༊༄.°

Clara stumbled slightly as she unzipped her boots. She straightened and tossed her hair out of her face. She tiptoed to her room and had to bite back a squeal as she saw Niamh asleep against her pillow.

It was unbelievable to her how beautiful she was; she felt so lucky that the borrower trusted her. She admired her for a few moments before crawling into the bed beside her. She ran her acrylic nail over her bare arm, trailing the soft skin carefully.

She watched Niamh’s forehead crease slightly, it almost hurt her to disturb her. Clara leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her jaw, then down her neck. It pulled a soft whine out of the borrower.

It was too much, Clara couldn’t take it. She scooped her up and peppered kisses across her face and chest, pressing a few intentional ones to her lips.

“C-Clara!” The borrower whined, her voice heavy with sleep.

“Niamh,” She purred back between kisses, she let the borrower push her away and watched as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

Niamh looked up at Clara, a smile tugged at her lips. “Are you drunk?” She laughed softly, “How were your friends?” She asked softly, reaching up to brush her hand over her cheek.

Clara hummed and leaned into the tiny hand. She shrugged, “Couldn’t stop thinking about you.” She grinned as Niamh blushed deeply. She pressed a kiss to her cheek and hummed. “It gets distracting at a certain point. Just so obsessed with you.” She murmured into her ear.

Her tiny body tensed and shivered and Clara could hear her stammering. She pulled away with a smile. She wiped her lip gloss off of her tiny face with a half-hearted apology. “I brought us something.” She told her.

She set Niamh on her thigh and unzipped her purse. She could feel Niamh’s tiny hand tracing the pattern on her tights. Clara had to bite her lip. She reached into her purse and pulled out the tube. She popped it open and let the pink pre-roll slide into her hand.

“It’s a joint.” She told her with a smile. “It was Nick’s party favor.”

Niamh paused, nervously biting her cheek. “Are you sure it’s a good idea?” She asked, looking up at Clara.

Clara smiled softly, “I won’t let you get that high again, promise.”

ᯓ★

The incident happened about a week ago…

“C-Clara…” The voice was so soft that she nearly missed it. Clara cocked a brow and turned off her phone. She pushed herself up, looking around the floor.

“Niamh? You alright, sweetheart?” She called softly. She couldn’t see her, but that soft quiver in her voice… It made her nervous.

She climbed off of her bed, carefully kneeling beside the bookshelf. There she was, tucked behind the wood and crouched slightly. She was trembling.

“Hey, hey… Niamh.” She murmured, reaching forward to gently push her thumb into her hands. Her tiny fingers curled around it, squeezing it carefully. She used it to carefully guide her out of the hiding place.

She gently scooped her up, wincing as her breath hitched. “It’s okay…” Clara reassured. “It’s just me, baby.” She soothed softly. She lifted Niamh to her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I-” Niamh stammered nervously. Her hand gripped Clara’s thumb. “There were… I took, I-I mean…” Clara’s brows knit together as she listened, “There was candy on your desk… And I-I took one, and I’m sorry. I just-”

Clara’s eyes widened, it all made sense. She gently lifted her chin, forcing Niamh to meet her eyes. They were red, bloodshot, and now full of tears. “You took an edible…” She whispered, eyes wide.

“I don’t… I-I don’t know what that means…” Her voice was strained and scared.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Niamh.” She whispered, “It’s, um, it’s weed, drugs. It’s what I smoke sometimes.” Clara tried to explain. “You’re high, sweetheart.”

She watched her bottom lip wobble and gently wiped away her tears. Clara kissed her forehead and reassured her that she was gonna be okay as she climbed into bed.

She wrapped Niamh in her softest blanket and turned off all the lights except the warm lamp on her nightstand. She put on ‘My Neighbor Totoro’ and made sure she got enough water as they snuggled.

She glanced down as the credits rolled. Niamh was fast asleep, still clinging to her finger as she slept peacefully.

ᯓ★

Clara looked back fondly on the memory, it meant a lot to her that Niamh trusted her in that moment. That she had come to her, vulnerable and scared.

For Niamh it had been a nightmare, so high that she felt aware of her skin and her bones and her inner workings. She shuddered just thinking about it.

“Please?” Clara whispered, grinning as Niamh finally nodded. She leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Smoking actual bud is way different than edibles, I swear.” Clara told her with a smile.

Niamh watched her tuck the joint behind her ear and pull on her zip up. Clara scooped her up and held her close as she opened the door to the terrace. The air was still warm and humid, it was a beautiful spring night.

Clara watched Niamh take a deep breath and smiled. “Sorry we don’t get out here more often.” She told her as she set her in her lap.

Niamh laid back and stared up at Clara. She watched her light the joint and took a puff. She was so beautiful, she wished she could say it as easily as Clara could. It seemed like it just rolled off her tongue, but Niamh would always stammer and falter. There was some sort of internal barrier stopping her. It might’ve been embarrassment, or fear of coming off like a creep, or the vulnerability of it. She was snapped from her thoughts as Clara spoke.

“There’s this thing called shot-gunning. I’ve never done it, but they always do it in the fan fiction I read.” Clara told her with a smile. “I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Niamh smiled, sitting up. She nodded tentatively and lifted her arms as Clara’s fingers slid around her waist, lifting her.

“So I’ll take a hit and then blow it into your mouth.” She told her with a smile. “The important thing is you’ve gotta inhale it.” Clara explained, gently tapping her chest with her pinky. “All the way, otherwise it won’t work.” She explained.

Niamh nodded, “Okay.” She whispered, shaking off her nerves. She watched Clara as she brought the joint to her lips, the tip flickering red. She pulled away from and brought Niamh closer.

Clara’s lips brushed her chin and Niamh shivered. She opened her mouth to let the giant blow the smoke into her mouth. She inhaled, trying to catch the wisps of smoke. She pulled away and choked as she exhaled. The giant mouth in front of her curled into a smile as she coughed and sputtered.

Clara gave her a gentle kiss before pulling away and carefully tilting her water bottle for her. Niamh drank until the burning in her chest ceased. Clara carefully put out the joint and dropped it back into the tube.

Niamh stared up at her, smiling softly. Clara caught her looking, “Hi.” She whispered, lifting her up to her face. Niamh held the tip of her nose and pressed a kiss to it. Clara laughed softly, “Do you wanna go inside?” She asked, leaning forward so their foreheads pressed together.

Niamh nodded. Her hand brushed along her face, over the bridge of her nose and her eyebrows. Clara’s eyes fluttered shut as Niamh ran her hand over her eyelid, her hand came away glittery. She smiled softly. Clara kissed her stomach and stood, pulling her to her chest.

Niamh felt light, airy. Like there was a bubble between her and reality. She leaned into Clara’s collar and sighed softly through her nose. She smelled so good, like vanilla and warmth. Her hand ran along the delicate chain around her neck. The pendant was a small gold callalily.

They laid in bed together, eating snacks and listening to The Zombies. Niamh watched Clara relight the joint, she licked her lips as she watched hers close around the filter. “You’re so beautiful.” Niamh willed herself to whisper.

Clara looked down in surprise and grinned, blowing the smoke from her nose. “Shut up…” She mumbled with a warm smile on her lips. She kissed her deeply, lapping at her little face. Her thumb ran along her jaw. She pulled away but kept her thumb on her chin. “Here.” She took a drag and leaned down, she kissed her and blew the smoke into her mouth.

Niamh whimpered softly and inhaled, her hand gripped Clara’s thumb. She didn’t hold it long enough to cough this time. She let the smoke slip out of her mouth as Clara’s lips crashed into hers. She laughed and lifted her chin as Clara kissed her neck.

“Do you know I like you, like really really like you?” Clara murmured softly between kisses. She pulled away and looked down at her; her eyes held this fondness, deep and longing. The type of look that made Niamh squirm.

Niamh blushed. She rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight the smile from her lips, “Do I know you like me?” She repeated. “You’re corny, Clara.” She grinned as it elicited a laugh from her.

Clara brushed her hair back and shook her head. “Shut up…” She mumbled, “I just.. I really like you… I want you to know that. And I know I’m probably just like… love bombing but every time I’m away from you the only thing on my mind is you, Niamh. I really want you to know how special you are, how much I care about you.”

Niamh felt stunned to silence; she was blushing deeply. “I-I like you too, Clara. Like so fucking much.” She mumbled before she covered her face and groaned. “I wish this wasn’t so hard for me, I feel like you just say what you mean, and I just… I just care about you so much. It feels like every single thing I say is so weighted and it’s because… It’s because you’re so important to me, and I just, I really don’t want to fuck this up.”

“Niamh…” Clara whispered, gently pulling her hands from her face. She kissed her carefully. “So sweet, you could say anything… I’d never hate you, I don’t think it’s possible to fuck this up at this point honestly.”

Niamh sighed through her nose and traced her bottom lip. “You see me in such a light, Clara.” She told her softly.

Clara smiled and leaned down, carefully kissing her. Her thumb snuck under her shirt, pushing it up and over her abdomen. Niamh whined softly, pulling away to tug off her shirt. Clara didn’t waste any time, she leaned down to kiss and lap at her tits.

The Zombies continued to play as Niamh dissolved into soft moans.

When I'm so happy,

When I'm with you,

When I touch you,

Morticia must have inherited her mother’s arrogance. Why else would she be so flippant? Why else would she look around, pretending she doesn’t see Larissa's face contorting in anger?

“I don't see a space for someone of your size.” She continues, taking Larissa's shocked silence for surrender. “I thought you’d have some kind of nook or lounge that you could hide away in. Unless you plan on spending the night on your desk.”

The nerve… The absolute gall. Larissa can’t help but huff. “Still always have to have your way, do you.” The words are a low mutter, so soft that even this close Morticia doesn’t hear. But she must see the tiny motion of Larissa rubbing at her brow, because she has the audacity to look impatient. Blood boiling, she sits up, the fact that she knows she wouldn’t have a firm stance in this palm only adding to her rage. “You haven't changed at all. You still feel the need to walk all over everyone and make yourself the center of attention.”

“And you're still as prideful and self destructive as always.” And it's not her voice that makes Larissa’s heart stop. The low “know-it-all” tone only threatens to send her over the edge. No, it's the way she leans in - the way her body looms and how her hands raise ever so slightly reminding the shifter just who holds the power here- that sends ice water through her veins. It's the not-so-quiet voice in her head telling her that she needs to run, to hide. “You think that you have to do these things alone but you don't. You don't have to risk hurting yourself over this! Just let me help you, Riss, the way you used to.”

What can she say to that? Should she deny it? Can she even deny it?

…. No. She can’t. Oh, she could certainly try and dig her heels in even more. But it’s a losing battle, and a tiring one at that. And she’s so, so tired. She’s tired and aching and maybe she’s a little bit nauseous.

‘Let me help you, the way you used to.’

Her gaze lowers. “My blazer. There’s a pocket on the inside.”

Morticia gently shifts her to one hand. It lessens the sting of giving in, that she doesn’t gloat. Which is odd. Larissa must look truly pathetic if Morticia Addams of all people isn’t saying a word.

A key longer than her legs twists a lock she could never hope to budge. The apartment is a welcome sight. It could only grow with her, not shrink, for it would prove disastrous for anyone in the room but her. Still, very few people have entered it by design. It had held an air of safety and solitude until today.

“Hmm. Charming.” A flat voice sounds from above her. Larissa lets out a huff that’s equal parts shocked amusement and frustration. ‘I’m sorry my decor isn’t up to your standards.’ The words sit on her tongue, exhaustion weighing them down. It doesn’t matter, anyway. The giant carries her down the short hallway and into her bedroom. Her desk is covered with forms and a cardigan hangs from the back of a chair, but it’s just as tidy as the rest of the place. A nightstand frames each side of her unmade bed - one holding a lamp, the other a pedestal for her nest. The bed was made for a guinea pig. Larissa had chosen it carefully to make sure it wouldn’t be damaged from her heating pad.

Her body leans towards it even before Morticia moves her hand. As she slips from the palm she all but melts - the urge to burrow under the covers aching like a hole in her chest. She has to resist. Words of gratitude are in order, even if they pause at the sight of the other woman crouching to plug in her heating pad.

She’s easier to take in, like this. Still overwhelmingly large, but at least their eyes are level. Still pinned by that gaze, but there’s space to breathe now that she’s not under her shadow.

“Have you eaten at all today?”

So much for being able to breathe.

“I did.” The answer comes after a small pause. She has the feeling that ‘coffee and an unglazed donut’ would not be an acceptable answer.

“Not recently.”

It’s not a question, but Larissa answers anyway. “No, not recently.” The worst part is she can’t even be mad. She wouldn’t accept any excuse of ‘I was busy’ or ‘I lost track of time’ from her staff, and definitely not from one of her friends.

Morticia was right. She hasn’t changed much in the past 20 years.

“I’ll go find you something to eat.”

She makes it to the door before the shifter finds her voice. “Morticia.” It shakes, refuses to rise in volume, but it’s there. “Thank you.”

The smile she gets in return makes things just a bit easier.

~~~~

It’s when Morticia comes back that the prideful beast in her head begins to yield. The smell of spice drifting from the kitchen could only stave off the cold for so long. That’s the one thing she hated about shrinking, other than the wave of learned shame she had to fight each time. She’d get so cold and it’d only make her feel worse. It’s why she had the heating pad.

It must be broken. She’d watched Morticia turn the dial herself. ‘Darn thing picked the perfect time to give out, huh.’

The soft booming of familiar footsteps gets closer. She doesn’t even attempt to pull herself together when Morticia pops her head in. The raven haired dove - clearly endeared by the sight of Larissa peeking out from under her blanket - lets out a gentle coo that doesn’t at all make her belly churn with warmth. Giant hands hover, testing, and Morticia tuts. “You feel like an ice cube! You could’ve called for me.”

The tiny blond lets out a squeak of surprise as careful fingers bully her into a palm far warmer than her blanket. ’Would you have heard me?’ She wants to bite back. But there’s a crease between Morticia’s eyebrows. She’s concerned, not mocking. “I didn’t know,” is what she says instead, fighting through the ache in her chest. Against her will her body leans into the hand that cradles her so carefully. “It was working last time.”

Morticia hums, running a thumb across her miniscule form and - oh!... that feels wonderful. The gentle ministrations coax warmth back into her limbs and make her shiver violently. In lieu of releasing a potentially embarrassing sound, Larissa lets out an exhale. There’s a soft buzzing under her skin that borders on uncomfortable, but she ignores it in favor of pressing her hand and cheek into the soft palm; welcoming the relief as the chill that had seeped into her bones is chased away.

“I’ll send a message to Gomez while you eat.”

Larissa blinks and reluctantly lifts her head. She must look confused, if Morticia’s amused smile is anything to go by. “Don’t worry. I won’t give him any details about your…condition. But I figure you’ll be more comfortable if I stay here than if I took you back to our quarters.”

Larissa’s mouth hangs open for far longer than she’s willing to admit. She tries. She really does. ‘That’s okay. I’ll be fine on my own.’ It’s right there, on the tip of her tongue. But the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes just how tired she is.

She’s exhausted.

And, honestly, what would happen? Morticia would go and Larissa would be stranded on her bed, unable to call her back or defend herself or even go to the bathroom. She’d be cold and alone, and that honestly makes her want to break down and beg Morticia to stay. Even now, as she’s set down next to a small plate, she has to fight not to cling on.

“I…” She takes a deep breath, trying to settle herself. “I know you haven’t seen your children in a long time. I don’t want to keep you from them.”

She’s never been happier to be waved off. “You’re not. Gomez would be more than happy to show Pugsley our old stomping grounds. And Wednesday’s always preferred to keep to her own.”

Pain and relief war in her chest, shaking something loose. “Then… I appreciate your help.”

Another smile. Maybe in the future she can look back on this memory to keep her warm.

Maybe in the future she’ll reach out.

But she doesn’t have to wait for the future. Morticia is here, now, resting her chin on folded hands and keeping conversation between bites of fried rice. She’s here, holding Larissa up to the sink so she can wash her hands. She’s here, lounging on her bed with a book in her hands and her legs stretching off into the distance, letting an impossibly tiny woman curl up just under her collar bone so that she doesn’t get cold.

Strong hands grab lithe shoulders. She doesn't say a word as she practically bullies the smaller woman down a turn and into a thankfully empty bathroom. The cold thud of the lock turning is drowned only by the jumbled voices in her head vying for attention.

“Well! I didn’t realize our relationship has evolved into manhandling.”

Speaking of vying for attention… But she had a point. She needs to turn around. She needs to explain, needs to-

She manages the first one. Partially. The second one has just as much success. Her mouth falls open and the words catch in her throat. “I…”

Another wave of anxious nausea, this one laced with pain, urges her forward. She's running out of time.

Her voice shakes. “I need your help.”

She turns the rest of the way, unable to meet her gaze. She knows what she'll see. She'll see a woman so composed, so unbothered by everyone around her. She'll see someone who the very universe bent around to keep her happy. She'll see a woman with her head held high and that stupid smug look and-

“Anything.”

The answer's immediacy makes Larissa's head snap up. Morticia stares back, unblinking, nothing hidden behind the concern in her eyes. And it throws the shifter for a loop. She'd expected that knowing smile, and insufferable aura of pride, and that look of ‘of course you need me, I'm better than you’, and now that it has no target her defensiveness poofs away like smoke.

“What do you need?”

Right. She needs to answer. She needs to be quick. So she steels herself, shoulders dropping a forced fraction, exuding a bravado she does not feel.

“I'm going to shrink.” Morticia doesn't flinch even as the taller woman stalks over and gets uncomfortably close. “I need you to get me to my office. Can you do that.”

The urgency in her voice makes the question more of a demand. Morticia answers anyway, the pinch of her eyebrows warring with the widening of her eyes. “Of course.”

It's no relief, but she doesn't have time to back out. A hand thrusts a small box to the other woman, and then she focuses all her attention on taking her earrings off. Her hands tremble, and she yanks at her buttons next. She doesn't have time - her powers won't be stable enough to extend to her clothes.

“I-”

“You can't let anyone see me.” She interrupts, unable to stand that sympathetic tone. 

When did she grab Morticia’s wrists? When did the panic start to leak into her voice? She needs to stop stalling. She needs to do it now, before her body forces it. Before she starts begging.

But she can't. She can't do it. She needs to, or she'll be out of commission for who knows how long, but still she resists because somewhere in her is the scared little girl chanting in a corner that Weems don't shrink.

“You can't. No one can know.” ‘Please, please don't let anyone see me.’

“I won't. You have my word.” Her voice is so unlike Larissa's. Strong where hers is weak. Steady where hers quivers. They'd done this once some twenty years ago. She's in good hands, much as she doesn't want to admit it.

Larissa hangs her head, nods in resignation, and gives in. She puts as much distance between them as possible as her body rapidly shrinks. The surge of power just on the edge of control forces her eyes closed, painful enough to remind her of her youth. At some point, between her shoes getting so big she trips out of them and her pins falling out she gets lost in a sea of fabric. It's dark in here, and maybe that's a good thing. She can take a moment to adjust. She doesn't have to face the world yet.

The too loud world that clashes into her ear drums.

There’s a soreness in her limbs, not unlike the one she gets when she has a fever. It’s what steals the breath from her chest, not fear - at least, that’s what she tries to tell herself. And as bad as it feels she knows it could be worse. If she had stalled a bit more, if she had been even more careless, she would’ve been stranded outside with the countless bodies stomping around, headless of where they might tread. But something cuts through the thought before it can linger. Vibrations, muffled by her confines, but unmistakable. Footsteps. The clack of heels slow and careful. A new anxiety churning in her gut, Larissa shoves her way out of the heavy fabric and when her eyes adjust comes face to face with the toes of a giant's heel.

No, not a giant. Morticia. Her oldest friend. Whose sole comes up to her hips.

Larissa takes a deep breath and pretends like it does something. She pretends like she isn't trying to cover up with her arms, and that it's not an insanely vulnerable feeling to have to crank her neck back to look someone in the eye. She thinks she does a good job of pretending it doesn't bother her that the woman that used to come up to her chest now takes up her entire vision even while crouched. And then a laugh booms out, and the illusion breaks. Her body jolts, free hand coming up in a half aborted motion to soothe her ear. Morticia must’ve noticed, for her voice gets notably softer. “I forgot how small you could get.”

Red hot humiliation burns. How dare she? How dare she speak in that amused tone like she's a child? How dare she laugh when Larissa is cold and naked and helpless-

“Larissa?” The giant raises her hand. It’s a few steps in before Larissa realizes that she’s moved back, and even more to see that Morticia’s hand had fallen still, hovering in a retracted fist. Oh… She wasn’t… It’s normal to reach out and comfort a friend. That’s probably what she wants to do right now. That’s probably what would have happened if she wasn’t the size of a mouse and her legs weren’t still trembling with the instinct to run.

“I’m fine.” She snaps before Morticia can ask.

“Hmm.” All traces of mirth are gone from the brunette’s face. Larissa doesn’t know if she likes that, either, but at least she successfully keeps her feet planted as her friend sets the now open box down on the floor. “Here. I’ll let you get dressed.”

Morticia stands, and it’s worse this way. It’s like watching a building unfold. It’s impossible to look her in the eye, so the shifter tucks her head down and forces herself to breathe.

‘It’s fine. You’re fine. It’s just Morticia. She’s here to help. Chin up. You can deal with this.’

Or maybe she could crawl into the box and not have to deal with any of it.

She gets dressed in between flinches. Her hands shake as she uses a ribbon to tie her long hair into a bun. It’s nowhere near her normal level of elegance - just a blouse and fitted trousers - but it’s something. The tingling from her rapid shift finally fades, one less thing adding to the pot of agitation burning behind her eyes. She can do this. It’s just for a few more minutes. She’s strong. She’s a Weems. She can do this.

It’s what she keeps chanting when Morticia crouches back down and asks her if she’s ready.

“Yes.” She runs her hands along the fabric of her trousers to smooth them down, not at all to wipe the sweat from them. At least her voice isn’t shaking. “My apologies, for my tone. And for earlier. I lost my composure for a moment.” ‘Understatement of the century.’

But Morticia just waves her off. “Oh, Larissa, it’s no big deal. I completely understand. Now, should we get moving?”

Ah, yes. That. Words caught in her throat, Larissa forces herself to nod and braces herself to be grabbed. Moticia is gentle, to be fair. Her hand is slow in reaching down, shifting to be palm up and settling behind Larissa. A thumb thicker than her leg nudges her back into a soft palm, knocking the air from her lungs. It doesn’t quite come back even as painted pale fingers curl around her body in a careful grip, nor does it get any easier when they lift and her stomach is left behind. Her legs spazz with the urge to scramble away, and Larissa turns all that nervous energy towards gripping Morticia’s thumb as hard as she can. A face the size of a billboard smiles down at her and says nothing about the dents she’s leaving in her skin.

Her legs almost fail her when she’s set down on the counter. Morticia tends to her abandoned clothes while the tiny woman tries desperately to calm her heart. The fabric that she had been trapped under is shaken out and folded into a neat pile. Even her earring off to the side that would take both her hands to lift is plucked between two fingers.

‘I’m glad I’m not an earring.’

But it’s good, watching her work. This is her friend. Her oldest friend, and the first one she made here.

She… She had helped her back then, too. Once.

‘And if you need help again, just tell me. You know I’m always here for you.’ Ha! As if.

A wave of melancholic nostalgia washes over her. Would she hate shrinking as much, if she had taken Morticia up on her offer? Would she be used to the sight of something so massive moving about? …would they still have fallen out of touch?

As she looks up at the giant woman adjusting her shawl, she finds that she doesn’t know the answer.

“Take the back corridors. It’ll be less crowded.”

Obviously. By the look on her face, Morticia knows that, but she doesn’t say anything about the way her nervous energy is leaking out. If she trusted herself not to run she’d be pacing right now.

“Of course.”

Curse that sly voice. “And you’re sure that will hide me?”

“It has to. Unless you want to go up my sleeve.” The shudder that evokes distracts her from the sight of that damn hand the size of a car barreling towards her. No, not barreling. Swooping. Like a hawk, scooping her up and stealing her away.

…That’s unfair. Morticia’s very careful not to move too fast. She makes sure Larissa is seated and steady before moving her hand away. And when she fluffs up her shawl to make sure she’s covered the shifter feels… safe.

That’s odd new.

The skin under her vibrates with the soft ‘hang on’ that sounds out. It seeps into her skin and settles into her bones much like the dove's body heat. It chases away the chill, making Larissa shiver.

An ancient looking, tiny woman appeared from the lift entrance to the tiny's train car platform. She pulled a folding shopping cart on wheels behind her at a glacial pace, finally sitting down next to Zoey with an exasperated sigh. Zoey noticed a big woman lower her head down to the platform, dressed in scrubs and looking intently at the ancient woman. “You know it’d be no problem for me to just…” the big nurse started saying down at the ancient woman, clearly a hired companion. The elderly woman made a dismissive sound waving her hand without looking at her. “Just because my son thinks I’m too old to be alone anymore doesn’t mean I can’t still do things for myself, you know? Now go take a seat before you fall over when the train starts and take all of us out,” the ancient woman said to the big nurse, who rolled her eyes and sat down directly next to the platform.

Zoey bit her lip to stifle any reaction, then peeked over at the dismissed nurse. The large woman looked amused rather than annoyed at her little charge.

The chime dinged again and the doors slid shut, and with a lurch, the train started moving again. The clanking sound of the tracks against the wheels filled the car, Zoey looked around taking everything in. She saw Jennifer was reading one of her trashy novels to pass the time. Zoey looked at her, really looked at her taking in her features as she flipped the pages slowly reading. From this distance it wasn’t obvious that Jennifer was so much bigger than her. It was so bizarre. Everything seemed huge to Zoey, since forever. But as she stared at Jennifer, she was truly glad for it for once. Jennifer was cute. Really cute, no more than cute. Zoey shuffled in her seat feeling guilty for staring at her like this while Jennifer was totally unaware. But she couldn’t help it. It had been getting worse for Zoey over the past few months. They’d known each other for a few years now, but Zoey tried to keep it just friendly. Mixed size couples weren’t anything unusual but it was still rather contentious for many. Unnatural, some people insisted.

But looking at Jennifer now as she sighed, lost in her book, Zoey couldn’t understand such opinions. What could be more natural than getting transfixed by someone so much larger than you. 

Zoey watched Jennifer’s hands holding her book. One of them curled up towards the right corner, the tip of her finger lightly catching the corner to hold it up off the other, unfinished pages. She paused there for a second finishing the last sentences and turning it over. Jennifer then pressed her hand down flat on the new page, she slid it upwards like she was getting out creases. It was such an odd habit that she did with every page, but Zoey loved it. It was like Jennifer was really relishing each new page, preparing for it like sacred grace before a meal. Zoey felt jealous of the printed paper.

She tried to imagine what it would feel like, Jennifer’s enormous hand easily rolling Zoey’s whole body over. Pausing for a moment to take in her little friend, utterly helpless against her size then running a hand along the length of her body like the page. Would it hurt? Would it feel good? Would it be both?

Zoey shifted in her seat uncomfortably, desperate to know the answer. She thought of just being in Jennifer’s hands moments ago. They weren’t soft but they weren’t too calloused either. Jennifer took care of them and Zoey could always smell the giant’s hand lotion surrounding her. Lavender. Zoey closed her eyes for a moment to focus on the scent in her mind. If she stayed on Jennifer’s hand long enough, Zoey would smell like her for the rest of the day.

Zoey loved when that happened. But she couldn’t tell if Jennifer did too. She was friendly with everyone and Zoey worried she was reading too much into her kindness. But still…maybe. “If you take a picture it will last longer you know,” the ancient woman chimed in out of nowhere, noticing Zoey’s obsessive staring at her friend. Zoey snapped out of her fantasizing, her breath hitched in her throat at the call out. Zoey’s cheeks suddenly felt hot as she blushed in embarrassment. The old woman cackled softly at Zoey’s discomfort.

Zoey squirmed in her seat and adjusted her bag slung over her shoulder, resting in her lap. The old woman’s lingering cackle filled her ears as she looked at the ceiling without comment. The train stopped again with the recurring chime as the doors opened. The old woman thankfully stood carefully and walked to the platform’s door down to the station. The nurse did look annoyed as she also got up to follow, making her way to the door to wait for the old woman. Zoey and her made eye contact and nodded at one another. God they’re all so big, Zoey thought to herself as her eyes followed the nurse to her waiting spot.

Jennifer peeked up from her book to look over at Zoey. She was looking at the short nurse standing by the doorway, waiting for the tiny lift to bring the elderly woman she had boarded with to appear. Jennifer was only half reading her book. It was the latest one in the throwaway romance series Lips So Far Apart. Jennifer had taken off the dust jacket, embarrassed by the cover—a bare chested, well built man holding a tiny man. The tiny man, also shirtless, was standing in the bigger man’s hand and pressed up against his chest. It was a very popular, very explicit, mixed sized romance.

Jennifer had read every one of the, so far, 9 part series. She was obsessed, fixated on the idea. She’d wanted to try dating a tiny her entire life but she never had the courage. Ever since tiny people had started to be born, far smaller than anyone could have ever imagined, Jennifer had been over the moon.

In her school days, Jennifer had befriended every tiny that she could. She had more tiny friends than she did friends her size. She’d come close to asking a few out over the years, but always chickened out. She must seem so monstrous to them. 

Jennifer couldn’t imagine what it would be like if someone you thought was a friend, the size of a building by comparison, admitted that they had feelings for you then reached down to pick you up in their hand and lift you up and… Jennifer sighed, staring at Zoey’s turned face. The little woman was so cute, regardless of her size. No it was more than that, Zoey was hot. Her hair was cut in a short layered bob, some tendrils always seemed to find their way across her face. She was constantly pushing it aside or behind her ears, only for it to fail again and find itself in her way. Zoey also had a habit of dying her hair various bright, neon colors. The first time she did it, she had joked it was so she was more noticeable and didn’t get stepped on. Jennifer nearly had a heart attack at her teasing tone, like she was purposefully goading her larger friend.

Her hair was a bright blue today. It made her skin look radiant. Jennifer had formed the habit of painting her nails the same tone as whatever Zoey dyed her hair, hoping the tiny girl would pick up on the hint. 

Jennifer wished that Zoey was sitting with her instead of on the tiny’s platform. Jennifer looked around the train and saw a couple of mixed sized couples sitting together. One was on their big’s shoulder, pressed up against their neck. But most were in the other’s outstretched, cupped hands. Jennifer was envious and mulled over the idea in her imagination. Where would Zoey sit? In her hand again? Like before? In that amazing, but terribly brief, few moments on the way to the train. When Zoey accepted Jennifer’s suggestion to let herself be carried through the busy train station? Somewhere else? Maybe her lap, her little legs sprawled out against the top of Jennifer’s far larger thighs, her tiny head resting back on Jennifer’s stomach looking up as they chatted from stop to stop.

Jennifer let out a little whimper at the image filling her thoughts, what it would be like, what it would feel like. The doors closed with a dinging chime again. Zoey’s head started turning back and Jennifer quickly stared down at her book, pretending to read again.

Jennifer stayed like that for a few breaths then dared to peek up and over at Zoey again. Their eyes locked. Jennifer felt caught, but so did Zoey.

Jennifer smiled at her friend and Zoey smiled back. 

Jennifer couldn’t take it anymore. Neither could Zoey.

Zoey made a suggestive look, pointing over at Jennifer’s seat mouthing “Can I sit with you?”

Jennifer’s heart was pounding, but so was Zoey’s. Jennifer put her book down on her seat as she stood up. She stepped over to Zoey, balancing while the train was moving. She closed the distance quickly, but stood there awkwardly just towering over the platform in stillness swaying with the train. Several other tiny passengers looked up at the gigantic blonde woman, confused why she was just standing there like a redwood tree over them.

Zoey quickly got up from her seat and looked apologetically at the other tiny passengers. She stood at the railing waiting for Jennifer’s hand again.

The train bumped just as Zoey leaned the wrong way. She went over the side, falling down towards the train cabin’s floor.

Jennifer snapped out of it, her hands snatching Zoey mid air. She lowered them, bending down to ease the impact for her little blue haired crush.

She rushed back to her seat sitting down, afraid to open her hands for fear of Zoey’s anger over Jennifer’s clumsiness.

Zoey was panting inside Jennifer’s closed, dark hands. She tried to process everything that just happened in a few seconds. Time went slack. Slow. 

She felt herself lose her footing and go over the railing, unconcerned. She’d fallen from far higher places to no effect at her diminutive size and weight. Zoey felt like she was waiting for a train to arrive as she fell.

But then, suddenly, she was surrounded by darkness with a tremendous clap of skin hitting skin. Her ears pounded.

Lavender. Jennifer had caught her in the air like she was a slow flying bug. Zoey was blanketed in darkness and the smell of her tremendously sized friend’s hand lotion.

Jennifer sat there afraid to open her closed hands. But she was also afraid to open them. She was frozen in her seat afraid to choose, but she felt Zoey’s tiny hand patting her palm several times, very deliberately like she was knocking on a door.

“I’m okay!” Zoey’s muffled voice barely came through Jennifer’s cupped hands and the din of the train car noise.

Jennifer slowly opened her hands in her lap, neck bent looking straight down at Zoey’s body curled up and staring back, visibly panting.

Jennifer’s face filling Zoey’s sky looked mortified, it made her even cuter.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry!” Jennifer blurted out in a rush, stuttering out apology after apology

“Jen. Jen. JEN!,” Zoey finally screamed up, trying to get a word in.

Jennifer paused, clamping her mouth shut.

“Thank you for catching me but I would have been fine,” Zoey said reassuringly.

“Oh…I didn’t know that,” Jennifer admitted.

“What? Haven’t you ever seen me fall before?” Zoey asked, surprised, sure that she’d fallen in front of her before.

“Well…now that you mention it yea, but I wasn’t thinking I guess. I was just reading my book and he had just caught her when she fell and it sort of...I wasn’t thinking and,” Jennifer paused realizing she was sitting on her book. 

She reached under herself, pulling it free and trying to slip it into her purse with one hand, still holding Zoey in the other.

“Wait what book is that?” Zoey probed, unable to tell from the thick, black cover.

Jennifer looked truly mortified now, finally shoving the book in her purse.

“It’s…” Jennifer paused afraid of telling Zoey and being thought of as a giant tiny chaser.

“It’s the…well the latest one in the Lips So Far Apart series…” Jennifer sucked her bottom lip into her mouth at her confession.

Zoey stared up at Jennifer, her heart pounding for a different reason now. 

“The one with the big knight and the tiny prince?” Zoey asked slowly, realizing her friend might be into tinies like her.

“Yes…” Jennifer sighed, feeling caught and in trouble.

Zoey gave the big girl a feline grin, suddenly feeling bold despite being held in one single hand, noticing it was getting a little sweaty.

“Want to get off at the next stop with me? We could go find a bar and you could tell me about your book?” Zoey suggested.

Jennifer looked at Zoey, eyes wide with excitement.

The train slowed to a stop, the doors opened with the familiar chiming ding.

***

Niamh stands on the patio nodding her head to the music. She doesn't know this song - she's hardly known any of the songs they've played tonight - but it's kind of catchy. That might just be the booze talking, though. She looks down at her tragically empty cup. Leah has been gone for a long time, and she's starting to get worried. She stands on tip-toe, trying to see over the crowd, but sees mostly the backs of heads. She looks around to make sure no one is watching before digging around in her many pockets for her remote, a small oval shell of hard plastic. Niamh finds it and feels for the raised "plus" symbol. No one is looking to the back of the patio anyways. Most are crammed inside jumping around in rhythmic tandem, shaking the foundations of the building. There's no way anyone will notice.

With two quick clicks and a familiar feeling of vertigo amplified by the pair of vodka redbulls sitting in her stomach she can just barely see over the group crowding the back door of the night club. Right away she sees Leah's bleached-blonde hair shoving her way through the mass of bodies on the dance floor, all of whom are too mesmerized to notice the person at the back who just spontaneously gained a few inches of height. Niamh nervously checks the battery of her size modulator on the small analog display of the remote: 78%. Significantly more than she expects to use on a normal night lounging at home or eating out, but not enough that she's worried about running out before she gets home.

Leah finally bursts through the wall of bouncing shoulders and stumbles toward her, two vodka redbulls in hand.

"Finally! Christ alive! Everyone and their mom is here tonight!" Leah hands her a drink which she eagerly gulps down. She was beginning to feel entirely too sober to tolerate this place. Leah drinks hers and falls into Niamh's chest, who can feel the beginnings of exhaustion in her. She pulls back abruptly, looks at Niamh's blue button-up shirt, her chin, then her eyes.

"Taller?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I was..." she stutters, fishing around for her remote. Leah stops her hand with a touch.

"No, it's fine. I like it." Leah smiles and leans in to kiss her, just a bit further up than she's used to. Niamh has found through trial and error that just a few inches taller than her, just enough that Leah has to stand on her toes (when she's not wearing heels) is the sweet spot. She kisses back, drunk on affection and sweet liquor. For a moment the music doesn't sound like an intrusion on her senses but a movie soundtrack. She feels their syncopated heartbeats align for a moment, interrupted by unfamiliar voices.

"OH my god you two are SO cute," a woman shouts over the speakers, slurring her words and spilling her drink a bit. She's wearing a tank top and short black skirt, her long pale acrylics wrapped around a colorful cocktail. Niamh and Leah share a series of meaningful glances.

Straight girl tourist.

Stop, you don't know that!

Taylor Swift polaroid in her phone case.

That doesn't mean anything! Tons of lesbians love Taylor Swift.

Okay, have you seen them here before?

Niamh reluctantly admits defeat in their silent argument and addresses their new drunk acquaintances.

"Thanks! I'm Niamh, this is my partner Leah." Leah smiles and raises her drink.

"Did you say 'need'?" The friend asks. She's a bit shorter, straight black hair down to her back. Judging from her jorts and T-shirt with the sleeves sloppily cut off, Niamh figure she is the one who brought her friend here, though she wonders whose idea it was.

"Nee-ev," she enunciates, "Like, with a 'v" sound." She's well-practiced at this explanation. It would've made grade school hell if her condition hadn't already done that for her.

"That's so cute!"

"How is it spelled?" The dark-haired girl asks.

"You don't wanna know," Niamh deadpans. Leah sees the twitch in her eyebrow and jumps to the rescue.

"Sooo where are y'all from?"

She lets Leah handle the small talk, something she's infinitely better at than Niamh. Growing up a Mini heavily impacted her social skills. Not just that, but she enjoys watching Leah network and charm strangers. It comes to her as naturally as breathing, even after this woman just rudely interrupted their private moment.

Leah places a comforting arm around her. A silent squeeze indicates that she was just addressed.

"Yeah! What? Sorry, I was..." She winces, avoiding Leah's annoyed glare.

"I said you're so tall!"

Her mouth goes dry. Not for a reason, really. These two strangers have no reason to know. Or did they see her earlier? And what kind of compliment is that anyways? Her hand instinctively finds the remote in her pocket to make sure it's still there.

"Oh. Yeah, uhm, thanks?"

"I just think height difference in relationships are so hot. But I feel like it's easier to find taller men than women."

"Guess I got lucky, huh?" Leah shouts, a little louder than necessary. It's hard for Niamh to tell if she's mocking them or teasing her. She feels Leah's hand move from her hip to her side to her pocket.

"What are you doing?" she hisses. Leah answers with a devious closed-mouth smile, glancing at the two other women who are engrossed in a debate about whether to shove their way to the bar for another round.

"They're not looking," she says in a low voice. A click sounds from inside Niamh's pocket, followed by nausea as she gains another inch.

"Jesus, Leah, we're in public!"

"So?"

"So, not everyone is cool about this! There are some real fuckin' weirdos out there!"

"And I wouldn't let any of them touch you."

Leah is small and sweet, but Niamh believes her. Their friends often compare her to a Pomeranian: she's fluffy, but she'll claw out your eyes at the drop of a hat.

"Still, Leah, it would be weird."

"Okay," Leah says, breaking into a full evil grin. "So tell me to stop."

Click. Niamh can now see over most of the heads in the crowd. She opens her mouth to object, but the glint in Leah's eyes is more intoxicating than any liquor she could order at the bar.

"Well?" she goads.

"Are you guys okay?"

They both jump as if caught in the act. Leah yanks her hand from Niamh's pocket, which is now almost at her elbow height.

"Totally cool!" She says, in the least convincing lie Niamh has ever heard. The strangers glance between them, but the blonde girl (she should really have been listening when they told Leah their names) squeals as the opening notes of You Belong With Me play from inside. Under normal circumstances she'd find the DJ and give them a long disapproving look, but in this moment she can't thank them enough. To her shock and confusion, though, the nausea returns as she rockets up another few inches, making her easily one of the tallest people at the club. She grasps for the remote, but finds her pocket empty. She looks frantically around her feet, but Leah catches her eye. She nods backwards and Niamh sees a small oval of white plastic peeking out of her fist behind her back.

"You're fucking crazy," Niamh says.

"Hmm, hearing you talk like that, I think you're getting a little big for your britches."

"We're gonna go to the bar," one of the others say. "It was really nice meeting you guys!"

"Was nice meeting y'all too, uh-"

"Whitney, Rosa!" Leah supplies, saving Niamh's ass once again. They smile and start to take off, but Rosa hangs behind.

"Hey, uhh, sorry about her. She really wanted to come and I thought she'd be normal but, uh -"

"No stress," Niamh says. "She's welcome here. Y'all have fun on your trip!"

"Thanks. You guys are cool. You look at each other like you have a little secret."

"Sooo little." Leah teases. She's unphased by the sharp elbow to the side Niamh gives her. Rosa smirks.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it."

Leah smiles and waves, and at the same time four quick clicks send Niamh back to just above her typical height. The feeling of shrinking down is different than growing; she'd compare it to the pressure you feel before your ears pop on an airplane. When she goes all the way down all at once it gives her a migraine, but Leah is always there with a tiny cup of water and very crushed up Aspirin.

"You're absolutely fucking bonkers." Niamh says out of the side of her mouth. She fails to suppress her smile.

"Sorry. I should've asked first." Leah says, holding out the clicker. Niamh considers the remote in her hand. She looks around the courtyard - it's mostly wallflowers staring hopefully at the dancefloor, people too drunk to stand up straight, and a few people in line for the port-a-potties. She closes Leah's fingers over it.

"Yeah, probably, but whatever. It's kinda fun. It feels like someone should be noticing, but no one is."

Leah eyes her uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

She nods, and all concern on Leah's face is instantly replaced with mischief. Niamh's ears pop and she loses another couple inches, the two of them now almost at eye level.

"I like tall Nevhie, but I also like seeing you like this."

"What, short and Leah sized?"

Her jaw drops. "You have some fucking nerve calling me short, pea-brain."

"Wowww we're stooping to petty insults now. I didn't ask to date Ginormica, okay?"

"You literally did and - Jesus fucking Christ is that a Monsters vs Aliens reference? How fucking old are you?"

"Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" Niamh isn't sure if it's the shifting, the alcohol, or the energy radiating from Leah right now, but whatever it is it's making her dizzy.

"Hmm, I think someone just needs to knock you down a few pegs." Click click. Suddenly, Leah's eyes are just above hers.

"God, you're so hot like this."

"What, taller?" Click.

"No - Jesus, slow down. No, like. Evil."

"Hm." She breaks character and repeats sincerely, "By the way, I'll stop whenever you want. Are you okay?"

"I'm great. Could use another drink."

She takes Niamh by the hand and guides them through the crowd. The bar line is starting to become more reasonable as most people hit critical drunk mass. The bartenders know their typical orders: Niamh a vodka Redbull, Leah a tequila soda. Niamh's fourth round fully launches her into drunk territory. Being buddy-buddy with bartenders can be dangerous as their pours start to get more and more generous. The rancid concoction in her hand would better be described as a vodka on the rocks with Redbull spilled in on accident. The music, which she's pretty sure is still absolutely not her usual vibe, starts to sound hypnotic. Without thinking, and to Leah's surprise, Niamh drags her to the dance floor and they meld into the crowd. She downs the rest of her drink and pulls Leah close. She looks so different at Niamh's current height than from what she usually sets it to. The shape of her nose seems sharper, her cheekbones higher. Leah takes Niamh's hands and moves them from her hips to her shoulders, swapping with her.

"Staring, weirdo." Leah shouts.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Leah hands Niamh her drink and fumbles with her purse. Niamh feels a jolt as the remote come out again and Leah tilts her head in a silent question. Or maybe a challenge?

"God, right here?"

"No one's looking. I don't think anyone is even, like, sapient."

"Vocab word. Nerd."

Leahs' eyes narrow and she vindictively clicks the remote four times in quick succession. If Niamh was going up, she'd be worried about losing her liquor, but going down is strangely grounding. Her eyes are almost level with Leah's mouth, which is deeply unfair. She leans up to bite Leah's lip, fully intending to do something stupid, but two drunk dancers stumble into them. Leah stays upright, but Niamh is knocked flat on her ass, not used to her new center of mass.

"Fucking watch it!" Leah says, entirely ready to scrap, but the clubbers have already moved on.

"Babe it's fine," Niamh says. "Outside again?"

...

Leah checks her all over for bumps and bruises. Niamh bats her away, insisting she's fine, but Leah continues to mumble empty homocidal threats against the two strangers, who have both almost certainly forgotten the encounter by now.

"It's just so fucked up people just not being considerate of their surroundings. Like, they're drunk, I get it, but they didn't even check on you after wiping you out. This is supposed to be an inclusive space, I -"

Niamh puts a hand over hers. "I'm fine, Leah, really. And I don't wanna ruin the vibe but, uhm, can you check the battery on my modulator? I don't usually shift this much at once in public. Or while this drunk."

"Oh! Shit! I didn't even think about that!" She pulls out the remote and looks at the tiny analog display. "Fifty-three. What does that mean?"

She feels her heartbeat thump into her neck. Fifty three is fine, really - easily a day and change under normal circumstances. But losing twenty-five percent in the course of a few hours is far from normal. A charge normally lasts her three days if she isn't extremely active, two if she's busy or not sleeping enough. Once, she ran a marathon in July and almost used a whole charge in one day. She's never done anything like that since.

"Niamh?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. That would probably last me the rest of the night, but I've used almost half of it since this morning."

"Shit! Oh my god. Should we go?"

"I... Well, if you want-"

"Niamh." Leah grabs her shoulders and looks her in the eye in the way that means don't bullshit me right now.

"I... Yeah, I think I'd feel safer if-"

"We're gone. I'll go close our tabs. Do you have your card?"

Niamh pulls it out of her wallet and hands it over. "Thanks, Lee."

Leah kisses her cheek and darts through the crowd. Once she's on a mission, there's not a drunk dancer in the world that could topple her. She finds an uneven wooden stool and takes a seat, finding that her feet dangle now where before they nearly reached the ground. Leah returns in record time, just a little sweaty. She looks down and smiles, noticing the same thing.

"God, you're so cute. Ready?"

Niamh looks around. It's almost one in the morning, and the remaining clubbers who haven't tapped out have rallied on the dance floor. The courtyard is completely empty.

"Y'know, we can call a cab. Wait on them in here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Still have the remote?"

She crosses her arms and a hint of the devious glare Niamh is trying to get out of her peeks through.

"Yeah. Why? Back to nine for now?"

She's referring to five-foot-nine, the slightly-taller-than-her height they've settled on as the norm. Niamh thinks the remote technically goes up to six and a half feet, maybe more, but the taller she gets the quicker it burns through charge. They've never tried anything above six-three, and then only at home on "special occasions."

"Well, if you want. But I was thinking..."

"Ohhh," Leah says mockingly. She leans in, making Leah nervous all over again. "You were enjoying it huh?"

"I mean, I thought I made that pretty clear-"

"Mm. I mostly remember you being kind of a brat about it."

"Sorry, I'll get into character." Niamh pouts her lip out cartoonishly. "Pleaaase Leah don't shrink me, I'm just a normal girl like you!"

"God you're insufferable." Click click click. Seated, her height doesn't change that much, but her feet dangle high above the ground like she's a kid in a high-chair. Leah puts an arm on the wall behind her, cornering her. She leans down, kissing Niamh deep and slow, and sneaking in another click while she has Niamh distracted. When she pulls Niamh off the chair by her hips, the top of her head barely reaches Leah's collarbone. She tips Niamh's chin up with a finger so that she's looking up for a change.

"Ladies, closing up."

Leah doesn't seem to hear the security guard. She's entirely focused on Niamh, who pulls her hand down and waves at the employee.

"Got it, we were just about to take off."

The security guard blinks. "Uhm, also kids aren't allowed in here. This is a bar."

"Wow," Niamh says.

"Fucking rude," Leah echoes. The guard raises her hands to apologize but Leah yanks Niamh out the gate and into the waiting car.

...

The entire ride is spent convincing a very drunk Leah to keep her hands to herself for the sake of the driver, to whom Niamh gives a sincere apology and makes a note to herself to send a good tip for picking up two very drunk women at almost 2:00 in the morning. They stumble into their apartment building, opting for the creaky elevator. Four flights of stairs at over a foot beneath what Niamh is used to and four or five drinks deep sounds like a bad combination. Niamh check the clicker again and watches the number go from forty-six to forty-five. She might have to sleep on the charger tonight, but Leah seems determined to get her down to that size anyways. In the elevator, she rests her elbows on Niamh's head.

"Got a comfy noggin," she slurs.

"We really need to get you water."

She's quiet for a moment. The elevator is, as usual, taking its sweet time.

"I'm so angry at those people who knocked you over."

"Leah, I promise it's okay-"

"No, Niamh, it's not. It's fucked up that even though we've been integrating with - with people like you for over a decade-"

"Lee, we've been dating for four years. You can say Mini."

"- that people just don't fucking pay attention to their surroundings! I mean, what if that place had a small section? Or what if your battery was running low? Or just, even if you weren't... if you weren't Mini, just someone with a mobility aid or someone who, like, can't see all that well - and it's dark as fuck in there, we need to talk to McKayla about that -"

"Lee, I'm fine, I promise."

A crackly bell sound dings from the elevator's prehistoric speaker and the doors creak open. It has missed their floor by about an inch, creating a noticeable tripping hazard. This place should be condemned.

"I just don't know what I would do if something happened to you because I was fucking around."

"Lee..."

A man clears his throat and the two of them remember where they are.

"So sorry," Niamh says, gathering Leah in her arms to the best of her ability and sidling past the man towards their apartment.

"Hey, you're in 511 right?" the man asks.

"Yeah, why?"

"I thought you were... Like..." He puts his hand a good foot and a half above Niamh's head.

"Don't know what you're talking about. Have a good night!" The elevator doors sliding shut cuts their conversation off just as Leah mutters "asshole."

...

Leah slumps over the kitchen counter, but Niamh shoves a glass of water in her hand and props her up.

"Uh-uh, nope, drink up first. Not doing Hangover Sunday again. Those movies are terrible."

"I'm sleepyyy," she complains, but allows Niamh to guide the glass to her mouth. "And those movies are good, you're just a hater." She takes a few more sloppy sips and examines the rim of the glass.

"Was I wearing lipstick?"

"Yeah, but you left half of it on my face."

Leah looks at Niamh with sudden recognition and grins ear-to-ear.

"Oh yeahhh. That's okay. It looks prettier on you," she coos, wiping a pale orange smudge from Niamh's cheek. She makes Leah finish the whole glass and then a second before letting her stand up.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Leah says in a voice dripping with soft intimacy.

"Bee, you dated me for almost two years before the operation. You did your fair share. You don't have to thank me."

"I still mean it. I'd still say it even if you hadn't."

Niamh deposits her on the couch and slides in next to her. "I know."

Leah pulls the remote from her purse and examines it. The battery seems to have mostly stabilized now that she's resting and drinking water.

"It's fucked up that you have to use this stupid remote. The new ones have internal control systems and at-size charging. Someone could just, like, take this."

"Yeah. The new ones are, like, twenty-thousand dollars though-"

"Which is bullshit! I mean, what the fuck do we pay taxes for if not to help people-"

"Lee, it's two AM. I don't want a note from our upstairs neighbor again."

Leah sighs and strokes Niamh's hair. "Sorry. It's still bullshit. Do you need to charge tonight?"

Niamh nods her head, trying to keep her heavy eyes from closing. Shifting size in her sleep can have disastrous consequences. Waking up in a labyrinth her own sweaty clothes with her giant girlfriend none the wiser is a nightmare she never wants to re-live.

"What if..." She trails off, looking out the window to avoid eye contact.

"What if?"

"Uhm, what if you just sleep on the bed with me tonight? Charge tomorrow?"

Niamh shifts uncomfortably. They've interacted at her normal size before, but always with great care, Leah handling her like a fragile baby bird, a precious glass sculpture. Perhaps a little more care than is warranted. They haven't tried sleeping together at her base size since she had the surgery. But she feels Leah's hand stroking her hair and the gentle care she takes even at Niamh's more manageable size, and knows that there's no one else in the world she'd trust more with her safety.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," she says into the silence.

"No it's... yeah. That would be nice."

"Really?"

Niamh turns her head and looks at Leah's smudged makeup, her tired eyes watching.

"Really."

Leah hums, satisfied, but pushes Niamh off of her. "Okay, but we're taking our makeup off this time. I don't want to be breaking out for the next two days."

Not in the tax bracket to afford a hers-and-hers bathroom they wash up in the same sink bowl. When Niamh reaches for the medicine cabinet, Leah reveals she still has the remote and clicks it a few times more. The handle flies out of reach. Leah opens the medicine cabinet and holds Niamh's facewash above her head. She could easily stand up straighter or jump for it, but she's tired, and besides, that would be giving her what she wants.

"You are such a bitch," Niamh laughs, half-heartedly reaching up. "You are really building up some karma for later. Don't trust any brownies I make. They'll be full of cayenne."

"That sounds delicious, actually."

"Like a lot of cayenne. Or maybe jalapeño."

Leah sticks her tongue out and relents. They finish up and get changed. She unbuttons Niamh's shirt, which at this point hangs loosely over her shoulders, while Niamh reaches up to unclasp Leah's bra. Leah pulls a baggy t-shirt on and opens the sock drawer where Niamh's stores her Mini clothes. She picks a pair of green pajamas Leah's mom hand-sewed which fits neatly in the palm of her hand. They so rarely interact at her true size these days except for nights she has to charge, and it's strange to see her holding them, looking at Niamh expectantly. She swallows nervously.

"What's wrong?" Leah asks softly.

"Nothing - ah, I just. You still make me nervous sometimes."

Her arms drop and she looks hurt. "Have I ever given you reason to think I'd do anything to hurt you? Even on accident?"

"No! No, I didn't mean... I meant, like, sometimes I look at you and I think, holy shit, how did I land this? How did I land this especially when I was still, like, five inches tall?"

She blushes and tugs at her shirt. "Even with puffy red post-makeup face and moth-chewed NASA T-shirt?"

"Babe, this is literally you in peak form. I would stand on the corner with a shitty cardboard sign proclaiming you the second coming, and this is the picture of you I would use," Niamh says, holding her fingers up to frame her like a camera lens.

"You are such a fucking cornball." Leah pushes her, which has more impact than Niamh expects, but her smile says she knows Niamh means it.

"And for the record," Leah says secretively, draping her arms over Niamh's shoulders, "you at your real size is you in peak form."

Her heart swells and she barely notices the pressure from a few more quick clicks, putting her just above Leah's waist. Niamh's jaw drops.

"You sly dog. What is this energy? You have literally never been hotter than this."

Leah pushes her back onto the bed with one hand, though it must take barely any force. Niamh is just tall enough to fall onto the mattress, and as soon as she does she feels pressure in her ears and suddenly Leah is looming above her on her hands and knees easily four times her size. Her messy hair falls around Niamh in thin strands like a bed veil. She takes both of Niamh's arms and clasps them in one hand, pinning them above her head, before kissing her up and down until her giggles turn into heavy breathing, breathing into moans. With a few more clicks, one hand covers her torso and Leah moves her with the ease of a stuffed animal to the head of their bed, splaying her against a pillow. She takes the clicker and turns it over to allow Niamh access to the pinhole that powers off her size modulator. Pressing it, she feels the rest of the pressure in her ears normalize as she quickly shrinks down to her original size, half the length of Leah's hand. The pillow she lays on becomes a landscape of yellow floral cloth. Leah's hand dwarfs her as it curls around her, fingers resting loosely over her chest like inner-tubes. She brings Niamh to her face, lying horizontally on her own pillow. Leah's hot breath, mint-scented from mouthwash, flows over her through parted lips. Her eyes, thick with sleep, drink Niamh in in her entirety. Niamh looks up at all Leah's larger-than-life features in high-definition, feeling as giddy and nervous as when they first met.

"I can't believe," Leah starts, planting a gigantic torso-encompassing kiss on Niamh, "that you'd ever think I love you less like this." She brings her other giant hand up to cup Niamh gently on the fabric of the pillow and closes her eyes.

"I didn't," Niamh replies. They'll worry about her charge in the morning. For now and forever, Niamh as her true self is enough.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

author's notes

thank you for reading! i was really nervous to post this but im glad i did. some things i didnt address bc i thought theyd chunk up the flow or be boring:

Niamh is a Mini, someone who is born and lives at a much smaller size than you or me. (another species? or just a condition? not sure didnt think abt it lol) She's had a surgical operation done to implant a device in her spine that allows her to modulate her size to normal human height for a limited amount of time. When the charge is out, she has to lay on like a coaster-size wireless charger to charge the modulator. Newer models last longer, can charge without shrinking down, and have internal control systems, but her older, cheaper system is just a remote.

Once inside, she was met with the glorious warmth and stillness of the centre, lit only by the greenish glow of the exit signs. Outside, the weather raged on like a beast knowing its prey was just out of reach. She shuddered at the sudden shift in temperature, keen to lose her thick coat and reacclimatise to heat.

She wandered through the visitor’s centre, which marked the public-facing part of the building, with the ranger offices through the back. Usually the building would be locked at this hour, but Lilah knew she was coming and had left the front open.

With the wind beating at the windows and the trees outside blocking any other lights, the usually joyful welcome centre, full of bright colours, huge murals of local wildlife, and, of course, a gift shop was now dark and shadowy.

Still, Dani continued. This was far from her first night at the centre and would be far from her last. If anything, the eeriness made her smile. Lilah told her once that, during closing one day, she’d screamed after mistaking one of the t-shirt manakins for an intruder. She’d shot up another meter in height before she was able to get it under control.

Dani nodded in reverence to the manakin in question as she passed it.

When she got to the back, she jabbed in the key-code she shouldn’t know and used her shoulder to open the glass doors to the offices. The rangers’ office was at the end of the hall. The door was open, spilling yellow-gold light into the hungry dark. From where she stood, it looked like the gentle glow of a fireplace and it beckoned to her.

Despite Lilah knowing she was coming, and knowing her ETA, and there being no one else in the building, Dani made a point to make herself known as she walked down the hallway and knocked on the door to the rangers’ office, peaking her head in to spy her girlfriend.

Lilah, who’d been feverishly typing at her desk, looked up and immediately grinned, whatever stress that had her brows planted was gone. Dani’s chest glowed at the sight.

“I thought I said in the delivery notes you could just leave the order at the door?” Lilah said, standing and making her way towards Dani, who’d dropped everything in her hands on the nearest available surface (a small round table near to the centre of the room) and was shirking her coat, enjoying the blessed heat.

“Well, we like to go above and beyond for our most loyal custo-” She said, but before she could continue, she felt Lilah’s hands slip around her waist from behind and turn her around. The taller girl’s lips found hers and any other joke was forgotten.

Lilah pulled back, her arms still firmly wrapped around Dani. She was dressed in her usual work clothes, all shades of greens, browns and kakis. Her long hair was braided back away from her face, and Dani could feel where the keycard at her hip dug into her stomach.

“Your skin is so cold!”

“I know!” Dani said. “I was only out there for a second and still I feel like I need to defrost.”

“Let me help.”

She laughed as Lilah enveloped her. Her girlfriend rested her head on Dani’s shoulder and Dani rolled her eyes, smiling as she ran her nails up and down Lilah’s back.

“Long day, love?” She asked.

“A million years, if you’d believe it.” Lilah replied, her voice muffled by Dani’s shoulder.

“I do. I’ve brought Thai.”

Lilah hummed, it was a sweet, low sound that unravelled Dani from the centre. “You always know how to make it better.”

“It’s my job. Now, get off me so I can reheat it.”

Lilah whined as Dani shrugged her off. She grabbed the Thai and took it over to the small kitchenette. It was a skeleton kitchen (the more elaborate being in the shared cafeteria) but the rangers were content with a kettle, fridge, and microwave, seeing the rest as an unnecessary expense. It made Dani think of the barista her firm hired to make their coffees, the elaborate “back-up” espresso machine they had for when the barista had gone home for the day, the instant hot and hold taps, the snacks left out in the kitchen. Looking at the kettle that needed a pep talk in order to work and the microwave that looked like a vintage prop in what was otherwise a newly-renovated facility, she smiled.

Lilah said her boss James had insisted they didn’t waste money on “any new-fangled fancy appliances” during the renovation when their old stuff “worked just fine”. She’d been surprised to find most of the rangers agreed with him.

“We don’t spend a lot of time in the office. We pop in and out throughout the day. If we can make tea and reheat our lunch, that’s really all we need.”

She put the Thai in the microwave and turned around, resting back against the bench top. Lilah had wondered back to her desk and was bent over her laptop, frowning again.

“So,” she said, shaking Lilah’s focus. “What made your day so bad? Was it the intern?”

Lilah started some meandering protest but Dani cut her off. She’d heard this before. They’d recently hired an intern who was more useless than pulling a name badge on one of the trees outside and putting it on the payroll. At least the tree would add some value.

Lilah, with a level of patience Dani would never mirror, routinely took time out of her schedule to help him, telling Dani she wished she’d had a superior look out for her when she’d first started.

Dani, whose first boss had thrown her in the deep end and told her to learn to swim or drown, thought there was a difference between mentoring and hand-holding, but had given up pushing the point. Lately, Lilah’s tack had changed and Dani’s seen her become more and more agitated at and about work.

She’d realised, long after everyone else on her team except their boss, that their intern TJ was not stupid or naive, he just didn’t care. And that, to Lilah, was the true cardinal sin.

“Ugh,” Lilah groaned, leaning in her chair and lolling her eyes back. “He’s useless! I can’t stand him. And no matter how much we raise it with James, he doesn’t do anything. According to him, TJ’s only here on student placement so we should just see out the semester. But I don’t know if any of us can last that long.”

The microwave pinged behind Dani and she started unloading it.

“You should just shift and scare the shit out of him. Or better yet, leave him at the top of a tree and let him find his own way down.”

Behind her, Lilah laughed.

“Tempting. But I’m not that mean.”

“You could be, that’s my point.” Dani said. “I feel like you’re not using your abilities to their full potential. The way I’d abuse that power to get my way -“

“You say that,” Lilah said. “But you’re such a bleeding heart, love, you wouldn’t know how.”

“For TJ, I’d find a way.”

She took the Thai, now pleasantly steaming, over to the round table. It was intended to be a lunch table though most of the rangers preferred to eat outside (except for the truly terrible weather like today). Most of the time it was empty, and the chairs around it were decorative.

“Now, come eat.”

---

Lilah looked up at her girlfriend from her desk. They’d eaten and caught up about their respective days, talking at length about nothing in particular in the way they often did. Just Dani’s presence had a way of calming her heart, refocusing her. She’d spent a long day gritting her teeth, her body near-constantly on the brink of a shift. Everything TJ did and said seemed to drive her closer and closer to explosion. At one point, she’d had to exit the building and shadow herself in the trees in a desperate attempt to stave off a rapid shift.

By the end of the day her body was exhausted and her mind drained. The moment TJ left for the day was only second best to Dani’s arrival.

She walked through the door and suddenly, the stresses of her day were no longer these huge herculean beasts, they could be picked up and tucked away in their proper place and left alone. She wondered if Dani knew the implicit effect she had, or if she walked about the world oblivious to the fact she made it that much easier to live in.

After dinner, she’d apologised. There were a few tasks that needed doing before she logged off. Dani didn’t mind. She’d wandered back to the car and grabbed a book to read. It was a rare sight and she was surprised to see she hadn’t used the opportunity as a chance to continue with her own work. That was until she admitted to Lilah that her laptop was on the fritz and she’d had leave it with IT overnight.

So instead of working, Dani was curled up on a chair in the corner, quietly reading, letting the time pass by unbothered. She could have been at home, showered, in bed, prepped for an early start in the morning. Instead she was here, keeping her company.

“Ok,” Lilah said, almost regretful to break the peace. Dani looked up from the page but otherwise didn’t move. “I just need to check one thing and then we can head.”

“Whenever you’re ready, love.” Dani said and returned to reading.

Lilah nodded.

She’d told TJ a week ago that there was an 8th birthday party happening tomorrow and he needed to prep for it - arrange the itinerary, flag with the high-ropes course staff, allocate a ranger to lead the “wilderness adventure”, organise the goodie bags, ensure waivers were signed before the day, clean and decorate the events room, etc. The usual motions for when they hosted children’s birthdays. In an ideal world, that wouldn’t be the job of the rangers to organise but apparently all the funding had gone to the building upgrade rather than hiring any other staff.

She’d reminded him the yesterday and he’d waved her off (almost causing another shift). She just needed to check that everything was good to go.

She looked on the ranger allocations tomorrow and found they were all fully allocated for the day (including herself) but there was no one on the birthday. Her heart stopped and then picked up again in double-time. She closed the spreadsheet and looked at the high-ropes bookings - fully booked, no birthday group. She closed her eyes and forced a shaky breath in and out of her lungs, she could feel her body heating up.

“Shit.” She muttered. She thought it was quiet but it was loud enough that Dani frowned and looked up again.

“Everything ok?”

“No.” Lilah said, she stood up from her desk, blood pumping loudly. The signs were creeping up on her but she was took angry and stressed to notice. “I have to check something.”

She stormed out of the office without another word, barged through the welcome centre with a fury and entered the public cafe. On the other side of the cafe was a door leading to their private functions room. It was a beautiful space, with walls of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the trees. For children’s birthdays, should be brightly decorated with goodie bags ready and waiting for the kids. There should be the “Ranger for a Day” badge awaiting the birthday girl alongside an adventure passport for each of the kids.

It had better all be there.

She slammed her hand down on the door handle and opened the function room to find it a blank and empty canvas - not even a single chair had been pulled from storage. Outside the stormy weather picked up ferocity and the trees were raging in the wild winds. But all Lilah could see was her own reflection staring back at her, deadly. The blood was pounding in her ears and her skin pricked. He hadn’t done it. Any of it. She told him, time and time again and he hadn’t done it. She’d been patient. She’d explained the process. This was the only task she was actually willing to give him on and he still hadn’t done it.

She took a few steps into the room. It was big enough for small functions, big enough that the thud of her books echoed on the floor and bounced off the walls. By the time her slow walk had taken her to the centre of the room, her clenched fists had left deep crescent moons where her nails dug into the skin. Her jaw was tight, despite the cold in the unheated room, she sweated beneath her uniform. She could feel her body begging for release and it was all she could do not to let it.

“Nice room.” Came Dani’s voice from the doorway. “I don’t think I’ve been in here before. Oh wait, yes I have, right? For the Christmas party. It looks so different empty.”

Lilah didn’t look at her, she could only stare forwards as her anger compounded. But she could hear Dani make her way into the room and walk towards the window. From her periphery she was aware of Dani spying out the drop below.

In order to attract more bookings, the events room overhung a small depression in the landscape. The room was suspended about 15 or so metres over the drop counter-levered by the rest of the building on the ground. The effect was that anyone in the room would feel as though they were truly immersed in the wild.

“It shouldn’t be empty.” Lilah managed, jaw tight.

“What?”

“It shouldn’t be empty.” She repeated, this time louder, with more force. Her fingers tingled. “I told TJ. I told him so many times. We have a birthday tomorrow and each time - EACH. TIME. - he blows me off, like ‘it’s fine, Delilah, I know’. But guess what? He’s done shit all. They’re coming at 9am tomorrow and the room’s not ready, none of the rangers have been told and we’re all at capacity, the high ropes is fully booked and won’t be able to take a group of 20 kids at the last minute - obviously!” Her face was getting hot. “And I just know he hasn’t had any of the waivers signed by the parents. And now I have to stay back even later to fix it! What a fuc-“

She grew. Only a metre or so but it was enough to shock her out of her rant. Her heart trembled as her blood got hotter and hotter. Despite herself, there was a cruel relief in the sensation.

She looked at Dani whose eyes were wide. Obviously, she’d noticed too. It’s hard to miss when your girlfriend is suddenly double your height. Lilah’s head now only just missed the ceiling.

This was all still new for both of them. Lilah was unused to being seen in a shift, to looming so far above anyone - let alone Dani. For Dani’s part, she was determined to prove the sudden shifts - Lilah’s unexplained and unexpected growth of anywhere between a few inches to a few metres - didn’t bother her. But Lilah knew. She knew Dani. Already she was on high alert.

Her girlfriend was taking small steps towards her, hands out in either a placating or defensive gesture (maybe both).

“Li,” She said, caution flooding her tone. “I know this is stressful, and really frustrating. But this isn’t your fault. You don’t have to fix it. Let TJ deal with the consequences of his mistakes.”

Lilah put her head in her hands. She hated this part - the pounding in her head. She needed to get it under control, but she was struggling to focus. Whenever she attempted to calm herself down, the image of TJ’s smug indifference and the eventual conversation she’d have to have with parents in the morning would set her body alight again.

“But why should a child on their birthday have to deal with the consequences of his mistakes? How is that fair?”

Her head hit the ceiling and instinctively she dropped to her knees.

She felt a tiny hand on her thigh. She opened her eyes and there was Dani, already so small, looking up at her. While she was doing her best to keep them level, her girlfriend’s eye betrayed her.

“Li,” She said again. “It’s not fair, but that’s how we learn. That’s how he has to learn. Let’s just calm down and -“

“No,” Lilah interrupted, more forceful than she meant and Dani took a step back. Lilah swallowed. “Wait, sorry, Dani, I meant-“

Before she could finished, her body took over and she started to grow again. Except this time wasn’t a small burst. This time she just kept growing, watching in horror as the space around her grew tighter and tighter. She had enough control as to fold in onto herself to stop her from crashing through the roof, but if she couldn’t stop it, there was not much she could do to prevent that from happening. Plus, what would Dani -

Behind her pounding headache, her thoughts stilled.

Dani.

It was all Dani could do to scramble away in time, her back pressed into the glass corner where two of the windowed walls met. Lilah lifted her head as much as she dared to check she was ok. Her chest was moving rapidly and occasionally, Dani’s glance shifted to the drop outside but Lilah watched in relief to see she was unharmed.

But there was no guarantee that would last.

“Dani, are you ok?”

Before her girlfriend could reply, Lilah’s head swum and she doubled back down, pressing her forehead into the floorboards of the events room. She could feel the walls pressing in as her body hungrily devoured any available space.

“I’m fine!” Dani said in delayed answer, though her voice was strained.

Lilah turned her head (now unable to lift it) and saw her hand was now pressing against Dani’s body, sandwiching her against the glass.

She needs to get out of here.

They were suspended over a drop in a room that was not designed to carry this kind of load. Of course, at this size, the drop would mean nothing to Lilah, but for Dani…

And then what if the room could hold the weight? She might crush her girlfriend if she couldn’t get it together.

“Babe, you need to leave.” She managed. “You need to get out, I can’t stop.”

This was as large as she’d ever shifted in the human world. Usually a bad shift would see her double in height, sometimes triple. But now, she was almost half her natural height and didn’t look to stop.

“Ummm, ok.” Dani swallowed. “Well, love, that might be an issue. You’re blocking the exit.”

The realisation calcified her stomach. Of course Dani was right, if she focussed on it, she could feel the doorway pressed against her other shoulder.

“No-no-no,” Lilah began to mutter, feeling her breath go shallow.

“It’s ok!” Dani called up, though it was obvious to both of them she was lying. “We’re both fine. I’m sure I could find a way to squeeze thr-“

Despite the constantly creaking and groaning of the forest outside, they both heard the new sound. It was the terrible complaint of the building below them. In the stilled silence of the moment before, the two shared one knowing glance. Dani, pale and still, looked so small against the writhing dark behind her.

The building creaked again, this time louder. Closer.

When the floor shifted beneath them, Lilah reached out.

As the private function room collapsed over the gap, Lilah continued to grow to her full size, while in her fist, Dani seemed to shrink smaller and smaller. Naturally, Lilah brought her hand to her chest and curled herself into the foetal position protectively around her cargo. It was all over in a few seconds when Lilah felt her side land roughly on the earth below. Thankfully, the drop was clear of any mature trees that would have done significant harm. Other than the awkward ache of a fall, she was fine. Thankfully, she couldn’t feel any glass in her skin, the full-coverage of her uniform offering her blessed protection.

Now outside, the wind whipped at her like a pack of frenzied animals descending on a fresh kill. The trees, dark and much smaller now, were bending their canopies this way and that, bullied by the fierceness of a clear winter night.

The cold, biting and hungry, was almost a relief against her burning hot skin and her lungs happily welcomed the air as relief. There was truly no feeling quite like returning to her natural height. She’d tried to explain it to Dani before. Even though she never felt constricted when she’d shift to human size, returning to normal height felt like stretching after a long day bent over hard labour.

Still holding her fist to her chest, she used the other to prop herself into a seated position. Doing her best to shelter Dani from the onslaught of wind, Lilah opened her hand. There was Dani, her suit crumpled, her hair a messy. There was an immediacy to her stare as she re-oriented herself with the world. When she looked at Lilah, her expression was unreadable.

“Are you ok?” They said in unison.

Lilah waited for Dani, who very quickly waved her off.

“I’m fine.” She said. “I just fell out of a collapsing building and, if not for your quick reflexes, would have died, but I’m fine. Are you ok?”

Lilah looked back at the welcome centre, at the gaping hole where the function room used to be. It was now about level with her head. Around and beneath her, the remnants of it were scattered - bits of glass, concrete, wood and other infrastructure lay broken and useless. Off in some of the nearby trees were other pieces of it carried off in the wind.

It was then that the horror sank in, and her eyes boiled over. She couldn’t help the rapid, frantic sobs that escaped her chest.

---

“Hey! Hey, love.” Dani tried by she was fighting a losing battle against her girlfriend, the wind, and her own panic wanting to tamp her voice dow. The shaking of Lilah’s fist was making her disoriented. “It’s ok! You’re ok. I’m ok. Ok?”

But the wind stole the words away. Her hair whipped around her face in wild tendrils. Lilah’s fingers curled around her, making her heart race.

“Oh my god, I’ve destroyed it.” Came Lilah’s pained voice, ignoring or not hearing Dani. “What if someone was here? What if I couldn’t reach you in time? What if…”

She descended into another fit of sobs, but this time Dani’s stomach lurched as she was pulled suddenly flush against Lilah’s rapidly moving chest. In the moment, Dani’s mind first went to the image of a small teddy bear being cradled by a child for comfort. As much as the idea softened her heart, the combination of the movement, being suspended in the air and Lilah’s haggard breathing covering her from above had her feeling nauseous.

Plus, she knew they still had to deal with it.

Lilah’s thumb stroked the back of her hair, though it was neither as soft nor as considered as her girlfriend’s usual touch. They were still getting used to each other at different scales and these were the situations where the newness really showed.

Dani grit her teeth and endured it, promising herself she’d raise it when cooler minds prevailed.

Right now, needed to stop this before it got worse.

She pressed on Lilah’s tightening hold around her centre forcefully and it was enough to get Lilah’s attention.

“Dani?” She asked, though she seemed to already know to let up as Dani felt the vice loosen just slightly.

Dani had to do everything to top her teeth chattering in the cold.

“I’m fine!” Dani repeated, with a more level voice than before. She still felt the same level of panic but was better prepared this time. “I’m ok!”

Lilah studied her with a terrible scrutiny, but when she was satisfied, she looked at the space where the private function room used to be.

“But-“

“It’s a building.” Dani stopped her before she could spiral. “It’s just a building. Actually, it’s part of a building. And you know it’s insured to high heaven.”

“But-“

The giant fingers twitched around her making Dani’s heart rate soar.

“Lilah, look at me.” She almost had to yell to get her giant partner’s attention.

She had to crane her neck to meet Lilah’s stare. Her girlfriends eyes were raw and her cheeks smeared with long wet trails. Dani hated that she couldn’t hold Li close and tell her it’d be ok. She couldn’t let her girlfriend collapse into her arms, she couldn’t run her fingers down her back. She was too powerless to cup her face and make it all go away. She couldn’t fight off the feelings, but she could fix them.

“Here’s the plan.” She said. The words alone had a soothing effect on her own heart. They let her brain settle and work through each thought. “Are there cameras?”

“Not on this side of the building. They didn’t think it mattered - the only thing this side is the drop.”

“Ok, good. We need a cover. We’ll keep it as close to true as possible. You were working late. TJ forgot to do the one thing you asked him to do and so you were preparing to (as always) pick up his slack. The room collapsed, and…”

At this point, Dani wasn’t even talking to Lilah, she was just piecing a story together and Lilah happened to be there.

“And people are going to believe I survived that unscathed?”

Dani shook her head. She chewed her cracked lips.

“No, of course not” she hummed. “Maybe you were in the room and you looked up just in time to see  one of the trees falling towards the building, uprooted by the wind. You escaped just in time.”

“But there’s no tree here?”

Dani looked at Lilah. “There are plenty of trees here, Li. If you could push one over onto the centre that, plus the wind, would be enough of a cover-up.”

Lilah pulled back, her face guarded.

“Dani, some of these trees are over 100 years old. I’m a ranger, I’m not going to kill one just to cover my tracks.”

“But-“

Lilah’s eyes flashed. “No."

Dani bit down on her tongue. There was no use pushing this. She knew it would be a hard line for her girlfriend. Dani didn’t love the idea of pulling up a tree for no reason, she knew how much Lilah cared about nature, but there was a reason - hiding the secret of giants from all of mankind seemed like a good one, even if it was environmentally questionable.

But this wasn’t the time to push Lilah or upset her more than she already was. She needed to pivot.

“Fine.” She took a long breath and shrugged. “Then we rely on uncertainty and bad weather and we call it an unfortunate Act of God.”

Lilah frowned. “And that would be enough?”

Dani pursed her lips, “The tree thing would be better but,” She added as Lilah’s fist inadvertently tightened around her. “You’d be surprised how often these kinds of things happen. When emergency response get here, you’re going to tell them you felt the room giving way under you and you sprinted for the door just in time. You’re lucky you were able to react. Actually, we may even be able to claim worker’s compensation -“

“Dani.”

“Fine, goodie two shoes. I’m going to say I found you in shock. You’re going to admit you have no idea what caused it - you suspect the bad weather over the last few days. You’re going to say you were looking forward to the clear forecast tomorrow and you’re going to make a throwaway comment about how nature is wild and unforgiving. The police and insurers will realise there is no obvious or provable blame and National Parks shouldn’t have an issue making the claim. It should be enough. But!” She looked Lilah right in the eye, nearly daring her girlfriend to look away. “Before any of that, you need to shift back.”

---

It took nearly 30 minutes of gentle coaxing and breathing for Lilah to shift back, which was faster than usual but not great from a timeline point of view. But Dani needn’t have worried. As far as emergency response was concerned, a ranger and her partner almost died in a wild weather incident. There wasn’t any discussion of blame, and if there was, what would they say? At least as far as the two of them were involved. The insurance company would want to speak to Lilah, but Dani would prepare her for that, she’d teach her the right things to say, how to act. When to joke and when not to. She’d make sure they’d have no reason but to pay out the claim to rebuild and with that, Lilah’s guilt would vanish. Dani would fix it.

From where she was sitting, ambulance blanket over her shoulders, she caught Lilah’s eye as her girlfriend was being interviewed by the police. Lilah nodded and smiled.

Dani let out a long breath.

One day.

One day she’d be able to control it.

One day they’d be better prepared.

-