The paddling legs went still, and the enormous head swung toward her and dipped once, slow and solemn.
"Will you endure pain for his sake? Terrible wounds? Suffering without end?"
Another dip, deeper, and the growl that came with it rolled across the plain like an oath.
"And if something comes for him while he sleeps?"
The fissure-mouth peeled open along its seam, and what came out of it made the nearest soldiers reach for weapons they had already sheathed.
"Wonderful." Aria beamed, every trace of menace gone between one heartbeat and the next, and reached up to pat the armored plate of his cheek. "We’re going to get along just fine."
Alice went last, and unlike the others, she had clearly prepared.
She marched up to the lolling colossus, planted both fists on her hips, and tipped her chin as high as it would go.
"Listen well, Pebble." Her voice was working very hard at being stern. "I’ve read about dogs. If I’m not firm with you from the very first day, you will walk all over me for the rest of our lives. So I will be firm. Starting now."
The crown descended until six eyes like windows hovered level with the smallest person on the field, and Alice leaned back an inch before forcing herself forward again.
Pebble held perfectly still under her inspection while Alice reached up to deliver one quick, precise pat to his snout, the way one pets a stove that might be hot. "Good boy. You may guard my big brother."
His entire back half wiggled, and the resulting tremor knocked her two steps sideways. She re-planted her stance immediately and glared up at him as if she had moved on purpose.
"Bad Pebble!" she shouted.
The wiggling stopped dead, and all six eyes snapped wide at her.
The colossus twisted himself over with a haste that shook the plain, brought his crown low, and pressed his snout flat against the white floor at Alice’s feet, where he produced the smallest sound anyone had ever heard him make, a thin, contrite rumble of apology.
A creature that had challenged the entire planet was begging forgiveness from a teenage girl.
Alice kept the stern mask up another three seconds, visibly delighted underneath it, then granted him a single forgiving pat. "See that it doesn’t happen again."
Several women nearby bit down on their grins.
- sinnamon_roll99: We’re watching the thing that ate twenty dungeons get belly rubs
- TouchGrass: Day one of the apocalypse petting zoo arc
- MoonlitSinner: Scientists will study this footage for decades and learn absolutely nothing
- Kaiden’s Wife (mod): First Kai’s maid breaks the leveling system, and now the worst monster humanity ever saw purrs for him. Ordinary rules simply don’t visit His household.
"Alright, playtime’s over." Kaiden clapped, and his voice carried over the group, warm and final at once. "We’re going home."
The play left Pebble’s body in a single motion.


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