#i stg if the sierras flood or something in august im gonna lose it pls i just want to stare at rocks

[evieismol]

Chapter 4 of the gt park ranger story

Back from an unintentional hiatus as I got really busy with classes and work and then ~my life fell apart~...my sincere apologies I'm going to finish this now lol. Also desperately needs a name, if anyone has any suggests please feel free to lemme know lol

warnings: n/a

word count: 1525

Previous Chapter

Dave was already awake when his alarm went off. He’d slept restlessly all night, tossing and turning for hours before resigning himself to staring up at the ceiling as the sun rose. Today was the day that he was supposed to go work with John and Easton. When the shrill screech of his alarm went off, it felt more like a bad omen than a wake up call. He reluctantly slid out of bed. His concerns over the upcoming shift didn’t fade as he got ready, and at one point he found himself seriously considering calling in. He shook his head, hoping to clear the thoughts from his mind. That was dramatic, he told himself. He’d agreed to work with Easton. And all calling in sick would do was delay the inevitable anyways.

Truth be told, he hadn’t expected this much of an emotional reaction upon finally seeing another Aphirial. He’d spent so long trying to push memories of his past away that he’d tricked himself into thinking it worked. That the past was some cold, dead series of events. Not something apparently warm enough to still burn. 

Dave finished buttoning his shirt, took a deep breath, and headed outside. John was leaning against the employee housing wall when he stepped outside. 

“Morning. Sleep well?” John asked. 

“Well enough,” Dave said. “So, what exactly are we up to today?”

“A tour of the park,” John replied. “I’ve only been here once, actually.”

“And I would guess it’s safe to assume Easton hasn’t ever,” Dave said. John nodded. Dave continued. “Well, I’m not sure how good of a tour guide I’ll be.”

John shrugged. “I think the goal is more team-bonding.”

“Right,” Dave replied. 

“Speaking of the team, we’re going to meet Easton, go over basics, and then head out,” John said. He gestured down the path before taking off in the same direction. Dave followed him, giving the employee housing building a quick glance back as anxiety built in his chest. Is it too late to fake being sick?

To say Easton’s place was huge would be an understatement. It wasn’t a surprise given his own size, but Dave still found himself staring up at the trailer in awe. If it was human-sized, it wouldn’t have been anything notable. Probably small camper sized. Big enough for a bed, maybe a modified kitchen and a half bath. It had a distinctly angular, somehow foreign feel to it, and Dave guessed that the trailer had come from Easton’s own realm as opposed to being built here. Though, that would have been a good guess even without the odd architecture, as Dave guessed building something of this scale would be a struggle for a human construction crew. John led him to the base of the structure, where a human-sized door sat to the side of some much larger steps. 

John typed something into the keypad outside the door, and it slid open to reveal a modern looking elevator. 

“Rangers first,” John said jokingly. Dave stepped into the elevator, the IMA agent close behind him. 

“I don’t know why this,” Dave gestured to the elevator. “Is a surprise to me. I mean, makes more sense to have a human-sized elevator than try to scale those steps. I guess I hadn’t really given it any thought.”

John gave a short chuckle. “It’s our best attempt at accomodating both sizes. There’s a series of pathways - human-sized pathways, that is - around the inside, so we can get around fairly easily. And this elevator takes us to the various levels on the pathways.”

“Like hamster tunnels,” Dave mused. John gave him an odd look but didn’t say anything. Instead, he pushed one of the buttons in the elevator, and they began to go up. The ride didn’t feel like it took too long, despite Dave guessing they’d gone up at least a few hundred feet. There was a ding, and the doors behind them rolled open. Dave found himself frozen as he took in what was before them. 

As he’d guessed, the interior of the trailer wouldn’t have been notable if it had been human-sized. It had the same sleekly modern feel the outside did, from the polished white table directly in front of them to the circular, metal-framed windows across the room. What stopped Dave in his tracks, though, was the scale. It felt like staring up at a mountain, or into the sea on a dark night. The feeling of being incredibly, wholly, insignificant. Easton’s presence only further exemplified that. In a room to his scale, it no longer seemed like he was the odd one out - Dave found himself feeling more like he was abnormally small instead of Easton being huge. 

Easton broke into a soft, close-lipped smile when he saw them. 

“Good morning!” John greeted him. “So, you both feeling ready?” 

Dave nodded. 

“Yeah,” Easton seconded. 

“Alright. Now, I’m sure Gus and Dan will go over actual, y’know, ranger stuff. I only oversee the whole Aphiria-Earth liasion bit, and I won’t be meaning to step on any toes this summer. Just wanted to get that out of the way,” John said. “We were going to head over to the eastern part of the park, look around, and then I believe you’ll be meeting Dan later this afternoon. Basically, we’re just trying to get to know each other this morning.” 

“Sounds good,” Dave said. He found his gaze drifting over to Easton again, and wondered what exactly he could even do in the park. Probably plenty, actually, he realized after a moment. Easton was gigantic compared to humans, but not ridiculously so compared to natural features. Dave would bet the Rio Grande river alone was wider in parts than Easton was tall. He’d probably be able to help with upkeep, trail maintenance, and so on. And then, of course, the angle Dave suspected the Park Service (and by extension U.S. Government) was most interested in, which was income from tourists. Several public facing nonhumans had been hugely well-received in recent years. People tended to flock to the strange, unusual, and even scary. 

He recalled hearing about both a giant (of the smaller variety) and a vampire on Broadway recently. Both were met with wide praise and rocketing attendance numbers of their respective shows. There was even a whole niche of non-human micro influencers, something he’s discovered on one of his endless TikTok scrolls. The park service may not be as flashy as either of those examples, but justifying budgets did at least in some part depend on getting people to visit. 

“Well, we should probably get going, then,” John finished. Dave realized he’d zoned out, entirely missing part of what John had said. He hoped it wasn’t anything important. 

“So, we have a car outside. Two options, we could meet Easton there, or he could carry us,” John said to Dave. 

“We can meet him there,” Dave said quickly. If Easton was offended at the speed of his rejection, he didn’t show it, instead simply nodding. He and John headed back to the elevator, exiting in the same way they’d came. John led him to a truck parked nearby, motioning for him to climb in. He handed him an earpiece.

“So we can communicate with Easton easily, without having to yell out the window or something,” John explained. Dave nodded. 

Easton appeared a few moments later, and Dave felt his stomach turn again as he looked out the truck window up at the giant. He’d at least been eye-level with Easton during previous meetings. Now, though, the truck barely came up to Easton’s ankles, and Dave couldn’t help but think how easily Easton could step on them without so much as a second thought. Easton crouched down, his attempt to be closer to them doing little to close the gap in their size difference. Dave noticed he was also wearing an earpiece. 

“Does following us work?” John asked. Easton nodded. 

“Great. Just make sure to stay a few car lengths away when you’re walking okay?” 

“Of course,” Easton said. He was true to his word the entire trip, as the buildings faded away into the distance before finally being obscured around a bend. He also didn’t take his eyes off the ground the entire time, gaze carefully checking each step. That put Dave at ease a little. 

The truck pulled into a parking spot in a dirt parking lot. Dave wasn’t sure exactly where there were, beyond one of the more remote parts of the park. Sensible, if John didn’t want to draw a group with Easton just yet. Speaking of Easton, Dave noticed him hang back on the outside of the parking lot. John climbed out of the car. Dave was close behind, and he looked around at there surroundings. The Chisos mountains painted the backdrop in the distance, and trees cast shade over the parking lot. 

“Beautiful day out!” John said. “We’re going to head to the canyon down there. We have an approximate idea of where Easton can fit easily, but consider this our official mapping.” This was going to be a long day, Dave thought.

Next Chapter

#gt story #sfw gt #g/t #sfw g/t #gt #gt writing #g/t writing #giant/tiny #u would not believe the spring ive had #hiding this ramble in the tags hopefully its amusing to anyone who sees it #i was supposed to be at a certain park but it is UNDER WATER #i stg if the sierras flood or something in august im gonna lose it pls i just want to stare at rocks