Mary was taking a break from her research. She was pursuing a PhD in sheep genetics, examining years of data collected from herds all over the country. Sometimes all that looked the same, and that meant it was time for a break.

She checked in on Facebook, scrolling through her friends posts. Near the top she saw two photos posted by Scott.

There he was, wearing his skinsuit, looking gorgeous as ever. It took a moment for her brain to wrap itself around the rest of the image. He was standing next to Matts housemate Brian.

No, wait, he was standing next to Brian's head. He was only that tall? She looked at the next picture, which confirmed it. There he was being held in someone's hand. Brian's?

She read the description and laughed.

Something stirred in the back of her mind. A childhood fantasy, long forgotten. She grinned. She wondered if he was still that small, and wondered if he'd let her see him like that.

Then again he'd just posted pictures of himself shrunk on Facebook. She closed the app and opened another. Correction, across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. About the most public he could make a photo.

She closed the app and composed a quick text message:
"Where are you? Want to meet for lunch?"

* * * *

"Hold on Matt," said Brian, "there's not much power left in the machine, there's only a few size changes left."
"I think we only need a couple"
"That's about all we've got. Else we'll end up leaving things shrunk for a few hours while the batteries recharge."
"How small?" asked Scott. Matt held his fingers a few inches apart. Scott found it hard to see. "Dude, you'll have to bend down."
Matt obliged. Scott could see Matt wanted him maybe a third his current size. Really getting small there, Scott thought. A way off from super-tiny millimetres tall, but certainly small enough to fit in the palm of somebody's hand.

He thought for a moment how it had felt when Brian picked him up before. Fingers 20cm thick wrapping around him, his large rough palm behind him. It had been a little scary, but quite a thrill. He thought about what it would be like to sit wholly in that palm. Then he thought of Mary's palm. A more petite hand than Brian, softer, smoother... And if Brian was happy to let him stay small for a while...
"I think I can do that." He told Matt. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
"You sitting on the wheel rim, next to a spoke."
"That's all?"
"That's all. Quick and simple." Matt paused. "Unless we think of something else along the way."
"OK," said Brian, "So we enlarge the bike and shrink Scott. We should have two or three more shots from the boson ray after that. That definitely enough to get a Scott back to normal when you're both done."
"Cool," said Matt. "If you can enlarge the bike then we can work out how small to make Scott."
Brian nodded and started programming the machine.

Matt crouched down near Scott. "You're sure you're OK with this? You're really small now and I'm asking you to get even smaller."
"I'm fine with it." Replied Scott, "this is cool, and it's not like you're leaving me stuck like this. It's fun for a little while."
"As long as you're sure."
"I'm sure."
Scott's bike was getting bigger now, Brian rejoined them.
"Currently Scott is one eighth his regular size, 23.75 cm tall, or about 9 1/3 inches if you prefer." He produced a wound up dress maker’s tape measure, "we just need to measure the wheel rims and do some maths."
Scott sat on the ground while the others measured and talked.
"Scott," Brian called, "I say we make you one twentieth your regular size."
Scott stood up, two fifths the size he was now. He'd be about 15cm taller than his own knees. Compared to all the other changes, save the last one, it wasn't as big.
"Sure, that works."

Brian programmed the machine and Scott felt the pins and needles again. He watched the world get bigger. He realised he'd been thinking about the new size the wrong way... Sure he was shrinking to a size a bit higher than his knees had been, but everything else was getting two and a half times larger. He looked at Matts shoes in front of him. They'd been almost two metres long before, now they were approaching five. His head was passing Matts ankle... Yeah, this was really small, and Scott was starting to feel nervous. He exhaled slowly.  No, this was OK, it's not like he was stuck like this.

Brian moved and picked up the bike. "When you're ready, head over."
It might have been 10 metres to Brian, but to Scott is was 200.  He walked slowly, noting the blades of grass now as wide as his palm and as long as his legs.  Some sat up as high as is waist, but most had been tramped flat.  There was a small drop of about a foot below the grass to the dirt underneath.

The going was tough, but Scott made his way to the back wheel of the bike when he got there the top of the rim was his eye level. He turned to face Matt, who was kneeling on the ground behind him.
"You just want me to climb up on the rim?"
"That's it" replied Matt, glancing down at him.
Scott put his hand on the rim and pulled himself up, finding that he felt much lighter than he normally would. He clambered up and stood on the inside of the rim, a space about a foot wide from his perspective. He walked carefully along the inner surface, being wary of the curvature, and approached one of the spokes, which was thicker than two of his fingers, and looked up to the hub and gear cassette some six meters above him.

Yep. Really small.

"Want to lean against the spoke?" asked Matt. Scott turned to see him lying down, pointing the camera. Scott folded his arms and rested his shoulder against the spoke. He thought about what he was doing for a moment and realised how ridiculous the whole thing was. A chuckle escaped his mouth as he smiled. He heard the artificial shutter sound from Matts camera. "Cool. Now maybe just sit down and dangle you legs over the edge."

Scott complied, and Matt seemed to sigh.
"What's up?" Scott asked
"I can't quite get the camera low enough."
"Maybe you need Brian to shrink you?"
"Maybe, but there's not much power left."
"He said three shots, enough to shrink you and enlarge both of us."
"Brian?" queried Matt as he turned to face the man holding the bike.
Brian furrowed his brow for a moment, "With you quarter sized, yeah, we should make that."
"OK" said Scott, climbing off the wheel.  Brian tilted the bike away from him, laying it back on the grass
Scott stared as the building sized men walked a short distance to the machine.

Brian felt a strange sense of excitement.  Scott was small enough to sit in the palm of his hand, and he was about to shrink Matt again.  He still couldn't put his finger on why he felt so... excited... by the situation.  Yes it was a sense of power, a feeling of control.  He was able to control their sizes, how they related to the people and world around them.  He wasn't aiming to trap, hurt or humiliate anyone, but the fact he was putting them in that situation was enough.

Once Matt was shrunk once more, he returned to lying on the grass while Brian held the bicycle and Scott climbed the wheel.
"Lean on that spoke again." said Matt, and Scott obliged, before sitting on the rim, and then standing on the ground, leaning against tyre and rim.
"These shots are better now I can get closer to your level." Matt commented. "I'm glad you suggested it."
Scott could tell Matt was holding back.
"But..?" he prompted
"We don't have enough power."
Scott nodded "To shrink the bike with me again?"
"I'm thinking of one shot. You posing with the bike, in front of Brian's shoe.  Showing how small you are. But we can't shrink the bike and grow it me and you back."
"True," said Scott, "but... I can't believe I'm going to ask this.  Brian, how long for the battery to recharge?"
Brian was taken aback.  Was Scott suggesting what he thought he was? "About four hours."

Scott paused.  Should he?  How often would he have the chance to have some fun while shrunk?  Four hours wasn't bad.  Maybe he could meet up with Mary after all.  And Brian did say he didn't mind if Scott chose not to grow back right away.
"You can't stay this small for that long." said Matt
"Why not?" asked Scott. "You mightn't like being small, but I think its exciting, a good chance for fun."
"Really?" Matt was starting to take Scott’s offer seriously.
"Yeah." said Scott "And four hours? I can be normal sized before dinner.  It's not like its permanent."
"You OK with this Brian?" asked Matt, "We'll need to look after him."
"If he's happy to do it, then I'm cool." Brian felt a little thrill.  Scott was volunteering to be trapped for four hours.  Or four hours plus however long it took them to get back and put the battery in the charger.
"Let's do it." said Scott. "Besides, if we don't do it now, you'll just want to do it later."
Brian put the bike back on the ground, walked over to the boson ray, pressed some buttons and the bike started to shrink.
"A small charge left.  I doubt it would make you full sized Scott. Just enough to get Matt back." said Brian.  Scott's phone beeped in his pocket, an incoming text.  Brian pulled it out and looked at the screen.
"It's Mary. She asks: 'Where are you? Want to meet for lunch?'"