POV: Indiana

I woke up around 7am, in an empty bed. Alex was long gone, as usual. It would be nice to get some morning cuddles, for once. Oh well, I know she gets incredibly bored when waiting for me to wake up. At least her huge frame keeps the bed warm, even an hour after she's left. It's absolutely wonderful during the colder months... but the hot ones can be a pain, especially with how prone I am to sweating.. Whoever invented AC should get a medal.

Groggily, I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and reach for my nightstand. I quickly find my socks, which I had left there last night. I... really dislike the feeling of going barefoot on anything other than a bed, pillows, etc.. Ya know, soft stuff!

Once all that's done, I finally get out of bed, and head straight towards the kitchen. On the way, I grab my bathrobe, to make sure I don't get cold now that I've left my bed's warm embrace. First stop: the kitchen. I need my morning coffee... and I mean I need it. I have a ton of energy, like a ridiculous amount. But I need the coffee to jump-start it, or I end up being tired and unproductive all day long. Alex thinks I drink too much caffeine... I know she's just worried... but I'm fine! Besides, we know people who actually can't drink too much caffeine or they'll.. uhm... nevermind.

I lean against the kitchen counter, happily enjoying my warm, soothing coffee on this cold winter day. In the distance, I hear the opening and closing of the back door, followed by heavy footsteps that I know all too well.

"Finally up, are you?", Alex teases as she walks into the kitchen. My response is appropriately mature: I stick my tongue out, which causes my love to chuckle softly. Before I can react, she crosses the distance between us with those long legs of hers. She comes in for an embrace...

"Alex, mind the coffee!", I yelp, hoping that she’ll react fast enough to stop her approach. To her credit, she does, albeit not without sighing deeply. One of her huge hands reaches for the cup, firmly yanking it out of my grip and placing it on the counter, a foot or two to the right. I’ve long since learned to just let go whenever Alex reaches for something I’m holding. I can’t beat her strength anyway, and I know she doesn’t mean to be rude…. Besides, what comes next is way better than any coffee could ever be..

With the coffee set back on the counter, I watch as Alex reaches out for her second attempt. I feel her hands grab both sides of my waist. It’s a little uncomfortable, but I know this is the easiest method. For a second, I feel weightless, as Alex lifts me from the ground and places me onto our kitchen counter. Like a lot of furniture in our house, our counter is a little higher up than usual. It comes up right to the bottom of my chest. It’s hardly more uncomfortable for me, and otherwise it would only come up to Alex’s thighs, which would be ridiculous.

I like sitting up on our kitchen counter, it’s the perfect height! Why? Because this is one of few ways that I can actually see eye-to-eye with the love of my life! I know she loves it too, I can see it in her brown eyes. Then again, she also loves looking down towards me… I think she just loves looking at me.~

I open up my legs and wrap them around her waist, so she can get as close as possible. Our foreheads touch first, a tender motion, symbolising how we truly care for one another. This is no superficial relationship! Then, our lips meet, a wonderful feeling I’ll never get used to. Like so much of my near-amazonian lover, her lips easily dominate mine, enveloping them in their soft, plush embrace. But also like my lover, she waits patiently for my response, never wanting to force me into anything, even if she is very eager. 

My response is quite simple: my tongue slowly enters her mouth, trying to look for its bigger, stronger mate. And as soon as they touch, the larger “beast” springs to life, instantly forcing mine back into my mouth as it “invades”. Our tongues dance with each other for a few seconds. Or as Alex calls it, they “wrestle” for a while. But all good things come to an end… and I can’t hold my breath as long as she can. Our kiss ends, and like usual, I’m the first to speak.

“Good morning, Alex.~”

My towering girlfriend allows herself a small, soft smile. She’ll never admit it, but she is absolutely gorgeous whenever she allows herself to smile.Then again, she’s always gorgeous. Anyway, Alex chuckles softly, and responds appropriately.

“Good morning, Indy.~”

There’s a moment of silence between us. Not an awkward one, but one where both of us are admiring what’s in front of our faces. Neither of us can believe we’re so lucky to have the other one as their partner. So, sometimes we simply cannot help but stare in awe for a short while. I hate being a spoilsport, but I'm always the one to end the silence…

“So, Alex… You remember how I have to go to that lecture on smart city infrastructure at 8?", I begin, hoping she'll go along with my idea.

"Mmhmm", is the only response I get. Alex doesn't really have too much affinity with my line of work. But she supports me all the way. I think part of her feels upset I make a good bit more cash, like she's slacking.

"Well, it's Saturday... And you know what I do on Saturday evenings with the nanos... So I was wondering if you could, maybe, uh, take my spot this week?", I say softly, trying my best to sound as sweet as possible. Alex can be incredibly stubborn sometimes, but I know how to get past her defences.

Alex sighs deeply, so much so that I feel her warm breath blow against my face. It's surprisingly pleasant, though these are exactly the kinds of motions that make her the "rougher goddess", as the nanos call it.

"Indy, you know how I feel about interacting with the nanos. Sure it's cool to feel so absurdly huge... But I always feel like such a giant oaf. There's always something that goes wrong... and you worked so hard to make them prosper.."

I frown, knowing that she needs further convincing. But at the same time, I can't help but smile. Alex has progressed so much! When I met her, she barely cared if nanos were an actual thing or not. Now she's just worried about being too harmful. If our heights were reversed, I'd have been so happy I would have scooped her up and given her the greatest kiss of her life. Instead, I simply respond in a way that I hope will change her mind.

"Alex... I've told you countless times not to worry about that! Is it a shame whenever we cause damage to them? Of course it is! But they're so, so small... They're pretty much sentient, humanoid bacteria! Our mere existence will always be a threat to them. Do you feel like an oaf around your microbiome?"

"I guess not. But-"

"Exactly! Alex, we both know I love and admire nanos more than anyone else know. They're so clever and resourceful, and adapt perfectly to whatever new element we introduce into their habitat. Which is my next point: we gave them a habitat! There are trillions upon trillions of nanos in the world, and most have to scavenge and scoure. But here, in our home, we have a habitat which houses nearly a billion of them. Entire generations live and prosper because we protect them."

"But whenever we interact with them, hundreds if not thousands of them perish...."

"We try our best, Alex, that's what matters. Nanos live such short lives, barely a century. We're seemingly immortal goddesses to them. Think about it: from their perspective, we've owned them for 2 entire generations. They accepted a long time ago that accidents occur, yet they hold no grudges. Nanos are so much more forgiving and humble than humans are. So.... Alex, will you please go instead of me this evening?"

"Fine, fine!", she responds, backing off so I can hop down from the kitchen counter, "But don't come complaining if I did something wrong! If I'm supposed to be the god on active duty, my will is law."

I jump off the counter and give Alex a big hug. Or at least... it's supposed to be. Can be quite difficult to manage when my face presses right against her lower chest.

"Thanks Alex, you're the best!", I say before pulling away and heading for the bathroom. She doesn't respond, but a little smirk is all I need to know: she knows she is.

In the bathroom, my first stop is the mirror. I'm not a vain person, but I can appreciate my own good looks. I rub the corners of my eyes, getting the last bits of sleep out of them, before remembering what I was gonna do.

Staring into the mirror has a second purpose: it's a nice way to wordlessy address the nanos that are busy at work: scavenging my face and scalp for any resources they might require. They're so small and have advanced technology that my body creates its own makeshift gravity. So unless I do something drastic, they can't fall off.

Earlier I mentioned that our nanos don't have to scavenge... And that's still true! They don't have to scavenge.. but their instincts make it a natural urge for a certain percentage of their population. And what better to scavenge than the head of the woman they see as their goddess? They can collect all sorts of little resources from my body, it's really cool! For example, they use the keratin from my hair to add as a supportive component in their building materials!

I give them a little wave and a wink. I'd like to think these nanos consider themselves quite lucky. Not only do they get to spend time on my country-sized body. But they get to see things they otherwise never would . Imagine what my encounter with Alex looked like from their perspective, let alone our kiss! And, well, I need to get dressed for the day.. Will they view it from their perspective, or look into the mirror, so far away, to see the whole thing? I have no idea!

When I finish up in the bathroom, I decide it's finally time to go check on my nanos.~