Ch 2. Sweltering Outside and In by TerryLarka
“Yo,
Jackie, have you ever been to J. Ringo’s?” Javi asked, scrolling aimlessly on
his phone. “They’ve got the best burgers around here.”
“Can’t say
I have. I’ve never been to this tiny district before.” She and Javi were
chilling outside Pierce’s house while the latter worked on his granddad’s old muscle
car. Jackie couldn’t fit in Pierce’s front yard, but to her fortune, the old
lady living next door gracefully permitted the half-big to sit on her lawn. The
suburb sprawled out like a playset to the college student, her crossed legs
covering all of Pierce’s yard and stretching out partially into the street.
Under the late summer heat, Jackie forgoed her beanie and wore a simple tank
top and capris, sweat forming across her exposed skin. Javi had long since
removed his shirt, baking in a fold out chair while Pierce did all the actual
work. Still, as sweaty as he was, Pierce enjoyed the company, even if the sight
of Jackie’s sandal-clad feet peeking out from under her thighs kept him from
getting much done. He had never been so grateful to be under the hood; the
shade made for pleasant relief from the scorching weather, but more
importantly, it kept everyone else from noticing where his focus truly lied.
“We should
go when Pierce finishes up. They have an outdoor grill where they cook these
gigantic burgers.” Javi stretched his arms out as far as he could to emphasize
the size of the patties. “They’d be like sliders to you.”
“I wonder
what their drink supply is like,” Jackie pondered. “I’d kill for a lemonade.”
“A lot of
places have underground vats nowadays,” Pierce added, “to meet the demand from
big tourists.”
“Or you
could have something delivered,” Javi said, pointing at his phone.
“Yeah, but
then I have to talk to another big. I don’t mind eating tiny food.” Jackie fanned
herself off with her hand, her dripping sweat watering the parched grass.
“That’s
good to hear.” An old woman walked onto her front porch with a tray in her
hands. “Because I made lemon squares and fruit punch for the three of you.”
With eyes lit up, Jackie pinched the microscopic tray between her thumb and
forefinger, careful not to spill the red pitcher positioned on it. She brought
it over to her friends so they could each grab a couple squares and pour
themselves some punch. Jackie took the rest, pouring what was left in the
pitcher and dumping the remaining desserts into her cavernous maw; no more than
a drop and some crumbs, but tasty nonetheless.
“Thank you,
Mrs. McGunagle,” the trio said in unison, Jackie handing the platter and
pitcher back.
“And thanks
again for letting me sit on your lawn.”
“Don’t
mention it, dearie. I’m just grateful to see young Pierce finally bring a girl
home.” Their faces were already flush thanks to the heat, but Javi couldn’t
help laughing at his blushing friends anyway.
“We’re just
friends!” Pierce corrected, retreating under the hood of the car. He didn’t
notice Jackie stare his way as she nodded in affirmation.
“It’s a
good thing your parents aren’t home to hear that. I have to imagine they’re
getting anxious about the likelihood of ever having grandchildren.” Mrs.
McGunagle returned inside with the empty platter, leaving Pierce to grumble
under the hood while his friends smiled at his expense.
“Can I do
anything to help?” Jackie asked, looming over what to her was a toy car. “I
admit I don’t know much about mechanical stuff, but if there’s anything I can
do…”
“Actually,
could you hold the car up, so I can crawl underneath? I need to readjust the
front axle.” Jackie happily complied, gently grabbing either side of the
vehicle and lifting the front end up far enough for Pierce to reach under it.
The muscle car, a ’72 Gran Torino, was special among tiny vehicles for being a
perfect, scaled down replica of the Ford original. Tinies had pioneered
electric vehicles back in the mid-twentieth century, long before bigs could
ever replicate such innovations. Because of this, gas powered cars became a
rarity for tinies, most of whom favored the convenience and affordability of a
car that could hold a charge for far longer than what a miniature gas engine
could provide. By the twenty-first century, cars with combustion engines became
something of collectors’ items, a sign of status handed down to people like
Pierce who could appreciate the inventions of a bygone era.
Once he had
finished, Pierce crawled back out, allowing Jackie to lower the car. The tiny's
plain clothes were covered in sweat and oil stains, and his already shaggy hair
was even more of a mess. “Alright, that's enough for today. Let's go get some
food.” The other two cheered, and Jackie laid her hand out, so the tinies could
hop aboard.
Jackie
carried them in her hand as she walked through the suburb streets, careful to
keep out of the way of any cars passing through. Though this wasn't the first
time they had seen the rooves of their houses, it was still surreal for Pierce
and Javi to be lifted dozens of inches above their neighborhood, flying over it
as if they were birds.
Below, tiny
drivers and pedestrians behaved as normal, unphased by the giant woman
strutting through. Most tiny district roads had been reinforced with shock
absorbent materials to reduce sound and vibrations caused by giant footsteps.
Telephone wire was all done underground to reduce tripping hazards.
The further
Jackie got, fenced in houses gave way to office buildings and parking garages
as she entered downtown. The streets grew more cramped and traffic more
clustered, but Jackie weaved through it all as well as a 5’4” college freshman
could, reaching her destination without incident.
J. Ringo’s
was a small restaurant with a large parking lot with designated spots marked
for larger customers to stand or sit in. Branching off the main building, which
hosted dine-in seating for tiny customers, was a small outdoor stall for bigs
or tinies on the go to order from. Located behind the building and by the stall
was a pair of large, flat grill tops for cooking gigantic sliders (or several
tiny sized burgers). A set of faucets ran out from the ground, connected to
underground vats of cola, root beer, and to Jackie's delight, lemonade.
Granted, despite the large quantities, the soda was actually of the tiny
variety which contained a lot less sugar per ounce. Some bigs likened the beverages
to diet pop or flavored water, but others enjoyed it as healthier alternative,
both for its lesser sugar content and its smaller serving sizes. Slider buns
were stacked beside the building, forming a sweet, doughy pyramid.
Jackie sat
down next to another big who, thankfully, was already engaged in another
conversation and set Javi and Pierce on the ground, so they could order. She snuck
a glance at the big and saw a tiny man reclining across his larger girlfriend's
cleavage as they ate and conversed. The couple were too wrapped up in each
other to notice Jackie grinning at their casual display of affection.
With their
order placed, Pierce and Javi returned to Jackie, climbing into her palm.
“When do
you think you'll have the car done?” Jackie asked.
“My goal is
to have it road ready by spring.” Pierce wiped the sweat and oil off his face
with his shirt. “I've got some custom parts on backorder. They're available
elsewhere, but my budget's tight, so I have to get ‘em where they're cheapest.”
“You should
have seen it when he got it,” Javi mused. “As kids, we learned every swear
there is from his gramps when he'd bring us over to work on it.”
“Did you
actually help back then?” Jackie teased.
“He held
the flashlight. He'd break anything else we'd give him.” Javi raised a finger
to protest, but withdrew upon realizing he couldn’t argue against that. “It's a
shame you won't be able to ride in it.”
“It's fine.
I can just follow you guys on foot.” Her heart fluttered at his
consideration, and she hoped to be there when the muscle car was finally ready
to drive.
“Order #34!”
Jackie set her friends down on the asphalt and walked over to the stall,
crouching to pick up the brown paper bag and paper drink holder with her
fingers. From the outdoor grill, a group of tiny employees hefted the massive,
to them, burger towards the stall. Jackie wrapped her fingers around the sandwich,
fitting comfortably in her grip, and eased the workers burden. One of the employees
pointed to her drink, a pool of lemonade in a paper cup not much larger than
the slider.
“Thank you,”
she said before returning to her friends to eat and enjoy the rest of the
sweltering afternoon.
…
The
following Monday, Michelle carried Javi into Women’s Studies ten minutes before
the start of class. Heather was already seated and greeted her tiny friend as
he arrived. Javi, seated on a desk atop Michelle’s desk, got into a passionate
discussion with Heather about baseball playoffs. Despite having attended every
one of Javi’s basketball games in high school, Michelle didn’t know a lick
about sports, her mind always focused on other things during said games. As
such, she needed a way to intrude on the conversation and spotted the perfect
opportunity in the pen lying along the edge of her desktop.
“Whoops.” Michelle
flicked her pen onto the floor casually enough that at least Javi didn’t question
it. The obese woman got out of her seat and bent over to pick up the pen, leaning
her leggings-clad, blubber butt against her desk. Her ample rear loomed over
Javi like a thick mountain range, the yoga pants leaving next to nothing to the
imagination as they veiled her cheeks. The desk shook as Michelle rubbed
against it “searching” for her lost pen, tilting Javi every which way as he
failed to focus his attention anywhere else. The irony of objectifying his female
friend in Women’s Studies weighed heavy on his heart, but that couldn’t stop his
male gaze from wandering every acre of Michelle’s ass. In his defense, Michelle
was taking her sweet time picking up her pen, even with Heather’s glare trained
on the bent over woman.
“What are
you gawking at?” Michelle whispered.
“Just the
oldest trick in the book.” Finally, Michelle returned to her seat, enjoying the
sight of Javi’s tomato red face as he pretended to look at something in another
direction. Heather rolled her eyes and grabbed a banana from her bag. She was saving
it to snack on later, but desperate times called for drastic action. “Hey, Javi.
You hungry?”
After
slowly peeling the banana, Heather pressed the tip against her lips, gently
pushing it between them into her mouth. Javi practically drooled as he watched
the giant woman stroke the phallic fruit with her lips, getting it nice and wet
as her tongue lathered it in spit. Heather sucked on the banana with deft
expertise, making Javi’s already blaring face burn brighter. “I was thinking of
having hot dogs for lunch today,” Heather teased between strokes. “And for
dinner… eggplant parmesan with a cucumber salad.” With a deliberate chomp,
Heather bit off the banana’s tip, chewing it nice and slow before taking an
exaggerated gulp.
Javi solved
math problems in his head in a fruitless attempt to defeat the semi forming in
his shorts. But to make matters worse, Shawna sat down facing backwards in the
seat in front of him. Her breasts, barreling out from her partially unbuttoned
blouse, threatened to swallow the tiny as she rested her puppies on the desk
before him. “Hiya, Javi. Just checking to see how you’re holding up in the second
week of class.”
Danger!
That was the one word floating through Javi’s occupied mind. He felt like a
rabbit that had stumbled into the lioness’ den. This semester would either be
the best few months of his life, or he wasn’t going to live to see the new
year.
…
Last week,
Lynn netted a part-time job working the reception desk at the campus library.
The library hosted materials for both sized students, the big collections
spanning multiple floors while the tiny shelves were all neatly organized
throughout the first floor in spots that kept them out of the larger students’
way, mostly along the walls and corners and under the overhanging lips of
grander bookshelves.
The
reception desk had two tiers: a standard size for bigs and a smaller off-shoot
for tinies. Lynn and her colleague’s job was primarily to accept returns and direct
students to the section they sought. Lynn’s mentor, Justine, stood beside her
each shift while operating the larger desk. Her long black hair was tied into a
tight ponytail, her typical wardrobe consisted of a white button-up and black
pencil skirt with a blue sweater on colder days, and she always wore a scarlet
pair of cat’s eye glasses; in other words, she was Lynn’s ideal image of a sexy
librarian even though she was only a couple years older than the tiny.
“I gotta
say, Lynn, you’re a real natural at this.” Justine crouched behind her desk,
still towering above her two-inch coworker. “I’ve never met a tiny so
personable before. You could probably run both desks if you could reach up here.”
“Thank you!”
Lynn never turned down a stroke to her ego. “It’s such a pleasure working with
you.” Justine blushed slightly at the compliment, a detail that did not escape
Lynn’s eyes.
“The
feeling’s mutual. I was kind of nervous about training a newbie, but you’re
such a delight to be around.” Lynn’s heart sped up and her eyes dilated. Was
this it? Was this her chance? The tiny was eager to get into a giant woman’s
pants, but even knowing herself to be a ten, Lynn didn’t expect to find a
potential match on week two. She took a deep breath and quickly considered her next
words. She crossed her arms behind her back and kicked aimlessly at the air, looking
around as if searching for the words around the room.
“Hey. After
our shift, would you like to grab a coffee with me? As a date?” Lynn
immediately regretted asking the question, noting the dour expression forming
on Justine’s face.
“I’m sorry.
I’d normally love to, but you see, I’m not into, uh… How do I put this?”
“Is it
because I’m a woman or because I’m a tiny?” Lynn slumped, struck out on her
first chance at bat.
“The
latter.” Justine scratched at her cheek. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend
you. It’s just, I want to be with someone who I can hold in my arms, not in my
hands.”
“Nah, I get
it. I’m not into tinies either.” The librarian cocked an eyebrow at Lynn’s
response. “They aren’t big enough to satisfy me, y’know?”
“Huh, I
guess we do have a lot in common. I’d still love to get coffee with you, as
friends, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure
thing!” Lynn immediately returned to her chipper self, that being the easiest
case of rejection she had ever bore the brunt of. “I’d love to be your friend.”
“Great! But
here, I do know a place that might interest you.” Justine pulled out her phone
to search for an address. “If you ask me, this is the best hookup spot on campus.”
The librarian shared her screen with the tiny’s. Angie and Eva’s Paradiso,
a jazz club and bar a few blocks away. “They let eighteen-year-olds in, just
don’t try to buy alcohol, obviously.”
“Awesome. I’ll
have to check it out.” Lynn didn’t have plans for tonight, anyway. She saved
the address to her phone and got back to work, a tiny student stepping up to
return a book.