#tiny!reader

○ When he glitches out and becomes giant:

Sometimes, after all the humans have gone to bed, Caine experiences glitches that make him giant, as in giant enough that you would be the size of his pinkie finger. The first time it happened, he freaked out, rapidly snapping his fingers and trying to will himself back to normal size, all to no avail. The glitches are painful, but fortunately, they only last a couple of seconds.

A few times, while he's giant, a circus member had tried to leave the hallway of the bedrooms to enter the main part of the tent for whatever reason, to which he panicked and blocked the doorway with his hand before they could reach it. After all, he wouldn't want to frighten one of his little humans! With everything in the circus being so wacky, it's likely nobody ever questioned the sudden white barrier blocking their way and gave up on whatever they were doing not noticing that it was actually the now giant Ringmaster's hand.

He doesn't want to scare any of the humans, but most of all, he doesn't want to scare you. He doesn't want his only friend to fear him.

He'd hide in the main area of the tent or the grounds, since those spaces are big enough to fit his giant size. He'd spend his time nattering nervously with Bubble about his predicament, grabbing onto his teeth like he did in the stargazing scene in ep 5.

○ When you find him:

You have a teddy bear, a book, or another item that you forgot in the main tent area, so at night you go to retrieve it, only for a mysterious white wall to completely block your path. He'd just be floating there full of nerves and covering the doorway, gripping his teeth with a hand.

Let's say he thinks you've retreated, and slowly begins to move his hand away. (You haven't, you really want the item back). As soon as there's enough room to slip past, you quickly do before he can stop you, oblivious to the situation. You freeze in place when you see him, eyes wide.

How would he react? He'd, (as quietly as he can), FREAK out. He'd float backwards and hold his hands up in a "surrender" pose, eyes full of fear, fear you'll be afraid of him.

And if you attempt to scramble away, if you fall backwards and try to scoot away out of sudden instinctual fear? It would only fuel his panic further.

You wouldn't get very far, he'd (gently) and quickly lift you up into his hands before you could flee to your room.

Though not quite sure how, he'd try and reassure you the best he could.

However, he'd be oblivious to how his way of rapidly reassuring you is making it worse, getting all in your face and gripping you tightly. "W-wait! Don't run, please, my dear! There's no need to panic!"

But seeing your tiny, panicked face and your fragile body struggling in his fingers, realisation would set in, and he'd quickly put you back down.

He'd curl himself up into a ball, sitting a small distance away from you. He doesn't understand everything about fear, but he does know that smaller = less threatening, and applies it to himself.

You'd have to approach him, he'd be so afraid of scaring you again that he wouldn't move until you did.

Upon approaching him and tapping his leg to try and get him to look at you, he would stare at you intently, pupils blown wide and shiny.

He'd have to be very thoroughly assured that you trust him and won't be afraid of him before he uncurls.

Surprisingly, he wouldn't float around as usual, he'd sit on the floor. Admittedly, it looks odd since he's usually always airborne in some way, but you appreciate it as his attempt to seem non-threatening.

He'd want to hold you right away, so when you request it, you don't have to ask twice, you're immediately and very gently scooped up.

He would be uncharacteristically gentle with you, letting you sit in his palm instead of gripping you and using a soft tone.

Would not ever shut up about his intentions: "Please don't be afraid of me...I-I promise I won't hurt you!" He'd needs to be reassured exactly nine times before he'd accept that you're not afraid, finally relaxing. So nine rounds of patting his thumb and telling him you trust him.

○ Nightly hangout session while he's giant:

He'd be overjoyed when you express wanting to stay and hang out with him, relieved not to be alone, and excited to spend time with his close friend.

He'd let you sit in his hand, on his shoulder, on his knee, in his hat, he doesn't mind!

Would still be cautious about frightening you, his touch would be feather-light and he'd be constantly watching for any signs of distress or fear.

It wouldn't take too long for him to start rambling endlessly about his adventures, he would pitch to you his ideas, pupils massive as he listens intently to your responses. Except now he'd carefully use you as a fidget toy while he thinks, prepare to be squeezed and played with.

He would eventually stop talking about his adventures and listen to you ramble instead. He'd lean in with keen interest

You'd become a little comfort object for him, he'd secretly hope you'll come and find him every time he unwillingly grows.

He'd get so excited about being able to hang out with you for so long he'd almost bluescreen. After all, all he wants is to be friends with the humans, and usually they show no interest in hanging out with him whatsoever.

If you were to hug his thumb or show any other kind of affection, he'd immediately blue-screen.

I think he'd be one to experience cuteness aggression. You'd be squished in his fingers (gently), have your head petted vigorously by the pad of his finger and be excessively cooed over. He'd say things like, "You're so cute!" while squeezing your head in his fingers.

If you get sleepy, he'd reluctantly tone himself down. But if you were to lay down in his palm? He certainly wouldn't mind shutting up. He'd also become a massive cuddle bug (literally), hugging you to his chest and nuzzling you with his head-jaw thing.

When he finally turns back to his normal size in the morning, he'd be overjoyed, but also secretly a little disappointed he can't spend any more time with you for now.

I hope you enjoyed these! I'm starting to realise that all my headcannons end in cuddles... 🥲

Typically your nights never consisted of much. You'd get back to Hotel Z, feed yourself and your pokémon, and then collapse in your room. Tonight however, was different. Your day had been nothing short of mildly terrible— you'd been halfway across town when it started pouring rain. You didn't have an umbrella and you hardly had enough money to buy one. You stumbled back into the hotel soaking wet and miserable.

One glance at you and AZ had been beside himself with worry. The second you stepped into Hotel Z he had abandoned his sweeping to fuss over you quietly, helping you peel off your soaked jacket and taking your bag. You were so overwhelmed that you didn't protest. He spoke quietly, careful to not overwhelm you further. He emptied all of your important things out of your bag and hung your jacket up to dry, before sending you upstairs to wash up while he fed your pokémon for you.

The next half an hour felt blurry. It wasn't anything more than showering and putting on fresh clothing, but it all felt like too much. Too much walking, too many noises, too many tasks. The elevator ride back downstairs seemed to take forever, when honestly it was only a few seconds. AZ was waiting at the check in counter, and you could tell he was trying to appear as normal as possible. If it had been anybody else acting like this, you likely would've been annoyed, but… this was comforting.

You barely managed to finish the sandwich he'd fixed you. Food felt unnecessary with how dissasociated you were, but you'd eaten anyways to reassure AZ.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked quietly, taking the plate from your hand and setting it down into the sink. You hesitated, your thoughts too hazy to form a response. You shrugged half-heartedly, rubbing the sleep that began to spot your vision. He reached forward but stopped as his hand hovered over your shoulder. "Would you prefer to go back to your room, or…?" He leaned against the counter, his question lingering in the air.

You thought as hard as you could for a moment. What other option did you have? As if he could sense your confusion, AZ leaned forward lightly, finally letting his hand rest on your shoulder. "If you wanted, I could read to you a bit. See if that'll help calm your mind."

You relaxed instantly at the suggestion. God yes, that would make everything so much better. You nodded and yawned, and for a second AZ's expression was unreadable. The elevator ride was quiet and the walk to his room was even quieter, but his presence was so relaxing that the silence didn't unnerve you.

You'd never actually been in AZ's room before, but it was more bare than you had expected. His furniture was large, all clearly custom made for him. A bed, a dresser with a mirror fixed to the top, a nice bookshelf, a little hanging basket bed for Floette near the window and a nice chair and table in the corner— also near the window. Floette, who had until now been trailing behind the both of you, toddler over to her basket bed as AZ settled himself in his chair. You stared at the both of them, managing a half smile. The scene was endearing.

AZ reached for his book and a pair of reading glasses, which he took care with unfolding and sliding onto his face. He turned his attention from his book to you, and gestured smally for you to join him. You shut the door behind you and walked a little closer, standing in front of him awkwardly. He yawned for a moment, covering his mouth with a hand, before nodding. "Do you think, perhaps you'd be a bit more comfortable if you were smaller?" He hummed, trying not to dance around his suggestion. Your eyes widened slightly. Right! You'd forgotten you could do that.

You laughed quietly to yourself, nodding and walking a bit closer to lean against his arm. He kept his arm steady as you began to shrink yourself smaller and smaller. You had only done this in front of him twice before— once when you had told him about your ability, and another time during a panic attack. Both times he had been perfectly lovely, and more gentle than you would expect from someone so large. His expression remained carefully neutral as you got smaller and smaller, his other hand leaving his book so he could support you and help you climb up into his hand when you were small enough to fit.

His palm was rough underneath you, but the sheer warmth it radiated was enough to make it feel like a space heater. Sleep was just begging to hit you like a ton of bricks. Or perhaps a train. Or a particularly large pokémon.

He kept his movement slow as he raised you up to his chest. "Do you have a preference as to where you rest, little one?" He murmured, his voice surrounding you like a gentle blanket. You barely managed to keep yourself sat up, your eyes half closed as you shook your head. He hummed in acknowledgement and gently deposited you on his shoulder, half hidden by a bit of his hair and snug against the crook. You yawned and readjusted yourself for just a moment, before gazing exhaustedly down at the book in his lap.

Jisung’s passion was photography. He’d saved up for a proper DSLR camera instead of signing one out of the Media Loans room every time. And also he didn’t have to worry about his photos getting deleted or wiped on a personal one.

The camera he had was a bright, shiny, ruby red. To an animal or other creature it could be mistaken as a giant, juicy apple. 

For an assignment he was tasked to take some photos of nature and edit and submit at least five, all of different subjects. Which is why he took a few pictures of the trees and plants at the outskirts of the forest before going deeper, wanting to find someone exquisite. Maybe he’d find a rare plant, nobody really went this deep into the forest on his campus; not even campus staff. 

« ☆ —⋆——꒰ঌ·☆·໒꒱ ——⋆— ☆ »

You were just minding your own business, honestly... Okay maybe you were perched up on a tree watching the human boy poke around looking for something to capture. You didn’t know what he was holding, it looked like an apple, but he’d point it at something and suddenly whatever it was would be on this screen.. you were sure is was some kind of soul snatching device disguised to lure animals in with its red colour. Why would a human need nature souls? It didn’t make any sense to you, but none of your thoughts really did. 

Unless he was a fairy hunter. That had to be it. But why did he need nature souls and not just fairy souls? 

The red thing flashed a bright light in your direction while he was taking a picture of the tree you were hiding on. It disoriented you and you found yourself free falling with a panicked scream. You didn’t react fast enough, fortunately Jisung did and caught you. Thinking you were a baby bird at first, but when he opened his hands to peek in he realized he couldn’t be more wrong.

“Oh my god...” he whispered. Afraid to scare you away. He was really, truly gentle with you. You’d never interacted with a human before but you thought they’d be rough with something as small as you. He stared with a mix of awe and disbelief. He was holding a fairy. A real life fairy. A cute real life fairy. 

His eyes roamed over your entire body. Moving his hands closer to his face as he took in all the details. The way your skin glittered in the light.. the colour of your wings which looked like they were made from some kind of flexible glass. You felt the pads of his fingers run ever so slightly over your fragile wings, sending a shiver down your spine and making a warranted squeak leave you. 

“Oh- Oh no, did I hurt you? I- I’m so sorry.. are you okay? The flash knocked you out, didn’t it? Gosh, I feel so bad.” you glanced up at him. The giant looked teary eyed and had a small pout on his lips. 

You shifted in his palm to a more comfortable position so you didn’t have to hurt your neck so much to look at him. With shake of your head he relaxed almost immediately. “Good. Good.” He glanced at the camera hanging from the strap around his neck before looking back at you. “Can I... take a photo of you? Its- I wont show anyone, It’ll just be for me. Promise.” 

“Photo...?” You tilted your head in confusion. Right, you were a fairy.. why would you know what a photograph was. 

“It’s.. uh... like a way to capture you-” He paused when he saw the wide eyed look you gave him. He did want your soul, you knew it. “I mean- not capture you... it’s like...” He bit on his bottom lip, trying to figure out how to explain the concept of a camera to you without freaking you out even more. “Okay so-” He holds up the bright red camera with his free hand after moving you safely into the other. “This is a camera, okay?” 

You nodded. You didn’t know what that was either.

“So this camera basically used light to... uh- preserve memories I guess.. into like a still image.” he paused, “Do you know what an image is? Actually- never mind, its just something that preserves memories.” 

“You don’t want my soul...?” You whispered, just audibly for him to hear. His eyes widened, 

“What?! No! No, no, no. Why would I want that?” He seemed shocked that you even thought that. “I just think you’re... beautiful and interesting and I want to uh,” you could miss the way his cheeks flushed slightly, especially not with how close you were to his face. “remember this. Meeting you.” 

Aw. He was kind of sweet. 

“Okay...” 

“Okay? Okay what?”

“You can... take the photo.. does it hurt?” his lips upturned into a grin. 

“You won’t feel anything. Promise.” He crouched down on the ground and set you down. “Do a little pose for me.” He said as he held the cameras viewfinder up to his eye, making sure the flash was off. 

Hesitantly, you intertwined your fingers and held your hands down near your abdomen. He was right, it didn’t hurt. You just heard a small click. Actually more like multiple small clicks before he turned the screen to you. “Thats me..” you leaned closer, it really picked up your details clearly. 

“Pretty, right?” He smiled. 

“Me.?”

“Yes, you. You’re a pretty little thing.” He did call you beautiful earlier, but he said it with interesting so it wasn’t as affective in making you flustered until now. You and him both jumped when an alarm went off on his phone. “Sorry, sorry.. I have to get back.” He got turned off the camera and stood up. “Do you live here?” 

You nodded and he smiled again. “Okay. I’ll see you around, my Tiny Muse.” he gave you a wave and then he was gone. 

You had a feeling you’d be seeing a lot more of him from now on. 

Gloria sighed, the sound just as familiar to you now as it was years ago when you told her of the giant bard you had met as a child. “Be sure to say goodbye to your siblings. Don’t you dare forget Glory, she worries for you every time you leave Mond, especially after that Goodwin fellow she’s smitten with up and left with Grandmaster Varka. Barbatos guide them.”

“I will Mom, don’t worry.” Your mom took care of many of the orphaned or unsupervised children of Mond, which had left you a little bitter in your early teenage years, but now you loved all of them, and leaving without saying goodbye would make you feel sick to your stomach. “Besides I’m just going up to Dornman Port, I’ll still be in Mondstadt.”

“I know, I know…just be careful. Our border with Scheznaya is near there, and with the Fatui causing their usual problems…I just worry.” You nodded, giving your mom a quick hug. She took a deep breath, as if having you in her arms grounded her.

“Well.” She slowly pulled away. “I suppose you should get going before the sun goes down.”

“I’ll be back soon, I promise.” You smile, putting on your backpack and securing your straps. “And I’ll be sure to write as soon as I arrive, okay?”

“Alright.” Your mom nodded, her hand reaching up to worry her rosary between her fingers. “I love you.”

“Love you too!” As you left the house the wind danced around you, playing with your hair and carrying the scent of apples. You followed the wind as you said your goodbyes to your siblings, and waved at the townsfolk that had watched you grow up.

Leaving the gates of Mond, the wind always felt sharper, angrier. As if it wasn’t just a friend, but a protector and a guide. Kind of like a guard dog. You cautiously pulled your Catalyst from your inventory, the gleaming blues of the cover and accents glowing and pulsing with elemental energy. You were fairly strong, taking lessons from any of the Anemo users you could, mostly Sucrose. 

Slowly you began your trek, following the road to the north as it led through the Whispering Woods, the foliage danced in the breeze almost as if waving. Thankfully the Knights of Favonious patrolled through here often, leaving no hilichurls or slimes to interrupt your travels. Each step was met with more and more excitement as you recounted your plans.

As you reminded yourself again to stop before evening light, your eyes fell on Starfell Lake and the Statue of the Seven that sat on the tiny island in its middle. You frowned as you debated taking the tiny detour before shrugging. It would be a quick respite from your trek so far, and you could offer some berries you had picked on the way to Barbatos. As you reached the edge of the lake you bit your lip. Getting wet wasn’t in the plan, so after a moment of thought you turned your eyes on some nearby slimes. If you could get enough energy…

“Wind, hear me!” You shouted as you pulled the air away from the slimes, creating a vacuum and dealing damage to the elemental creatures. Energy rushed through you as the slimes melted in defeat, and you turned back to Starfell Lake with a grin. Using the burst of energy you had stored, you took on the form of a wind sprite and floated easily over to the Statue, landing and brushing yourself off. A familiar warmth rolled over you as you basked in the aura of the statue, apparently it was something only vision holders could feel. Though, to you it felt like being near the Big Bard from your childhood, it felt safe. You carefully dusted away any debris from the statue before bowing your head in prayer.

“Please, Lord Barbatos, guide me to find my friend again.” You whispered, scrunching your eyes like you always have when you would pray. Your mother would sigh every time and tell you it wasn’t necessary, but you had argued that the Big Bard had said it would’ve made Barbatos laugh, so you have continued to do so ever since.

You concluded your prayer and opened your eyes, only for them to widen in complete shock. You spun around in horror as you didn’t recognize anything, the landmarks you had grown up with were missing, even the lake that was supposed to be all around you was completely gone, replaced with…

“Dandelions…” You whispered, gaping as the entire expanse around you was covered in the plants. “Is this…”

“You made it!” A soft scream tore its way out of your throat as the sun seemed to disappear, leaving you in darkness. “Oh no…”

Suddenly the sun returned as abruptly as it had left, and you slowly pulled your arms down from where they had instinctively raised to guard your face. Your breath caught in your throat as familiar, giant, teal eyes peered at you, surrounded by a pale face that your mind hazily tried to liken to the one in your memories. 

It wasn’t until the wind wrapped itself around you in that gentle way that it had many many years ago, reminding you immediately of home, that you finally started to relax. It was like a hug from an old friend.

“Hello again little one.” The Big Bard smiled. “Though I suppose you’re not so little now, are you?”

“No, I’m not.” You crossed your arms, glaring playfully. “You’re still as big as I remember though.”

The giant let out a soft laugh. “It would seem so. I’m surprised you remembered me so well. Most humans tend to forget me when I’m not around.”

“That’s not nice.” You grumbled. “You told me to meet you when I was older, of course I can’t forget a promise.” You glanced around at the Sea of Dandelions. “Though Lord Barbatos must have teleported me here, I was just at Starfell Lake.”

“I did.” You turned back to the Big Bard and raised an eyebrow.

“You can teleport people? Well that makes sense, you probably couldn’t travel very easily at your size…” You froze. “Wait.” Slowly you looked back up at the “make-believe” friend from your childhood and felt everything click. “Oh.”

“Hey, it’s alright. I don’t mind just being your friend y’know.” 

Your mouth ran dry as your heart began to pound in your ears. All this time…you had been friends with the Archon of Mondstadt. Calling him all kinds of nicknames, butchering his name for the first few years of your life. Your vision suddenly felt heavy around your neck. What if all of this time he was keeping an eye on you because you offended-

“Wendy.” You flinched and looked up at Lord Barbatos in fear. He knew your name? Of course he knew your name, your mother had prayed to him every night of her life. You had prayed to him yourself many times. “You’re shaking.” You barely reacted at the gentle touch of his giant hand against your arm.

Then in the blink of an eye the huge god you were familiar with was gone, and in his place was a young boy wearing a teal-green outfit, holding out a hand.

“Is this better?” You blinked and slowly relaxed, gently taking the offered hand. “Hi, my name’s Venti, Venti the Bard. It’s nice to meet you.”

You stared for a moment before smiling, realizing he was giving you the chance to begin as friends, not as an Archon and their follower.

“I’m Wendy, Wendy the Adventurer.” You smiled. “And eventually I hope to meet my friend Barbatos at his full height.”

“I’m sure one day he would be happy to show it to you.” Venti giggled, pulling you down to sit amongst the Dandelions. The breeze here was so gentle as to not blow the seeds away, but the winds still blew, weaving through the air like playful children. Your eyes widened as you heard the soft chimes that denoted the laughter of a wind sprite. Venti smiled. “If you want to hear a song, I have one in mind. But-” He winked. “It’ll cost you an apple.”

Your laughter filled the air and upon listening to the first chords your eyes grew heavy, closing against your will.

A warmth on your face woke you up, and you sat up groggily rubbing at your eyes. Slowly you opened them fully, blinking at the early morning light blinding you as it reflected off the water. 

You scrambled through the forest as Sam chased after you, rain pitter-pattering on the muddy ground. "Just stop running already! Quackity and I just want to talk!" You knew damn well Sam was lying. If he 'just wanted to talk', then he wouldn't have his trident out.

The event was clear in your mind. You owned a home near Quackity's casino in Las Nevadas, and Quackity had called you, asking you to come to his office one last time to have a 'friendly chat.' He then threw a weird, cyan splash potion that shrank you to a fraction of your height and ordered Sam to kill you.

You couldn't outrun Sam. You knew you couldn't. He was far faster than you could ever be. But that didn't mean he was smarter.

Well, he probably was smarter, but he relied on some sort of thermal vision to find keep track of where you were going. He was never much of a tracker, so he had to be tracking something that wasn't scent, since the gas mask would throw that off. Your eyes darted around the forest floor, desperately looking for something you could throw at him or something. You then spotted a puddle of mud.

I saw a guy do this in a toothpaste ad once, you thought to yourself as you covered yourself in mud. You grimaced at its weird texture as it partially dried, but it was either that or getting caught by Sam.

Sam slowed to a stop near you, looking around and sniffing the air. Eventually, he walked right past you, continuing his search. You breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of earshot, but then you heard footsteps. Loud footsteps. And... crying?

Suddenly, Tommyinnit burst through some nearby foliage. From what you'd heard, Dream was messing with Tommy while he was in exile. By the looks of it, Dream had taken things too far.

Unlike Sam, who relied on thermal vison to see you, Tommy spotted you almost immediately. "Reader? Is that you? What are you doing here?" "I- long story."

Suddenly, you heard paws impacting against the muddy ground. Sam was coming back. He'd probably heard you and Tommy talking. Tommy could tell from the fear in your eyes that you needed to hide.

Tommy went through his options in his head. He could shove you in his pocket and run, but Sam would hear him. He could put you in his hoodie pocket, but Sam would hear him and his favorite hoodie would be ruined. There was only one more option, but you wouldn't like it.

"Reader, I have an idea on how we can get out of here, but you need to trust me." "Okay. What's the plan?" "There's no time to explain. You're completely sure that you trust me?" "Yes! Now hurry up!"

Tommy grabbed you with both hands, and you immediately regretted telling him to hurry up. He haphazardly shoved you in his mouth, licking the mud off your clothes and face as you tried not to scream, desperately hoping he wasn't going to do what you thought he was.

Those hopes were immediately crushed as his tongue guided you to the back of his mouth and towards his throat, you bit your tongue until it bled to keep yourself from screaming.

You slid down his esophagus and into his stomach with a wet plop. There, you cried as quietly as you could, hearing Tommy talk to Sam.

"Tommy, have you seen Reader anywhere? I was just looking for them." "Nope. Sorry, big man."

Sam sighed, then walked away. Tommy tried to find a spot next to the tree that wasn't muddy. He sat down, resting one hand on his stomach.

"Alright, so I've got a bit of explaining to do." "No shit, sherlock! What made you think that was a good idea?!" "I dunno, man! I was just..."