I stripped off my clothes, dropping them in the middle of the plastic floor.  Fulda had made a heroic effort to dry me off, but some of Li’s saliva had already seeped into the fabric, making it hard and crispy as I pulled it away from my body.  Even without being caked in saliva, this suit was thoroughly ruined.  Deep tears exposed the lining at both shoulders, and the coattails had been severely discolored and, in some places, dissolved.  Fortunately, I would not be needing it today, or perhaps ever again.

The marvel of miniature construction Fulda provided me had running water, so I went to take a shower and get cleaned up.  Layers of grime and dirt sloughed off me with the water, remainders of the peanut butter I had been stuck to and the inside of Li’s throat that had gotten stuck to me.  I scrubbed myself thoroughly, as though getting rid of the filth would also clean the memory from my head.  Say what you will about Gina, in all her years of torment she never once swallowed me despite all her threats.

Once I was clean, I simply stood under the hot water, letting it flow over me while I contemplated what was next.  Was this really happening?  Would it be a bigger mistake to say yes, or no?  During my time under Gina’s thumb I had built up so much resentment toward Fulda for placing me in that situation, blaming her for everything that happened to me while I was there, and for stealing any chance I had at a normal life.  Not only that but she was a murderer, and had enabled other murderers, who did it for the sheer thrill.  However, since the rescue she had shown genuine remorse and made sure my every need was taken care of – this shower was just one example.  It seemed like she genuinely cared for me and was not just saying so, and at least wanted to try making amends.

The water was starting to get cold, so I turned the shower off and dried myself.  She had suggested dressing down, which was convenient because most of the clothes she left for me were on the casual side.  After a couple tries, I managed to find a pair of jeans that fit reasonably well, and a shirt with the name of the college she went to – that we were both going to attend – on the front, maybe a size too large for me.  Apparently, the person she took this from did not get as small as me.  Sneakers were easy, and I could not help smiling a little looking at the size 7.  These were probably the smallest shoes in the world right now.

When I was finished dressing, I sat on the foot of my bed to wait.  I had intentionally taken longer than necessary to get ready, so I figured she’d be along shortly.  Fifteen minutes of twiddling my thumbs and bouncing my heels off the floor later, I was not so certain.  Maybe she fell asleep, I told myself, since she had been up all night watching over me.  Then came the worry that she had changed her mind and no longer wanted to go through with this.  It’s not like I could blame her: I was hardly ideal boyfriend material.  Unemployed, high school dropout, no friends or hobbies, not even an inch tall – not exactly every girl’s dream.

When the door thundered open I jumped, nearly falling off the bed.  My walls and floor shook from heavy, ponderous steps each shockwave and thud stronger and louder than the last.  The room became dark beneath a shadow and I rushed to the window, making it right when her foot settled in front of the window.  I gazed through it and over the rounded white rubber toe of her shoe to the billboard-sized ALL-STAR logo and the smooth, perfectly bronzed skin of her ankle, and my heart began racing.  This was really happening.

“I know I said I’d let myself in,” Fulda boomed, every rumbling syllable hitting me with bliss, “but I don’t think I’ll fit through your door.  Don’t worry, I can find another way.” 

Wrinkles appeared on Fulda’s ankle when her shin leaned forward while she squatted.  Her tremendous body wobbled minutely while she got settled, quickly finding stability.  A beat passed, then something enormous landed on the roof, causing the whole house to rattle.  Fulda always had a flair for the dramatic, and she waited another moment pass to build suspense.  Finally, with a single, powerful yank she tore the roof off – she designed it to be removable, thankfully – and set it down beside the house.

Though it was nothing to her, tearing my roof off was a subtle display of her raw power, and I felt a rush of excitement as I looked up at her looming over my house.  She looked completely refreshed compared to earlier, like she had managed to get a full night’s rest in the time it took to get ready.  Her icy blue eyes shone down at me like the sky outside, and each strand of her auburn hair had been smoothed down against her scalp or woven into a broad braid starting above her temples.  A fresh layer of pink gloss made her lips sparkle, and her make-up had been fixed so that only a few light freckles across her nose were visible.  I could spend all day gazing up at her magnificently sculpted face and never grow bored.

“I’m here to pick you up for our date, little man.”  Her rumbling voice gave me a warm feeling all over, enhanced by her commanding tone.  “You ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go!” I replied.  Despite my size, I never had to shout so Fulda could hear me.  “You’re parked nearby, right?”

Fulda gave me a lopsided grin.  “I was thinking more literally.”  Her hand appeared over a wall, fingertips resting atop it.  She kept it there for a second, sizing me up before making the grab.  Maybe she wanted to be absolutely sure I was ready before making her move.  When her hand came toward me I made no effort to get away from it, and simply kept my eyes on the skin between her thumb and index finger.  Their tips pinched around me, pinning my arms against my side, and Fulda gingerly plucked me off the floor.

She lifted me slowly, just fast enough to cause a minor sinking feeling in my stomach, and held me about a foot away from the tip of her nose.  “I hope you don’t mind traveling by giantess today,” she joked, and carefully unfolded her legs.  The ascent was quicker this time but still smooth, and her head stopped just shy of the ceiling.  We kept our eyes locked on each other while we walked, the vibrations from her footfalls regular reminders that I wasn’t dreaming.

“So, where are we going?” I asked.  “Somewhere fun?”

Fulda gave me a knowing grin.  “Somewhere very exclusive, but very familiar to me,” she replied mysteriously.  “But I think you’ll really enjoy it.”  If it had been anyone else I’d be irritated, but the way she did it, with just a hint of flirtatiousness, I didn’t mind.  I saw the door pass by in my peripheral vision.  Either she had forgotten something, or there was a very short list of places we could be going.

When she came to a stop, I could see the white kitchen cabinets on either side of her head.  Fulda began slowly lowering me from face level, her strong arm keeping the descent perfectly steady.  On the way down, I finally got a look at what she was wearing once I could tear my gaze away from hers.  She had on a plain white form-fitting tank top that exposed just a bit of cleavage, and black shorts rolled up so they showed off as much leg as possible.   Though it was a simple outfit, it always looked stylish on her, though I could think of few things that wouldn’t.  It was also what she wore when she wanted to relax and feel in control. Was she also nervous?

My feet set down on wood, and Fulda’s fingers unclasped from my sides.  “Ta-dah!” she exclaimed with a smile beaming down at me.  “Welcome to our first date!”  Then she hurried to add, “Well, in over six years.  But it’s been a while, so it feels like our first again!”  The corded muscles in her left bicep started twitching erratically.  She was nervous!

I winced at the loud scrape when she pulled out a chair, then she sank into it.  Fulda leaned forward, causing me to stumble when her elbows hit the top with a pair of quakes.  She had set me down about where a plate would be, so I was entirely beneath her.  Her hands came together, clasping her fingers together like a single fist to keep them still.  When she settled in I looked up at her towering over me, remarkably quiet and still, and she stared down at me, the corners of her mouth twitching nervously.

Neither of us said anything for what seemed like minutes.  The longer it lasted the heavier the awkwardness became, until it felt like Fulda pressing her palm down on me would be a relief.  “So,” she boomed, nervously breaking the silence and shifting in her seat, “I guess we can skip all the boring introductory stuff, right?”

“Good,” I answered, just glad she had said something.  “I was never all that good at small talk.”

“Really?  Because looking at you, I figured you’re great at it,” she replied and laughed at her own joke.  “Sorry.  Let’s start with the elephant in the room, hm?”

“By that, do you mean giving me to your kid sister for six years of torment?”

“Yeah.”  Fulda drew the syllable out for several seconds.  “That.”  She began drumming her fingertips on the table, making a steady series of quick, rhythmic thuds.  “Look, I know that there’s nothing I can ever do to make up for that, or to make it so it never happened, no matter how much I wish I could.  It’s just… I was so angry at you!  I mean, you cheated on me with my best friend the first chance you got, and I kind of freaked out, you know?  I overreacted and punished you in the worst way possible, without even thinking that… well, maybe I had been neglecting your needs.”  Her expression hardened, and she rushed to clarify, “Not that I’m saying what you did was okay, mind you.  You still cheated on me.  But I didn’t handle it well, either.  If I could do it again, I’d just, I don’t know, make you live in my sock or keep you in a jar for a few days.  Anything but… what I did.”

If any part of her had been within arm’s reach, I would have reached out and touched it to comfort her, or at least make some gesture to reassure her.  As it was, all I could do was make firm eye contact with her once her features softened again.  “You know, I thought about that every day Gina held me prisoner.  I hurt you by doing that, and I definitely never wanted to do that.  It was a moment of weakness, and… hell, I’m not going to excuse my actions, I did something shitty that I always told myself I’d never do.  We both could’ve handled it better, looking back on it, but we were just kids, yeah?  Kids do dumb shit all the time, then they learn from it and do better.”

“Youthful indiscretions usually don’t end with someone living through six years of Hell.”

 I chortled and rubbed the back of my neck.  “What I’m trying to say, Fulda, is that I get it.  When I was going through it, I built up so much resentment against you for putting me in that situation, wanted to hate you for it, but I couldn’t.  You couldn’t have known what was going to happen, and by the time Gina’s delusions were obvious, it was too late.  Then you came back for me, took me in, did all this… I know you’re not the same person who did that to me, and I’m not the same person who did that to you.”

Fulda smiled warmly, and it felt like the sun shining on a clear day.  “I know.”  She touched me lightly with a fingertip from behind and ran it up and down my back.  “I’ve given you everything I can, but I still don’t think it’s enough.  You lost time, opportunities, friends, family, all because of me and my fit of rage.”

I turned to the side and put a hand on her fingertip, hoping to calm her down as I stroked the whorls.  “You know the worst thing I lost, though?” I asked.  “Time with you.  For a while, the worst thing about being stuck with Gina was that you weren’t there.”  Gently I patted her finger with my hand.  “We can’t make up for lost time, but… we’re still young!  We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us, and we can make something better than what I lost.”

“R-really?” Fulda stammered.  She was always such a bulwark of strength and confidence, I don’t think I’d ever seen her this insecure.  “You mean you aren’t mad at me?  You don’t hate me for what I did?”  Her finger began stroking me again, and I leaned into it.

“No, how could I?” I answered.  “You’ve more than made up for it, and besides, I could never stay mad at you for too long.  No matter how hard I tried, as soon as you smiled down at me it all melted away.”  A big smile spread across her face and I mirrored it while her finger ran down my side.  “Knowing you’re happy makes me happy, too.”

“I had no idea you felt that way, little guy.”  Her tremendous voice cracked, like she was fighting to hold back tears.  “I’ve been so nervous about this, worried that you would never forgive me, and really, I wouldn’t be able to blame you.  Really, I wanted to do this since you got here, but I don’t think I could handle being rejected by someone not even an inch tall.  After Li pulled that bullshit last night, though, I knew I had to tell you before it was too late.”  We both fell silent, and I nuzzled her finger while she continued petting me.

“So, how about it?”  Her confidence surged back, and she gave me a cocky smirk.  “Want to make it official?  Are you my tiny, itty-bitty, bite-sized boyfriend now?  Again?”

I turned a little and planted a kiss right in the middle of her fingerprint.  “Only if you’re my titanic, monolithic, giantess girlfriend again.”  My arms wrapped around her finger as much as they could, but it was too wide for me to get all the way around.  She lifted her finger and I swung down against the trunk, then wrapped my legs around it as far as I could.

“There’s one thing I should get out up front, though,” Fulda declared, leaving me hanging off her finger.  “I, um. I really like shrinking people, probably more than I should, and I get such a rush when I do it.”  I could see where this was going and began working on a response immediately.  “I’m sure you’re more sensitive to this than I am.  You might even consider it cheating, in a weird way, so feel free to say no.  But are you okay if I… keep doing it?”

I spent a few seconds considering my answer.  “Fulda,” I began, “I want to say I appreciate you asking me, that takes a lot of guts.”  Looking up into her enormous blue eyes, I knew I would never be able to say no to her on anything.  “I know you’re not shrinking them to be your tiny boyfriends, too.”  I’d always been an enabler, even of people’s worst desires.  “And I know it makes you happy.  So as long as you come home and treat me like your tiny boyfriend, I won’t stop you.  Not that I could stop you from doing anything anyway, you’ve got more strength in your little toe than I do in my whole body.”  The thought of her coming home, riding an emotional high after doing it, might have had a little to do with my decision.

Fulda’s eyes lit up.  “You really mean it?” she exclaimed, then made herself calm down.  “I mean, of course, none of them will ever take your place.  You’re my tiny man, and I would never treat them the same as you.”

“Just… try to use it as a last resort, okay?” I asked.  “You’re a fucking powerhouse, you can get people to leave you alone through other ways.”

Her smile did not diminish at all.  “I’ll do my best,” she answered.  That was hardly reassuring, but it was the best I was going to get out of her, and I trusted she would at least make an effort.

Fingers from her other hand pinched around me and easily pried me off the one I had been clinging to.  Blood rushed from my head when she excitedly raised me up to her face again, and I looked around in a daze.  I had never seen her so happy.  It was like I had told her she won the lottery, got a promotion, and was going on national TV all at the same time.  “I’m just so glad you took me back,” she explained, as though she could read my mind.  “All this time I was sure you wouldn’t, that you’d be mad, that I wasn’t good enough for you…”

“We said it earlier, Fulda, but we’ve known it all this time,” I explained.  “We’re perfect for each other.  No other man would want to be under your soles, and no other woman would put me there.  We’re stuck together, for better or worse, and we might as well accept it.  Though it does make it easier that you’re a kind, generous, smart, funny, charming giantess.”

“And you’re a cute, funny, caring, intelligent, and endearing tiny little man,” she replied, giving me a brief squeeze with her fingers.  “There’s so much I want to do to you right now.  And with you.  But right now, I think I’ll start with this.”  Fulda began drawing me toward her mouth, and when the tip of her tongue slid out to moisten her lips I broke out in sweat, remembering what happened last night.  I forced myself to stay calm and quiet, reassuring myself that Fulda wouldn’t hurt me.  We were dating, right?  Then again, she had eaten and crushed many of her boyfriends before, and…

Her lips puckered when I was mere inches from her mouth, and she gently pressed me against them.  It took me a moment to realize what was going on, but once I did, I placed my hands on her lip and forcefully returned the kiss.  Her lips were impossibly soft, like down pillows, and I pressed my face into them, heedless of any possible danger.  Fulda slipped her tongue out and began tickling me with the tip of it, running it smoothly up and down my body.

Reluctantly she pulled me away, leaving me covered in lip gloss and saliva, but I was beyond caring.  This was the best I had felt in my life, and the tingling sensation continued spreading through my body even when she moved me back where I had been.

“Well, now that we’re together again,” Fulda began, letting a sly smile spread, and I sank into the simple pleasure of hearing and feeling her voice, “Want to do something together?”

“Like what?”  It made sense that we’d do things together as a couple now, but I had no idea what.

“Well…”  She was being reluctant, but I could tell she was bursting at the seams.  “Want to play a game?”  From my silence, she could tell I needed more explanation.  “You’re a tiny man who managed to get into my apartment, and I’m trying to hunt you down and squish you.  Obviously I won’t actually squish you, but, you know.  Sound fun?”

“Yeah, I’ll give it a shot,” I replied.  Now it was my turn to hide my excitement.  This sounded very similar to a game we had played before, but now that I had come to accept my situation I was eager to see Fulda in full force as a giantess, and I trusted her not to get too carried away and hurt me.

“Shoes on, or off?”

“Let’s leave them on,” I suggested.  To tell the truth, I had kind of a thing for women wearing Converse, and it was part of what drew me to her in the first place.  One the size of a football field chasing after me could only be better.

Fulda’s blue eyes darted toward a large, open space in the living room, and she stood.  My stomach dropped, but I kept my focus on her face and it wasn’t so bad.  She glanced back to me and asked, “Shall we begin, my tiny boyfriend?”  I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of her calling me that.