Mark walked down the hallway with his head hanging. His hands trembled as he followed the man into a kennel room. Dogs whimpered and scratched at the metal mesh as some snarled and bristled with angry yaps.

"Cell C4!" The man shouted. One of the cage doors swung open with a buzz, and Mark looked up as a familiar snout poked out of the cage.

"Chica!" The Labrador perked her ears and looked at Mark, and with a delighted woof she bounded out of her prison and raced to the familiar man. Mark crouched down and welcomed the dog into his arms, petting her and hugging her with happy coos. Chica wagged her tail and licked her master's cheek, and Mark grinned with a giggle as he nuzzled his dog.

"That's the only dog, right?" The man asked crisply. Mark looked up and nodded.

"Y-yes sir," he stammered politely. The man jerked his head.

"Let's move on then." Mark took Chica's leash and clipped it on the collar, and he encouraged her to follow with gentle susurrations and a small tug on the lead. Chica trotted along happily, her tongue lolling out as she walked beside Mark.

"So what's the deal?" The kennel owner asked suddenly. Mark looked at the back of his head, surprised.

"Uh." Mark cleared his throat. "They're letting me keep my dog if I go on the next space expedition, but that's only because I don't have any past violations." He sighed. "I'm very lucky, but I have to leave Chica at my friends' place for a whole year. I'm gonna miss her." Mark rubbed Chica's ears.

"You're damn straight you're lucky!" The man exclaimed. "If I'd have pulled off a dumbass stunt like that boy, straight to the gutters it'd be with me!" Mark decided to not answer. He knew he was incredibly lucky to have a good dog and an amazingly charismatic woman.

When he made it out of the kennel with the respirators, Mark told the kennel keeper goodbye and left. Around him the steampunk world hissed and clanged as gears shifted. The smog was horrible; Mark could smell the foul air even with his respirator on.

"Come on Chica." Mark gently tugged on the leash. "We're gonna go visit your uncles Bob and Wade." Chica licked the inside of her breather curiously, then snuffed and shook her fur. She turned and followed Mark, and they walked off into the thick toxic air of the mechanical world.

Mark was roused out of his sleep by his growling stomach. He slowly opened his eyes, but it was still dark. Huh...? He tried to move, but his body was laying down as if he were resting in a hammock.

"Hmm..." Mark wiggled around a little and groaned. "Jack?" His stomach turned over when he was suddenly swung with inertia, and he yelped. "Jack!" He shouted. Light flooded the pocket, and Mark covered his eyes with a sleepy groan.

"There you are!" Jack exclaimed. "I was looking everywhere for ya, I thought you fuckin' left!" Mark waited for his eyes to adjust before he lowered his arm and looked up. He was shocked to see that Jack's eyes were wide with fear, but the giant looked relieved.

"Well you said I was grounded," Mark sassed. A grin made its way onto Jack, and the giant chuckled.

"But still! You scared me." Jack sat down at the dining table before he peered at his pocket again. Mark made a choking noise as he gawked at Jack, trying to ignore how the immense giant towered over him.

"I scared you!?"

"Well... yeah!" Jack admitted, "I thought yer people came and left with ye, without saying goodbye..." Mark softened with sympathy.

"I wouldn't have left without saying anything," he reassured. He put his hand on Jack's chest and reassuringly patted the giant.

"You fookin' better," Jack murmured, closing his eyes. Now that he knew Mark was in his pocket, he could just barely feel the tiny man's movements. His hands were just itching to reach in and pluck the engineer up, but Jack remembered last second to hold back his awe.

The giant frowned when he felt Mark's movement shift up a little, and he opened his eyes and looked down to see Mark trying to get out without asking for help.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Mark glanced up at the confused alien.

"I'm climbing out. I'm hungry!" Mark laughed, but Jack's frown carved deeper.

"That's dangerous, here, let me-"

"No, I got it," Mark quickly protested, pushing against Jack's incoming hand. He wasn't strong enough to shove any of the fingers away, but Jack got the message and let his hand drop in his lap; there, his fingers drummed nervously against his leg as he watched Mark, uncertain. The small human could feel Jack breathe with every sway of his chest as his lungs sucked air in and out, but he shut it out of his mind. Mark gripped the lip of the pocket hard as he dragged himself out of the darkness and grunted. But as he tried to safely climb over the side so that he could make his way down, his grip slipped, and he yelped as he tumbled down Jack's chest and rolled down his stomach, coming to a painful halt flat on his face. Jack's hand had jerked off to the side, hovering beside his leg in case Mark fell off. Fortunately the engineer was ok.

"Ow..." Mark sat up and winced. He felt the tension in Jack's thigh relax under him as the giant sighed.

"You ok Mark?" Mark decided to be funny to release some of the stress.

"No, my pride!" He wailed, banging his fist against Jack's leg. A snort of merriment told Mark that Jack was snickering, and he grinned and got up.

"But seriously little duder." Jack poked Mark in his side, forcing a yip of surprise out of the small man as he stumbled from the force. "You could have gotten hurt."

"If you keep poking me I will!" Mark retorted, squaring his shoulders and glaring up at Jack. Jack looked at the indignant human for a few seconds before he suddenly burst out laughing. "H-huh?" Mark stared, confused as hell. "What are you laughing at, bigness!?"

"Yer so goddamn adorable!" Jack giggled. Mark gave the giant a strange look.

"I'm not- I'm not cute!" Mark exclaimed, flustered. "I'm a grown man, and I'm very intimidating!" This only made Jack laugh so hard that he doubled over in his seat.

"Oh my god stop!" He gasped between laughs. Mark reached up and grabbed Jack's sleeve before the giant sat up and wiped his tears of joy away. "Oh yer so fucking- huh? Where'd ya go?" Jack looked around, confused. How could such a small guy move so fast!? Small footsteps suddenly traversed his shoulder, and a small deep laugh rang in the giant's ear. "Yer a fucking goober too," Jack muttered, smiling. Mark grinned and poked the green headed alien's ear lobe.

"Says the guy who's got grass growing out of his head!" He teased. Jack growled and rolled his shoulder to mess with the spaceman, only to yelp and seize up when Mark ended up grabbing his spacer.

"Mahrk!" He exclaimed.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Mark yelped. "I'm just hanging around!" Jack snorted and reached behind his head.

"Come here ya fuckin' lunatic..." Mark let go and slipped into Jack's hand, and his panic faded as he relaxed in the giant's hand. The world around him moved at a dizzying speed, and the engineer smiled when he was face to face with the giant's familiar bright blue eyes. "What am I gonna do with you?" Jack chuckled and shook his head. Mark giggled and shrugged.

"I don't know." Jack chuckled warmly and closed his eyes as he bit back a yawn.

"Yer hopeless." Mark laughed.

"Why thank you good sir!" He said, but he spoke in his best attempt of Jack's accent; he failed miserably. Jack's eyes flew open as he looked at Mark with surprise.

"Did you just-" Then his eyes narrowed playfully. "Are you making fun of my accent?" He asked. Mark smiled and pretended to try to run away, but his waist was pinched as he was pulled back onto Jack's palm with a yelp. "Come here ya!" Mark burst out squealing with laughter when Jack put him down on his back and started tickling his stomach.

"NO!" Mark yelled. His body jerked as he tried to curl up and hide his sensitive stomach, but Jack only had to tickle his side to make the man-child yelp and flip over. Tears of laughter streamed down Mark's cheeks as he banged his fists against the giant's hand and flailed his kicking legs against the large fingers. His wild guffawing grew breathless, and he thought he was going to die of laughter when Jack finally rolled Mark over on his stomach and gently pinned him down with his finger. Mark twitched with gasping giggles as he panted for breath, his eyes closed and his dimples hurting.

"I win," Jack chuckled. Mark grunted and waved his hand, but he still smiled.

"My abs hurt," he complained between wheezes.

"You're welcome!" Jack sang. When the giant lifted his finger, Mark rolled over and sighed. He was sweating from how hard he had laughed, which surprised Mark but he welcomed it. It had been a long time since he had laughed so much, and he was glad to embrace his inner child.

As he caught his breath, the engineer's poor stomach complained again.

"Aww, are you hungry?" Mark opened one eye.

"Yeah!" He yelled. Jack smiled and got up.

"All right, all right, no need to shout." The irony of that sentence made Mark burst into another wave of giggles as Jack carried him into the kitchen. "What do ya want? We have leftover pizza," he suggested.

"Mmm..." Mark's mouth watered at the thought of pizza, and he nodded hungrily. "Yes please!" He agreed.

"All righty roo." Jack put Mark on the counter before he got the leftovers out and heated them up. Mark sat down and yawned as he combed his fingers through his hair, trying to organize the mop of floof on his head while breakfast was prepared. A delicious smell wafted from the microwave, and Mark watched as Jack took out a slice of pizza. Yum!

"Here we fucking go." Jack carried the pizza to the table, and then walked back to Mark as the engineer got up and waited eagerly. "We're in business!" Jack exclaimed as he put his hand on the counter. Without hesitation Mark ran and climbed onboard Jack's hand, surprising them both before Jack smiled and took his little buddy to the dining table. "Here." Mark climbed off and watched Jack cut off the tip of the pizza, and his eyes were wide with gratitude as he was handed his share.

"Thanks." He took a greasy bite, and the cheese oozed in his mouth with such a fantastic taste. "I can taste the cholesterol!" He yelled, muffled by his mouthful. Jack giggled and took a big bite out of his pizza slice.

"Can you now?" Mark smiled and happily ate, and as he did he thought about how well he was doing on this planet. There was no sign of rescue yet, but it had only been a few days anyway. Mark was safe with a roof over his head, warm food in his stomach and even a friend.

Mark paused his chewing and shot a glance at Jack. Friend? He wondered, surprised. But the more he thought about, the more he realized how fit it seemed. Sure, they only knew each other for hardly a day, but Mark realized that he was starting to trust Jack. He was a good guy, nice and funny, and a kind soul, but his actions were still a little wild, not to mention he could be a bit too childish for Mark's comfort... Yes, he was thinking about the VR game, but maybe that was only for show?

What if Jack only did all those things because it was being recorded? Mark suddenly thought. He doesn't act that naïve with me, so maybe that was all because it was just a game. Even though this made logical sense, Mark's heart still gave a little squeeze when he thought about the cold delight on Jack's face as the giant smashed all of those virtual buildings and threw toy cars and killed fake people. I'm not a fake person, Mark told himself. And Jack knows that.

Mark was just finishing up when a click grabbed his attention, and he looked to see Jack on what looked like a high tech phone. And he was smirking.

"... Um..." Jack looked up from the screen with a stupid grin on his face, and Mark realized what happened. "Did you just take a picture of me!?" He exclaimed. Jack let out a devious chuckle.

"Maybe," he said with a sly tone. He showed the engineer the screen, and Mark blinked. He looked so infinitesimal... He got up and walked up to the phone, and he tilted his head curiously.

"Am I really that tiny?" Mark murmured. His heart clenched in his chest as he saw the proportions from Jack's eyes: He was so small in the giants' world!

"Yeah." Jack took the phone and turned it back off. The screen shrank and left the phone as nothing but a small rectangular piece of plastic in the giant's hand. "Don't worry, I won't post it on the EyeNet," Jack chuckled. Mark's heart skipped a beat.

"EyeNet?" He echoed.

"Yeah. That's where people like me post our content, so that way everyone can see it," Jack explained. Mark's eyes widened.

"You mean the Internet!?" He gasped. Jack frowned.

"Is that what your people call it?" Mark thought about this and shook his head.

"No... Maybe they're really similar, but just not the same thing." Mark's hopes deflated. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. He had hoped that this could somehow allow him to communicate with his people and go home. Jack frowned when he saw how down Mark was at this news. He put his phone down, and after a few seconds of debate he decided to attempt comforting the human.

"I'm sure yer people will find ya soon enough." He reached behind Mark and rubbed his back. Mark sighed and sat down, but to the giant's relief he didn't protest about being touched. He gently mussed the tiny man's floofy hair. "Besides, I'll take care of you," Jack continued. "It's not like there's an expiration date on yer stay, yer welcome to stay as long as you need to." Mark blinked gratefully up at his gargantuan friend.

"Thanks Jack," he sighed. Jack smiled and got up.

"Come on." He put his hand on the table. "I gotta post some pre-recorded videos, and I wanna see what's on the news today." He watched Mark climb on his hand and added, "I've got a whole day planned!"

TW: Next chapter contains spiders