeah… I had no idea. And it’s named after the giant’s famous demise in the Bible?”

A corner of his mouth briefly twitched in a smirk. “Yeah… funny uh?” He lifted his head to look at me; he wasn't smiling anymore. "Seriously, never do it again. Never. You're lucky to be alright. I was surprised and I could've-"

He trailed off; he didn't need to say more. His reflex could've been a lot different; he could've swatted me like a bug, or bitten my arm off... I hoped Morigan wouldn't learn about this.
still, I had somewhat hurt him after all, and I felt bad. “I’m sorry for that. I just didn’t know, I won’t do it again, I prom-“

“Hey, hey! Calm down okay?” he interrupted me. “That’s no big deal. I've already got a few hits on my forehead when I've fought with Morigan or my cousin Curtis. It's friendly but sometimes... Ugh, nevermind."

I slowly stood up and looked at him, unsure. “It looked painful from where I was.”

“I was just surprised,” Loëcë eluded; he had apparently managed to cool down. “Anyway, it’s justice. I hurt you in your sweet dreams after all,” he smirked at the floor.

I smirked at him. “We’re even.”

Loëcë stretched, making his spine crack loudly, and spoke before I could make any smug comment:

“Well, time for breakfast,” he said, straightening his back again. “You better hurry before I eat your share.”

“Don’t you dare-“ I warned him, but he was already leaving the room, faking a dark evil laugh. “And you’re not even helping me to go to the kitchen!” I screamed at the corridor.

I sighed and headed toward the ladder, a smile creeping across my face despite the fact that I had to walk. Maybe Loëcë was just being smug, maybe he was still mad at me for touching his forehead's weak spot… Anyway, I could walk. I eventually crossed the corridor and entered the kitchen; Loëcë was already sitting at the table, but not in his usual chair (that’s to say as far from my own small table as possible); he was sitting closer this time, with his usual bowl of vanilla flavored white coffee in front of him. Not sure how to interpret it, I got closer and cleared my throat to attract his attention. He gave me a hand and let me climb down onto the table. Loëcë had already set some buns, jelly and a banana slice for me on a giant plate near my table. Usually, Morigan did it for me.

“Let me know if you want something else,” her brother said before biting a piece of red jelly covered bread.

“N-no, it’s fine,” I said, then smirked up at him. “Thanks… I didn’t know you could be such a gentleman.”

He glared down at me but shifted uncomfortably in his chair, apparently close to dropping his bread into his coffee out of surprise. I would’ve laughed so hard.
He didn’t retreat to his room though, and during the day (it was raining again, as always in this region), we stayed inside the house, watching TV shows on the couch with Morigan until she had to leave for her work. It was the first time we actually spent time together, except when we were eating. And it was quite enjoyable.
When his sister left the house, we were both alone again, and we moved to Loëcë’s room, doing what normal teenagers would’ve done together; watching movies and silly videos on our laptops, playing online video games… Loëcë was quite good at them. The atmosphere was so enjoyable that I didn’t dare to talk about the dream I had the night before. Too serious of a topic for the moment… And according to me, Loëcë wasn’t the one I should’ve asked answers from.

***

Aside from my family problems, everything was fine with the Sullivans. My “giant foster family”, somewhat… I liked Morigan, and I even liked Loëcë. They both were so different; Morigan was always gentle with me, and she did everything for me to feel home. Her brother, on the other hand, was arrogant, sassy, and often moody. Since the last storm, things worked better between us; we were still provocative toward each other, but it wasn’t harsh and mean like it used to be during my first days, so Morigan didn’t need to interrupt anymore. Actually our interactions often brought a smile on her face.
I enjoyed his company, and I could tell he enjoyed mine too; we’d taken the habit to watch series or other videos in his room almost every day, or even playing online video games together… Until he’d become moody again. Well, he was still very good at cooking, so I could forgive him.

As promised, a few days later, Morigan showed me the town. Loëcë, almost threatened by his sister, finally decided to come with us (he didn’t have much choice). He grumpily followed us past the great metallic gate as I was sitting on Morigan’s shoulder, turning around from time to time to smirk at the young giant. The sky was almost always cloudy in that region, but the air was pure, and the landscapes were beautiful; no roads, no cars, just roughly traced ways leading to houses through hills and forests. It was peaceful, all I could hear was the wind, the sound of the two giants’ footsteps on the earth, and I felt safe on my high perched spot, sitting against Morigan’s scarf and grabbing on the folds.

We approached Townstride. Of course it was noisier than forests and hills, but it seemed to be a rather small, peaceful village… except that I had never seen so many giants at the same time, and at the same place. Now that I could actually see a giant settlement for real, I was a bit stressed by the thought of blending with them. But as long as Morigan and Loëcë were here, I didn’t have to worry about anything.

Loëcë, curiously (or not so curiously), seemed to be tensed as well. I knew he didn’t go out very often, and when he did, he would always stay away from the town. He really wasn’t a people person. Or had he done something to be ashamed of? I was sure of that; I perfectly remembered the conversation I had overheard a few days ago. I knew it had a connection with the dream I had a few days ago; was he ashamed because he hurt me when we were kids? I was curious and realized I wanted to provide him some comfort… I didn’t know what to do from where I was though.

In the streets of cobblestone, I obviously got a lot of weird glances from the giants; curious, hostile, surprised, amused… I stayed close to Morigan’s scarf, keeping quiet. I was glad I wasn’t on the ground.

I jumped when I heard a growl just behind me; I quickly grabbed fistfuls of red fabric on the scarf when the giantess turned around; another giant was just behind her brother, hiding Loëcë’s eyes with his hands.

“I know it’s you Curtis. You have two seconds to take off your hands before I bite them off,” Loëcë threatened.

The other giant took his hands off Morigan’s brother’s face and stepped aside, a wide grin on his face. He was older than Loëcë, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old. His hair wasn’t raven black, but dark brown, some bangs were kept away from his face behind his pointy ears. His eyes were even narrower than Loëcë’s, and they appeared black from where I was sitting.

Curtis, Loëcë and Morigan’s cousin. The giantess had told me I would eventually meet him.

“As grumpy as a grizzly bear but won’t get into a fight,” he said, amused. “You’re still the same, Loë.”

“Just shut up. And stop stalking people like that, it’s creepy.”

“People? Come on, it’s only you guys!” Curtis smiled and wrapped an arm around his grumpy cousin’s shoulders, lifting his head toward Morigan.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” she smiled, but Curtis wasn’t listening.

His eyes had immediately focused on me. I shrank back under his gaze. I could already tell he was both surprised and annoyed to see me, even if he was still smiling. I didn’t like it, but then his smile softened.

“And who might you be?” he asked, stepping closer to Morigan –and me. “You look familiar.”

Behind Curtis, I saw Loëcë getting closer; he walked around his sister to stand behind the shoulder I was sitting on. I frowned internally; it took a lot for him to be protective.

“I’m Devon,” I answered before Morigan could do it for me. “And I guess it’s normal, we met when we were kids.”

The giant’s eyes narrowed; his face was a few (human) feet away from mine.

“Oh? Yes, I remember now. You were so small, indeed. You still are.”

He grinned again and I backed away from his threatening canines, swallowing hard. Morigan understood my discomfort, and she turned her shoulder away from Curtis before he could add anything.

“You and Loëcë didn’t hang out for quite a while,” she said, trying to change the topic. “Why don’t we stop by the next bar to get a drink?”

“I would love to!” Curtis agreed, finally getting his piercing eyes off me as if nothing happened. “I wanted to come by to see you guys, anyway.”

“That’s okay for me today, and Loëcë is on vacation.”

“So am I,” Curtis answered as the three giants began to walk down the street. Loëcë was not dragging behind anymore, but now walking between Morigan and Curtis, as if he didn’t want me to be directly next to his cousin. Was it jealousy or wariness? I couldn’t really tell.

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“DEVON!” the child’s mother cried.
“Let my daughter go right now, you monster!” her father yelled at the young giant.

Devon was hiding between Loëcë’s folded arms, completely invisible for her parents; but she could hear their panicked voices. They were frightened. A few seconds ago, as she was standing on the kitchen table, she had seen their horrified expressions before Loëcë protectively wrapped his arms around her, preventing them from approaching Devon. The child didn’t know what happened yet, but she knew the adults were trying to pry them apart. Her parents wanted to leave. And she didn’t want that.

“Loëcë!” the boy’s father said firmly, grabbing his son’s shoulder. “Let her go immediately! You’re going to hurt her!”

“No!” the child answered as his arms coiled a bit more toward his chest; Devon’s mother gasped. “I didn’t do anything wrong! Leave us alone!”

“Calm down Loëcë,” the boy’s mother interrupted without yelling. “You don’t want to hurt Devon, right? Release her so she can go back to her parents.”

“They said I was a monster…” the young giant whispered harshly, and he felt his little friend clinging to his arm more tightly. “They said they would leave and never come back.”

“They won’t,” his mother reassured him, but her son’s gaze made her think that he didn’t believe her; his bichromic eyes were shining with tears of fright and confusion. But he was also determined to protect Devon. “Please Loëcë, you’re creating problems for nothing. Let her go, prove you’re not a monster.”

Devon’s heart was racing in her small chest. She didn’t want to leave! Besides, she couldn’t forget the two strange giants she had seen a few minutes ago; they were wearing long white coats, and standing in the entrance of the house, close to the already opened door… They wanted Loëcë, and they were going to hurt him. The atmosphere was tense, static, as if the whole world could end in an instant.

“That’s enough!” Devon’s father yelled at the top of his lungs. “Bring him to the doctors! There is still hope for Gabriel! I want you to get him out of that hell!”

Suddenly, Loëcë’s father lurched forward and grabbed his son under the arms to lift him.

“NO!” Devon screamed. “LEAVE HIM ALO-“

She never finished; a sudden movement from Loëcë knocked her out. She didn’t even hear her father’s scream, and her mother’s sobs.

***

“NOOO!”
A shrill scream escaped from my throat as I woke up in a jump. My breathing was ragged, my chest was painful, and my face was wet, as if I had cried for hours.

That dream… That horrible dream. I had never had it before. And it seemed so… real. Once again, I knew it wasn’t a dream; it was a memory.
I hid my face in my hands, doing my best to calm down. But the dream was still haunting every thought in my head; it had been like I had watched the whole scene from two point of views at once; I had been Devon the little five year-old girl, and I had been Devon the teenager, looking at the scene from above.

I peeked through my fingers when I heard footsteps in the dark corridor; someone slowly pushed the door opened, and a huge silhouette entered the vast empty room. Well, now it wasn’t that empty; Loëcë slowly approached the bed, his eyes somewhat managing to spot me in the dark.

“I heard you,” he whispered. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I couldn’t see his face because the room was dark, but when I didn’t answer, Loëcë crouched down by the bed, resting an arm on the edge and leaning toward me.

“Hey,” he breathed almost inaudibly. “Don’t be afraid. It was just a dream.”

I felt his warm breath on my wet face and cold sweat covered skin. I also felt a massive, but gentle touch on my wrists; just like that stormy night, a few days ago, Loëcë carefully pushed my hands away from my face. My hand reached out to grab one of his knuckles, the warm contact somewhat bringing me back to my senses; I looked at him, or at least in the general direction of his eyes. I could feel them on me, and he had laid is large hand next to me.

“S-sorry,” I said in a raspy voice, trying to compose myself. “Sometimes I talk or scream when I have a bad dream. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

He shook his massive head; the weak moonlight was outlining his silhouette, and I could tell his black hair was a mess. “I wasn’t even sleeping anyway. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall off the edge.”

I looked down and nervously shook my head. “Don’t worry. It was just… a nightmare.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

A moment of silence passed between us. The boy didn’t want to insist on whatever had made me scream, and I was actually thinking about it. It wasn’t a dream, I was sure of that. Going back to sleep was impossible now, and my strange companion was still here, watching over me. Talking to him seemed to be the right thing to do.

Loëcë was trying to comfort me, but I could tell he was tense. He even seemed to be afraid. Actually, he always seemed to be afraid of something; for a while now I had understood that he had never been disgusted by me, as I had thought before. He was just afraid of the truth I so badly wanted to know about.

Then I told him about my dream, describing every little detail I could remember. I even told him why I woke up screaming; he had hurt me. Not on purpose, but he had.

“It feels like a memory,” I finished in a whisper. “Not a dream.”

When I fell silent, Loëcë remained still for a few seconds, then he looked away.

“I’m sorry Devon.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I… I don’t know, dammit. You said you dreamt about me hurting you. I’m sorry if I look like a monster to you.”

“That’s not it!” I protested firmly and stood up next to his hand, finally releasing his finger, realizing I had been holding it the whole time. “You’re not a monster to anyone.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Well, I don’t give a shit about the ones who think you are. You’re not, that’s all. You’re just the grumpiest head I’ve ever met, but you’re not a monster.”

He huffed, but it also sounded like a laugh. “Oh come on… I came to comfort you and right now it’s quite the other way around. Stop it.”

I smiled. “I’m already feeling a little better. Do you?”

“Yeah… Just a little.”

Loëcë’s gaze came back on me. I sat next to his hand, hugging my knees close to my chest, my back leaning against his warm skin. He didn't seem to mind, because he didn’t move and we stayed like this for a long time.

***

I woke up surrounded in a pleasant heat, but it didn’t come from the early sunlight flooding the room through the window. I noticed I wasn’t in my giant fold-cave anymore, but under a thick “blanket” barely touching my body, though heat was radiating from it. I lifted my head and noticed it was a huge hand; I was curled up under the palm, only my head and shoulders were out in the open. I shifted and slid out to sit down, and saw Loëcë; he was still here, and he was asleep. He had abandoned his right hand to me, and his left arm was folded, his head resting on the edge of the bed, his face mostly hidden in the crook of his elbow. Did he stay here all night? How did he manage to sleep like that?

I couldn’t help smiling deviously as I silently got up and tiptoed closer along his arm. His breathing was slow, deep and steady; he was still asleep.
Reaching for his head, I tugged on a strand of black hair. The giant shifted and turned his head to his right, facing away from me. I pursed my lower lip and walked around his left hand to stand in front of his sleeping face.

“Oh come on… Don’t tell me you’re going to sleep until 11 a.m! You’re blocking the ladder!”

No answer. I sighed and reached forward to press the spot just between his eyes, at the bottom of his forehead. “Wake-“

Loëcë’s huge body suddenly lurched backward as he woke up in a jump. We both landed on the rear, except that his fall made a loud “THUD” on the wooden floor and sent tremors through the room. I looked at him in shock, still breathing rapidly with wide eyes, startled by his reaction; he was still sitting, his hand on his forehead, touching the spot I had pressed and hiding his eyes. He seemed to be in pain.

“A-are you okay, Loëcë?” I dared to speak after a few seconds. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… uh… I didn’t want to-“

“Dammit Devon!” he snarled, still covering his forehead. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

I backed away a little bit, confused and still startled, both by his reaction and his now angry tone. “Uh… I just wanted to wake you up, you fell asleep here during the night…”

“Well, congratulation!” the giant smirked, anger reshaping his voice just like the day we’ve met.

“But… I don’t understand!” I finally found my own voice getting back to normal. “Did I hurt you? I didn’t hit you.”

“Don’t you know about the Goliath’s neuralgic point?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wait, Goliath? Are you serious?”

“This is the perfect name for that strange weakness,” Loëcë sighed, finally beginning to pull his hand back in his lap. “Giants just hate being touched between the eyes. A single touch is so unpleasant that it’s almost painful, and it tickles a retreating reflex. It’s just like… I don’t know… when you’re choking, you just have to cough, and you can’t help it. Whatever... You alright?"

“Y-yeah… I had no idea. And it’s named after the giant’s famous demise in the Bible?”

A corner of his mouth briefly twitched in a smirk. “Yeah… funny uh?” He lifted his head to look at me; he wasn't smiling anymore. "Seriously, never do it again. Never. You're lucky to be alright. I was surprised and I could've-"

He trailed off; he didn't need to say more. His reflex could've been a lot different; he could've swatted me like a bug, or bitten my arm off... I hoped Morigan wouldn't learn about this.
still, I had somewhat hurt him after all, and I felt bad. “I’m sorry for that. I just didn’t know, I won’t do it again, I prom-“

“Hey, hey! Calm down okay?” he interrupted me. “That’s no big deal. I've already got a few hits on my forehead when I've fought with Morigan or my cousin Curtis. It's friendly but sometimes... Ugh, nevermind."

I slowly stood up and looked at him, unsure. “It looked painful from where I was.”

“I was just surprised,” Loëcë eluded; he had apparently managed to cool down. “Anyway, it’s justice. I hurt you in your sweet dreams after all,” he smirked at the floor.

I smirked at him. “We’re even.”

Loëcë stretched, making his spine crack loudly, and spoke before I could make any smug comment:

“Well, time for breakfast,” he said, straightening his back again. “You better hurry before I eat your share.”

“Don’t you dare-“ I warned him, but he was already leaving the room, faking a dark evil laugh. “And you’re not even helping me to go to the kitchen!” I screamed at the corridor.

I sighed and headed toward the ladder, a smile creeping across my face despite the fact that I had to walk. Maybe Loëcë was just being smug, maybe he was still mad at me for touching his forehead's weak spot… Anyway, I could walk. I eventually crossed the corridor and entered the kitchen; Loëcë was already sitting at the table, but not in his usual chair (that’s to say as far from my own small table as possible); he was sitting closer this time, with his usual bowl of vanilla flavored white coffee in front of him. Not sure how to interpret it, I got closer and cleared my throat to attract his attention. He gave me a hand and let me climb down onto the table. Loëcë had already set some buns, jelly and a banana slice for me on a giant plate near my table. Usually, Morigan did it for me.

“Let me know if you want something else,” her brother said before biting a piece of red jelly covered bread.

“N-no, it’s fine,” I said, then smirked up at him. “Thanks… I didn’t know you could be such a gentleman.”

He glared down at me but shifted uncomfortably in his chair, apparently close to dropping his bread into his coffee out of surprise. I would’ve laughed so hard.
He didn’t retreat to his room though, and during the day (it was raining again, as always in this region), we stayed inside the house, watching TV shows on the couch with Morigan until she had to leave for her work. It was the first time we actually spent time together, except when we were eating. And it was quite enjoyable.
When his sister left the house, we were both alone again, and we moved to Loëcë’s room, doing what normal teenagers would’ve done together; watching movies and silly videos on our laptops, playing online video games… Loëcë was quite good at them. The atmosphere was so enjoyable that I didn’t dare to talk about the dream I had the night before. Too serious of a topic for the moment… And according to me, Loëcë wasn’t the one I should’ve asked answers from.

***

Aside from my family problems, everything was fine with the Sullivans. My “giant foster family”, somewhat… I liked Morigan, and I even liked Loëcë. They both were so different; Morigan was always gentle with me, and she did everything for me to feel home. Her brother, on the other hand, was arrogant, sassy, and often moody. Since the last storm, things worked better between us; we were still provocative toward each other, but it wasn’t harsh and mean like it used to be during my first days, so Morigan didn’t need to interrupt anymore. Actually our interactions often brought a smile on her face.
I enjoyed his company, and I could tell he enjoyed mine too; we’d taken the habit to watch series or other videos in his room almost every day, or even playing online video games together… Until he’d become moody again. Well, he was still very good at cooking, so I could forgive him.

As promised, a few days later, Morigan showed me the town. Loëcë, almost threatened by his sister, finally decided to come with us (he didn’t have much choice). He grumpily followed us past the great metallic gate as I was sitting on Morigan’s shoulder, turning around from time to time to smirk at the young giant. The sky was almost always cloudy in that region, but the air was pure, and the landscapes were beautiful; no roads, no cars, just roughly traced ways leading to houses through hills and forests. It was peaceful, all I could hear was the wind, the sound of the two giants’ footsteps on the earth, and I felt safe on my high perched spot, sitting against Morigan’s scarf and grabbing on the folds.

We approached Townstride. Of course it was noisier than forests and hills, but it seemed to be a rather small, peaceful village… except that I had never seen so many giants at the same time, and at the same place. Now that I could actually see a giant settlement for real, I was a bit stressed by the thought of blending with them. But as long as Morigan and Loëcë were here, I didn’t have to worry about anything.

Loëcë, curiously (or not so curiously), seemed to be tensed as well. I knew he didn’t go out very often, and when he did, he would always stay away from the town. He really wasn’t a people person. Or had he done something to be ashamed of? I was sure of that; I perfectly remembered the conversation I had overheard a few days ago. I knew it had a connection with the dream I had a few days ago; was he ashamed because he hurt me when we were kids? I was curious and realized I wanted to provide him some comfort… I didn’t know what to do from where I was though.

In the streets of cobblestone, I obviously got a lot of weird glances from the giants; curious, hostile, surprised, amused… I stayed close to Morigan’s scarf, keeping quiet. I was glad I wasn’t on the ground.

I jumped when I heard a growl just behind me; I quickly grabbed fistfuls of red fabric on the scarf when the giantess turned around; another giant was just behind her brother, hiding Loëcë’s eyes with his hands.

“I know it’s you Curtis. You have two seconds to take off your hands before I bite them off,” Loëcë threatened.

The other giant took his hands off Morigan’s brother’s face and stepped aside, a wide grin on his face. He was older than Loëcë, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old. His hair wasn’t raven black, but dark brown, some bangs were kept away from his face behind his pointy ears. His eyes were even narrower than Loëcë’s, and they appeared black from where I was sitting.

Curtis, Loëcë and Morigan’s cousin. The giantess had told me I would eventually meet him.

“As grumpy as a grizzly bear but won’t get into a fight,” he said, amused. “You’re still the same, Loë.”

“Just shut up. And stop stalking people like that, it’s creepy.”

“People? Come on, it’s only you guys!” Curtis smiled and wrapped an arm around his grumpy cousin’s shoulders, lifting his head toward Morigan.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” she smiled, but Curtis wasn’t listening.

His eyes had immediately focused on me. I shrank back under his gaze. I could already tell he was both surprised and annoyed to see me, even if he was still smiling. I didn’t like it, but then his smile softened.

“And who might you be?” he asked, stepping closer to Morigan –and me. “You look familiar.”

Behind Curtis, I saw Loëcë getting closer; he walked around his sister to stand behind the shoulder I was sitting on. I frowned internally; it took a lot for him to be protective.

“I’m Devon,” I answered before Morigan could do it for me. “And I guess it’s normal, we met when we were kids.”

The giant’s eyes narrowed; his face was a few (human) feet away from mine.

“Oh? Yes, I remember now. You were so small, indeed. You still are.”

He grinned again and I backed away from his threatening canines, swallowing hard. Morigan understood my discomfort, and she turned her shoulder away from Curtis before he could add anything.

“You and Loëcë didn’t hang out for quite a while,” she said, trying to change the topic. “Why don’t we stop by the next bar to get a drink?”

“I would love to!” Curtis agreed, finally getting his piercing eyes off me as if nothing happened. “I wanted to come by to see you guys, anyway.”

“That’s okay for me today, and Loëcë is on vacation.”

“So am I,” Curtis answered as the three giants began to walk down the street. Loëcë was not dragging behind anymore, but now walking between Morigan and Curtis, as if he didn’t want me to be directly next to his cousin. Was it jealousy or wariness? I couldn’t really tell.