Best posts made by littlest-lily

Chapter 34
Evie

I can hardly focus on anything other than the clock today. I do try and get some more painting done, but I’m so distracted. We’re finally at the finish line. For all I know, he’s already done with his last exam. I won’t know for sure until–

I perk up at the sound of distant footsteps coming down the outside hallway. I don’t need to wait for the key going into the lock to recognize the cadence of his walking. I run towards the edge of the desk, brimming with excited energy as Aiden comes in.

“Freedom!” he calls out to me as he slides his shoes off, and I can tell he’s having to really hold back from being too loud and hurting my ears. “God, that test sucked, but it’s over. Sweet, delicious freedom at last!”

He comes over to me already holding my arms up in his direction, and he wastes no time in scooping me up and bringing me right to his face. The speed at which I travel is a little jarring, especially after so much time of rarely getting handled at all. But I’m just happy to be back up here again. As he closes his eyes to gently press up against me, I arc my hand between his eyebrows, like I’m petting the side of a horse. My instinct is to kiss the space between his eyes, but I hold back.

“Congrats! I’m so proud of you,” I gush before I hug my whole body against him in return, kneeling on his hand as I lean heavily against the bridge of his nose. Aiden just sighs happily in response. We don’t have an audience this time. Nothing to keep us from embracing each other forever. And we do stay like this for well over a minute. It’s both comforting and relaxing, while also creating butterflies in my stomach.

I really… really like him, don’t I? And… and somehow, he likes me too, doesn’t he? Is this really happening? Can I really allow this to keep happening? Am I ready? It just all seems so ridiculous when I’m only the size of one of his fingers. But maybe Moira’s right, I shouldn’t keep trying to sabotage myself. I did decide to see where things would lead. But I hadn’t honestly thought the path I was on might lead to this.

“Thanks for being the best little cheerleader ever,” the giant finally mumbles, his words tickling pleasantly against my skin.

I open my eyes and shift in place, turning to face one of his much larger eyes as I continue lounging against his nose. It’s still closed, and I can see the signs of fatigue by how dark his skin is underneath. But the muscles mostly seem relaxed right now, outside of a crinkling at the edge that signals to me that he’s smiling. I marvel at the proximity, reaching a hand out as if to touch one of his eyelashes. I don’t quite make contact, but hover a finger alongside one as I trace the curve of it, and it’s half as long as my arm.

“Anytime,” I answer him softly. I didn’t really do much, especially since he was gone so often. But I would have been happy to do much more if I could have.

As if sensing the proximity of my fingertips, the giant eye gradually blinks open, remaining at a half gaze for a moment before it widens and he tries to lay his sights on me. I’m mesmerized, being this up close. It’s like looking at a stained glass window into his soul.

He’s probably having trouble focusing in on me, though, since I’m millimeters away from his eyeball, and so his hand slowly makes some space between us. I can see more of his face as I kneel there in the dip of his palm, and I just can’t stop smiling.

“I’ve thought so much about fun things we can do this summer,” Aiden says, “But I hadn’t really thought about…” He trails off and I notice his pupils dilate. I wait for him to finish his sentence, but instead he seems to change course with a quick clear of the throat. “Um, so, before anything else, tell me. What do I need to catch up on? What do you need from me?” Holding me a little lower, his eyes suddenly start scanning the surface of my camp on the desk.

I don’t call him out on the sudden change of subject, feeling a little flustered myself. “Oh, nothing yet! You should relax right now, you deserve it.”

“I will, I will,” he says, setting his hand down so I can slide off, “But I want to make sure you’re all set first. I’ll at least go top off your water tank, and I might as well refill the sanitation tank too… Anything else?” He’s already picking up the metal toilet stall as he raises his eyebrows at me in a query.

I squirm. When am I going to get over this whole dependency thing? I try to push myself to be honest. “No rush, but… feel free to dump out the bath water maybe? And, um… I don’t suppose you have any lightbulbs?”

Aiden frowns, for a moment wondering what I’m referring to. But then he suddenly realizes what it must be and his hand drifts over to the desk lamp. He turns the dial on and off, confirming it to himself. “Shoot, I’m sorry. How long has this been out?”

“I don’t know, a couple of days?” I say sheepishly, very much stretching the definition of “a couple.”

“I’ll see what I’ve got handy. This will all just take a few minutes, so no worries, okay? If you think of anything else, let me know.”

“Thank you…” I say, forcing myself not to hide my face in embarrassment.

“And after this,” he says, gathering up the various water-filled receptacles, “I can go grab dinner. Still down for celebratory pizza?”

“So down.”

“Okay, cool. I think I’ll take a shower first and then I’ll head out.”

Actually, taking a hot bath sounds really, really nice right now. I’ve gotten pretty tired of using nothing but cold water everyday to clean myself. As soon as I have my tub full of fresh water back, I happily turn on the hot plate and begin undressing. I hear Aiden’s shuffling outside of my bathroom as he takes care of the rest, including changing out the bulb on the desk lamp. The relief I feel at everything being set back to normal is staggering. I don’t even think about my roommate’s proximity while I’m completely naked in my plastic box. Still just as comfortable with each other as ever… if not more so.

But I guess I finally take that comfort level too far. I’m so in love with the bath that I stay in there a little longer than usual and almost completely submerge myself. I hear the occasional noise in the background but my ears are mostly under the water level. So the assumption I end up making is wildly wrong. But I don’t realize that until I stroll right out onto the desk to grab a quick change of clothes that I had forgotten. Armed with nothing but a towel that’s just draped over one shoulder.

I make eye contact with Aiden sitting on the couch, and for a split second I’m too shocked to do anything, but then I make an audible yelp as I grab at my towel to cover my front and quickly backpedal, back around the corner of the bathroom. Meanwhile the giant immediately turns to look the other way, blocking his gaze with his hand.

"I-I’m sorry!” I hear him say as I duck out of sight.

“I’m sorry!” I echo, struggling to project so he can hear me from back here, "I thought you had left already!” I’m still fumbling with my towel, and between my agitated state and the fact that I’m still a little wet, my feet slip on the desk and I hit the ground with another yell.

"Are you okay?” I’m half expecting him to stand up in reaction to that but thankfully he seems to stay put.

“I’m fine!” I roll over, cursing under my breath at the pain in my knee. “Just really… really embarrassed…” Dragging my towel behind me, I crawl back into the bathroom and then bury my face into my hands.

Aiden chuckles awkwardly and makes an attempt at reassuring me. "I hardly saw anything, okay?”

Well, it’s true that my features might be too small to easily make out. But still, I was completely exposed, I’ve just crossed so many lines…

The shuffling outside signals to me that he’s cautiously getting to his feet. "I was just waiting to see what you wanted on the pizza. Uh, is sausage alright? Some kind of veggie too?”

God, don’t talk to me about sausage right now, dude. "Yeah, um… maybe peppers and olives?” I call out, trying to remember what toppings we both like. Though it’s kinda hard to think at the moment.

"You got it. Take your time, I’ll be back with dinner later.”

I continue pressing my hands up against my eyes until I hear the front door open and shut. Ughhh, I feel like such an idiot. I was not ready to reveal so much of myself like that.

And it also makes me wonder… if we’re heading in any kind of romantic direction… how is this kind of thing even going to work? Sex is certainly not something we’d ever be able to do. But does that mean we don’t do… anything? Is there anything I can accomplish like this? Can I even handle such large eyes looking at my embarrassingly small naked form?

Whoa. I’m getting way, way ahead of myself. I don’t even know for certain that he’d want that kind of relationship. Honestly, I don’t know if that’s what I want either. One step at a time. Let’s at least take tonight to relax, ease into summer break. Maybe one of us will have the courage to say something in the next few days. And then we’ll take it from there.

I get fully dried and dressed with time to spare before Aiden gets back, and we both completely ignore the fact that anything had happened at all as we tuck into the pizza. Instead he tells me about his finals until he no longer wants to think about them, and I catch him up on what I’ve been working on in the past two weeks. One of my projects has been the search for our next show to tackle, and since I had watched the first episode of several options, I meticulously go through all of them now and we debate on which one we should pick up next. I don’t think we’ll watch anything tonight, though. Although it’s mixed with a lightness and relief, the intense fatigue in his body is incredibly apparent - I’m sure he plans to turn in early. Poor guy hasn’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks, and it’s been particularly bad these last few days.

After we finish eating, the giant leaves to take care of a few of the dishes that have piled up before giving up on that and coming back to collapse on the couch with a sigh. The back of his neck is leaned against the armrest that’s closest to me, so that I just see a shock of dark hair peeking out. I gravitate in his direction, coming a bit closer to the cliff edge of the desk than I normally would.

“Can I join you?” I call out hopefully.

“Aw man, I just sat down…” Aiden responds with a teasing tone. He turns his head to the side without getting up. “Aren’t you pixies supposed to have wings or something?”

“Oh, right, I store them under the bed. Let me just flutter right over,” I say with a laugh before waving it off. “Don’t worry about it. Maybe later.”

His head shifts again as he sits up higher and tilts his neck back to look towards me with a smile. Then he shimmies up further still so that he can hook an arm over the side of the couch, and he extends his hand towards me. I knew the couch was fairly close to the desk, but sometimes I don’t have a very clear sense of distances. I wouldn’t have expected it, but his fingertips just manage to reach one corner of the table.

“Whoa! I didn’t realize you could reach that far,” I exclaim, staring at the newly made bridge.

“Neither did I,” he says with a grin, “C’mere.”

And I do, making my way across and carefully stepping up onto his hand. It’s quite a view, the long road of his arm sloping towards his distant face. I won’t have to traverse it myself though, because as soon as I reach his palm he closes his hand around me. It’s a slightly precarious maneuver so he doesn’t take any chances, enveloping me into a loose fist and then swinging his arm around so that I’m in front of him. He slides back down to lean his neck against the armrest again and, to my surprise, he brings his hand right to his lower chest, unfurling his fingers and letting me off.

I try to catch my balance and feel forced to sit down. It’s a bizarre sensation with the floor moving so distinctly like this, the rhythmic thumping of his heartbeat combining with the up and down of his breathing.

"Well this is new,” I say, smiling as I settle into a cross-legged seat.

"Good or bad?” Aiden asks with a crooked smile of his own. I can feel the vibrations of his voice so distinctly too, but that part is less weird to me. It’s not unlike when I’m sitting in his shirt pocket or alongside his neck.

“It’d probably be kinda hard to walk around,” I say pensively, “But I guess I don’t really need to do that, so… I’d say it’s good.” I don’t mention that he feels like a gigantic, comfy bed. Or that he smells particularly nice from his recent shower.

His hand lingers just behind me, one finger tentatively reaching my back and pushing my hair aside with a gentle touch, so that it tumbles over my shoulder to my front. I take in the dazed contented look on his face and notice the slight flush of his cheeks. This is a little intimate. And with that realization I suddenly feel anxious, remembering my post-bath embarrassment and intimidated by how physically close we are. I start blabbering in my flustered state.

“So what’s your work schedule gonna look like now?” I ask.

Unperturbed, Aiden carefully trails the fingertip down my back before making his way up again. The light touch makes my skin flush with goosebumps. His voice remains far more calm and even than mine.

“I’m working all through next week, until everyone else finishes their finals,” he says. “Then I get a week off until orientation for the summer class…” He pauses as his finger reaches the back of my neck. “Is this okay?”

“Y-yes,” I say and his reaction is swift as he goes back to stroking me. “Um… You’re not actually taking any summer classes, right?”

“No, I’m not. I’ve been debating on getting an extra summer job, actually. Past couple of years I’ve worked at a pet clinic. I do still have some savings, though, so maybe I don’t need to…”

“A pet clinic? I didn’t know that, what did you do there?”

“Just front desk stuff. I have a friend who’s an actual vet, though, so I’ve been able to help with the animals sometimes. She knows I can handle small birds, which can be tricky, so on occasion she’d call me in to help hold them still.”

“Huh. That’s cool!” Damn, no wonder he’s so good at handling me, he’s even more experienced with birds than I thought. And no wonder he seemed like a natural when checking me in at the lab, all those many weeks ago…

The longer we chat, the more I realize how nice it is to be touched so casually like this. Gradually, I transition from sitting to lying on my stomach, arms crossed in front of me with my chin resting on them. Meanwhile he’s started using his thumb to pet me instead, with the rest of his hand forming a shallow cave over my lower half. I run out of things to ask, and then the next rub against my back adds a tiny bit more pressure, making me sigh with pleasure.

“Tell me what feels nice,” Aiden says softly.

"Whatever you’re doing sure does,” I answer, turning my head to rest my cheek onto my forearms instead. I let my eyes shut.

We lay in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s company, until the tender caresses eventually slow to a stop. The rest of his hand makes contact with my body too, putting pressure on my legs. It doesn’t feel bad, but I glance up curiously. The giant’s head has tilted to the side and his eyes have drifted to a close. The cadence of his chest rising and falling slows down as I hear his breath deepening just below me.

I stiffen and prop myself up onto my elbows, wondering if I should wake him up. But he looks incredibly peaceful… He’s been so stressed and exhausted lately that it’s a wonder he hasn’t started hallucinating a whole slew of tiny people. I just want to let him rest for a bit. Besides, even though he’s been so paranoid about falling asleep with me around, is it truly that risky? He’s proven to be a light sleeper - the other night when I was close to him I was able to wake him up really easily. Even if he started rolling over or something, I’m sure I could cling to his shirt and yell loud enough to wake him.

Like a total creep, I just watch him sleep for a little while. Each micro expression is magnified tenfold to me, and I almost laugh as I watch the emotions quickly pass over his face, small frowns getting immediately smoothed out into subtle smiles instead. His hand twitches, tickling the inside of my knee and making me giggle outright. I could do this all day. In fact, I could do this all night. The way his chest moves up and down could surely rock me to sleep, and his warmth is just so comforting. I’m certain he’d never agree to something like that, but as far as I can tell this is harmless.

There, see? He’s already starting to wake up. No problems at all.

His eyes look glazed over as they blink open, and he has a bit of an odd expression on his face. Then he closes his eyes again, though they’re clearly active underneath their lids. They reopen at a half gaze and before I know what’s happening, his hand closes around me.

My breath gets caught in my throat. He’s not being painfully rough, but there’s suddenly an alarming confidence in his fingers. Zero inhibitions. They press against me and lift me off right off his chest, surrounding me from all sides.

“Aid–” I barely get a sound out before the wind is knocked out of me, his thumb pressing hard against my diaphragm. It’s at this point that I start struggling. And I start panicking.

One of his fingers snakes around to my front and pushes up against my breasts, rubbing at them deftly, intrusively. I’m gasping for air as I’m flipped around and his thumb runs down my back, lining the curves of my body as I thrash to no avail. Then he’s pushing one of my legs, shoving it up higher than the rest of me. I lurch to the side, twisting around as I try to look up at him and find my voice again. Our eyes meet briefly, but there’s no acknowledgement - it’s like he’s looking right through me, sending chills down my spine. A finger shoves right up between my legs and I wince, kicking furiously and opening my mouth to attempt to yell his name.

But he’s the one who says something instead. His eyes are closed again and he lets out the slightest moan. And then, his voice dripping with unmistakable arousal, he whispers, “So fucking small…”

Time freezes for a moment. In the split second before I manage to scream, my eyes widen as I’m thrown into terrified confusion.

…What?!

I think part of why I don’t particularly like love triangles is because it generally means that one person’s going to end up unhappy, and that’s kinda sad. But I think the bigger reason is because I think love triangles are rarely done well. I dunno, I’ve seen so many where it’s very obvious who the person is going to end up “choosing” and it feels like so much time is wasted on pointless drama that doesn’t really accomplish anything. But if a love triangle is done well then I’m totally open to it – and add a size element to the mix and I’m far more likely to be interested!

@Mrgoblinging7 AbsoLUTELY not. Not to yuck anyone’s yum of course, it’s all fantasy, but most of the stuff that I see get shoved inside of SW sound like absolute nightmares to me haha. Fingers, though…

Along with today’s chapter I also wanted to give the head’s up that I’m having a medical procedure tomorrow. It shouldn’t cause any kind of hiatus (because that would be terrible timing with how things are going in the story), but if I end up going quiet for a few days then that’s why!

Chapter 35
Aiden

Every time I visit this lab it looks slightly different. But I don’t really look around anyway, just have a general sense of it by now. My attention is on that birdcage in the middle of the room.

The door is closed this time. And it’s not empty. There’s a figure inside it, sitting on the floor, hunched over. Her clothes are simple, with no metal parts as per her instructions - a light blue shirt, cotton black shorts, simple tan flats. Just like that day…

I’m stepping forward and Evie sits up. She turns to face me, looking unnaturally large compared to what I’ve gotten used to, even as she’s sitting on the floor at my feet. She doesn’t say anything but gives me a pleading look, fingers intertwining with the metal bars.

As if it appeared out of nowhere, I notice a metal structure right next to me. A control panel of some kind, eerily similar to one I have experience with. There’s a display at the very top with the words “Subject: E. Ondine.” I see a lot of green lights across the surface of the panel. I know that it means the subject is fully calibrated. That the solution is loaded and ready for vaporization. There’s a comedically joystick-shaped lever beckoning my attention. With swift confidence I do the unforgivable.

The moment I’ve lowered the lever Evie gasps and shoves against the bars, pushing herself to her feet and stumbling back to the center of the cage. But it’s already too late. Even her full standing height would barely reach my chin now. And then mere seconds later the collar of her shirt slips off of one shoulder.

I step over to her prison, putting my own hands up on the bars as I gawk at the shrinking woman within. Her clothes appear to have a mind of their own, shifting and taking up more space over her skin. Her shorts fall to her feet, though her giant shirt is long enough to cover her thighs now, provided she manages to keep it on. And she certainly is trying, holding the expanding fabric against her as it overflows over her clenched arms.

It’s her shoes that get the best of her as she tries to take a step back and trips instead. She loses grip on her shirt and even as she struggles to get back to her feet, the fabric devours her. I lose sight of the unfortunate girl as her head dips past the collar and her feet slink under the hem.

I want to see her. I pull on the door of the cage and it swings open with ease. I lightly put one foot in and stare at the pile of clothing on the floor, taking a moment to locate the protruding hump that doesn’t even reach up to my knee now. With more self-assurance I bring in the other foot, stepping closer, and the obscured shrinking victim jumps at the sound of shoe hitting metal. Taking care not to make any more sudden sounds, I crouch before the small mound of fabric.

Finding the edge of the shirt, I slip a hand underneath and my fingers slide over something warm. I continue edging them upwards, along the impossibly little legs, until I feel her hips. I then eagerly encircle her waist into my fist and pull her out of the soft fabric trap. I haven’t allowed myself to lust after her like this for so long… And now I know what she looks like naked.

I estimate she’s no bigger than a foot tall at this point, and she’s still shrinking, albeit much slower now. Evie looks up at me wide-eyed, chest heaving, her little hands clutching my wrist, her hair disheveled from her time imprisoned in her own clothing. My monkey brain directs my eyes straight to her breasts, so small but so perfect, solidifying my erection in an instant. I take in her entire form at my leisure as she does nothing to stop me, just maintains that same pleading look on her face.

Finally, she speaks. “Aiden,” she says in a plaintive sigh, her hands gripping me tighter before they shift farther along my forearm, making her lean forward. She’s already lost another inch just from the time I’ve been staring at her.

Nothing to say but an echo of the sentiment. “Evie…” I whisper, and I bring my free hand right up to her face. I run my thumb along her cheek, and as I cup her head against my palm I can feel it getting smaller still.

“Please,” she says, leaning further down against my arm, and she’s trying to pry herself forward, climbing up and out of my clutches. I loosen my grip and with greater ease she clambers aboard, crawling on hands and knees until she reaches my elbow. Her bare rear sways as she tries to keep her balance, and finally she grabs onto the sleeve of my shirt to hoist herself to standing. She wavers precariously on my forearm - all it would take is me straightening out my elbow and she would fall right off.

Her head doesn’t reach my shoulder, she must be under seven inches tall now. She tries standing on her tiptoes to get closer to my face, even as the shrinking process takes her farther away.

“Please,” she says again, “I need you.”

She’s now attempting to climb the fabric of my shirt, and in my surprise from her suddenly latching on, I lose my balance from my crouching position. I fall into a seat, my back hitting the metal bars of the birdcage. Evie lets out a precious little yelp as this makes her lose her grip and she slides down my chest, down the length of my abdomen, coming to a stop right at my crotch. Undeterred by the lump that swells underneath her, she pushes herself back to her knees and starts crawling up again, like a determined mountain climber.

But I decide to help her out this time. I put my hand right behind her as she reaches my stomach, and for a moment I just compare her against it. She’s no longer as tall as the full length of my hand, though still taller than all of my fingers. Maybe five inches? Still, it’s incredibly easy to just scoop her right onto my palm.

I bring her all the way up to my face. “So beautiful,” I mutter, practically whining with desire.

“I need you,” she repeats, and this time it’s with a wistful whine as well. Longing. Blushing. Perhaps the slightest hint of a smile. At least I hope so.

Because I don’t hesitate. I pull her in, straight to my mouth. Her naked body crashes against my lips and I breathe her in as she writhes against my skin. I kiss every dwindling inch of her, and the warm feminine curves feel like heaven. She becomes pliant, save for the intentional wriggle, and her small moans of pleasure fill the air. I feel every part of her with my fingers, manipulating her position with ease.

And she’s still shrinking. Smaller, smaller, smaller as I kiss her. She’s melting away, becoming an increasingly familiar size in an unfamiliar situation, until she stops at her normal three inches. As if this is what she was always meant to be. I tilt my head back and dangle her above me, my lips unrelenting against her stomach, until my mouth parts and one of her legs slips right inside. I gently close my teeth around the tiny limb, press my tongue along the length of it. I can feel every curve and her little toes tickle my taste buds.

It just makes me hungry for more. I guide her other leg over and she gasps as she slides further inside. Soon she’s gripping my bottom lip and pressing her face against it as I undulate my tongue across her entire body. I’m drunk with the feeling of her taste, her shape, her warmth, her moans. I can do whatever I want to her right now. She’s just so fucking small.

Out of nowhere, Evie goes stiff. And then something changes. In the silence I hear her softly say, “Stop.”

I’m not listening, too infatuated with my ability to feel all of her at once. She abruptly starts thrashing her legs, and then pushes against my bottom teeth to wrench her top half out of my mouth.

“Aiden!” she says more insistently, and she no longer has a sighing, whining tone anymore. Slightly annoyed, I bring my fingers up to pinch her body, my tongue releasing its grip on her. I’m still filled with arousal, though, and ready to take this in whatever new, sexy direction she wants.

But when I hold her out in front of me, her eyes are wide with horror. She starts kicking, writhing, screaming. I jerk back in surprise, but there’s nowhere for me to go as my spine just hits the metal bars again. The door to the birdcage swings shut with a loud clang, trapping us both inside and making my heart pound with sudden panic.

It’s like everything comes into focus. I’m not in a lab. I’m on the couch in my living room. That really is Evie that I’m holding.

And she really is shrieking my name in terror.

I almost drop her. I bolt upright, mirroring her fear as I stare wide-eyed at my tiny friend in incredible distress between my fingers. Without saying a word, I swing her over to the side and carefully dump her onto the ottoman before my hand swiftly retreats, snapping back as if she were made of hot coals.

The room is spinning. I can’t make sense of anything. Where did the dream end and reality began? I can’t believe I fell asleep. Stupid stupid, stupid!

“D-did I hurt you?” I manage to choke out.

Evie’s shakily getting to her feet, looking dizzy and out of breath. “I don’t… I don’t think so.”

But despite what she’s saying, she’s trembling and clutching her arms around herself, and when she takes a step backwards, her leg stiffens up and she winces. I notice that as she tries to get her bearings again, she’s distinctively avoiding my gaze.

“Shit…” I whisper, and my voice gradually grows in strength and emotion, “Shit. I’m sorry, Evie… God, I’m so sorry, what did I just do?!”

“I don’t…” she says, squeezing her eyes shut for a second, “I’m so confused right now.” It’s like our very foundation is cracking beneath us. She lets out an awkward laugh, like she’s hoping that whatever is going on is one big joke. “Is this because you saw me naked or…?”

My blood runs cold. “What do you mean?” I say without a hint of laughter, “Seriously, what did I do?”

“You don’t remember any of that?” Finally she looks at me and I take in her frantically bewildered state. “Your eyes were open!”

No, I can’t remember, I can’t differentiate what was real. Fuck, I didn’t actually put her in my mouth, did I? One look tells me that no, she’s dry, but the relief is little comfort.

I bury my face in my hands, trying to summon memories that are out of reach. “I was… I was half there. Not even that. It’s a total blur…”

“S-so you were sleep talking too?”

“What?!” I drop my hands again. “What did I say?”

“It… it didn’t make sense…”

I don’t think she means to be so cryptic, she looks like she’s trying to sort things out just as I am. But my lack of understanding in what physically transpired is driving me insane. I brace my unsteady hands onto the edge of the ottoman and use it as leverage to lower myself to the floor in front of her.

Her startled reaction, the way she takes a few fearful steps backwards, makes me all the more desperate. I remember back when I accidentally whacked her during our board game night. This is worse. Way worse. I’m nothing but a threat to her, aren’t I? A complete menace.

“Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn’t mean it!” I plead, “I’ve just been so out of it, I’ve been so exhausted, it… it’s no excuse, but…” My voice gives out then as I’m at a loss for how to handle this.

She’s continuing to clutch her arms around herself, her wide eyes on full alert. She seems to understand just how lost I am and tries to explain. “You just… grabbed me. It wasn’t for very long, and it wasn’t that hard, you weren’t crushing me or anything. But it was just so… different from usual. Everything was so…”

She falters and I realize in that moment that she’s specifically covering up her chest. Her thighs are firmly clenched together. Her eyes begin drifting down, and it’s not to the floor but… along my body. In all of the commotion I hadn’t even thought about hiding my erection. It’s completely gone at this point, but who’s to say it wasn’t in full view when I had her helplessly pinned between my fingers?

Her eyes snap back up, and there’s a hardness there. A pointed accusation. “Aiden… what’s going on?”

Fuck.

I slide my hands off the ottoman so that she can’t see how much they’re shaking. But it’s impossible to hide anything from her. I’m just too big, her eyes are too keen, her mind too sharp. I almost try anyway, desperately wishing I could just act dumb and sweep this all under the rug somehow. I don’t know exactly what I said in my sleep, how damning it really was, maybe there’s a way out of this.

But I can see it in her eyes - she knows I’m hiding something. I’ve been hiding it for far too long, suppressing my urges and pushing my body to the limit, and it’s going to destroy everything we have if I don’t do something. Despite the absolute dread in me right now… I owe it to her to come clean.

“U-um,” I croak, trying to figure out where to start. I’ve never talked to anyone about this stuff before. I attempt to take a deep breath in and let it out in an unsettled sigh. “I’m going to… try and explain something. It might sound… really, really weird…" Another breath, even less steady. "So, uh… believe it or not… ever since I was a little kid, I would dream about what it would be like to… to have a tiny friend.”

Jesus Christ, am I really doing this right now? I push on, trying to find a momentum, to rip this out of me as fast as possible.

“I’d pretend my action figures would come to life, or that my blaster toys were shrink rays, just that kind of kid stuff. Eventually I started figuring out that my fascination with the idea was a little different. That everyone around me wasn’t quite on the same page as I was. As I grew older, that fascination… matured. I’d have a crush on a girl and fantasize about what it would be like if she were small. I discovered websites online with like-minded people and realized I wasn’t alone. I eventually just accepted that some of the wires got crossed in my brain. It became a bit of a… a kink, I guess. A fetish.”

I try to catch my breath, feeling raw after revealing so much forbidden information about myself. My mouth is dry and I’m fixating Evie’s face as if waiting for her to explode at me. She’s listening intently, a slight frown on her face, but otherwise she looks nothing but perplexed. I wish she would say something. I try to fill the silence with my voice that’s getting shakier by the second.

“S-so it’s been… a little weird, having you around, it’s been… wonderful, just like one of my childhood fantasies, but… but I’ve also been trying to… to suppress all that, since I… I care about you, as a person, more than anything else…”

I trail off, and all I can hear is my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I don’t even know if I’m quite explaining this right. I’m probably coming off as a complete freak. The foundational cracks are spreading, splitting the walls around us. Please. Say something.

And she eventually does, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times. “That, uh…” she says, pausing before trying again, “There’s a lot to unpack there. But that’s just… kind of an insane coincidence, isn’t it?”

I hold completely still. I’ve stopped breathing. The hardness in her eyes is back. The frown deepens, the defensive tension in her posture enough to chain me to the floor. I stare in fear at the girl I adore and it feels as if the cracks in the walls just keep spider webbing all around me and the sky threatens to collapse.

Evie sets her jaw and her voice stays oddly calm. “Unless it’s… not a coincidence that I’m here?”

Oh no.

God, please, no. Not this.

That’s when I begin to fall apart.

Outside of any biting or clawing or pulling on hairs that I might do in a panic… I think a better tactic would be to use my brain. To either try to trick him into something or, if we’re being honest, I’d probably just attempt to get through to him/make him feel pity/get him on my side.

I’m actually not sure how common/uncommon this is, but for me personally (more often than not), I’d prefer nothing goes actually inside . Which is perfect since at the sizes I prefer, not much would fit anyway~

Chapter 38
Evie

I hoist my toothpaste cap full of water up my makeshift posted note stairs, careful not to lose my balance. Once I make it to the ceramic rim, I dump the few drops of moisture over the edge, onto the soil of the basil plant. I then climb up into the pot to get an idea of how dry the rest of the dirt is. Mild trauma isn’t an excuse to shirk on my self-appointed chores. Even if my ribs are still a little sore from last night.

I’ve actually been keeping myself busier than ever today. If I stay still then my mind starts going. Better to move my body instead, it’s less painful that way. I’ve already thoroughly cleaned the inside of my bathroom and done a batch of laundry.

I’ve been meaning to clean my geode lately too, so now’s as good a time as any. I spend some time admiring the pet rock as I get to work. The level of detail hidden in the amethyst is one of the few things that makes me appreciate my small size. The colors in these crystals aren’t just solid and even, they’re complicated and varied, like pigment blooming in water, purple clouds frozen in time. Every time I run a tissue over the beautiful facets, I see new intricacies I’d never noticed before.

My admiration gets interrupted by a buzz from my phone. I hurry over to it - I was expecting this, but Moira’s calling a little earlier than anticipated. I slide my palm across the screen to accept the call.

“Hello?” I say tentatively. I haven’t talked on the phone since shrinking and I’m not sure how much to project. “Can you hear me?”

“Yup! It’s as if you were here,” my friend responds. I smile and collapse into a seat next to the screen. I hadn’t realized how tired I was from all the running around I’ve been doing today. It feels so good to hear Moira’s voice.

“How’s the setup going?” I ask.

“It’s all ready to go! First panel starts in a couple of hours. Then I’ll just be at my booth for most of the weekend. Do you two have any fun plans now that Aiden’s done with finals?”

“Oh, um… That’s a good question! I guess that means we don’t, since I… don’t have an answer.”

I just sounded incredibly awkward, and even though she can’t see me she immediately picks up on it. “Uhh. You feeling okay?”

Kicking myself, I end up wincing in defeat. “Sorry, Mo, I’m kinda going through something, but I feel bad bringing it up when you’re still in the middle of all your stuff…”

“No, no, it’s alright! I finally have some free time now, what’s up?”

I recount the harrowing tale. Not all of it - I remove all of the sexual overtones and don’t mention anything about Aiden’s kink. I just go through the sweet intimacy of our cuddling, the accidental falling asleep… and the grabbing.

“He feels so bad about it,” I lament, “Even though it’s not really his fault. But I mean, yeah, I was… very scared.”

The voice on the other end is quiet for a little bit, until I hear a sound of frustration. “Damn. That just sucks. It sucks that you guys have to be so freaking careful all the time.”

“Tell me about it,” I grumble.

“And we can’t just, like, put you in a bubble. I’m sure he’ll be way more mindful after this, but… I can understand that must have been terrifying.”

It’s like I can almost feel her hand holding mine in support. Except in my head I’m imagining her hand to be the same size as mine. Which is nowhere near the truth.

I hate this. I’m so sick of being this small and weak and worthless. Everything would be easier if I could just be big again. I could take care of myself. I could go back to school, make more friends. I could finally embrace Aiden fully, and he wouldn’t have to hold back in fear of hurting me. I could figure out if he likes me - for me, not for my shrunken state. I could get my freedom back.

“I just wish things could be simpler,” I lament with a waver in my voice.

Moira sighs, and as if she was reading my mind she says, “And there’s nothing we can do to get you back to normal? We’re sure this is permanent?”

It makes sense that I keep stumbling into this topic, but it makes me tense up every time. “I mean, yeah, in theory,” I respond, “According to the scientist’s notes it is, from what he had developed…”

Well, the notes that we currently have say that, in that one journal Aiden was able to obtain. There are still so many unknowns with Dr. Little. So many questions that I can’t afford to get answers to. But this conversation is making it really difficult to keep my head stuck in the sand.

We talk for a little bit longer, ending on a good note by making plans for when she comes back in a couple of days. After I hang up, I sit in silence for a good long while.

Alright. Fine. Let’s actually think about this.

What are the odds that the technology to restore me already exists, even if incomplete? I take the time since I’m sitting at my phone anyway to do some Googling and find out what I can about Dr. Little. Every police report and news article about the fire that happened at the lab keeps the burn victim anonymous. I find many medical doctors by the names of “Charles Little” but no one remotely familiar. I spend a lot of time digging through any kind of article or event post or scientific journal that I can find that mentions the laboratory. Nothing comes of it. It doesn’t mean he didn’t have a second base of operations or something. But at this point I feel like the likelihood of another machine that can reverse the shrinking just sitting around somewhere is very low.

Okay well, barring that, what would the first step even be to try and fix me? Go to a hospital? Maybe they’d actually keep my information private? But surely there isn’t some magical cure in the form of medicine for this. Maybe they’d be able to run tests of some kind, but even by the time we’d get to that point there would be several more people who’d learn of my existence.

There’s no way my picture doesn’t end up somewhere or that word doesn’t spread. There’s no way the cops don’t find out. Aiden would still be with me though… right? Is it worth the risk to try?

Fear finally slips into the driver’s seat. Before I know it, I’m curled up in the fetal position and rocking back and forth with my eyes squeezed shut. My fingertips are going numb and I feel like I can hardly breathe. I keep trying to come back up to the surface and reason through this but I’m drowning. There’s no way. There’s just no way.

And with that I have my answer. I stay. As long as I’m able, I have to stay here. Which feels like a more desperate need than ever now that Aiden’s mentioned the concept of me moving out. He just said it for my sake, to make sure I feel comfortable after what happened. But I’ve had previous experience with getting kicked out and abandoned. And even just the suggestion, the slightest possibility of him asking me to leave… I have to avoid that outcome at all costs.

I curse my weakness, inside and out. And I’ve let myself sink deep enough into this state that it takes me a long time to wrestle the lid back on. For a good twenty minutes I just gaze at my phone. Staring at a picture of the lab where my life came to a standstill.

In spite of everything… I’m just wishing Aiden were here right now. He might have freaked me out last night, but I was being truthful when I told him I don’t want to lose what we had. I wish I could rewind back to the moment when I was laying on his chest and he was stroking my back, and that I could just have it so that he didn’t end up dozing off. How would we have ended up instead? I yearn to know the answer to that, so much…

Thankfully I manage to pick up the pieces of myself before my roommate gets home. I don’t quite find the desperate vigor that I had this morning that got me through my chores, but I’m at least on my feet with dry eyes.

As soon as the giant comes into the apartment and puts his stuff down, he wanders my way. He doesn’t sit at the chair, just leans his arms over the backrest. Despite him keeping his distance, though, his smile is warm.

“How was the day?” I ask as cheerfully as I can.

“Long. But not bad.” He shifts in place, looking slightly distracted as he reaches for his pants pocket. “You?”

“About the same. At least it’s the weekend?” I’m surprised to see his wallet in his hands - he’s pulling out a note. It’s been a while.

“Yup, there is that,” he says, casually reaching over to drop the folded paper into our mailbox. “You okay with soup for dinner?”

“Yeah, sounds great.”

As soon as he pivots to head for the kitchen, I immediately turn my attention to the gift. Feeling a lot more self conscious than I usually would, I tiptoe my way over and pick up the message, tucking the bulky paper under one arm. I go hide behind my bathroom before I unfold it and read avidly.

Hey you. I missed us writing like this. There’s just something about us talking on paper. This way it doesn’t matter what we look like or sound like or anything else. Just two people sharing our thoughts. It’s nice.

Having said that, I’m sitting here at work and wishing I could see you instead! Let’s decide on which show we want to watch soon. I think we still have some popcorn in the cupboard!

Aiden

Even though the scrap of paper is as big as I am, I gather it up in my arms and hold it against me, burying my face into it. I sit there for a while, until I hear booming footsteps starting to return.

I come out and beam at Aiden when he sits down. “Popcorn sounds great!” I exclaim.

“Okay, cool! Let’s see how much of it I burn this time,” he chuckles as he transfers my tiny bowl of tomato soup from his plate to my table. “Oh whoops, I forgot your bread on the counter, be right back.”

“That’s alright!” I say hurriedly before he has a chance to move, "I can just grab some from yours, if you don’t mind?” I’ve already taken a few steps towards his plate as I look up at him hopefully.

“S-sure,” Aiden responds with a nod, though I notice in his subtle movements that he’s pulling back as I approach.

I do wonder what goes on inside his head. Is the mere sight of me… distracting? Well, not me, but rather my smallness. I don’t know, right now he just looks intimidated.

“Am I scaring you?" I ask as I reach his plate, half teasing but half earnest.

“No," he says quickly, looking a bit embarrassed now. “If I’m being honest… I think I’m just scared of myself.”

The edge of the plate is as high as my waist, meaning I have to hoist myself up in order to climb aboard. His king mattress-sized slice of bread is right in front of me, so I go ahead and tear off a tiny piece for myself as I try to come up with what to say.

“Just think about your track record," I offer. “I still trust you, okay? We can take baby steps.”

“Right… Thank you. I’ll get there."

Like a figure coming out of a fog, a look of determination appears on Aiden’s face as he moves a little closer. One hesitant finger makes its way to where I’m standing, curving around behind me to gingerly press against the back of my shoulders. It’s not unlike an arm draping around them in a light hug. The gentle point of contact gives us the strength to share a smile. I don’t care what I know now, this doesn’t feel like some kind of perverted touch.

He moves his hand away but keeps it in the vicinity, shifting the finger to line up with his plate, just behind my feet. I glance down and realize he’s offering me some help in climbing back off the dish now that my hands are full. Accepting gratefully, I step onto the pad of the digit and maintain my balance as the narrow platform lowers me the short distance down.

As I head back towards my own table where the rest of my meal is waiting, I take notice of my phone just beyond. The screen is black now, but I remember the image that was on there last. During the time that I was sitting and staring at it earlier, I had come up with an idea that I decide to bring up now.

“Hey, um…" I start as I turn back towards my giant friend. He acknowledges me with a slight raising of the eyebrows. “So I’ve thought about it. What I think you can help me with. If that’s still okay.”

Aiden perks up at this, looking pleasantly surprised. “Oh, yeah! Of course, anything. What do you need?"

I give him a long, hard look before I answer. “Closure."

@tiny-ivy Just did some quick math and I think the answer is the tiny would need to be about a tenth of an inch

S+P 52 - …I’ll Lift You Up

Chapter 39
Aiden

Damnit. I just had to tell her I would do anything she wanted, didn’t I? Even something that makes me as nervous as this. But not only do I owe her, refusing her this thing in particular would have been problematic.

After we discuss it and finish up dinner, I change into a shirt with a pocket so that Evie can join me for our newly planned outing. But then there’s the issue of transferring her into it. I haven’t actually held her since last night. I gulp nervously and almost just awkwardly offer her my hand, but then I decide to take a stab at talking through it instead.

“So, er, tell me… What’s the best way for me to pick you up?” I ask, crouching beside her on the desk. “How can I make sure you feel comfortable after yesterday?”

Evie looks a little taken aback and soon her nervousness matches mine. “Oh, uh, thanks for asking. I guess it depends,” she says, “Because… one thing I still don’t really understand is how um… What exactly gets you… excited? You know?”

Right. It’s a fair question and I have no idea how to answer it. This is so embarrassing… Come on, man, communicate. You can do this.

“It’s not quite like that,” I try, “I won’t lie, I do like holding you, but it’s not like I’m… constantly excited or anything. It’s not that extreme. For the most part it just kinda… makes me feel all warm and bubbly inside?”

To my immense relief, she actually smiles at this. “Okay. That’s not so bad. In that case I don’t see why we can’t do what we did before? Maybe just don’t grab me around the waist for a little while?”

Whew. This is working. Just gotta rebuild that bridge between us, one piece at a time. “Sure thing,” I say, finally laying my hand down beside her. “Baby steps?”

“Baby steps,” she agrees as she hops right on.

I smile, still feeling awkward as I lift her up and help her inside my pocket. But then we’re off.

It’s a little chilly outside in the evening air so I’m glad I chose a long-sleeve shirt. I’m a bit worried about my small friend, though. At home she uses a blanket to stay warm when she needs to - since we were coming up on summer, she hasn’t sewn any colder weather clothes yet. I guess we’ve never really gone out in the evenings before… I wish I was taking her somewhere a little more fun tonight instead.

She shifts restlessly against my chest, the lightest of sensations that I’ve grown so familiar with. It’s really nice. Comforting, even. Admitting to her how her stature makes me feel didn’t exactly make the feelings go away, they’re just as strong as ever.

I will say this, though. I’m still ashamed of it all, and it’s still a struggle to openly talk about it. But the more time passes, the more I feel like telling her my darkest secret has taken some sort of weight off of me. It’s like subconsciously I knew that she would find out eventually, and now I’m just relieved that it’s behind me. I survived it, she doesn’t seem to hate me… and maybe we can actually move on from this.

After a few blocks, I slow my walking to a stop, gazing up at the building just ahead.

“We’re here,” I whisper to my chest. “No one’s around.”

Evie carefully sticks her head out, being very furtive even though the street is deserted. I hear her blow out an exhale to steady her nerves as she takes in the view. She hasn’t seen the lab since the day she shrank.

“See? There’s still caution tape all over the front,” I say, pointing. “Don’t think we’re allowed to go in but… I can try and open the door?”

“No, I don’t want to get you in trouble for trespassing,” she responds with a head shake, “It definitely looks locked anyway.”

“Probably. According to the website it won’t be open until at least September, but that’s already the second time they’ve pushed it back. Judging by the damage I saw, I don’t see them reopening any time soon.”

She’s quiet for a little bit. I’m hoping this was enough and we can head back now - being here makes me feel tense. But I’m trying not to rush her. Agreeing to bring her here was my chance to prove that I really do want to help get her back to normal. And it’s true, I do, but I don’t think this is going to accomplish anything. I doubt Evie thinks it will either. Still, I can understand her need to see this for herself.

To my surprise, though, she has a different idea. “When you went to see it last time, you said you saw some sunlight coming in through the wall, right? Because of the damage?”

“…Yeah?”

“So do you think we could see the crack from the outside?”

I try to repress my sigh. “Maybe if we go down that alley… You said you don’t want me to get in trouble?”

“It’s not the same as trying to get in, right? You’d just be passing through.”

I grit my teeth and start walking. “Okay, sure. Let’s go check it out.”

It’s even darker in the alleyway with only the faint residual glow of the already-set sun. But due to the white wall of the building, I quickly find the charred exterior of the lab room of our nightmares. And sure enough, there’s a massive crack running from the ground up to just above my head, creating the occasional hole in the wall.

I pause to peer through one of these gaps. There must be a hallway lit up somewhere else in the building so that the room isn’t pitch black, but it’s still quite dark. From the little I can make out I’m shocked to see the space is in just as much disarray as it was the day after the fire.

“Could I take a look?” Evie asks, standing on her tiptoes but unable to see anything for herself from her spot.

I have to steel myself before I tug down on the edge of my pocket, and then I slip a couple of fingers inside for her to step onto before I gingerly bring her out. It’s so weird, normally these gestures are second nature to me now. But I’m still a little paranoid about touching her, as if my own body might betray me again at any second if I’m not mindful.

Cupping both hands together, I lift her up so that she’s level with the hole I was just looking through. She leans her hands on the tips of my fingers as she looks inside, her head turning from one side to the other.

“You weren’t kidding,” she says, “It’s literally rubble.”

“Yeah, I’m surprised they haven’t cleaned any of it up. Surely they’re done with whatever investigation they were doing by now?”

“Still, maybe they missed something,” Evie wonders as she shifts to the side along my fingers, trying to get a better vantage point.

I hate to dash all her hopes but… “This place used to be crawling with cops. If anything of use survived the fire, there’s no way it’s still in there.”

“I don’t know, maybe he hid it really well. I was trying to look into the guy some more today, he was just so damn secretive… I don’t suppose you know which locker he used?”

“Pretty sure it was the one next to mine. Meaning it’s totally destroyed.”

“Figures.”

We spend another minute or so in silence and Evie looks like she’s running out of ideas. She sits back on her heels in my palm. I hold still and stay quiet to let her think through whatever she needs.

“Maybe if…” she says, peering back over my fingers to look down. There’s another gap about a foot below her and I start lowering my hands with the expectation that it’s where she wants to look next. But instead she points straight at my feet. “Could you put me down?”

“What?” I frown and reflexively take a step back from the wall. “On the ground?”

“Yeah… The crack goes all the way down, so I just wanted to look at it from a different angle…”

I glance around myself, towards each end of the alley. Still no one around, but I’m not sure how much longer our luck is going to hold. Not to mention the alleyway itself is pretty dingy, I worry about my tiny friend and her tiny bare feet. Maybe I’m being overly protective, but putting her on the concrete doesn’t feel like the safest thing.

“How about I just set my hands down and you take a peek?” I suggest as I start to crouch, “It looks kinda gross around here…”

“I’ll just take a bath when I get back,” she says, and she doesn’t give me the opportunity to protest as she slides right off my fingers before they even quite reach the ground.

“Careful, okay?” I hiss, cursing myself for bringing her down here and having to actively fight the urge to pick her right back up. But she ignores me, already walking closer to the crack in the wall to peer inside.

I glance around where she’s standing for any sign of danger - anything sharp or sticky or alive. Thankfully there’s nothing in the immediate vicinity. There’s another sizeable gap in the wall right in front of my face so I take a second to glance through there as well, wondering if she might have a point with getting a different perspective. But nothing’s any different - in fact, I can make out even less of the room from down here.

I look back at Evie and bite my lip as I notice she’s shivering. Just as I feared, she’s not equipped for the quickly cooling night air. I almost say something, just wanting to get out of here. But instead I flinch apprehensively as the tiny woman takes a step back and lays down onto her stomach as she continues to look through the hole that’s right at the base of the wall.

“Aiden!” she suddenly yells, startling me, “There’s something there!”

“What?!” Despite everything I get all the way down too, touching the side of my head to the concrete. “Where, what are you seeing?”

“I think it’s a flash drive!” she shouts, pointing, “I’m serious, it’s right there! It’s stuck under something.” She glances back at me then gets to her feet so that she can crouch and match my eye level. “Yeah you can’t see it from this high, but I swear it’s there.” And then to my horror she walks right towards the crevice that she could clearly squeeze through.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on!” I say, slipping my hand in front of her to block her path. I lift my head back up. “You can’t just wander around in there, that’s dangerous! Maybe if we come back tomo–”

“It’s right there!” Evie insists and she glares at me with a frustration that stops me short. “It’s just a few inches away, less than a foot I think. I’ll be careful, just please let me go grab it.”

Did she not just see the same scene I did? Precarious rubble, sharp twisted metal, shambled furniture and broken glass covering the floor? If anything were to happen with her in there, I wouldn’t be able to reach in and help.

She moves closer to me, touches my wrist, stares me down with a determination I’ve never seen from her before. “Let me do this.”

It would be so easy to refuse. I could pluck her right up, stuff her in my pocket and march straight home. There’s nothing she’d be able to do to stop me. It would take no effort. It would keep her safe.

I sigh heavily. And slide my hand out of the way.

@Im-Warden This is why I shouldn’t try it at all, I’d have trouble stopping

Chapter 2

My muscles are all tensed up as I open the door and peer inside. Alright, no room full of dudes ready to laugh at me. Just a very standard dorm setting - two beds, two desks, a shag green rug over the fake wood floor. And there he is, sitting at one of the desks, fiddling around with something on his laptop with his back facing me.

“Perfectly on time,” says Ryder without turning around, “At least one of us is capable of being punctual.”

I stare at the back of his head while standing in his doorway. Even his haircut is perfectly trimmed, the back of his neck smoothly shaved of any stray hairs. I’ve noticed this in the past, actually, that he doesn’t seem to have much hair on his body at all. I’ve since learned that apparently it’s quite common for even men to shave their limbs and chest if they’re swimmers - I guess to eliminate any extra drag in the water. As soon as I have that thought, my eyes linger on the back of his toned calves, one of which is splayed off to the side of the chair.

“Come sit.” My host turns his head halfway to me and motions his hand towards his nearby bed in invitation. Right. His bed. Not at all awkward.

It’s still not impossible that there are cameras around if this really is a prank, so I try to appear as aloof as possible as I step inside and let the door close behind me. I notice Ryder’s shoes are lined up right next to the door, so I follow his lead and step out of my sandals, and soon I feel the thick shag carpet under my feet as I step closer.

“So how come you were so late to class?” I ask casually as I take a seat and let my backpack slide off my shoulders.

He had gone back to briefly looking at his computer before he appears to finish up, and he shuts the laptop completely. He pivots in his chair to face me head on and gives me a wide, toothy smile.

“To give me an excuse to hang out with you?” he responds, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly.

Fuuuck. There’s no way he’s not messing with me. But I stay as calm and collected as possible, and I roll my eyes as if we were already on friendly terms. “Joke’s on you,” I say, “You’re going to get way less out of this lesson secondhand.”

“I look forward to it.”

I just can’t get a good read on this guy. I zip my backpack open to pull out my notebook and the textbook for the class, setting them beside me onto the bed. With one hand I open up my notes. With the other I nervously run a fingertip in a circle on the bed sheet, falling back on my habit of inspecting whatever’s near me.

I glance up at him and say, “You were there for the last class, right? When we first started discussing GDP?”

He watches me with that goddamn smile, and eventually instead of answering he lifts a hand and waggles it back and forth, as if to say “ehhh.”

“Do you even remember what GDP is?” I ask with barely masked exasperation.

“Hmm… Glorious Dollar Points?”

For a moment we’re just staring at each other. I search his expression, the veritable fortress of his gaze that conveys nothing except a mild amusement. Alright. He’s no longer playing along with whatever façade we started with. I’m not going to act like an idiot.

I snap my notebook shut and narrow my eyes at him. “You don’t actually want to study, do you?”

His eyes narrow too but in a more natural way as his smile widens and becomes a little more genuine. He leans forward in his chair, staring at me with such intensity that I can feel it in the pit of my stomach.

“No. I don’t,” he says.

I do my best not to squirm and blush. I’m suddenly finding myself having a hard time looking at him. “Why did you invite me over then?” I ask sheepishly.

“I want…” Ryder straightens up again so that he can sit back in his chair pensively instead. “…to get to know you a little better.”

I can’t help but laugh wryly and give him a look. “Seriously? Me?”

“Yes. You.” He crosses his arms, appearing to very much be enjoying this. “I’m curious about you.”

An odd thing to say about a girl whose name he had trouble remembering an hour ago. I sigh, convinced that he must still be messing with me for some reason, but I’m unable to resist continuing this conversation. “What do you want to know? I’m not that exciting.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I dunno… Accounting major. No real hobbies. I watch a lot of trash TV and don’t really get out all that much.”

He stares at me pointedly, and for the first time I’m seeing a shadow of a frown cross over his face. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Hide behind shit like that. You and I both know that’s not really who you are.”

I frown back. “Do we know that? What are you talking about?”

I’m starting to really think I shouldn’t be engaging with this, but then Ryder takes me by surprise as he leans forward again in his chair. “How tall are you, Isabelle?”

The question is abrupt. Weirdly casual. And yet incredibly oppressing. At least… it is to me. I balk and hesitate, a couple of quiet and confused sounds escaping the back of my throat.

“Wha… What does that have to do with anything?” I stutter.

His smile turns cocky. “You don’t want to answer me?”

My gaze crumbles to the ground like a house of cards in an earthquake. “I… I’m 5’10”…"

“That’s rather tall, isn’t it?”

I stare at my feet and mumble, “It’s… not compared to you…”

Every article I’ve seen that features him always mentions his 6’4" stature. It’s one of the reasons he’s a particularly good swimmer. Ugh, I hate that I know these odd bits of trivia about him and yet he couldn’t remember my name.

“That’s true.” To my shock, Ryder reaches his hand out, and I hadn’t realized how close he’d gotten. He’s able to reach me and touches the side of one finger just under my chin to forcefully lift my head up. He looks deep into my eyes as he asks with overflowing confidence, “Is that why you’re so taken with me?”

I jerk my face back, pulling away from him. “Excuse me?” I say with a nervous laugh, “Who said I was… Listen, just because you’re the big man on campus doesn’t mean I…”

I trail off. I feel not just confused at this point but embarrassed, and I’m getting agitated to the point of defensiveness. Meanwhile, the man sitting across from me looks completely unperturbed. He chuckles and grins as he puts his open hands up in surrender.

“Alright. Don’t worry… I like games.”

I exhale heavily and start quickly packing up my school supplies into my backpack as I grumble, “Listen, if you had me come over just so you can psychoanalyze me, I think I’ll just–”

Ryder stands up. From my position seated on the bed he looms over me easily, and I fall into silence as I blink up at him. There’s something particularly odd in the air now. I’m overcome with a weird calm. For some strange reason, I feel no inclination to move from this spot anymore.

I look up at him from around his stomach level and he smiles down at me in turn. He brings a hand to cup the side of my face. It feels intimately warm.

“Psychoanalyze you, huh? That’s not a bad idea. Let’s see…” He runs a thumb back and forth along my cheekbone with a slow, methodical rhythm. “You want to be an accountant. Maybe because you think that’s a well-paying but low-key, stable job, right? Every accounting major I’ve met wants that. Or they’re being forced into it by their parents.”

Ryder’s hand drifts down now, fingertips caressing the side of my neck. I shudder helplessly.

“You don’t share your true interests with anyone because you don’t want to stand out.”

He reaches the collar of my hoodie and gently tugs at it. He brings his other hand up too, to fiddle with my sleeve on the other side.

“You wear oversized clothing to make yourself look smaller, because you hate being taller than the average woman.”

Casually he takes the little elastic bands off the ends of my hair and starts running his fingers through the braids, softly teasing out the copper strands.

“You wear your hair in pigtails because you want to look younger and more innocent.”

Now that my hair sits unburdened just past my shoulders, Ryder seems satisfied, and a hand returns to my chin. He takes it softly, but there’s a firm dominance there as he makes me look at him.

“You want to be underestimated. To pass right under the radar. To not be seen.”

He’s starting to put a subtle pressure on my jaw, forcing me to sit up straighter.

“Only thing I’m left wondering is why that is.”

The upward force he’s putting on my chin gets to the point that I feel compelled to my feet. I don’t actually want to stand up, not now, I don’t want to be any higher. But I find some satisfaction in the fact that I still have to look up at him, and so I follow his lead and slowly rise. He’s so close. Our faces are only inches apart.

“Why do you care so much?” I whisper, my voice tight with deferential anxiety.

Ryder smiles at my demeanor. “Because you intrigue me, Isabelle. You have ever since I first saw you in that Marketing class.”

I actually gasp at this. His hand is still holding my face and I reach up to weakly grab at his wrist. “Wait… you do remember me then?”

“Of course.”

“Why did you act like you didn’t?”

He finally lets go of my jaw so that he can take my hand instead, fingers interlocking. He shrugs in response.

“Because we were in public. And if there’s one thing I’ve figured out about you it’s that you hate public attention. Remember that first time I sat next to you? I kept whispering stupid jokes for the whole hour and made you giggle every time. But then as soon as class was over and I talked just a bit too loud to invite you to lunch, you declined without hesitation and practically sprinted out of the room. Away from all the prying eyes of those who were wondering who I was talking to.”

Of course I remember this. That day was the inception of this stupid crush, and I’ve been carrying my burdensome feelings around for the past year and a half. I struggle to take in a breath and then Ryder brings me back to earth as his thumb makes soft circles against the back of my hand.

“That’s why I’m so intrigued by you,” he says with a soothing tone. “Everyone around me is constantly vying for my attention. Doing everything they can to connect with me or curry favor, or at the very least lust from a middle distance. And then, there you were. Clearly interested in me. And yet doing everything to erase herself. Trying her utmost to just… disappear.”

I feel an unexpected need to fight back tears. He’s so on point with his observations that it’s scary. And yet there’s also something bizarrely validating about it. Despite all my efforts to remove myself from his view… he still saw me. He noticed. A myriad of feelings are battling inside of me like a cyclone.

“I don’t know how to feel about all this,” I finally say quietly.

Ryder squeezes my hand, the sky blue of his eyes drawing me in. “I can help with that.”

“What do you mean–”

And we’re kissing.

As much as I enjoy D&D (thankfully I’m in a life stage where I’m not playing video games much because I’m already fascinated by BG3 despite not actually playing myself), it’s rare that I think about that kind of medieval fantasy type setting in my size fantasies. But some of what you just listed is making me reconsider

Chapter 6

Walking along a gigantic human body is already hard enough when I’m not hurrying. But with a ticking clock in the form of my height melting away a millimeter at a time, constantly disorienting me… I might as well have just become the foolish jester in a mighty king’s court.

I waste no time whipping around and dashing along the center of Ryder’s chest. Almost immediately I lose my footing and fall to one knee, a hand slamming down against expansive pectoral muscle. I’m quickly back on my feet, only to fall from his inhale below me, again to one knee on the other pec. The giant laughs, and in perhaps an act of pity he flexes the muscle just as I land to help me bounce back up. I cross his diaphragm and three steps later I think I might actually have fallen into a rhythm. But when I glance up and see how quickly I’m approaching the large pitched tent ahead, the distraction is enough that I lose my footing again.

I land hard against my front, wincing at the impact despite the pliant nature of the floor. This is starting to feel stupid… What’s there to worry about anyway? It’s not like I feel any less safe if I become smaller. Sure, I’m a little nervous about how my world is changing around me, but robbed of my own terror I’m not particularly motivated to hurry. It feels kinda nice laying on his stomach, listening to the gurgles within as his skin shifts against mine ever so slowly, expanding in every direction. His navel is just ahead of me and I reach a hand over to run a finger along its edge. I wonder if laying here might mean I’ll become so small I could fit inside this belly button.

There’s a sharp breeze against my back from air getting displaced by a descending hand. The warm finger touches down just in the dip of my lower back, gently massaging the space.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” Ryder croons melodically.

And just like that, I’m roused to my feet. Pleasing him is motivation enough.

I’m just a couple of steps from his boxers now, and I pause nervously as I get to the waistband. I’ve already lost at least a relative foot of my height since I started shrinking again. I’m assuming he wants me to get inside his underwear, but can I even do that? I bend down to grab at the elastic, yanking it up as hard as I can. It does give, but it’s a strain, and in the end I have to lay down and army crawl my way underneath it, entering the stuffy darkness within.

The scent of the titan’s musk, mixed with a hint of chlorine, stops me in my tracks for a moment. It’s not necessarily unpleasant, but it’s definitely overwhelming… Okay, focus. What do I do now? It’s so hard to see in here. I stay low to the ground and opt to start crawling again, feeling around in the dark for where I figure my destination must be.

Ryder’s apparently not quite as diligent about shaving this area. There’s not much here, but I do sense thick hairs tickling against my arms and legs, and me maneuvering through the sparse patch of pubes is having an effect on the prone giant. It already feels like everything’s constantly moving right now from the shrinking, but the muscles underneath me seem to be clenching at a greater frequency too, and faraway moans cause faint vibrations against my skin, even all the way down here. The fact that I’m able to give him any kind of pleasure despite being tiny is very distracting.

As my eyes adjust, I think I make out the anticipated pillar up ahead. It’s getting very warm, and the heat seems to mainly be emanating from the towering manhood that I’m trapped in here with. I inch forward, trying to pick up the pace as I can’t even imagine how much height I’m losing.

I almost crash into it, stopping myself short just as I realize how close I am. It’s too dark to be sure, but it looks like the structure is as thick as an oak tree. I reach out to touch it, and it almost feels like I’m touching a flat wall instead of a curved one. A wall of smooth, hot, musky, pulsating skin. I can hear the blood rushing inside, though the sound is quickly overshadowed by a reverberating groan in reaction to my touch. The simple knowledge that my hands are on Ryder’s dick right now makes my heart race.

But something’s off. I frown and realize my hands are sliding against the pillar. Am I still shrinking?

I get to my feet, keeping a hand against the wall. “I made it, didn’t I?” I yell. Which feels pointless - even if my voice reaches his ears in any capacity, there’s no way he could make out what I’m saying.

But then, miraculously, he does. “Not quite, sweetheart,” he says, sounding strained, “Gotta get higher up than that.”

I look up uselessly in the darkness. I don’t have a good idea of how tall the structure is, and it’s getting slowly but steadily taller with every moment. I’m not a particularly good climber either… But here goes nothing. First I start maneuvering my way around the massive member. It feels like it’s being held upright by tension against the front of his underwear, but if I make my way to the underside, gravity might be on my side–

Suddenly I yelp as my feet hit something soft and I topple forward. I land right onto a trampoline-sized ballsack. The ground shifts violently and Ryder’s voice is like far off thunder. “Fuuuuck…”

Gritting my teeth, I clamber up onto the squishy surface and find the shaft again, and the incline is still steep but manageable this time. I shimmy along it, managing to push it down a bit with my diminishing weight. My little limbs are inadvertently massaging him and his breathing is intensifying, and then I almost fall again as I’m blinded by a flash of light coming from the entrance of his underwear. A gigantic hand is joining the party. I continue to hurry upwards, crawling quickly as I’ve now caught sight of the bulging tip up ahead. Trunk like fingers encircle the structure under me as I finally reach my goal, making the entire cock shudder as I hug my whole body around the enormous head.

“Good job,” the giant pants, and it’s harder to make out what he’s saying now amidst the chaos happening all around me. “Just… nghh… just hold on tight… mmmfuck…”

I strengthen my grip, especially as I feel slick fluid pass over my hands, though I’m not making things easier for myself as I just seem to be stimulating him more and more. His hand is working now, pumping underneath me, making me bob up and down with a quickening rhythm.

I’m filled with adrenaline. The electrifying heat and the smells and the sounds are so overwhelming, but in a good way. Just the thought of what’s happening right now, the knowledge that I’m just a couple of inches tall, if that, clinging onto this god-like man’s dick like a cat that’s fallen onto a Christmas tree and hanging on for dear life… It’s enough to bring me closer and closer to my own release that has barely had the chance to build.

My front now slick with precum, I almost slip off, and Ryder seems to realize this as his thumb suddenly presses into my back, catching me, pushing me, sliding me, and my arms grab and my legs clench and I wriggle and writhe and squeeze. And it’s enough. With a thunderous groan, the giant comes intensely, rocking my dimly lit world with vibrations that make me orgasm in tandem. I lose track of where I am - I’m slipping, and then suddenly I’m falling.

I don’t even yell, my breath is ripped right out of me as I plummet. I clip against something soft, then hit a springy wall, and after a couple of bounces I think I’m on a floor. There’s an ominous pause as I look around wildly in the darkness. I’m feeling way more cold now, I’m no longer on his skin but sitting on thick fabric. But then there’s a sudden light coupled with movement. A whole lot of movement. I can’t make sense of the chaos, it’s like an explosive earthquake, and Ryder’s control over my mind slips just enough for me to let out a scream as I curl into a ball.

But things go still again after just a handful of long seconds, and I quickly calm back down to my subdued state. I slowly unwind myself and carefully get back to my feet as I make sense of the new alien surface I’m lying on - rippling navy blue bed sheets stretching off into the distance like a lake. I must have fallen through one of the leg openings of his boxers as the giant got up. For a moment I’m too disoriented to know where Ryder went, but there’s just enough logic in my brain for me to quickly think of a solution. I look skyward.

It’s only now that my eyes adjust that I realize I’m standing in his shadow. He’s looking positively cliff-like, impossibly so, and he’s fully naked now. From my position near his knee, Ryder’s body seems to stretch into the sky for hundreds of feet. I stare at him as if I was the world’s first human to witness a smoking volcano.

That is, until he crouches down. Such a casual movement to him, but to me it’s as if the volcano had started rumbling to life. God, he’s fucking gigantic. How small did I get?

His head gravitates towards me, heavy and imposing. He moves closer and closer, and the eyes that are fixed on my shrunken form look bigger than I am. Seeing his face hovering so much closer is unnerving in its own right, I can’t tell if seeing his features this magnified is more or less intimidating than seeing his full height. His voice booms like music during a concert.

“So. Tiny.”

I take a few shaky steps back, and this just seems to amuse him. He straightens up a tad, and his hand swings in like a private jet coming in for a landing. He’s got one long forefinger stretched in my direction, over fifteen feet in length from my perspective. It doesn’t touch me, but it comes very close, as if casually deliberating what it might want to do with me.

Ryder speaks again. “Let’s see, you’re less than two inches tall now… Maybe, like, an inch and a… third? Lost quite a bit there during that journey, didn’t you?”

“Y-you’re able to tell how tall I am just by looking?” I call up to him.

“It’s more like an internal clock as I make you smaller. Don’t worry about it. So. That was fun, huh? How are you feeling, my lovely little plaything?”

“Like there’s not much of me left,” I lament with a weak smile.

“Heh. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of you left to shrink.”

I ignore the foreboding tone and shift my attention to his hand that’s gradually inching closer. My stupid nerdy brain is reminded of a long-necked dinosaur, his fingertip like a mighty head dropping down to inspect me. I reach out with both hands, marveling at the scale of him as I make contact with his skin.

“This is crazy!” I yell towards his face, laughing at the absurdity. “Jesus, Ryder. You’re, uh… taking me on quite the adventure.”

“You’re sorta taking me on one too,” he chuckles back, "I mean damn, you felt so fucking good down there.”

“Doesn’t everybody?” I ask, tracing the whorls of his fingerprint, each ridge now as thick as a pencil. “If you’ve done this before, I mean.”

“I don’t usually make people so little before they venture down there. But there was something about you having to do all that climbing…” The finger pulls away from my hands so that it can lightly bop the top of my head, almost knocking me over. His smile widens. “That or I’m just particularly fond of you.”

Ryder starts poking my nude body, and since I’m no bigger than a Lego figure now it doesn’t take long until I’m knocked flat on my back. Even though his finger is so huge, the touch is light enough that the texture of his skin occasionally tickles, and as soon as I make the mistake of giggling it’s all over for me. He intentionally aims right under my arms, and even when I wriggle away and hug myself tightly, he’s still able to reach my stomach and waist and soon I’m kicking at him and laughing so hard I can’t breathe. I love the deep echoes of his laughter that fill the air in turn.

After half a minute or so the giant gives me a break – his hand departs, and I immediately miss it. I uncurl myself and look up at him pitifully as I get back up to my feet. I’m taken aback as the smile he’s wearing is so fucking… genuine right now. It’s not his usual smirk but one of tender affection, his eyebrows curving slightly up and his exhale coming out in a sigh. I’m so used to seeing him cool and confident, but this is new, and it fills me with a yearning. I want more moments of silliness and sweetness, I want to play, I want to get to know him more and more, I want to be his…

Wait, hold on. I just said he wasn’t smirking. What’s that look on his face right now?

“Hey, Isabelle,” Ryder says, his grin slowly growing. “If you’re into dinosaurs, does that make you a fan of Jurassic Park?”

Sidetracked, I perk up excitedly at this. “Of course! I practically had that movie memorized as a kid. You know, they don’t get featured much, but that film was the first time I saw a parasaurolophus, which ended up being my favorite–"

I yell loudly as I’m suddenly interrupted by a massive jaw swinging open and a face plummeting my way. Before I realize what’s happening I’m in hot, wet darkness. Like the infamous theropod from the movie he just distracted me with, Ryder has snapped me right up into his mouth. Only my legs are sticking out, and my feet lift up from the ground as I kick them wildly, disoriented by the vertigo and the darkness. The springy floor against my chest is soaked and warm and slippery, contrasting against the boulder-like teeth carefully pinching around my legs.

It’s another moment that’s simply too much for me as the panic fights its way towards the top of my consciousness. My limbs flail and I whimper with the growing fear of my legs getting crushed as easily as pretzel sticks. The giant tilts his head back and I cry out as I fall forward and fully land on his tongue. I try to scramble to hands and knees but it’s too slippery and everything’s shaking and I can’t see a damn thing– I’m coughing, sputtering–

Deep breaths.

I grow still as I’m splayed out on my back in what I’m assuming is the center of the expansive tongue. That was Ryder’s voice just now, unmistakable. But there’s no way he just talked out loud… I think I would have noticed that. This is another mind manipulation. And right on cue, I feel a sedative wave of calm that helps all of my muscles unclench and my heart rate slow down. The air is humid and rather lacking in oxygen, but I manage that deep breath nevertheless.

“Did I just hear your thoughts?” I call out, my voice echoing in the cave. Then, struck with an idea, I say as clearly as I can in my own mind, Can you read MY thoughts?!

Whoa, I can even hear his amused chuckle in my brain. I told you, we have a special connection now. Besides, surface thoughts are a breeze.

That’s so cool! I say silently, So we could just do this all the time?

The moment of quiet is over. Light pours into the cave through a gap in the nearby teeth, and a breath of laughter whooshes out in a gust of wind. His voice shakes me to the bone and I’m jostled heavily as Ryder says out loud, “Don’t get used to it, little one.”

He takes a few seconds to play with me, a casual gesture that feels like an insane theme park ride. I’m pushed up into the roof of his mouth, writhing weakly as I’m sandwiched within flesh and heat. I tumble and slide as he moves me around - it’s still hard to tell, but I think I briefly brush up against the side of a molar and then I’m pushed into the inside of his cheek. But then I’m finally greeted with fresh air as he spits me back out into his awaiting palm.

“You’re not escaping my voice,” the giant croons as I struggle to sit upright, “Not when I’ve seen the effect it has on you.”

He’s not wrong. The smaller I’ve gotten, the more intense are the vibrations of his voice. I can feel them against the surface of my skin every time he speaks. I wipe saliva off of my cheek, attempting to catch my breath as I look up at the massive face above me, at the intricate details in the blue of his irises. So intimidating. But so beautiful.

He blinks, and the speed of the movement makes me shy away. I start sliding backward in Ryder’s palm, but then a fleshy pillar appears at my back and blocks my path.

“Nope,” he mumbles, “I’m not done tasting you.”

I get to see it right in front of my eyes this time. His jaw descends, his smile revealing the white of his teeth, the pink of his tongue rolling out like a wave. My body is operating out of instinct, still trying to scramble back but just helplessly pushing into the impeding finger, and then the wave crashes over me. For a moment I can’t breathe at all, trapped under the wet pressure of his tongue against his palm.

Maybe I should start feeling worried that I’m not going to survive all this. But something comes over me despite the objectively horrifying situation. As Ryder slowly licks the length of my miniscule body, I have no choice but to submit under the sheer weight of it all. And the texture of his taste buds is like acupressure, stimulating key points along my naked body and making me shudder from the inside out. It feels particularly amazing against my crotch, each little bump making me spasm.

I gasp in cool air as the hot muscle finishes passing over me. The giant is about to repeat the process, but instead of just letting the tongue roll over me again, I attempt to straddle it. While last time it just slid along my body, this time I’m pushed along the lines of his palm as I clench the lithe, wet beast with my knees. Goddamn, does it feel good between my legs. My eyes close as I focus entirely on the feeling of his tongue and then start grinding against it.

Ryder realizes what I’m doing and pauses, things briefly going still as I continue rubbing myself against his taste buds. And then he chuckles, his breath hitting me hard, and oh my fucking god, the vibrations from his voice are so intense, the rhythm of his laughter jackhammering its way through his tongue and buzzing against my clit, and the release comes hard and fast as I let out a whimper of ecstasy.

The tongue retreats and I fall back into the hand of my gigantic lover, giggling to myself now. That’s certainly one way to tame such a slippery beast.

Meanwhile I’m an Asterion simp - though that’s probably just thanks to his pretty boy design and Neil Newbon’s work heh. It would be reeeally bad if he became a giant

(By the way, I’m so happy to see this many other gamer girls here~!)