The tiny man stood barefoot on the dining room table of Loretta and Douglas Hall. The polished wood stretched for yards around him, its only interruption being a huge cutting board covered in grapefruit slices. A large, shiny knife lay next to the fruit. The tiny man tried to stand erect, to betray no fear, but at any noise or any breeze of wind he couldn’t help crouching into a defensive posture. On either side of him, several feet away (by his scale) were tall glasses filled with ice cubes and colored liquid.

Douglas had made a couple of Greyhounds for themselves, with Loretta’s fresh grapefruit.

“So, little warrior,” said Douglas, leaning over his prodigious belly to glare down at their captive. “What do you call yourself?”

The tiny man frowned and straightened up. He crossed his arms and refused to say anything.

Douglas shot a glance at his wife, seated across from him. Together the very large couple flanked the diminutive man. Douglas reached one beefy arm across the table and poked the little man in the chest with an index finger nearly as big as the little man, who staggered back but recovered. “You’d better answer the question, little guy.”

The tiny man glared defiantly up at the fleshy face of the giant.

“It’s not for me,” Douglas said, leaning back in his chair. “It’s just that my lovely wife hates a mystery.”

The tiny man’s arms dropped. He turned around to look at Loretta, who had stealthily picked up the knife and rested it, point down, in the wood just behind where he stood. The tiny man stumbled over his own feet and backed away, closer to Douglas’ drink.

“Chocan,” he shouted. The tiny man opened up his throat and drew a deep breath. “My name is Chocan, of the-”

“Let me guess,” said Loretta, replacing the knife on the board. “You are a proud forager of the Ternakan People, right?”

Chocan blinked repeatedly up at the plump blonde. “Yes… the Makanan Ternakan. You know of us?”

Loretta grinned prettily and ran her lacquered red fingertip in a half-circle around the tiny man. “Sweetie, you must know you’re not the first Ternakan we’ve found, right? You’ve heard stories?”

Chocan remained seated where he’d stumbled, his eyes following her fingertip. “Not stories. You giants are a force of nature we know well. We try to live peacefully with you.” He slumped and looked away. “We offer a sacrifice.”

Douglas laughed and drank his cocktail. Loretta smirked and stroked Chocan’s shoulder with a large, round fingertip. “And you got the short straw this time, so to speak?” The tiny man stared at her in confusion but didn’t flinch from her touch. “Don’t you worry, we won’t hurt you.”

Behind the tiny man’s back, Douglas whistled and looked away.

Lorette glowered at him, then smiled warmly upon the tiny man. “And if you serve us well tonight, we may even let you go. You know that, right?”

Chocan’s expression darkened but he nodded. “We do know that the sacrifices may return. Usually.” He glanced at Douglas, who shrugged and spread his hands.

“Well, that’s all right, Chocan,” purred Loretta. “Accidents do happen, but we promise we’ll do our best to take care of you. Isn’t that right, Douglas?” She placed special emphasis on his name, in a do-not-fucking-ruin-this-for-me kind of way.

“Oh, yes, absolutely,” her husband stammered, sitting up straighter. “Lady Loretta and myself do enjoy a most propitious relationship with the proud and mighty Ternakan. We certainly wouldn’t wish to jeopardize this in any way.” He tugged at his doublet, brushed some imaginary crumbs off his shoulder, and generally fussed about himself to avoid his wife’s glare.

“There you go,” she said, licking her upper lip as she leaned toward the tiny man, cast out this night by his tribe as a sacrificial forager. “All you have to do is keep us pleased, and there’s no reason you can’t go trotting back off to your little group, none the worse for wear. You know,” she raised her eyebrows, “you are a rather handsome little fellow.”

Chocan held his breath in the musk of vodka and grapefruit that rolled out of the enormous woman’s gaping maw. “I am gratified at your mercy. My only desire is to know how I may please you.” He knelt and planted his hands on the tabletop, bowing before Loretta.

She looked at Douglas, glowing with delight. “Why, I haven’t any ideas, right off the bat,” she lied. “Douglas?”

“We should get to know each other first, I think,” her husband grinned. “Let’s have another round of drinks, why don’t we. Sea Breezes, anyone?” An able hand at the rail, the large man in green whipped up a couple more highball drinks with fresh grapefruit. He rinsed out a discarded bottle cap and poured their little guest a pool of cocktail.

They finished their Sea Breezes, Chocan draining the bottle cap and declaring it “tasty.” They smiled, and Douglas set them up with Salty Dogs next; likewise, Chocan drank as much as his little belly could hold and complimented Douglas on his skill at flavorful beverages. He was pleased, but Loretta gave him a meaningful glance. Douglas nodded and mixed up a couple of frighteningly stiff Chihuahuas. Not a tequila fan, Loretta grimaced but made her way to the bottom of the glass. Similarly, Douglas took a deep breath and drained his highball in two gulps. Yet in the center of the table between them, Chocan only buried his face in his bottle cap of fluid and didn’t sit up until it was all gone. He wiped his mouth with his forearm and brazenly declared there was very little he was afraid of now.

Douglas blinked his watery eyes at the tiny warrior. “You’re, uh, quite the drinker there, little guy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone pack it away like that.” Loretta tried to agree but had some trouble choosing just the right words. Instead, she only nodded and offered Chocan a golf clap.

Chocan peered at his titanic hosts questioningly. “You know that we Ternakan are immune to alcohol, right?”

Douglas’ jaw dropped and he gaped at his wife in disbelief. “I’ve been trying to get this little fucker snookered,” he slurred, “and now we’re the ones who’re disabled. How do you like that?”

“No matter, no matter,” enunciated Loretta carefully. “We’ll simply switch over to another vein of entertainment for this evening, shan’t we?” She slapped her fleshy palms upon the table on either side of Chocan, a little too close for his comfort. “After all, it’s not as though this cute little fraction of a man can say no, is it.”