I had to return to this AU. I can never stay away for too long, Jacob as a giant is just too much fun! So what does a resident giant do when everyone you know is busy? Make new friends, if you can! Jacob’s so kind to these little folk. It’s no wonder most of them warm up to him so fast.
( Chase In Lilliput Tag )
Approx. Reading time: ~5 minutes
The people of Lilliput bustled about in such a hurry. Errands and work and trading drew many of them out of their homes, especially on a clear day like this one. Everyone had things to do and places to be while the sun still shone.
Unfortunately for Jacob, that included the family of Lilliputians that had taken him in. The Lisongs had their work in one of the bustling markets in the middle of town where Jacob couldn’t go. Chase and Minnie, their kids and his first friends since he washed up on the shore, had classes to attend. Jacob didn’t yet know where they went on such days.
Being the resident giant, he couldn’t exactly wander into town whenever he liked.
He’d gotten permission from all but a few farmers that lived near the city to wander their fields. Most simply asked that he try not to spook the livestock–easier said than done when most of the people didn’t even measure up to a finger. Horses, cows, and especially chickens steered clear of him. Goats with plenty to prove sometimes charged his boots, but even they backed down eventually.
Some animals had gotten used to him. He slept near the Lisong’s pastures, so many of their cattle at least tolerated him. Their sheep avoided him, but little lambs raised carefully by Minnie had grown up with him around and didn’t mind his presence at all.
Sometimes, it seemed like Chase antagonized the animals way more than Jacob ever did.
Jacob found himself near an edge of town he didn’t often visit. There were walls blocking in the city proper, but a handful of buildings clustered at the wall, built sometime later. They had their own little plaza with a fountain out there.
Jacob inched closer to peer over the buildings and see the fountain. He made sure his steps didn’t wander into anyone’s yard by mistake. He’d nearly broken the Lisongs’ fence on his first day in Lilliput, and he hoped to avoid more scolding.
At least a scolding Lilliputian was better than a scared one. Jacob was self conscious enough without someone pointing and screaming in terror of him.
He hadn’t paused to watch the fountain for more than a minute when someone all but burst out of one of the tiny homes surrounding it. They stopped dead at the sight of him looming overhead and nearly dropped the crate in their arms.
Shit. “Ah, sorry,” Jacob muttered, not at all missing how the miniscule person flinched. “Just passing through.”
He glanced behind so he could shuffle back from the little cluster of buildings, but a tiny voice piped up. “Wait a second!”
Jacob eyed the little guy again, finding him hobbling closer with that crate. He squatted down as the Lilliputian came closer; he never liked standing over people. “Uh. What’s up?”
“You can help me out!” the tiny man declared.
Jacob’s face brightened with relief and amusement both. “I can do my best,” he assured. “What do you need?”
The Lilliputian paused at the edge of Jacob’s looming shadow. His tiny face seemed flushed, though as with any Lilliputian Jacob had trouble seeing for sure. He could see how shaky the man’s little grin was. “Well, mister giant, I have several boxes like this one that I’d like to get to the harbor,” he explained, lifting the box in his arms for emphasis. “I was going to call for a carriage or something to help haul it, but…”
Jacob grinned. He couldn’t help it. “I see,” he said, eyeing up the crate. “I can probably do that.”
“Great! I only have six boxes! Should be easy for ya, right?”
“Oh, it might be a little heavy,” Jacob teased. If it was Chase, he might nudge the little guy in jest. As it was, he didn’t push his luck. “I’ll be fine.”
The Lilliputian looked relieved. “Thanks! I’ll bring everything out!”
And that left Jacob crouched awkwardly near the cluster of houses while the tiny man set down his box and dashed off. He waited patiently and tried not to feel too self conscious about it. Hopefully no one was delaying their own errands to avoid him.
By the time the small man had his boxes all lying out in the yard, Jacob had a hand braced carefully on one of the roads leading away from the houses. “All set?” he asked.
The Lilliputian nodded excitedly. “Yes, thank you!”
Jacob lowered his other hand palm up and rested it next to all the boxes. “Set ‘em up for me?”
The tiny man hesitated, seeing the scale of Jacob’s hand from up close. Then, he hoisted up his boxes, one by one, carefully placing them on Jacob’s waiting palm. When he had the last box on Jacob’s hand, he stepped back and looked up expectantly. The hand remained where it was.
Jacob only had a sympathetic smile for the tiny man. “Ah. I need you to tell me where in the harbor I should take these,” he admitted. He should have made sure the little guy knew that ahead of time. “And if I can’t get to the spot you’re after, you might still need to unload these yourself …”
“Of course it’s fine!” the little guy blurted, his voice jumping an octave. “I’ll show you! Just … just a second!”
Jacob said no more and waited for the little guy to work up the courage. It took several long, awkward seconds, and he began to wonder if he should help the man find a different way to get his boxes to the harbor. Finally, right before Jacob developed a crick in his neck, the man strode up to his hand and stepped on.
He tripped immediately, but the effort was made and Jacob pretended not to notice it at all. He watched the horizon absently until the tentative steps across his palm ended. The man sat next to one of his boxes with one arm braced over it to keep it (and himself) steady. When Jacob looked down again, he waved. “I’m-I’m ready to go! It’s nothing, right, you carry people around all the time!”
Jacob tried and failed not to smile. “Yep, I sure do,” he agreed. If the guy was going to do the job of reassuring himself instead of Jacob having to do it, he wasn’t about to correct anything.
Technically, there were only a few people so far who let him carry them around at all.
“Just hang on and point me in the right direction, sir,” Jacob announced with a friendlier grin. After this, he wondered how long it might be before he was Lilliput’s official taxi service.
Writerly Things 