The warm light through the window naturally triggered Pod's waking up, which was quite odd. He was usually a nocturnal creature, that being said he never really had a set sleep schedule. As the sensations returned to his body he became acutely aware of where he was; the warmth, the texture, the softness: he was still on Natasha's stomach. The boy went stiff, fear, regret, disbelief washing over him. He couldn't believe he had slept an entire night, and it was a good night's sleep at that. He wasn't sure what to do, he could hear by the murmuring snores that she was still asleep, and his injuries felt stiff after a night of stillness. He groaned as he shifted, trying to roll over and stretch his back. 

Natasha, spurred by the light and tickle on her stomach, began to wake. With a loud yawn she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, remembering who had spent the night with her with a smile. Pod backed away as she stirred, he had woke the slumbering giant. On all fours he retreated, further down the stomach, to a place Natasha might not have wanted him being so close to. She reached over and slid on her spectacles, looking down at her patient. "Good morning Pod!" she said chirpily, already in good spirits.

"M... morn...ing." he said, trailing off. He rose, standing awkwardly, as if trying to hide behind himself. He was incredibly shy.

Natasha could see that he was uncomfortable, which she supposed was fine. "Would you like to go back to the table?" she asked, retaining her honeyed tone. 

Pod nodded vigorously. His tiny bobbing head messing his brown hair.

Natasha relocated him to the surface, the young man quickly skittering into the sock. She sighed, perhaps last night he was simply feeling adventurous. "I'll get breakfast."

The tiny curled himself up into a ball, allowing himself to think. Last night he had slept the best he had in what seemed like years, it was warm, soft... safe. He didn't know what to do, perhaps his best option was to crawl back behind the bin and forget about her. 

He was startled by the sound of a tray being dropped within his vicinity, checking through the mouth of the cave. It was filled with fruit, all cut up into manageable size, and Natasha smiling invitingly behind it. He hadn't had fruit in so long, and he wet his lips at the sight. Allowing his hunger to control his fear, he made his way out, picking up a sopping piece of watermelon to carry back with him. 

"Awww, I hoped you could stay out here and we eat together." she said, her tone disappointed.

The boy holding the piece of fruit froze, the gears in his head ticking. Slowly, reluctantly, he moved back, dropping the piece ahead of him, chest thumping again. He took a handful of the pliant fruit, gobbling it down easily, the red sticky liquid streaming down his arm and face.

The older woman smiled, he looked so cute when he was eating. "How was your night?"

"G-good." he said after a delay of a few seconds. His voice was squeaky, he was so ashamed. He must have sounded like a little pest to her.

"That's nice." she responded, happily sharing the meal with him. Natasha picked up a few grapes, plopping them in her mouth and pulverising them with her teeth. "Have you ever eaten fruit before?" she questioned. He needed a healthy meal, and hopefully some vitamins would keep away 'the scurvy' or some other disease.

Pod froze, the way she ate those grapes was terrifying. He couldn't have been so much larger, and she just pulverised them between her teeth like nothing. He realised she asked a question, so he just nodded. "A few t-times."

They continued their healthy meal in relative silence. Pod nibbled at all the different tiny slithers, offered the opportunity to eat fruits he had never had before, like oranges, or pineapple. When he was full he scuttled back, before he could get in he was interrupted by her voice. "Wait, you don't want to be sticky, do you? I'll clean you up." she said, quickly scuttling into the kitchen. She held a rag when she returned, and much to her welcome surprise he had obeyed, and stayed out. He sat awkwardly as she polished his arms and dabbed at his face, all the sugary fluid dissolved. "Would you like to be left alone for a bit?" she asked, Natasha knew he needed space, he was still so flighty and timid. 

He wasn't sure, again he didn't want to offend her, but still... she was just so big and intimidating; even if she was... soft. He took the safe bet, and nodded.

"How about some television?"

Pod shrugged, he had no idea if he wanted to or not. Deciding for him, Natasha switched it on, turning it low for his ears, and flicking it to something he would enjoy. A nature documentary seemed the best, about elephants. She kindly shifted his sock around to have the mouth facing the screen, and left him be.

The tiny gladly squirrelled back into the fuzzy cavern, peeping out to watch the elephants go about their business. When he saw a human stand next to one of the things he was blown away at their size, he didn't want to imagine what they'd look like in real life.

---

"Hello, Pod? Are you awake?" came Natasha's sing song voice from high above. She saw the small bulge in the sock was quivering, and the mouth was pulled tight. Using her judgement she decided that he needed help, and cautiously, with only a few fingers she pried open the sock, peering in. On the fuzzy floor of the tube Pod was curled up in a ball, shivering slightly in the dim greyed light. He looked like he had seen something he would have preferred not to. "Pod? Are you okay?"

The tiny simply pointed past her, at the screen. Natasha turned her head to see the issue; a lion was tearing apart a zebra and eating it, in complete gory detail. She frowned, switching off the television quickly. "I'm so sorry..." she said, at a loss for words. He was so innocent, he had probably never see anything so violent, at least she hoped he hadn't; there was a good chance he would have seen it for real.

"D-do those lion things actually exist?" he asked, puny voice wavering. He, like most tinies, was absolutely terrified of house cats, and one so large and brutal to kill a human seemed like something from a nightmare.

"Not around here sweety, there aren't any around here." she said reassuringly, Pod coming somewhat undone from the ball. "Do you want to sit on my palm again?" 

Pod was so consumed with fear he nodded without even thinking; he needed someone to hold him, and she was the only person around. He crawled onto her palm, curling up into a ball. The mature woman took her seat, cupping her palms and looking down on him, happy that he had actually crawled on. "It's okay Pod, I won't let any lions get you."

Pod had realised how eagerly he crawled into her palm, and he felt slightly embarrassed and shy; it wasn't like him. He tried to not look her in the eyes, and awkwardly cradled his arm. He realised something: he was such a coward. The boy shuddered, he was a pathetic little runt that jumped at his own shadows. He tightened in his ball, trying to make himself as small as possible. 

Natasha took notice of this change in posture, something was wrong. "Are you okay Pod? Were the lions that scary?" 

"I... I'm such a coward." he croaked out, allowing his feelings to be heard.

"What? Why do you say that?" she said with concern on her tone. A small feeling of pride welled up however, he felt comfortable enough to admit his feelings.

"I'm scared of lions... I'm scared of rain, and... y-you." he said meekly, as if he were about to burst into tears.

The older woman frowned, bringing down a finger and caressing his back, he didn't even stir. "I don't think you're a coward." she said warmly. "I think you're very brave."

Pod just whimpered to himself, being a coward even now.

"You're so young, and to be out in a scary world all alone: that's bravery." Pod continued to whimper. "How's your arm?"

"B-better, but it still hurts..." 

Natasha smiled, bringing him in closer, resting her hands on her large breasts. She leaned in, shocking him slightly, and in the warm embrace of her lips she pressed into his shoulder, and gave it a kiss. She snickered to herself. Pod was shocked, but, like all of her, her lips were soft. Perhaps it actually did help. "Want me to kiss it better?" she asked rhetorically, leaning in for another kiss. She giggled as she very gently tapped her plush labia onto his injury, careful to not aggravate it. Pod began to warm to the feeling, laughing along with her, her wrinkles tickling him. She continued at it, moving onto other parts of his body and sending him wiggling jovially. 

She continued to barrage him with her little kisses, engulfing most of his body with each peck. He turned to face her lips, only to regret what he saw. She leaned in for a kiss, revealing the cavernous maw of her mouth, pitch humid black that writhed with a silent tongue, enamel teeth ready to pulverise his bones. He let out an eep of instinctual fear, cradling his head as he returned to his ball.

The loving woman paused as she noticed his change of attitude. She backed away, putting him into view. "D-don't eat me... please." he said.

Natasha sighed, poor thing. "Pod, Pod, Pod... I won't eat you." she reassured while petting him. Pod realised that he had lapsed back into cowardice, and he kicked himself. Why was he like this? "You don't need to be scared anymore Pod, I'll keep you safe." Natasha set him down, "I'll get us some lunch."

While she was away the young man ruminated on her words. 'You don't need to be scared anymore.', it was true, he didn't. Natasha had shown him nothing but kindness and he still shrunk at her presence like a cowardly ingrate. He looked at the sock, he wanted so badly to jump in and go deep, deep inside. But he wouldn't, he would eat lunch with her.

---

Pod awkwardly sat on the table, alone. His knees were brought up to his bruised chest, and he rested his battered arm on top. He had fought the urge to hide back in his sock all day, feeling vulnerable and exposed without it. He had backed himself close to the tissue box, allowing him to both see the television and the woman watching it. Thankfully there was nothing so terrifying on screen as lions, just a documentary about space. 

The small boy looked so tiny in his little ball, the majority of his skin exposed. Natasha couldn't allow him to catch a chill in his vulnerable state. "Pod, are you cold?" she asked, calling the tiny's attention. He was slightly chilly, his loincloth doing little to protect him. The older woman patted her thigh, beckoning him to approach. He took in several deep breaths, remembering his resolution, and repeating a mantra in his head: this woman means you no harm. He edged over, cautiously, continuing his crawl until Natasha deemed he was close enough and picked him up, placing him gently on her right thigh, covered by comfortable pants. He was on his back, and he spread his limbs out to best sink into the fabric that contained her full thighs, warming him. She sat up, which forced him to stare up into her face, her immense size looming over him, and the fear returned. But she offered a smile, and with a few repeats of his mantra, he managed to calm himself down.

Natasha smiled a small, sensible smile of content; he was become more manageable by the hour. Perhaps he would even allow stroking tonight. 

"N-Natasha..." Pod said, trying to open a question.

The woman was slightly shocked, he had actually spoke first! Instantly she looked back down, to Pod. "Yes?" she said, trying to not sound overly excited.

He took a few breaths to fight off his shivering. "W-why didn't... y-you kill me?"

Natasha was appalled, what kind of question was that? "Why on Earth would I kill you?" she blurted out, almost defensively. She saw the way he recoiled at her words, she definitely wasn't helping him. "I mean... why would you ever think something like that?"

"M-my family always said that... humans kill tinies. D-did they lie?" his question was genuinely innocent. He wanted to know if his entire perspective on life was skewed, and he hoped it was.

The mature woman needed a few seconds to compile her answer; humans did kill tinies. She knew there were extermination services, she knew there were seedy online markets, she knew there were people that saw them only as pests. "Well... some humans might, but not me. I could never hurt a tiny."

"Why did you help me?"

"When you see a person in need, you should always try to help them. It's what my mother always taught me." she said, almost proudly.

"B-but... I'm not... a person." he squeaked out.

Natasha flashed a reassuring smile down, bringing her index finger pad to caress the two inch length of his body, avoiding the sensitive left side of his body. "You may not be a human, but you're still a person."

Her words were so kind to Pod's ears, she saw him as a person, an equal. He had always been the runt, his siblings teasing him for his size, struggling to pull his weight; it was one of the reasons he left to prove himself, and he couldn't even do that... Still, the fact that she saw him as a fellow person made his insides bristle. Natasha was a human, she was gigantic and terrifying, she was the thing that he had been warned of his entire life. But she was so kind, soft, gentle, understanding. Maybe this was still part of her trick, maybe she was fattening him up for use, maybe she wanted to see the look of anguish on his tiny face when she plunged the dagger into his back. Or maybe she was a kind woman that hated to see things in pain. Anyway, for the time being, he curled up on her lap, soothed by her warmth, and for the second night in a row he was sent into the throes of sleep, perched on a human.