Ruki and Minti Part II

Part II

A little startled Minti looked up. From above a Grodi with dark blonde, curly hair and grey eyes looked down to her.
  „Ruki!", she shouted with great relief and waved up to him.
Cautiously he knelt down which made it easier for her to look into his face. Minti smiled at her childhood friend and did not know what to say because she was just too happy to see him again.
She knew he had to suppress the urge to scoop her up for a giant hug against his chest. It would have been against the etiquette of public behaviour between the two races. They would have to suppress the most of their emotions until they would be out of the public view.
  „How was your journey, little Flea?", he asked with a dark and soft voice. She thought that his voice had gotten darker since she had last seen him.  
  „A little bit exhausting, but everything went well. I'm glad that I'm finally here.", she said happily.
  „So am I, Flea. Everyone is waiting for you. Shall we go now?",Ruki said with a little impatience in his voice.
  „Of course! I can't wait to see everyone again!", she said and opened the gate that led out of the enclosed bus station. As she stepped out, Rukis open palm already waited for her to hop on. She first placed  her suitcase near his thumb before she climbed up the fleshy surface. It had been so long since she sat in someone's palm, so she was a bit more nervous about it than she wanted to be. And of course Ruki was sensitive enough to notice this.
  „No worries, Flea . I have to get used to it again, too.", he smiled softly and brought his hand up to his chest where Minti could grab onto is dark blue shirt. She felt his giant heart beat, which calmed her a little bit down as he stood up to his full height, which was about twenty-three meters.
With every step he took, she began to feel more and more familiar with this situation again. Before she left, she had been carried this way nearly every single day.
Mintis father would work for a Grodi company, so they had lived in Grodan during the week. She had even visited a Grodi School. One could say, she had been more adjusted to these giant people than to her own kind.

It did not take very long until they reached their destination: A small restaurant in a narrow alley.
Beneath the door stood a signg which had the daily offers and the name of the eatery: The Jolly Flea. As Ruki stepped into the guest room, Minti got the feeling of coming home. The walls were painted in a warm, earthy red and fitted very well to the elaborate designed black  metal tables with chairs in the same style. The room was not that big (spoken in Grodi-terms) and had only space for six tables which were all occupied at the moment. At the table that was nearest to the entrance sat a black haired man in his forties who was reading a newspaper. He looked up from his lecture as he had heard Ruki closing the door behind him. His eyes finally locked on Minti who was peeking over the fingers of her giant friend.
  "Hey, is that you, little Flea?", he asked, while standing up from his seat.
  "Of course I am. Nice to see you again, Gare.", she said, as she shook his pinkie which he had offered her.
  "What? Minti is here?", said another voice left to them. Now a giant young couple came up to them.  
  "Tal! Niwa!  How are you?", she smiled while waving at them.
  "Very fine, Flea. Just look at Niwas little belly.", said Tal and pointed at his wife.
Minti could see Niwas belly standing out quite much.
  "Awww. You will have a little baby? Do you know what it will be? Boy or girl? Do you have a name already?", she asked couriously and leaned over Rukis hand to get a better look.
  "It's a boy. But we haven't decided what he would be called yet.", Niwa chuckled which made her curly red hair jump a little. "Do you want to feel him moving?"
Minti nodded in excitement and looked up to Ruki with a questioning look on her face. He just smiled back  and moved his hand to Niwa's belly so that she could lean against it. As Minti put her ear on the skin she could hear a bubbling voice which made her giggle. But suddenly a buckle popped out of it and threw her back so that she fell on her behind.
  "Heh, he seems to be liking me." she snickered.
  "Of course he does. But now tell us, how life on Shilef is. And how is your father doing?". asked Tal, bending down to her.
   "It is Okay there. The people are mostly nice, but the heat can drive you crazy. And dad is just fine. But he misses his work in Grodan.", she answered while Ruki moved his hand back to his chest
   "And how is school? Did you learn any new magic?", Gare jumped in the conversation.
   "It is very interesting, but very hard, too. Anyway I liked my school down here much more."
At this Moment they heard a door opening in the back of the room. A woman with long dark blonde hair stepped in. She wore a white apron over her dark red dress. As she saw the little crowd near the door she started to smile.
  "Ahh! Our little darling must have arrived!", she laughed warmly and came towards them. Seeing the tiny girl in the boys hand, her eyes brightened even more. Quickly she scooped her from his hands and held her to her cheek.
  "Oh welcome back, you little Flea.  You can't imagine how much I missed you!", she sighed.
Minti tried her best to hug her back.
  "Not as much as I missed you, Amba.", she replied, nearly crying for joy.
Amba was Rukis mother and the owner of this restaurant. Since they got to know each other, she had treated her like a daughter.
  "You must be very exhausted from your long trip. Why don't you and Ruki go upstairs to unpack your things?", she suggested.
Minti nodded but earned some little diappointed looks from the other ones.
  "Come on, guys. I'll stay here for while. We can talk some other time, okay?", she reassured them.
  "Okay, see you then, Flea" , they said.
Ruki walked towards the door, Amba just came out and walked up the narrow stairs that were behind it.
  "I'm finally home again.", she said, laying down in his palm.
Ruki smiled at her and gently ruffled through Minti's silky hair.