“You seriously dunked her head in the toilet!?” Blake sprawled out onto the sofa, unable to contain herself and wished she could have been there to witness the spectacle.

Sitting on the floor with her back propped against the couch Gail rolled her eyes in response to her elder sister’s juvenile sense of humor which had brought Ingrid’s recap to a standstill. “For the sake of my sanity please skip to the end so she’ll shut up.”

On the ground tying her shoelaces Ingrid shortened her recount of events to the bare minimum. “Long story short unless Marcelle is a masochist, she won’t be bothering Tanner anymore.”

“I bet you’re happy about that.” Blake said to Tanner who was sitting over at the coffee table in the center of the room. He did not appear to register her statement. “Hello, Earth to Tanner.”

“Huh? Yeah, that’s great.” He eventually answered.

“What’s the deal? You look more spaced out than me during history class.” Blake said, noting the fact he seemed half invested in the conversation.

“Give it a rest, he’s had a long day already. You ready to workout with me outside?” Ingrid interjected.

“Ugh, shouldn’t you be taking it easy at this point? The championship game is only a few days out.” Blake groaned using that excuse to disguise her desire to lounge around instead. 

“There will be plenty of time for that afterward.”

“I’ll be deaf afterward.” Gail lamented, already aware that she’ll be dragged against her will to the game and was mentally preparing for the assault on ears courtesy of Blair and Blake’s incessant cheering.

“Do you think Tanner will be able to come and watch?” Blake asked. It was an innocent question that yielded a pervasive silence from both Ingrid and Tanner who exchanged looks.

“I want to.” Tanner announced, knowing his want came with caveat. Ivory would have the final verdict on that decision and it was no secret that she wasn’t the easiest person to convince of these types of matters. His recent track record that included being taken to the mall without her permission and an attempted kidnapping was not going to help his case.

“We’ll think of something soon. Right now, it’s time for you to get your lazy butt up.” Ingrid concluded and walked over to drag Blake off the couch.

“No wait, I don’t wanna! Little sis please, don’t forget me!” Blake dramatically cried.

“Who are you?” Gail quipped.

“What!? You have a headlock with your name on it when I come back!” Blake declared as she was towed outside.

Once they were out of sight Gail slid closer to Tanner. “You know she has a point. I thought you would be in higher spirits after having Marcelle dealt with.

Tanner kicked his hanging legs back and forth over the table’s edge while he gathered the moxie to vocalize his paradoxical feelings. “You want to hear something crazy? I actually feel bad.”

“For Marcelle?” Gail questioned.

“For Marcelle.” Tanner exhaled knowing he had to elaborate.

“What Ingrid did to her was one thing, she had that coming for a long time. It was the way Ivor- I mean my Mom reacted. It was pretty harsh I guess.”  Regardless of how he felt about Marcelle it did not sit well with him to hear Ivory say that to her own flesh and blood. Even if she brought it on herself Tanner couldn’t help feeling a cloud of guilt hovering over him as if he were responsible for driving a wedge between the two. Marcelle was as selfish and manipulative as the day was long, but her relationship with Ivory was among the few things he’d say was genuine. The two shared the type sisterly dynamic that tends to develop between an aunt and niece. Ivory especially enjoyed having someone else around who liked partaking in more traditionally feminine activities that Ingrid either didn’t care for or would rather do with friends. Ever since coming home Ivory had been upstairs on the phone with Marcelle’s parents discussing what transpired. He didn’t look forward to how awkward the next family gathering was going to be.

Gail swayed her head from side to side contemplating. “Maybe she just needs some time? After finding out what almost happened to you, she probably reacted in the heat of the moment. I don’t know how many times I’ve told Blake that I hated her whenever she did something stupid.”

This drew a laugh from Tanner. “Yeah, hopefully that’s the case.”

“And the best part is that you can cross being kidnapped off your bucket list.” Given her dry delivery many people would not have interpreted that statement as a joke; after becoming more familiar with her personality Tanner was able to distinguish the intent.

“I’m the luckiest guy ever. Too bad it couldn’t have been someone nice.”

 “Weeeeell, since you’re pretty much asking.” A faint grin formed on Gail’s face as she hovered her open hand near Tanner.

Seeing where this act was going Tanner stood up and backed away. “Hold on, hold on! I said someone NICE!”

“Great idea, insulting me is going to change my mind. You’re digging your grave fast.”

Switching gears, Tanner changed his approach. “Um, have I ever told you that you had nice hair?”

“Cute, but too late for flattery.” Gail said, lowering her hand down which forced Tanner onto his back and blanketed underneath.

“What if I said you had really nice hair?”

Not listening, Gail continued with her act. “Now what should such an unkind person like me do with her little prisoner?” She mused out loud.

“Let me go kindly?”

“Ah yes, now that I think about it I’ve always wanted a living action figure to play with.” Gail continued. Though everything was said in jest and Tanner had played along so far that last statement triggered something in him.

Whereas the rest of Gail’s family took a double helping of everything from the genetic buffet, she was left with the scraps and ended up dwarfed next to her supersized elders. In context that is how he perceived Gail in relation to her peers, however in the grand scheme of his world he registered her no differently than every other titan in his life that surpassed his size several times over. The same Gail who’d struggle to do a pullup with a gun to her head was still endlessly stronger than him. Unlike when he was held captive by Marcelle and in legitimate danger the non-serious nature of their current banter left his mind free to frolic in imagination.

He wondered what she’d do with him under a premise where nothing was prohibiting her. He recalled her saying she liked the fact he was smaller than her? That’s right, she was constantly barraged with reminders of her family’s athletic achievements that couldn’t match.  But even without an athletic bone in her body she was still worlds beyond him in what they were physically capable of. How much he wondered would Gail enjoy relishing the opportunity to flaunt her size and strength over someone for a change? Whenever life became stressful and she found herself irritated by someone at school or the antics of her family he would serve as the reminder being the one person she could standby and be the giant with the ability to subject her captive to whatever her heart desired.

That was only scratching the surface of what regular people could do to him. Even during their light-hearted playing Gail had already pinned him on his back. Though he wasn’t in any peril it didn’t change the fact that she had all the power over him at her disposal and something about that… excited him.

Gail had waited for Tanner to respond to her mock suggestion, instead he was staring blankly at her.  “Uh, Tanner are you alright… Are you poking me?” She lifted her hand.

“I-it’s nothing.” He replied, jolting backwards with urgency and making a futile attempt to hide what was already seen.

“Sorry... I didn’t mean to- yeah.” She was sure he was embarrassed and it wasn’t any easier for her to address the matter, let alone realizing she somehow caused it.

“I said it’s nothing!” Tanner repeated with his back turned.

Gail flinched at his vehement reaction. Though she pondered if she should leave well enough alone, for him to respond with the vitriol that he did led her to believe there was more to it than being an embarrassing occurrence at an inopportune moment. Calming her nerves, she responded again in a smoother tone. “Seriously Tanner, it’s okay. It just happens sometimes, it’s normal at our age.”

Tanner shook his head in disapproval. “No, it’s not a normal.”

“Tanner, please.” Gail said with a light touch of comfort on his back. “You can talk to me.”

If he stuck to his guns maybe she’d drop the subject and for anyone else he might have pursued that course of action, but not to her. Perhaps this seemed more fitting to discuss with Julie or at least someone he’s known for a long time. Yet it was Gail who he only recently began to know who could reach a part of him that set his mind at ease enough to talk to in earnest without fear of being judged. Steeling himself Tanner turned around.

While staring at Gail he took specific notice of her massive size, as redundant as that seemed to point out it didn’t change the fact that it was still awe-inspiring. Most of the time he believed he was well accustomed to the relative stature of people and objects, but on occasion it was like his mind was simply incapable of processing how another human was so impossibly big. “Lately it's been harder not to notice the insane difference between our standings. Marcelle for example outright likened me more to a pet in her eyes." The sheer thought of how casually she declared that still baffled him. But dare he admit after some reflection he was almost able to fathom how she reached that line of thought.

"By comparison I'm so lucky to be around you guys. You're all so good to me but whether we admit it or not at any moment one of you could decide my opinion didn’t matter or subject me to anything you wanted whether I liked it or not.”

“None of us would ever treat you like that though.” Gail rebuked.

“That still doesn’t change the fact that we all know I don’t have the ability to stop any of you. Until recently I never truly acknowledged how much power you all have over me, it’s... overwhelming, so overwhelming that it’s scary.” Tanner began to grasp his thighs to keep his nerves under control. While everyone was kind and mindful to him 99.9% of the time the few instances that .01% emerged were telling. He didn’t hold it against them, after all nobody was perfect and everyone loses their composure sometimes. However, those occasions were borderline if not disastrous for him. Thinking back to Blake shouting at him, Ivory towering over him while he was on the floor, Ingrid’s intoxication, and pretty much every 1 on 1 interaction he had with Marcelle, which all left him either terrified or on the verge of grave injury.

“As scary as it is though, I’ve been finding a part of this all…exciting.” Tanner declared almost sounding in disbelief of his own words. “Thinking of how everything looked to me years ago to how it does now everything looks unbelievable. There are so many things I could experience that people never have or in ways they never will. Even looking at you right now I sometimes can’t get over how big you are. Everything you do from my eyes looks so amazing, so massive, and it’s incredible, and it’s freaking huge, and….and I don’t know if I’m making any sense now.” Once he gained some momentum Tanner was freely thinking out loud until he noticed himself rambling into repetition.  

Gail’s silence for the remainder of his explanation was in part out of respect to hear him out without interruption and in part because she was hanging on his every word, drawing every parallel in their perspectives that was too apparent to go unnoticed by her.

“Do you remember how I felt when I first had to hold you?” Her question was met by a somewhat puzzled nod from Tanner who wondered why he was being asked about something that didn’t occur too long ago.

“Yeah, you were super nervous and afraid you were going to drop me.”

“Right.” Gail acknowledged. “That was only half of it though. I always thought we were kind of the same, since we’re both the ‘small ones’ in the family. But when I went to lift you up you were so light and so heavy, it’s like I could.” She came to an abrupt stop, unsure if this was something she should say fearing it may come across as offensive or insensitive to him.

Noticing her hesitance Tanner spoke up. “I know it sounds taboo to talk about, usually everyone is trying to walk on eggshells when it comes to anything related to my size. I honestly want to know your unfiltered answer. There’s so much I’ve had to learn to cope and deal with and there’s so much more to unravel. Now I’ve been learning more about how you guys see me and what you think of when you see someone so small. So, please?”

There wasn’t any question that this meant something to him and for that reason Gail granted Tanner the same courtesy he showed her and answered without attempting to censor herself.

“It was surreal. I never thought of you as being a pet or anything like that, you’re as human as anyone I know. Which is why it was unbelievable, it’s like I could feel your very life in my hands and it scared me. If I had so much as stumbled, sneezed, or any accident, it might have meant the worst for you.” That portion Tanner inferred and witnessed himself, it was after she overcame her nervousness was where things took a turn.

“Once you helped me calm down, I experienced something more surreal, something I never thought I’d experience… power. Your life was in my hands and I had that same thought you described, that I could’ve done anything…ANYTHING. I mean of course I wouldn’t hurt you!” She quickly added in, hoping her reveal wasn’t too off-putting.

“A-anyways, when I thought back on it, I started to wonder, just about everyday people going about their everyday lives dealing with such a size disparity.  Thinking what would change? How would people treat them? Things like that.”

“I mean…” Gail looked up to spitball the first examples that came to her mind. “Just imagine if some tiny teacher was trying to get a handle on a rowdy class.”

The mere visual thought of a thumb sized instructor cowering under a desk while a class of goliath students wreaked havoc in the room sent Tanner into a cackling fit. “That teacher would deserve an award and salary increase asap.”

Likewise, Gail started giggling at her silly scenario. “You get what I mean thought right?” She defended. “Maybe on some innate level size does matter to an extent. I don’t even know if I’d listen to my own parents if they were small enough to where I could just end a conversation by stuffing them into my pocket.” She reiterated with a different example that was again met with a comical disapproving headshake from Tanner.

“Now that’s cold.”

“It’d just be until they piped down, like a timeout. You’ve seen firsthand how hard it is to get any peace and quiet at home.” She huffed. “Ugh, and don’t get me started to when I was still clinging to hope that I’d grow taller than Blake one day. I used to think of all the ways I’d get back at her if she were shorter than me. If she were your size though…” That train of thought could have sent her down the rabbit hole for an hour until Tanner chimed in.

“That’d be plain unfair!”

“You’re telling me? I’d almost feel bad for picking on her if that were the case.” She smirked. “Almost.”

“You know you love that big teddy bear.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She admitted with a roll of her eyes. “It still wouldn’t hurt if she were a small teddy bear.” Her grin remained as she continued indulging in her fantasy of Blake being a couple of inches tall.

“You’re still thinking about it aren’t you?” Tanner called out.

Gail shifted her eyes. “...Maybe”

“Geez, I’d hate to see what you’d do to people you didn’t like.”

Gail’s brows perked upwards, already conjuring a mental image a couple of students she wouldn’t mind seeing shrunk down to centimeters. “I bet they’d all be scared shitless to test my patience then. If they did then maybe I’d see to it that they have an accident involving the bottom of my shoe- I’m just kidding.” Gail looked away managing to stop herself from getting too graphic. “Too far?”

“Nah.” Tanner took it in stride and leaned onto his back staring up at the ceiling. “I can’t believe we’re really talking about this.” He didn’t have any expectations going into this discussion, regardless it was still a liberating sensation to admit everything he said. “What’s wrong with us?”

“Hmm nothing, maybe we’re just human.” Gail hummed, resting her hands on the table and setting her chin down. “I think it’s pretty cool that you’re looking at some of the unique benefits of your size.”

“Benefits? I guess that’s another way to put it.” For such a long time he viewed his size as a handicap that would forever prevent him from leading normal life. There was no denying it was challenging, but that didn’t mean it had to be all bad. In hindsight some of his experiences were enjoyable because of his size. “You know I had a lot of fun with you guys.”

“For real?” Gail inquired.

“I haven’t spent that much time away from home in a long time, so it was scary at first.” Sitting up, Tanner turned to look towards the door his attention fixated on the sunlight that shined through the glass. “I don’t get to do much a lot the time but going on the run, playing around with Blake and Blair at the pool, hanging with you, it reminded me that there’s more out there… and maybe there’s more out there for me.”

Visually following his line of sight led Gail to where he was staring. “Then let’s see what’s outside right now, besides those two amazon brutes that is.”

“I’m shocked.” Tanner stated.

“By what.”

“I thought you’d be afraid of turning to ash if you entered direct sunlight.” Tanner jabbed.

“Keep making comments like that and you’ll start to remind me of what I’d like to do to certain classmates I’m not too fond of.” Gail teased with a devious grin. “Now hop on my little prisoner.”

“Where are you two going?” Ivory questioned having just made it downstairs.

“Gail was going to take me outside for a bit.” Tanner answered, stopping in his tracks.

Ivory’s postured tightened after hearing that. “I’m sorry Abigail I need to have a word with him. Do you mind?”

“Um, not at all…” Gail obliged, albeit with a shred of doubt in her voice. The confusion in her mind was only a modicum compared to Tanner’s who wondered what was so pressing that it had to be discussed this very moment.

“Thank you.” Stepping forward Ivory cupped her son into her hands without a word and carried him upstairs to her room.

Unsure what to expect he was only able to pose his question after she sat down and elevated her palm with him standing on it to her face. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I don’t want you to go outside anymore.”