August

Eve sighed, bored out of her mind as she watched the clock tick down towards the end of the work day. Spreadsheets and insurance claims weren’t exactly what she’d had in mind for her life, but it paid the bills… or had anyway. Rent was going up, she needed a new place to live, and the options in town were growing hard to find and harder to pay for.

“Psst, Evie!” Amber called, she was in the cubicle across from Evelyn, a redhead with curls who had a mean streak a mile wide. Eve kept off her radar by playing along with her, one thing she’d learned was that no matter where you were, you always had to back the strongest person in the room. It had gotten her through high school, and it got her through this office.

“Yeah?” Eve said with a grin.

“Phone!” Amber mouthed at her, pointing to her own.

Eve giggled as she fished hers out of her purse. Unlocking it she saw that Amber had sent her a video, “Shrunken guy tries to cross the sidewalk.” She hit play, making sure the sound was muted. On the screen a tiny man, a few inches tall and naked, hesitantly looked both ways before sprinting across a concrete sidewalk. A jogger noticed him, and with a smug grin, diverted her path. The tiny guy saw her coming, panicking as he picked up speed. The camera zoomed in, giving Eve a good look at his terrified face as the shoe came down. The Jogger bit her lip, stopping to grind her running shoe in place a moment before continuing on her way. The tiny man twitched on the sidewalk, struggling to recover after what had to be a painful experience.

“Fucking crazy that there are still wild ones when that kind of stuff happens,” Eve laughed, “seriously what was that guy thinking?”

“They get really tough when they get small,” Amber said, “he’s probably fine, but I’ll bet that still hurts like hell.” She looked around a moment and then leaned in close, “I “accidentally” got one on my bike the other day.”

“You bitch!” Eve laughed, “you know you can get fined for that now?”

Amber just rolled her eyes, “what’s a tiny going to do? Walk over to the police station and report me? Unless you mess with one that has an owner it’s almost impossible to actually get in trouble.”

“You know we’re not supposed to call them owners now?” Eve said, scooting back to her desk, “guardians, caretakers, it’s just a bunch of PC crap, like a four-inch guy can be anything but your pet.”

“You know why they sent that email out, right?” Amber said with a conspiratorial grin. “Charles has it!”

“The shrinking virus!?” Eve said, covering her mouth, “oh my god, that’s hilarious! How long does he have?”

“I don’t know, a month or two maybe?” Amber said, “you want to go fuck with him?”

“You know it!” Eve said, smiling as she stood up to follow her friend.

The two walked through the office, the clack of their heels against the floor echoing down the hall as they searched out Charles. They found their prey in the break room, glumly pouring himself a cup of coffee. He was a middle-aged man, slightly balding, maybe a little too thin for a man his size. Still, he’d apparently found someone to marry him, and everyone in the office had seen pictures of his kids.

“Oh my god Eve,” Amber said loudly as she walked to the coffee machine, “did you hear about those shrinkees that got caught living in the department store downtown?”

“No!” Eve replied with faux surprise. Looking over Amber’s shoulder she could see Charles’s attention pique.

“They say the overnight cleaning crew caught them, sucked their little asses right up with a shopvac!”

“Oh my god!” Eve laughed, “what are they going to do with them?”

“Auction them off I guess,” Amber replied, filling her coffee cup. “Maybe one of those cleaning ladies might want to keep one? I know I would.” She turned around and made eye contact with Charles, “I think it’d be fun to have a little pet like that.” She sipped the steaming beverage, her eyes flashing, “Yeah… I’d keep that little shit naked; he’d greet me when I came home by calling me Miss Amber, and if he showed even the slightest disrespect?” She stomped her heel hard on the floor, causing a *clack* that made Charles jump. She shrugged, “or maybe I’d get bored and just flush him? I mean imagine if your husband shrank, you’d probably want to get rid of him, play the field, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Eve laughed, “just say he ran away or something.”

Giggling the two of them walked out of the break room together. Eve shot a look back and saw Charles’ hands shaking, his coffee spilling slightly on the floor. She felt a slight pang of pity, but then with a look back at Amber she forced it down. She’d learned the hard way enough times that the people on top had to push others down to stay there, and shrinkees made an easy target, even if they weren’t small yet.

…

Evan stalked through what had been his front yard. It was wildly overgrown these days, at four inches tall he couldn’t exactly mow it easily, and the service he’d arranged before becoming small only came by once a month. Parting the green jungle of grass stalks he spotted his prey, a large green grasshopper idly chewing on a leaf. He hefted his small crossbow, taking his time with the shot. With a quick *twang* a toothpick shot out, nailing the grasshopper in the head. With a muffled thump it fell, twitching, to the ground.

With a sigh Evan approached it, trying to determine what, if anything, he’d do with his kill. Nothing, he decided, turning away. Grasshopper wasn’t a bad meal at this size, once you got past the idea of eating a bug, but he didn’t see the point when he had more than enough normal food to last him several lifetimes. He’d toyed with the idea of keeping a collection of pinned bugs he’d killed, but taxidermy for arthropods apparently involved a lot of nail polish remover, a terribly noxious substance at this size.

Mostly he hunted grasshoppers and other bugs for sport, to stave off boredom and the beginnings of what he was sure was depression. There wasn’t much challenge to it, he’d worried about his place in the food chain post-shrinking, but he’d rapidly found that the insect kingdom just wasn’t ready for a human at this size, the first spider had been terrifying, then he’d found out that he was so much stronger than them that he might as well have been beating up a chicken.

Higher animals weren’t much of a worry either, and Evan waved to his cat Marshmallow, a fat grey tabby, as he walked through the pet door to his house.

“MROW!” Marshmallow cried angrily.

Evan sighed, glancing at the gargantuan food bowl in the kitchen, “In a minute!” he cried. The cat gave a long whining meow in response. Feeding him was harder now, but Evan still managed. A bag of kibble and a small shovel waited next to it, and he’d be spending at least a half hour of his evening refilling the cat’s bowl. He’d thought about rehoming Marshmallow once he found out he was shrinking, but he’d quickly found another utility for the cat.  

“Hey!” he called, snapping his fingers, “you want your dinner? Get your fat ass over here and earn it.” With the closest thing to a sigh a cat could manage the lumbering feline got up and walked over to him. Gripping the cat’s fur he climbed quickly up to the top of his back, grasping the collar as the cat carried him rapidly up the stairs.

…

Laurie pulled up to the old Armstrong place and stepped out of her truck. In the back she had several bags of groceries, along with a large box that contained doll furniture. Slamming the door shut she carried the goods up to the porch and rang the doorbell. The blonde hummed a tune as she adjusted her wide brimmed straw hat against the sun. It was hot this time of year, and the humidity of the wetlands the house was built amidst meant that you were always sweating out here.

“Hello?” the intercom buzzed.

“It’s me,” Laurie said, smiling for the camera, “who the hell else would come visit you?”

“Tiny hunters?” he replied, “well-wishers? Fangirls?”

“Open the door you jackass,” Laurie laughed, and with a click the electronic lock disengaged. Laurie stepped inside, walking to the kitchen as the fat grey cat meowed and swished itself against her legs. Evan was waiting for her on the counter, lounging in a sky-blue doll shirt and khaki pants.

“Hey Laurie,” the shrunken man said, standing up to greet her. “How’s tricks?”

“My car’s transmission is shot so I’m driving one of my uncle’s trucks,” she replied, “what about you?”

“I successfully lassoed a field mouse,” he said with a grin, “yippee kay aye.”

“Why didn’t you just ask it to come over?” She asked, unloading his groceries.

“I keep telling you, I can’t talk to animals,” he said, rolling his eyes, “they just sort of naturally like me, Marshmallow listens to me but otherwise they just treat me as a friend and not much else.”

“That’s good,” she muttered, looking out the front window at the undeveloped swampland, “seeing as how you insist on living all the way out here.”

“I like my freedom,” he replied, “tiny guy in town? I’d be in a hamster cage by the end of the day.”

“About that,” Laurie said, laying a bank receipt on the table, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re running out of cash.” She gestured around, “this whole lifestyle of yours is neat and all, but it’s not exactly sustainable.”

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked, “get a job? I don’t know shit about computers Laurie, I always worked with my hands and the army isn’t exactly looking to re-enlist guys who shrank.”

“My offer is still on the table,” she said, crossing her arms. “Move in with me, we’ll do all the paperwork and you’ll never worry about any of this tiny-hunter stuff and hiding ever again.”

“No,” he said firmly, “I’m my own man Laurie, I don’t want to move in to your old dollhouse.”

“That’s what people who shrink do,” she said with exasperation, “do you not trust me or-“

“Trust has nothing to do with it,” he said, cutting her off, “I trust you with my life Laurie, but I just…” He sighed, “I’m not going to be happy living like that, even with a friend. I need to be in charge of my own life, you know?”

“Well, you need to figure out a way to bring in some money,” she said, rolling her eyes, “you’ve got property taxes on this place coming up, and you might be able to evade a tiny hunter but good luck hiding the house from the county assessor.”

She thought a moment, “I don’t suppose your uncle hid any gold or anything in the basement before he died?”

“My uncle wasn’t in the mafia!” Evan said angrily. The rumor had been something he and his family had been teased about for years, going back to when he was in elementary school. “He went to jail for tax evasion!”

“Just like Al Capone,” Laurie countered.

“He worked in waste management!” Evan protested.

“Oh my god, do you hear yourself?” Laurie laughed, “he probably lived out here so he could dump bodies in the marsh!”

“I’m done with this conversation,” he said, “and I’ll have you know, I’ve been thinking about the money problem.”

“Oh?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m thinking of renting the place out,” he explained.

“Wow,” Laurie muttered in an offended tone, “you won’t come live with me, but you’re going to let some rando move in and probably enslave you?”

“Like hell they will,” he growled, “I’ve got this sort of plan worked out. The thing is, a lot of people don’t respect shrinkees, but I’ll get the right one in here, put the fear of God into them a little… then they’ll accept that they get to live here, at a nice cheap price… in exchange for doing a few things for me now and then.”

Laurie balked, “my god,” she breathed, “you’re going to try to tame a big person? You know that is the opposite of how this scenario usually plays out?”

“They won’t see it coming,” he said with a grin, “most people shrink and just give up, but I’m not one of those woe is me types.”

“No,” Laurie sighed, “you’re certainly not that.”

“And besides, I’m not looking to tame someone,” he explained, “I just want a roommate, a tenant really, the arrangement is mutually beneficial and if the other party is reasonable, it’ll be like any other lease.”

“And if they decide they’d rather play catch the shrinkee?” Laurie asked.

“Then I’ll have to kick a little ass until they realize who they’re dealing with,” he said with a grin.

“I don’t even want to know what you have in mind,” Laurie said, rolling her eyes, “I’m pretty sure this is going to end with me racing down to the courthouse to file a claim on you before someone else does.”

“You said you’d do anything I needed when I shrank, right?” he said.

“I owe you that much,” she replied with a sigh.

“Okay, I need you to put out the following ad for me…”

…

Eve reread the housing ad again, sure she was missing something. Five-bedroom house, comes furnished, internet and utilities include… at THAT price? Seeking single tenant, no others currently living on premises, minimum lease one year. It was out in the sticks, sure, but the commute wouldn’t be too bad. No, she reasoned, there had to be something wrong with it. Full of rats, or destroyed on the inside? The pictures on the website seemed to show a house in decent repair, if with somewhat antiquated décor. The only thing that looked new was the television, a glistening flat screen amid furniture that belonged in the 1980s.

“Looking at places to live?” Amber asked over her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Eve muttered, “this place looks too good to be true though…”

Amber glanced at the listing, “maybe it’s some rich old bastard who just wants someone in it? You know, to keep squatters out or whatever.”

“I guess… I’m swinging by this place after work tomorrow, if it’s the real deal I’m moving in as soon as I can.”

…

Evan peered down at the living room from the ceiling vent. His prospective tenant would be coming in soon, and he wanted to make the right first impression. The old house had plenty of vents, but before shrinking he’d made some home improvements with the aim of making it easier to move around once he’d shrunk. The walls were riddled with tunnels, strings of Christmas lights snaked through them, providing lighting.

…

Eve stepped up to the door, purse under her arm. She frowned as she looked around the porch, she saw at least two security cameras, and from what she could tell the door was electronically locked. Well, she reasoned, it was a few miles away from the rest of town, and although the city could be reached with a fifteen-minute drive, from looking around at the surrounding terrain an observer could confuse it for a much more rural plot than it really was.

Taped to the front door was a key, with a handwritten note, “let yourself in.” That was odd too, what kind of landlord didn’t want to be there with the tenant when she walked through the property? She patted her purse unconsciously, feeling the bulge of the pepper spray in the side pocket. With a sigh she ripped the key off and put it into the lock.

…

Evan watched, hidden, as the woman stepped into the living room. Eve O’Mara, that was what the application had said, she worked in an office in town. No kids, no pets, she was ideal. Her brown hair shimmered slightly as she shut the door behind her, and she smoothed her office skirt a moment before looking around. She was good looking, that was for sure, with long legs and hint of muscle that suggested regular exercise.

 He heard a meow and a thud as Marshmallow leapt off his perch on the living room bookshelf.

“Why hello,” Eve said with a smile, watching the cat rub against her with a purr, “do you come with the house?”

She picked up the cat, who didn’t seem to mind, and continued her exploration. Most of the house appeared long unused, and a thin layer of dust covered many of the shelves. The bedrooms in particular had the slightly musty smell of a long unopened closet, and she left the doors open as she walked, hoping to air them out a little. Overall, the house was fantastic, she wasn’t able to find a single faucet or light switch that didn’t work, and she wondered again why the owner would be willing to rent it out at a price that wasn’t even half what she’d paid for her two-bedroom in town.

“Mrow,” the cat muttered.

“Let’s see if there’s any food for you,” Eve muttered, carrying the chubby feline down to the house’s kitchen. She wasn’t sure why there was a cat living here, but judging by the flab he wasn’t an outdoorsy one.

Evan had been spying on her during the entirety of her home inspection, and now he raced through the house hoping to beat her down to the kitchen. Marshmallow liked her at least, although in Evan’s opinion his cat was something of an idiot, even by cat standards. Smart cats didn’t get stuck in the trash can, or so he figured.

He had a bow slung across his back, toothpick arrows in a makeshift tinfoil quiver. His chest was bare, exposing his chiseled physique. Evan had always been in shape, but according to the experts on TV shrinking was great for the body, and his constant running and climbing around the property probably helped too.

He lifted a chunk of tile out of the way, quietly stepping out into the kitchen as he slid the cover back in place. From a big person’s perspective, it would be unnoticeable, Laurie always joked that he appeared like a ghost wherever he wanted. He had another entrance up on the counter of course, but he wanted to creep up on her.

He crept along the edge of the counter where it met the floor. He froze as the gigantic footsteps echoed through the kitchen, and he held his breath as a high heeled shoe as tall as he was clicked down on the tile in front of him. He could smell the mix of her sweaty nylons and the stale leather odor of the shoe, and for a moment he was in awe of the giant’s movements. Laurie came by often enough, but he’d known her forever, her size never really registered even when she literally picked him up in the palm of her hand. This woman though, this unknown, it left an impact.

When he was sure she didn’t notice him, he continued along the floor, reaching a small knotted twine rope that he hung at the very corner of the counter for easy access. It didn’t take him long to reach the countertop, where the giantess was humming to herself as she poured the waiting cat food from the bag of kibble.

“What do you think of the house?” he said boldly.

Eve froze, almost dropping the bag of cat food. She looked around for the source of the voice, her vision finally landing on the doll sized man waiting on the counter. Her first thought was that he was a looker, he had chiseled face and abs that she’d love to run her fingers over at any size. The second was that he was dressed like an action movie character, and she fought a giggle when she saw he even had a little headband to go with his camo pants and bow.

“Did you get that outfit from a GI Joe?” She asked teasingly, “do you have an owner around here somewhere little guy? She left her cat here too.”

“This is my house and that’s my cat,” Evan said, “seriously, do you like the place?”

“It’s great,” she said in an amused tone, “it’s your house? You’re…”

“Tiny, yeah,” he said, keeping a close eye on her, “so here’s the deal, I need a little cash flow to keep this place running. If you live here, you pay a nice low rent for a nice big house, also I want you to feed the cat, and maybe take care of a few things I can’t. Sound fair?”

“That sounds great,” she said with a predatory grin as she leaned over the counter, “but… if I’m understanding this, you don’t have a… oh what the hell do you people like them called… caretaker?”

“No,” he said, edging back nervously.

“Okay, here’s my counter offer,” she giggled, “you’re fucking mine now, your house is fucking mine. You can call me Miss O’Mara, and I don’t want to ever hear you use my first name without the appropriate prefix.”

“Prefix?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Goddess, your majesty, whatever you want,” Eve said, shrugging, “my friend is really into the whole shrinkee thing, in all the videos she sends me you guys are being appropriately respectful.”

“Hmm, okay, how’s this?” he flipped her his middle finger, defiantly staring down the giantess even as her blue eyes filled with rage.

“You little fucker!” she snarled, reaching for him with a darting motion that upset the catfood. Marshmallow yowled loudly, leaping to the floor and scampering for a hiding place.

Evan leapt out of the way, watching the bullet train of her arm go by him as her manicured hands gripped at the air. In one smooth motion he drew one of the toothpicks from his quiver, taking aim and firing the projectile up into her cheek with his bow.

“SON OF A BITCH!” she shouted, slapping her hand to her cheek in surprise. He grinned as he saw a drop of blood seep from between her fingers, and the fire in her eyes became an inferno.

He ran for the edge of the counter, leaping off of it just as her hand swiped by where he’d been. He felt the wind in his hair from the attempt to grasp him, and he laughed as he tucked and rolled on the floor. Falls from the counter were no problem for a shrinkee, particularly if you knew how to take them. He sprinted for a moment, sparing a glance back to gauge Eve’s reaction.

“Fuck!” she snarled, pulling the toothpick out of her cheek. It was a small wound, but it stung like a bitch. She saw Evan running for the living room, and with a sneer headed after him. She paused a moment, and then kicked off her heels to move faster.

Evan dove under an ottoman, and a moment later light filled the dark space as Eve hurled it over. He reached for his arrows again, but she loomed up over him, her nyloned foot darting out and pinning him easily.

The smell of her stale sweat overwhelmed his as the pressure rose, and he grunted as her toes flexed through the thin material.

“I hope you like the way that feels you little shit!” Eve sneered, “you’re going to fucking lick that foot clean every night this week to make up for that!” she gingerly touched her cheek, scowling as her finger came away with a small drop of blood. This felt… good, having someone completely at her mercy, literally under her foot. “You done playing hero?” She muttered darkly, pressing down a little.

“N-NNOT YET-“ he rasped, trying to twist his body against the pressure of her sole.

“I don’t know what you thought you were doing,” Eve snapped, “you’re tiny, you’re not a person anymore so-“ Pain shot through the side of her foot, and she screamed in pain as she stumbled backwards.

Evan stood up, a slightly bloody toothpick in his hand and a triumphant grin on his face. The thunderous sound of the giant hopping on one foot and screaming a torrent of swears echoed through the living room.

“Oh you little bastard!” Eve screamed, steadying herself to resume the chase, “I am going to torture the shit out of-“

“Marshmallow!” he shouted, and with a meow the chubby grey cat bounded towards him. He leapt up, catching the cat’s collar and letting the feline bound up the stairs with him in tow. Eve pounded up the stairs after them, rage on her face every step of the way.

“Where the hell are-“ she stopped, seeing the cat sitting and licking it’s paw in the middle of an otherwise empty room. She glanced around, frowning. He was hiding again, no doubt about it, and with an angry sigh she realized she’d probably lost him. The cat meowed curiously, looking up at her and flicking it’s tail back and forth. She knelt down and scratched it behind the ears, “Oh I’m not mad at you kitty…” she muttered.

Evan had already hidden himself back in the vents, and he watched as Eve swore angrily one final time, and left the room. His heart was pounding as he listened to her footsteps going down the hall. He felt terrified, and at the same time… good? He grinned, fighting the urge to jump for joy. That had been the most alive he’d felt since shrinking! He’d taken on a full-sized woman out to get him, and he’d won.

He allowed himself a laugh as he heard the door downstairs swing shut. His senses were starting to return to normal now, the pounding in his ears going away first. He sniffed suddenly, and he realized he smelled overwhelmingly like the woman’s sweaty feet… he also realized he was hard, harder than he’d been in a long time. He lightly gripped his erection in puzzlement, what was THAT about? Just the excitement of the fight, he reasoned.

…

“What the hell,” Laurie said, crossing her arms as he washed himself in the sink. “She tried to step on you?”

“Chased me around too, threatened to torture me!” he laughed. “God damn Laurie, I haven’t felt this good in…” he sighed, “I don’t even know.” He beamed, “I’m moving her in!”

“You’re out of your mind!” Laurie snapped, “this woman wants you to be her slave, Evan!”

“Yeah, that’s why this is going to be so satisfying!” he explained, “she’s going to pay my bills, take care of my house, feed my cat, and all I’ve got to do is stay ahead of her.”

“Do you really think you can?” Laurie asked.

“I think…” he thought a moment, “I think I can but… I really need this Laurie; I need to beat this girl. This whole shrinking thing stripped away everything.”

“It didn’t,” Laurie muttered quietly.

“I can’t protect people, I can’t help anyone,” he said angrily, “I can’t even take care of myself, or at least that’s what everyone seems to think. If I can’t handle some office barbie, then what the hell is the point of going on?”

“Fine,” Laurie said, defeated, “let me get my laptop and you can dictate an email to her…”

…

“So, you’re saying there’s a wild shrinkee, with a huge house out in the sticks?” Amber said excitedly.

“Yeah, but he’s not exactly a pushover,” Eve said, nursing her bandaged cheek. “He’s like, some kind of super-shrinkee or something.”

The two of them were in the break room, talking quietly over coffee. She’d filled Amber in on the surprise that her housing search had brought her. Her coworker seemed thrilled with the idea, and kept pressing her for more details.

“Do you think he has someone who helps him with stuff?” the redhead asked, “he’s got to, there’s no other way…” Her eyes lit up, “was he hot?”

“What?” Eve asked, a bit surprised.

“Was he hot, you know, if you’re going to keep a pet man, you want him easy on the eyes, right?”

“Yeah,” Eve admitted, “he definitely wouldn’t have trouble finding a girlfriend if he was full size, he looked like a moviestar or something.”

“You’ve got to go back for him!” Amber said eagerly, “a super sexy shrinkee who has a house?” She lowered her voice, looking around, “don’t let the word get out though, there aren’t a lot of shrinkees left unclaimed these days, and one with a big valuable asset like that? You know you get all of their stuff when you claim them!? Tiny hunters will be on him like flies on shit, the only reason I’m not driving out that way now is because you’re my friend.”

“Gee, thanks,” Eve chuckled, “but he’s got the whole place pretty secure, electronic locks, alarms, if I just start raising hell over there, I’ll bet he could get the cops on me and then I’m just some girl breaking and entering and ranting about a rogue shrinkee.”

Her phone beeped suddenly, and she pulled it out of her pocket to see what it was. Her eyes narrowed as she saw she’d received a new email, with a swipe of her finger she opened it, her eyes going wider with each line.

“What is it?” Amber asked curiously.

“To Ms. Eve O’Mara,” she read aloud, “I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to properly introduce myself yesterday, my name is Evan Armstrong, and I greatly enjoyed our meeting at my property.” She looked at Amber, who seemed as confused as her, “you seem like an ideal tenant, and I think that signing a twelve-month lease would be mutually beneficial. As discussed, in addition to rent payments due on the first of the month I will also require the occasional home maintenance and also assistance in feeding my cat, Marshmallow, who has taken quite a liking to you. All the best, Evan Armstrong.”

“What the fuck,” Amber whispered, “he’s offering to let you rent the place after all that?” She stifled a giggle, “he’s calling you out!”

“What!?” Eve almost shouted, “that bastard…” she snarled and started typing an email back, “what the fuck did you just say about me you little-“ she breathed out and stopped herself, deleting the message. “I’m glad to see that you’ve selected me to be your new tenant,” she said through gritted teeth, “I’ll move in this weekend, thank you for this opportunity!”

“Ooh, smooth,” Amber said with a smirk, “when you catch that guy you should rename him something really embarrassing.” She thought a moment, “Princess!” she laughed, “name him Princess!”

“I just might,” Eve growled.

…

Eve dropped her suitcases in the living room of her new home. Marshmallow purred and curled around her legs, welcoming her in. She sighed, glancing around at the vents, the furniture, the cupboards… so many hiding places.

“I know you’re watching,” she said, “and I want you to know, before this lease is up, I’m going to own everything here, including you.”

“Fat chance!” a voice echoed through the vent, “you couldn’t catch a cold!”

The game was on.

September

Eve lounged in the living room on the easy chair, her legs up on the ottoman and Marshmallow purring happily in her lap. The cat had taken to her easily, and she wondered if his tiny master was jealous. Evan had mad himself scarce since she’d moved in, and though she’d spent the first few days checking for hidden hiding spots and stashes, she’d concluded that most of his movement and resources had to be in the walls, out of her reach.

The tiny man spoke to her occasionally, and they’d managed a handful of conversations since she moved in. Usually, she’d hear his voice echoing from a vent, and maybe once a week he’d appear, like a ghost, on a table or countertop to talk with her. Mostly he’d been filling her in on things like the cat’s needs, ordering her to replace a lightbulb, and their conversation always ended with her making a run at him and trying to grapple the shrinkee. It irked her how quickly he managed to disappear, clearly despite his bravado he wasn’t eager for another direct confrontation like on the day they’d met.

That was fine, she decided. She had all the time in the world, if he wanted to play mouse for the opening moves, it didn’t matter. Moving in had been fairly routine, with the most mostly already furnished she didn’t need a lot, and she’d ended up leaving some of her own things on the curb rather than bring them here. She was going to get this whole house, and everything in it after all, why would she need her worn down old couch?

A knock at the door startled her. She pushed the protesting cat off her lap and went to answer it, wondering who could have any business all the way out here. She undid the locks and cracked the doorway, peering out to see a blonde woman in a straw hat and a pair of daisy dukes.

“You must be Eve,” she said with a smile, “I’m Laurie, could you let me in?”

“Look lady, I don’t know who you are-“ she began.

“Hi Laurie!” a voice called from her ankle.

Eve started, looking down and noticing Evan for the first time. He was wearing more normal clothes than the last time, and with a smile he waved to the visitor. Laurie leaned down to pick him up, and then walked by a stunned Eve. She followed the pair numbly to the kitchen.

“Uh,” She cleared her throat, “Laurie, right?”

The blonde woman paused, setting a grocery bag on the table, “yeah?”

“Give me that tiny now!” she demanded.

Evan looked up at Laurie, and then the two of them burst out laughing, “Uh, no?” Laurie chuckled, placing the tiny man on the counter. “Okay Evan, here’s the stuff you wanted,” she placed some cans of cat food on the counter, along with a few other unmarked boxes and one conspicuous bag of old-fashioned spiced gumdrops

“Seriously, give him to me or I’ll…”

Laurie rolled her eyes, squaring up with the other woman. Eve wasn’t in bad shape, she had a gym membership and she’d moved her well-used treadmill into the master bedroom, but Laurie was half a head taller than her and had some noticeable muscle even underneath her loose shirt.

“Looky here Eve,” Laurie explained, “I wholeheartedly disapprove of this stupid game Evan has decided to play with you, but while I’m here? Consider me the ref, and it’s time out. Understand?”

“Uh, sure,” Eve muttered meekly.

Evan walked to the edge of the counter, smugly regarding her, “Eve,” he began, “could you open this bag of gumdrops for me?” he pointed to them. Numbly Eve reached for the bag, easily tearing it open and placing it back on the counter.

“Oh, that’s good,” Evan muttered, picking up a black licorice flavor. He took a huge bite out of it, holding it in front of himself like a watermelon.

“Don’t let him eat too many of those,” Laurie told Eve, “Seriously, him eating a whole one of those things is like your or me eating an entire birthday cake.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Eve said, regaining some of her fire, “once I catch him he’s going on nutri-pellets for the rest of his life. I don’t want him losing that body-“ she stopped herself, blushing slightly.

“My body?” Evan chuckled, “wow, really?”

“You ain’t ugly,” Laurie said with a shrug, “Do you want anything else or should I get going?”

“Did you make an appointment for Marshmallow at the vet?” Evan asked.

“Yeah, Thursday at four,” Laurie said.

“Great,” Evan turned to Eve, “you’ll have to take him in.”

“What!?” Eve said, “listen here shrimp, I’m not your errand girl!”

“Yeah, you are,” Evan laughed, “unless you want me to evict you. I mean seriously, that’s half of why I wanted to move you in in the first place.”

Eve fumed a moment, looking at the fat grey cat watching them curiously, “Fine,” she muttered, “but every time you make me do this kind of thing, that’s another punishment you’re earning yourself at the end!”

“I’ll take my chances,” Evan said, crossing his arms, “besides, don’t you want to help Marshmallow?” The cat meowed for emphasis.

“He’s a sweetie, and I love him,” Eve said, “but you can’t seriously think you’re going to be able to order me around forever, I’m big and you’re just a shrinkee.” She looked at the cat a moment, “what’s wrong with him anyway?”

“He’s a fat fuck,” Laurie said, rolling her eyes, “also he needs shots.” She turned to leave, “Evan and I sometimes hang out on weekends,” she called, “so whatever horrible bitch things you have planned for him, make sure you’re not doing them while I’m here, or I’ll beat your ass.”

“Horrible bitch things?” Eve asked angrily, “where do you get off-“

“I just assume you’re a sociopath, seeing as how you think someone who shrinks should be your slave or whatever,” Laurie said, “personally I’d love nothing more than to throw you out right now, but Evan made me promise I wouldn’t.”

“Laurie please,” Evan said with an amused grin, “don’t threaten my tenant, she’s rough around the edges but she’s still learning her place in our relationship.”

“My place?” Eve snapped, “oh… someone’s definitely going to learn their place all right!”

“I’m so glad you’re coming around to my point of view,” Evan teased, causing the woman’s face to go red with fury.

“Look, I’ve got to run, I’ll come by and hang out on Saturday,” Laurie said, looking at the two of them, “you two have fun… or whatever.” With that she turned to leave, and a moment later they heard the front door slam.

Her gaze drifted down to Evan, still on the counter. He returned her look for a moment, a smile quirking at the corner of his mouth. With a snarl she bolted for him, but all she did was knock the gumdrops to the floor as he leapt away. With a shout he jumped off the counter, and by the time she moved around to the side he was gone. She swore angrily, tracing her finger along the baseboard, looking for a secret entrance. She didn’t find one, and as Even listened to her from his hiding spot below the tile, he fought a chuckle.

“Was that your girlfriend or something?” She shouted into a vent.

“Laurie!?” his laugh echoed back, “she’s a friend, more like a sister than anything, but she helps me out.”

“Why don’t you live with her?” Eve asked with a frown.

“What, and miss out on all the fun I have with you every day?” he mocked.

Her knuckles went white as she clenched her fists, “you know, I would have gotten you a nice doll house to live in, but now? Hamster cage, if you’re lucky!”

“Just pick me out a nice exercise wheel!” he laughed. The sound of his scampering feet through the vent told her that he was gone.

…

“Traps,” Amber said, tapping her desk with her fingers in thought, “you should put out traps for him.”

“I don’t think he’s stupid enough to take peanuts off a mousetrap,” Eve muttered, clicking away at her keyboard, “and even if he did, if he can live through getting stepped on, he can probably live through that.”

“Use sticky traps,” Amber said suddenly, “they’re perfect! Just put them out on places you think he goes a lot, eventually he’ll step in one and then boom! He’s yours.”

…

Eve grunted, pulling the glue traps apart and sticking them in rows along the baseboards of the floor. She figured he had to be hugging the walls, and his entrances to the labyrinth of tunnels and vents were probably near the edges of the room too.

“You need to cut that out,” a male voice echoed out of the floor vent.

She paused, leaning over it. She grinned wickedly as she saw him down there, beyond the grated bars. She could pull the grate off of course, but he’d be long gone by the time she did. Instead, she decided she’d have a talk.

“What’s wrong Evan?” she teased, “worried about getting trapped like the little rat you are?”

“No,” he laughed, “I’m never going to get caught by those things… you need to stop because… well, go down to the kitchen.”

She frowned, standing up and hurrying down the stairs. As she approached, she heard the cat’s mournful cry, a long low meow that made her pick up her pace.

“Marshmallow!” she cried. The cat was covered in the sticky traps, laying pathetically on the floor and giving soft said meows.

“You’re going to want to use olive oil to get those off,” Evan’s voice called from the vents, “also wear oven mitts, because he’s going to scratch the shit out of you.”

“How do you know that?” she snapped angrily.

“I actually put glue traps out myself back when I was scared of getting eaten by bugs,” he called back, “Same thing happened.” The cat mowed mournfully as Eve lifted him up to the sink.

…

“Whoa, did the tiny do that?” Amber asked, seeing the scratches up Eve’s arm.

“No,” Eve muttered, sitting down at her desk, “it was the cat… the whole glue traps thing didn’t work out.”

“Why are you taking care of his cat anyways?” Amber asked.

“I like Marshmallow,” she said defensively, “and if I’m taking all his stuff, I’m taking his cat too.”

Amber just rolled her eyes, “personally I’d have that thing crated up first thing, but if traps are out you need to try something else.” Amber bit her lip, stifling a giggle as she looked around, making sure none of their coworkers were nearby, “sex!” she whispered.

Eve blinked, “what!?” she hissed.

“You said he’s hot, right?”

Eve stuttered a moment, flustered, “I mean, he is, but I don’t think he’s going to jump into my pants if I offer it, he knows I’m trying to catch him!”

“Shrinkees are super vulnerable to pheromones,” Amber explained with a sigh, “you know how sharks can smell blood in the water from miles away? Shrinkees can smell if you’re turned on, it turns them on, it totally brainwashes them!”

“So, you’re saying if Evan gets a whiff of my…” she looked down at her skirt, “you know, he’ll do what I want?”

Amber shrugged, “the internet says so.”

“I don’t know about this,” Eve muttered.

“Look, you were going to keep him as a pet anyway, right?” Amber said with a grin, “what do you think people do with their shrinkees?” She shrugged, “you’re just skipping ahead a few steps.”

…

Eve felt like an idiot, stripping down to her underwear. She glanced around her bedroom, she hadn’t really thought about it until now, but Evan had probably been able to watch her changing whenever he wanted… She sighed and tried to push the thought away as she stepped into the hallway.

She didn’t have to look for him long, Evan was brazenly in the middle of the living room floor, scratching his enormous cat’s belly while the animal purred. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard her echoing footsteps, his body going loose as he prepared to sprint for one of his hiding places.

He blinked, doing a double take, “Uh, hi Eve, y-you’re in your underwear?” With a soft meow Marshmallow leapt up, abandoning him with the half-naked giantess as he scurried out of the room. The cat liked them both of course, but he’d learned there was a lot of yelling and chasing whenever the two were in the room together.

Eve smirked, pleased that she’d thrown the up until now unflappable tiny man off his game. She walked forward, enjoying the stunned look on his face. He wasn’t fleeing, it seemed that his mind had shut down. She fought to keep the sultry expression on her face as excitement built inwardly, she was so close to him now… if she jumped- No, she forced the notion aside, he was too quick and any sudden movement would cause him to scatter.

“Hi Evan,” she said in a husky tone, “it’s just so humid, fall’s just not quite here yet, you know?” She stretched, letting the tiny man at her feet get a good look at her breasts, straining against the black bra.

“Yeah,” he said slowly, “really humid.”

 he was suddenly very aware of how close he’d let her get. He debated bolting for one of his mouseholes, but he didn’t want her knowing where the one in the living room was… and besides, she was gorgeous. For obvious reasons Evan’s dating life had been nonexistent since shrinking, and he felt arousal stir within him.

“I’ve been thinking,” Eve said, biting her lip, “have you been watching me? Up in my bedroom?”

“No,” he said without hesitation, and it was true, enemy or not it hadn’t felt right to peek in on her in private like that.

“That’s too bad,” Eve said, “I’ve been so pent up lately, you know?” her hand drifted down to the hem of her panties, and her fingers slowly dipped inside. She was surprised at just how wet she actually was, and as her fingers traced a slow rhythm, she gave a low moan. “I’d kind of hoped you were watching,” she lied, “I figure a tiny guy like you, all alone up here for so long… you’ve got to be pent up too, right?”

Rational parts of his mind were in the backseat screaming bloody murder, alarm klaxons were sounding as his libido took the wheel. He gulped, wondering if she could see his erection from all the way up there, he could certainly smell her arousal from his spot on the floor…

“I uh…” he shifted nervously, “I mean I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to… if you’re proposing we-“ he tried to find the words, he’d planned for a dozen scenarios to deal with anything Eve could throw at him, he had contingencies for her flooding him out, using drones, even poison gas, none of his plans involved the giant woman propositioning him in her underwear though…

She giggled, slowly sliding her panties down. She caught the leg hole on the end of her toe, gripping the fabric and holding it over Evan’s tiny form like a massive black tarp.

“Oops,” she said, letting it fall onto him.

The slightly damp panties enveloped him easily, crashing over him like a wave and smothering him with the rich silky scent of her aroma. Instinctively he hugged them to him, taking a deep breath and feeling himself becoming rock hard.

He heard a soft thudding sound, and he pulled the giant pair of panties away from his face and saw Eve kneeling down, looming over him with a lustful look on her face. His heart skipped a beat, was this it? She was right on top of him, there wouldn’t be any escaping this time if she-

Her hand shout out, grabbing him before he could finish the thought. Eve’s breathing picked up, she was unbelievably turned on herself, and the feeling of her arousal mixed with the excitement of finally having Evan in her grasp. The two stared at each other for a moment, both of their faces flushed.

“Bedroom?” Eve asked, licking her lips.

“Yeah,” Evan agreed, mouth dry.

The two of them were silent as Eve plodded up the stairs, her tiny prisoner in her hand. Both of their minds were racing over the insanity of the situation, this could be it, the end of their entire tug of war right here and now, but what had started as a lure had suddenly become a very genuine desire.

Eve lay on her bed, loosening her grip on Evan so she could pull his tiny pair of pants off. His cock sprang free, and her mouth watered as she took in his naked body for the first time. She had to have him!

“Have you done anything with normal size people since shrinking?” she asked eagerly.

“Uh, no,” he said, fighting down a wave of pleasure as her soft fingers traced over his erection, “did you ever do anything with tiny people?”

“Nope,” Eve replied, “I uh… watched some videos.”

He was about to inquire further, when her tongue came out, licking up his body. He coughed and sputtered as her saliva coated him, but the tongue came again, relentlessly coating him in her slobber and easily overpowering any attempt to push it away. It snaked between his legs briefly, and his eyes almost rolled back in his head as she teased him slightly, the powerful appendage swirling back and forth over him.

“There we go,” she said, pulling away with a smile, “I think you’re nice and lubed up enough to go in.”

“Go in-“ he started, but the world blurred as she brought him down to face the massive and waiting lips of her pussy, the slick pink opening almost inviting him in with it’s intoxicating smell. He didn’t have a chance to ask any more questions, he was thrust inside her, easily sliding into her grip as he was enveloped by the warm wet walls.

“Oh yeah,” Eve breathed, touching herself slightly as she continued forcing him in, “that’s it, fight me, Evan!”

He thrashed inside her, the powerful walls squeezing him in a powerful grip that overwhelmed is entire body. The silky juices soaked his skin, letting him slide deeper and providing a jolt of pleasure every time the slick flesh contracted around him.

Outside Eve moaned loudly, picking up her speed and causing the pressure on Evan to increase so much that for one wild moment he worried he would be crushed. As the contractions of her orgasm continued, the motion of her pussy against him rocked his body, causing his own orgasm as the soft and silky walls compressed and rubbed Evan’s tiny form.

Eve cried out one final time, leaning back on the bed as the movement below subsided. A moment later a drenched and dazed Evan slipped his way out, landing with a wet *plop* on the bed. The bedsprings creaked as Eve sat up, looking at the object of her pleasure laying surrounded on all sides by her thighs.

“Evan,” she said in a commanding voice, “you are now my slave.”

He blinked, “What?”

She bit her lip, “I order you, crawl into my hand!” she lowered her palm next to him.

He sat up, “No?” he said curiously.

“Damnit!” she muttered, “I knew the internet was full of shit!”

“Hold on,” Evan laughed, “you believed that stupid rumor that your pussy would hypnotize me or whatever?”

“I mean, it kind of looked like it was working at first!” she protested.

“I wasn’t hypnotized, I’m just an idiot,” he muttered.

“Well that makes two of us I guess,” Eve said, rolling her eyes.

“Eh, I had fun,” Evan said, standing up.

“It was pretty great,” Eve agreed with a smile, “we’ll have to do that all the time, NOW THAT YOU’RE MINE!” her hand dove for him, but with a quick leap he was over the barrier of her crossed legs and sprinting for the edge of the bed.

“Too slow!” he shouted. The naked man took a leap off the edge of the bed, and Eve just collapsed backwards angrily, not even bothering to pursue him.

…

“Well, someone’s glowing,” Amber said with a smile as Eve sat down at her desk. “Get laid?”

“Kind of,” Eve admitted.

“The shrinkee?” Amber whispered excitedly. “Was it as fun as it looks online?”

“And then some,” Eve murmured, “when I get him, I know just what I’m putting him to work doing.”

“When you get him?” Amber asked, “are you saying you literally had him up your…” she gestured at Eve’s skirt, “and he STILL managed to get away from you?”

“Yeah?” Eve said, embarrassed.

Amber sighed angrily and rolled her eyes, “Eve, I love you girl, but you’re an idiot.”

…

Eve saw Evan on the kitchen counter as she came home from work, shoveling food down into the cat’s bowl while the feline waited below. He glanced up at her, but kept up his task, simply watching her warily. She stopped at a respectable distance, making sure she wasn’t getting too close for his comfort.

“Are we going to talk about what happened?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Do we have to?” He asked, leaning on the tiny shovel. “We both had some fun, and now we’re back to you making an idiot of yourself trying to catch me.”

“I WILL catch you one of these days,” she growled, “so maybe you could try being nicer?”

“I could,” he said with a cocky grin that made her blood boil, “but I don’t think you’re ever going to manage it.” He left the shovel and started walking backwards towards the counter edge, no doubt preparing for another of his disappearing acts, “finish filling Marshmallow’s bowl!” he called, letting himself fall backwards off the edge.

She stood there, seething a moment, then with a sigh went to refill the food bowl. Marshmallow meowed happily at her feet as she worked. She was going to have to step up her efforts, she decided.

October

“Okay, so you wanted candy corn,” Laurie said, placing a bag on the counter, “then a cat Halloween costume for Marshmallow…” she showed the feline pirate outfit to Evan, who nodded as she laid it on the counter next to him.

“I assume I’m supposed to put that on him?” Eve asked, her arms crossed. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do during Laurie’s visits, it irked her that Evan used the other woman’s presence to brazenly move around in the open like this.

“Yeah, but just for Halloween,” Evan said with a smile. “Also, you need to replace the air conditioning filter.”

“Why can’t you have her do it?” Eve asked, pointing at Laurie.

The blonde rolled her eyes, “The reason that Evan here puts up with a sociopath like you trying to turn him into a pet is that you’re supposed to do that kind of thing. If I do it, we won’t have any need for you now, will we?”

“Fine,” Eve muttered, eyeing the large replacement filter Laurie had left on the table, “I guess it’s a good idea to get used to maintaining the house, after all I’m going to own it pretty soon.”

“That’s the spirit,” Laurie said, “between us big people though? I’m pretty sure half the reason you’re here is because Evan gets off on the idea of making a full-size person do all his grunt work.”

“Sure do,” Evan laughed, causing Eve’s face to go crimson.

“I am going to spit in your water bottle every day,” Eve seethed, “then we’ll see who thinks it’s funny to make big people do their grunt work!”

“Eve,” Evan said, doing a faux thoughtful stroke of his chin, “if I bought a cocktail kit, would you mix drinks for me?”

“Mix drinks for you-“ She scowled, “you are just digging the hole deeper tiny!”

“Would you two fuck and get it over with already!” Laurie laughed. The two of them froze, silence filling the room. Laurie’s face went pale, “oh my god, you did,” she muttered.

“I-It was an elaborate ruse to catch him,” Eve said quickly. “It didn’t quite pan out, but-“

“I saw through it from the start,” Evan said, “I just uh…”

“You two both need therapy,” Laurie muttered, turning to leave, “I’ll see you next week Evan, try not to fall for any more honey traps.” The door slammed a moment later.

Eve’s gaze drifted back over to Evan, who was eyeing the candy corn bag, “hey,” he said slowly, “uh, Laurie forgot to open this.”

Eve rolled her eyes and walked over to the bag. Evan backed away from it, making sure to stay out of arm’s reach from her as she tore it open. She popped a few pieces of the candy into her mouth, chewing them thoughtfully as he waited. She smiled and grabbed a few more.

“Hey save some of those for me,” he said.

“Oh, you want these?” she mocked, holding the candy corn bag towards him slightly, “come get them!” She paused, “you know, if I had a tiny man, he could eat all the candy corn he wanted.”

“Bullshit, you threaten to put me on nutri-pellets like every other day,” he said.

“For your health though, I’m going to hold on to these,” she said with a smirk.

“How thoughtful of you,” he muttered.

Eve laughed as she took his candy and walked away, the click of her heels along the tiled floor accentuating her small victory.

…

Evan grunted, slamming the thumb tack into the bark of the tree as he adjusted his twine harness. Climbing a tree was a more herculean effort than it had been, but much more rewarding too. The oak in the front yard was full of the red and yellows of fall, a few leaves falling here and there across the yard. He looked down over the landscape with a grin, forcing himself higher.

The autumn sun hung low in the sky, giving the long shadows of the tree and house a somewhat ominous look over the swampy wetlands surrounding the property. Although the days still managed to be muggy, there was a hint of a chill on the breeze as it ruffled the leaves around him.

Evan took off the climbing harness and walked out onto one of the branches, wiping sweat from his forehead and enjoying the view. He smiled with satisfaction, shrinking took a lot away from him, but it had brought its own share of small pleasures, no pun intended.

“Enjoying yourself?” Eve called up to him.

He glanced down to see her, standing at the tree’s trunk. She had a smug grin on her face, and a carrying terrarium at her side like one would use to transport a small animal. In her other hand she had a hockey mask, and as he peered down at her in confusion, she slipped it on, covering her face.

“Hi Eve, nice afternoon, isn’t it?” he called.

“I’ve been watching you,” she said, her voice muffled by the hockey mask. “You like to come out and play in the yard… So I figured I’d just wait.” She spread her arms triumphantly, “no secret hidey holes out here!” She pointed up at the branch he was on, “and you’re up in a tree, with no way down!”

He gently reached back for his bow and quiver, then paused. He grinned as he realized why she’d put on the hockey mask, and he noticed it even had a pair of plastic inserts to protect her eyes. He’d started to worry that she wouldn’t ever try anything but grabbing at him when he was in the open. His heartbeat picked up, excitement coursing through him as he began to think about ways to escape.

Eve seemed to notice his hesitation, “That’s right tiny,” she called up, “I realized I was going to have to really think for this one!”

“A new experience, I’m sure!” he called down with a smile. He ignored her fuming and stood up on the branch, trying to calculate how far he could leap. He frowned as he realized that the grass and weeds around the tree were cut a lot shorter than the rest of the lawn, he wouldn’t be scurrying through the undergrowth.

“That’s right,” Eve shouted up at him, “no ground cover! You made me handle all the lawn care stuff, so I decided to make a little request when the landscaper came by this week! Extra short everything around the tree!”

“Damnit,” he muttered, she’d planned ahead… this was a lot more than he’d given her credit for.

“Starting to regret making me do all your grunt work?” Eve crowed triumphantly.

“Not at all, you’re doing a great job!” he teased.

Mentally he was calculating a landing, shrinkees were pretty durable, but a fall from this height could still break a bone. Not that broken bones were a huge hassle for him of course, tiny people healed so fast that he would be walking right after a few hours, but he certainly wouldn’t be running from a giantess after snapping his fibula. He thought over the bow again, her face was protected, and his “arrows” were too weak to penetrate most clothing, but she had some exposed skin on her arm… No, that would just piss her off, and not in the right way either.

His thoughts were interrupted by the branch suddenly shaking, and he hurriedly steadied himself. His heart sank as he saw a massive butterfly net poking at the branch, trying to work its way around the tree’s leaves and get at him.

“Come here you!” Eve shouted. She pushed again, causing the leaves to rustle and some of the colored foliage to fall around her as she tried to force Evan into the net.

He quickly looked around, hoping to see anything that would cushion his fall. Briefly his gaze lingered over Eve, although the temperature was dropping she was still wearing an open topped shirt, her cleaving bouncing slightly as she poked at the branch with the net. A wild thought crossed his mind, and he stifled a giggle as he prepared to leap.

With a cry he flew through the air, his arms and legs flailing. Eve’s eyes went wide with shock as she saw where he was aiming, but it was too late for her to move. She squealed in surprise as his body landed in her cleavage with a light slapping sound, and she dropped her tools, going for him even as he squirmed lower.

Her breasts had definitely provided the soft landing he needed, and he took a deep breath of her lilac scented skin, the lingering smell of her soap mixing with the slight tinge of her sweat. Her skin was just oily enough that he could force his way down, fighting through the squeezing soft globes around him even as she fumbled with her top, trying to grip his foot. He felt himself wriggle free, sliding down through the fabric of her shirt. Light met his eyes and he did his best to flip himself, landing if not on his feet, then at least not on his head.

“What the hell!?” Eve muttered, her head darting down. With a growl she lifted a foot over him, trying to stomp him into the grass and pin him in place, but he was already moving even when her tennis shoe slammed into the ground behind him, causing a brief gust of wind through his hair and shaking the ground slightly.

He sprinted with all his might towards the porch. He could slip underneath it; he had an entrance underneath the front steps and if he could reach it-

The butterfly net slammed down around him, and he was swept off his feet as Eve quickly twirled the handle, sweeping him up in it. He quickly became tangled, and with surprising speed her hands snaked up the pole and gripped the bottom part of the net, cutting off the top as an option to escape.

“Yes!” She said, fighting the urge to jump up and down, “YES YES YES!” She laughed for a minute, savoring the feeling of the tiny man caught up in the net. With a happy sigh she brought the net over to the open carrying terrarium, dumping Evan in unceremoniously and then quickly clicking the lid latch closed. Discarding the net, she almost skipped back to the house, jostling her tiny captive in the plastic container.

Marshmallow meowed a happy greeting as she strutted into the house, collapsing in the armchair to view her prize. She held the plastic container up to her face, her grinning face filling his field of vision. Evan stared at her defiantly, forcing himself to remain calm. He’d always expected to be trapped at some point, and he reminded himself of that as his heart rate picked up, this was nothing to be scared of, he just had to wait for the opportunity to get out again. It wasn’t over until she had him at the vet and chipped.

Her fingers tapped the plastic walls of his prison, interrupting his thought, “So what now tiny? Got a little saw in there?”

“Nope,” he admitted, crossing his arms. “I’m just going to wait for you to fuck up.”

“You know, our little… encounter last month has really has me rethinking this whole tiny slave thing,” Eve mused, her breath fogging the glass slightly. “I think that maybe it could be… mutually enjoyable?”

“You’re constantly threatening to torture me,” he said with a smirk, “that sounds kind of one-sided.”

“You are just the cockiest little shit,” she muttered, biting her lip, “take the clothes off.”

He blinked, “what?”

“When your goddess says take the clothes off, you take the clothes off!” she said, her voice raising a bit. She shook the cage slightly, giggling as the tiny man was tossed around inside of it, his head hitting the side with a *thunk*.

He growled, rubbing his head as he stood up, but he reached down to the hem of his shirt. Eve’s eyes lit up excitedly as he pulled it off, letting her see his bare chest. A slight sheen of sweat covered his abs, and Eve’s mouth went dry as she leaned in closer, enjoying the show. He tossed his bow and quiver down too, the wooden toothpick-arrows rattling slightly.

“The pants,” she rasped. He reached for his waist, making eye contact and trying to decide whether to be annoyed or flattered. She rolled her eyes, “come on, it’s not like I haven’t seen it already!”

“Oh, so do I have permission to spy on you changing then?” he teased.

“You’ll never get the chance ever again,” Eve spat, watching his pants fall. “Mmm… nice,” she whispered, seeing his naked body in full. She lowered the cage, glaring down at him through the plastic air slats in the top. “You know Evan, they say all tiny guys eventually develop a thing for feet.” She shrugged, “some combination of being around them so much, and all the pheromones and stuff just overwhelming your tiny senses.”

“Yeah, just like your amazing pussy was going to turn me into a hypnotized slave,” he said.

“Let’s test it then,” Eve replied with a sultry grin.

She placed the carrying container on the ground, unbuckling the top with one smooth motion. Evan peered up at the smooth plastic sides, he could definitely jump higher than he could before he’d shrunk, relatively anyway, but it looked too high to clear. He watched inside the container as Eve kicked off her tennis shoes, then peeled her socks off with a hooked finger, letting them tumble to the carpet with a pair of muffled *thumps* he could feel at this size. She flexed her toes, and even from here he could smell the stale odor of sweat.

“It’s starting to get colder; you can definitely feel it at night,” she chuckled, “but out here? With all these wetlands?” She hovered her enormous foot over the top of the terrarium, “it still gets pretty muggy.”

For a moment Evan thought about diving for the bow, discarded on the far side of the terrarium, but he found himself watching her flexing toes, awestruck. The smell washed over him, the stale and almost vinegary odor of a foot that had spent all day in a sock… why did it smell good?

“What’s that I see?” Eve giggled.

He looked down in shock and realized he had a raging erection, “I…” his heart was racing, that stupid foot thing couldn’t possibly be true, could it? Slowly, deliberately, her foot started moving lower, filling the terrarium. She was moving at a speed that would easily let him dodge it, if he wanted to… but he didn’t move or fight back as her sole made contact with him, forcing his body down and eventually onto his back. The ripe odor filled his nostrils, and his skin was immediately coated by the thin sheen of oily sweat as the massive fleshy foot ground him into the hard plastic floor of the container.

“Let’s go ahead and assume the foot one was true then,” Eve giggled, “or… well, did you like feet before you shrank?”

“No!” he wheezed, “b-but maybe I just never- maybe it’s not related to shrinking?”

“Nature vs nurture, I get it,” Eve mused, slowly rubbing her sweaty foot up and down along his body, “at this point though, does it matter?” He groaned in pleasure as the soft skin of her foot rubbed against his manhood, lubricated by the pungent grime. She paused her motion, and he looked up at her pleadingly.

“Well?” he demanded, gripping her toes eagerly.

She laughed and rolled her eyes, “I’m not going to keep going unless you admit you love being at my feet.”

“Fine, I love being at your feet,” he said, teeth gritted.

“You didn’t mean it!” she said with a laugh, “beg to cum on your goddess’s soles!”

Evan gripped the two toes surrounding his head tighter, almost hard enough to make Eve cry out in surprise. He thought it over a moment, he hated it, but he really wanted this… It was just for fun, he reasoned, he should have fun with it.

“Please goddess,” he shouted, “please keep going, let me cum on your feet!”

“Fuck yes,” she said eagerly. She started moving her foot again, in a forceful slow rhythm that caused her tiny captive to spasm. “This is life for shrinkees, begging for favors beneath your owner’s feet!” She laughed as he moaned in pleasure, “don’t worry Evan, we’ve had our ups and downs, but I’m going to treat you as my special little pet.” She picked up her speed, and Evan’s eyes rolled back in his head as the pungent foot dominated his senses. He went limp as her toes seemed to clench around his head, and he came a moment later in a spray that seemed to last an eternity. His vision went white, his senses erased by the overwhelming beauty and power of Eve’s foot.

He blinked a moment later as the pressure on his body released. His ears had popped, and he took a breath and forced himself to focus as he saw her foot lifting off him. That had been… that had been something, that was for sure. He forced his mind to stop asking himself questions, he could sort out his issues, and he certainly DID have issues, when he was safely back in the walls.

“Wow,” Eve said, looking at the small wet spot on her sole, “that is a large load for a small guy.” She licked her thumb, running across the sole of her foot and easily scooping up what he’d left there. With a sucking noise she stuck it into her mouth, sucking his orgasm away in less than a second. She sighed happily and stood up, “You have no idea how happy I am to finally have this over,” she beamed. She leaned over and picked up one of her balled socks, tossing it into the terrarium before snapping the lid back shut. “Just a little treat for you,” she giggled, “since we both know you’re a foot guy now.”

Evan’s face wrinkled as the smell of the worn sock washed over him, adding insult to injury it rolled in his direction, knocking him off his feet as she picked up the carrying case and brought it to the kitchen. She placed him on the counter triumphantly, and with a giggle reached over to the bag of candy corn.

“A little treat for my good pet,” she taunted, opening the cage and letting a few of the sugary kernels drop in. “Now you just wait here, I’m going to call the vet and we’ll make an appointment to get you chipped.” She hummed as she left the room.

Evan grabbed one of the candy corn pieces, taking a large bite and savoring the flavor as he thought over his situation.

“Mrow,” Marshmallow leapt onto the counter, and Evan grinned.

“Hey,” he said, “come on kitty, don’t you want a belly rub?” he waved towards himself, and the cat stared at him dumbly. He rolled his eyes, “come on, you’ve knocked over literally everything I’ve ever put on this counter.” He fought a shout of triumph as the cat began pawing at the corner of the container. It didn’t’ take long before half the container was edged over the side of the counter, and he braced himself as the curious tabby gave it the final push.

“Yes I’ve caught a tiny,” Eve said to the vet, “I’m looking for a standard chipping, and maybe some disciplinary supplies-“ She heard a crash and froze, “I’ll call you back!” she breathed, hanging up the phone. She ran towards the kitchen, and fought down a shout of rage as she saw the shattered plastic remains of her terrarium on the floor. Worse yet the candy corn bag was gone too, how the hell had he managed that? Her gaze drifted to the cat, his tail stupidly swishing behind him as he looked up at her.

“Meow?” Marshmallow intoned.

“Motherfucker,” she whispered angrily.

“Can you really blame the cat?” Evan called from the floor vent, “I mean he’s knocked so much of your stuff over; you should have expected this.”

“You begged to cum on my foot!” she fired back, “you took a step towards being mine, and you know it!” She grinned with satisfaction as he didn’t answer, the pitter patter of his footsteps through the vent telling her he’d fled rather than have THAT conversation.

…

“What’s up losers?” Laurie said, barging in through the front door. “Evan, you still a free man?”

“For now,” Eve muttered, looking up from her phone, “I’m wearing him down, any day now he’ll-“

“I’m trying to get Eve to fix the roof,” he said, appearing from nowhere. “Seriously, I think she’d be great at it if she’d just watch these youtube videos I sent her-“

“She has your number?” Laurie asked curiously. “You know she could track you with that.”

“The phone company just tells me he’s at this property,” Eve muttered, “and now he texts me all the time to be an asshole.” She looked around briefly, wondering where Evan’s phone was hidden.

“Yeah, he does that,” Laurie said with a chuckle, “Okay Evan, you ready for the yearly Halloween movie feature?”

“Night of the Living Dead!” he said excitedly, pumping his fist as he walked towards his giant friend.

“Isn’t that movie ancient?” Eve asked, putting her phone away.

“Sure is,” Laurie said, producing a blue-ray as she walked to the TV. “Evan can tell you the whole history of this piece of shit movie.”

“Don’t call Night that ever again,” Evan growled up at her.

“If you hate it, why are you here to watch it with him?” Eve asked, crossing her arms.

“My dad and I watched this movie every Halloween together for years,” Evan explained, “and Laurie watched it with me every year after he passed away.”

“Oh,” Eve said, shifting uncomfortably, “well, I’ve never seen it… and once you’re my slave I guess I’ll probably let you keep watching it…” she walked over and sat down on the couch. She glanced at the setting sun outside a moment, “will we get any trick or treaters out here?”

“Pfft,” Evan muttered walking along the floor, “the nearest house is over a mile away, we won’t see anyone.”

“I brought candy anyway,” Laurie said, walking to the kitchen with a bag of microwave popcorn. A box of something flew through the air and hit Eve in the face, causing the brunette to cry out in surprise and nearly fall over. “Milk duds!” she called.

“Hey, Eve,” Evan shouted from the floor, “pick me up and give me some of those.”

Eve froze, “you want me to… pick you up?” she asked curiously.

He shrugged, “Laurie’s here, and besides it’s a holiday, let’s call a truce.”

Eve hesitated, looking down at him. He simply held his arms up expectantly. With a frown she leaned over, sliding her thumb and forefinger under his armpits, half expecting him to bolt for the wall at any given moment. He didn’t, and in a slow, confused, movement, she drew him up to her lap and sat him down.

“The milk duds?” he said expectantly. She slid one out of the box, and handed it down to him, where he bit into like a ripe melon.

“How do you stay in shape eating this kind of crap all the time?” she asked, looking at the milk duds. “I swear you eat your body weight in candy every time you come out of hiding.”

“I spend half my day running away from you,” he retorted, “also I’ve got a bunch of jerky and nuts and stuff hidden in my stashes.”

“Stashes?” she asked.

“Yeah, what did you think I ate most of the time?”

“My leftovers,” she said slowly, “I even left them out deliberately so you wouldn’t go hungry…” she thought a moment, “if it hasn’t been you eating those then who-“

“Mrow!” the obese grey cat landed in Eve’s lap, causing her to exhale loudly from the force of the impact.

“Consider the mystery of why Marshmallow’s diet isn’t working solved,” Evan muttered.

“Who wants popcorn?” Laurie called.

“Just set it over here,” Evan shouted, his friend lowered the bowl, setting it on the couch next to Eve as the opening credits started to roll. He leapt out of her hands, causing her to start as he dove into the popcorn bowl. His face surfaced a moment later, butter marring his face as he took a bite of a huge piece. He saw Eve’s judgmental face and scowled, “Look,” he said, “nine out of ten things about shrinking suck, diving into a bowl of popcorn like a swimming pool is one of the tenth things.”

The movie started in full, and Eve found herself drawn in. The old black and white horror flick was one she’d never seen before; in fact, she hadn’t seen many horror movies at all. As the climax of the film approached and the zombies began tearing the rural farmhouse apart Eve couldn’t help but look around at their own house’s walls… how sturdy were they? She suddenly wondered. Evan’s tunnels couldn’t be helping the structural integrity. A sound behind them thumped and she jerked around, her heart pounding and then slowing as she saw Marshmallow hopping off the kitchen counter.

The movie came to an end, the ominous theme playing over the farmhouse as the credits rolled. Eve found herself shivering slightly, how could it have ended that way? What kind of movie told a story like that! She gulped slightly, listening to the wind whistling outside.

“Well guys, it’s been fun,” Laurie said. She stood up and stretched, pausing a moment, “Eve, before I head out, let Evan go.”

She gulped, not realizing she’d been holding the tiny man rather closely to her, “R-Right,” she muttered, “just seems fair.” Hesitantly, she lowered Evan down to the floor. The shrunken man almost casually walked towards the walls.

Eve suddenly felt oddly alone, “Uh, hey Laurie!” she said suddenly, “want to stick around for a few? Maybe watch something else?”

Laurie paused, an odd smile on her face, “Eve, you’re not… scared, are you?”

“No!” she said quickly, “I uh…” she shot a look at Evan, “I just want Evan to know I’m not going to grab him, because it’s a holiday and all, truces and all that.”

“Go for it,” Evan said with a smirk, “Look at me, I’m right out here in the open.”

Eve gulped, “Er…”

“Look, you don’t have to worry about zombies,” Laurie laughed, “you need to worry about the ghosts of all the dead guys Evan’s uncle killed when he was in the mob. He buried them all in the basement here.”

Eve’s face went white, “W-what?”

“It’s not true!” Evan shouted suddenly, “Eve, she’s full of shit!”

“They say he chopped them up so they’d all fit,” Laurie said in a low voice, “and when you hear the steps in the walls?” She whispered, “the ghosts of the rats he fed them to!”

“That’s ME in the walls!” Evan insisted, “and there is nothing paranormal going on here!”

“I’ll leave you guys to figure this one out,” Laurie chuckled, “good night!” she closed the door, leaving them alone with the sound of the cold autumn wind and the groaning of the old house.

Eve looked around, suddenly noticing all the dark corners. Marshmallow curled against her, seeming to sense her nervousness as sharp dry leaves clattered across the driveway. She gulped, trying to assure herself that her fears were ridiculous.

“Evan?” she said quietly, but the tiny man was already gone. She fought the urge to call for him again, and stood up. The wind howled again, and she took the steps one at a time, more aware of their creaking than usual. On some level she knew this was all ridiculous, but the thought of what might be lurking around in the darkness of the house was at the forefront.

She stopped at her door, and blinked a moment, her heart racing in fear of nothing, “Evan?” she repeated. She took a breath, “EVAN!?” she said louder.

“What?” his voice echoed out of the vent, “it’s kind of late Eve, I don’t really want to be chased-“

“Just come hang out in my room for a little while!” she pleaded.

There was silence a moment, “What?” he said finally, “why?”

“I’m just a little… on edge,” she admitted, shifting slightly as she looked around the hallway for a sign of his hiding spot.

“Scared?” Evan taunted, “it was just a movie, Eve.”

“I’m not used to that kind of movie, and I’m not used to living all the way out here in the middle of nowhere, alone!” she snapped.

Evan was quiet a minute, “fine, just a second.”

She walked into her room, sliding under the covers and fighting a squeal as something thudded ominously. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was just the cat, leaping up to the edge of her bed to curl up.

“Okay, go to sleep,” Evan muttered. She peered through the dark room and spotted him on a dresser on the far side. He hefted his little bow, rolling his eyes, “I’ll keep all the ghosts and ghoulies away.”

“Uh…” she gulped, “thanks, I know it’s silly but-“

“Go to sleep, I’m not hanging out here all night,” he growled.

…

Eve blinked awake, the rays of sun coming in through her window. With a stretch she glanced over at the dresser, and her heart leapt when she saw the tiny man had fallen asleep, leaning against the mirror. He looked so cute, sleeping there like that… had he just drifted off by accident? She looked down at the carpet and wondered if she could creep up on him before he woke up.

No, she decided, she’d let this one pass, it just didn’t seem right to capture him after begging him to be her security blanket like that. Evan stirred slightly, and Eve put her head back on the pillow, pretending to be asleep. Evan swore under his breath at his carelessness, falling asleep in his enemy’s bedroom like this, then she heard the scampering sound of his little feet as he fled.

She sat back up, looking at the now empty room and sighed. Right thing or not, she already regretted letting him go, now she wanted him more than ever!

November

The last lingering vestiges of summer were gone, traded for the sounds and scents of autumn ruling the day as they fought the encroaching silence of winter by night. The trees on the property were bare, and Evan didn’t feel like going outside much this time of year anyway, while he wasn’t in any danger of freezing in a stiff breeze, shrinkees couldn’t hold body quite as effectively as full-sized people, no matter how much they bundled up.

He sat on the windowsill, watching the first flakes of an early snow falling outside. They probably wouldn’t stick, but it was still nice to watch them. The cat was curled up on the couch, having made a makeshift nest on one of Eve’s blankets. Evan glanced out at the driveway, wondering when Eve would be home… and what a weird think to look forward to? He couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

…

“So you’re still doing this cat and mouse bullshit with him?” Amber asked angrily, “you’re fucking killing me with this Eve.”

“He’s a lot smarter than you think,” Eve said, “tough too.”

“Are you writing him a dating profile?” Amber snapped, “come on girl, get your head back in the game! This is a shrinkee we’re talking about!” The other woman angrily clacked keys in her own cubicle for a few minutes, an awkward silence passing between them.

“You know they say Charles is due to shrink sometime over the holiday,” Amber said, “they’re pretty good at predicting what day it’ll hit you now.”

“Uh, good for him I guess, shrinking at home…” Eve said.

“I was hoping it would happen while he was here,” Amber said with a wicked grin, “he would have ridden out the rest of the day at the bottom of my shoe, then we’d go home and have a little fun.” She looked around, leaning in conspiratorially, “Between you and me? I still might get to have a little fun.” She whispered.

Eve frowned, “what do you mean?” she asked warily.

“I’m getting promoted after Thanksgiving,” Amber said, “and apparently our future bug of a coworker still wants to work here when he’s tiny. Corporate thinks it’s great, his wife is set up as his caretaker or whatever.”

“I mean, he’s got a wife and kids to support,” Eve said quietly.

Amber snorted, “the sooner they move on, the happier they’re going to be. A fucking shrinkee, working here… You know we’re going to have to hire him his own assistant to type for him and shit?”

“Evan just types using a phone I think,” Eve said without thinking.

“I don’t care what Mr. Super Shrinkee is doing,” Amber said, rolling her eyes, “his expenses won’t be coming out of my future budget.” She shot a glance across the office at the still full-sized Charles, “him though? I need to think of a way to make him quit…” she grinned evilly, “I’ve got some ideas…”

Eve felt an odd pang of guilt, wondering if she should say something, DO something… Amber glanced at her, and the redhead seemed to guess her thought process. A grimace came over her friend’s face.

“Listen Eve, I’m going to be making a lot of tough calls when I’m in charge around here, and I’m not going to have a lot of room in my inner circle for bleeding hearts, got it?” She sighed, going back to her work, “I don’t know what’s with you lately, you need to get it together!”

Eve didn’t respond, just nodding meekly as she turned back to her own monitor. In life you had to stay behind the sharks, you didn’t get in front of them.

…

Eve shook off the light mixture of snow that had collected in her hair, giving a tired sigh as she entered the house. She did a quick scan for Evan, she’d made a couple of attempts to get him throughout the months, and she’d even finally found and sealed up some of his entrances on the first floor. Evan hadn’t commented on it, but she knew had to know. She’d also chosen a few that she very deliberately HADN’T sealed up, if Evan thought she always sealed holes she knew about, then he wouldn’t know that she knew about the still opened ones… or so she figured anyway.

She peered into the kitchen, starting slightly as she saw Evan standing on the counter. One of the cupboards was open, and he was looking through the cans thoughtfully. She Smiled as she walked in, letting the click of her heels announce her presence. With a casual, yet very deliberate, motion, she placed her purse against the wall where she knew one of his exits was, kicking her heels off as she approached him.

“Hi Evan,” she said sweetly, “what are you doing?”

She bundled up her coat and placed in the counter, just to the left of the light switch where she knew the tile was removable. Another exit blocked, but the one he’d probably go for was the one on the floor, as she smiled her mind raced, trying to think of how she could get between him and it.

“Just checking the pantry,” he mused, “I was hoping to make… well I guess I was hoping you would make something for Thanksgiving. Laurie’s taking me to her place, I haven’t exactly been out in a while…”

“What dish did you have in mind?” she asked. She cursed as she noticed his body go tense as she moved around the counter. Too helpful, she realized, too disarming… His eyes glanced at the purse and the coat, and a smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he realized that she hadn’t just haphazardly tossed them randomly.

“Yams,” he said, edging backwards, “with the toasted marshmallows on top.”

“Mrow?” the cat’s head lifted at the mention of his name, but seeing the two humans ignoring him he lay back down and closed his eyes again, returning to his nap.

“That sounds great,” Eve said, eyes glancing at the corner of the room. Evan’s heart skipped a beat, she knew where his exit was! “I’ll just go to the grocery store… on the way back from the vet!” She dove with a scream, and Evan leapt off the counter, but Eve hadn’t gone for him. She grunted as she hit the floor, sliding into the wall, but cutting off Evan’s access to his exit. “HA!” she shouted, a triumphant smile lighting up her face.

Evan turned on his heel, scrambling for the living room. Eve scuttled after him, her nyloned feet struggling for purchase against the tiled floor as she pursued him on all fours. He felt powerful fingers as thick as his legs curl around him, sweeping him off his feet and ending his flight.

“Ha!” Eve shouted, “gotcha!”

“Shit,” Evan wheezed as her grip tightened. He was drawn to her grinning face as she stood up, her brown hair mussed and draped over her eyes from the chase giving her a slightly wild look.

“Just in time for the holidays!” she said. She glanced around at the room, “It took forever to find all of your little hidey holes, but it was worth it, without them you’re not that hard to catch at all…”

“I’ll have to make some new ones,” he grunted, struggling in her grip.

“I think we’re going to have you spend the next few months… contained,” she said with a smile, “when I know you’re going to be a good boy you can have free reign of the house again.” She used her free hand to bend down and pick up her purse. Pulling her phone out, she unlocked it and showed him a page she had saved, “Look at this! Standard opened back dollhouse, but with a nice tiny-proof plastic covering on the open part, all the comfort of a dollhouse and all the inescapability of a cage!”

“So thoughtful,” he said with a smile, “I really like my own bed though.”

“Where do you sleep anyway?” she asked, looking around at the walls.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he retorted.

“Whatever,” she giggled, “now you sleep on my nightstand… or with me, if you promise not to run away.”

He blushed, the warm smell of her floral shampoo washing over him briefly as she fixed her hair. Sleeping in the bed with Eve, cuddled up next to her on a cold night… that didn’t sound bad at all. He fought away the intrusive thought and gave her a cocky grin.

“You know me better than that,” he laughed.

“I can feel the little boner you got at the idea,” she said, squeezing him just a bit harder and causing him to grunt. “You can have that; you just have to stop fighting and let me have you…”

“You can have it too,” he replied, “you’ve just got to stop trying to catch me.”

The two of them glared at each other a moment, then Eve sighed, “whatever Evan, I think I’ve won for real this time.” She tossed him down into her purse, zipping it closed before he could protest. She tapped it once for emphasis, then slipped her shoes back on. A moment later she was forcing her coat back on and going back out to the car, the slow fall of snowflakes having picked up slightly.

Evan was jostled in the darkness of the purse, spare change colliding with him as he bounced upon a bed of receipts and bobby pins. He heard the car start and he grimaced, trying to think of a way out. Eve’s phone was in here with him, and he knew from watching her how to unlock it. Briefly he thought of messaging Laurie to intercept her, but… that was a nuclear option, one he wouldn’t be able to easily walk back from.

The purse unzipped slightly, and he saw her amused gaze peer in at him, “Hi Evan, comfy?”

“You need to clean this thing out!” he shouted defiantly.

She giggled, “that might be a fun chore to assign you, we’ll talk all about it when we get back.” She paused, giving him an evil grin, “I’ll get a checkup for you too, you know, get your vitals, temperature…” She bit her lip, “those thermometers don’t go in your mouth…”

He gulped, his face going white, and she laughed at his expression as she zipped the purse closed again. It was complete bullshit of course, they took shrinkee temperatures with a contactless wand, but she was willing to bet Evan didn’t know that.

She thought over the time they’d shared together so far, laughing a bit at the memories. Her smile faltered a bit as she remembered how he’d stayed overnight with her when she was scared… it was a small thing, why did she keep coming back to it? She shook her head, she couldn’t let nerves get to her now, if she kept thinking of every nice thing about Evan, she’d talk herself right out of this!

She pulled up to the vet, then frowned as she saw the parking lot was empty. There was a large ad in the window proclaiming the location had all the necessary amenities for shrinkees, but the office was dark. She pulled around to the front window and scowled at a sign explaining they were closed until the Monday following Thanksgiving. The next office that offered shrinkee services like she wanted was a good hour away at least, and would probably close for the holiday by the time she got there too…

“Shit,” she muttered. There was no way she’d be able to keep Evan contained through the holiday weekend, and Laurie would be by to take him to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and would undoubtedly force her to release him from any prison she could devise anyway… No, through no fault of her own, she’d lost again.

She sighed, leaning back in the seat and trying to decide her next move. A part of her was a little relieved, she could just take Evan home and maybe relax, enjoy spending Thanksgiving and the next few days with him as one of their “holiday truces.” She didn’t have to make this decision, whether to get Evan chipped and registered or not had been conveniently decided for her… for now. Another part of her told her she had to salvage SOMETHING from this… A smile crept back over her features.

Inside the purse Evan was typing a hurried message to Laurie on Eve’s phone, the threat of the “checkup” had spurred him to make a decision, but he paused as the purse unzipped.

“Uh, hey,” Eve said slowly, “Evan, I’ve been thinking… maybe we should just call it an early holiday?”

His eyes narrowed, and he stepped away from the phone, “What do you mean?”

“We call this capture a fluke, do another holiday truce, and we start back up on Monday,” she said hesitantly, “but… you do whatever I want for the weekend, no running away, no hiding in the walls, just being a good obedient tiny.”

“No deal,” he called up.

“Fine!” she said, “I’ll just take you right into the vet, get you chipped and collared, and we’ll get a head start on-“

“No cages,” he said, “no leashes, none of that stuff, I want a guarantee that you won’t just keep me on Monday.”

“Oh please,” she said, rolling her eyes, “Every time we’ve made one of these agreements, I’ve held up my end.” She smiled, “I do want my tiny man to trust me, after all! I’ve got all the time in the world to catch you, call this one a… preview.”

He rubbed his chin in thought. It was true, despite everything he was surprised at just how much he did trust her, if she said she’d let him go on Monday and they’d be back to their usual routine… she was probably telling the truth. That would give him time to make new entrances, rework his tunnel network, get the edge again.

The alternatives were letting Eve win by taking him in to the vet now, a non-option really, or calling in Laurie and ending the whole game completely in something that could at its most generous be described as a draw… no, he didn’t want to do that either. If Laurie found out she’d come this close to getting him… well, it wouldn’t matter what he said, his old friend would chase Eve out of his house and life and would probably never let him around any other big people again. Bizarrely, the thought of never seeing Eve again really upset him… almost as much as the thought of losing his freedom in their bizarre game.

“Fine,” he said, crossing his arms and smiling, “I’m your good little pet man until Monday morning, and not a moment longer.”

“Yes!” Eve squealed, “Now no takesies backsies, for real, okay?”

“Okay…” he said slowly, raising an eyebrow.

Giggling she reached into the purse, slowly drawing him up so he could see out the car’s window. As the light snow continued to fall he read the “closed until Monday” sign. His eyes went wide as he went through the entire same thought process Eve had moments ago.

“Son of a bitch!” he swore, “it was fucking closed?”

“Yeah,” Eve said with a sigh, “like I said though, no takebacks.”

“A deal’s a deal,” he muttered, “that was one hell of a bluff…” he looked at her curiously, “were you really going to…”

“Uh, yeah!” she said defensively, “and if I catch you and it’s open next time, that’s game over, you’re mine!” The two of them were quiet a moment. Part of Evan wanted to prod her on that, she sounded pretty unsure… or was it just his imagination?

“Right,” he muttered, breaking the silence, “well my benevolent and beautiful goddess, now that I’m yours for the weekend, can I still go to Laurie’s for Thanksgiving tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” she said, blinking and returning to the matter at hand, “we’ll go get the stuff to make those yams you wanted…” she cleared her throat, glancing around the deserted parking lot again, “but first…” She fought down a giggle, “strip!” she commanded, setting him on the dashboard.

Rolling his eyes, he began to pull his shirt off, balling it up and tossing it into her purse. His pants followed a moment later, and he shivered slightly as he looked at the snowfall outside, the click of the window wipers pushing it away.

“Aw,” Eve teased, “cold?”

“Y-Yeah,” he said, his teeth starting to chatter. The car was warm, but at his size… well, he wouldn’t have minded going back in her purse.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a wink, “I’ll take care of you.” She reached to take his body, pleased to feel his hardness as she drew him closer to her. She paused at her chest, considering stuffing him in her bra, that would certainly keep him warm and out of sight… but there was another place that would do the job just as well. She gave a high-pitched giggle as she unbuttoned her pants, shooting a quick look around to make sure the parking lot was still abandoned.

Evan seemed to guess her intentions, and his face went red as she pulled the hem of her panties back, revealing the dark curls of her pubic hair. He could smell the familiar tang of her arousal as she stuffed him in, the back of her panties pressing him into her like a tight hammock. Her powerful fingers pressed against his back, shoving him down as the coarse hair rubbed against his face. His legs, then his torso, and finally his face, were directly in front of a pussy that seemed to emanate heat and humidity, like a portal to some far-off jungle waiting to consume him.

“Goodbye,” she said with a playful wave, letting the panties snap back into place. She buttoned up her pants next, completely cutting off his light.

Eve drove out of the parking lot, struggling to keep a straight face as her tiny captive squirmed inside her underwear. Evan was being embraced by her outer lips, the warmth driving away the brief chill the outside air had given him as the oily juices began to coat his body. He could hear the soft thump of her heartbeat as she shifted in her seat, forcing him tighter into that wet and pungent crevice.

“Oh yeah,” Eve whispered, biting her lip as she pulled into the grocery store parking lot. She cupped the crotch of her pants, grinding Evan against her in his hidden prison. She took a moment to calm herself down. “Hey,” she said with a grin, “try to keep still for the next fifteen minutes or so, I’m going in the store.”

Evan could hear her muffled voice, and coated in her juices he could tell exactly how much she was enjoying even his smallest movements in here. He was rock hard, the powerful pheromones causing his mind to get slightly hazy. Unconsciously he started humping against her, the feeling of her warm wet flesh like heaven against him.

Eve could feel what he was doing, and while his thrusts were too small to really pleasure her on their own, the motion did turn her on a little. She bit her lip and stifled a giggle as she placed a few cans of yams into a shopping basket, along with a bag of marshmallows.

Evan was close to orgasm, the tight warmth and aroma of her womanhood overwhelming all of his senses as he fought against her. Some part of him wanted to rebel against her still though, and so with a grin he reached up, fumbling around the wet folds of flesh until he found a nub of flesh near the top that just a bit smaller than his head. He started rubbing it in a slow circular wax-on motion…

Eve grunted as a jolt of pleasure rocked up her body, and she knocked over a display of green beans by accident. Muttering a quick apology to an annoyed looking store clerk she stumbled towards the front of the store.

“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath, he wasn’t stopping… She took a deep breath and forced herself to focus, she could do this! Another wave of pleasure almost caused her to fall to her knees, and with a pleading look she glanced at a row of cash registers that now looked perilously far away.

Evan felt the warmth from the mammoth opening above him increase, and from his hammock in her panties he could feel the tremors shaking across her body. In the dark he grinned, and reached up another hand, slowly massaging that tender orb like a crystal ball.

“Did you find everything okay?” the bored cashier asked, scanning the yams.

“Yep!” Eve squeaked, glancing to her car in the parking lot. Her body quaked again and she worried that she’d scream. The cashier frowned, slowly running the second can of yams again over the scanner, then again, and again… “COULD YOU HURRY UP!?” Eve almost shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the store.

“Label looks broken,” he muttered, “I’d better just call a manager or something-“

“Forget that one!” Eve shouted, “J-Just -ohgod- just get the marshmallows!”

The clerk shrugged, and Eve sighed and almost collapsed onto the kiosk as he finished bagging up her groceries. She bolted for the car as fast as she could, fighting the urge to drop to her knees and grind her tiny tormenter into herself. She slammed the door just in time, and she shouted a series of swears as she collapsed into her seat, pleasure rocking her body as her orgasm came in full. Evan’s arrived at the same time, the motion of her quaking body driving him over the edge, his pleasure muffled and concealed from the outside world by the giant woman’s underwear.

“Fuck me,” she panted, looking in the rear-view mirror she saw how flushed she was, and scowled. She patted the crotch of her pants, “hey! You in there! I’m driving now, so if you do that again, you could kill us!”

Evan laughed almost the rest of the way home, enjoying the warmth and softness of her most intimate body heat. As he let himself go limp, falling back into the now very pungent panties, he decided that his holiday as Eve’s slave was off to a good start.

…

“Look at you,” Eve muttered, holding the still naked and glistening man up to her face. She sniffed him idly and pulled away with a giggle, “you smell like sex,” she teased. She dangled him back and forth from one arm, letting the scent waft slightly through the kitchen.

“Just put me on the counter so I can go wash up,” he said.

“No way!” she said, poking his stomach and causing him to sway back and forth, “you are going to stay smelling like my cunt until your goddess deigns to wash you!”

“Deigns to wash me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously Eve, I promise I’ll come right back, I’ve got a little shower set up in the walls and-“

“Tiny pet men do not wash themselves,” she said with an imperious sniff, “you get scrubbed off in the sink with nice girly hand soap and ice-cold tap water.”

“Looking forward to it,” he muttered as she lowered him down to the counter. “Can I have my clothes?”

“Tomorrow? Sure. Today? Not a chance,” she giggled. “Now, tell me the recipe for these yams you wanted to make…”

…

Laurie pulled up to Evan’s house, idling in the driveway as Eve brought Evan out. The other woman was carrying a covered tray of Thanksgiving yams. Evan was in her gloved hand, shielded from the chilly fall wind by the thick wool. Laurie opened the car door, letting Eve put the dish in and depositing the tiny man in the cupholder.

“Hey Evan,” Laurie said with a smirk, “nice duds!”

“Thanks,” he muttered, a little embarrassed. He was wearing a small tuxedo, and his normally wild hair was styled and combed, courtesy of a shrinkee grooming kit Eve had purchased and insisted he use.

“I picked it out, isn’t it just adorable!?” Eve said, clasping her hands together excitedly.

“Adorable,” Laurie mused, “yeah Evan, you’re adorable…” She sniffed the air a moment, then frowned. She picked up Evan, who protested feebly, and held him up to her nose. “What is that?” she laughed, “you smell like a girl on prom night!”

“It’s Lady Delilah’s peach smoothie deluxe bodywash and shampoo,” Eve said with a giggle, “from their store down at the mall. I picked it out for him.”

“Peach smoothie deluxe,” Laurie repeated, “Evan… is everything okay? Did she… did she get you?”

“Not yet,” Eve muttered.

“I’m letting her have a little fun for the weekend,” Evan said, “Don’t worry about it.”

Laurie’s mouth was a tight line, then she turned to Eve, “well, are you coming?”

Eve blinked, “Am I invited?”

“If you don’t have anyone to spend Thanksgiving with, then yeah, get in,” Laurie said impatiently.

…

Laurie’s house was a single-story ranch style, and from the cars in the driveway Eve guessed she wasn’t the only guest. As they got out of the car, Evan held in Lauri’s hand and Eve carrying the dish, Laurie stopped.

“Hey Eve,” she said offhandedly, “I know this might not be your kind of crowd, but my family is very pro-tiny rights, so I’m going to introduce you as Evan’s girlfriend, and you should just go with that.”

“Girlfriend!?” Evan and Eve both said at the same time.

“You live together, you’re apparently bumping uglies, I don’t know what else you’d call that,” Laurie muttered.

“I uh-“ Evan began, “we’re not like-“

“He’s not my-“ Eve started.

“Guys,” Laurie chuckled, “you’re giving me second hand embarrassment. Come on, let’s go inside.”

Laurie had what seemed like a dozen family members over, cousins, a mess of brothers, sisters, and cousins, all as blond as she was. Most of them were crowded around a TV, watching a football game eagerly. Several shouted greetings at Evan, and Laurie dumped him off on a couch armrest to catch up with a crowd that didn’t seem to notice or care that he was four inches tall, though as she followed Laurie into the kitchen Eve did hear a lot of teasing about the tuxedo… She felt her face go red, and suddenly felt bad about making him wear it.

She placed the dish in the kitchen with the rest of Laurie’s Thanksgiving Day feast, she turned to go, but Laurie caught her arm. The other woman handed her a beer and a bottle opener, and while Eve didn’t particularly care for the stuff, she popped the cap as Laurie did the same.

“I felt like we should have a little chat,” Laurie said quietly, “While Evan is off catching up with my family.”

“Uh, okay,” Eve said, confused.

“I’m curious, why the hell are you still around?” Laurie asked, taking a sip.

“I haven’t got Evan yet,” she said uncertainly.

“You think that’s an okay thing to do to someone?” Laurie asked, “just… kidnap them I guess, and take their stuff?” She chewed her lip, fighting a smile and enjoying how uncomfortable she was making Eve, “Evan’s been pretty nice to you, all things considered. You think he deserves that? Because a law said you could?”

“I-“

“You know it’s fucked up,” Laurie continued, “you know it’s wrong, just like all the other people doing this, but you’re trying to do it anyway.”

“That’s how it is,” Eve said angrily, “if you’re in a position where people can take from you, they will, it’s not fair but-“

“I’m going to assume you had a pretty shitty childhood if that’s how you think,” Laurie said darkly. Eve started to say something, but Laurie cut her off, “I don’t need to hear about it, things weren’t great for most of us here today. Evan in there?” She gestured to the living room, and the sound of cheering came as the local team scored. Laurie allowed herself a brief smile before turning back to Eve, “Evan is the guy who brought us food when we didn’t have any, and when my mom’s second husband put hands on my brothers, or me?” She smirked at the memory, “he was seventeen then, but he gave a grown ass man with fifty pounds on him the beating of a lifetime.”

The two of them were quiet a moment, and Eve felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, like she hadn’t felt in a long time. She thought of Evan, in there with people who loved him, and she’d dressed him like a Ken doll and used that stupid shampoo on him… Why? To mess with his head? To humiliate him? And he’d just laughed it off…

“I…” she paused, not sure what to say.

“Don’t give me one more line about how everyone’s out for themselves and we’ve got to kick people when they’re down,” Laurie said, “because that guy in there that you’re kicking? He only ever tried to help people back up.”

“What should I do then?” Eve asked quietly, “you’re right, I’ve known you’re right for a while now, but…” she sighed, not sure what else to say.

“Do you care about him?” Laurie asked quietly, “Do you…” she didn’t mention the L word, letting the question hang in the air.

Eve took way longer than she’d expected to answer, “I… maybe I do, I don’t know…”

“Then keep doing what you’re doing,” Laurie said finally, “keep trying to catch him. He was not in a good place before you moved in, and nothing I could give him was helping.” She drained the last of the beer, slamming it on the counter, “Now though? He’s his old self. He no longer thinks being tiny means he’s useless, he’s confident he can stand toe to toe with full sized people. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have come here today if he hadn’t been playing this back-and-forth thing with you.” She paused, “Just maybe… don’t plan on the finishing move, if you get me? No chipping, no vet, none of that shrinkee guardian take-his-shit stuff.”

“Yeah,” Eve said, sipping her own drink, “I guess that makes sense… we’ll leave the law out of it.”

“Not quite what I wanted, but it’s a start,” Laurie growled.

“I’m still going to get him,” Eve insisted, “but… no, he’s not going to be my slave, okay? Not really anyway…” She thought a moment, “Laurie, did you ever have feelings for-“

“Overstepping,” Laurie growled, “Go tell everyone in there the turkey is almost ready.”

…

Eve held Evan in her hand, watching Laurie’s truck drive away. She’d dropped them off back at home, it was suitably late and after eating an expertly prepared Thanksgiving meal with Laurie and her family both of them were ready to crash.

“It was great to see some of those guys again,” Evan muttered, “I’ve been kind of avoiding gatherings since shrinking… just felt kind of weird.”

“They all seem to care a lot about you,” Eve said, setting him on the ground, “I’ll just uh, get out of here, so you can go in one of your hidey holes…”

He frowned, looking up at her, “I’m yours until Monday, remember?”

“Let’s just forget about it,” she said, yawning, “I feel like I sort of cheated to get you to agree to that…”

“Nope, a deal’s a deal,” Evan said, crossing his arms, “besides, if we start breaking promises to each other, then this game is just a free for all, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Eve said, shifting slightly, “Well uh, your goddess orders you to go put on your regular clothes.”

“I usually sleep in the nude,” he said, “they don’t really make good pajamas in doll size.”

Eve fought a blush as she reached for him, “Uh, well then, since you’re sleeping with me... Just let me get those clothes off you then…”

It might still be a fun weekend after all, she decided.

December

The office Christmas party was almost always a dull affair, and with it being overseen by Amber this year, Eve almost found herself dreading it. Amber’s promotion had come as something of a surprise to the office, a lot of other people apparently thought it was more office politics than merit, something Eve knew for sure was true. The redheaded woman was laughing around the snack table, a new group of cronies around her following her every word. Amber definitely had a way with gathering people around her, and the way she’d deliberately excluded Eve from her conversation was felt.

Eve listened to the laughter, feeling a chill and a bit of anger as the four women glanced in her direction, giggling to themselves again. She was out the outs with Amber now, no doubt about it, for whatever reason the woman had taken Eve’s “failure” with Evan as an almost personal slight. After years of making sure she was in the cool kid’s circle, Eve was suddenly cast out. She took a sip of her punch with a sigh.

“Hey Eve,” Charles called. She glanced down at the table where the tiny man was standing. He had an adorable little suit on, one of the perks of working for a shrinkee-friendly company she supposed, and a small crumb of the holiday cake in one hand. He’d only taken an extra few days off from work after shrinking, impressive all things considered.

“Hey,” she said uncomfortably. She didn’t know how to start a conversation with a man she’d spent so much time tormenting with Amber… “How’s uh, how are things?”

He seemed to notice how she felt, and he gave her a quick smile, “You know it’s funny, I was so scared of being small… now that it’s happened, it’s just a thing, like when I lost my hair.” He brushed his head over his balding head and laughed, Eve joined in.

“Is everyone being nice?” Eve asked quietly.

Charles scowled, “Amber ‘accidentally’ stepped on me after ‘accidentally’ knocking me off my desk this morning. I can’t believe they promoted her, this branch is spiraling, I tell you…”

“Sorry about that,” Eve said quietly.

He rolled his eyes, “work is hell, and hell has some demons.” He gave her a quick grin, “it hasn’t been all bad, some things with my wife have been… interesting.” He gulped and looked away; red faced. “Anyway,” he continued, “try to relax over the holidays Eve, I know it might sound silly coming from someone who’s tiny, but you’ve seemed a little out of it lately.” He took a bite of the cake crumb, “you know the doctors say I can eat as much of this kind of stuff as I want now, silver linings, right?”

“I’d almost take shrinking if it meant no more counting calories,” Eve agreed, looking at her own slice with a frown. She paused, not sure if she’d offended Charles, but he laughed at the joke, and she joined in a moment later.

…

The sky was a dark grey as she pulled into the driveway of Evan’s house, the snow quickly collecting on her coat as she walked inside. She sighed and dusted herself off, in theory she had one more day of work before she took her holiday leave, but looking at weather report on her phone, she would be taking that vacation a day early.

She kicked off her shoes with a sigh, the slush of the melting snow dripping on the towel she kept by the door for that purpose.

“Welcome home!” Evan said, dangling off the mantle above the fireplace. He had a Christmas cookie half the size of his body sitting next to him, a surprising amount eaten off of it.

“I can already see how this is going to end,” Eve said with a smirk, “you’ll keep snacking on sweets, and then one day you’ll be too fat to run away.”

 “Marshmallow will ferry me to safety,” he declared. With a flourish he leapt off the mantle, landing in a crouch next to the cat who jerked awake, looking at him curiously. Stretching the cat let Evan climb on his back, and the tiny man gave her a smug glance as the cat bounded away into the next room.

Eve sighed and rolled her eyes, not bothering to pursue him. He’d spent most of the month making new secret entrances, sealing up some of his old ones with what she was pretty sure was hot glue. How the hell did he manage THAT she wondered? The energy bill was always suspiciously high, what did he get up to behind the drywall?

“Evan!” she called.

“What?” his voice replied from up in the vent.

“Do you want to go get a Christmas tree?” She glanced out at the falling snow, “there’s a lot a few miles up the road, we could get there and back before the storm hits-“

“Christmas truce doesn’t kick in for two days,” he called back, “So… go get a spruce, they last longer than pine.”

“I don’t know the difference,” she said, crossing her arms, “I’ve only had like two Christmas trees in my life.”

“They label them,” Evan shouted, “and… only two Christmas trees? Did your parents just hate holidays?”

“I…” she pushed down a quick surge of emotion, “I didn’t spend a lot of Christmases with them.” There was an awkward silence, and she cleared her throat, “Anyways… could you just come with me?”

“No,” Evan replied, “truce is in two days.”

Eve sighed angrily and went to the kitchen. She quickly pulled a box from a storage drawer that she had been saving for a special occasion. Quickly unwrapping the flypaper, she carried it to the garage, flipping on the light and looking for her sporting equipment. She hadn’t played tennis in years, but she still had the racket, and she slowly wrapped the flypaper around it, sticking the end. She waved it through the air a few moments approvingly, the flypaper stayed in place, and as she tapped a finger against it she was pleased with how sticky it was.

She walked back into the living room, seeing that Marshmallow had resumed his usual spot lounging in front of the fireplace. She bent down and gently stroked his head, hearing him purr happily as she positioned herself between him and the vent, cutting off line of sight.

“OH NO, MARSHMALLOW!” she cried in her best terrified voice.

The cat looked at her quizzically, his tail swishing back and forth.

“What!?” Evan called in panic from the vent.

“It’s horrible!” Eve said in faux horror, “h-he’s bad Evan, real bad he’s-“

Evan’s tiny form came running, seemingly from nowhere as usual, all but ignoring Eve as he ran to the cat’s side. Evan’s panic turned to confusion, as Marshmallow meowed at him curiously, then at Eve’s movement the cat darted away, leaving Evan to realize he’d been duped.

“Oof!” he grunted as the wind was knocked out of him as the wide tennis racket came down, pinning him to the floor. There was a ripping sound like a sticker being peeled off a shirt as Eve’s makeshift sticky-racket came up, and with it Evan’s body. He was stuck in a T-shaped pose, his legs below him and his arms out at his sides. He struggled against the flypaper feebly, but the gooey material easily held him as Eve lifted the racket to her face.

“Evan,” she giggled, “I was thinking, I REALLY want to start our truce early, yeah Christmas eve isn’t for another two days… but I think we should just forget about that whole tiny-catching thing and enjoy the extra time, what do you think?”

“That was a low blow, telling me the cat was hurt,” Evan muttered.

Eve giggled and spun the racket in her hand, rotating his body and making him dizzy, “come on Evan,” she pouted, “go with me to the Christmas tree lot! I’ll let you go afterwards!”

“F-FINE!” he said, trying to keep his lunch down. Her spinning the racket was just a slight movement of her hands, for him it was like a theme park ride, and he’d never really liked them.

“That’s the spirit, now hold still.”

She reached for him, her fingers squishing against the gooey flypaper as they curled around him. He grimaced as she started to pull.

“Uh, Eve, wait a sec-“

*RIP*

The sound of his clothing tearing away echoed through the room. He shouted in pain as some of his leghairs came away too, thankfully what was on his head held, but it felt like having someone take a fistful of it and pull as hard as they could.

“FUCK!” he shouted.

“Ah,” Eve muttered, looking at the remains of his clothing on the racket, “sorry…” she brought him over to the sink and turned the water to warm, quickly washing the rest of the goop of his naked body. Evan just looked at her crossly, and her face went red. “I didn’t think it would be THAT sticky… if you want to stay here-“

“You already caught me and destroyed my clothes,” he said, rolling his eyes, “let’s just go to the tree lot…”

She frowned, “do you have a little coat or something?”

“Yeah, but it’s not any good in this kind of weather,” he said, looking out at the falling snowflakes, “at this size you’ve just got to stay inside when it’s cold.”

A smile crossed Eve’s face, and she giggled slightly as she lifted him up higher. She was wearing a festive dark green turtleneck sweater, and with one finger she pulled the neck aside, opening up the chasm inside to Evan. He looked down and his eyes went wide as he saw her waiting breasts, held up by a neat white pushup bra.

“Try to stay warm!” she laughed, dropping him in.

He bounced on the warm flesh, sliding easily into her cleavage. There was just the slightest amount of sweat, brought on by Eve’s trip home wearing both the thick sweater and her winter coat, and also the floral smell of the rose body wash she loved.

With a small snapping sound her turtleneck high above him closed up again, sealing him in darkness as he drifted further down into the space between her breasts, the warm flesh sliding against his naked body.

Eve hummed the tune to “Beginning to look a lot like Christmas” as she slipped her coat on. She zipped it up quickly, squeezing Evan even further into his fleshy prison. From outside she felt him squirming against her, and as she started the car, she couldn’t help but reaching up to her chest and giving it a quick shake.

Evan’s world shook, and just as he was finding purchase, he was thrown down, headfirst into the depths of Eve’s cleavage. Between the push up bra and the thick layers of clothing she was wearing, he had little chance of escape. As he felt himself grow hard from the motion of the soft flesh against him, he decided that wasn’t such a bad thing. He settled in, relaxing as the tender embrace of her soft bosom shielded him from the cold outside, with the drumbeat of her heartbeat in his ear he began to feel oddly calm, sleepy even.

Eve drove through the falling snow, wipers clicking in time to Jingle Bells on the radio. Snow wasn’t coming down fast enough to be dangerous yet, and according to the weather reports interspersed with the Christmas songs she probably had a good hour before she really needed to get back home. Eve couldn’t help but rock back and forth, dancing slightly in her seat to the festive music.

For the tiny man stuck deep between her breasts it was a somewhat surreal experience, with the world cut off his senses were dominated by the lingering smell of Eve’s soap mixed with the day’s worth of sweat worked up from wearing layered clothing. The muffled Christmas songs seemed to reverberate along her skin as he fell deeper, almost into a trance as he slid along the soft skin that was molding around him, embracing him. With every one of Eve’s playful movements, she was unknowingly giving him a jolt of pleasure as her breasts slide up and around him, her skin making contact with his most intimate places almost like the deliberate touch of a lover.

Eve had no idea her innocent motions were causing Evan’s world to melt. She felt him squirming, trying to climb out maybe? No, she thought with a chuckle as “Frosty the Snowman” started playing, he wasn’t going anywhere!

Evan felt himself nearing a peak, and powerless to escape the grip of Eve’s boobs or reach for his own manhood, he decided to go limp, surrendering himself to the ravages of the bouncing flesh around him. It had to be his imagination, but his surrender almost seemed to be known by the soft pillows that held him captive, and he smiled as they eagerly pressed in around him, and a moment later he sprayed his seed, unable to see it swallowed up in the darkness of Eve’s cleavage.

Eve froze as she pulled into the tree lot. She felt a small wet spot beneath her sweater and fought down a giggle. Had he really…? She unzipped the front of her coat and reached down the neck of her sweater, fumbling in the confines of her bra for Evan. She found his leg a moment later, and slowly pulled him up. His hair was mussed and he had a slightly dazed look in his eyes, hanging upside down limply from her fingers.

“Evan,” she asked in a playful tone, “did you cum in my tits?”

“Yeah,” he rasped, blinking, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Us big girls can be kind of overwhelming, huh,” Eve said with a grin, “it’s okay, call it an early Christmas gift.”

Evan blinked and shook his head, collecting himself as she righted him, “Can you stick me in your purse or something? It’s really cold out here,” he shivered a bit, even in her open palm inside the warmed car.

“Don’t you want to see the trees?” she asked with a frown.

“I’m a shrinkee Eve, cold is not my friend,” he explained, “also… there could be people I know out here, I don’t really want to be carried around naked.”

“Oh,” She bit her lip, “give me a minute…” She looked through her purse for a tissue or something. She felt another quick pang of guilt for ruining his clothes. Shrinkees were, in a manner of speaking, always “clothing optional” anyway, a sort of legal leftover from the early days of the shrinking virus when tiny clothes weren’t widespread. Now, years into things, it was hardly a secret that some people kept shrinkees naked as a humiliation tactic, enforcing their status…

She sighed, she was mentally still slotting him as a “shrinkee” rather than a person in spite of her best efforts apparently. She pulled the turtleneck sweater away from her skin, sliding him down until only his head was sticking out, then releasing the tight fabric and letting it contort around her again. Evan’s head stuck out just below her chin, the sweater’s neck covering him while giving him a good view and keeping him warm.

“Comfy?” She asked.

“Very,” he called up. The sweater itself was a bit scratchy, but it was thick, and the warmth from her neck kept the cold from biting him too much as she stepped out of the car.

…

Eve finished setting up the Christmas tree in the living room, taking a moment to admire it. She’d put Evan back on the ground with another apology about the clothes, but he didn’t seem to mind as he did his usual disappearing act. A few moments later he reappeared, a fresh set of doll clothing on as he watched her place a series of store-bought ornaments on the tree.

Marshmallow meowed softly, and gently batted at a few of the bright plastic bulbs. Eve picked him up and then opened another box, a small star shaped ornament that said “first Christmas together!” and had a slot below where a picture could be inserted.

“Evan,” she called, “come over here and take a picture with me and that cat for this.”

“First Christmas together?” He asked, raising an eyebrow, “that’s awfully optimistic, don’t you think?”

She frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Well, the implication is that you’re going to catch me, and we’ll spend every Christmas together,” he said, moving closer.

“Maybe I just renew the lease at the end of the year, and even if I never catch you, we spend every Christmas together anyway?” She said, lowering her hand.

“I don’t know,” Evan said, stepping into her palm, “your capture efforts have been kind of lazy lately, I might need to up my game by letting a crack team of tiny hunting special forces supermodels move in next year.”

“Lazy?” she asked, fighting a laugh, “I got you like a couple hours ago!” She lifted him up on her shoulder and let him grab a strand of her hair for balance.

“By telling me the cat was in trouble!” he protested, “which is cheating!”

“Do you think your elite team of tiny hunting supermodels are going to play by the same silly set of rules I do?” She asked, angling the phone to take the photo.

He smiled with her, listening to the click of the camera, “I guess you’ve got me there,” he joked, “I’ll keep you around until I work my skills up enough to beat the best.”

“Those look great,” Eve said, looking at the photos with a smile. She quickly texted one to him, “I’ll print it off later for the ornament.” She let Marshmallow drop to the floor, and the cat returned to continue his examination of the tree. She looked at it again too, “it really is a nice tree,” she said quietly.

She glanced back at the tiny man on her shoulder, “So Evan, are we officially on early truce?” she asked with a grin.

“I guess,” he said with a shrug, “why?”

“Just a thought I was having,” she laughed, “like, if you were still trying to get away from me, I’d have to keep you somewhere…” She walked towards the door, next to her usual office heels were a pair of winter boots. They had a fuzzy interior, designed to keep the wearer’s feet padded and warm.

Evan thought about leaping off her shoulder and running. She was too slow to grab him if he did, he was pretty sure anyway, but at the same time he felt his manhood stir, and wondered where she was going with this. He shot a glance out the window, seeing the road now fully covered by a thick sheet of snow. She wasn’t going anywhere, he reasoned, even if she did decide to break their truce there wouldn’t be a vet visit today… He was safe to play with her, he decided.

“Where did you have in mind?” he said slowly.

Eve picked up one of the boots, “well that’s the thing Evan, I couldn’t just leave you in a container or something, you’re too smart, you’d figure a way out.” She held the boot up closer to his spot on her shoulder, letting the slight sweaty smell wash over him slightly as the mouth loomed below him.

“Uh, thanks,” he said, fighting the urge to leap into the boot. Damn, that foot thing about shrinkees has GOT to be true…

“Now obviously it’s pretty fun keeping you in my panties,” she giggled, “but then you can pretty easily set me off too… won’t work if I’m stealing you, now will it?”

“Probably not,” he rasped.

“The bra works, it’ll keep you nice and busy, cumming your little brains out,” she joked, shaking her breasts slightly, “but… still, kind of easy to escape, once you get to that post-nut clarity, huh?”

“Probably would be,” he agreed, looking to the boot again.

“I think I’d probably stuff you in the bottom of some footwear, something like this,” she giggled, wiggling the boot back and forth and letting the smell hit him again. “I’ve actually got to shovel the steps, so I guess I’ll need these for that…” she said, looking outside. She shifted her shoulder slightly, and Evan cried out in surprise as he tumbled down the long tunnel of her winter boot. He landed with a grunt on the faux fur interior, the soft fibers cushioning the blow as the smell of Eve’s sweat grew stronger. “Oh no!” Eve said, covering her mouth, “Evan, you fell in!”

“Okay, I get what you’re doing,” he laughed, very aware of how aroused he’d become.

Eve shrugged, “you should take advantage of this, you might have to escape from this boot someday, try to figure out a strategy!” She laughed at his expression as she lowered the boot back to the ground.

Evan watched, awestruck, as her socked foot crowded out the light of the hole above, slipping into the furred boot with a slow deliberate movement that forced him towards the darkness of the toe. From behind her sock her toes cradled his head, pushing him down into the soft furred interior as she started lacing the winter footwear up.

Eve placed a pair of earbuds in, smiling to herself as she felt Evan squirm against her foot. She lifted her phone, taking a quick look at the picture of her, Evan, and Marshmallow, and after setting it as her background, she started playing another round of Christmas music. The tune of Good King Wenceslas followed her to the garage as she went for the snow shovel.

Evan felt the pressure of her foot pressing down on him, the heat and scent of her socked sole permeating his world as his skin and clothing were marinated in the odor of the well-worn boots. Even through the fabric of the sock and his own pants, ever press and movement was kneading him in just the right way, and he gave a muffled groan of pleasure that never left the confines of the fake fur and foot surrounding him.

Eve shoveled the snow, scrunching her toes playfully around Evan’s head as her head bobbed back and forth to the music. She felt him begin grinding against her through the sock, and she smirked, certain that she’d have to wash the pair, and get her tiny friend a new change of clothes. She pressed down on the freshly shoveled concrete, gently grinding her boot back and forth, really upping the pressure on Evan’s body.

He gasped, the mix of sensations too much as he found himself brought to orgasm for the second time by the smallest movements of Eve’s body. He leaned back, panting, fighting for air as her socked toes came down again, muffling his cries of pleasure. Shrinkees didn’t need much air, he’d never tested quite how long he could go without it, but he was sure that he was in no danger… still, the overwhelming essence of Eve’s feet was making him lightheaded.

Fuck, he thought, exhausted, she really is a goddess… He laughed, the sound unheard by anyone but him and Eve’s sock.

…

“Merry Christmas to my favorite little stocking stuffer,” Eve said with a smile as she saw Evan appear in the living room on Christmas morning.

“No elf jokes?” he called, “missed opportunity.”

She shrugged, a steaming cup of hot cocoa in her hand and a sleeping grey cat in her lap, “For next year,” she said with a smirk. “Go on, open a present.”

He frowned, looking at a series of boxes that had appeared under the tree, “Where did those come from?” he asked.

“Santa came,” Eve giggled, “seriously, go open one!”

He shrugged, walking over to the space beneath the tree and selecting a box that looked manageable, and by manageable he meant only twice as large as he was. He started ripping the rapping paper off, and his eyes went wide as he saw a series of outfits in his size, sealed in clamshell plastic packaging.

“These look great,” he murmured, looking over a leather jacket and jeans combo, “these aren’t doll clothes, are they?”

“There are a few companies that make real, quality, clothes for people your size,” Eve explained, “kind of pricey, but I figured after all of your doll outfits I’ve ruined you deserved something nice.”

“Thanks,” he said, a smile lighting up his face, “I uh… I got you something too. Or Laurie did, I told her what to get and she went to the mall for me. Go check the empty room upstairs.”

Eve gave a curious smile, and setting her cup down and causing the cat to scamper off, she walked up the stairs. The empty bedroom didn’t have anything in it, and she was pretty sure she hadn’t been inside since the first day she’d been here, trying to catch Evan. In the center of the room, she saw a pair of wrapped gifts. She picked them up, carrying them down to where Evan and Marshmallow were waiting.

“I’d have put them under the tree,” he explained, “but…” he gestured to his body, “you know, tiny…”

“It’s fine,” she said, tearing the wrapping paper off her first gift. She frowned as she realized it was a book, a woman in camo fatigues on the cover held a squirming half naked man in her hand. “Tiny Hunting, A Pro’s Guide?” Eve laughed, “you bought a tiny hunting guide for a woman who is actively trying to capture you?”

“It’s the ultimate flex,” he said, hands on his hips, “consider yourself on notice.” She started laughing, a tirade that went so long she was fighting to catch her breath.

“Okay,” she wheezed finally, “let’s see what else we have here…” she unwrapped her next gift, a box of expensive soaps from Lady Delilah’s. She beamed with excitement as she lifted one of the bottles out of the box, opening the cap and sniffing the fragrance. “I love it! How’d you know what store I like?”

“You uh, washed me down with some of that stuff last month,” he said, his face red.

“Oh,” she said with an embarrassed chuckle, “uh, right…” She pursed her lips, “well, if you wanted to try some of this… maybe we could take a bath together later?” She smiled at his reaction, “I mean, if you could stand to be scrubbed down with Lady Delilah’s again.”

“A bath together?” he said, a lustful grin on his face, “if the cost of admission is letting you go to town on me with that stuff, then sure.”

“Goody,” she giggled. “Open your next one!”

Evan was surprised at just how much Eve had gotten him, and his eyes went wide as he saw a condo bedroom in his size, advertising itself as complete with a bed and flushing toilet. He walked around it, amazed at all the features the unit supposedly contained.

“This thing looks pretty nice,” he mused, “is this my cage for if you ever get me?”

“That thing has no security features on it at all,” she said with a chuckle, “there’s a retractable roof if you want me to look in on you, but the switch for it is tiny sized and on the inside.”

“That’s not going to be great at keeping me from escaping,” he said quietly.

“Nope,” she said with a small smile. “If you want to hide it in the attic or something, I can go out for a day and Laurie can do it for you… or if you want, I could just put it on my dresser.”

“Thanks,” he said awkwardly. He stepped away from it, and he didn’t flee as she reached down to pick him up.

“Let’s watch something,” Eve said, turning to the TV and hoping to fill the awkward silence. She clicked the remote, and the opening credits of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” began to play.

What am I doing? Evan wondered, this woman wants to own me… He felt her warm fingers curl around him as he sat in her lap, and as smell of her hand soap wafted up to him, comforting him as he squeezed further into her grip. Does she though? He’d been very sloppy the last few weeks, some of it on purpose, testing what she’d do… He wasn’t sure she was really trying to capture him anymore, at least not like she had been at the start. He felt an odd shame about the fact that he missed it, even if he enjoyed the intimacy brought on in its absence.

How would she react, he wondered, if we just… called it off? Only ever played cat and mouse for fun? It would be a risk, risking everything really… If this was all an act, or she changed her mind…

Eve reached up and stroked his hear with her thumb, enjoying the silky softness as her own thoughts troubled her.

It could just be like this all the time, she thought, this truce thing should just be how we always are… She sighed inwardly, What would he say if I told him I was the one giving up? She smirked slightly, imagining the jokes and the cocky laughter she’d have to endure from him, but it would be worth it.

She would commit to the game a little while longer, she decided, if only because she thought Laurie was right, Evan seemed so happy when he was eluding her. What more was there to do but enjoy the next few days when he’d let her hold him, play with him, and be with him to her heart’s content? Once the holidays were over, she’d have to work for it again… for a little while anyway.

The two sat together as the snow continued to fall outside, sealing them off from the world as they curled together on the couch, washed by the warm glow of the fireplace and the black and white motion picture screen. 

January

“Okay, last call on drinks,” Laurie called, the raucous sounds of the New Year’s party echoed through her small house. Eve and Evan were present, Evan hanging drunkenly out of a red party cup filled with cheap champagne.

“You taste so sweet,” Eve giggled, taking another sip.

“Fuck, getting a little shallow in here,” Evan slurred, “L-Laurie, fill up my pool!”

She sighed, topping off Eve’s drink and letting Evan’s legs float behind him, “you two are seriously cut off after this one,” Laurie warned.

Laurie’s friends and family gathered around the TV, chanting as the sphere in Times Square began to fall.

“Five”

“Four”

“Three”

“Two”

“One!”

“Happy new year!” Evan and Eve shouted to each other, and her giant lips pressed down into his face, the pillowy pink flesh covering his entire head as he drunkenly tried to return the kiss.

Eve separated a moment, her face flushed from more than just lust, “time to finish my drink,” she giggled. She tipped back the red party cup, and Evan cried out in surprise, laughing as the flow of the cheap drink swept him towards Eve’s waiting mouth. Her tongue darted out into the flow, tickling around his legs briefly and pressing against the outside of his pants. He groaned as the strong muscle briefly massaged him, and as his legs went limp, he wondered if he would be swept right down her throat…

Eve pulled the cup away empty, wiping her lips. She laughed again, looking down at the empty cup, thinking a moment. Something was wrong there… Suddenly it clicked.

“Evan?” She squeaked in panic.

Laurie turned away from a conversation she was having with one of her cousins and frowned, “Where is he?”

“H-He was in the cup,” Eve muttered, “and then I chugged the cup…”

Laurie’s eyes went wide, and she closed the distance between herself and Eve instantly, “Come here!” she shouted, trying to force her finger down Eve’s throat, “you’ve got to-“

Eve just gagged in response, fighting feebly against Laurie’s finger as the other woman tried to save her friend.

“Guys,” Evan’s voice called. The two women paused their struggle, looking down into the cleavage of Eve’s party dress. Her skin was just slightly damp with spilled champagne, and Evan drunkenly waved from his spot atop her breasts. “I fell out of the cup!” he laughed.

“Okay,” Laurie sighed, “Eve, Evan, you’re cut off and you’re staying here tonight.”

“Groovy,” Eve giggled, dangling Evan in front of her. Her tongue darted out and licked its way up his body, savoring the lingering taste of the champagne.

...

Evan blinked himself awake; his vision blurry as he tried to figure out where he was. The room was unfamiliar, and he was held tightly in Eve’s grip. He groaned a bit, shifting and letting the hazy memories of the night before drift back to him. He was naked, but he almost always was when he slept, and the slightly grimy skin of her palm smeared against him as he turned to look at the giant woman who had fallen asleep cuddling him like a stuffed animal. Laurie’s guest room, he remembered, the two of them had crashed here last night…

“Happy New Year,” Eve muttered with a smile. Before he could return the greeting, she brought him up to her cheek, snuggling him against her warm skin and just keeping him there a moment. “Ugh,” he muttered, “I still smell like champagne.”

“It’s a good flavor for you,” she giggled, “you were marinating in it all night…” her grip tightened on him a moment, feeling something small and hard poking against her palm. “Hmm…” she said, drawing him up over her face, “what’s that?” She released her fingers slightly, keeping her thumb and forefinger under his armpits so he dangled over her face.

“It’s the morning,” he replied noncommittally, “sometimes you just wake up… ready to go.”

“I know what morning wood is,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Now, hold still!” She opened her mouth wide, slowly lowering him in.

“W-wait a minute,” he called, “I’m not sure I like where this is going!”

She just giggled, letting him drop. Her mouth quickly closed around him, and the top of his head just barely managed to stick out from her lips as her tongue arced up to play with its new toy. He grunted in surprise, then in pleasure, as it found its way between his legs and began working itself against his erection, the slow powerful movements of the wet muscle holding him in place as it worked on him.

He gasped in surprise as Eve’s finger came up, and a low throaty giggle echoed all around him as her finger made contact with the top of his head. With a slow, yet powerful, push, she forced him down, all the way into her mouth as the lips sealed above him, blocking out the light.

Evan felt a brief moment of instinctive panic, but it was driven away as her tongue returned again, seemingly happy to have him completely as it’s prisoner. Her spit was dripping all around him, and he was soaked as Eve casually tumbled him in her mouth, pressing him into the stretchy flesh of her cheeks playfully, then back behind her teeth as she closed them with a *click,* sealing him in like a cage.

Eve fought to keep her mouth’s prisoner in place as his tiny hands traced along the back of her teeth. With a grunt she used her tongue to force him against the roof of her mouth, determined to finish him off. With a series of quick licks that caused his entire body to spasm in pleasure, her tongue won the contest of wills, quickly reminding the tiny man of just how powerful his giant lover was as he sprayed his seed across the inside of her mouth. Evan’s world suddenly compressed as Eve sucked what little he had to give down her dark maw, and he listened in awe as she swallowed, a powerful contraction of muscle that could be felt even if she was keeping him from going down with it.

Light returned to the world as her mouth opened, and a pair of fingers gripped his arm, slowly slipping him back through those same lips. He panted a moment, dripping with spit and limp as the smiling goddess held him over her face, admiring her handiwork.

“Great way to ring in the new year,” he said weakly, smiling down at her.

…

As always, January began with a mix of bitter cold that hit all the harder with the holidays behind and forgotten. Eve quickly found herself dreading her morning commute, for the icy winds that chafed her skin and chapped her lips, and the misery of sitting in her car and dreading the fact that she’d be going in to work with, or rather for, Amber.

“Uh oh, look who’s late,” The redhead sniggered, coffee cup in hand as she watched Eve plod to her cubicle.

“It’s not even ten minutes past the hour!” Eve protested, “there’s still some ice on the roads and-“

“Business begins at nine Eve,” Amber said with a smirk, “I’ll have to make a note you were tardy today. I’m sure HR can deduct an appropriate amount of your PTO.” The other woman’s heels clicked on the ground as she walked away. Eve scowled angrily, logging in to her workstation as she began looking over her accounts for the day.

She’d been working for a few hours, still fuming over Amber, when she heard giggling from somewhere in the office. She sighed, trying to ignore it. People had their social groups in the office, she didn’t usually begrudge them some talk and laughing, after all she’d used to spend a lot of the day gossiping with… She furiously refused to even think the name, typing faster angrily.

“Just do it!” a woman’s voice whispered.

“L-Ladies, come on,” a panicked voice called.

She froze, her head shooting up. Was that-

“Charles, just come over here,” another voice giggled.

Eve stood up, looking over her cubicle towards the break room. A group of women, most of whom she recognized from Amber’s new circle of friends, were gathered around one of the tables. With her heart in her throat Eve started walking towards them, the click of her own heels announcing her presence.

The other office women turned around, parting slightly and revealing a very stressed looking Charles on the table next to a shoe. The poor tiny looked like hell, his remaining hair on the side of his bald head mussed, and his glasses askew. She’d known he wasn’t taking well to Amber’s tenure as boss, seeing it laid out here like this… it hurt. On either side of him were a pair of women’s shoes, why were those on the table?

“Uh, hey guys, what’s going on?” she asked uncomfortably.

“Diane and I have a little wager,” a dirty blonde named Sandy said with a grin, “we think that since Charles is tiny now, he’s sort of an expert on women’s shoes, so we figured we’d see if he could tell which one was mine-“

“Or which one was mine,” Diane butted in.

“Just by looking at them,” Sandy finished.

“We were just helping him a bit, putting him in there, letting him really sniff around and see if he could figure it out,” Diane said, winking down to the tiny man.

Eve felt something welling up inside her, she was always a follower in these kinds of situations, and even a few months ago she’d have joined right in, sliding her shoe off to help torment the tiny man… Now though?

Fuck me, she thought miserably.

“Uh guys, we should probably all get back to work,” she said feebly.

“Oh really?” Sandy asked, glaring at her, “I’ll just call Amber out of her office, see if she’s okay with us having a little team building time?”

Eve’s legs almost turned to jelly, there was no way she had the courage to confront Amber in front of the group like this. She tried to think, mind racing. Charles looked at her pleadingly.

An evil smile traced across her features, “Charles is probably filthy from playing in your shoes Sandy,” she swiped him up before they could say anything else, “I’ll go scrub the little guy off in the ladies room.” Charles had a betrayed look on his face that almost broke her heart, but she kept going. “He’ll need to get out of these clothes of course.”

The ladies howled with laughter, dispersing and letting her take the tiny man off to what they assumed would be another torment. Charles almost had tears in his eyes by the time the ladies room door closed behind her, and Eve sighed, setting him on the sink so she could clear her head for a moment.

“E-Eve,” Charles began nervously, “I thought we-“

“I’m not going to do it,” she said in a tired voice, “I just… needed to get you away from them.”

“Oh,” he smiled and slunk back against the faucet in relief, “thanks…” he breathed out slowly, “I’m moving my workstation downstairs tomorrow,” he said finally, “I’ve got a few friends down there, I don’t know if you know Bob and Mary, but they’ll keep Amber and her harpies off me… she’ll still be my boss I guess, but I won’t have to see her as much.”

“That’s great!” Eve said with a smile, “I wish I could follow you…”

He snorted, “I wish I could just leave this whole job.” He sighed and looked down a minute, “this company is the only one I know of that actually lets shrinkees keep working once we… you know.” He sighed, “nobody in my contacts list would even return my emails. Corporate is tiny-friendly at least…”

“Could they help out with Amber?” she asked eagerly.

He rolled his eyes, “I’m going to complain to HR, but I’m sure it’ll amount to nothing. They’ll say it’s anonymous, but her little friends will ferret it out for her, and the best outcome will be sending her to a sensitivity training.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“Don’t be,” he said, standing up again, “I’m not going to just live in fear of her… well, maybe I am, I’m not a brave guy Eve… but I’m just going to have to tough it out, for the people I care about.”

“Yeah,” Eve muttered. “I get it.” She smirked, “you know, I’ve got a friend of mine I need to introduce you to sometime.”

“The tiny guy you live with?” Charles asked.

Eve frowned, “yeah, how did you-“

“Hearing Amber rant about how he was kicking your ass was pretty fun,” he admitted.

“He didn’t kick my ass!” she said defensively, “we uh… came to an arrangement.”

“But he’s still running around, no chip?” Charles teased.

“Well, did your wife get YOU chipped?” Eve asked, already regretting it as the words left her mouth.

To her relief Charles just rolled his eyes, “she refused, so I hired someone off a food delivery app to take me in and get it done myself.”

“She refused?” Eve asked, confused.

“She said I was her husband at any size, and she wouldn’t do it,” he said with a fond smile, “and let me tell you it sucked, that needle is huge.” Unconsciously he rubbed his bottom, “but I wanted it so someone like Amber couldn’t run off with me.” He shrugged, “still though, it really meant a lot to me that she said that… when you’re this size, respect and love like that goes a long way.”

“Y-Yeah,” Eve said, blinking away a quick tear. “Uh, listen, Charles, I think I’m going to call it a half day. Seeing as how you’re moving your desk tomorrow; I think you should too. If you want, I could drive you home?”

He thought a minute, “Yeah, that sounds nice, are your cupholders clean?”

She blinked, “Uh, I guess?”

“It’s where I ride in most cars,” he explained, “this country is suffering from an epidemic of sticky and disgusting cupholders.”

…

Eve stormed into the house, throwing her purse on the ground and kicking her shoes off. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. Marshmallow looked at her curiously, surprised to see her home early.

“Evan,” she called, “we need to talk!”

“You’re home early,” his voice called from one of the floor vents, “everything okay?”

“Just get out here,” she said impatiently.

“Wow, I know I said your attempts to catch me were losing steam, but ‘just get out here’ is a new low Eve.”

She rolled her eyes, “Evan, I’m giving up.”

There was a stunned silence, “Eve…” he said slowly, not sure where to begin.

“No, I Eve O’Mara, officially surrender,” She said, throwing her hands up in mock defeat, “Evan the Tiny has beaten me, I have no more fight in me.”

“Eve do you have a fever or something?” Evan had suddenly appeared next to her ankle, startling her a bit, in the moment she managed to notice there was a small section of the baseboard with a hidden door he must have used, and he had to be in a bit of shock too since he’d left it open and exposed behind him. He put a hand to her ankle, frowning as he tried to check for a temperature.

She sighed and stood her ground, “No, I’m fine Evan, in fact I spent twenty minutes out in the car trying to decide what I wanted to say.” She took a deep breath, “I don’t want to do our game anymore, I want to take the loss… I want to just be with you, like we were a normal…” she swallowed, “girlfriend and boyfriend.”

He blinked, “I uh…” he cleared his throat, “I refuse!”

“What!?” she exclaimed.

“I refuse your surrender!” he said, gesturing up at her, “the game continues!”

“You can’t refuse my surrender,” she said, growing irritated, “how would that even work? You can’t force me to chase you!”

He looked like he was about to say something, then stopped.

“Shit,” he muttered, “yeah… I think we’re at an impasse or something here.”

“I don’t want to chip you, or register you as mine, or any of that,” Eve said, “I just want…” She gulped, “I just want to…”

“What?” he asked, looking up at her, “Like, do you want to wager the house, Vegas style or-“

“No!” she said, exasperated, “I want you, like I want to BE with you Evan.” She sighed, “I want us to date for real, no more only being a couple on holidays, or around Laurie and her family, I want to call you my boyfriend every single day of the year.”

He was quiet a minute, and she heard the steady beat of her heart as she waited for an answer. The tiny man looked up at her, his mouth a thin line. Finally, the smallest smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Okay then,” He said slowly, “I… I’ve got to admit, I’ve felt the same way for a while now.” He laughed suddenly, “I’m going to really rub it in Laurie’s face next time I see her, I won!” He jumped up in the air, “in your face Eve! I am the baddest bad ass of all time, shrinking? Didn’t even slow me down!”

“Okay tiger, calm down,” she said chuckling.

“No way,” he said, grinning broadly, “you came here to make me your pet, and now you’re my girlfriend, and I got a good six months of home maintenance and rent money out of you!” He puffed his chest out proudly, “I’d say I’m a model for tiny guys everywhere!”

“Oh god, I knew you were going to be like this,” she chuckled, rubbing her temples. “Okay king tiny, I took the rest of the afternoon off, so how should we spend it?”

“Upstairs,” he said, a grin stretching across his face, “bedroom!”

“That’s what I was thinking too!” she said with a smile. She reached down for him, closing her fingers around him softly as she kicked off her shoes and began walking up the stairs. “This is another reason I needed to… well, give up,” she giggled, making her way down the hall, “I couldn’t keep waiting until holidays for this!”

“Oh man, there were nights Eve,” he laughed as they entered the bedroom, “there were nights when I had to talk myself out of letting you catch me, I’d say to myself ‘come on Evan, you can get away from her after you get off’ then I’d get all the way to one of my exits before my common sense would kick in.”

“In fairness, you always did escape after you got off,” Eve said demurely, laying back in the bed and laying him between her legs. She began unbuttoning her shirt, “I really should have just sealed the deal and played with you after… but…” She giggled as she started undoing her skirt, “well, you were always too much to resist.”

She froze a moment, “hey,” she said slowly, “You never DID let me catch you on purpose, did you?”

“Uh,” he chuckled nervously even as he started taking his own clothes off. “One time,” he admitted.

“Which time?” Eve asked, amused. “Was it when I left that bag of M&Ms out as bait?”

“No,” he admitted, red faced, “Uh, do you remember that time I was in your nylon?”

Her eyes went wide, and she sat up looming over him with an excited grin, “Oh god, I knew it!” she giggled, “I know a lot of stuff can be overwhelming at that size, but there’s no way you ‘got lost’ in my nylons! They’re one way in and out Evan!”

“I went inside them because you left them on the floor,” he admitted, “I was horny and they smelled nice, I’m not proud of it, but I decided it was better to let you think I was stupid rather than-“

“Naughty,” Eve said, fighting the urge to laugh. “Okay, we’ll revisit that later… for now?” She walked her fingers down her stomach, over her belly button, and then stopped at her patch of rich brown pubic hair, twirling it slightly as she spread herself open.

Evan didn’t need to be told twice, the waiting pink entrance invited him in, glistening and filling the air around him with the heavy rich musk of her arousal. He let her other hand come around, helping him position himself as the tight tunnel enveloped him, covering his body with the silky fluids as he easily slipped inside.

Eve breathed out slowly, savoring the sensation as the tiny man positioned himself inside her. This was always her favorite part, right at the beginning when he was completely inside her. She began to finger herself slowly, and as expected Evan began to fight against her contracting muscles. She grinned, picking up speed.

Evan noticed every slight change in her pace, her powerful walls squeezing against him as he did his best to move deeper. As always, the slick and powerful womanhood easily overpowered him, the merest hint of her ecstasy overwhelming his body and rendering him powerless. It was all he could do to try to please her, even as the movements rubbed her against him sent jolts up his own spine.

“Not yet!” she giggled, bringing her hand down and catching his tiny feet as he was starting to slip out. She gently pushed him back in, filling his nose and mouth with her taste as he was forced forward against the tight wetness. She crossed her legs, hoping to keep him from slipping out again, and she was rewarded with a powerful twitch as his body slid deeper into her.

Evan gasped, his hair stuck to his face, and every inch of him was soaked as the pressure around him increased. He fought to move forward again, even as the pillowy insides molded around him, preparing for Eve’s final orgasm, a flood that would wash him and his seed away. He cried out in the darkness of her pussy as he came, the earthquake of Eve’s orgasm followed him a moment later.

…

In the cold of January the upper levels of the house sometimes had trouble staying warm. It didn’t matter, Eve still had a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead as she laid back against her pillow, content. She gently twirled her finger around Evan’s head, toying with him as he lay, soaked, between her breasts. She might have lost their game, but she felt like a winner.

“I’m in the mood for pizza,” Evan said finally, “that’s what you eat when you’ve won something.”

“I suppose it’s fair that the big winner picks dinner,” Eve said with a grin. “Do you want to come with me to pick it up, or stay here?”

“With you,” he said, sitting up, “I mean…” he sniffed, the smell of her pussy filling his nostrils still, “I might need to wash up first.”

“I could put you somewhere… out of sight,” she said with a small smirk.

He thought a moment, then grinned, “sure, just rinse me off in the sink before dinner, I guess. Where am I riding, panties or bra?”

She placed him on the nightstand as she walked to her piled clothes. She picked up her discarded nylons thoughtfully, then walked back to him.

“I usually don’t like to wear these when I’m not at the office,” she said in a sultry voice, “but… since you liked them enough to risk your freedom for them, I think they’re a fair reward.”

“Uh, yeah,” Evan rasped excitedly, “okay!”

Her hand cradled behind him, ushering him towards the edge of the table, and then finally pushing him over. He tumbled down into the nylons, the slight scent of her sweat surrounding him as she slipped on the rest of her clothing. She shook them a bit, grinning through the material at him as he settled down into the toe. He looked up the long tunnel of the legging to see the familiar sight of her toes, leading the rest of her foot down towards him.

…

The office’s unpleasantness seemed to double for Eve, made all the more potent by knowing that Evan was waiting at home for her now. Charles had managed to get himself to another floor at least, Eve still saw him at lunch sometimes, and she was happy that he’d managed to escape most of Amber’s torments… most.

“Eve,” the redheaded woman said coolly, walking to the entrance of the cubicle. Eve glared at her, fighting to remain pleasant as her boss sipped a steaming cup of coffee.

“Can I help you with something?” Eve asked as politely as she could, “I’m just finishing up for the day and-“

“Oh, don’t give me that!” Amber said with a grin, “I finally caught up with that little rodent Charles, and we had ourselves a chat about you!”

Her blood ran cold, “A-About me?” Eve asked.

“See, I heard you grabbed him when some friends of mine were having a little fun,” Amber continued, “and I was… curious.” She stared into her coffee cup a smug grin on her face, “I really can’t believe you-“

Eve wilted under Amber’s gaze, part of her desperately wanted to tell the woman to fuck off, but she just stayed silent.

Amber raised an eyebrow, and continued, “bug boy told me you stepped on his ass, then threatened to drop him in the toilet!” Amber laughed. Eve’s mouth fell open in shock, “that’s so fucking sick, I love it!” She stopped laughing after a few minutes, oblivious to Eve’s surprise, “Oh wow,” she breathed, “I really was worried about you Eve. I’m making some budget cuts, and I’ve got to admit, you were on the line.”

“Uh,” Eve gulped, “yeah well, I…” she didn’t know what to say next, this was uncharted territory.

“I’ve really missed our little talks,” Amber said, finishing her coffee, “hey, there’s a sort of corporate team building thing coming up next month, I’m supposed to pick a few of my best people for it. What do you think?”

“Sure!” Eve said without thinking. She almost clasped her hands over her mouth, this wasn’t what she wanted at all, but she also didn’t want to lose her job…

“Hell yeah!” Amber said, doing a fist pump, “welcome back to the winner’s circle Eve! You’ll have to fill me in on the rat living in your walls, I’m sure you’re going to get him any time now.”

“Oh uh, sure,” Eve said, giving a weak grin, “I’ll tell you all about it…”

Amber winked, then left to continue her rounds. Eve clacked away at her keyboard numbly. So, Charles had lied, covered for her in a way, probably to spare her from bullying after she’d helped him… She was back in the winner’s circle apparently, but did she want to be?

February

“So, you two are official now?” Laurie asked, opening a can of Marshmallow’s food.

“Yeah,” Evan said with a shrug, walking along the counter. “I’m the winner.”

“Congratulations,” Laurie said sarcastically, lowering the dish for the cat, who meowed happily. “I have to admit, she turned out to not be as much of an evil bitch as I expected.”

“As much?” Evan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Laurie rolled her eyes, laying her palm for Evan to walk onto, “I’ve made some peace with the fact that you want a woman who is a little evil.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked as she lowered him towards her purse.

Laurie looked down at him for a long moment, Here I am, she thought, about to go help the only guy who I ever gave a shit about buy a Valentine’s Day gift for another woman… She closed her eyes and forced a laugh.

“Nothing Evan,” Laurie said. “So, what store are we hitting?”

…

“So I was over at the steakhouse with this guy, right?” Amber laughed, “and there’s some fucking tiny dude at the table over from us.” The redhead stirred her coffee, savoring the attention from the women around her. “So I took a straw, curled up some of the paper wrapper and…” She giggled, pausing for effect, “I shot a fucking spitball at him!”

“Oh my god!” Sandy laughed, “what did he do?”

“He fell over the side after I nailed him in the face,” Amber continued as the girls around her roared with laughter, “his date or girlfriend or whatever was scrambling on the floor looking for him, and they didn’t see who did it!”

“What did your date say?” Diane asked eagerly.

“He thought it was hilarious,” Amber said dismissively, “he loved it so much he’s taking me to his cabin next weekend.”

Because you’re easy, Eve thought bitterly. She smiled in spite of her thoughts, stirring her own coffee and feigning amusement at Amber’s anecdote. She was at the edge of the group in the break room, and while she hated herself for it, she had found life at the office in Amber’s circle far preferable to life outside it.

“So Eve,” Amber said, disturbing her thoughts, “What’s the update on your tiny guy?”

“I’ve got him pretty well housebroken,” Eve lied, “the other day I had a little fun with him…”

“Oh shit,” Diane laughed, “give us details girl!”

“I uh…” Eve stammered. She decided the best move was the truth, or something close to it, “I put him in my underwear while I went to the store, to show him his place!”

“Kinky,” Amber giggled, “front or back?”

“Uh, front,” Eve said quickly, and the women laughed around her, Sandy slapped her back playfully.

“So, when are you getting that little shit chipped?” Amber asked, leaning against the counter.

“Whenever,” Eve said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “I’m still sort of… easing him in to things. He’s mine now, that’s what matters, right?”

“I guess,” Amber said, rolling her eyes, “Personally I’d take him in for it first day, hell I might get my name tattooed on him!” She waved her hand in the air dramatically, “Property of Amber! Or maybe Amber’s Bitch Boy!”

The laughter went on a little longer, then Amber waved for them to be quiet, “Okay gals, our team building retreat is at a mountain spa a couple hours north of here, I think you’re really going to like it.”

“Anything interesting about it?” Diane asked, “skiing or something maybe?”

“It’s got ski rental,” Amber said with a shrug, “but the real special feature is… well it’s a surprise.”

Eve really didn’t like the look on her face when she said that, but giggled along with the rest anyways.

Tell her you don’t want to go, her conscience said, tell her you’re sick or something… But as much as she wanted to say something, she couldn’t. She sighed as she walked back to her desk, cursing herself for being a coward.

…

Eve walked inside the house, grinning as Marshmallow bounded up to greet her. She gave a quizzical smile as she saw the cat had a pair of red ribbons with heart patterns tied behind his ears. As the cat purred and rubbed against her legs, she took quick photo of him with her phone.

“Are you sure you can’t talk to animals?” Eve called to nowhere in particular.

“I keep telling you, no,” Evan laughed, appearing from behind the easy chair, “Marshmallow listens to me because he’s the best cat there is, I told him to let me put bows in his hair because I thought you’d like it, and so here we are.”

“Seriously, you should train dogs or something,” Eve said, watching the cat scratch at the bow irritably.

“That’s nothing,” Evan said, “I rode on a snake’s back once,” he did a quick surfing pose, pretending to balance on nonexistent waves. “Animals just love us tinies for some reason, all things considered it’s pretty lucky.”

Her eyes went wide, “Evan, what the fuck?”

“Please, that’s not even the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” Evan said, “one time, I wasn’t looking where I was going and stumbled into this spider web-“

“No more,” Eve said weakly, “I think I’m gonna puke…”

“Spiders are pussycats,” he said, and Marshmallow meowed for emphasis, “they’re really less scary at this size than-“

“Enough creepy crawlies!” Eve exclaimed, “It’s Valentine’s Day! I want to do a romantic dinner!” She quickly pulled out her phone and showed him a web advertisement she’d found, “Look, King Albert’s steakhouse, it says here they have special dishes for guys your size, there’s even a tiny chef!”

“Well, all right,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been excavating a new tunnel system out back, so I need to get cleaned up first-“ He grunted as she swept him off his feet, her warm fingers curling around him as she lifted him to her face. She frowned slightly as she saw just how covered in dirt he was.

“Tunnel system?” She asked, “why do you need a tunnel system if we’re done playing chase?”

He shrugged, “you never know,” he said noncommittally, “besides, I can’t sit around here eating and sleeping all day like chubsy wubsy over there,” he jerked a finger at Marshmallow, who was already heading back to the kitchen for food.

“Hmm…,” Eve muttered, rotating him slightly and grimacing as she saw the mud soaking through his clothes, “Hold still!”

“Hey!” he protested as she pulled his shirt off in one smooth motion. Her hand turned, holding him upside down as her powerful fingers easily stripped the pants off in spite of his kicking legs. He was righted again, fully naked and gripped in Eve’s palm as she walked towards the kitchen, the imperious *click* *clack* of her heels on the tile complimenting her mischievous smile. He was already growing hard just from that, there was just something spectacular about how easily she could take control when she wanted.

“Okay,” Eve mused, “does my tiny boyfriend want…” She looked at the hand soaps by the sink, “Field of Roses?” she held him up to a red hand soap dispenser, and he could already smell the floral scent coming off the dried bits of it crusted around it.

“Uh, what else have you got?” he asked uncertainly.

She rolled her eyes, then reached under the sink, holding him in place as she bent over and withdrew a caramelly brown looking hand soap that seemed to catch the light. His eyes went wide as he read the label, and he couldn’t help but grin, fighting down laughter.

“Dr. Lumberjack’s Manly Soap: Untamed Frontier Scent,” Eve read, “Or as men secure in their masculinity call it, cedar. I got it after you kept complaining about me scrubbing you down with girly soap.”

“I love it!” he said, “now if you’ll let me have the warm tap water my life will be complete.”

“One time,” she said rolling her eyes, “I did the cold tap ONE TIME!” she flipped it on, holding a finger under the stream until she was satisfied the temperature was appropriate. “And for the record,” she said, shoving him under the warm waterfall, “I thought it was adorable how it made you snuggle up in that little towel.”

He tried to answer, but his head was thrust under the faucet, the stream of warm water quickly silencing him. Eve hummed happily to herself as she squirted a few drops of the cedar scented hand soap into her palm.

Her slick and powerful fingers ran up his body, forcefully driving the dirt and grime away as she scrubbed him. She giggled, taking extra time to rub the suds into his hair, then down his back. He yelped as she pinched his bottom, and she fought a laugh at his reaction as she continued lathering the suds into him.

It wasn’t long before those powerful fingers found their way between his legs, and she gave him a smug look as her enormous thumb traced against the side of his erection.

“Hmm…” She playfully mused, “this part here seems like it needs a little extra attention.”

She began rotating her thumb in a slow circular motion, and as Evan gasped and spasmed backwards, she brought her forefinger around, gripping his manhood and slowly picking up speed. The suds of the soap rose higher around him, covering his body as her hand pressed into him, squeezing along his slick skin as her other slowly and powerfully jerked him off.

He came in her hand, all of his cum quickly and easily being scrubbed away as she brought him back under the warm rushing water again. He gritted his teeth as the pleasure became overwhelming, and she mercilessly kept going, causing his eyes to roll back in his head as she finished cleaning him. The world almost seemed to blur as the mixed sensations of orgasm and the warm water flowing over him flooded his mind.

He blinked, the world coming back into focus as Eve delicately toweled him off with a small washcloth. She wrapped him up in it, keeping him warm as she held him up to her nose, taking a big whiff of the cedarwood scent she’d permeated his body with.

“There we go, nice and clean,” she said with a smile.

“Do I get to wash you?” He joked.

“Our reservations are in an hour,” Eve said with a smile, “unless you’ve got a tiny fire hose or something, I don’t think you have time. She bit her lip a moment, “I uh, have one other request.”

“What?” he asked, hugging the washcloth around him tightly.

“The tuxedo?” she asked weakly.

…

Eve hugged her coat around her, the bitter wind of February nipping at her skin as she walked up to the restaurant. Evan was snuggled deep in her purse, as tempting as the cleavage-carry had been, this was a more upscale place, and Evan was wearing a tuxedo that, while adorable, didn’t provide the best protection from the cold weather.

“Reservation for Eve O’Mara!” she said eagerly, pulling Evan out of her purse.

“Wonderful,” the receptionist said, “I assume you’d like shrinkee accommodations?”

“Yes please,” Eve said. The receptionist smiled, and led them to a circular booth style table. The rest of the restaurant had a shockingly high number of mixed-size couples as well, and as she placed Evan down on their table, he was amused to see an even smaller table and chair had been set up on it, complete with a tiny candle. It was still half as tall as he was, but the gesture was nice.

“Hey,” look over there,” Evan said quietly, pointing to another booth across from them. “Is that a tiny woman?”

“Don’t stare, that’s rude!” Eve hissed, but she spared a glance herself. A full-sized man was pushing a small thimble sized drink of something over to a giggling blonde woman Evan’s size, who picked it up with both hands to take a drink. “I’ve never even seen a tiny woman before,” she said after a moment “we’re a lot more resilient to the virus than you guys are…”

“Yeah,” Evan mused, looking at the thimble sized cup next to his own table. With a grunt he heft it up, drinking the ice water from it as best he could. “I think it’s like two percent of us can get it, and only like one in a thousand for you?” He froze a moment, “Eve!” he said quickly, “you’re tested right-“

“Last doctor’s appointment, I requested it specifically because I was trying to catch you at the time,” she said, stifling a laugh, “I had greasy skin all through high school, but I won the genetic lottery on that one at least, I’m totally immune to shrinking.” She gave him a wry grin, “even women who can get it can’t get the airborne one, so women who know they might shrink just avoid prolonged contact with tiny guys.” She shrugged, “I didn’t even think women could get it for a long time, I don’t think most women even think about it.”

“Lucky them,” Evan muttered, “you get that positive result, then you say ‘this time next year I’ll be tiny’ then it’s next month, then next week…” He chuckled and shook his head, “the last few days are the worst, you’re itchy as hell, and you get all feverish and a little crazy.” He smirked, “Laurie took care of me for my last few hours being big, she told me I was ranting about my plans for a new type of car that would run on manure.”

“Sounds cool,” Eve teased, “ever build it?”

He laughed, “no, once I woke up in Laurie’s hand the whole idea seemed a little silly.”

“Oh, come on,” she said reassuringly, “it’s not all bad, your immune system and everything is supercharged now, right?”

“I’ll never get sick again, or so they say,” he said with a shrug as he lifted his tiny menu, “also it’s nice to have shredded abs and never have to do any crunches, like I was always in good shape but I never had a six pack at full size.”

“Are you ready to order?” a waitress asked, walking over to them.

“Uh, I think there’s some kind of mistake,” Evan said, looking up at her, “this menu seems to have full sized prices on it?”

“Oh yes,” The waitress beamed, “the owner was actually a chef before he shrank, and he and his wife decided that this restaurant would be all about equality, so the menus are identical.”

“An interesting take on equality,” Evan muttered.

 “Evan just relax and enjoy yourself,” Eve said, “you’re paying for the experience, not the portion.”

“Maybe I’ll just eat off your plate-“ he started.

“Absolutely not!” she laughed, scooting it away from the tiny man.

…

The two returned to a darkened house after dinner, Marshmallow briefly looked at them as they came in, then scampered off to sleep somewhere else. Eve walked into the living room, setting him down on the easy chair as she winked at him, kicking her shoes off. She’d worn nylons beneath a dark red dress to dinner, and she sauntered her hips, knowing he was watching as she walked to the kitchen to get him his present.

She returned a moment later with a small box and a heart shaped box of chocolates. She set them down on the ground next to him, and hefted another box curiously.

“I don’t remember buying this one,” she said with a sly smile.

“That one’s for you,” he said, walking around his own gift curiously. His eyes lit up, and he laughed, “a chocolate fountain?”

“I’m going to dip you in it later,” she promised, opening her own gift. Her eyes went wide as she saw a gold locket with a heart shaped design. She clicked it open, revealing a small photo from Christmas of her holding him and Marshmallow.

“Well?” He asked, grinning up at her eagerly, “what do you think?”

“I love it,” she breathed, “no one’s ever gotten me anything like this before…” She blinked a tear out of her eye, then leaned down to pick him up. She brought the tuxedo clad tiny up to her face, giving him a kiss that smothered his entire head, staining him with her red lipstick.

…

Eve twirled her locket casually in her fingers as she drove her car to the team building exercise location. She wondered if she should hide it, but decided against it. It’s not like Amber would know it had a picture of her and a tiny man in a decidedly equal looking relationship in it, she’d just make up something about a new boyfriend if someone asked.

The resort was a massive building with an exterior façade meant to make it look like an enormous log cabin, and the ski hills loomed behind it. She pulled into a parking space and got out, her bag trailing behind her as she looked up at the extravagant accommodations. She wasn’t thrilled about spending the weekend here pretending to be Amber’s friend, but… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? The resort looked nice at least.

“Eve!” Amber shouted, noticing her from the check in. Eve put on her best smile, and went to greet the other woman as they were assigned rooms.

…

“Okay,” Amber said with a sigh as they reached the last powerpoint, “I think that’s the last of the stuff corporate wants us to get through.”

“It says here on the handout there’s one about tiny-employee relations?” Sandy asked, looking up.

Amber rolled her eyes, “It’s just a bunch of bullshit about how this is a tiny-friendly company and we’re supposed to treat them like our equals or whatever.” The other girls laughed, and Eve gave a forced chuckle. Amber’s face suddenly lit up in a wicked grin, “Tell you what, in order to properly appreciate how we should treat tinies… let’s go to the next part of our retreat, everyone meet up at the spa in about a half hour.”

Eve frowned, not sure what to make of that, but she followed the tide of giggling office ladies out the conference room door anyway.

…

“Oh my god they’re so cute!” Diane squealed, seeing the spa’s tiny workforce. The resort had engaged a large number of tiny men, who were all busy working in teams, pampering the feet of the guests. Pedicures seemed to be the most popular option, with one tiny man working on sanding calluses, while another pair painted toenails.

“Corporate party for seven,” Amber said, sliding the company’s expense card to a bored looking full sized attendant.

“If you could all just sign the waiver,” the attendant said, passing them around. The other girls eagerly signed their names, but Eve frowned.

“Uh, why does a spa need a waiver?” Eve asked.

“It’s probably just tiny protection stuff,” Amber said dismissively.

Eve quickly scanned the document, “participant states by signing that they have had appropriate medical counseling prior to exposure to shri-“

“Eve,” Amber snapped, “stop wasting time reading that.” Eve shrugged and quickly scrawled her name, handing the form to the attendant.

The attendant smiled as the card cleared, “right this way, please stay on the designated path to avoid stepping on any of the workers, and once in your chairs, please remain seated until asked to rise.” As the women were assigned spa chairs one by one crews of tiny men, wearing small versions of the hotel’s uniform, appeared, hefting large bottles of nail polish, scented lotion, and other supplies.

Amber frowned as the last of the chairs was filled, leaving just her and Eve, “hey,” she called, “what gives, I thought you could accommodate my whole party?”

“My mistake,” the attendant said demurely, “please follow me to our VIP area, there aren’t any other appointments scheduled there right now, so we’ll place you there for overflow.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Amber laughed, “come on Eve!”

“Uh, okay!” she said, letting the redhead lead her. She spared a glance at the tiny workers, some of them didn’t seem all that upset to be here, others had worn down look to them, refusing to look up and meet her passing gaze.

Amber and Eve were brought to a small circular room with stone walls and a pool of water around the edge. A low ambient lighting gave the room a more relaxed feel, and Amber sighed happily as she sat down and kicked off her shoes and socks, a moment later Eve followed suit.

The two women watched as a line six shrinkees appeared from a small doorway in the wall, three each separating off for them. Eve felt slightly guilty as the tinies propped her feet up on spongy blocks and began their work.

“I’d like red,” Amber said imperiously, “and paint a nice little design down there in gold.”

“Yes Ma’am,” the tiny man with the nail polish bottle said.

“Look at them go,” Amber laughed, “I change my mind, shrinkees should totally get jobs! This should be what every salon in the world is like, tiny guys earning a living in their proper place…” If the tiny men noticed the slight, they didn’t give any sign, continuing their work in silence and refusing to look up at the two women.

“What color would you like Miss?” one of them asked, startling Eve out of her thoughts.

“I uh, pink?” She said, “with… a yellow design?”

“I’ll do my best,” he said with a small smile. She felt the delicate motions as the brush was applied to her big toe, and then she leaned back and sighed as another tiny man began applying a tingling lotion.

“I made sure to wear the same socks a few days in a row to get ready for this,” Amber teased, “does it smell nice tiny?”

“Wonderful ma’am,” the tiny man painting her toenails said, though from the grimace on his face he didn’t think so.

“This is probably like heaven for these guys,” Amber said, smiling at Eve, “do you ever make your tiny guy do stuff like this?”

“Yeah,” Eve said, forcing a smile. That was sort of true, Evan certainly spent a lot of time around her feet, though he’d never painted her toes…

Something to bring up, she decided, turning back to Amber.

“So Eve,” Amber said, leaning back and closing her eyes, “since we’re here alone, I wanted to let you in on something.”

“Oh?” she asked.

“Our CEO, Deandra Clarkson, is coming to tour our branch in April,” Amber said with a grin, “I haven’t been in charge long, but some friends of mine near the top say it’s time for me to move all the way to corporate HQ, can you believe that?” She shrugged, “I’d need someone to take over for me if I moved up the ladder though, and let’s be real, Sandy, Diane, and the rest aren’t up to it.”

Eve started, almost knocking over one of the tiny workers at her feet, “I er-“ she cleared her throat, “You’d recommend me?”

“Bingo,” Amber laughed.

If Amber left for corporate, and I was in charge… She fought a swelling of hope in her chest, it was everything she wanted! More money, a better job, and Amber gone!

“Wow,” she said with a smile, “I uh, I don’t know what to say!”

“I like you Eve,” Amber said with a smile, “you’re always someone a girl like me can count on, the wing woman that makes it all possible.”

The wing girl that makes it all possible, she thought with a sour feeling in her stomach, whatever, soon you’ll be gone and I can do what I want… She thought of Charles and smiled, he’d definitely be moving back up to the main floor, and god help any of those harpies that harassed him.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Amber chuckled, “but enough business.” She took out her phone, eagerly recording the tiny men working on her feet, “I fucking love watching these guys work, when are you going to bring your tiny guy in to meet us?”

“Oh any time now,” Eve lied, yeah right like I’d ever let YOU near Evan, “I’m just working on building up his trust a little more.”

“That’s a weird way to go about it,” Amber said, “but if he’s really as smart as you say, I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

“Tiny guys just need some… guidance,” Eve said, thinking quickly, “he doesn’t even realize how much he’s already mine, seriously!”

“Sounds like you’re pretty attached,” Amber commented, giggling as the tiny artist began painting her next toe, “don’t go soft on me again Eve!”

She gulped, “He’s just a tiny Amber! He’s feisty but it’s going to end with him as my slave, I’m just letting him walk into it instead of chasing him!” Even as she said it she cursed herself for being so weak. If Amber gets promoted again… WHEN Amber gets promoted again, then this will all just be a bad dream, she promised herself.

“Hey, whatever works!” Amber laughed, stopping the recording on her phone as the tiny men finished her pedicure.

“All done miss,” one of the tiny men said, bowing appropriately.

“Hmm…” Amber peered down and gripped his head with her toes, surprising him and causing his eyes to bulge. “I don’t like floral patterns,” she said with a cruel giggle, “No tip I’m afraid-“

“M-Miss, we make almost all of our earnings on tips-“ one of the tiny men said feebly.

Amber glared down at him coldly, shut up! shut up! shut up! Eve thought in panic.

Eve released the first tiny man, standing up and walking barefoot towards the second, “I don’t know,” she mused, “let’s see how nice and silky smooth my feet feel.” He shouted in shock as Amber lowered her foot on him, and the familiar *crunch* of a tiny man being crushed echoed throughout the small room. The other five tinies looked on in shock. Amber lifted her foot again, flexing it playfully as the crumpled form of the shrinkee struggled back to his knees.

“Uh, Amber,” Eve said, “maybe you shouldn’t do that-“ Amber looked at her with a frown, “They’re hotel employees!” she said, thinking quickly, “you don’t want to get kicked out-“

“Eve, tinies get stepped on all the time,” she said, rolling her eyes, “they bounce right back, watch.” The tiny men scattered as her foot came down again, pinning another member of the salon crew under it. With a sadistic grin Eve pressed down, producing another loud crunching noise. After a moment of grinding her bare foot against the floor, she stepped back, letting the coughing tiny man recover as his body’s rapid regeneration took effect. “See? Just fine.”

“It uh, still hurts quite a lot miss,” another tiny shouted.

Eve’s heart sunk as Amber looked over him with a smile, “Oh? Did you not adequately moisturize my feet? My skin should be so soft that stepping on you should be like a gentle massage…” She playfully tapped her finger to her chin, “why don’t you come over here and check.”

The man hesitantly walked forward, putting a palm on the foot he’d just finished pampering, “Feels nice,” he said with a forced smile, “very soft!”

“Hm… I don’t know,” Amber said, “maybe, give it a kiss? Just to check.” He looked up at her pleadingly. “You boys want your tip, don’t you?” With one final sigh the man leaned forward, planting a short kiss on the side of Amber’s foot. “Good boy,” she said with a giggle, “I’ll be sure to give you every penny you’re worth!”

With that she started slipping on her shoes again, and Eve did the same. She confidently strode out of the small room, and as she put her own shoes back on, Eve followed her. She gave the tiny men one last apologetic look, but they were just helping up the man Amber had stepped on, and picking up their supplies.

Don’t get in front of the sharks, she reminded herself, swim behind them, this one’s about to swim away…

When the receptionist produced their receipts, Eve watched as Amber put a one cent tip down, “Don’t’ spend it all in one place boys,” she giggled, handing it back to the receptionist, who gave her an angry glare. The other girls saw her, giggled, and also put insultingly low tips. Eve glanced at them as they walked away, then quickly scrawled an outrageously large amount on her own, sighing as she handed it to the receptionist.

“I’m sorry about them,” she murmured quietly.

“It’s not me who deserves an apology,” the receptionist said curtly, refusing to look Eve in the eye.

Eve felt like shit as she hurried down the hallway to meet the others. Suddenly there was nothing she wanted more than to be back home with Evan, and she touched the locket unconsciously, even as the women gossiped and laughed.

March

Evan walked through the still brown grass of the front hard, his bow slung over his back. Spring was taking it’s time getting here, but it was warm enough that he could move around outside with a thick coat on. He glanced up at the first buds forming on the trees, and smiled. He’d hoped to shoot his bow at a few early bugs, but it didn’t look like many were out yet.

He trudged back towards the front porch, enjoying the brisk early spring air. A crunch of tires against the dirt road leading up to the property gave him pause, and he turned to see Laurie’s truck rolling up. He waved as the blonde got out, a box of clinking bottles under her arm.

“Did someone order a Saint Patrick’s Day party to go?” Laurie grinned.

“Hell yeah!” he shouted as she walked up to him, leaning over so he could hop into her palm.

“You sure you feel okay hosting a party?” Laurie asked, carrying him in through the front door. “I mean, coming to mine is one thing, but-“

“I’m ready!” he insisted, “Look, it’s just going to be you, some of your family, and Eve, it’s not like I’m letting strangers in.” He grinned, “besides, I feel way more secure out here at my uncle’s house.”

“Yeah…” Laurie muttered, looking up at the high ceilings, “about that, I know you have some crazy traps and stuff you built for tiny-hunters, but could you maybe…” She shifted slightly, “I don’t know… disarm the lethal ones at least? For the party anyway.”

“I don’t leave dangerous booby traps armed,” Evan said, “I have an extremely stupid cat you understand. Nothing I have has any chance of going off accidentally either,” He grinned, “I did learn from some of the best.”

“The army?” she asked uncertainly.

He shrugged, “people I met on my tour, sure.”

“The army?” Laurie repeated, uncomfortably.

“Overstepping,” Evan said calmly.

“What about your uncle?” She asked, “did he maybe have any old mobster hidey holes around here full of guns, gold, and dead bodies?”

“You’ve been asking that for a decade now and the answer is still no!”

…

Eve pulled her car into the driveway, frowning at the line of other vehicles on the lot. Being tiny, Evan didn’t really have a lot of visitors, other than Laurie of course. A pair of blonde men were on the porch, smoking cigarettes, beers in hand. They waved at her, and she waved back, recognizing them as a pair of Laurie’s cousins who’s names she couldn’t quite place. She got out of the car and walked up to the door, hearing the loud sound of Celtic rock music echoing from inside.

“EVE!” a dozen voices shouted as she walked in.

“Uh, hi!” she said awkwardly. “What’s all this?”

“Saint Patrick’s Day!” Laurie shouted, appearing with a whisky bottle in hand, “here you go!” she held out a cocktail glass and quickly poured Eve a shot.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Eve muttered, “I’m not much of a fan of hard liquor…”

“You’re the only one here who’s actually Irish,” Laurie explained, “kind of, O’Mara is Irish right?”

“I think so,” Eve muttered.

“Look, if you take the shot, I’ll go get Evan for you, we put him in a leprechaun outfit,” Laurie said with a wink.

Eve’s eyes lit up with excitement, and she grabbed the glass and downed it instantly. Fire lit up her throat, and she fought a cough as she swallowed. The warmth traced down to her stomach, and a moment later she was fanning her mouth as though she’d just eaten something spicy.

“Okay,” Eve said, the alcohol starting to hit her, “where’s my lucky charm?”

Laurie giggled, stepping away, and with her several of her family members, letting Eve see Evan, leaning against a small shot glass that was full of pennies. He was dressed in a bright green outfit leprechaun suit, complete with a top hat and a wig full of fake red hair.

“Eve!” he shouted, walking up to her. “People keep asking for tips on how to catch me and get my pot of gold, I told them to ask you!”

“I didn’t catch you though,” she laughed, reaching down to pick him up. “Where did you get that costume?”

“Leprechaun outfits for tinies are all over the big chain stores,” Laurie said, swaying slightly as she joined them, “it’s offensive to tinies, the Irish, and the University of Notre Dame, but I just had to buy one!”

“I love it!” Eve giggled, taking her phone out to snap a quick picture.

Evan just rolled his eyes, “It’s a little scratchy,” he said, “but I do like the little boots, not a lot of boots made for guys my size.”

…

The party went on all evening, with groups being led out a few at a time by the designated drivers. As the crowd thinned it was soon down to just Laurie, Eve, and Evan, looking around at the mess that would need to be cleaned up the next day.

“Guys, I’m still feeling a little tipsy,” Laurie muttered, “mind if I crash? I’ll help pick up tomorrow.”

“Go for it,” Evan said, waiving her towards the stairs. “This place is huge, just pick one of the bedrooms.”

With the crowd gone Marshmallow appeared, having spent most of the day hiding from the raucous noise. The cat glanced around, seemingly disapproving of the cups left on tables, and the peanut shells and green confetti littering the floor. With the feline equivalent of a shrug, he leapt onto an easy chair that was mostly clean, and curled up to sleep.

“So,” Eve said with a grin as she picked Evan off the counter, “about that pot of gold…”

“You can have all the change in the couch,” Evan laughed, “I’ve only ever spent money on a card since shrinking anyway, hard to carry bills and coins, you know?”

Eve giggled as she walked up the stairs with him, “since he doesn’t have a pot of gold, my little leprechaun will have to trade something else for his freedom…”

She carried him into the bedroom, and with a playful flourish tossed him through the air to the bed. He flailed, bouncing on the soft comforter slightly as Eve started pulling her shirt off. As Evan began taking off the leprechaun costume Eve plucked it up, tossing it over to the miniature condo unit she’d gotten him for Christmas. It sat on her dresser now, although Evan mostly used it for storage and occasionally to use the fully functioning tiny sized bathroom. These days he almost always slept with her in the bed, her warm fingers curled around him.

It didn’t take long before they were both naked, and Evan lay back against the blanket looking up at the colossus sized woman looming over him. She giggled as her finger extended, playing with his manhood and pressing him slightly into the mattress as she considered what to do with him.

“Evan,” she whispered in a low voice, “do you want to try something new?”

“Uhh…” he gulped. Evan liked to think of himself as a brave guy, and shrinkees were resilient enough that they could survive and quickly recover from some truly insane injuries, hell Evan had come to terms with the fact that he kind of liked being crushed under Eve’s feet… but at four inches tall? With a giant woman leering at you? You didn’t just immediately say yes to a question like that. “What did you have in mind?”

“Anal!” Eve said, her eyes flashing.

“Whoa,” he murmured, the implication hitting him, “I umm… it sounds a little-“

“What’s the problem?” Eve teased, “guys are always asking their girlfriends to try it-“

“I-It’s not the same and you know it!” he stammered.

“Chicken,” Eve said with a giggle. She saw his face and softened a bit, “another time maybe… Don’t worry, I have another fun idea,” she winked at him and stood up. He watched her walk towards the bathroom curiously, and he raised an eyebrow as she returned with a cue tip, a small bottle, and a roll of scotch tape.

“What’s all that for?” he asked.

“There’s this sort of funny theory going around,” Eve said with a mischievous grin, “that…” she bit her lip, stifling a laugh, “emissions, from tiny guys have healing properties, extend your lifespan, remove wrinkles, all that good stuff.” She leaned down, the plastic ripping sound filling the air as she pulled pieces of tape off the roll. Despite his apprehension Evan didn’t run or fight it when she taped each of his limbs to the bed, the sticky bonds holding him in a spread-eagle position. He tested it slightly, while he was pretty sure he could get out with some effort, for now he was held in place.

“Okay, well you can have as many of my ‘emissions’ as you want Eve, just ask,” he joked.

“Not everyone is so lucky to have their own dispenser in their home!” Eve said, squirting the lube over the cue tip. She swirled it in her fingers, moistening them and coating the cue-tip in the slimy material. She leaned down, giggling at him as her massive face filled his field of vision. “Obviously a certain… harvesting technique needed to be developed.”

“What kind of-“ he began, but he was cut off as the cue tip began brushing around his erection. The soaked cotton tip felt amazing, and he felt his head lolling back as Eve casually teased him with it.

“You know when I was younger, I wanted to be a scientist,” she mused, “subject appears to enjoy stimulation, experiment in tiny man milking procedure number one appears to be going well.”

“Number one?” he asked, grinning a little.

“Test subjects don’t talk,” Eve said with a wink, “hold still…”

The cue tip picked up it’s pace, and he grunted as the silky wet material continued to stroke up and down along his manhood, accentuated by the playful giggles of the giant woman overhead. She slowed down, and he looked at her pleadingly.

“Eve!” he begged.

She put a finger over her lips, smirking at his reaction, “No talking! Subject is uncooperative, decreasing speed.”

He looked at her, just barely stopping himself from saying something. She gave him a smug smile, then picked up speed again. He felt shivers going through his body, and he strained against his scotch-tape bonds. He desperately wanted to reach down and finish himself, and Eve could see it in his eyes as he writhed. She twirled the cue tip, rotating it around him and continuing to hold him at the very edge of orgasm.

“Would you like to finish?” She asked, leaning in so close he could feel her warm breath.

“Y-“ he caught himself, she was trying to get him to slip up and break her “rule.” He smiled as pleasantly as he could, then nodded eagerly.

“Good boy,” she chuckled.

The cue tip assaulted him one final time, circling his erection even as it slipped up and down, rising up to tease his head while Eve covered her mouth in mock surprise. The brunette licked her lips as the first of his cum came out, and her massive fingers darted out, stroking him eagerly as he screamed in pleasure. Each spurt was collected on the cue tip, soaking in with the existing lube and cotton.

“Come on,” she muttered, “get it all out, excellent work test subject!”

“Fuck yeah,” he muttered, collapsing in a heap.

“Test subjects don’t-“

“Experiment’s over,” he replied.

Eve rolled her eyes, then lifted the cue tip to her mouth and stuck it in. She sucked on it for a second, making sure that anything of his that was on it disappeared into her dark throat. She smacked her lips playfully as she pulled the cue tip out, and with a flourish she flicked it into a small trash can next to her night stand.

“I feel younger and more beautiful already!” she said with a smile.

“So, people really want shrinkee jizz?” Evan asked as Eve leaned down to rip the tape off him.

“Yeah,” Eve said with a chuckle, “I don’t know if it actually does anything, but some tiny guys sell it to cosmetic companies I guess.”

Evan frowned, “how much do they pay?”

Eve shrugged, “probably not a lot? And they don’t use a cue tip anymore, they strap you guys in to these harnesses and slip these little hose things over your parts.” She bit her lip and gripped the blankets a moment, “I could uh… probably find one for sale online if you wanted to-“

“I don’t know about that,” Evan laughed. He paused, “you sure seem to know a lot about this harvesting procedure…”

“Just curious!” Eve said quickly, “I mean… it’s kind of fun to play scientist with me, right?”

“You missed your calling,” he said with a grin, “but for the next round I want to be a guy that explores caves, a geologist!”

“I think they’re called spelunkers,” Eve corrected with a laugh, “now come here!”

…

“So, our numbers aren’t great this quarter,” Amber said from the front of the conference room, “but we’re doing better.” She grinned at the assembled team, “Does anyone have any questions?”

Eve remained silent. Truthfully, she was a little bored, she was sure most of her coworkers were as well. These meetings were mostly about Amber’s ego, and the worst part of it was that she actually had something to be proud of, she’d turned around the branch’s finances and had actually proven an effective manager for most of the employees.

Amber’s surprising ability in the leadership role was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it made it that much likelier that she really would get promoted off into corporate next month when the CEO visited. On the other… well, there was no chance of HR intervening on Charles behalf. He was sitting on top of a pink tissue box now, his tiny sized chair having been “misplaced.” Amber had offered him the tissues in a condescending manner in front of everyone, a little reminder of his stature. She seemed to be sneezing a lot, and she always made a show of reaching for the box, knocking Charles over, at one point she’d “accidentally” tossed a balled tissue his way, giggling when he’d scurried quickly to dodge it.

“Sorry Charles, spring allergies I think.” She sneezed again for emphasis, sniffing slightly, “Okay, I think we can wrap things up then,” Amber said with a smile, “we can probably expect a performance bonus this year…” her gaze lingered on Charles, a glint in her eye, “those of us that made a sizeable effort anyway…”

From the look on Charles face, he knew the implication, and he sighed and looked down at his feet. For the millionth time since Amber had welcomed her back in, Eve wanted to say something. Amber had looped her into more and more management activity since they’d returned from the retreat the previous month. She’d seen Charles’ file, he was doing the work of three people and had top marks from all of their clients, to cut him off from a bonus was borderline criminal.

She knew all that, and she said nothing, laughing as Amber made a joke about hating Mondays.

…

Evan was walking through his wall tunnels, inspecting them. He didn’t use them much these days, there didn’t seem to be a point with Eve no longer trying to become his guardian against his will. Still, he liked to be prepared, and he had little else to do during the days besides watch TV or surf the internet.

He frowned as he noticed a Christmas light burned out, “cheap pieces of shit,” he muttered. The long string lights had seemed the most obvious choice for his interior lighting, they were cheap, lengthy, and not much of a fire hazard. They were still Christmas lights though, and many of them had stopped working for seemingly no reason at all.

At full size they were cheap and disposable enough that he had always just thrown them away and bought new ones. At tiny size? Replacing a string of those lights would be at least a day of work, and there were burned out bulbs in almost all parts of his network. It was time to finally figure out how to change a Christmas light, he decided.

When he’d been diagnosed with the shrinking virus, he’d had months before getting tiny, and he’d used that time to make a lot of what he’d need when he was small. He thought back to that doctor’s appointment sourly, he’d have never gone in for the mild cold symptoms normally, but with the virus going around he’d wanted to be cautious… He pushed the memory out of his head, turning back to the matter at hand.

His original “bedroom” was in a hollowed-out part of house’s front wall which he’d constructed by tearing down the drywall and equipping it with power, running water, and a few hidden viewports to the street outside. After placing his phone and some furniture for himself inside, he’d sealed it up again, painting the new drywall until only the most well-trained eye would be able to tell there was anything unusual about that patch of the room.

He climbed up into his old living space, walking over to his bank of phones. Three of them were just used as mechanisms to control various features of the house, mostly things like the smart thermostat, the internet router, and a few less mundane things he hoped to never use. At the far end was a smartphone as large as he was that served as his personal device and which he used to surf the internet. He quickly pulled up a youtube tutorial on changing Christmas lights, and after a few minutes he decided it seemed simple enough.

He pulled up his texts, “can u find me Christmas lights at the store?” he texted Eve, “any kind of holiday lights should work need 2 change bulbs”

…

“So this guy I’ve been seeing,” Amber said, “turns out he actually moonlights as a Tiny-Hunter,” she laughed to the girls around her. They were talking about their love lives, Sandy and Diane were talking about how hard it was to find good guys around their area, and Amber was discussing the man she’d been seeing, evidently the same one as the previous month. “I guess there aren’t enough tinies around unclaimed anymore to do it full time,” Amber said, sipping her coffee, “so he just works at a warehouse mostly.” She sneezed again, wrinkling her nose slightly and sniffing, “sorry, anyways-“

Eve’s phone beeped, and she picked it up, checking the text. She frowned, not sure where he expected her to find Christmas lights this time of year, but she sent back a promise to check on her way home.

“Ooh,” Amber said, peering over her shoulder, “and who is Miss O’Mara texting?” Eve practically squealed with terror, hugging her phone to her chest.

“It’s got to be a guy!” Sandy giggled, “come on Eve, spill!”

Diane’s hand darted over her other shoulder, and before she could protest her phone was slipped out of her hand. Diane frowned, looking at the conversation about Christmas lights.

“Who’s Evan?”

“I know who Evan is,” Amber giggled, “you let him have a phone?” She reached over and took Eve’s phone from Diane. Amber quickly read the conversation, “Christmas lights?”

“He uh, gets scared at night,” Eve lied, “he’s just a poor tiny little guy, so I gave him some so he wouldn’t be scared!”

“You’re being too nice with him,” Amber muttered. She quickly hovered her thumb over Evan’s contact information, forwarding it to her own device. With a shrug she handed the phone back to a nearly hyperventilating Eve.

…

“Hey, tiny bitch,” a text appeared on Evan’s phone.

Even frowned, the message came from an unknown number. He had been looking up videos on a few other topics when it had come in. He reached up, using his whole hand to bring up the phone’s touch screen keyboard.

“Excuse me?” he tapped back.

“I work with your owner tiny, I just wanted to introduce myself, I’m Amber.”

A picture of a redhead giving him a smug grin and flipping the bird came with it.

He frowned, confused, “You know Eve?” he typed back.

“Yes, I know all about you, I’ve been talking to Eve about having you brought in sometime for us girls to play with.”

Evan read and felt his confusion deepen; Eve didn’t talk about work much… Was this some coworker? Why would Eve give out his contact info? Whoever Amber was, he didn’t care for her.

“You seem confused, don’t contact me again,” he typed. He reached up to block the number, but another message made him pause. It was a video attachment…

“Learn to do this shrinkee, this is what you’re going to be doing for me when Eve starts loaning you out.”

He clicked “play,” starting a short video of a series of tiny men providing pedicure services to a woman’s feet. He rolled his eyes, preparing to close it out, when he heard a conversation on the audio, the first voice he didn’t recognize, the second…

“When are you going to bring your tiny guy in to meet us?” a woman’s voice asked.

“Oh, any time now,” Eve’s voice responded, “I’m just working on building up his trust a little more.”

Evan suddenly felt hollow, and he wanted nothing more than to close that video, but his hands shook too much to do so.

“That’s a weird way to go about it,” Amber said, “but if he’s really as smart as you say, I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

“Tiny guys just need some… guidance,” Eve said, “he doesn’t even realize how much he’s already mine, seriously!”

Evan’s mouth was dry as he looked for the date on the video, and it was like another blow as he saw it had come at the end of February, just a few weeks ago…

“Sounds like you’re pretty attached,” Amber said, “don’t go soft on me again Eve!”

“Soft?” he mouthed numbly.

“He’s just a tiny Amber! He’s feisty but it’s going to end with him as my slave, I’m just letting him walk into it instead of chasing him!”

Just a tiny

He felt sadness and fury battle within him, a swirling vortex of emotions that he felt would tear him apart even as he sat there, outwardly calm on his old bed.

“Just a tiny?” he repeated again, blinking a tear out of his eye. Maybe that’s all you’ll ever be to these people, he thought with a sigh. Maybe it’s time to stop this pretending and accept it.

No, he blinked tears out of his eyes, feeling sadness give way to rage, no, I’m a man, always was, always will be.

He stood up; his hands clenched in fists of rage that almost turned his knuckles white. At any size he was still a man, still human. He had work to do before Eve got home.

…

Eve turned the key to the house, humming to herself as she entered, “Evan?” she called, “what do you want for dinner?” Silence. That was odd. She brushed it off, he was probably just in his tunnels somewhere. She hung up her coat, kicking off her shoes as she entered the house.

“Mrow?” she turned to see Marshmallow, peering out of his carrying kennel curiously.

“Hey buddy,” she said with a smile, “did Evan tell you to go in there? Is it time for another vet visit already?”

She looked around again, half expecting Evan to appear, telling her what was wrong with the cat and what she needed to ask about when she got to the vet’s office. Still nothing. She frowned, was he out with Laurie somewhere?

She shrugged; she’d text the other woman in a minute. She walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling a large pitcher of iced tea out. She poured herself a glass, replacing the pitcher and walking into the living room as she sipped it.

She took a long drink as she sat down, the frowned. Something was a bit off about it. She blinked, realizing the walls were growing blurry, the ceiling looking farther and farther away… She looked down in shock as her hand went limp, her glass of tea clattering to the floor as her vision left her and the world went white.

…

Eve groaned, blinking awake. She was still on the floor of the living room, and she sat up, looking around in shock at the spilled drink. She glanced at the clock in shock, realizing she’d been out for hours.

“I thought about tying you up,” Evan’s voice came, “but it felt a little too Gulliver’s Travels, and it wasn’t necessary anyway.”

He was on the floor in front of her, wearing the same camo pants and headband as the day she’d met him. His bow was in hand, but the arrows in the small quiver on his back glinted in the light, metal instead of toothpicks, with disturbingly large heads that Eve was sure would do far more damage than his usual wooden projectiles.

“E-Evan?” she asked groggily, “somethings wrong, I think I passed out-“

“I drugged you,” he said angrily.

She froze, “W-What?” she asked disbelievingly.

“Yeah, you never secure any of your food or drink, it’s something I could have done to you at any time if you got out of hand,” he said bitterly.

“Why?” she exclaimed, anger rising.

“I saw the video,” he said in a low voice, “I heard the things you said about me… just a tiny, letting me walk into it.”

“Oh god,” she said in a hushed tone, “Evan, that was just something I said to… to fit in-“ she reached for him pleadingly, but like lightning his hands had an arrow nocked and ready, aimed at her face.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” he snarled, “reach for me again and I’ll put one of these through your eye!”

Please don’t Eve, he pleaded internally, I can’t… I can’t do it. He blinked away another tear, hoping she wouldn’t notice how much his hands were shaking.

She recoiled, “you’re scaring me,” she whispered.

“Good!” he screamed, spittle flying from his mouth, “I’m a scary person Eve! Bad people were, ARE, afraid of me!” he chuckled, the light never reaching his eyes, “I’ve got to thank you Eve, I didn’t believe I could be the person I was after shrinking, it was really tearing me apart… You really reminded me of who I am.” A crazed grin crossed his features, “pick up that glass there, check your reflection.”

Shakily she reached for the glass, holding it up so she could see herself in the glass. She gulped as she saw a red line traced across her neck.

“That was done with a sharpie,” Evan said bitterly, “it could have easily been done with a knife.” He looked up and met her eyes, “any time Eve, I could have pulled the trigger on all this any time.” He laughed, a mad tittering sound betraying his voice about to break into sobs, “still think I’m just some tiny?”

“No,” she sniffed, fighting back tears, “I don’t… Evan, please, I didn’t mean those things!”

“How can I know that?” he asked, his shoulders slumping. “You seem nice, you seem like you’re my friend, but that Amber woman sure seems to think you’re her friend too, which one of us knows the real Eve?”

“You!” she insisted, bursting into tears at last, “please Evan-“

The door opened, and Laurie walked in. She had a grim look on her face, and she refused to look Eve in the eye. Without a word she picked up Marshmallow’s crate, and through the door Eve could see the battered truck idling in the driveway.

“W-why’s she here?” Eve asked quietly.

“I’m going to stay with her for a while,” Evan said, walking towards the door. “You wanted the house so badly? Enjoy it.”

Laurie returned, stooping down to pick him up. The blonde glanced at Eve, watching from the doorway, she and Evan exchanged a few words that Eve couldn’t hear, and then Laurie carried him to her truck. Eve wanted to run after it as it crunched out onto the gravel road, but she was frozen, numb.

Eve staggered to the couch and sat alone in an empty house, tears built in her eyes, and she wept, unheard and unseen by anyone.

April

Eve’s world was empty, she got up, she made breakfast, she went to work. She talked to people there, and she didn’t remember any of it by the time she got home. The days seemed to pass one after another, and one Saturday morning she found herself in her car, idling a moment in the rain before remembering she didn’t work that day. She blinked and it was Monday again, had she even moved all weekend?

“Eve?” Amber asked. “EVE!” she shouted.

Eve blinked, “Oh, sorry,” she muttered, taking the file from her boss.

“Try to focus on this one,” Amber said in a low voice, “Deandra is coming in a couple weeks, I want to show her how well we’ve been doing with some of the bigger clients.” She squeezed Eve’s shoulder, “I know you’re a little stressed with the extra workload, but don’t worry girl, you’re a shark!”

You’re a shark, she thought numbly, don’t swim in front of the sharks, swim with them… because you are one.

“Sure,” she said, “I’ll hop right on it.”

“By the way, sorry I was teasing your tiny a while back,” Amber said with a giggle, “the little guy seems pretty flighty, I hope you’re keeping him under control.” A bit of fire burned at the bottom of Eve’s numb heart, and Amber saw it. Rather than an apology, there was just the slightest quirk at the corner of Amber’s mouth. “It was for the best though,” Amber continued, seeming to savor Eve’s discomfort, “you two were in a holding pattern, I broke it so you could move forward.”

She wanted to leap across her desk and strangle the other woman, but she just nodded meekly.

…

Evan walked across the television remote, using his feet to step down on the channel button. He growled in annoyance as he couldn’t find anything he wanted to watch, again. He threw on a sitcom rerun and walked back to the end of the armrest, resting against the edge of the couch.

“Mrow?” Marshmallow nudged him with his nose, eager to see his master do something, anything, but he waved the cat away. With a somewhat annoyed meow the cat leapt to the ground, waddling away to find a more receptive audience.

“Evan, I’m home,” Laurie said, stepping into the house. “Do anything interesting today?”

“You’re looking at it,” he muttered.

Laurie frowned, “Evan… you’ve done nothing but watch TV for a week, you need to snap out of it!”

“Why?” he demanded, “what’s the point? I can just stay here on the chair forever, and you can bring me kibbles just like Marshmallow.”

Laurie stared at him a moment, then sighed, feeling her body go relaxed, almost limp. She walked over to him, gently scooping her hand underneath him. He looked at her curiously, but didn’t resist as she clicked the television off. She walked to the kitchen, setting him on the counter and forcing him to stand upright.

“I don’t really want to do this today,” Laurie muttered, “I had a terrible time at work, I’ve got an asshole contractor claiming he laid the back patio concrete right when he sure as fuck didn’t, some lady at the store dinged my car door, it’s been a shit day Evan, but I really don’t think there’s any other time to do it.”

“Do what?” Evan asked.

Laurie breathed in, then out slowly, “Evan,” she said quietly, forcing her voice to remain even, “is there any way that you and I could ever be together?”

“W-What?” he asked, thrown off balance.

“Don’t make me do this,” she said, blinking away a tear, “don’t make me fucking lay it all out for you, just give me a yes or no.”

“Laurie,” he began uncomfortably, “you’re my best friend, do you-“

“Oh goddammit,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes a moment, “Evan, yeah, I’ve always loved you, like a brother, and maybe like something more, or at least I wanted to.”

“I don’t know what to say,” he said, stunned, “I always thought we were…”

“We are best friends,” Laurie said firmly, “but… come on Evan, whenever someone picked on one of my brothers, you kicked his ass, when our stepdad went over the line, who came riding in to save the day?” Tears were trailing down her cheeks, “who always listened when I needed to cry because girls at school called me white trash, or when I couldn’t afford to go to college.” She wiped her face with a sniff, “it was you Evan, you were always the person that would ride in to save me.”

“Laurie,” he said slowly, “I… I wanted to do those things, because I cared about you, because it was right.” He was quiet a moment, letting her blink a few more tears away, “I… you’re my best friend Laurie, I came to you when I found out I would shrink because I knew I could count on you…”

“I know,” Laurie said quietly, “and I’ll always be here for you Evan, I’m going to be your best friend until the day I die.” She gave one final sniff, “but I need that answer, I need to know before I go any further, can we ever be more than friends?”

The house was quiet, and finally Evan looked at his feet, “No,” he said softly, “I’m sorry…”

Laurie wiped her nose a final time and smiled, blinking her teary eyes, “Okay then,” she said. “It’s… liberating to have it all out there like this.” She chuckled, “whew! Fucking emotions, am I right?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said uncertainly. “I’m glad we cleared all that up… are we going to be okay?”

“I told you, I’m always going to be your best friend,” She said, walking towards the door, “I just… had to be sure we couldn’t be more before I… did some stuff,” She laughed again and rolled her eyes, “Evan, I’ll be back later, play with your fucking cat, he won’t leave me alone.”

With that she slammed the door, leaving Evan on the counter. He blinked, thinking over the conversation they’d just had. He shook his head, chuckling softly.

Laurie… he thought, you’re a better friend than an asshole like me deserves.

“Marshmallow!” he called.

“Mrow?” the grey cat bounded up to the counter, leaping up to it and scrabbling to get onto the tiled surface. He reached over and stroked the cat’s fur, finally climbing up on his back.

“Come on boy, I think Laurie left a laser pointer around here somewhere, let’s burn off some of that chub.”

…

Eve lay on the couch, debating whether she wanted to watch TV, or even surf the internet on her phone. A half-eaten bag of chips lay next to her, she didn’t have much energy for cooking lately. A knock came from the door. Eve didn’t bother getting up, sighing and staring at the ceiling. A moment later the door’s lock turned.

“Eve?” Laurie’s voice called. She spotted the brunette on the couch and sighed, rolling her eyes. She walked over to her, standing over the other woman with her arms crossed.

“Hey Laurie,” Eve muttered.

“Hey,” Laurie said, “you uh… look good.”

“Fuck you,” Eve said bitterly, “you’re probably loving this, you finally have your chance at Evan and-“

*SLAP*

Eve clutched her stinging cheek, stunned.

“Fuck,” Laurie said with a smile, “I’ve been wanting to do that since September.”

“Y-You hit me-“

*SLAP*

“Two is twice as good!” Laurie laughed, shaking her stinging hand.

Eve growled and stood up, an open hand flying at the blonde. Eve savored the look of surprise in Laurie’s eyes.

*SLAP*

“Okay,” Laurie muttered, rubbing her red cheek, “that’s fair, but if we’re not done, the next one comes with a closed fist.”

“I’m good,” Eve said bitterly, “so, why are you here? Gloating?”

“Evan and I aren’t an item,” Laurie said, her face flat, “we never will be…” She looked like she wanted to say more, but she just shrugged, “I’m here to talk to you.”

Not an item? Never will be? Eve didn’t know how to respond to that, but she felt a flutter of hope.

“Give me the god’s honest truth girl, that shit you said on that video, was any of it true?” Laurie glared at her, boring into her as their eyes made contact.

“No,” Eve said firmly, “It’s just… I needed Amber to think I was with her!” she said, her voice almost cracking. “You have to swim behind the sharks!” she said weakly, “if you swim in front of them-“

“They eat you,” Laurie said, “I get it, how’s that worked out for you?”

Eve’s face burned red, “My family didn’t give a fuck about me!” she hissed, “every time I see you you’ve got a fucking army of brothers, sisters, cousins, whatever around you, you don’t know what it’s like to have nobody!” She collected herself’, “When I got to school, I looked for the people running things, and I got behind them,” she said bitterly, “when the nerdy girl was getting pelted with shit? I showed up and offered my apple from lunch to the people throwing stuff” She laughed, “that was the only time anyone ever wanted me around Laurie, so don’t lean on your goddamn Brady Bunch and tell me I should have just stood up to people!”

“Wow,” Laurie chuckled, “Well, despite all common sense and the advice of his best friend, Evan wanted you around, he liked you so much he wanted you around even when you were trying to make him the next thing to a slave.” Laurie took a deep breath and sighed, “honestly, I don’t mind having you around either.” She grinned, “you’ve got friends that aren’t sharks, so it’s time to drop this follow or be eaten shit.”

“That’s nice to hear,” Eve said, sitting back down, “but why are you really here Laurie? You didn’t come to give me a pep talk.”

“I’m here to see if there’s any chance you and Evan can get through this,” Laurie said, crossing her arms, “if you’re being honest with me now, I think you can.”

“So what?” she asked with a sigh, “do I just throw myself in front of him? Say I’m sorry?”

“Nope,” Laurie said with a smirk, “Evan’s kind of… prideful. He’s not going to take an apology unless you’ve got some substance behind it.” She flopped down on the couch next to Eve, “you keep talking about swimming behind the sharks… I think you’ve got to bring one in.”

Eve snorted, “we’re going to need a bigger boat.”

“Call me the marina,” Laurie said with a smile, “I’ve got many for sale! Tell me about this Amber…”

…

Eve felt a little better about things after talking with Laurie, and as she went to work the next day she felt more alert, alive, than she had at any time since Evan had left.

“Now that’s more like it!” Amber laughed, hovering outside her cubicle, “Deandra Clarkson herself emailed me the other night Eve, she’s asking me to meet her personally when she comes to tour the branch.” Amber practically shook with excitement, “I want you there Eve, I want to point out the person who helped make all this possible.”

“I’ll be there,” Eve said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

…

Eve stepped into Laurie’s pick up truck, idling outside of her office. There wasn’t anything wrong with her own car, but the blonde woman had insisted on carpooling with her a few days a week. Eve appreciated it, and she smiled at Laurie as she buckled her seat belt.

“How’s Evan?” she asked quietly.

Laurie shrugged, “still a little mopey, but he’s thinking about what he wants to do next. I think he knows I’ve been talking to you.”

“Has he said anything about me?” Eve asked.

“Yeah,” Laurie said, “a lot actually, but I don’t know if I should go into it...”

“Do you think I have any chance at all?” she asked.

“I think so,” Laurie said with a small smile, “like I said, he’s hurting, but… well, when Evan hates people, like really hates them, he just kind of blanks them out… you? He keeps talking about things you two did together, then cursing himself for being stupid.”

“You’re sure that Amber is the key to all of this?” Eve asked, leaning against the seat with a sigh.

“Evan really likes taking down bullies,” Laurie explained, “and from what you’ve told me this woman deserves it. You’re practically writing him a sonnet or something with this, if this doesn’t work then you’re done.”

“Sure,” Eve muttered, “So, do you have any idea on how I could go about doing that?”

“I do actually,” Laurie said, “you’re not doing anything today, are you?”

…

“Hey Laurie!” a tiny Asian woman called eagerly from a place on a check in table. She was wearing a pink suit as she hefted a giant pen and walked over to an attendance sheet, checking the blonde in.

“Hey Kimmy,” Laurie said, waving and returning the greeting.

“What is this?” Eve asked, sticking close to Laurie as they walked into the hotel conference center.

“Tiny rights organization meeting,” Laurie explained.

There were rows of folding chairs in front of a small stage. Most of them were filled with full sized people, and tinies, mostly men, were in their laps, hands, and a few on shoulders. Eve even noticed another tiny woman, peering out of the pocket of a man’s plaid shirt, her husband judging by the ringed finger on the hand that came up to stroke her hair gently.

“Does Evan ever come to these?” Eve asked quietly.

“Once,” Laurie said with a shrug, “he doesn’t really like politics, and he thinks the other tinies get way too into tiny issues.”

“What, like fair employment and getting rid of the guardian system?” Eve asked.

“Mostly,” Laurie said uncomfortably, “I mean… ninety nine percent of what these guys do is great, but then there’s stuff like the campaign to get Ant-Man 3 pulled from theaters…”

Eve stifled a giggle, “what?”

“Keep your voice down!” Laurie hissed, “they also wanted Evan to be some kind of media figure for them, and he was pretty determined to turn that one down.”

“So what, are we going to talk to these guys about Amber?” Eve asked.

“They most they would do would be to picket your office or something,” Laurie said with a shrug, “but that’s not what we’re here for… just watch tonight’s speaker.”

Eve frowned, and watched the meeting unfold. The first few speakers were tinies, carried up by friends, spouses, and family. They gave speeches on various topics, tiny accessible buildings, workplace rights, one particularly interesting one, an older tiny man a clean-cut suit stood on top of the podium explaining that congress was now within just one vote of repealing the Shrinkee Protection Act, and restoring full legal rights to tinies. That caused widespread applause, cheers, and whistling.

“Just one vote away?” Eve whispered eagerly, “then it’s almost over?”

“Nah,” Laurie said dismissively, “Senator Fredericks will never budge, and after the next election things are going to be so tossed around that all these pro-shrinkee lobbyists will have to start back at square one.” She smiled, “It’s nice that they got so close, it does give me hope that we can go back to normal one of these days…”

The final speaker approached the podium, and Eve gasped. She was a late middle aged African American woman, with well styled hair neck length hair complimenting a sharp cut red and black pantsuit that let her easily stand out among the rest of the crowd. On one of her shoulders a tiny man in a black business suit and red tie matching her outfit rode, holding his hand to her neck for support. They were a somewhat mismatched pair, he seemed a bit younger than her, an almost boyish face really…

“Deandra Clarkson?” Eve breathed, “Laurie, that’s our company’s CEO!”

“Good evening, everyone,” Deandra said, giving them a winning smile that had graced the cover of Fortune, “I’m in town to visit one of my company’s branches later this week, and I thought I’d stop by the local chapter of one of my favorite organizations!” the crowd laughed politely, “in fact, I’d like my husband Warren to say a few things.” The tiny man on her shoulder seemed to wave “no!” in a panicked motion, but the business woman just smirked, pushing him up to a microphone longer than his entire body.

“Uh, good evening,” Warren stammered, collecting himself. “I uhh…” he cleared his throat, “I guess I’ll say that we’ve all had our share of troubles with this whole… being tiny thing.” There were polite murmurs of agreement, “for me it wasn’t much of a change,” he chuckled nervously, “Deandra was older than me, she was richer than me, she was this amazing and powerful woman who had everything… I was some guy who fixed her car.” Deandra smiled, reaching down and stroking his hair. He smiled up at her and continued, “I guess my point is, I always felt small next to her. The virus just made me look the part.” He chuckled, biting his lip and looking up at the black sphere of the microphone, trying to collect his thoughts. “Deandra though… no matter how far above me she was, she always treated me like a person, like I was someone she wanted to know, someone she cared about.” He beamed, “I never worried for a moment that she’d take care of me when I shrank, and I never will.”

The auditorium erupted in applause, and Eve found herself joining a standing ovation. Deandra reached down, letting the tiny man hop back into her hand, cradling him back up to her shoulder. After a few whispered words to him and a shared smile, she reached for the microphone.

“Warren thinks he can’t talk to crowds,” she said with a chuckle, “I have a paid speechwriter who hasn’t ever given me anything that good…” She smiled, “when the shrinking virus happened, I made a pledge to Warren, and to everyone else that shrank, that I’d do everything in my power to make sure they’d never be treated as anything less than the men and women they were.”

The crowd applauded again. Deandra’s speech went on, interspersed with anecdotes on how she and Warren had met, the various hurdles in their relationship leading up to his shrinking, and finally how they’d married a few weeks after he’d become tiny. Her speech ended with another round of applause, and Deandra waved as she walked off the stage.

“Okay,” Laurie said eagerly, “now’s your chance! Go talk to her, tell her you work for her, and your boss is being an asshole to your tiny coworker!”

“No,” Eve said, a small smile forming on her face, “Not here… I want to do it in front of her.”

“Uh, okay,” Laurie said slowly, “you sure about that one?”

“Yes,” Eve said, clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white. “This is a long time coming.”

…

Eve was so giddy that she could barely sit in her chair all morning, and it had nothing to do with the four cups of coffee she’d had. She was practically humming as she filled out a client report, tapping her heeled shoes on the floor.

“Sup loser,” Laurie said, leaning against her cubicle entrance.

“Laurie!” Eve said, stifling something between a gasp and a giggle, “what are you doing here?”

“Moral support,” Laurie said with a shrug, “I took the day off, and look what I’ve got!” she showed Eve a bag with the label of a local sandwich place on it.

“Oh, lunch,” Eve said with a weak smile, “uh, thanks.”

“No,” Laurie rolled her eyes, she reached into it, rooting around the napkins and plasticwear a moment, then her hand fished out Evan’s annoyed looking form.

“EVAN!” Eve squeaked, involuntarily scooting backward.

“Hi Eve,” he said neutrally, “Laurie said we had to come see you at work. Personally, I could have done without it.”

“Evan,” she whispered, “I…” she gulped, “Evan, I’m sorry I said those things, I’m sorry I was… I was trying to have it all, I should have always picked you, you’re all I want.”

“I…” he sighed as Laurie set him down on Eve’s desk. “I’ve missed you,” he said quietly. “I… I shouldn’t have done the things I did to you, threatened you I mean…” he sighed and looked up to her with a weak smile, “I couldn’t have done any of it… if you’d reached for me then, I’d have thrown down my bow, you could have marched me right off to the vet for chipping and I don’t think I’d have had any fight left in me.”

“It’s okay,” she said softly, “I…”

“Look,” Laurie said, glancing around, “Evan, Eve, I’m glad you two are feeling a little better, but Eve, didn’t you have something you wanted to show our little buddy here?”

“R-right,” Eve said nervously, “Evan, could I put you in my pocket?” she padded the lapel pocket on her button up shirt.

He frowned, “uh, sure, but I’m still not sure what this is all about.”

“We’re ruining that bitch Amber’s life,” Laurie said with a shrug, “trust me, it’s going to be a blast.”

Evan blinked, and he looked up at Eve who smiled and nodded.

“Well, hell,” Evan chuckled, “if this is your get-back-together gift, it really beats the box of chocolates I was going to get you!”

“Hey,” Sandy called, marching up to Laurie, “who are you? You don’t work here!”

“Sandwich delivery girl,” Laurie said, holding up the bag, “just looking for the person who ordered this, I think this is the wrong floor though,” she hefted the bag, turning to leave. She paused, looking back at Eve, giving her a quick wink as she headed towards the office exit.

The elevator dinged a few minutes later, and Eve peered up to see Deandra and a pair of assistants walk out. Amber was already hurrying up to her, and with a sigh Eve steeled herself, slipping Evan into her pocket. He looked up at her and gave a thumbs up, and she patted it for good luck.

“Eve,” Amber said in a hushed voice as she approached, “I’m glad you’re here, do you have that presentation ready?”

“Oh yeah,” Eve said with a smile, “conference room?”

“In five,” Amber said, sighing and running fingers through her hair, “this day is already off to a rocky start, I ordered a sandwich for lunch and someone met the delivery girl in the lobby and claimed it! Can you believe that?”

“Crazy,” Eve said, fighting to keep from bursting out laughing.

…

Deandra took a seat at the head of the conference table, smiling as Amber explained the changes she’d made in the branch. Several of the other members of Ambers office social circle were joining them, and they waited as Eve went to the front of the room and loaded her presentation on the projector.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Eve said, smiling. “Amber has asked me to give a quick presentation on how things are done here that makes this branch different from everywhere else.” She sighed, “I have to warn you though, some of it maybe shocking.”

“Shocking?” Deandra asked with a frown, “I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“Eve,” Amber said, her face white, “what are you-“

“This company prides itself in how it treats people,” Eve continued, “but in this branch… we don’t treat some members of our team well at all.”

“You’ll have to forgive Eve,” Amber said, standing up, “she’s been very overworked lately and-“

“I’d like to hear more,” Deandra said coolly, “please continue.”

Amber gulped and sat down as Eve loaded screenshots of her texts and groupchats. Endless pages of Amber, Eve, Diane, Sandy, and others in the office mocking tinies, mocking Charles, talking about ways to get him fired. With a defeated sigh, Eve clicked the final page, and the video of her conversation with Amber at the spa played, the two of them discussing Evan’s enslavement. She shot a glance down at Evan, hoping she hadn’t torn the wound open again, but he just quietly gave her a thumbs up, hidden in her pocket.

“This is disgraceful,” Deandra snarled as the presentation ended, “I’m… I’m appalled that this has happened at one of my branches,” she looked at Amber in disgust, “that someone I was considering for advancement would say and do these kinds of things.”

“H-Hey!” Amber stammered quickly, “it’s just stuff about shrinkees, do you really want to shut down a whole branch over fucking shrinkees? Who the hell cares?” She tittered nervously, “I mean, come on Deandra! They have that whole shrinkee protection act for a reason, they shouldn’t be here in the office to begin with! They’re not people!” The other women in the room nodded hesitantly, some shooting shocked looks at Eve.

Deandra looked like she was about to explode, and Eve edged back nervously, but the business woman just sighed. She gestured to one of her assistants, who handed her a briefcase. She opened it, displaying a tiny man who blinked in confusion at the sudden light. He appeared to have a portable gaming system going to entertain himself, but he paused it when he saw Deandra looking at him.

“Hey,” Warren said, standing up, “Uh, what’s going on?”

“Amber,” Deandra said in a voice like glass, “have you met my husband, Warren?”

“Oh,” Amber said in a soft voice, the realization hitting her, “Oh no…”

“Leave now, or I’ll have security help you out,” Deandra said, fighting down a snarl.

Amber spared a hateful glance at Eve, then scurried out of the office, the click of her heals on the floor echoing down the hall as she all but sprinted to the elevator.

“I want her fired by the end of the day,” Deandra said to an assistant. She looked around the other women at the table, then at Eve. “The rest of you should consider yourselves on administrative leave, I will be heading up the investigation into this entire branch personally.” She rubbed her temples and sighed, “go,” she muttered, waving them out.

All of the other women left, filing out and giving Eve looks just as hateful as Amber had. She paused, then folded up her laptop and followed them, the silence in the conference room weighing on her.

“There’s a tiny man in your front pocket,” Deandra said, not looking at her. “I carry mine enough to spot them right away.”

“Uh, yeah,” Eve said, reaching down for Evan.

“Hi,” Evan said, waving as Eve held her palm out.

“I don’t suppose he works here?” Deandra asked, pointing to Evan.

“Nope,” Evan admitted, “just visiting my girlfriend.”

“That’s another rule broken,” she muttered, “but what’s one more for you Miss O’Mara?”

“Not a lot ma’am,” she said quietly. “Am I… Am I fired too?”

“You’re in all of those messages,” Deandra said, “and it’s you in that video with Amber…”

“Well yeah,” Evan protested, “but she also ratted on everyone, plus she loves tiny guys, I can personally attest that she loves the way we feel-“

“Spare me the details,” Deandra said gloomily.

“Oh come on Dee,” Warren laughed, “I guarantee you we’ve done crazier stuff than those two.”

“Wanna bet tough guy?” Evan asked, crossing his arms.

“Have you been in the back door?” Warren said with a sly grin. When Evan didn’t respond the other shrinkee just chuckled.

“Warren!” Deandra snapped in a flustered tone. Her assistants just giggled. She cleared her throat, “Miss O’Mara, my decision stands, you are on administrative leave.”

Eve shrugged, “Okay then,” she said. Somehow, she didn’t really care anymore, the presence of Evan in her palm was rapidly erasing any other feelings she had about anything.

The pair left through the lobby, spotting Amber angrily shouting at a security guard, “Let me back up there! I just need to grab a few things-“

“Miss, say what you’re missing and it will be brought down to you,” the guard said firmly.

“Hey guys,” Laurie said, waving to them from the waiting area. She was taking bites out of a sub sandwich, Amber’s gaze drifted over to them, and she sneered when she saw Eve, then her eyes went nuclear as she saw what Laurie was eating.

“T-That’s my lunch!” she screeched.

“Oh my god,” Laurie said in mock horror, “she’s unhinged! You guys better get her out of here.”

“Miss, you need to leave now,” the guard said firmly gripping the struggling woman by her shoulders.

“It was a setup! They framed me and ate my lunch!” Amber ranted as the guard pushed her out of the glass doors.

“So, should I bring Marshmallow by your house later?” Laurie asked, finishing the last of the sandwich.

“Keep him overnight,” Eve said with a grin as she walked out the door with Evan.

“Yeah,” Evan said, “he has a tendency to scratch at the bedroom door if it’s… closed for too long.”

…

“Now Evan,” Eve said as she unlocked the door to the house, “I know we just got back together, so if you want to just go in your tunnels for the night, I’ll understand-“

“No,” he said as she started up the stairs, gripping him tightly, “Look Eve, we’ve got a lot of stuff to work through, and maybe it’ll take us some time to get back to one hundred percent but-”

“You’re horny?” Eve asked with a smirk.

“Yeah,” he said, laughing.

“Me too,” Eve admitted, “and I know just where we’re going to start.”

Her fingers came down, tearing at his clothes and easily forcing his shirt off. His pants went next, and she balled them up casually, tossing them over her shoulder as she entered the bedroom. She gently laid Evan on the pillow, letting him watch as she undid the buttons on her shirt one by one, looming over him like a mountain as she watched him grow hard in her shadow.

She undid her skirt next, letting it fall to the floor. She grinned and made eye contact with him as she slid her nylons off, briefly holding them to her nose. She took a quick whiff, grimacing slightly at the ripe smell.

“Ugh,” she muttered, “I was pretty nervous all day,” she said with a giggle, “I sweated right through these…”

She balled them up and tossed them onto a surprised Evan, who went wide eyed with shock as the ball of nylon landed on him. His senses were immediately bombarded with the rich, ripe smell of Eve, the nylons having absorbed her mix of sweat and just a hint of the floral soap she wore. He felt the silky material rub against his skin, driving him to new heights of arousal as he fought to escape from it. He blinked as he finally escaped, looking up, dazed at the giant woman about to make him her plaything.

“You almost came just crawling out from under those,” Eve giggled, “you are pent up…” She walked, now naked, over to her nightstand and opened the drawer. A bottle of translucent purple lubricant and a pair of pink ribbons were in her hand as she walked back to the bed and sat down next to him.

“What’s the lube for?” he asked hesitantly, “I-I’m not ready to go up your a-“

“So nervous!” she chuckled, “It’s not for my butt, I promise. Hands above your head.”

He slowly obeyed, raising his eyebrow as she tied a small knot, holding his arms above his head. She gently reached down and poked him in the chest, tumbling him onto his bottom. With a smile she pinched his feet together, tying a matching pink ribbon around his ankles. When she was satisfied the silky pink material had bound his hands and feet, she picked up the one attached to his hands, dangling her bound captive.

“So uh,” he asked, looking up at his silky pink bonds, “what did you have in mind?”

“Just relax,” She said with a smile, “let me do all the work for this one.”

“I hope that’s your plan,” he muttered, struggling feebly for a moment, “any reason for the pink?”

“It looks cute,” she said, unscrewing the bottle of purple lubricant. Evan watched, spellbound, as she squirted the sticky material between her breasts. She licked her lips, making eye contact with him as she set down the bottle. Her free hand came up, slowly kneading her breasts, spreading the lubricant all over them and giving them an oily sheen. She moaned loudly, running a thumb over her nipple in a show for the dangling man.

Suddenly, she lay down on the bed, gripping the ribbon tied to his ankles and pulling it, forcing his body straight and taught. Slowly, she slipped him through the valley of her breasts, using the ribbons tied to his wrists and ankles to rub him through her cleavage in a flossing motion.

The lubrication let him slip cleanly through them, the motion of her slick skin rubbed against his body, causing him to shudder with pleasure.

“In,” Eve said, giggling as she pulled him up through the gap between her breasts, “and out!” she laughed as his gasping face appeared, “and down again!” she said, and just as quickly as he’d come up, he was pulled back down between the pillowy mounds, the sticky surface molding around him as though it were trying to grab and hold him as he was pulled steadily back and forth.

Evan lost track of time as he was shifted up and down through her bosom, the warmth permeating him as the lubrication covered his skin, mussing his hair and electrifying his manhood each time Eve flossed him through the soft valley.

“In,” she repeated in a low voice, “and out,” she giggled, “say it with me Evan!”

“In-“ he began, but his voice was cut off as his world was smothered by her jiggling flesh again, “out!” he rasped, trying to follow her instructions.

“Hmm… might be a little too much,” she giggled, continuing the motion and submerging him in her chest again, “just let me talk, now let’s pick up the pace!” She twirled the ribbons around her fingers, tightening her grip on them.

“In!”

“Out!”

“IN!”

“OUT!”

She fought a cackle as Evan’s face blurred, and each time his head came up he had a dazed look on his face, she could swear his eyes wee rolling back in his head.

“Oh god,” he moaned, cumming hard enough to make Eve’s ribbons twang as she flossed him through a few more times, finishing out his orgasm between a pair of pillowy breasts that towered over him.

“Whew,” she whistled, “just rest there, take a minute to catch your breath.

“Yeah,” Evan wheezed, shifting himself and laying between Eve’s mountains. He couldn’t help but grin as he heard the steady beat of her heart behind him. He felt her finger come down and gently stroke his hair, wild and mussed from the lubricant. “So, what’s next?” he asked with a smile.

“Well, since you’re not ready for…” she shifted her butt back and forth suggestively and giggled at his reaction, “we’ll have to discuss it, but I’ve got some ideas.”

She took a moment to just enjoy him, laying on her. She’d torched her social circle, she’d probably lost her job, but in the end, she’d gotten back the one thing that really mattered to her.

May

Laurie drove up to the Armstrong house, the wetlands were alive with the activity of spring, and dragonflies flew alongside her truck as she pulled in to Evan’s driveway. She stretched slightly, enjoying the warm air and the sun as she walked up to the door, letting herself in.

“Evan?” She called.

“He’s out hunting,” Eve said, looking up from a book she was reading. “He says the bugs are finally out and he wants to go nail some of the big ones with his bow.” She shuddered, “it’s so creepy, I hate bugs.”

“Well, he can’t exactly hunt deer anymore,” Laurie said with a shrug, “any word on your job?”

“Nope, but they’re still sending my paycheck, so that’s a good sign,” she smirked slightly, “I checked the social media pages of some of my former coworkers, and they haven’t been so lucky.”

“They’re probably still debating on you,” Laurie said with a shrug, “I mean, you weren’t exactly nice to tinies for a long time there.”

“Yeah,” Eve muttered, looking back to her book. She closed it with a sigh, she couldn’t focus on it, it was some trashy western of Evan’s from before he’d shrunk and she’d had trouble getting into it anyway.

“Aw, don’t get down,” Laurie said with a smile, “hey, Evan’s going to be out in the yard for a while, right?”

Eve frowned, “I guess?”

Laurie grinned, “Come on, let’s go check out the basement.”

“Why?” Eve asked with a confused grin.

“I want to see if Evan’s uncle had anything hidden down there!” Laurie exclaimed.

Eve rolled her eyes and followed the other woman down to the basement. The stairs creaked as she went down, Eve hadn’t spent a lot of time down here, mostly just doing quick maintenance on the furnace and air conditioner at Evan’s direction. There were a few boxes of odds and ends, Laurie eagerly opened one, shifting through it.

“Look at this!” she said, holding up a framed photo of a full-sized Evan, maybe a few years younger, standing next to an elderly man in a wheelchair, blankets over his legs. “Uncle Armstrong,” Laurie whispered.

“I feel a little dirty going through this stuff,” Eve muttered, “I mean, it’s down here for a reason, right? He never had any problem putting up pictures of him and his dad.”

“Oh, Evan has mixed feelings about his uncle,” Laurie explained, “but he got out of federal prison around the same time that Evan got out of the army, so Evan moved in and took care of him and the house, in exchange Uncle Armstrong left him the house in the will when he died a couple years later.” She shivered, “he could barely move, but he used to stare at me when I came to visit, in a way that really pissed Evan off…”

“Wow,” Eve said, pulling another photo out, “Who are these guys?” the picture was a much younger Uncle Armstrong, surrounded by men in long coats and fedora hats, shaking hands and smiling.

“Take a picture on your phone, we can look those guys up later,” Laurie giggled. “Oh man, this is the big break in this I’ve been needing, I’ll bet they’re all teamsters and mob dons!”

“Why do you care so much about proving this guy was a gangster?” Eve asked, putting the framed photo back.

Laurie shrugged, “mostly because Evan insists he wasn’t, like when we were kids it was just playground banter, but it’s gone on so long that I feel like proving this would be such a huge win.”

She walked around the walls, rapping on them slowly, suddenly her face lit up as she found a hollow section, “Eve!” she hissed, “over here!”

Eve ran her finger along the wall and realized there was a seam. Making eye contact with Laurie, the two pressed it, swinging a small compartment open.

“Hey guys,” Evan said, waving from a small chair.

“E-Evan!” Laurie stammered, backing away quickly, “hey! How’s it going?”

Pretty good,” he said with a wry grin. He had a peanut under his arm, and his bow slung over his shoulder, “I was just stopping down here at one of my stashes for a snack before joining you guys. Someone want to give me a lift?” He walked out of the small hiding hole and jumped onto Eve’s waiting palm, a smug grin on his face.

As they walked out Eve shot a quick glance back at the hole, that… didn’t look like one of Evan’s, it was too neatly cut, and Evan never left exterior signs like that seam.

Probably one from when he was first starting out, she decided.

…

“So,” Laurie said, petting the purring Marshmallow as they sat in the living room. “You guys want to go on a vacation together?”

“Just a few days,” Evan said, “after everything that’s happened… I think we need it.”

“Agreed,” Eve said in a tired voice, “it’s not like I’m working right now anyway.”

“And you’re not worried about flying or traveling or whatever with an unregistered shrinkee?” Laurie asked.

“I’ll be with Eve the entire time,” Evan said dismissively, “and it’s not like tiny hunters are thick on the ground anymore.”

“Yeah, anyone’s just going to assume he’s mine,” Eve said with a shrug. She ran a finger over his head, ruffling his hair, “which he is, of course.”

“Okay,” Laurie said with a shrug, “you want me to take the cat again?”

“Water the grass, watch the house, that kind of thing,” Evan said.

Laurie’s phone beeped suddenly, “hold on,” she said with a sigh. She opened her alerts, then her eyes bulged, she almost dropped the phone.

“What?” Evan asked, “Laurie, is everything okay?”

“T-Turn on the TV,” she said, a goofy grin breaking across her face.

…

The three of them watched, stunned, as the news ticker repeated again, “SHRINKEE PROTECTION ACT REPEALED, FULL LEGAL RIGHTS TO SHRINKING VICTIMS TO BE RESTORED”

“Holy shit,” Evan breathed, “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“What does this mean?” Eve asked in a low voice.

“For us?” Evan chuckled, “pretty much nothing, I’m guessing the lawyers are going to be pretty busy in the next few weeks though.”

“You’ve got that right,” Laurie muttered, “every shrinkee that ever got stepped on is going to be looking to sue people.” She quickly scanned her phone again, reading the jubilant messages on social media, “says here it doesn’t go into effect until July 4th, so they should have some time to get ready.”

“July 4th,” Evan said, rolling his eyes, “that is such pandering. The only reason they repealed it at all is that Senator Fredericks found out he had the virus.”

“Yeah,” Laurie giggled, “funny how quickly that changed his opinion on what the law should be.” Her face had a sour look suddenly, “oh god, that asshole’s going to be the first tiny senator…”

“I might have to go to one of those political meetings to see their faces when they realize that,” Evan laughed.

“Well, this is going to make this vacation even better,” Laurie said with a smile, “thanks for coming by Laurie, but Evan and I have to go pack!”

…

“Eve, we should probably get going to the airport,” Evan shouted. He was sitting on the bed, watching her jog in place on her treadmill. It wasn’t a bad view at all, she had a sheen of sweat on her, and her breasts bobbed back and forth behind her hot pink sports bra in a way that easily pulled his eye.

“Just a second,” she breathed, a mischievous grin on her face. She stepped off the treadmill, dripping just a bit of sweat.

“Seriously, you decided you needed some cardio right before we left?” he asked, walking around her suitcase.

“It’ll help me relax on the plane,” she said defensively, “and you too!”

“Oh?” he asked with a grin, “I figured I’d spend most of the flight… pretty close to you.”

“I know right?” Eve giggled, “but… the airport says tinies have to ride in a carryon bag, and there are like ten warnings on the TSA website about not trying to sneak tinies in in your underwear.”

“Fine, I’ll just go in your purse,” he said, crossing his arms.

Eve peeled off the sports bra, her skin positively shining from the sweat of her workout. She sniffed it teasingly, waving her hand.

“Wow, this thing is soaked,” she giggled.

“Yeah,” Evan muttered, feeling something stir in him as the smell of the well-used sports bra drifted down to him. She kicked off her shoes next, and the ripe smell wafted up to the bed and he felt the sick urge to leap off the bed and land in them. He blinked and took a quick breath, at least some of that shit about tiny guys and pheromones has got to be true, he thought for the millionth time. Would he turn into a brainwashed zombie? Nope, but he definitely felt drawn to Eve in some ways that he wasn’t sure he would have been at full size.

Eve slipped her running pants down next, then a set of bright pink panties that matched the sweaty sports bra. She reached down and collected her underwear and socks, one by one stuffing each item into a freezer bag she’d left next to her suitcase. He looked at her curiously.

“This is some of my favorite workout stuff,” Eve giggled, “I’m probably going to want to use the hotel fitness center, so I think I’ll bring it.” She looked at Evan, a gleam in her eye, “hey Evan, how often do tiny guys need to breathe again?”

“Uh, like once every twelve hours,” he muttered uncertainly.

“Oh good,” she giggled, “our flight is only about two and half,” her hand reached down for him, her sweaty fingers wrapping around him. He was held over the freezer bag full of her sweaty underwear and socks, freshly soaked from a workout he’d just watched.

“So Evan,” Eve said, “do you want to go in my purse? Or… in my suitcase, with the rest of the clothing?” She giggled as she lowered him towards the freezer bag full of her clothes again, the rich intoxicating aroma of her sweat wafting up and clouding his senses.

“Uh,” he gulped, “two and a half hour flight?”

“That’s right,” she said with a giggle.

“Clothes please.”

“I thought so,” she dropped him in, and he heard the crisp long *zip* as she sealed the freezer bag, trapping him in with her workout clothes. “Can’t have these dirty ones getting all my stuff all stinky,” she said, looking in at Evan with a wink. She shook the bag suddenly, tossing the panties, sports bra, socks, and Evan, around. When the clothing settled, she couldn’t see Evan, just a slight lump moving beneath her workout attire.

With a happy hum Eve placed the sealed bag inside her suitcase along with the other things she’d packed for her and Evan. She pressed it down with her other things, increasing the soft pressure on the tiny man that was no doubt being overwhelmed with lust. She zipped the suitcase closed slowly, the sound echoing through the room with a certain finality as she sealed Evan away in the dark confines of the suitcase.

“There we go,” she said with a grin, patting the top of the suitcase-prison, “see you at the hotel Evan.” She sniffed her armpit and grimaced, “whew, I’m going to go shower before heading to the airport…”

Evan’s world was dark, and he was hugged from all sides by the slick sweaty material of Eve’s clothes. The rich and overpowering scent filled his mouth and nostrils, and as he struggled and swam through her cast off underwear, he felt the silky wet material press against his sensitive member, causing him to gasp with pleasure every time he moved.

His world lurched, and he realized she had to be carrying her suitcase to the car. Tumbling through the underwear, he felt the slick material running against his skin and fought not to cum then and there, gritting his teeth as things settled and he managed to hold himself together. It was a statement to how overwhelming Eve was that simply being tossed with her underwear like this was almost enough to bring him off… probably would be enough by the time they got to their destination, would be enough several times over in fact…

…

Eve lay back in the airline seat, headphones in and daydreaming about the sand and the beach. She smirked to herself, imagining how Evan’s flight was going. Idly she looked down to a well worn book she’d bought months ago when Amber had first suggested using sex to lure Evan out, “100 things to do with your tiny lover: Tenderness and Domination and Everything In-Between!”

Number 37, she read with a small smile, Domination idea: seal him in with your dirty clothes! She reached into her purse for a pen, quickly putting a red checkmark on that page.

…

Eve lay on the beach, letting the sun soak into her. Evan was down on her stomach, laying against her bellybutton as they listened to the waves.

Vacation, she decided, was just what we needed. From the happy murmurs of the tiny man below, he agreed. Idly she wondered if she’d have an Evan shaped spot on her stomach from the sun. She smirked and decided she didn’t want to move him, whether it was an outline in a sunburn or a tan, she’d let it happen.

Her phone rang from her beach bag and she groaned, “let it ring,” Evan muttered, not even opening his eyes.

“I should get it,” she said with a grimace.

“But I don’t want to get up,” Evan protested in a whiny voice.

Eve spared one last glance at the peaceful rolling waves of the ocean, then sighed as she reached into the beach bag. Evan gave her a grouchy look, but she managed to reach her phone without tossing him off her belly, and he simply folded his arms behind his head and watched the sea as she answered.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Eve,” Charles said in a cheerful tone, “I’m glad I got ahold of you, I wanted to let you know, you can come back to work on Monday!”

She sat up, sending Evan sprawling into the sand with a cry of surprise, “Really?” she said eagerly, “Deandra finished her investigation?”

“Yeah,” Charles said with a sigh, “I spent a lot of time talking to her about you, I think I convinced her of your good intentions, with the shrinking act being repealed I think she was in a good mood. We’ve been talking a lot actually; I’m going to be the new branch manager!”

“That’s great!” Eve said, “you deserve it.”

“I deserve all the work of picking up after Amber? I’m not sure if you’re being nice or not!” Charles laughed, “look, we’re going to have to hire a lot of new staff, so when you do get in we might have some late nights.”

“I’m up for it,” she said, relief filling her, “I’m glad things finally worked out for you.”

“That’s not even the best part!” Charles said excitedly, “the shrinking made my hair come back!”

Eve frowned, “What?”

“I’m not bald anymore!” Charles exclaimed, “I guess the shrinking virus kickstarted the follicles or something.”

“Uh, good for you!” Eve said with a laugh, “I’ll see you on Monday!” she ended the call, looking down at the tiny man splayed in the sand between her legs. “I got my job back!” she said excitedly.

“Awesome!” Evan said with a grin, “we should celebrate.”

“Let’s get some margaritas from the hotel bar,” Eve said, “or just one I guess, how do you feel about going for a swim?”

“Sounds good to me,” Evan laughed, “a little tequila might get me ready to give you that thing you’ve been wanting.”

She bit her lip, “Oh really?” she giggled, “butt stuff? You’re serious?”

“Yes Eve,” he said, rolling his eyes and chuckling, “butt stuff.”

“Let’s ride out this vacation with a bang!” Eve laughed, scooping him up out of the sand.

…

“So, you’re sure you know what you’re doing?” Evan asked nervously as Eve slipped her hands over him, rubbing the tingling lubricant into his skin.

“It’s going to be great!” Eve said with a mischievous giggle, “trust me, I’ve taken every precaution to make it as nice for you as possible.”

He breathed out slowly, “right, come on Evan, head in the game…” he muttered.

“Your head is going somewhere, that’s for sure,” Eve said, her grin broadening.

They were naked already, the curtains of their hotel room drawn as Eve prepared for the experience she’d been nagging him over for months now. Evan had expected she’d want to do something like this on the trip, and he’d mentally been preparing himself.

“Ready to visit the land where the sun never shines?” Eve teased.

“Whenever you are,” he said.

Eve squeezed one last drop of lubricant onto her outstretched fingers, reaching behind herself to rub her puckered hole slowly. She hissed suddenly; the tingling surprising her as she stuck a finger in. She pulled it out with a sigh, then got on all fours on the bed and reached for Evan, her ass sticking almost comically in the air.

Evan watched as her hand slowly brought him around, and his eyes seemed to latch on to her asshole as she righted him against it, moving him closer. She certainly had gotten herself clean, and the familiar flowery scent of her soap came off her skin. He felt the top of his hair, then his head, making contact, and he took one last breath as the hole opened, slowly welcoming him in.

He felt an almost familiar warmth as his world went dark, the lube letting him easily slide into the dark cavern inside Eve. The walls pressed around him, but not as tightly as her womanhood would, and as his legs slipped through the tight opening it sealed shut, trapping him inside as he felt the walls gingerly.

“Whew!” Eve said, clenching her cheeks involuntarily as she felt the tiny hands probing her insides, “there we go Evan!” she giggled. She reached into her suitcase and drew out a simple plastic vibrator, leaning back against the bed and flicking it on. She rubbed it over her clit, giggling in pleasure as she felt her tiny boyfriend struggle inside her.

Evan’s world was a soft darkness, the walls around him convulsed as he heard the vibrator begin, and every movement he made seemed to cause them to shake again. He leaned into the walls in the direction that seemed to be causing the most reaction, and he grinned as, even from inside her, he heard Eve scream with pleasure. He leaned into the wall, doing his best to hug it, stimulating it as much as possible.

“O-Oh wow,” Eve breathed, her first orgasm rocking her body. She arched her back, her muscles tensing as she grunted loudly, gritting her teeth for a moment before falling back to the mattress, limp.

She panted for a moment, feeling a tiny pair of hands scrabbling at the inside of her sphincter. She thought about reaching down for him, but… She grinned wickedly, clenching herself shut tightly. It was a lot easier to keep him in the back, and she wanted to keep him there, if only for a little bit. The attempt to escape seemed to stop as he realized her intentions.

“Evan,” Eve said, stepping into a pair of panties, “I don’t know if you can hear this, but…” she giggled, “you’re going to stay in there for a bit.”

Evan could hear her, muffled and fair away. He sighed and smiled, rolling his eyes in the darkness.

Should have expected this, he thought. Eve had a tendency to go a little power mad with teasing him, and it was something he both looked forward to and dreaded. I like to be played with he reasoned, and… that’s okay. He shrugged and made himself comfortable.

“Yes Evan, I think I’ll go order a drink down at the bar,” Eve laughed, “maybe watch the band a little… all with my tiny toy hidden where nobody can ever find him.” She finished pulling up her pants, buttoning them and then slapping her ass for emphasis, shaking Evan inside his dark prison.

He’s such a good sport, she giggled internally, I’m going to have to really make it up to him for letting me do this…

…

Like returning home from any vacation, there was a subdued air as Eve pulled the car into the driveway. The sun was already down, and Eve stretched and reached to pull a tired looking Evan from the cupholder as she stepped out and looked at the house.

“Home sweet home,” she said with a smile.

“No place I’d rather be,” Evan grinned up at her. “Come on, let’s turn in… someone’s got work tomorrow!”

“It’s like a dream,” Eve said wistfully, “everything turned out so well…”

“It’s been a hell of a year,” Evan agreed happily as she carried him towards the door.

…

In a dingy bar Bernard Cargill ordered another round of beers for the table. He was a muscled man, with a body sculpted by manual labor and some off the books work for less reputable bosses. Tiny hunting had been a nice windfall, before it had dried up. A nice semi-legal way to “match tinies to guardians” in exchange for some small “placement fees.” In reality it was catching and selling the virus victims to the kind of people interested in the quasi-slavery the Shrinkee Protection Act had created.

“Hey, Bern,” Mohawk, a pink haired woman who’s style matched her moniker, “when’s this squeeze of yours supposed to get here?”

“She’s coming,” he muttered, sipping his own drink. He glanced around at the three women who’d joined him. For whatever reason Tiny Hunting was a mostly female profession, and he’d rounded up a group that had similar methods and ethics to his own. The women were a rough bunch, with a mix of hairstyles that one didn’t wear to job interviews, wearing a mix of denim and leather, and tattoos that would turn heads in a biker bar.

Despite having been dating her for a few months Bern didn’t really care for Amber much, but she was hot, easy, and she always loved hearing stories about how he’d captured shrinkees. He knew the type, she wanted to feel better than everyone, and having a portion of the population literally put under her feet was an invitation to act the way she did. For Bern it was a job, nothing more.

“Hey guys!” Amber said cheerfully, sitting down at the table with them, “sorry, I had some trouble finding the place… I don’t uh, normally hang out in spots like this.”

“No kidding Barbie,” Mohawk said with a nod, “Bern says you’ve got a job?”

“Yeah,” Amber muttered, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead, “Just a sec,” she grunted, itching her bare arm vigorously. There were scratch marks down her legs too, not too deep, but more like a rash.

“You okay?” Bern asked.

“I think the company that makes my fabric softener must have changed the recipe,” Amber muttered angrily, “I’ve been itching all day.”

“Fabric softener,” Bern muttered, shooting Mohawk a knowing glance, “right.”

“Anyway,” Amber continued, oblivious to the looks the four Tiny Hunters gave her, “I’ve got this sort of, proposition for you four.”

“The Shrinkee Protection Act is out in July,” one of the other women said, “Tiny Hunting is over, we’re probably all going to get fucked in lawsuits on top of it.”

“Well, the Shrinkee Protection Act is getting repealed here,” Amber said with a sly grin. “I was thinking, you guys probably want to get out of the country, right?”

“Wouldn’t mind it,” Mohawk muttered, “they’re offering most tiny hunters clemency for everything that happened, but…” she chuckled and glanced around the table, “us here? We always had some pretty aggressive methods; we’re not getting the pardon.”

“That’s perfect!” Amber said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. She stared at it numbly a moment, “It’s so fucking hot in here,” she muttered. She cleared her throat and continued, “anyways, I know where there’s a tiny guy, super good looking one too, and he’s got a big house.” The interest was piqued around the table, and she grinned as she continued, “I’m thinking you four roll up, grab him, then we get that house transferred to us and liquidated, we all take a share and then we take the tiny on to the international market.”

“It’s illegal to take shrinkees out of the country for… rehoming,” Bern said with a small smile.

“Do you guys really care at this point?” Amber asked, exasperated, “come on, you’ll all probably end up in jail if you stay here! What’s a tiny worth overseas anyway?”

“Oh wow,” Mohawk chuckled, “well, Caucasian-American tiny, good looking, yeah there are a lot of surprisingly wealthy foreigners who would love one like that, I’m sure we could unload him for half a mill in one of the gulf states to some spoiled princess.”

“There are a few places in East Asia where we could find a buyer for one like that too,” Bern muttered, “he’d be an exotic item…”

“Great!” Amber said, standing up, “then we’re all in agreement!” She scowled, itching her arms like crazy again and muttering a comment about fabric softener. “I know when the girl he’s with will be at work,” Amber said with a wicked grin, “next week we’ll meet at his house and get it done.”

“Sounds great,” Bern said with a smile, “see you later babe.”

Amber beamed, practically skipping out of the dimly lit bar at the thought of getting revenge on Eve. The three women turned back to Bern, smug grins on their faces.

“Mohawk,” he said casually, reaching for his beer, “go ahead and start inquiring for foreign buyers for two shrinkees, a male and female set.” He smiled, “a couple like that should fetch enough to keep us all living comfortably somewhere that doesn’t have an extradition treaty.”

“Isn’t that your girlfriend?” one of the women asked with a laugh, “that’s ice-cold Bern!”

“I was meaning to break up with her anyway,” he said with a shrug, “and besides, she was always going on about how shrinkees need to learn their place.” The others at the table laughed, clinking their glasses together before finishing their beers.

June

“It is soooo hot,” Eve muttered, fanning herself.

“Mrow,” Marshmallow agreed, tail swishing as he lay across the floor.

“It’s not even that hot,” Evan disagreed, walking along the floor. Despite his assertion Eve couldn’t help but notice he was both shirtless and carried a slight sheen of sweat. “It’s just the humidity, this house’s plot is practically on an island with all these wetlands around.”

“You’re a shrinkee,” Eve murmured, “you’d live under a goddamn heat lamp if you could.”

“Could you get me one next winter?” he asked with a playful grin, “I mean, I know you’re joking, but just get like a lizard terrarium and-“

They heard the crunch of gravel out on the road and the slam of a car door. A moment later Laurie pushed her way in, a large box in hand.

“I’ve got it!” she said excitedly.

“Oh, thank god,” Eve muttered, wiping a sweaty lock of hair out of her face.

“What?” Evan asked with a confused grin. Laurie and Eve evidently had gotten to a level of friendship where their conversations didn’t always involve him. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“Inflatable above-ground pool,” Laurie said with a grin, holding the large box up, “every redneck’s best friend!”

“Let’s set it up in the back!” Eve said excitedly.

…

Some time later Eve and Laurie were in bikinis, lounging against the side of the inflatable pool, sunglasses on and drinks in hand. Evan dove in off the side, swimming through a pool large enough to be a lake to him as he spied the expanse of the women’s legs under the water. He surfaced with a gasp, smiling and wiping water out of his eyes as he bobbed in the cool water.

“Oh, this is just what I needed,” Eve muttered, “Evan, when is that guy coming to fix the air conditioner?”

“He’s supposed to be by around five,” Evan said, floating gently on his back, “do you think you can survive until then?”

“I could stay here all day,” Eve muttered, sipping a lemon-flavored soda and looking at the puffy clouds overhead.

“Not me,” Laurie muttered, standing up and letting the water run off her. “they’re repouring my back patio, and I’m going to watch them do it this time…” She stretched, her empty bottle of cola glinting in the summer sun. “You two take care!” she said with a grin.

Eve’s hand circled under Evan and scooped him up, lifting him so he could wave goodbye to Laurie. The two watched her towel off before tossing a t-shirt and shorts on over her swimwear. The crunch of the gravel road and a tall trail of dust trailed after her marked her departure.

“We’re lucky to have her,” Eve murmured with a smile.

“I’d be in a cage or a dollhouse somewhere without her,” Evan chuckled, “I’m sure of it.”

“Enough of that pet talk,” Eve laughed, “that’s only a thing for another few weeks, after that it officially becomes illegal to keep a tiny against their will.”

“I’m sure there will be people that will try anyway,” Evan muttered.

“Hey, no more serious talk,” Eve giggled, “We’ve got an inflatable pool and a few hours to kill before the air conditioning guy arrives to make the house livable again.” She bumped the edge playfully, causing it to compress and Evan to fall backwards into the water with a splash.

“Hey!” he sputtered, splashing to the surface.

“Badum,” Eve said, doing her best Jaws theme, “badum badum badum…” she lowered herself into the water down to her nose, moving through the water and continuing to hum under the surface as she approached him.

“Oh shit,” he laughed, paddling as quickly as he could. In his head he heard the dramatic spike in the music as Eve’s mouth opened, and a shadow fell over him as her lips overtook him. He heard a click as her teeth closed around him, sending him into darkness. He felt her tongue reaching for him, cradling his body and forcing him into a tight position against the top of her mouth. He felt her probing around his waistband, and with slow delicate motions, her tongue worked his swim trunks down.

“Oh yeah,” he muttered, kicking them free as her tongue force them down. His manhood sprang free, and he felt her tongue take that as a sign to get to work. He groaned, hugging the powerful muscle like a lover as it ravaged his body, dancing against his manhood and teasing it, up and down, back and forth.

Eve leaned against the inflatable edge, relaxing as she toyed with her tiny man. She looked over the edge at her soda, propped in the grass. She suddenly had an idea…

Evan’s world brightened suddenly, and he looked up, squinting as he saw something approach Eve’s lips. His eyes went wide as he recognized the soda can. Lemon-lime flavor cascaded over him like a waterfall, tingling his skin and causing him to thrash as the bubbles of the soda burst against him.

Eve couldn’t help but giggle, feeling his reaction to the fizzy drink. Against her better judgment, she took another long sip, letting Evan thrash and squirm as the soda stung him just ever so slightly, but when it happened all over his body at once… the effect was quite stimulating.

She licked against him faster, her tongue quickly seeking to add another flavor to the lemon sweetness that filled her mouth. A moment later Evan began spurting his seed down into her throat, and his orgasm reached new heights as another wave of the soda came, tingling his body and washing his seed away with like the tide.

Eve pressed her lips together and made one last sucking motion, creating a tight vacuum around Evan and slurping every last drops of the soda off him. With a smile she cupped her hands and spat him out loudly, letting the soaked and naked tiny flop into her palms. Slowly she lowered him back down into the water, letting him float in front of her.

“Ugg…” he muttered, running his hands over his arms, “that felt weird.”

“But good, right?” Eve asked, shaking the can back and forth and causing what little remained to slosh back and forth.

“Maybe next time try it with a cola,” he laughed, “but yeah, it felt nice.” He looked down at his nakedness as he treaded water and frowned, “hey, I had a set of swim trunks.”

Eve burped suddenly, covering her mouth with her free hand. Her cheeks went rosy, and she giggled at Evan’s reaction.

“I think I swallowed them!”

…

“See you later!” Eve said with a smile, waving to Evan and Marshmallow.

“Have fun at work,” Evan said, directing the cat to carry him up the stairs. He heard the door close, and he leapt of Marshmallow’s back and walked along the hallway wall. He intended to spend most of the time inside the walls today, he had an interesting western e-book he wanted to read on one of his phones. He would have liked to have it in hand as a real book, but reading the old-fashioned way was too much of a hassle at this size.

He'd been at it a few hours, relaxing and scrolling the words on a screen larger than he was, when he heard an approaching car. Odd this far out, and in the middle of the day when Laurie and Eve were both busy… His heart skipped a beat when he heard the car, no cars, he was sure of it, stop making noise on the gravel road as they turned onto his paved driveway.

He leapt up, quickly activating his exterior cameras to get an idea of what he was looking at. His eyes went wide as he saw a large windowless van, followed by a smaller car driven by… Amber, she stood down there, looking up at the house with a madness in her eyes that could be seen even on the blurry camera screen.

…

“He’s in there,” Amber said, tittering madly to herself, “we’re going to get him, squish him good!” She stomped the concrete for emphasis. “Then I’ll get my job back, and it’ll all be like it was!”

“Fuck,” Mohawk chuckled, leaning over to Bern, “she’s far into it huh?”

“Yeah, they all get real crazy in the last few hours before it happens,” Bern muttered.

“Hours?” Mohawk laughed, “she looks like she could go tiny any minute!”

“Okay Amber,” Bern said with a smile as the three women fanned out from the van, “why don’t you tell me where he stays, in a dollhouse maybe?”

“In the walls,” Amber said, a slightly glazed look in her eye, “he’s in the walls…”

“Okay, we’ve got a tunneler,” Bern told the women, “Charlotte,” he gestured to a heavyset woman in a leather vest, “get the gopher stick and start poking around the edge of the property for escape routes, collapse any of them that you find.” He glanced at Amber, “Bethany,” the fourth member of their crew, a wiry dirty blonde in sunglasses, looked up, “Go keep Amber company.” The woman smiled and walked over to Amber, helping steady her slightly.

…

Evan swore angrily as he saw the group circling the property, collapsing his outlying escape tunnels. These people were professionals, and they looked rough. They were all carrying guns too, not just the glue ball shooters tiny-hunters usually wore, but full-sized firearms.

Where the fuck did you find these people Amber? He thought miserably. At the very edges of the property, they started hammering stakes into the ground, motion detectors. These people aren’t kidding around, he thought with a sigh.

Running wasn’t an option.

He texted Laurie their emergency code, then pulled up Eve’s contact info.

“Tiny hunters at house, armed,” he texted, not sure what else to say. He paused a moment, and felt like he was going to cry. Everything had gone so well, for it to end here… like this? “I love you.” He messaged, blinking a single tear away.

He breathed out slowly and thought over his next move. Police? No, in theory police were supposed to assist “protection” of shrinkees, at least until the act expired next month… The last thing he needed was for the wrong cop to show up and start helping these people. By the time they were done here, there would be plenty of cops and firefighters anyway.

“All right Unkie Armstrong,” he said, “let’s see how much of that shit you hid in the basement still works.” He sighed as he realized that, if he made it out of this alive, he’d have to admit to Laurie that his uncle was, in fact, a gangster.

Somewhere in heaven, or more likely hell, an old mobster smiled.

…

“Six tunnels,” Bern laughed, “man, this guy sure likes digging.” The group met back up at the van, slipping on gloves as they prepared to enter the house. They had a number of tools designed to detect hidden areas, heat signatures, and the like. If the tiny guy was in the wall, they’d root him out.

“Try not to tear the place up too much,” Mohawk warned, “we’re going to need to flip this place fast once it’s in our name.”

…

Laurie was watching her brother Gerald and her cousin Dominic smooth the concrete on her back patio. This was the third attempt to get the job done right, and she took a swig of coffee and swore angrily. After the second botched job, she’d just decided to sue the contractor and pay a few of her family members to do it. If they fucked it up? Well, she could always chase them down and kick their asses over the family barbecue.

She growled in annoyance as she got a text alert, then froze, almost dropping her drink as she read the message.

“Excitable Boy”

It was a code phrase, a silly idea when she’d always thought “help” would convey the message just as well, but Evan had always insisted they use them. They had several, mostly silly references they’d come up with over drinks in the weeks following his shrinking, some just meant unknown person on the property, others meant Tiny-Hunters with the implication that they could be dissuaded by a full-size person. This one though… this one meant shit had truly hit the fan, this was the call for rescue.

“Confirm?” she texted back, hands shaking

“Y”

Dominic and Gerald looked up at her, noticing her mood, “Laurie, everything okay?” Gerald asked hesitantly.

“Evan,” she said, looking up, “h-he-“ She swallowed and took a breath, “He just sent out the call for lawyers, guns, and money, and… this family’s really only got one of those.”

…

Eve was enjoying her return to work. Things were busier, to be sure, but Charles was hiring new people as fast as he could. For now she was back to most of her old clients, along with some of the managerial duties Amber, and now Charles, would occasionally delegate to her.

She clicked away at her keyboard, filling out a quick report, when her phone buzzed. She frowned and reached for it. She almost dropped it when she read Evan’s texts, shakily she got up and walked, then ran towards the Elevator.

“Hey Eve, where’s the fire?” Charles joked from the palm of his assistant. He had lengthy hair now, looking like a metal fan, having been without hair for so long apparently the tiny man was beginning to overcompensate now that he had it back.

“Home,” she said feebly, “Evan’s in trouble!”

Charles eyes went wide, “Just go Eve, I’ll take care of everything!”

She nodded, and as the elevator dinged, she stepped in, her heart pounding like mad as it began it’s descent.

…

“So, two at the front, one at the back,” Bern said, readying his glue shooter.

“W-Why not two at the back?” Amber muttered, beads of sweat on her forehead, “t-there are four of you-“ she suddenly had to lean against the van for support.

“Bethany here is going to stay out here with you,” Bern said in a patronizing voice, “In case… of space aliens.”

The four of them laughed, but Amber just blinked, confusion setting in, “d-do you think they have those out here?”

“Yeah,” Mohawk giggled, “just stay real close to one of us.”

“Man, she’s fucking clueless,” Charlotte whispered.

“Easy to guess how she picked it up,” Bern chuckled, “she was probably stepping on tinies for fun and never bothered to see if it was safe for her to do that.”

“Idiot,” Mohawk said in a low voice, “you want to play with the world’s best toys, you’ve got to get a doctor’s note.”

Bern just nodded, checking his equipment one final time. The rate of shrinking virus vulnerability was a lot lower for women, and a lot harder to catch, but they’d all heard stories or in some cases seen their fellow hunters learn the hard way that they were in that group. He smirked, there was something funny about someone going from seller to merchandise though.

Music suddenly played through external speakers on the house. Bern paused, looking for the source of the noise.

I went home with a waitress, the song began, the way I always do

“He’s playing music?” Mohawk asked with a chuckle.

“He’s sending a message,” Bern said quietly, scanning the house, “he’s saying he’s here, and he doesn’t intend to run away.”

“Fine,” the pink haired woman muttered, “makes our job easier-“

The crackle of gunfire filled the air, and Bern instinctively grabbed Mohawk, diving with the woman to the ground. Sparks flew as bullets peppered the driveway, and he heard someone scream.

Automatics? Bern thought in a panic, who the hell is this guy!?

…

Evan peered out through what would have been a pinhole sized viewport to anyone else. Evan had used to love guns, but realistically for someone at four inches tall even a pistol was a crew operated weapon, useless for defending the home. Still, when he was big, he’d managed to rig a few of his Uncle’s off the books weapons up behind some thin aluminum siding. They were on pull strings and already pointed at random spots on the driveway and entryway, he couldn’t really aim any of them, and reloading was out of the question, but they made a good opening salvo.

…

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!” Mohawk shouted, staggering to her feet.

Bern blinked, realizing the music was still playing over those damned speakers

“I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk-“

He pulled is pistol, and with a snarl fired three shots into the black box next to the doorbell. There were some sparks and the song went quiet.

“Sound off!” he shouted.

“I’m winged,” Charlotte shouted, clutching her bleeding shoulder.

“Fuck this!” Bethany said angrily. She pulled her own handgun, and her glue shooter in the other hand. She barreled towards the front door, a snarl on her face.

“Wait!” Bern shouted, but it was too late, as soon as Bethany made contact the door exploded outwards off its hinges, smoke and a gout of flame following it as the woman was tossed backwards into the yard. Bern’s heart raced as he sprinted over to her, quickly checking the limp woman for a pulse.

“She’s alive,” Bern said with a swear. He looked at the still smoking doorway, “Nobody else go near the house!”

“WHAT!?” Amber screeched. Her clothes were almost soaked through with sweat now, and she staggered as she walked up to Bern angrily. “You get your asses in there and get that tiny fucker-“

“Fuck no, this is like if Rambo watched Home Alone,” Mohawk muttered, “Bern, I say we torch the place.”

“Agreed,” he muttered, walking back to their van. “He either comes out, or he cooks, at this point I don’t care which one he picks.”

Bern opened up a storage locker built into the side of the vehicle and began rifling through it. A moment later he produced a can of gasoline and several rags and bottles. Burning tinies out of hiding places wasn’t a new thing to him, you just had to make sure nobody was around to see you start the fire, and at this point Bern was beyond caring about collateral damage.

…

Evan watched through the camera as the first bottle burst open against the roof, spreading flames. He swore under his breath and slung his quiver of steel arrows over his back as he took his bow. He cursed himself again for never finding a viable method of poisoning them, he’d just have to make every shot count if it came to that.

One of them is down, he thought to himself, another wounded… they’ve got the house surrounded, motion detectors…

His best bet was to get into the wetlands, he could go under the surface of that murky water for hours, and he didn’t need to worry about snakes or any other wildlife they way they would. That would be it, he decided, he’d have to make a run for it.

“MROW!” Marshmallow cried pitifully as he entered the hallway. The gunfire had terrified the poor cat, and he was scrunched as close to the wall as he could go, his ears flat against his back.

“Hey buddy,” Evan said with a smile, “it’s okay.”

Marshmallow seemed to relax, nudging him slightly with his nose, climb on, the cat seemed to say, let me carry you someplace safe.

“Not this time Marshmallow,” he said, stroking up the cat’s nose. “Go out the back, run into the swamp and wait for Laurie or Eve to come home.”

“Mew?” the grey tabby looked at him curiously.

“Go man,” he laughed, wiping a quick tear away, “I’ll feed you at the end of this, I promise.”

With that Marshmallow bounded down the stairs. Evan breathed out slowly, and then slipped another of his entrances open, one that would lead him down under the porch. He blinked another tear away and forced himself to chuckle.

Look at you, crying over a goddamn cat, he sighed and started running.

…

“I’ve got motion, rear,” Bern said as his phone gave him an alert from their equipment circling the house.

“Just a cat,” Charlotte said over the walkie talkie.

Bern kept scanning the base of the house, come out you little rat, he thought, you’ve got no tunnels left, your nest is on fire, you’ve got to come out…

“THERE!” Amber screamed excitedly.

Bern and Mohawk both spotted the fleeing shrunken man at the same time, he was sprinting as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, bare chested and with something slung over his back. Bern closed the distance first, glue shooter in his hand. Suddenly there was flash of steel, and pain shot through his head as half his vision went dark. The big man tumbled to the ground.

“My eye!” he screamed, holding a hand to his face, “little fucker got my eye!”

Evan readied another arrow for the pink haired woman, but with a sneer she brought a combat boot up over him, and stomped down mercilessly. Even heard a series of snaps, then a flash of agonizing pain as the woman rose her boot again to repeat the action.

“He’s down,” Mohawk panted, leaning down to grab the small weapons away while Evan’s body recovered. Once he seemed like he was breathing normally again, she reached down and scooped up his fingers.

Evan struggled when he realized what was happening, the woman’s greasy fingers curled around him like pythons. He grunted as she squeezed him, and he wondered if she would try to crack his ribs a few times, they’d heal up right away, that just meant she could do it again…

“You have been such a pain the ass,” Mohawk said with a smug grin.

Bern hissed with pain as he pulled the small steel projectile out of his eye, with a grimace he reached for a bandanna on his belt and tied it around his head, masking the injury. He walked over to Mohawk, a look of pure fury on his face.

“This little fucker better be worth every penny,” he hissed, “Mohawk, I know I tell you not to play with the merchandise too much, but… for this guy, go ahead.”

“Oooh, fun,” the pink haired woman laughed. “Want to know something cool about shrinkees?” she said, leaning close and letting Evan smell her tobacco scented breath.

“I’m all ears,” Evan said tersely, meeting her gaze with one of steely determination.

“Pretty much everything on you guys grows back, if it gets… broken,” she said in a low voice, “except your heads, you gotta keep those on… Medical miracle though, cutting edge stuff.” She had a wild grin, “everything still hurts you just the way it does to full sized people though, but I’ll bet you knew that.”

“Let’s wrap this shit up,” Charlotte said, coming around the side of the house, “That’s a pretty clear-cut case of arson we just committed. We’re not going to be able to do the whole flip the house thing, we’re going to need to get over the border ASAP.” As if on cue there were sirens in the distance, but out here in the country that could mean they were still miles away.

“Agreed,” Bern muttered, holding the soaked bandanna to his eye, “someone help me carry Bethany and-“

The group froze as they heard the sound of tires crunching gravel, a column of dust appeared at the end of the road as a battered blue truck approached, doing speed that was doubly unsafe with the young man in the truckbed. There was a screech of tires as the truck skidded to a halt, blocking the property’s long paved driveway.

“Oh shit,” Bern shouted as the three people in the vehicle stepped out, rifles drawn, “take cover!” the next round of gunfire peppered the van as the three tiny hunters dove behind it.

“This is beyond fucked!” Charlotte shouted, “he called a redneck roundup or something!”

“Listen up,” Laurie shouted as the rifle fire stopped. “You guys give us Evan; everyone walks out of here alive!”

“I’m guessing you’re Evan?” Mohawk asked bitterly, looking at the tiny man in her clenched fist.

“Pleased to meet you,” he chuckled, “you might say I get by with a little help from my friends.”

“I say we give up,” Charlotte said, peering around the corner of the van. She grimaced as she saw a blonde in a straw hat slamming another magazine into a deadly looking black rifle. The two men behind her, taking cover behind the truck’s doors, were doing the same.

“Bern?” Mohawk asked, reaching towards her pistol with her free hand.

The man growled a moment, “Okay!” he shouted, “we’re coming out!”

“WHAT!?” Amber screeched. Bern blinked his remaining eye; in the chaos he hadn’t even noticed her dive behind the van with them. She truly looked ill now, with her hair frazzled and her eyes bloodshot, a crazed look in them amplified by the madness of a late stage shrinking virus infection.

“It’s over,” Bern said calmly, not sure why he was bothering, “We’re giving this guy to those hicks, then we’re going to try to get out of here before the cops come.”

“It’s over when I say it’s over!” Amber moved with lightning speed, pulling Bern’s pistol from its holster and suddenly holding the three tiny hunters at gunpoint.

“Lady, you need to put that down,” Mohawk said angrily.

“Give me the fucking tiny or I put you down!” Amber hissed, “best tiny hunters there are,” she mocked, “fucking worthless!” she held out her hand, and Mohawk grudgingly put Evan into it. Amber peered around the side of the van, then at the three former allies and smirked.

Without another word Amber dove around the car, firing the gun wildly in the direction of Laurie’s truck. She, Dominic, and Gerald dove for cover, but all of Amber’s shots were going wide anyway. She didn’t have any idea how to use a firearm beyond what she’d seen in movies, but it was enough to let her get to her car.

“Just you and me now Tiny!” Amber tittered, tossing him to the passenger’s seat.

“You don’t look well Amber,” Evan said slowly, noticing the scratch marks up and down her legs.

“I’m fucking peachy!” Amber said with a wide smile as she leveled the gun at Evan, “now, you can survive all kinds of crazy stuff, but I’ll bet this will still splat you good, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Evan said cautiously. I remember this part of the virus, he groaned mentally she’s in lala land.

“S-So just stay put,” Amber stammered, blinking rapidly, “We’re going to drive to the scrapyard, and I’m going to build us a helicopter to get out of here.”

Evan swallowed nervously, in her state Amber really shouldn’t be driving, he thought, on the upside… I’d probably survive a car crash.

“Look out!” Laurie shouted as Amber’s car barreled towards them. She tried to ready her rifle, but Amber just banged into the side of the beat-up truck, bumping it out of the way and letting her escape onto the gravel roadway.

Laurie leapt into the driver’s seat and turned the key, but the engine just whined in protest. She looked with dismay at the engine block, now billowing steam and smoke.

…

“HA!” Amber crowed as dust rose behind them. “I did it!” she cackled, “fuck you Eve!”

There was a crash, and then the world spun. Evan flew through the air, and a moment later felt his body crunch as he collided with the dashboard. His world went black.

…

Eve fought against the airbag, stumbling out of her own vehicle in a daze. She’d knocked Amber’s car clear into the ditch on the side of the road, and the marshy water had enveloped the front hood, stopping just at the cabin. Eve’s car hadn’t fared much better, with a good chunk of the front hood caved in.

“Amber!” She screamed angrily, stumbling out of the door.

Sirens raged in the distance, and the column of black smoke rising from Evan’s house pierced the blue summer sky. Eve could smell it again, Evan’s home, their home, burning. When she’d spotted the redhead behind the wheel of her car fury had welled within her. There was no question in her mind who was responsible for this, and she’d only needed a second’s thought before she steered right into it. She grimaced as she walked, aches and pains beginning to surface with the adrenaline of the crash gone.

The redhead flopped out of her own vehicle, bobbing and weaving as she stood, a gun in one hand and Evan in the other. Amber blinked a moment, her eyes adjusting as her vision came back into focus.

“Eve,” she giggled, “oh good, once I get rid of you, I can have my job back!”

Eve froze, seeing the weapon her eyes went wide, “Your job? Amber what are you-“

“She’s infected!” Evan shouted, “she’s nuts, run!”

“No,” Amber said, blinking sweat out of her eyes, “you both fucked me over, and once I get rid of you, I’ll be back to the top, in a helicopter I’m gonna build myself!” She put the gun against Evan’s tiny form, and Eve sprinted at her, knowing it was too late.

“MROW!”

A grey blur flew up out of the marsh, and the cat was clawing at Amber’s face with a fury Eve didn’t know he could even possess. Evan fell to the marsh with a shout of surprise, and the gun splashed into a puddle as the redhead screamed, trying to pry Marshmallow off her. A moment later there was a squeal of feline pain, then the grey tabby was thrown bodily to the road with a thud.

Amber looked like a demon, blood streaming down her face and her red hair fluttering wildly in the wind, and Evan felt a moment of true fear as she snarled, looking down at him. He braced himself as she raised a heeled foot over him, the marshy soil made a sucking sound as she did so.

Eve was on her then, and while she’d never been in a fight, a physical one anyway, her clenched fist made contact with Amber’s jaw in a way that would make a boxer proud. Amber staggered backwards, collapsing onto a raised pile of soil and plants.

“What a fucking hit!” Evan called excitedly, “Eve, you should do MMA!”

“Ow,” Eve muttered, shaking her hand back and forth as she delicately picked up the gun, “I don’t think so…” She glanced up at the road, Marshmallow was struggling shakily to his feet, one of his legs hung limply behind him and she grimaced.

“Mew,” he managed, slowly dragging himself back to them.

“Good cat!” Evan said, bounding over to him and reaching up to hug the tabby’s face, “no more kibble, wet food for you every night, I don’t care what the doctor says.”

Eve took a moment to breathe, glancing over at the house, she saw a series of firetrucks and police cars around it. There were several people being arrested, and Laurie and what looked like two of her family members were talking to officers who were taking statements.

“We should probably go get the cops so they can take the wicked witch over there in,” Eve muttered.

“Uh, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Evan said, pointing to where Amber had fallen.

Eve turned to follow his gaze, then started as she saw Amber’s rumpled clothes laying on the patch of raised soil. Inside her button up shirt a small lump moved.

Amber sobbed, naked and wet, as she crawled towards the neck of her own shirt. As soon as she’d shrank her mind had cleared almost instantly, and the last week of bad decisions made in a haze had come flooding back to her. There was no point in denying it now, she had the shrinking virus.

She squealed in surprise as someone lifted up her shirt, shaking it and causing her to tumble free through the air. She landed with a grunt, the soft marshland soil cushioning her somewhat. Shakily she tried to stand up, covering her breasts with one arm and her crotch with the other as the warm summer wind blew her hair slightly. She noticed that all the scratches up and down her arm had healed almost instantly, as had the stinging ones on her face.

“Hi Amber,” Eve’s voice called from overhead.

Amber’s eyes went wide as her head met Eve’s heels, the mud and filth of the marsh fouling them. Her head traced higher, up her nyloned legs, her skirt, shirt, and finally to that smug face, so far away. Amber’s heart skipped a beat, and she stumbled backwards, forgetting modesty and letting her breasts and fiery red pubic hair be seen as she held her hands up in front of her self feebly.

“H-Hey Eve!” Amber said with a weak grin, “Uh, I uh… I’m a tiny! Wild huh!”

“Wild,” Eve agreed, her grin widening.

“Maybe don’t make it too rough on her,” Evan whispered from his spot on her shoulder. “I know she’s done a lot to us… but this whole thing is really hard on you mentally when it first happens.”

“Evan,” Eve said calmly as she lifted her shoe over Amber, “Tinies get stepped on all the time, as someone used to tell me, they bounce right back.” The hard sole slammed down on Amber, who’s scream of terror was cut off by the familiar *crunch* of a shrinkee’s body being compressed under a high heeled shoe. Eve took a moment to grind her heel back and forth, a pointless gesture in the soft soil, but it made her feel good.

“Now, tell me that wasn’t satisfying?” She asked Evan with a smile.

Evan fought to keep the grin off his face, “Okay, maybe it was a little, but let’s not get carried away with this.” He looked wistful a moment, then chuckled, “you know, you never forget the first time you get stepped on.”

“Who was yours?” Eve asked curiously.

“Laurie actually,” Evan said with a laugh, “she was coming in from doing yardwork and had her headphones in, I was on the floor and neither of us were really paying attention and… crunch.” He shrugged, “she still feels bad about it.”

…

It took hours, but eventually the police had arrested the four tiny hunters, and the fire department had managed to put out the blaze the group had started trying to flush Evan out. Gerald and Dominic had called a friend of theirs who owned a tow truck company, and the wrecked vehicles had been carted off one by one, a sure windfall for whatever body shop they were all being brought to. Soon the only ones left were Eve, Laurie and Evan, staring at the burned upper floor of the Armstrong house.

“Well,” Eve said, “the Fire Chief said it can probably be rebuilt, and the lower story is almost untouched.”

“That’s going to take a while,” Laurie said with a sigh, “you guys want to come crash at my place? My brother loaned me his shitbox over there,” she jerked a thumb at an older looking sedan.

“Sounds good,” Evan said in a tired voice. “We need to bring Marshmallow by the vet too, I think his leg is broken.”

“Mrow,” the cat agreed weakly from inside his carrying kennel.

“I guess I’ll just address the elephant in the room,” Laurie said with a sigh, “what are you going to do with her?”

Eve looked down at the mason jar in her hand, tightly screwed shut. She held it up to her face, looking at the despondent looking redhead trapped, naked, inside it.

“Well, the police wouldn’t take a tiny, but I’ve got some ideas,” Eve said with a cruel grin, Amber shivered inside the jar, a fearful expression on her face.

“Look, I understand everyone wants some payback-“ Laurie began slowly.

“I get it, I get it, jeez,” Eve said irritably.

“Let’s just worry about her later,” Evan insisted, “we’ve all been through hell, let’s go pick up some food and go crash.”

“Sounds good,” Eve said, holding up Amber’s credit card, “you guys won’t go all tiny rights on me if I use Amber’s credit card to pay for dinner, will you?”

Nobody had any objections.

July

“He looks like he’s healing nicely,” Dr. Connors, Evan’s vet of choice, said of Marshmallow’s leg. She stroked the grey tabby, who purred. Dr. Connors was a middle aged woman with light brown hair, with a slightly clinical air, “I would like him to lose some weight.”

“Oh come on doc,” Evan protested from his spot on Eve’s shoulder, “I’ve been trying to get him to lose weight since before I was tiny!”

“I am well aware,” Connors muttered. She paused, her enormous face leering at Evan a moment, “I must say Mr. Armstrong, given your… condition, I would think you would find giving a cat orders easier, simply command him to eat less!”

“Look, we tinies have a connection with animals, and it’s true he does a lot of stuff I ask,” Evan chuckled, “but if I tried that? He’d never listen.”

“Hmm…” the vet said, eyeing Eve, “I don’t suppose I can trust you to put this cat on a diet that sticks?”

“I’ll uh, do my best,” Eve muttered.

“While you are here, would you like me to perform a check up on Evan?” Dr. Connors asked, causing him to gulp. The vet seemed to chuckle at his reaction, “I’ve wondered why you’ve avoided coming to see me yourself Evan, worried about getting chipped?”

“Uh, yeah,” Evan muttered, “a lot actually.”

“Well, the Shrinkee Protection Act is out in a few days,” Dr. Connors said with a sigh, putting her hands in her pockets. “I’ve never much approved of it, nor the way that veterinarians suddenly became medical providers for you… supposedly we have more appropriate equipment for small bodies.” Connors shrugged, “Not that you little people have much in the way of health problems, even your worst injuries seem to heal before I can even get you in. Still, taking some vitals would be good.”

“Uh…” Evan looked up at Eve, who smiled. “Okay, sure.”

Doctor Connors smiled and took Evan in a gloved hand. As he was set down on the table he flinched as the cold stethoscope touched his chest, covering it easily. All things considered it wasn’t much different from any other checkup, he was weighed, reflexes tested, temperature taken, with a no-contact thermometer no less.

“I told you,” Eve giggled, “I’d get you to the vet by the end of the lease! When do you sign the house over?”

“No chip, no win,” Evan said, crossing his arms. “Also, you wouldn’t have ever gotten the house.”

Eve frowned, “what do you mean?”

“Oh,” Evan said, laughing, “I actually had the house put into a trust with me as the beneficiary, Laurie’s been the trustee since I shrank, anyone who captured me wouldn’t have been able to touch it. We’re actually going over to the courthouse next week to put me back on the deed.”

Eve’s mouth fell open, “so all this time-“

“Game was rigged from the start,” Evan laughed, “chip or no chip.”

“I won’t be chipping Mr. Armstrong anyways,” Connors said coldly, “unless…” she looked at him quizzically, “I do provide it at the tiny’s request… if that’s something you want.”

“No!” Evan said quickly, “I’ll uh, I’ll pass.” He frowned, “why would anyone want one?”

“It can be an uncertain world for tinies,” Dr. Connors said, finishing up the checkup and writing down his information, “many trust a friend or family member with the code for theirs, so that if anything should ever happen, they can easily be found. It’s quite dehumanizing I’m sure, but not everyone is as brave and capable as you are.” She smirked, “the story of what happened at your uncle’s house is spreading through the community like wildfire, I’ve got to say you sent those thugs packing better than most full-sized men would have.”

“He’s my hero,” Eve said with a smile, “he’s one of the best people you could have in your corner.”

Evan beamed, he could be tiny, he could be getting an examination in the vet’s office, but in that moment? He felt ten miles tall.

…

 Eve set Evan down in the cupholder as she got into the car, “if I’d told you a year ago that you’d be leaving the vet with a girl, what would you think?” Eve asked with a giggle. She set Marshmallow’s crate on the floor of the front seat, and the cat meowed in protest of his captivity.

“I’d guess I was fucked,” he said with a shrug. “It has been almost a year, hasn’t it?” He laughed a moment, “Where did the time go? Do you want to renew the lease?”

It was a pointless question, she mostly just paid for utilities and upkeep on the house these days, the monthly rent transfer was little more than a formality for the couple.

“Can I flirt with the landlord for a lower rate?” she joked with a smile. “Also, seeing as how it’s going to be a few months for the top floor to be repaired… I think I should get a discount.”

“Sure, we should negotiate that later,” he chuckled, leaning over the side of the cupholder. “Okay, where are we off to now?”

“Well…” Eve drawled with a smile, “we’ve got another vet to visit, one a little less… ethical.”

…

Amber squeaked as she was dumped onto the reception desk of Dr. Nicole’s Shrinkee Clinic and Spa. While technically a licensed vet, Dr. Nicole was infamous in Shrinkee communities nearby for her “shrinkee focused” practice. From the look on Amber’s face she recognized it from the advertisements. While the clinic was far from the worst place a tiny could end up, many of the virus victims found their treatment there... patronizing, was the polite way to put it. Dr. Nicole herself was relatively young a tanned and bleached blonde woman who had only barely passed veterinary school, and she giggled as she chewed a pen, looking over the tiny woman.

“We’d like a standard freshly adopted shrinkee package,” Eve said with a grin.

“Oh my,” Dr. Nicole giggled, “she is a cute one. I wish more women shrank,” she glanced at Evan and winked, “no offense to the boys of course, you’re super fun to play with too.”

“H-Hey!” Amber protested as a gloved hand came down and fondled her naked form, “quit it!”

“Ooh! And so feisty too!” Her fingers wrapped around Amber, quickly trapping the squirming tiny in her grip. She glanced over at Evan, who was watching from Eve’s palm, “what about that one?” she asked, pointing at him.

“Oh,” Eve muttered, “He’s uh, already processed.”

Dr. Nicole shrugged, carrying the thrashing and screaming Amber into a room behind the lobby. The “treatment room” was a large sterile looking white room with a glass wall that allowed persons in the lobby to see the tiny being “worked on.”

“Okay, let’s start by getting you cleaned up!” Dr. Nicole said in a bubbly voice. She brought Amber over to a sink, and while her back was to the glass, Eve and Evan could hear Amber’s screeching as the vet squirted some hand soap into her palm and began to scrub the tiny woman all over. A moment later she reached for a roll of paper towels, pulling one off and then ruffling the still protesting Amber dry.

“S-Stop!” Amber wailed as she was brought over to the exam table.

Dr. Nicole hummed to herself as she pinned the tiny woman to the mat, a small iodine swab appeared in her hand and she swished it over Amber’s left buttcheek. The tiny redhead’s eyes bulged, and she seemed to realize what that meant as she thrashed angrily. A moment later the syringe gun came down, and with a pneumatic hiss, and then a loud *click* the chip was injected into Amber. She flinched once, then she seemed to go limp as the realization set in.

“Oh no,” Amber wailed. It’s in… oh god it’s in… the tracking chip would forever let her “guardian” easily find her, it could even monitor her vitals. It was a small thing really, but as she felt the lingering sting in her bottom it felt like something of her had been stripped away.

“Oh, cheer up,” Dr. Nicole beamed, “we’re going to make you so pretty!”

Before Amber could react, Dr. Nicole swept her naked form up off the table, carrying her over to a small cylinder with a series of electronic dials and displays on the side. Amber looked around like a trapped rat as she was lowered, feet kicking, into it. The doctor reached down, delicately forcing her into the steel cylinder, taking care to make sure her long hair remained outside of it, dangling down the side. It looked like it was just tall enough that her head peeked out, and narrow enough that she had to keep her hands at her sides.

“And one quick sting,” the doctor said cheerfully, flicking a switch.

There was a *zap* and a quick smell of ozone as the inside of the cylinder flashed, Amber’s eyes went wide and she screamed once, like she’d been stung. The doctor quickly reached in, pulling her out of the cylinder, revealing tender red skin that was rapidly turning pink again as the shrinkee healing factor kicked in.

“Instant all-over hair removal!” the doctor said with a giggle. Amber looked down in shock at her now hairless skin, it was like the perfect wax job. “Don’t get too excited,” Dr. Nicole said, waggling a finger playfully, “your little bodies are just so good at fixing themselves, you’ll need to repeat the treatment once every six months if you want it to last.”

“Like hell I will,” Amber muttered. She shivered slightly, everything felt a little colder since being small, and having her body hair zapped away just made the feel of the building’s air conditioning against her skin feel all the more potent.

“Now let’s end on a nice one,” Dr. Nicole said, ignoring Amber’s discomfort. She dangled Amber by one arm, bringing her over to a table with a long row of squirt bottles. She beamed and looked over to the glass, where Eve and Evan were watching. “Which scent did you want?” Dr. Nicole called, “Sorry, I forgot to check the form!”

“Peach Smoothie!” Eve shouted with a grin.

The doctor pressed down on the nozzle of one of the bottles, squirting a few globs into each hand. The gloved fingers descended on Amber, rubbing the fruit-scented lotion into her skin. She couldn’t help but gasp as it tingled up and down her spine, at this size, and after the hair treatment, her skin was extra sensitive. It was all she could do to stay lucid as those powerful fingers massaged every nook and cranny, pressing into her muscles and…

“Oh god,” Amber moaned as the gloved finger went a little too low.

“Oh,” Dr. Nicole giggled, “sorry about that, if it happens just let it all out, you little cuties just can’t handle your lotion massages, usually it’s the guys that have this happen though.” She shrugged, finishing up the lotion application and gently dabbing the dazed Amber off with a tissue. With a snap she pulled her gloves off, tossing them in a nearby waste basket.

“I-Is it over?” Amber whimpered, trying to cover herself again.

“Almost,” Dr. Nicole said with a smile.

Her thumb and forefinger hooked under Amber’s armpits, drawing her over to another table with a pair of large cabinets on it. Dr. Nicole flipped them open, revealing row upon row of identical doll’s clothing. She settled on an aisle of red dresses with white polka dots, fashioned with a belt in the center like something out of a 1950s garden party. She held several of them up to Amber, gauging her size, then she slipped one on. The fabric was scratchy, not at all like the tailored suits, skirts, and dresses Amber was used to, but at the same time she almost felt happy just to have clothes again. A moment later a pair of ill-fitting plastic shoes were slipped onto her feet, and she was set on the desk to try to delicately balance in them. A massive, to her anyway, brush went through her hair, quickly straightening and parting the red mess that had become mussed and tangled during her ordeal. The final touch was a small ribbon tied into a bow in her hair, tightening slightly as the good doctor expertly tied the tiny knot.

“There we go, super pretty, don’t you think?” Dr. Nicole said, leaning down and beaming at her. A small makeup mirror was on the desk, and Amber caught sight of herself. The powerful business woman with the fashionable taste and the steely eyes was gone, in her place stood… a doll.

Amber was stunned as Dr. Nicole gently picked her up, carrying her back out to the lobby where Eve and Evan were waiting.

“Oh Amber, you look so good!” Eve said with a smug smirk.

“So how was it?” Evan asked, arms crossed, “did you enjoy the Shrinkee experience?”

“Okay,” Dr. Nicole said, handing the tiny woman over to Eve, “here she is, chipped, cleaned, and ready for a nice garden party or evening at home!” next she handed Eve a stack of papers, “and here’s her certificates, guardian registration, all that. I have to say, it’s odd that you wanted all this given that the Shrinkee Protection Act expires in a few days, but you’re the customer,” she shrugged.

“What do you suppose is going to happen to this place?” Evan asked, a slight edge to his voice, “given that Shrinkees are going to have full legal rights again in a few days…”

“Aww, you’re so sweet to worry!” Dr. Nicole said. There wasn’t any sarcasm there, and Evan blinked, confused as she patted his head in a patronizing manner. “A lot of little guys and a few girls actually contacted me and told me they want to keep up their regular appointments!”

“Weird,” Evan muttered, thinking over the humiliating “procedure” they’d just watched Amber subjected to. Who’s paying to have that done to them?

“Interested Evan?” Eve teased.

“No thanks,” he said with a grimace.

The vet for her part seemed oblivious to Evan’s distaste for her practice, “will that be cash or card?”

“Card,” Eve said with a grin, handing the vet Amber’s credit card.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Amber. She’d been handled like an unruly pet, stripped of her dignity, her body hair, her autonomy, and then gussied up like a Stepford wife… and she’d paid for all of it. She felt her knees turn to jelly, and she fell into Eve’s palm, numb.

A few minutes later the three of them were in Eve’s car, and she laid the two tinies on the dashboard. Evan distanced himself slightly from the near-catatonic Amber, letting Eve speak to her.

“See these papers Amber?” Eve said harshly, holding up the guardian forms, “for the next three days I literally own you, did you have fun at the vet’s office?”

“NO!” she wailed, “I’m so sorry!”

“Eve,” Evan said quietly, “I think she’s had enough…”

Eve fumed a moment, “I’m going to run all these documents through the shredder as soon as we get home,” she said quietly, “I already talked with Dr. Connors, and you’ll get the chip taken this time next week, should be pretty quick and clean.”

“R-Really?” Amber sniffed, standing up slightly. She cleared her throat, “uh, thanks…”

“Now,” Eve said with a sigh, “is there anyone we can leave you with? Friends, family? Charles told me your emergency contacts were your parents, and they hung up on me when I called about you.”

Amber looked at them, her lip quivering a moment.

“Oh, you’re fucking kidding me,” Eve muttered, “nobody? An old roommate? A barber? Come on you always had people around you at work!”

“Do you think I want to be around them!?” Amber squealed, “after all the shit we said about tinies? That I said about tinies?”

“Oh, goddamn it,” Evan said, chuckling as he kicked his foot against the car’s dashboard. “Eve, I think we’ve got to take her home with us.”

…

“Who’s ready to party!” Laurie shouted, bursting through the door of Evan’s house. The top floor was still being rebuilt, but the fire marshal had apparently declared the bottom floor safe for habitation. In one hand the blonde had a box of fireworks, and in the other a bottle of bourbon. “Fourth of July baby! Independence Day!” She whooped happily, “it’s gotta feel good being a citizen again, huh Evan?”

“It’ll be nice to be recognized by government branches other than the IRS,” he said with a shrug, “but sure, I’ll shoot off some bottle rockets with you!”

“I’ll watch from the porch,” Eve said with a smirk. She frowned a moment, “hold on, Evan, are you saying they made you pay taxes after you shrank?”

“Isn’t that fucked up?” Evan laughed.

“Uh, hi, Miss Laurie?” a meek voice called. Laurie looked down at her feet, where a tiny Amber in a red and white polka dotted dress was looking up at her nervously.

Laurie frowned, “What’s she doing here?”

“I’m asking myself that same question every day,” Eve muttered.

“She doesn’t really have anywhere else to go,” Evan explained.

“Uh yeah, I’m just kind of crashing here, until I get back on my feet,” Amber said shakily. She gulped; she still wasn’t used to talking to big people…

Normal sized people Amber realized with a start, I’m the one who’s small, they’re normal sized…

“Well, spit it out,” Laurie said testily.

“Evan and Eve said you volunteer with a lot of… people like me,”

“Tinies,” Laurie said impatiently, “yeah.”

“Could you maybe… help me find a job or something?” she asked, biting her lip.

Laurie leaned down to pick her up, causing the tiny woman to squeak in surprise as her feet left the ground.

The blonde held her up and regarded her casually, “There aren’t a ton of good employers for tinies in this area,” Laurie said finally, “one is the company Eve works for, and I’d say your bridges there are pretty well burned.”

“Yeah,” Amber said sullenly, looking down.

“Funny thing Amber,” Eve said, “all those emails they sent when Charles shrank? They actually recommended all the women in the office get tested for vulnerability to the virus, the company even offered it for free.” She shrugged, “guess you shouldn’t have ignored all those tiny-rights presentations and emails…”

Amber clenched her fists, her face burning red, “I-Is there another place you know that hires people… my size?”

Laurie thought a moment, “The other one is a spa a little ways north of here, they have a full tiny staff, and-“

“That one’s also out,” Eve said, rolling her eyes, “she pissed them off too.”

“Wow, little miss popularity, aren’t you?” Laurie mused. “Okay, well let’s worry about that another time. For now, I want to shoot off illegal fireworks.”

…

The group watched the flowers burst in the dark summer sky, in the near countryside of the Armstrong estate they could see the distant reds, whites, and blues as far-flung fireworks displays and individuals fired their own salvos, celebrating the holiday.

Eve lay on the grass, Evan nestled in her cleavage as she looked up. Laurie lay a few feet away, having exhausted her own supply of fireworks, and even Amber was sitting in grass that was now almost as tall as she was, looking up in silence.

The only sound was the distant booms of the sky flowers. Each of them was consumed by their own thoughts, thinking of pasts, presents, futures... mistakes made, successes, losses. A sense of subdued peace had fallen over them, marinated in the muggy summer evening as the smokey smell of the fireworks wafted over the countryside.

Somehow, all four of them could sense that the others were in a similar emotional state, and when the final red bloom in the distant sky burst, the silence persisted. Gradually the sound of insects returned, and the smell of the smoke was carried away on the summer wind as the stars covered the sky.

Finally, Laurie sat up, the only remaining light coming from the porch and the stars above.

“I’m going to head out,” she said with a smile, tipping her straw hat. “Evan, Eve, it’s been wild. Come by and see me on Sunday, we’ll cook burgers.” She glanced down to Amber, “I’m going to go meet with some tiny rights types tomorrow, there’s a lot of work to do… Do you want to come stay with me and head over and meet them tomorrow morning? You might find some friends there, even given your… history.”

“Uh,” Amber said slowly, “sure.” She stood up, and Laurie bent down to grasp her around the waist and lift her up.  Laurie nodded at Evan and Eve again, turning to leave. “Wait!” Amber shouted suddenly, “I… I know it doesn’t mean anything now,” she said quietly, “but… I’m sorry.” She blinked away a quick tear, and Laurie waited another moment. When it was clear the tiny woman had nothing left to say Laurie smiled and waved at them, leaving for her truck without another word.

“You know,” Evan mused, “a little therapy, maybe some time to figure herself out… she might turn into a halfway decent person someday.”

Eve snorted, “maybe, until then I’d rather not hang out with her.”

She sighed, picking up Evan and walking up to the driveway. She paused, looking up at the still half destroyed house. The stars twinkled through the rafters, the signs of new construction over the old frame evident even in the low light.

“I love you Evan,” she said softly.

“I love you too Eve,” he said leaning against her palm.

Somewhere on the distant horizon, a few final fireworks burst.

The End