“Jackie, walk faster! I want to get to class before all the back row seats are taken.”

            “I’m sorry,” Jackie apologized to the two-inch tall woman perched on her shoulder. She was slipping through the densely populated courtyard in front of the main classroom. “There’s too many people here, Lynn.” With it being the first day of the semester, many students were gathered there whether they were on tours, signing up for clubs or organizations, hanging out with their peers, or struggling to navigate campus. Jackie wormed her way through the sea of bodies, careful not let her sister fall out from her special pocket or to step on any tinies traversing the forest of legs.

            Jackie and Lynn Richards were starting their first year of college, excited to finally move out, meet new people, and discover their paths in life. They were attending Winston State University, a metropolitan campus that took great pride in its status as one the country’s highest rated colleges in regards to its mixed size accommodations. Its buildings were designed to host people of all heights, including interlink networks, multiple doors to every room, marked walking zones in hallways and on sidewalks, seating options for those large and small, and many more. The university took every chance to promote its blended culture and considered itself an exemplar to how society should function thirty years after the two sizes abandoned isolationism and began cohabitating the same spaces. Therefore, the college board was all too ecstatic to welcome the Richards sisters into their student body.

            Jackie and Lynn were semi-famous for being the world’s only known instance of mixed-sized twins. Aside from the stark difference in height, the two appeared identical. They both shared the same dirty blonde hair, the same freckled skin, the same brown eyes, and the same voluptuous curves, though Lynn’s breasts were no bigger than a pair of peas. However, the twins styles helped set them apart, in case the one being a little over five feet shorter wasn’t enough. Lynn’s straight hair hanged down past her shoulders while her sister fashioned hers in a short bob. Jackie usually wore a grey beanie knit by her mother; today, she also wore an orange t-shirt depicting artwork for mini-metal band Four-Limbed Spiders, a well-worn pair of denim jeans, and black combat boots. Lynn, on the other hand, wore a lace camisole, a pleated miniskirt, and high-top Converse. She resided within a pocket stitched onto the shoulder strap of her sister’s backpack, her upper body peeking out from the fabric’s lip.

            Eventually, Jackie broke through the crowd, bringing herself within arm’s reach of the main classroom entrance before getting stopped by a blonde woman in a neon pink tank top. “Hey, would you like to join our sorority, Alpha-Beta-Phi-Gamma?” She stood between Jackie and the door, offering a graphic pamphlet and a chipper smile.

            “Uh,” Jackie couldn’t look her in the eye. “N-no thanks.”

            “You sure?” the girl continued pressing. “We host all sorts of fun events all year round, and our parties are killer. Seriously, they’re the best on campus. You can ask anyone, they’ll vouch. And I know you’re prolly thinking sorority life is just drinking and making out, and sure there’s plenty of that, but we also do a lot of charity work, and we look great on a resume. Honest, we have a lot of alumni in high places and it’s such a cinch starting a career when you can connect…” Jackie tried to reject her offer, but she couldn’t find an opening to speak.

            “Ugh! We don’t want to join your stupid club!” Lynn interjected. “Buzz off so we can get to class already.”

            “I wasn’t talking to you, b-” the woman snapped back, biting her tongue before she said something uncouth. “…buddy.” Lynn rolled her eyes.

            Just call me a bug, she thought. I know you want to, bitch.

            “Sorry,” Jackie said softly, eyes glued to the ground. “I don’t want to join.”

            “Whatever. Your loss.” The sorority girl finally stepped aside to hassle another student, allowing Jackie to slip through the door. Main classroom’s atrium was no less packed, filled with students scurrying between classes, using the school computers, or filling up every available seat and windowsill. Jackie took a big gulp upon seeing even more bigs gathered so tightly together.

            “You can drop me off at that walkway over there,” Lynn said, pointing to a glass corridor suspended from the wall. The campus interlink was a system of confined hallways hanging off the walls and ceilings to allow tinies to easily traverse campus without having to navigate the floor or be carried by a larger peer. Every building had an interlink, and there were shuttle services set up to carry tinies between buildings at a much quicker pace than walking. “Are you going to be alright without me?”

            “Yeah,” Jackie muttered. She walked over to the wall in which a miniature elevator sat at her foot and placed her sister in front of it beside of a group of tinies. The elevator connected to the interlink through a glass tube and could hold up to a dozen tinies. “The tiny center isn’t too far from here.”

            “Okay, but call or text me if anything comes up.” The elevator doors opened, and Lynn was pressed to enter before it filled up, but she hesitated to leave her sister unattended.

            “I’ll be fine. Get going already, before all the backrow seats are taken.” Jackie waved and disappeared into the stream of bigs, sulking to avoid any eye contact with them. Lynn trudged backwards into the elevator, packing into it like a sardine, and kept her eyes on her twin as long as she could.

…

            Lynn’s first class that morning was Applied Algebra, a basic, gen. ed. math course for liberal arts majors filling a requirement or freshmen who hadn’t yet decided on a major. The interlink exited out beside every classroom via elevators built into the wall, giving tinies easy access to wherever they were heading.

            Upon entering the classroom, Lynn noticed the line of tiny desks in the front row situated in sets of five before the larger desks two feet out. This gave tiny students a direct view of the front whiteboard a few yards away; the professor’s desk stood up against the far wall as to not block the view of the front. There was also a metal plate in the center front from which a podium could be raised for tiny professors who wished to lecture at their larger students’ eye level. Despite her concerns, the tiny girl had arrived early enough that most of the seats were still vacant.

            Lynn walked past the tiny desks and made for the back. The desks on either side of her rose up like skyscrapers, her jaunt akin to walking the sidewalks of New York City. After a minute of walking, she made it to the last row of seats; both of which in her aisle were occupied.

            “Something we can do for you?” the woman to Lynn’s left asked. She was exceptionally tall, even for a big, with a slim build and toned muscles. A black, sleeveless crop-top accentuated her biceps and abdomen, and her baggy pants hid her sturdy thighs and calves. Her massive sneaker, its toe planted less than an inch before Lynn, was spacious enough for the tiny to live out of. Lynn waved to the towering woman from the floor.

            “Hi there! Is this seat taken?” she asked, pointing to the desk in front of the woman. The big, a half-Japanese woman whose long, straight hair was dyed bleached blonde on one side and cotton candy blue on the other, shot her friend a goofy look.

            “Don’t you think that’s a little big for you?” the friend mused with a chuckle. She was a good foot shorter than the lady next to her, with a thicker, curvier build filling in her tank top and jeans. Her frizzy, black hair hung down to her shoulders, and she had smooth, black skin. A pair of wire-framed glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose.

            “I don’t want to sit up front,” Lynn replied. “If you could lift me up, that’d be appreciated.” The two women shot each other another glance and laughed. Lynn continued to smile up at them unphased. “I’m Lynn by the way.”

            “I like you, Lynn,” the taller woman said. “Most tinies are afraid to get anywhere near me.”

            “Most bigs too,” her friend jested.

            “Anyway, name’s Heather. This is my best bro, Alena.” Heather stood up out of her seat into the aisle. Her looming body stretched on for what seemed like miles. Lynn had to crane her neck to get a glimpse of Heather’s lofty face. “Wait there, I have an idea.” Heather stepped over Lynn, almost knocking the tiny off her feet from the rushing wind of her gait. She walked to the front of the classroom and picked up an empty tiny desk, the thing being small enough to be held in her fingers, and carried it back to her seat. Placing it on her desk, Heather crouched down and held her hand out palm-up for Lynn to jump onto. Doing exactly that, Lynn was lifted up to her desk atop Heather’s. “There. I don’t think anyone will have a problem with that.”

            “Thanks!” Lynn cheered.

            “If someone sits in front of you, are you going to be able to see?” Alena asked.

            “I'll figure it out,” Lynn decided. “This is math, not like anything important.” As she spoke, she noticed Heather's backpack leaned up against the wall, more specifically the skateboard strapped to it. “Woah, you skate?”

            “Yeah, I skate here from my apartment. I have to use the bike lanes in the city since they outlawed wheels on the sidewalks.” Heather breathed a heavy sigh, blowing a gust through Lynn's hair. The tiny could smell the lingering scent of nicotine on her breath. “I don't get it. I can see tinies clear as day. Avoiding them ain't hard.”

            “That's so cool!” Lynn squealed. “I tried learning when I was younger, but I never had the patience for it.”

            “Honestly, same,” Alena chimed in. “I don't have the coordination to pull off what she does.”

            “Please, you flatter me,” Heather scoffed. “It just takes practice. I'm no one special.”

            “Girl, you skateboard, rollerblade, snowboard, BMX, mountain bike, and surf.”

            “I only surf on vacations,” Heather interjected.

            “My point is that you're a god on a board or anything with wheels. You don't get to be humble and tell us mere mortals that all it takes is some practice. Right, Lynn?”

            “Right!” Lynn was just happy to express her agreement. “I know how to rollerblade, but that’s about it.”

            “I can ride a bike on asphalt, but not up a mountain!”

            “Alena, seriously, you’re making a bigger deal of it than it actually is,” Heather pouted, her cheeks turning red. “Enough about me. Lynn, what sorts of shit are you into?”

            “I like to draw,” Lynn admitted, feeling lame as hell next to Ms. Skater Girl. “I can show you my sketchbook, if you’d like.”

            “Please!” both women said with bright eyes. Lynn fumbled through her backpack for the most recent notebook she drew in and held it open for her new friends. Heather pulled out her phone and used the camera to zoom in on the images, angling it so Alena could get a good look as well. These days, phone cameras had a setting that automatically enlarged tiny-scaled writing or pictures, giving bigs easier access to their smaller peers art.

            Lynn’s sketchbook was filled with colored pencil drawings of landscapes, portraits, a variety of characters both human and inhuman, as well as more abstract creations. Though her sketches had apparent flaws that could be expected of a self-taught amateur, the attention to detail was mesmerizing and most of the images seemed to pop straight off the page. “Ignore all the anime characters,” Lynn advised, flipping through some pages quicker than others. “I draw those for my sister.”

            “Lynn, these are incredible.” Heather kept gesturing for her to flip back a page to get a better look.

            “For real, I’m super jealous.” Alena fidgeted in her seat to stay comfortable as she leaned over her desk’s arm bar. “I’m majoring in fashion design, and none of my sketches come out this well.”

            “Oh! We should draw together then!” Lynn hopped up and down, her puny body unable to hold all of her excitement. “I could give you pointers, and I’d love to hear more feedback.”

            “Sounds like a plan.” Deep in their conversation, the trio didn’t notice the seats around them fill up as it was time for class to begin. To Lynn’s fortune, no one sat directly in front of Heather’s desk.

            “Good morning, class,” the professor announced. He was a portly fellow with a receding hairline and a pair of glasses that drooped down his nose. “We’ll be going over the syllabus today. I’ll be passing it around along with the attendance sheet.” The professor walked up to the front row, handing the big student seated in the corner a stack of papers. Then, he crouched down to hand the tiny student a significantly smaller stack pinched gingerly between his fingers. The stack passed until it reached Alena who then handed it to Heather.

            “Shit, your name’s not on this sheet. What’s your last name, I’ll write it in.”

            “Richards.” Lynn watched as Heather jotted the tiny’s name down and noted that she was sitting with her. As the larger woman wrote, Lynn found her full name listed: Heather Suzuran. Suzuran? Lynn pondered. Why does that name sound familiar?

…

            After what felt like forever, Jackie broke free from the crowd of bigs and entered the university’s tiny center. The room looked like it came straight out of a edutainment science museum. The space itself was the size of a regular classroom, but every piece of furniture was scaled down to tiny sizes. While tiny furniture was a common sight next to larger accommodations, it was rare to see nothing but it in a room designed for bigs. There were desks and tables, chairs, couches, bean bag chairs, whiteboards, and computers scattered throughout.

            The tiny center served a few purposes. It was primarily the meeting point for the university tiny committee, a student operated group responsible for organizing events and running programs related to all things tiny. The center was also considered a “safe space” for smaller students, a place to break from loud, handsy, careless, clumsy, inconsiderate, or otherwise obnoxious bigs. However, due to campus policy, bigs were required to be allowed access to the center just as tinies were allowed in any other area on campus, though giant visitors were often discouraged from lingering by the lack of adequate furniture, and staffers held the authority to remove any specific individuals who were causing a nuisance.

            Jackie stepped up to the front desk occupied by a tiny secretary. The desk didn’t even stretch the length of the larger twin’s toes.

            “Hello there,” the secretary greeted, craning her neck so she could meet the visitor’s gaze. “What can I do for you?” Jackie crouched down to make things more comfortable for the secretary.

            “My name’s Jackie Richards. I saw the ad online and was hoping to join…” Jackie trailed off feeling the malicious glares pointed her way from the tinies seated throughout the room.

            “What is she doing?” one tiny murmured.

            “Hey guys, a big’s here to ruin everything.”

            “Fucking giants. Think we can’t do anything for ourselves.”

            “Yeah, where do they get off acting so high and mighty?”

            “I, uh, I’m, I came to, um,” Jackie’s train of thought derailed off a cliffside. Her cheeks burned as murmuring insults scraped her ears. The secretary pretended not to hear them, hoping the big could finish her piece without embarrassing herself any further. Jackie stood up and started for the door. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here.”

            “Wait!” Two tinies rushed up to her. One was quite tall at two and a half inches. He had his black hair spiked up into a faux-hawk, and was wearing a purple and gold basketball jersey, repping the school's colors. The other tiny was only a head shorter, though he was much more rotund than his skinny partner. He had a mop of brown hair and the beginnings of a goatee on his chin. His T-shirt was plain white with red around the collar and shoulders, matching well enough with his brown cargo shorts. “Are you interested in joining the committee?” the taller one asked.

            “Yeah.” Jackie turned back towards the tinies and crouched down. “I know I look like a big, but I’m actually half-tiny.”

            “I know. You’re one of the twins, right?” The taller tiny held out his hand to greet her. “The name’s Javier, but you can just call me Javi.” Jackie pinched his hand between her fingers and gently shook it.

            “And I’m Pierce.” The other tiny simply waved with Jackie returning the gesture.

            “That’s right. I’m Jackie, but how did you know about me having a twin?”

            “The college posted about it.” Javi pulled out his phone and brought up the school's social media page. By sharing the screen to Jackie's phone, she was able to see a tweet with a picture of her and Lynn at an orientation event. The caption read: We at Winston State are proud to welcome the Richards twins to our esteemed family. Here, both will be able to flourish thanks to our nationally acclaimed multi-scale programs. 

            “Really? We never signed off on this.”

            “Well, nothing exemplifies the school's commitment to diversity like taking advantage of mixed students for promotional material,” Pierce posited. 

            “That's what happens when you put corporations in charge of higher education,” a random student chimed in. “See, the problem with capitalism is…”

            “Here, come have a seat.” Javi and Pierce led Jackie to a circle of chairs, couches, and bean bags where members of the committee were discussing plans while they lounged about. A long table sat in the middle, cluttered with printouts, laptops, and an assortment of open beverages. Jackie sat cross-legged in an open space outside the circle, looming over the tinies as if she were playing with a toy set. A couple students squirmed in their seats, having to adjust to the woman's lofty presence, but Jackie felt right at home surrounded by those smaller than her. A tiny woman wearing a white button up and grey slacks stood up and waved to Jackie.

            “Welcome!” Her long brown hair was tied into an intricate braid. “My name is Melanie. I'm the current head of the committee.” Melanie squeezed by her peers to approach Jackie and shake her finger. “I'm so glad you could join us. I don't believe we've ever had a half-big for a member. Hope you don't mind doing a lot of heavy lifting.”

            “No problem,” Jackie chuckled. “I'm used to that sort of thing.” The way she spoke, her voice was noticeably softer than what was typical for bigs. Her movements were also more controlled, not fidgeting or making any unnecessary motions with her feet or arms. The other committee members visibly eased up as they begun to recognize Jackie as one of their own. 

            “Awesome. If you have any questions feel free to ask any of us. Me and some of the senior members are still planning things out for the semester, so if you freshmen,” she said, pointing at Jackie, Javi, and Pierce, “want to just hangout and mingle for today, that's cool.” Melanie trotted back to her seat to hash out the very important business of what theme the homecoming dance would have.

            “So, what's it like having a miniature version of yourself?” Javi asked, lying face up on a beanbag.

            “It’s great! Lynn’s a lot more outgoing than me, so it’s nice being able to carry her around everywhere. She kinda acts like my voice, telling people what’s on my mind when I can’t form the words.”

            “So, is the whole twin telepathy thing true?” Pierce asked, leaned all the way back on a reclining office chair.

            “We don’t read each other’s minds, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s more like we get each other, like we know one another so well that it’s always obvious what the other is thinking.” As Jackie spoke, another woman barged her way into the tiny center. She was a hefty woman, thick in all departments and unafraid to show it, wearing a thin, pink tube top and an XXXL pair of daisy dukes.

            “Javi!” she called, stomping through the room in her Birkenstocks. Every tiny inside covered their ears at the sound of her blaring voice. “Javi, where you at?” Even Jackie flinched at her boisterous tone.

            “I’m over here, Michelle!” Javi replied, getting off the bean bag to approach her. He looked like a man walking into a tornado as he headed towards the careless, stomping woman. Michelle’s sandal slammed down half an inch in front of him before she finally noticed him. Despite the danger, Javi didn’t appear phased.

            “There you are!” she announced. She bent forward and plucked Javi off the ground, oblivious to the amount of cleavage she was displaying for the room. The committee members that weren’t grumbling expletives were scrunching their furrowed brows in irritation. “Ready to get to Women’s Studies?”

            “Sure thing,” Javi said from her palm. He turned to face Jackie and waved. “Hey, we should hang out more sometime. Make sure Pierce gives you my number.”

            “Okay, will do.” Jackie waved back, but stopped upon receiving Michelle’s death stare. With a huff, she turned to the exit and carried the tiny away. Once the obnoxious woman was gone, the tinies returned to business. “What’s her problem?” Jackie asked Pierce. “Was that his girlfriend?”

            “Nah, but she wishes she was.” Pierce picked his ear, trying to get the ringing to stop. “Michelle went to high school with us. She’s had a crush on Javi as long as I’ve known her, but he was always dating someone else. His last girlfriend is attending some school on the other side of the country, so they split up. I’m guessing Michelle isn’t taking any chances now that he’s single again.”

            “Keep my distance. Got it.” Jackie held her forehead in her palm. “Hate freakin’ bigs,” she muttered loud enough to get a few nods of agreement. Pierce cocked an eyebrow but decided not to pry, instead checking the time on his phone.

            “I should probably head to my next class.” Pierce pocketed his phone and shouldered his backpack.

            “Where you headed? I could take you there, if you want.”

            “English 101 in Room 215. Only if it’s on your way. I don’t want to be a bother.”

            “Yo, I’m in that class too.” Jackie held her palm out for Pierce to climb on. “I’d be glad to take you there. We can chat more on the way.” Pierce clambered onto her hand. He was amazed by how soft it was. It was clear she used moisturizer, Pierce overwhelmed by the pleasant aroma of peaches wafting from her skin. As Jackie stood up, the tiny had no trouble keeping his balance, the woman’s hand lifting at an even pace. “Should I carry you in my hand or keep you in my bag’s pocket?” she asked, pointing to the pocket on her shoulder strap.

            “Uh…” Honestly, Pierce wanted to stay in her hand, but he couldn’t admit to that. “Whichever you prefer.”

            “I think I’ll just hold you.” Yes! “Lynn would get upset if I let others ride in her pocket.”

            “Sounds good to me.” Imaginary fists were pumping in his mind as he sat down in her expansive palm. Jackie made for the exit, careful to step around the furniture and any tinies below, but as she reached the doorway, a voice called out to her from behind.

            “Jackie, was it?” one of the committee members asked from his seat. “Sorry about anything you may have heard earlier. We’re happy to have you.”

            Jackie smiled, nodded, and went on her way.

…

            Women’s and Genders Studies 101.  Michelle sauntered into the classroom holding Javi out just below her chest, mesmerizing the tiny with her clapping funbags every step she took. He tried to keep his focus elsewhere, not stare for too long nor fantasize about getting lost between them too much, but his efforts were fruitless. Michelle was well aware of the effects her body had on the little guy. She had a powerful urge to simply shove him down her cleavage and consume every fiber of his attention, but she held strong, recalling an article she read on attracting tiny men:

            While it may be tempting to snatch up the man of your dreams and smother him in your loving embrace, it's important to remember that tiny men value their individuality just as much as the larger variety do. The better approach is to give your boy toy the illusion that he has agency. Any woman can pick up a tiny and stuff him in her bra, but the successful suitor seduces her man, teases him with the possibilities, and always leaves him craving more until she is the only thing on his mind. And then, like putty in your hands, he'll come crawling, begging for the right to worship you.

            As Michelle carried Javi to the back of the classroom, she picked up a tiny desk from the front row. Reaching the end of the seats, she placed his desk on hers and set him down, squeezing her bulging frame into her seat. Sitting to her left was a half-Japanese woman biting into a granny Smith apple.

            Shit, he's cute, Heather thought, crunching loud as she noshed on her fruit. She was enamored by his tall proportions, his silky black hair, caramel skin, chiseled physique, and what she assumed was a great ass (it was hard to tell with him sitting down, but she had a sense for these things). 

            “Hey there. I'm Javier,” he greeted, wondering how long the woman across the aisle was going to ogle at him without saying anything. “Though, you can just call me Javi.”

            “Sup. Heather.” She wasn't sure where to go from there, still recovering from her daze. She looked to her snack for guidance. “Want a piece?” 

            “Sure!” Heather carved out a small chunk of her apple with her fingernail and handed it to Javi, catching Michelle's glare in the process. “This is my friend, Michelle.”

            “Friend, huh?” Heather smirked. Suddenly, the other woman wasn't so threatening, no matter how many daggers fired from her eyes. “How about you?” She gestured the apple her way.

            “I'm good. Thanks.” Michelle rested her arm across the left side of her desk, forming a barrier between Javi and the minx. 

            “Javi, is that you?” another woman asked, sitting down in the desk ahead. She was a few years older than the freshmen, wearing a sleek vest over her button-up. A professional skirt rolled over her stocking-clad legs, and wavy red hair cascaded onto her shoulders. “Oh my God, I haven't seen you in forever.”

            “Wow, Shawna, I didn't know you went here.” Javi was somehow oblivious to the ire oozing from the women behind him. The two ladies took note of the ballistics Shawna had secured behind her vest and the gams that went on for days, especially for a man that could literally hike up them. “I think’s it’s been three or four years since you guys moved.”

            “Who’s she?” Michelle asked incredulously.

            “Sorry, I should introduce myself. I’m Shawna, the teaching assistant for this class.” She held out her hand which both women reluctantly shook. “Javi and I were neighbors, and I used to babysit him when we were little.”

            “Neighbors?” Heather interjected. “How did that work?”

            “Our neighborhood was weird,” Shawna explained. “It was built right around when the borders opened up and the government was still figuring out how cohabitation was going to play out. Some realty company decided to design a mixed-size suburb with tiny houses between regular ones. It was a massive flop at first since everyone was so nervous back then, but once they cut the prices real low, a bunch of new families like ours moved in. It was a lot of fun growing up next to the Delgados.” She turned her attention downward to Javi. “I’m seriously so glad to see you again.”

            “Same. I’d be down to hang out after class.”

            Great, Heather simmered, now I’ve got the childhood friend to contend with.

            “Absolutely! I’d love to catch up. And if you ever need ‘one-on-one tutoring,’ that’s literally what I’m here for.” Shawna gave Javi a warm, nostalgic smile, but her eyes told the truth. The three colossal women stared each other down, shooting glances back and forth in a modern-day Mexican standoff, their puny prize sitting helplessly in the center. Javi started sweating from the forehead, clueless as to why; he was unaware of the animosity soaring far above his head, but he felt its impact nevertheless.

…

            “You’re majoring in computer engineering?” Jackie carried Pierce up the stairs to the second floor. Even while travelling up the steps, she held her hand steady, giving the tiny a smoother ride than any top-class car could.

            “Tinies are always in high demand for IT jobs, and if I land a spot in a big company, I’ll be set for life.” Pierce felt the subtle heat radiate from Jackie’s palm and worried if his sweating was noticeable which elicited more sweat from him than the temperature could. “What about you?”

            “I’m undecided for now.” Entering the second floor hallway, Jackie weaved seamlessly through the crowd of students, unphased by their looming presence now she had someone small to focus on. “I know I want to work in a tiny district, but I’m not sure what I’d do.”

            “That’s a tough one. Tiny employers don’t pay as much, so most bigs don’t look for work there. Aside from patrollers, I suppose,”

            “Can’t do that. The last thing I want to do is have to confront some ornery big.” When Jackie reached their class, she grabbed a tiny desk from the front row and brought it to the very back, repeating what was becoming a common ritual among mixed size friends.

            “Yeah, that sounds miserable,” he laughed in acknowledgement. He took a seat on the desk placed on her desk. “What about construction?”

            “Those are usually outsourced to dedicated construction companies, so I’d mainly be working on projects at my scale.” As the two talked, Jackie was overcome with the strange sensation of being watched. Turning to her right, she was confronted by the widened eyes of a stout girl with frizzy, black hair. “C-can I help you?”

            “Sorry,” Alena said, snapping free from her haze. “You look exactly like someone I know. Sorta. It’s kinda freaking me out.”

            “Oh, you must mean Lynn. She’s my twin sister.” Despite the explanation, Alena’s shocked expression didn’t falter.

            “You have a tiny twin? I had no idea that was possible.”

            “I can’t blame you. As far as I know, we’re still the only ones. I’m Jackie by the way, and this is my friend, Pierce.” The tiny lit up at being called a friend already.

            “Alena.” She placed her hand on her heart, calming herself down. “Sorry again for acting weird. I met Lynn this morning and was not expecting to see her blown up like this.”

            “Yeah, I'd probably freak out too if I was suddenly taller than Jackie,” Pierce added. The larger twin shuddered at that nightmare scenario. “At least I know to expect it when I meet Lynn.”

            “She showed me some of her drawings. They're really good, and you have great taste in anime by the way. Have you seen…” The three spent the time before class gushing about the shows they like. It surprised Jackie how easy it was talking to Alena despite them being the same height. Likewise, Alena found it interesting how vocal the tinies she met were, speaking as freely to her as they would someone their own scale. Pierce was happy to have made new friends so quickly, expecting to have to stick to Javi's coattails like in high school.

            “…Wonder of U would trash Made in Heaven,” Jackie shouted in heated debate. “The calamities would accelerate along with the rest of the universe. There's no escaping that.”

            “You're still not factoring in time stop,” Alena argued, “and you know DIO and Pucci are tag-teaming it.”

            “Excuse me if I'm interrupting,” the professor snided, “but if you can shelve your passionate debate over classic rock so I can start class, that would be appreciated.” The trio shut up, feeling the burning attention of their peers on their necks as the rest of the room's silence struck them. Jackie shut herself off, burying her blaring red face in her arms. Pierce turned his head and stared at the wall so he couldn't meet anyone's gaze.

            “Sorry,” Alena apologized, maintaining her composure as best she could under the circumstances. 

            “And if I'm to offer my two cents,” the old professor continued, “Killer Queen is a much better song than Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.”

…

            “Where are you headed next?” Michelle asked the tiny on her desk. Women's studies had just finished, and everyone was packing up to move on with their day.

            “Room 215,” Javi answered. “I'm meeting Pierce there, and then we're probably going to get something to eat.” 

            “Oh.” Disappointment scrawled across the woman's face. “I'm headed the other way, to the science building.”

            “I can take you there,” Heather offered, standing over the seated pair. “I'm headed to 215 myself to meet a friend.”

            “Of course you are,” Michelle muttered. Ignoring the other woman's snark, Heather squeezed past the desks into Javi's aisle, holding her hand out for him to climb into.

            “Sounds good to me. Thanks!” Javi clambered onto Heather's fingers and was slowly lifted up to her shoulder. He stepped off of her hand and onto the strap of her backpack, hanging onto a flat loop that bore the bag maker's logo for support.

            “Buckled in?” She could barely see him nod within her peripheral vision, his body so close to her enormous head. The view from up there, as she exited into the hallway, was incredible. At 6’7”, Heather was a giantess in her own right, and the two and a half inch Javi had never known what it was like to walk around at such lofty heights. Seeing the tops of so many heads felt surreal. “It must get annoying having to be carried around everywhere.”

            “Not really. It's not like we need the help, it's just more convenient. My advisor told me I should schedule my classes around long breaks, so I could get to them in time in case I didn't have someone to take me, but I like that this gets me to spend more time with people, make new friends and all that.” He noticed the skateboard strapped to her backpack, but before he could ask her if she skated, they had reached their destination.

            “Yo, Alena,” Heather called and waved, as if she didn't already stand out in the crowd of students. Alena was walking alongside Jackie, chatting with her and the tiny Pierce riding in her left hand. “What's uhhhh…” As the two groups collided, Heather and Jackie froze. The 5’4” twin had to crane her neck to look the other woman in the eye.

            “H-how are you so tall?” they both asked, dumbstruck. Jackie's heart raced, and her breath drew short. Heather was perplexed how the woman who had sat on her desk a couple hours ago was now standing at chest height. Amidst their fright, Alena stepped between them.

            “Heather, this is Jackie, Lynn's twin sister. They're a mixed size family. Jackie, this is…” Alena noticed how pale Jackie had become. Her hand trembled slightly, jostling Pierce like a low magnitude quake. “Jackie, are you okay?”

            She blinked a couple times and snapped out of her haze, Alena's words bringing her back to the present day. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just, you're so tall.”

            “No worries,” Heather giggled. “You’re not the first person to freak out over it. Though, this is the first time I’ve wigged out over someone else being ‘tall.’” She bent her knees and leaned forward, holding her hand out to greet Jackie properly. The shorter woman attempted to grasp onto it, but she found her hand engulfed by the giantess’, it’s gentle pressure more than she could return. Though the gap between them was still wide, Javi and Pierce's human islands were close enough that they could wave to each other. “Mixed-size twins, huh? That's sick as hell.”

            Heather stood up straight, eliciting a gulp from Jackie as she did her best to stay sane in the skater girl’s shadow. “Thanks. I like your hair.” To Jackie’s surprise, Heather wrapped her arm around the shorter woman’s shoulder, embracing her in a sort of half hug.

            “You twins are alright. Me and Alena were headed to the food court to grab a pizza. Why don’t you join us? Oh!” Heather remembered there were tinies tagging along on their persons. “That offer extends to the guys too. My treat.” She gently plucked Javi from her shoulder and lowered him onto Jackie’s palm, reuniting the friends.

            “And what about me?” a high-pitched voice rang out from the floor. “I’m assuming I’m part of this equation too.” Lynn stood beside Jackie’s black boot, only coming up as high as top of the toe.

            “Yo! What up, Lynn?” Heather waved. Jackie crouched and greeted her sister, lowering her palm so Lynn could climb aboard and join the other tinies. “Of course, you’re coming too.”

            “Jackie, you were supposed to wait for me by the classroom,” Lynn complained. “I had to walk a whole three yards to get over to you.”

            “Sorry.” Jackie stood back up, gently lifting the tinies in her hand to chest level. “I got caught up chatting with my new friends. I forgot we were meeting up here.” Lynn held her hands at her waist while she pouted, but her displeasure quickly subsided. It was a wonder that Jackie had made some friends already, and one was a big of all things.

            “Fine. But I want to ride on Heather’s shoulder! I gotta see the world from up there.” The bigs all laughed at the puny firecracker, but Heather obliged and plucked the tiny twin from the other’s palm. Heather placed Lynn on her backpack strap as she had done with Javi, the tiny becoming mesmerized at the lofty view from above the rest of the student body. “Holy shit, is this what you see every day? How do you not get dizzy?”

            “I’ve gotten used to it, I guess,” Heather chuckled. “Who knows? Maybe you will too.”

…

            The six sat on either side of a booth table in the campus’ food court. Alena and Heather sat next to each other with Jackie seated across from them. The tinies were all on the table, sitting beside an extra-large veggie deluxe and a mini-XL pepperoni sausage pizza. Javi and Pierce sat over on Jackie’s end, while Lynn lied on her stomach atop an open page of Alena’s notebook. The two women were sketching in it, the larger struggling to maintain her confidence while watching the smaller belt out masterpieces with little effort.

            “Lynn, these are incredible. My notebook isn’t worthy.” Alena put down her pencil, disgusted with her own attempt.

            “Please, these aren’t anything special.” Lynn stood up and walked towards Alena’s sketch. It was a rough illustration of a mannequin wearing a frilly dress. Traces of the fashionable design Alena devised in her head were apparent, but the proportions were all off and the dress itself had no depth. “For not working off a reference, this isn’t that bad. Here,” Lynn walked to a blank space on the page and lied down on her back, “try sketching me.” The tiny sprawled out like she was posing for a centerfold, stretching her arms over her head and twisting her waist to accentuate her curves. Alena’s heartbeat hastened, making it tough to keep her hand steady as she drew in the space next to the girl. “Don’t think about me as a whole, but focus on the shapes that make up each part of my body.” While she drew, the other side of the table was engaged in their own conversation.

            “You should come over Pierce’s house this weekend,” Javi said to Jackie. “We’re getting pretty close to finishing up the repairs on his gramps’ old hotrod.”

            “We? You just sit on your ass and scroll on your phone,” Pierce stated, biting into another slice of pizza.

            “I provide moral support. You need someone to shout at all the times you break something.”

            “I’d love to hang out with you guys. It’s been too long since I’ve last visited a tiny district,” Jackie responded. “Is the commute long for you?”

            “No. Our house is just outside the city, so it’s only like a forty-minute drive on the tiny turnpike.” While they were busy making plans, Alena finished her sketch.

            “There.” Alena put down her pencil and the group took a peek at the drawing. Though still rough, it was a marked improvement over her previous efforts. Lynn stood over her life-size portrait and nodded in satisfaction.

            “Very good. It’s still a bit flat, but you got my proportions down,” Lynn commented. The head and limbs all looked well enough like a head and limbs, and the clothing, though simpler than the real deal, resembled what Lynn was wearing well enough. But one feature in particular stood out.

            “Yeah, her boobs look great,” Heather pointed out. Looking at the drawing, it was clear Lynn’s chest had received much more attention than the rest of her, the sketch rendering her globes almost perfectly.

            “What!?” Alena panicked as the group noticed how right Heather was. “I didn’t mean… I wasn’t trying… That is… I’m sorry, I’ll erase it now!” Alena grabbed her pencil and tried to bring her eraser down onto the page, but Lynn dove over portrait, shielding it from the pink rubber.

            “No! I need those! They’re my pride and joy!” she joked, eliciting a chorus of laughter from around the table. Alena sighed and put her pencil aside. She pinched either side of Lynn’s torso and pulled her off the page.

            “Now you’re covered in pencil lead, silly.” Lynn’s bright camisole had been stained grey, but the illustrated boobs remained mostly intact.

            “A worthy sacrifice,” Lynn noted as Alena set her down on the table. Heather pulled out her phone and got into her contacts.

            “Before we head off, everyone give me your number. I’ll start a group chat.” Her fingers danced in a flurry as she inputted the numbers.

            “You sure about paying for the food?” Jackie asked. “Lynn and I don’t mind chipping in.”

            “Girl, it’s fine. Trust me, I can afford a couple pizzas.” With everyone’s info safely stored, the group got up to head to their next classes. “Everybody share their schedules, that way we know when we’re all free to hang.”

…

            That evening, once they had finished all their classes, Jackie and Lynn walked together back to their dorm, the former carrying the latter in her special compartment. While tinies and bigs tended to reside in separate, properly scaled dormitories, the university was more than willing to allow the twins to bunk together in the big apartments. With a sudden brrng, Jackie’s phone went off in her pocket.

            “It’s mom,” she said, reading off the contact on the screen. Jackie answered and set the phone to speaker mode.

            “Hi, sweetie! How was your first day?” The woman on the other line spoke with unbridled enthusiasm.

            “It was fine, mom. You don’t have to check in on us,” Lynn chided.

            “Oh good, your sister’s with you! I’m sure you’ve made tons of friends already, Lynn.”

            “We both have, mom,” Jackie mentioned. “Thanks for calling.”

            “Of course! Your father’s napping at the moment, but he misses you both too. Lynn, your taking good care of your sister, right?”

            “Mom, we’re hanging up now.” Lynn was ready to jump onto the screen and do it herself.

            “Okay, I won’t keep you any longer. Just remember to stay safe and have fun. I’m so excited for you both.”

            “Thanks, mom. Bye!” Jackie pocketed her phone and continued walking. The sky radiated a tangerine orange as the sun sank towards the horizon, bringing a close to the first day of the twin’s long college career.

            “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.

            Lynn stepped out of her Uber ride onto the sidewalk in front of Angie & Eva's Paradiso. More accurately, she stepped off her Uber driver's hand as the young man lifted her off the massive car seat. “Thank you!” the tiny woman waved, standing alone on the cement. It was early in the night, traces of nectarine still lighting the dark blue sky aflame. Lynn was dressed exceptionally scantily, wearing a V-neck crop top that accentuated her impressive chest and flat midriff, as well as a sleek miniskirt that rode high up her thighs. The only other soul standing in front of the club was a herculean woman in black slacks and a matching black suit vest over a white button-up. Lynn walked up nonchalantly to the imposing figure. “Hello! I’d like inside, please.” The tiny woman held up her driver’s license for the human skyscraper.

            The bouncer knelt down and held her phone up, scanning the microscopic ID with its camera, and reading off the age. “Got it. Hold out your right hand.” She pulled out a miniature stamp, smaller than a thumbtack, and pressed it into the back of Lynn’s hand. “Show that to the bartender when you order. Nothing alcoholic, but anything else on the menu is fine.”

            “Thank you <3!” Lynn waltzed into the club, the bouncer holding open the door for the little lady. Aesthetically, Angie & Eva’s was half traditional jazz club, half neon wonderland. Effervescent lighting lined brass railings, brick walls, and leather upholstered, hard wood furniture. The bar itself was a cool metal, with bright blue lights illuminating the countertop. The drink rack faded in and out a rainbow light assortment, its tempo dictated by the music. Beyond the bar, a host of tables and chairs surrounded a live stage where a pianist plucked away at a smooth, jazzy number. On some nights, the furniture would be rearranged to form a dancefloor, on a night where something more bebop or rocksteady livened the mood. But tonight’s performers were more mellow, creating the perfect ambience for pleasant conversation.

            Lynn walked along a neon green pathway, marking the paths for tinies to travel safely. There weren’t too many people her size on the floor, most either seated atop the bar or with company at either sized tables. There were lifts attached to the bar that led up to the countertop; a miniature bar ran along the inner perimeter of the larger, giving tinies a place to sit in front of their bigger peers. Most of the patrons were of the young and lively sort, a lot of dyed hair and revealing outfits. The bartender wore drag, and the pianist was in a sequin purple suit. Along the wall were booths which Lynn walked by on her path. Passing the first booth, Lynn noticed quite a few women she wouldn’t mind mingling with, but one sitting at the far booth caught her eye.

            A woman with thick, frizzy hair and a dark complexion sat by herself in the corner, her bespectacled face buried in her phone. Lynn hadn’t expected to find a familiar face here, but she was elated to chance upon Alena in the wild. Unlike the other patrons, Alena was dressed very conservatively, wearing jeans and a light sweater seemingly designed to obscure her curves. The tiny girl pranced up the pathway and stood just beside her friends booth. She was about to call out to her when a dubious thought crossed her mind. Snickering to herself, Lynn pulled her phone out from her purse and sent Alena a message reading: Hey! Whatcha up to?

            Lynn watched gleefully as Alena’s eyes went wide. The tiny could see the phone screen’s reflection in Alena’s glasses and observed as the larger woman tabbed over to her messages. Alena stared at the message for a minute before typing something. Lynn couldn’t make out the words, but the color-coded messages made it clear Alena was typing something long- Oh, wait, she deleted that. Alena started typing something new, and then promptly deleted it. Lynn grew concerned as the cycle of typing and deleting continued for ten whole minutes. Eventually, Lynn received a response: Hi! Nothing much.

            That’s it!? Lynn thought. It took you ten minutes to send “Hi”!? Oh man, this is going to be a tough nut to crack. According to the reflection, Alena hadn’t left the messages tab, yearning for a reply. Lynn pondered over how she wanted to play this, sending a message that read: Same here. Bored at a club. No luck meeting anyone.

            Alena tensed up to Lynn's satisfaction. She read and reread those words several times over before returning to the cycle of typing and deleting; the tiny waited patiently from the floor.

            That's surprising! Alena replied. I'd expect you to be the life of the party.

            Lynn decided to wait a bit to build anticipation in her quarry, before returning with: I know right? Usually people are all over me, but no one here is catching my eye.

            Alena's fingers quivered, unable to even type what she wanted to say. Lynn knew what the other girl was steeling herself to ask, the question was if she had the chutzpah to go through with it. After ten minutes of watching Alena’s phone tremble in her hands, Lynn decided to raise the stakes: Wait, I just spotted someone. Holy shit, she's perfect! Alena's eyes widened further, nearly bulging from their sockets. Before she could even start typing, Lynn sent another message: I wish you could see her. Your mouth would be on the floor. Alena tried to get something out, but Lynn was relentless. Fantastic hair, adorable glasses, and just the cutest sweater you’ve ever laid eyes on. Lynn paused to let Alena simmer on that. The larger woman pouted, not connecting the dots and certain she missed her shot.

            Well, are you going to talk to her? Alena finally got out.

            Maybe. I'm not sure. She's sitting by herself in the corner and won't look away from her phone. Alena cocked an eyebrow. I'm afraid to approach her. I mean, what if she's busy texting some super sexy tiny who no woman could ever hope to compete with even in her wildest dreams?

            Alena set her phone down and glanced around the room. There were no signs of Lynn at the bar or at any of the tables, but she couldn't shrug off the sensation of being watched. Alena picked her phone back up and scrolled through her recent conversation. What club are you at btw? 

            Attached to each table were small lifts for tinies to ride up on. By the time Lynn received Alena's inquiry, the tiny woman had already reached the tabletop. “Ta-da!”

            Alena jumped at the voice shouting from her table. “How long have you been standing there?”

            “It seriously takes you ten minutes to say ‘hi’?” Lynn giggled, the other woman still recovering from the shock. 

            “Sorry I'm not as confident as the ‘super sexy tiny’ I was texting,” Alena snipped. On the far end of the table, tiny furniture was stacked for mixed parties to use. Alena grabbed a chair and table and set them in front of her for the tiny to sit down. Lynn took a seat but positioned herself next to the table so that her legs, one knee crossed over the other, were still visible to the giant. “It's good to see you, though. Do you want anything to drink?” A towering 7-Up can sat beside Alena's phone, dripping with condensation. “I can go get you something.”

            “No thanks.” Lynn finally got her on the hook and wasn't letting go for anything. “I'd rather you stay here and talk.” The tiny could feel Alena's breath quicken, see her finger tapping the tabletop.  “So, what brings you here? This place doesn't really seem your speed.”

            “That's because it isn't.” Alena looked around the room, taking swift glances at Lynn, worried about staring for too long. “This place isn't exactly in my comfort zone, but I want to broaden my horizons. I hoped coming here would break me out of my shell or something.”

            “Looks like, if anything, it drove you further into your shell,” Lynn posited. The giant woman nodded and sighed in concession. “Why didn't you bring Heather? She'd fit right in with this crowd.” Lynn drew circles into the tiny table with her finger. “Or me?”

            “My goal was to mingle, maybe even hook up. If I brought Heather no one would even look my way. As for you…” Alena tried her damnedest to ignore the tiny's body language, as well as her body in general. “We've only met just last week. I didn't know if you'd be comfortable coming to a place like this. With me.”

            Bullshit, Lynn smirked. You know damn well this is my element. “I getcha. I'm actually looking to score some action myself. I got rejected this afternoon, and I don't take defeat lying down.”

            “You were rejected?” Alena said, leaning forward in her seat. “Shit, then what hope do I have?”

            “I couldn't believe it either, but she was at least nice enough to point me here. I refuse to go home alone tonight.” Lynn scoped the room for suitable picks, confident a certain giantess was feeling desperate for attention. “Ooh, how about her? Purple hair at the bar.” Lynn pointed to a woman seated by herself, sipping on a rum and coke. 

            “Should I bring you over to her?” Alena asked with a frown. Lynn ate up her jealousy like a three-course meal.

            “Are you kidding? If you were with me, that lady wouldn't give me the time of day.”

            “Quit it. You’re just trying to flatter me.” Alena pressed her hand against her cheek to try to cool her face off.

            “There is one thing I could use your help with.” Lynn scratched at the back of her neck, trying to mimic her sister any time got awkward in a conversation. “Believe it or not, I'm actually kinda nervous about this. Could I try one of my lines out on you?”

            “I'd be honored.”

            Lynn stood up and turned around, leaning one arm on the tiny table while jutting her hip out the other way. In a single, sultry motion, she turned around, whipping her hair across her face and over her shoulder. “Hey there, hotstuff,” she purred. “Are you looking to pick up chicks? Because I'd let you carry me anywhere.”

            “Pfffft, hahahaha!” Alena snorted laughing, the quiet girl’s outburst garnering some attention from the rest of the club. Lynn darted her eyes, searching for the source that triggered her friend's reaction. Alena pounded the table, sending Lynn bounding into the air.

            “Tell me what you think,” Lynn requested, crossing her arms as she regained her footing. “Did it work?”

            “On her? No chance.” Alena held her hand to her chest, taking deep breaths as she calmed her outburst. “But I liked it.”

            “Then, I'll consider that a success.” Lynn sat back down and crossed her legs once more, hypnotizing the giantess with the sway of her foot. This was it. With Alena’s shell finally broken, now was the time to strike. “It’s quite noisy here, don’t you think? What say we go back to my place and continue our conversation there?”

            Alena’s glasses fogged up as she processed the question. “I-I’m sorry, you want to…” Her breath drew short, and she fidgeted in her seat. “Are you sure you don’t want something to drink? I don’t mind getting something if you’re thirsty.”

            “I’m extremely thirsty, but I’ll wait until we get home,” Lynn mused, licking her lips. She lavished in the warm gusts of air huffing out of Alena’s nose. The big searched the room for excuses, itching for any way to stall answering the offer. This woman took ten minutes to say “hi,” there was no way she was hooking up with the tiny without a gentle shove. “You are trying to get out of your comfort zone, remember? Broaden your horizons?” Lynn leaned against the table, chin resting in her closed palm. “But if you want to be the second person to reject me today, I suppose I’ll get over it somehow. Though, you’d make much better company than the tub of ice cream in my freezer.”

            “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I’m not rejecting you. This is all just going so fast, and…” Lynn looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. “And I do like you, but I’ve never been with a tiny before and…” Lynn puckered her lips and tilted her head. “And you can do so much better than me, like I’ll just disappoint you, and I don’t want to taint our friendship with that and…” Lynn drew more circles into the table. “Ok, fine! Let’s go to your place.”

            “Yay!” Lynn jumped for joy out of her seat, pumping her arms into the air. Alena cupped her hands under the edge of her table, afraid the tiny was going to fall off. But Lynn saw the giant hands below and leapt into them willingly.  Sitting down, Lynn patted the other woman's palm impatiently. “Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!”

            “Alright, geez.” Alena's pulse raced holding the tiny girl in her hands. With how thin the fabric of Lynn's skirt was, Alena could feel the curvature of her puny butt and the slight warmth coming from her bare legs. After pocketing her phone, Alena got out of the booth slowly and crept out of the club, fretting over Lynn's comfort and stability.

            “You can walk faster than this,” Lynn advised. “I'm not an egg on a spoon. A little bobbing won't crack me.”

            “Sorry.” Alena took a deep breath and sped up her gait closer to normal. “I'm not used to carrying people like this.” The pair exited the club and continued down the sidewalk. While Angie & Eva's was a considerable distance to reach for a tiny, the club wasn't that far from the dorms for someone full-sized, walkable within the timeframe it took Alena to send a text message.

            “I appreciate the concern,” Lynn said, looking up from Alena's cupped palms. “Some bigs whip us around like it's nothing, so thanks for- Aw shit! I forgot about Jackie!”

            “What's up?” Alena stopped.

            “Jackie's back at our dorm. Crap, she isn't going to have a place to stay. Besides you, all her friends are tinies.” Lynn racked her brain for options, knowing she didn't want to impose on her date.

            “You could try calling Heather. I doubt she'd mind,” Alena suggested. “I'd let her stay at my place, but knowing Jackie, I don't think she'd be comfortable spending the night with my roommate.”

            “Jackie would rather sleep in a cave than in the same room as a big she doesn't know. I'll see if Heather’s cool with it.” Lynn pulled her phone from her purse and called her friend.

            “Yo, Lynn, whaddup?” Heather answered.

            “Heather, I'm bringing a date over to my dorm…”

            “Yo! Attagirl!”

            Lynn pulled back, recoiling from the hollering on the other end. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks. Listen, Jackie needs somewhere to stay tonight, and Alena said to check with you.”

            “Alena? Wait, is she your date!?” Again, Lynn recoiled, sure she would go deaf with Heather shouting on the line. “Oh shit! Oh! Shit! Of course, Jackie can come over. Holy shit! Tell her to wait outside the dormitory, I’ll send someone to pick her up. Treat my bestie good, alright?”

            “Sure. And thanks, I’ll let my sister know.” Lynn hung up and looked to Alena. “Is she like this every time you hook up with someone?”

            “Was she all hyped up? Sorry about that. She sorta spent the past week egging me on to ask you out.” For the first time all evening, Lynn blushed. “I never thought you’d be interested, not in me. Hell, I was positive you were into Heather.”

            I mean, I wouldn’t say no… “Oh, I gotta give Jackie the heads up.” Lynn tapped away at her phone, enjoying the cool breeze rushing through her hair. In the dark of night, the late summer grew a tad chilly for the tiny woman in her skimpy outfit, but Alena’s body heat radiating through her palms provided all the warmth Lynn could ever need. Alena kept walking at a slow and steady pace, stressed over whether her palms would start sweating and how noticeable that would be to the tiny. Anxiety amplified in her hyper fixated mind, understanding that every minor quirk was an infinitude more noticeable to a crush a thirtieth her size. “Jackie! I’m bringing someone over. You’re going to spend the night at Heather’s.”

            “H-huh? What?”

            “You heard me. Or do you want to meet my new, big girlfriend?” Lynn winked to Alena and held her pointer finger to her lips.

            “What do you mean I’m going to Heather’s? I don’t know where she lives.”

            “She said to wait outside the building, that she was sending someone to come get you. I dunno, I think she means an Uber or something. I know this is sudden, but just do this for me, okay?”

            “F-fine.”

…

            After stuffing her backpack with overnight supplies, Jackie slumped out of her room and trotted through the hall. She passed a couple neighbors in the hallway who waved to her, nodding in response before quickly scooting by, and ran down the stairs to the first floor and out the entrance. As soon as she reached the sidewalk, Jackie froze.

            Waiting for her was a jet-black limousine with tinted windows, a well-dressed chauffeur standing stoically by the back passenger door. “Ms. Richards, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I shall be your escort this evening.” The chauffeur bowed. He was an older gentleman, wearing a crisp, black uniform with bright golden accents. His hat resembled that of a serviceman’s, bearing an emblem composed of Japanese script. A brass name tag, identifying the man as “Julius Croft”, also bore the same script above the man’s name.

            “Y-you know me?” Jackie approached the distinguished man, hand trembling as she pointed at herself. The cooler nighttime temp allowed Jackie to wear her grey beanie comfortably, as well as a light flannel over her T-shirt and jeans.

            “Ms. Suzuran provided a picture for reference.” Julius opened the limo door and held it for the young woman. “She eagerly awaits your arrival, Ms. Richards.” Jackie stepped into the limo, unsure whether she was still in the real world or walking into a dream. Jackie had never ridden in such high-class transportation before, her only frame of reference being the limo Lynn rode in when she went to prom, but that rental may as well have been a broken-down station wagon compared to this chariot. The seats were upholstered with genuine high-end leather and spanned the length of the cabin. Purple, velvet rugging complimented the obsidian ceiling and seats. An OLED screen was built in below the window to the driver's cabin, and there was a sizeable moonroof fixed into the ceiling. A minibar, stocked full of Japanese snacks and beverages, sat opposite of the couch.

            “Feel free to partake in the confections,” the chauffeur said from behind the steering wheel, peeking through the open window to the passenger side, “complimentary on behalf of the company.” Jackie set her backpack aside and grabbed a melon ramune from the mini fridge and tore into a package of matcha flavored Kit-Kats. As the chauffeur drove off, Jackie opened her bag and stuffed it with as many snacks as she could fit.

…

            “We’ve arrived at our destination, Ms. Richards.” Julius opened the door for Jackie, helping her out of the car like he was escorting a princess out of a horse-drawn carriage. The limousine was parked in front of The Calypso, an ominous, obsidian monolith stretching high into the clouds. The Calypso was the highest-class luxury hotel in the entire Midwest, accessible to only the one percent and world-renowned celebrities. Even the affluent neighborhood it resided in couldn’t compare to its luster. Jackie’s neck hurt trying to get a glimpse of the top of the tower. “Follow me. I assure you, the interior is even more awe-inspiring.”

            The chauffeur wasn’t kidding. Jackie’s Sketchers smacked against polished marble floors. A flowing water channel coursed through the floor, hosting a gorgeous array of live lily pads and technicolor orchids. Along with load bearing marble columns, a grand gilded statue of Atlas held up the lobby’s ceiling. People of unfathomable wealth and importance filled the lobby, whether engaged in idle conversation in one of the many lounge areas complete with functioning fireplaces, or checking in with the perfectly composed concierges, or blitzing to and from elevators on the way to a pivotal appointment. One thing was for sure, Jackie felt severely underdressed in her casual clothing, but none of the patrons seemed to give her any mind. One look at the chauffer, specifically the Suzuran family crest adorning his uniform, told any quizzical passerby that the unseemly girl following him was a guest who deserved considerable respect.

            “Right this way.” The chauffer led Jackie beyond the regular elevators to an out-of-the-way nook hidden around a corner. At the end of the bend was a lone elevator, a ten-digit keypad suspended where the up/down buttons would normally reside. With indecipherable speed, Julius entered an eight-figure code into the keypad, opening the elevator doors before him. “This will lead you directly to the penthouse suite. Please, enjoy your stay.”

            Jackie tiptoed into the elevator, her brain still busy processing the lobby. The elevator interior was a solid black box made of steel and obsidian glass. Aside from the emergency buttons, the control panel only had an up and down key, the elevator itself only getting off at two locations under normal use. There was no indication what floor Jackie was currently on, the pressure of ascension weighing down on her for ages. It reached a point where she wasn’t even sure if she was still moving, the constant hum of the lift’s motor being her only reassurance she was heading for the top. After an eternity of isolation, the elevator halted, and its doors slid open.

            The penthouse was as spacious as a mid-size house, a floating glass staircase leading to a second floor. The outer walls were twenty-foot-tall glass panels that offered a stunning view of the sprawling metropolitan. The first floor hosted a full bar, kitchen, and general gathering room in which an IMAX screen hung over a glass encased waterfall, with a white silk sofa and matching granite coffee table placed before it. The second floor held the sole resident’s unkempt bedroom, an in-home gym with enough equipment to rival the variety offered by any public membership establishment, and a bathroom encased by glass walls designed to transition between transparent and opaque by a flip of the switch. Outside, an expansive deck featured a helipad, swimming pool, patio furniture, and hanging garden.

            “Heya Jackie!” Heather greeted, waiting on the other side of the elevator. “Did you get here, okay? Julius told you the mini bar was free, right? People are sometimes afraid to take stuff from it, like I’m going to charge them for it.” Jackie was left speechless, her mouth agape as she tried to register the absurd abundance surrounding her. “Jackie? You good?”

            “Who are you?” she asked.

            “It’s me, Heather.” Given the twin’s still shocked expression, it appeared that wasn’t the answer she was looking for. “Right, all this. Guess you haven’t figured it out. Does the name Suzuran Holdings mean anything to you?”

            “Suzuran’s your last name, but other than that, no.”

            “That tracks. It’s not the kind of company the general public’s going to be familiar with, despite how pervasive its influence is.” Heather beckoned her friend to follow her over to the bar, sitting her down at a stool while she circled around the counter. “When my great-grandpa founded the company, it was just a family-run consumer electronics store, but once my grandfather took over, it exploded into a major investment and real estate empire. Nowadays, we pretty much buy up every profitable business in whatever industry we can slip our fingers into. I mean it, most of your stuff was probably made by companies we own.” Heather ducked behind the bar and grabbed a mixer, two glasses, and some mocktail ingredients. “My dad’s the current CEO, but he prefers to stay in Japan when not away on business. My mom used to live with me here in the States, but now that I’m an adult, she’s been spending more time with him and my younger brother in Tokyo.” While Heather explained her family’s history, Jackie did some quick googling.

            “Heather, your dad’s the fourth richest man alive!”

            “According to market analysts, he’ll be third by the end of next year.” She poured four cups of coconut water into her mixer and added half a cup of lime juice.

            “And your mom’s a five-time Olympic gold medalist!?”

            “She also won three silvers and one bronze.” A quarter cup of sugar and a pinch of chopped mint leaves. “A few of those were in Tokyo, which my dad will be eager to remind anyone who doesn’t ask.” Heather mixed the mocktail and poured it into two glasses, adding sliced cucumber as a final garnish. “Any other questions?”

            “Why do you attend a state university?”

            “Because Winston U is where Alena was headed. We’ve been best friends since kindergarten, went to the same private school our whole lives. I wasn’t leaving her side now. I don’t think I could.” Heather chugged her drink. “My two older brothers are in line to inherit the company, so my dad didn’t care where I enrolled, as long as it wasn’t community college.” Jackie stared into her glass, fidgeting in her seat. “I have real alcohol back here too. I figured you weren’t the type for the hard stuff.”

            “I’m sorry.” Jackie placed her bag on the stool beside her, unzipping it to reveal the bevy of stolen snacks and beverages. “I kinda raided your limousine.”

            “Ha! I’d be miffed if you didn’t.” Heather pulled a cigarette out of a pack in her pocket and lit it with an old Zippo lighter, stepping back so she didn’t blow the fumes near her friend. “I told you those were on the house. What good’s having money if I can’t blow it on my people.” Jackie blushed and took a sip of her drink. It tasted more refined than the sodas she was more familiar with, but it carried a delightful tinge of tangy sweetness. “Please, make yourself at home. I’ve got a PS8 if you want to play video games, and I have every streaming service if you want to watch something. Anything I don’t have just download; my card’s preloaded onto everything.”

            “Do you play fighting games?” Jackie asked, yoinking a bag of senbei out of her bag.

            “Not since I was a kid, but I’ll take you on if you’d like.” Heather grabbed a cracker from the bag and munched on it between puffs of her cig.

            “Nah, it won’t be much fun if you aren’t near my level.” The twin got off her stool and skipped towards the couch, ignoring her friend’s disgruntled reaction. “Let’s play something with co-op. Do you have the RE5 remake? They released the next-gen port back in March.” Reaching the sofa, Jackie turned around and winced, the 6’7” woman towering over her. In her excitement over playing video games in an apartment more valuable than her net worth would ever aspire, Jackie forgot how much taller Heather was.

            “I don’t, but like I said, we can just download it.” Heather sat down on the sofa, putting out her cigarette in an ash tray on the coffee table. Jackie hadn’t moved, as if she were still trapped in the giant woman’s shadow. “Jackie, you good?”

            The twin shook her head and snapped out of her daze. “Yeah, sorry.” Jackie hopped onto the couch. The height difference wasn’t so stark sitting beside Heather, but Jackie kept her gaze forward for the time being.

            “I get that I’m tall, but you seem to always make a really big deal out of it.” Heather opened a drawer in the table and pulled out two dualshocks, handing one to her friend.

            “N-no its, I’m, you, um. Sorry.”

            “And quit apologizing. You act like I’m raring to beat you up.” Heather noticed Jackie’s exaggerated gulp, her hands trembling, and her rapid blinking. “Listen, I’m not sure what’s got you all jumpy, but you’re safe with me. Alright?” Jackie took a deep breath and steadied herself. “I’m sorry, wasn’t trying to pry. tsk Now you got me apologizing.”

            “Thanks. And sor-” Jackie slapped her cheeks, and then turned to Heather. “It’s not you. Tall people just bring back bad memories. I’d rather not talk about it.”

            “It’s cool. Let’s just play.” To Heather’s delight, the twin’s face lit back up.

            “I call dibs playing as Chris.”

…

            After a long, heedful walk, Alena made it to the second floor of the women’s dorms, Lynn residing comfortably in her cupped palms. She walked down to the far end of the hallway past the common areas and opened the door to Lynn’s room, the tiny having instructed her sister to leave it unlocked. Stepping inside, the dorm appeared mostly identical to Alena’s two floors up. To the immediate right was a kitchenette, and following that was a door leading to the bathroom.

            “Woah, you guys have your own bathroom?” Alena asked, removing her shoes by the front door. “Lucky. Mine’s shared with the room next door.”

            “Yeah, every floor has a couple rooms like this. They cost extra, but Jackie would have a panic attack if she had to share one with anyone else, so Mom and Dad splurged on her. As always.” The rest of the dorm was taken up by two beds and Jackie’s things, namely a desk with a small TV monitor, some game consoles and handhelds, and a variety of anime paraphernalia from posters and figures and everything in between. As far as Alena could tell, there wasn’t anything scaled to Lynn’s size in the dorm, not even in the bathroom.

            “Don’t tell me you sleep in this big bed by yourself,” Alena jested. “There aren’t even stairs leading up to it.”

            “Check it.” Lynn beckoned her date to set her down. Upon reaching the floor, the tiny hopped off the giantess’ hands, kicked her shoes off, and scurried beneath the bed. Alena got onto her hands and knees, flattening herself against the floor to peer under the bed. On the underside existed a whole new room. Lights were strung up along the overhanging bedframe. Couches, chairs, tables, counters, cabinets, mantles, and shelving units were arranged into separate, borderless sections on a rug that stretched the length of the bed. Every necessary appliance, including a fridge, an oven, a dishwasher, laundry machines, and a TV, were scattered throughout, plugged into a converter that drew power from the big outlet in the wall. Lynn’s makeshift room was more spacious and better furnished than any dorm on campus.

            “Girl, you’re making me jealous,” Alena admired, her head peeking through the gap between the bed and the floor.

            “It’s a shame you can’t join me down here.” Lynn rested coquettishly on her miniature sofa, absorbing Alena’s appreciation of her own splendor. “I’ve got everything I need down here. Except a bathroom, but there’s public ones for tinies in the common areas. They’re for when students invite tiny guests over, but they’re empty most of the day so getting ready in there ain’t too bad.” Lynn hopped off her couch and sauntered back towards her friend. “But enough of that. It's time I finally put this big bed to use.”

            “R-right.” Alena held out her hand and lifted the tiny onto the expansive sheet. As she sat down beside Lynn, Alena’s butt compressed the mattress, causing the tiny to lose her balance and roll into Alena’s thigh. “Agh! I’m sorry.” Alena gently pinched the little lady with her fingers and plopped her further away on the bed. Lynn brushed herself off and regained her composure.

            “No worries. The fact you can toss me around so easily is part of the fun.” Lynn tucked her thumb beneath her crop top’s shoulder strap, dragging it along the strap’s length while staring into Alena’s soul with bedroom eyes. “So, do you want to keep undressing me with your eyes, or would you like to strip me for real?”

            Alena tensed up. “Are we really doing this? I’ve never been with a tiny before. I don’t know if I’m ready…”

            “You’ve played with dolls before, haven’t you?” Lynn interrupted. “It’s just like that, only I come with all the fun bits included. And I’m way cuter than Barbie.”

            “I know, but… I don’t want to hurt you.” Alena’s comment elicited a groan and an eyeroll from Lynn.

            “Fine. How about this,” Lynn placed one hand on her hip and pointed the other defiantly at her date. “You’ll do exactly as I tell you, following my commands to a T. If I say to stop, you stop. If I say go harder, you go harder. I’ll be in charge, so if anything goes wrong, it won’t be your fault.”

            Alena sighed. “I’m still going to feel awful if I hurt you, but I don’t mind following your lead. Just, do you mind if we start slow?”

            “I can work with that,” she grinned. Lynn strutted towards Alena, crossing one leg in front of the other like a runway model. “I want you to look at me. Drink it all in. Caress every millimeter of me with your ravenous gaze. And don’t you dare blink.” Lynn slowly drew one arm through her shoulder strap, letting it dangle to her side while she drew her other arm through the other strap. The fabric glided down her breasts, stopping just above the nipples in a spiteful tease to the watchful giantess; Alena’s heart raced at the realization that Lynn wasn’t wearing a bra. Lynn noted Alena’s trembling fingers, wondering if the giant woman regretted not accepting the offer to assist her undressing. It was too late now; if she wanted to take things slow, then she’d have to enjoy every agonizing second of anticipation.

            Lynn reached behind her back and unbuttoned her top, letting it fall to her floor and releasing her ample breasts from their cloth cage. She brought her hands up to her head and brushed them through her long hair, stretching to emphasize how bountiful her tits were relative to the rest of her body. Acting on her burgeoning lust, Alena moved her hand forward atop the bedsheet, her index finger grasping almost instinctively to cop a feel. Without skipping a beat, Lynn slapped the finger away. “Nope. I said you can look, not touch.” A tittle of anger swelled within Alena, an impulse to defy her mini mistress’ order, but she did as commanded and pulled her hand back.

            Lynn smirked. She adored an obedient lover, especially one keen on pushing the envelope. Next, she unzipped her miniskirt, revealing her lacey pink panties clinging to her waist. She swayed her hips from side to side, hypnotizing the giantess while slipping her thumbs into her waistband and sliding her underwear off her slender legs. Fully nude, Lynn stood proud with her legs apart, one arm at her side while the other continued to play with her hair. Alena sat crossed leg on the bed, at full attention to the naked tiny before her. She was practically salivating at the sight of the tiny baring all. It took all her willpower not to pounce on the little lady teasing her from below.

            Lynn, gleeful at the effect her goading had on Alena, rose her chin in smug satisfaction. She turned around to let the giant woman get an eyeful of that tight, dumpling of an ass swing like a sexy little pendulum. Alena couldn’t take it anymore. In a fit of passion, she snatched Lynn off the bed and shoved her ass-first into her mouth. The startled tiny’s knees and bust poked out from between the massive pair of lips as Alena lapped at her cheeky bottom and between her thighs. Lynn moaned as the tip of Alena’s tongue groped her crotch and dragged along her taint, coating her whole waist in saliva as Alena sucked on her supple booty.

            Once she got a good enough taste, Alena grabbed hold of the tiny’s torso and pulled her out. “Sorry. I know you didn’t give me permission to do that, but I couldn’t resist the urge any longer.”

            “Put me back in your mouth this instant!” Lynn demanded. Alena obliged, tossing the little lady headfirst onto her tongue. She flattened Lynn against the roof of her mouth, grinding her against the soft and hard palate as she sucked on her entire body. Lynn could hardly breathe as euphoria surged throughout her being. Alena felt Lynn’s breasts press firmly against her tongue, her miniscule nipples mingling with the larger woman’s tastebuds. The giantess could taste her lover’s arousal leak onto her manipulative muscle.

            Joining in the fun, Alena unzipped her jeans and dove her hand into her underwear, rubbing herself as she leaned back on the bed. She had long wondered what the appeal of dating a tiny was, not coming from a place of doubt but of naïve curiosity. But while embracing every fiber of her partner’s body in her own mouth, all the pieces clicked. Groping a breast, patting an ass, or eating the girl out all had their appeal, but to do everything at once simply with her tongue, Alena experienced a sense of power, of raw magnitude, that had long been absent from her life. In this moment, she was Lynn’s entire world.

            Lynn bucked on her lover’s tongue. She pressed her lips against the tensile muscle and literally swapped spit with it. Alena felt the tiny pecks towards the back of her mouth and played with herself harder. The muggy air inside Alena’s mouth intensified Lynn’s euphoria. The tiny’s skin was blazing hot, her breaths grew dangerously weak, and her heart beat louder than a drum. The overwhelming intensity of Alena’s passion drove Lynn over the edge into climaxing, delivering a tantalizing flavor onto the giantess’ tongue.

            After enough savoring, Alena pulled Lynn from her mouth, dangling the drool drenched woman before her by the waist. “That was incredible,” Alena huffed. “I hope you still have more in you.”

            “Please,” Lynn struggled to speak between heavy breaths. “You haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”

            “Well,” Alena smiled, “I await your next command, mistress.”

            “Strip for me.”

            Alena stood up off the side of the bed, her imposing frame looming over her little lover seated on the mattress below. She grabbed the bottom of her sweater and pulled it over her head, putting her upper body and beige bra on full display. Watching the larger woman unhook her bra, Lynn felt a rare and trivial lamentation over her own size, unable to reach up and grab a handful of that hefty chest. Alena then stepped out of her jeans, socks and panties, mesmerizing the tiny with her thick thighs and pivoting to show off her considerable rear. While otherwise as naked as her partner, Alena kept her glasses on so that Lynn’s puny features were still visible and not a blurry splotch to the near-sighted woman.

            “Anywhere in particular you’d care to start at?” Alena asked, the tiny struggling to comprehend the immensity of her lover’s towering physique. Lynn’s eyes darted across the landscape of Alena’s body, paralyzed by the ample choices presented to her.

            “B-boobs…” she sputtered out.

            “As you wish.” Alena chuckled and sat back down on the bed, this time sitting just behind Lynn. The tiny became barricaded by Alena’s lofty thighs and received a front row view of the giantess’ wet, chasmal vulva, the aroma of Alena’s arousal wafting over to the stunned tiny. Alena picked Lynn up with her fingers and carried the little lady to her breasts, squeezing her between the fat walls of flesh. The pressure was mind-boggling, but oh so rapturous. Lynn grabbed hold of what little skin she could fit in her hands and sucked hard on the tender bosom, kissing and licking it with unfettered fervor. The rest of her body remained immobile, trapped within several pounds of succulence.  “You really like it in there.”

            “I’m in heaven!” Lynn continued worshipping Alena’s tits, almost brought to tears by their majesty.

            “Would it be alright for me to make a request, mistress?” Witnessing Lynn’s pleasure calmed Alena’s earlier nerves, giving her a boost in self-esteem she hadn’t felt in a long time.

            “Anything!”  

            “I don’t want to interrupt your bliss or anything, and trust me when I say I’m enjoying this as much as you are, but… How should I put this?” Alena watched Lynn’s eyes dilate, the tiny eagerly awaiting to hear what her partner had in mind. “I want you inside me.”

            Lynn’s face lit up. “Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it!” The tiny flailed with excitement as Alena plucked her from her cleavage and lowered her towards her pussy. With her other hand, Alena spread her lips and softly plunged the miniscule woman into her cavernous maw. Lynn squirmed intensely against the vaginal walls, bounding from an explosive enthusiasm. Alena pushed Lynn in as far as she could reach, massaging her G-spot as she let the tiny crawl the rest of the way. Lynn, soaked in ejaculate, delved as far as she could into her love’s womanhood. Upon hitting the back, she caressed the cervix like a gentle lover before going hog wild on the thing. Alena’s moaning reverberated throughout her body, echoing in Lynn’s ears as she kissed and humped the cervix with unrelenting passion.

            No woman had ever brought Alena to such heights. She wasn’t ready to let go of such newfound gratification, but her body was primed to release, bursting into a revelatory climax in tandem with her little lover. Alena laid down and fished Lynn from her pussy, the exhausted tiny dangling limp in her grip. She laid Lynn out on her chest between her heaving mountains and basked in the afterglow. “Is it too soon to say, ‘I love you’?” the giantess asked.

            “Yes, but I don’t blame you.” Lynn couldn’t see straight, looking up at her dorm’s ceiling. “The feeling’s mutual.”

            “Guys, this is a really bad idea,” Alena warned.

            “Stop being such a worry wart. She'll be fine.” Heather stood tall with one foot on her skateboard. The sun hung directly above them, unimpeded by clouds. They were on a cement trail carved through the metropark, Alena seated on a bench off the side of the path. Heather had superglued a tiny pair of gloves onto the front end of her skateboard, along with a pair of knee pads. Seated on the board was the tiny Lynn strapping herself in. “She's wearing a helmet.”

            “That's not going to protect her if you step on her. Or what if she gets loose and flies onto the pavement? Or what if you stop too suddenly and the inertia gives her whiplash? Or what if a bird swoops down and…”

            “Bro, trust me.” Heather placed a hand on Alena's shoulder. “I'll be careful. I'm not going to step on your girlfriend or let anything else happen to her.” She looked down at the miniature girl strapped in beside her massive sneaker. “You ready, Lynn?”

            “Hell yeah!” Lynn shot her friend a thumbs up before slipping her hand into the glove. Kicking off the ground, Heather cruised forward on her board at a slow pace for her but brisk for the tiny. She sped up gradually, remaining straight on the trail as she picked up speed. The wind blustered through Lynn’s cheeks and hair, fueling a sensation akin to what a big would feel riding a motorcycle. “Wheeeeeeeee!” As her tiny passenger acclimated, Heather swerved from side to side, letting Lynn course through the strong breeze.

            Alena chewed on her nails as she watched from the bench. So far, Heather kept her word, though she was going a bit faster than Alena would prefer, and the swerving seemed like an unnecessary risk, and she really didn’t like the look of that pigeon flying overhead. Heather pressed forward twenty yards up the trail, passing a sign warning tinies to stay off the path unless accompanied by a big, and then pivoted a hundred eighty degrees to turn back, swinging Lynn on the upturned board.

            As the two headed back to her, Alena took a deep breath. They were too far for her to tell how much fun Lynn was having, but the smile on Heather's face reassured her. I shouldn't worry so much, Alena thought. She can take care of herself. Let her live her own life. Can't cage a free spirit. 

            Heather kicked at the ground, reaching breakneck speeds for her tiny passenger. Back on the bench, Alena tried to rationalize her friend's sudden acceleration when she noticed the metal rail lining the side of the path. With a fire in her eyes, Heather headed straight towards the smooth-topped railing. 

            “Oh no. No. Please, no. Don't do it. No.” Alena buried her face in her hands, peeking through the gaps in her fingers out of morbid curiosity. Against her best friend's wishes, Heather popped onto the railing and grinded on it like a pro. Lynn screamed in delight as gale winds threatened to blow her clean off the board. She wanted to throw her hands in the air and drown in the exhilaration, but her gloves kept her firmly in place and free from whipping about.

            Upon hitting the end of the rail, Heather hopped off it with a frontside 360, clearing the landing after fully spinning her board and the tiny riding on it, and rolled nonchalantly up to the bench.

            “Oh my God! Lynn, are you alright?” Alena fell to her knees, ready to pull her girlfriend off the board and into safe hands.

            “That was fucking radical!” Lynn shouted, her long hair standing on all ends beneath her helmet. “Holy shit! Do that again! Again! Ag- uh, Bleugh!” Pale as a sheet, Lynn vomited her guts out onto the end of the board. Alena retracted her arm, still worried but slightly less willing to offer a hand.

            “Maybe the 360 was a bit much,” Heather muttered, taking her foot off the board. It was one of her older decks, so she wasn't too concerned about the tiny desecrating it.

            “You think?” Once her girlfriend finished vomiting, Alena finagled Lynn out of her restraints, holding the lightheaded girl in her palm. Heather pulled a Gatorade out of her backpack lying beside the bench and poured a small serving into the cap.

            “Here, this should get you some nutrients back.” Heather placed the cap on Alena's fingers before the tiny. Lynn heeded her friend's aid and dunked her head in the lemon-lime sports drink.

            “What happened to being careful?” Alena grilled.

            “I thought she'd enjoy it. She kept yelling to go faster.” Heather turned away from her friend. “The trick at the end was… Well, I got caught up in the heat of things, I guess.”

Lynn pulled herself up with a big gasp. The color had already returned to the little lady's skin.      “Ok, I'm better now. Let's go again.”

            “Nuh-uh. No more skating for you.” This time, Alena's stoic facade didn't crack under the pressure of Lynn's puppy dog eyes. 

            “It's cool, Lynn. We'll find the chance to sneak off…” Heather felt the icy daggers of Alena's glare. “I mean, ahem. No more dangerous stunts, you hear?” The three grabbed their things and walked down the trail, Heather strapping her board to her bag after wiping the drop of puke off it with a tissue.

            “By the way, Lynn, are you and Jackie going to Mage Con next week?” Alena asked.

            “Considering I don’t know what that is: wasn’t planning on it.” Lynn continued to sip from the Gatorade cap which her girlfriend kindly held steady as she walked.

            “Midwest Anime and Gaming Expo. It’s kinda like a scaled back Comic Con, but it’s still a ton of fun. Me and Heather go every year, and we were thinking Jackie, Pierce, and maybe you and Javi would want to tag along.”

            “Sounds like a total dweebfest…” Lynn teased.

            “That’s because it is,” Heather jested, lighting up a cigarette.

            “But if you’re going, I’ll be there.” Lynn held her hand up for a high five which Alena returned with the tip of her forefinger. “And I don’t think Jackie will mind the crowds if her friends are with her. I’ll let her know.”

…

            Javi and Pierce lounged about the latter’s basement, the former scrolling on his phone while his best friend played video games. Javi kept swapping tabs between Shawna, Heather, and Michelle’s Instagram pages, making sure to leave likes on an equal and modest amount of pics on all three accounts.

            “Maybe if you ask nicely enough, all three will go out with you,” Pierce tossed out, his focus trained on the television screen.

            “If there’s one thing I know about bigs, it’s that they don’t like to share. There ain’t enough of me to go around.” Javi liked a photo of Shawna in a sleeveless dress, raising a champagne glass in a celebratory toast. “Who would you go for if you were in my shoes?”

            “So, it's between your babysitter/neighbor turned sort of teacher, the heiress to a trillion-dollar estate, or the clingy girl who's been obsessed with you since high school.” Pierce's hatred for his best friend burned bright green. “I’d pick Heather. Make her happy and you’re set for life.”

            “Wow, I never realized you were so shallow.” Javi lingered on a top-down picture of Heather at the beach, her bare arms raised behind her head as she lounged on a towel.

            “I’m not saying that’s the only reason to date her, but if I had to pick between the three, that’s a deciding factor.”

            “Uh-huh.” Javi saved the pic to his phone. “And if we add Jackie to the mix, is the choice still that simple?”

            Pierce paused his game and turned to his friend. “You’re not thinking of asking Jackie out, are you?”

            “Nah, she ain’t my type. Too shy.” Javi smirked while putting his phone away. “But you’re thinking about it, I hope.”

            Pierce put his controller down and wiped his clammy hands on his pants, the sweat from his forehead dripping above his red cheeks. Mulled over scenarios looped in his head as anxiety crept out from its den. “Sure. Eventually.”

            “The hell are you waiting for?”

            “I just,” his eyes darted around the room, searching for excuses. “I'm waiting for the right moment, when I'm confident she'd be interested. I don't want to ask too soon and weird her out.”

            Javi dragged his hands along his face, suffering from a tiresome sense of deja vu. “First off, you're never going to be confident about how someone else feels. It's not in your nature. Jackie could tell you her feelings to your face, and you'd still find a way to doubt yourself. Secondly, she's definitely into you. She wouldn't have spent her Saturday watching you fix a car if she didn't like you.”

            “Maybe she just wanted an excuse to hang around you,” Pierce interrupted. “You were shirtless most of the time.”

            “Nah, dude. Trust me, she was there for you. You could tell as much if you spent half the time staring at her feet looking at her eyes instead.”

            “I wasn’t… Shut up.”

            “And third,” Javi continued, “even if she rejects you, it’s not that big a deal. She’s not going to suddenly hate you for asking her on a date, but you will hate yourself if you never take the shot.” Pierce was ready to retort with more excuses, but he was interrupted by his phone ringing. As if on cue, the call came from Jackie. Pierce attempted to grab the phone off the coffee table, knocking it onto the floor, and then bumped his forehead against the table’s edge as he picked it up off the carpet.

            “Y-yo, hello, what’s up?” To Pierce’s side, Javi gave his friend a thumbs up in silent support.

            “Hey! Sorry to call you out of nowhere, but I was wondering if you were free next Sunday?” The two tinies worried over whether Pierce’s heartbeat was audible over the line.

            “Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yeah. Definitely! I’m free, yeah.” He had no clue if he was free, but if there was an obligation, then it could be pushed aside.

            “Great! Heather invited us all to Mage Con with her and Alena, and I figured that’d be right up your alley. Javi can come too if he wants, so could you let him know for me?”

            “Oh,” Pierce breathed a heavy sigh and set his phone to speaker. “He’s actually with me right now.”

            “‘Sup, Jackie. Sure, I’m up for that.” As he spoke, machinations whirred to life in Javi’s head. “Maybe the three of us should do a group cosplay.”

            “That’d be so cool!” Jackie cheered. “We gotta do a mecha anime! You guys can be the pilots to my giant robot.”

            “I don’t know, that might be too complex for such short notice,” Pierce posited.

            “Right, I forgot we have to make the costumes ourselves.”

            “How about One Piece?” Javi suggested. “They wear pretty simple outfits, and I’d make a killer Zoro.”

            “That’s perfect! I can be Nami and Pierce can be Luffy.”

            Pierce looked down at his portly figure, his poor self-image distracting him from picturing Jackie as the busty cat burglar. “I guess I could justify it as Gum-Gum Balloon Luffy.”

            “Ha ha, I think you’ll look great.” A honeyed pause permeated the air. “Oh, and I had a favor to ask of you, Pierce, if that’s cool with you.”

            “Shoot.”

            “I bought this used gaming PC on a whim. It was real cheap and supposed to come with all the parts, but I can’t get it to work. Would you mind taking a look at it? No rush; it’s not important or anything.” Listening in, Javi smiled wide and gave two thumbs up, convinced Jackie was head over heals for this dork.

            “No problem. I’d be happy to help.”

            “Great! Thanks so much.”

…

            After talking with Pierce, Jackie hung up the phone and drew a deep breath, her heart pounding out of her chest. She was lying on the floor of her dorm in between the two beds.

            “So, how’d it go?” Lynn asked from her tucked away room. She was flipping through streaming services on her TV, trying to find something to watch.

            “Good, I think.” Jackie turned her head to face her sister, giving her a complete view of the room beneath the bed. “We’re going to all cosplay together.”

            “I heard. You’re going as Nami, you said?” Lynn grabbed one of her sketchbooks and flipped through it. “Isn’t she the one who never wears a shirt?”

            “That’s only post-timeskip. We’re definitely doing pre-…” Jackie snagged her phone and texted Pierce.

            For the cosplay, we’re doing their pre-timeskip designs, right?

            For sure! Pierce replied. Nobody covers their chest after the skip. Javi wouldn’t mind, but then he’d have to put in more effort than wearing a white T-shirt.

            Haha! Cool. I know I’m not confident enough to wear a bikini into a convention center. Unbeknownst to Jackie, Pierce was fighting to keep that enticing image out of his mind all while failing to figure out how the hell he was supposed to reply to that.

            Lol, he ended up with.

            “You think Alena would like it if I dressed up as one of these characters?” Lynn asked, paging through sketches of scantily clad women from the different anime Jackie watched.

            “Absolutely! I’m familiar with most of the series she likes, so I can pick someone out for you. Then, it can be a big surprise the day of.” Jackie’s eyes lit up, excited about her sister’s costume as much as her own. Though, more than that, her thoughts were preoccupied with Pierce in a red vest and straw hat. “Hey, do you think I was being needy asking Pierce to look at my PC?”

            “Needy?” Lynn tossed her sketchbook aside and returned to aimless browsing. “The hell are you on about?”

            “I don’t know. It seemed like a good excuse to reach out to him, but I don’t want him to think I’m just using him.”

            “Jackie,” Lynn huffed, “Pierce is a dork, and you’re the prettiest girl he’s ever talked to. Aside from me of course. He’s never gonna get upset by you asking for help. If anything, he wants you to use him.”

            “He’s not a dork,” Jackie pouted.

            “Yes, he is. You can’t tell because you’re one too. And what do you need excuses for? Just ask him out already.” Lynn settled on rewatching an old season of The Bachelor. Jackie blushed, hypothetical scenarios battering her active imagination, many of them unoptimistic. Lynn shot a glance at her sister catastrophizing and rolled her eyes. “Or keep waiting for him to ask you. I hope you can come up with enough excuses to last ‘til graduation.”

…

            Knock-knock

            Pierce waited in front of the tiny door to Lynn and Jackie’s dorm room, Javi standing right behind him. The former was decked out in a cherry red vest, jean shorts, flip-flops, and a straw hat with a red headband wrapped around the bowl; all of which were purchased from a thrift shop near his house. His shaggy hair was dyed black, and he drew a scar underneath his left eye with a washable sharpie. Javi, on the other hand, was wearing a basketball jersey, gym pants, and sneakers.

            “Coming,” Lynn shouted from the other side. When she opened the door, the boys mouths dropped to the floor. She wore a sharp black dress which cut off at the bust and ran down the length of her legs, accentuating her hourglass figure. Her hands were covered to the elbow in matching black gloves. The curly locks of a black wig cascaded past her shoulders, and her lips were painted blood red. A bright red ouroboros had been drawn directly below her clavicle. “Hey, guys. Like my outfit?”

            “Damn, you look great,” Javi remarked. Pierce was left speechless, but nodded along to his friend’s praise. “You’re that lady from FMA?”

            “I guess?” Lynn shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve never seen it. But apparently, it’s one of Alena’s favorites.” The tiny stepped aside to let her peers through. Stepping inside, Pierce regained his composure, only for his jaw to drop once more, plummeting through the floor and boring into the earth.

            Jackie towered over the tiny trio in a white, unbuttoned polo shirt with blue stripes painted across the chest. Her short bob had been dyed a bright orange, and her waist was adorned with a yellow miniskirt. She couldn’t find the right pair of boots to complete the outfit, but she did stumble on a pair of open toe wedges with tangerine buckles holding the straps together and decided that’d serve her needs. Like Pierce, all her items had been sourced from a local thrift market. “Javi, why aren’t you in costume?”

            “Sorry, it sorta slipped my mind.” Javi nudged Pierce’s arm, waiting for the retort. When nudging didn’t elicit a response, he resorted to punching his shoulder.

            “Uh, that’s his way of saying he was too lazy to bother,” Pierce belted out as if reciting a forgotten line. He hadn’t blinked since entering the room.

            “Hey,” Javi whispered, “You’re gonna want to look up at the rest of her too.” Jackie’s toenails were painted orange. Her fingernails were too, but that took longer for Pierce to notice.

            “At least Pierce pulled through,” Jackie said smiling. “You certainly pass as the King of the Pirates.”

            “Th-thanks. You look spot on yourself.” Pierce tore his gaze away from Jackie to look around her room. He’d never been in a girl’s bedroom before, and for some reason that seemed to make this trip meaningful to him somehow. “So, where’s this PC at?”

            “Back by the desk.” Jackie led her tiny friend to the brick shaped unit standing at the end of the room and opened it up for him to walk inside. Fans, wires, plugs, and outlets filled the mechanical beast, giving Pierce plenty of nooks and edges to clamber into and over. It was an older unit and built simply and cheaply, lacking a lot of the gaudy lights and accessories commonly found in similar units of the era. “I’ve always been a console girl, so I’m kinda out of my element here.”

            “I gotta say, for how old this thing is, it’s surprisingly clean.” Pierce crawled about, examining wires and ports, and peering into the grated fans, careful not to fall onto the blades.

            “Oh, I took the whole thing apart and dusted everything off. I didn’t want you to get sick inside there.” Jackie squatted in front of the tower, tucking her orange hair behind her ear. “I think I put everything back in the right spot, but again, I’m not an expert on this.”

            Pierce turned around to thank her for her thoughtfulness, but immediately looked away after a quick glance through the opening. The way Jackie was squatting in her short skirt, her white panties were on full display. Skirts which cut off above the knee dropped off the face of big fashion when their wearers started cohabitating with tinies. Nowadays, they were primarily worn by exhibitionists. More modest fashionistas paired them with leggings or sweatpants, but many modern women saw them as clothing of a bygone era, preferring the coverage provided by slacks or dress skirts of less revealing lengths.

            Jackie noticed Pierce’s sudden reaction and looked down. Having worn jeans and shorts her whole life, the fact she could now flash tinies her underwear completely slipped her mind. Jackie fell forward and repositioned herself onto her arms and knees, mortified to think her unintentional display may have offended her friend. Thinking it safe, Pierce turned to face her again only to be greeted by an equally suggestive sight.

            With her polo shirt unbuttoned, there was little obscuring Jackie’s cleavage as she lay forward. Pierce’s gaze once again retreated into the computer’s mechanisms. When Jackie realized her mistake, she sat straight up on her legs, knees tucked tight together and hands resting on her lap, locking eyes on a safe spot in the corner as if to mimic her tiny pal.

            “I found the problem,” Pierce said, finally able to look Jackie’s way. “You’re CPU isn’t compatible with this motherboard. Whoever you bought this from must’ve gotten their parts mixed up before selling it to you.” The tiny walked out of the computer tower, still in awe at the giant cosplayer seated before him. “I’ll look up some recommendations when I get home and send them to you.”

            “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.” Jackie held her hand out for Pierce, lifting the tiny as he climbed on. To Pierce’s shock, Jackie’s usual peach lotion had been swapped with one scented like tangerines. “Are you guys ready to go?” Jackie asked the room.

            Knock-knock-knock!

            “That’s gotta be Alena,” Lynn deduced. “Jackie, answer the door.”

            “On it,” Jackie did as commanded and opened the door for the woman on the other side. Alena had on a Dragon Ball Z T-shirt depicting Goku charging up a Spirit Bomb and a pair of blue jeans.

            “Woah! You two look great.” she commented, impressed by both Jackie and the tiny she held’s costumes.

            “Wait until you see Lynn.” Jackie stepped out of the way, leading Alena towards the tinies on the floor. Recognizing her cue, Lynn jutted her hip to the side, resting one hand on it while positioning the other up behind her head.

            “Oh my God!” Alena covered her grinning mouth and fell to her knees to get a closer look at her dolled-up girlfriend. “Lynn, you look fantastic!”

            “Don’t I always?” she cooed, waltzing onto her giant girlfriend’s waiting palm. Jackie bent over and grabbed Javi, joining him with his friend in her hand.

            “Yes, of course, but you wear Lust very well.” Holding Lynn before her face, Alena wanted to fuss over her so bad, but she wasn’t about to ruin the tiny’s amazing costume.

            “Seriously?” Lynn gave herself a once over. “Her name’s Lust?” Jackie had already told her this, but the smaller twin wasn’t paying attention at the time.

            “Yeah, she’s one of the seven deadly sins,” Alena explained. “It’s a whole thing. I’ll explain on the way there.” The two bigs gathered their things, as well as their puny passengers, and departed. “Heather’s going to meet us outside the convention center. She already has all our tickets bought.”

…

            The convention center spanned out in a sea of booths, stages, exhibits, lines, displays, merchandise, arcade cabinets, and nerds of all sizes. Mage Con was split into different sections. Ailes of entrepreneurs and artists sold merch, art pieces, and doujins of various popular series. Stages were set up with large seating for panels hosted by industry guests. A pop-up arcade filled with dozens of classic game cabinets sat not far from the section where some local tourneys were being held. An expansive food court that connected outside hosted catering from a variety of local eateries and food trucks. And each section of the convention was fully accessible to bigs and tinies.

            Suspended platforms hung from the scaffolding three yards off the floor, forming a complex series of railed-in hallways for tinies to traverse above the rest of the action. Lifts connected these platforms to the various amenities such as the merchant booths which were all connected in each aisle to allow tinies to walk along the table tops and browse the merch. Tiny vendors were also stationed on their own larger booths, allowing fellow smalls to walk through them like normal aisles and bigs to interact from above. Alongside the multi-size control options featured on the bigger arcade cabinets, there were miniature cabinets allowing tinies to play on more comfortably scaled screens with some even capable of connecting to the larger cabinets for crossplay. The food court featured both tiny only seating quartered off on the floor and miniature furniture on the larger tables.

            “Where do you guys want to start?” Heather asked as the group of six wandered into the crowd of brightly dressed fanboys and fangirls. The towering heiress wore a plain, long-sleeve crop top and cargo pants, her half-blonde / half-blue hair not standing out for once among the gathering of Super Saiyans and Harley Quinns.

            “I’m leaving that up to you guys,” Javi declared, sitting atop Heather’s scalp. Pierce rode on Jackie’s shoulder while Lynn sat cradled in her girlfriend’s hand.

            “Yeah, this ain’t my element either,” Lynn added, turning her attention towards Alena. “Whatever you want to do, I’ll follow.”

            “I want to check the booths,” Alena said, “see what figures they got. Maybe grab some Blu-rays.”

            “Pierce, we gotta get in line for Armored Phantasia,” Jackie told the tiny on her shoulder. “This is the last demo event before launch, so we have to check it out.”

            “For sure! I know I won’t be able to afford the full thing when it comes out.”

            “Then how's about we split up,” Heather decided. “You two can check out your video game…”

            “It's not just a video game,” Jackie interrupted, “it's a fully immersive experience blending advanced AR technologies with extremely well-produced practical props to perfectly emulate…”

            “Alena and Lynn can check out the stalls, and Javi and I can wander around and browse. Let's meet back up in the food court in, say, an hour.”

…

            With the pair having arrived early enough in the day, the line to the Armored Phantasia demo was rather short with an estimated half-hour wait time. Pierce sat cross-legged on Jackie’s shoulder, concentrating on keeping his gaze from wandering down. A grand crevice lied below him, the soft mounds beckoning for the tiny’s attention.

            Jackie peeked over at the tiny on her shoulder, her lips curling ever so slightly upward. Her breathing was steady and her movements subtle, ensuring her passenger’s comfort while they waited in line. Looking at Pierce kept her mind off the bigs flanking her. The tinies had a separate line leading to the demo, but those with bigs in their group hung around their larger companions.

            “Omigod! You two are so cute!” a Baiken cosplayer passing by shouted, running up to the pair’s spot in line. “Can I get a picture with you?”

            “Uh, sure,” Jackie replied, bothered by the fact the cosplayer didn’t attempt to hide what should have been a severed arm. The cosplayer reached over the stanchion belt and grabbed Jackie by the shoulder, leaning in for a selfie. Pierce felt his world tremble as the two women collided, the pink-haired stranger snapping the shot as the tiny tumbled forward into the cosplayer’s exposed cleavage. “Oh!” Pierce squirmed about between the gargantuan chest beefers, his arms and legs flailing against the velvety fat as he sunk headfirst into the darkness.

            “Ah! Pierce!” Jackie waved her arms helplessly, desperate to rescue her friend but unwilling to reach into a stranger’s treasure valley. All she could see of the tiny were his miniscule feet poking out from the sea of skin.

            “Oops. My bad.” The cosplayer dove into her cleavage and plucked Pierce free, returning the dazed man to his spot on Jackie’s shoulder. She fished around deeper between her breasts to retrieve his little hat, plopping it on his head with a smile. “Don’t want to get your girlfriend upset.”

            “I’m not-”

            “She’s not-”

            “Seeya!” The cosplayer waved, winked, and went on her merry way, leaving the not couple to recollect themselves. Pierce buried himself beneath his straw hat, trying to block out his blushing face.

            “Sorry about that. Are you alright?” Jackie asked, a tinge of envy creeping through her chest. Maybe I should be less careful with him, a random thought intruded. Take a wrong step, trip a little, and send him rolling right into my…

            “I’m fine,” Pierce said, snapping Jackie out of her fantasy. “Sorry about…” Pierce paused. Wait, what am I apologizing for? Touching another girl's boobs? We're just friends, she wouldn't care about that. In fact, she'd probably be weirded out if I thought she did care about that. Shit, what do I say? What do I say? “Sorry if I worried you.”

            “No problem. It wasn't your fault.” The pair waited as the line moved forward. Jackie took a couple steps and stopped, deciding now wasn't the time for tripping.

…

            “Jesus, now he's crawling into her dick?” Javi asked, peeking over Heather’s forehead from the top of her scalp to look at the doujin she was skimming. The comic's cover depicted a tiny proposing to his giant girlfriend, and Heather picked it up expecting some wholesome fluff, but the contents inside were everything but wholesome.

            “Hey, you got anything more, uh, vanilla than this?” Heather asked the vendor. 

            “Sorry if my art elicits an emotional response more intense than what you can handle,” the doujin artist derided, pushing up his glasses, “but I refuse to censor my work to make it more digestible for the normies. Though it doesn't garner the respect and attention from academic elitists, erotica is actually the superior artform in exploring the raw, emotional tempest of the human soul. What you may view as ‘extreme’ fetish content is actually a nuanced representation of the human psyche. For example, Hanabi-chan’s engorged penis is actually symbolic of…” Heather set the book down and walked away. “Wait, where are you going? I haven’t finished explaining.”

            “Damn, did you see how tall that lady was?” A tiny con-goer said, standing beside a copy of Guro Girl’s Festival. “I wish she’d step on me.”

            “So do I, my friend.” A single tear sprang from the vendor’s eye, dancing through the air in a crystalline flash, vanishing in a glistening display of transience. “So do I.”

            Javi clutched the bicolored strands of Heather’s hair, bobbing along as she walked through the convention center. Bright posters and gaudy cosplayers caught the two's eyes as they traversed the geeky labyrinth. Heather had no destination in mind, simply wandering and people-watching, and Javi had no choice but to follow, not that he had much inclination to do much else.

            “So, when's the season start?” Heather asked her passenger while eyeing a rack of famous, fictional swords.

            “For basketball? First week of November.” Javi checked his reflection in the blade of the Master Sword hanging before him. “If you attend one of our games, I’ll score a three-pointer for you.”

            “Ha! You tell that to all the girls?” Heather poked at the revolver barrel of a replica Gunblade to see if it actually spun. To her delight, it did!

            “Pretty much.”

            “Fine.” Heather stepped away from the swords and made towards a stall selling used, retro games. “I'll go to your games if you come to my skate contests.”

            “Deal! I didn't realize you competed.”

            “Yep. My goal is to win gold at the Olympics someday. My mom keeps telling me I'm better off doing BMX or snowboarding, but it's got to be skateboarding. It debuted in Tokyo for fuck's sake!” Thumbing through the old games, Heather was disappointed at the lack of Tony Hawk titles. Well, she did find a copy of Pro Skater 5, but even its low asking price was too high for a trillionaire.

            “Didn’t snowboarding make its Olympic debut in Japan too?”

            “Yeah, but that was in Nagano. I was born in Tokyo and spent my early childhood there before moving over here. Besides, snowboarding’s just a hobby. It’s a pain in the ass trying to find somewhere with decent enough snowfall.” Heather stepped away from the video games and continued walking.

            “Who knows, maybe I’ll end up competing in the Olympics too. I’ll be a TNBA superstar after all.” Javi snickered as they passed a man cosplaying the Colossal Titan standing a full six inches shorter than Heather.

            “You sure are confident.”

            “I’ve gotta be. No one else will for me,” Javi said, leaning back on Heather’s scalp, using her hair as a cot. “And hey, you’re aiming for Olympic gold. You get how important ambition is.”

            “Guess so.” To be honest, the word ‘ambition’ just brought to mind the lectures her parents would give her. “While we’re talking dreams, how about this? Let’s both aim for the top and get gold in the same games.” Heather held her pinkie up above her head, trying to reach Javi’s spot on her scalp though she couldn’t see him. Javi planted his hand against the expansive fingertip and squeezed the giantess’ skin.

            “Hell yeah! Why not?”

…

            “Woah, check out these mousepads,” Lynn said, standing on an anime merch booth. She pointed to an array of joke mousepads in which the foam wrist supports were designed to look like a character's boobs. The tiny Lust cosplayer hopped onto one of the pads, taking a seat on Mai Shiranui's left breast. Browsing the collection of lewd paraphernalia, she noticed one depicting Samus in doggy style with her ass taking the role of wrist support. “How about that one?” Lynn smirked, pointing to the pad. “If you like that, you could always rest your wrist on my butt.”

            “Lynn!” Alena bemoaned in a hushed tone, plucking her girlfriend off the table and into her soft, lumbering fingers. Lynn adjusted to her new seating with incredible ease, weaving her body around her girlfriend’s fingers like a kid in a jungle gym.

            “Granted, I'd prefer you rest your butt on me. You owe me for all the times I rest mine on you,” she said with her butt planted firmly on the side of Alena’s ring finger.

            “Please stop.” Alena perched her partner on her shoulder and walked away from the booth. “It's bad enough you look like that. That and all the teasing is making me weak in the knees.”

            Lynn strutted across Alena's shoulder closer towards her head. “Good,” the tiny whispered straight into her ear, sending the giantess into a wobbling fit. The little lady laughed as her lover struggled to regain composure. The young couple traipsed through the crowded convention center, taking in all the bizarre sights lining the vendors’ tables or walking alongside them. Alena got so distracted between spotting supreme quality figures, fawning over talented cosplayers, and making sure Lynn was secure on her shoulder, she didn’t notice the bear of a man walking up to her.

            “Lynn, see that statue over there? That’s actually- Oomph!” Alena brushed shoulders with the passerby, though her shoulder didn’t actually reach up to his, nearly knocking her to the floor. Lynn had it even worse, tumbling backwards off her perch, narrowly avoiding an ugly drop by clutching onto the back of Alena’s T-shirt. “Sorry,” Alena instinctively apologized before noticing her GF’s plight. “Ah! I got you!” Alena scooped Lynn into her palm, letting her puny partner regain her footing on the larger woman’s palm. The man continued pressing forward unphased.

            “Watch where you’re going, you lunk!” Lynn shouted at the top of her lungs, causing the man to stop in his tracks and turn to face his diminutive detractor. The mighty monolith of muscle stood only a couple inches shorter than Heather and appeared as if he had just stepped off the set of an 80s action film. Peeking out of the top of his white wife beater was the head of a dragon tattoo that likely spanned his entire back. The glare he shot Lynn and Alena could bore through steel, but the tiny didn’t waver. “Well, are you going to apologize?” Lynn stood straight in her lover’s hand, her toothpick arms crossed. The man’s glare couldn’t hope to compete with the fire in the little lady’s eyes. “I’m waiting.”

            Lynn started shaking. Not out of nerves, at least not her own, but the foundation she stood on shook her as Alena feared for her partner’s safety. Hell, she was afraid for her own sake, the guy punching in far beyond her weight class.

            “Sorry,” he scoffed, continuing on his way.

            “God, the nerve of some people,” Lynn complained, her wig blowing in the heavy sigh let out by her partner. “Pulling teeth shouldn’t be easier than getting an apology.”

            “Where in the world do you get all that courage from?” Alena asked, raising Lynn closer to her face. The tiny cocked her head and raised her brow. “You saw that guy. He could have flattened you with his thumb.”

            “He couldn’t do shit,” Lynn huffed, raising her chin. “Injuring me in any capacity is grounds for a massive fine, add jailtime if it’s assault. Anything worse than that and life imprisonment’s almost guaranteed,” she shrugged. “It’d take a real idiot to take their anger out on a tiny with so many witnesses around.” Lynn’s casual explanation didn’t seem to sway Alena, so she dropped to her thighs and leaned against the massive thumb beside her like a damsel clinging to the leg of her hero. “But better than that, I have my big, beautiful girlfriend to protect me.”

            “You give me too much credit,” Alena chuckled, relishing the feeling of Lynn caressing her thumb with her gloved hands. “But I’d make sure to hold you tight as I run for my life.”

…

            Upon reaching the front of the line, Jackie lowered Pierce onto a table per the instructions of the developer running the demo. The table was cluttered with what would appear to a big to be robot action figures, but closer inspection would reveal that these machines were far more advanced than the average toy. Each robot was a fully detailed mech suit, none directly based on any specific franchise but each clearly inspired by genre greats. The mechs all stood around a foot tall with cockpits in their chests perfectly scaled to fit a tiny passenger. Pierce looked around the collection of giant fighting robots in awe while Jackie scanned them all from above, jealous over actually gigantic robots still being nothing more than a distant dream.

            “Take your time picking one out,” a two-inch tall woman said to Pierce, appearing out from behind a mechanical leg. Another dev, she wore an oil-stained jumpsuit and fully equipped tool belt around her waist. Pierce couldn’t tell if it was a costume or if she actually performed maintenance on the machines. “I can answer any questions you have while we get your friend strapped up. Each mech has unique stats, attributes, and weaponry, and everything you see here will launch separately alongside the rest of the game.” Amongst the knightmare frames, variable fighters, and LFOs, one mech had tank treads instead of legs, one had legs fashioned like a bird's with the knees facing backwards, and another was painted bright red, wearing sunglasses and a billowing scarf. There was even a girl mech with a pink, metallic skirt, steel titties, and twin tails formed out of loose wires. “We also have a Gattai expansion planned, so multiple players can combine their machines into one mega fighting form.”

            “I’ll take this one.” Pierce's suit of choice featured white limbs, a blue torso, and red and yellow accents throughout its frame. Its head was shaped like a samurai helmet with a crescent moon striking out from the top. Six steel rods were holstered to either side of its waist.

            “The Azure Dragon? Good choice.” The tiny dev opened a panel on its legs a keyed in a couple button presses, opening a hatch in the torso to reveal the cockpit. She then grabbed a miniature step ladder and set it up for Pierce to enter the robot. The cockpit featured a leather chair with two joysticks on either arm and a multitude of keys and buttons along the sticks. Pierce took a seat and leaned back as the mechanic stepped up the ladder to show him the controls. “The left stick controls your movement; forward and back move you forward and back, left and right let you strafe in those directions. Your right stick controls where you’re facing; left and right pivots you left and right, forward and back tilts your view up and down. The button on the top of the right stick controls your flight. Hold it to hover, and double tap while in the air to enter fly mode. These buttons along the side operate your weaponry. Right trigger is for machine gun fire, left is for bazooka fire. These buttons on the left are for switching between sword styles and these on the right act out different swings. There are different combinations you can try for different moves, but remember that using more swords at once will do more damage but drain your energy meter faster, so be strategic with how you fight. That's the basic rundown. If you have any questions at any point, simply ask. I'll be patched into your comms in case you need anything.”

            With the tutorial out of the way, the dev stepped down from the ladder and closed the chest hatch, briefly swallowing Pierce in darkness before the interior lights bloomed on. There were no windows to the outside, but the front wall of the cockpit formed an LED screen providing a real time feed of the outside. Pierce grabbed the joysticks and eased his suit around the table, getting a feel for the controls. Being an actual, pilotable robot, the mech had the expected weight and bounce to its gait that sold the illusion of turning its driver into a certified fighter pilot.

            “Yo, that’s so cool!” Jackie squealed from above. She was covered in a net of hexagonal pads overlaying her body and costume. Each one flashed sky blue, giving Jackie the appearance of a mocap actor. Alongside the sensor array, she also wore a large pair of clear-tint goggles completely covering her eyes as to overtake every angle of her vision. Pierce fiddled with the controls a bit and gave his giant friend a thumbs up. “When are you guys going make mobile suits I can fit into?”

            “Once we finally figure out how to vanquish the square cube law,” the larger dev joked. “Go ahead and pick your partner up and I’ll lead you both to the play area. And don’t worry about damaging the machine; you can’t.”

            Jackie wrapped her hand around the Azure Dragon’s waist and hoisted it up. It was surprisingly light, especially given how hard its shell and frame were. The toy was constructed out of a hyper dense plastic, giving it a hardness and strength resembling steel but much cheaper to produce. It ran on four AA batteries located in a compartment protruding slightly on the robot’s back.

            The pair walked into a black room formed by pop-up dividers. Veiled from the rest of the convention stood a miniature metropolis constructed at perfect scale with an authentic tiny district. Closer inspection would reveal the model lacked many details present in the real thing, especially the interiors, but a glance from a big wouldn’t register enough of that to matter. It spanned a 10x10ft area with roads separating city blocks to give bigs enough room to travel across. Jackie stepped into the main street bordered on either side by high rises and a couple skyscrapers, one towering a head taller than the twin. The ground beneath her felt squishier than an actual tiny road. Its constitution remained unpliable beneath her feet, but anyone who has walked through a tiny district could tell they were standing on a fancy mat.

            Jackie set the toy mech down on the ground and removed her wedges, placing them off to the side of the play area. Pierce positioned his sights to keep his friend's bare feet out of frame, his right hand trembling against the joystick as he waged a grueling war against temptation.

            “The level you’ll be playing is set for fifteen minutes,” the large dev explained from outside the model city. “You’ll be fighting Star Force who can spawn zombie minions. Your goal is to defeat it within the time limit while attempting to rescue at least 30% of the population. Destruction penalties have not been enabled and will not affect your score, so go hog wild. I’ll be outside observing your session with my colleague and will be patched in through your device’s comms if you have any questions.” The dev dipped out of the pop-up room. “Enjoy.”

            [MISSION START] appeared in bold red letters on each player’s display, and the artificial city populated with pedestrians. The hustle and bustle of the daily rat race played through Jackie’s earbuds and the speakers in Pierce’s cockpit. People walked down sidewalks buried in newspapers and idle conversation, unphased by the giant robot and even larger woman standing in the middle of the street. The convention center’s roof disappeared behind a cerulean sky dotted with clouds idyllic enough for angels to sleep on. Jackie gawked as a flock of doves, no larger than sugar crystals, flew past her vision. And then, it came.

            The sky boiled a tainted crimson as a meteor the size of a dresser tore a hole in the cosmos and betook the city. In a brilliant explosion of radiant lightning and evanescent laser beams, Star Force, He Who Devours the Horizon, erupted from his adamantine seal. The eldritch abomination resembled a star fish with leathery black skin and thick octopus tentacles for its five points. An eye rested in the center of its body, it’s tainted pupil marinating in a roiling stew of corrosive yellow. Each tentacle stretched two-thirds of Jackie’s height, their suction cupped posterior molesting each structure in its path.

            Jackie planted one foot forward and flung her whole body into a full force haymaker straight into the alien’s eye, hurling the monster into a row of buildings behind it. The weight of her punch rippled through her fist, the emulated sensation provided via the sensors dotting her body through advanced haptic feedback.

            The design philosophy behind Armored Phantasia was to recreate epic Kaiju battles in as realistic detail as possible, fully immersing players in a fight to save humanity from otherworldly threats. The goggles Jackie wore used advanced AR technology to project lifelike images of tiny-sized people and hellish entities onto a model city developed specifically in conjunction with the game. These same projections were shared with other units within the play area, including any tiny operated mechs, to create a seamless virtual reality between all players. From the Azure Dragon, Pierce watched Jackie’s fist collide with Star Force’s tumefied eye, the gooey membrane molding to her clenched fist.

            “Jackie, watch out!” Pierce cried out through their linked comms. Star Force’s north pointing tentacle lashed out at its attacker, smacking Jackie clean in the face. The ultra woman tumbled backwards, collapsing onto a high rise behind her. The building gave way to her falling body on impact, five stories crumbling beneath the weight of her butt. The model city was crafted out of breakaway plastic which was solid to the touch but shattered upon forceful impacts. The developers made good use of the material in making convincing yet easily destructible environments for their interactive experience, but the real innovation came in its semi-adhesive coating which allowed crumbled ruins to be put back together with no tools, glues, nor hassle necessary. This solved an early roadblock in the product regarding replayability; no one was going to buy a costly playset that only lasted a single session, but thanks to a special coating derived from a particular chemical reaction to the breakaway plastic, the model could easily be put back together in up to an hour’s time with no sticky residue nor loss of adhesion. “You good?”

            “Yep. I hope I didn’t squash anybody.” Jackie stood up over the rubble, brushing herself off. The sensors’ haptic feedback could generate major impacts, enough to knock someone off their feet, but they didn’t inflict lasting pain. The sensation was akin to getting shoved, and destroying buildings was about as painful as crumpling paper-mâché. Looking down at her unintentional demolition, Jackie noticed some tinies derezz. Though the tinies were lifelike, there was no gore or overly violent imagery, the game holding a T rating. Casualties were depicted with cartoony animations such as flattened tinies becoming thin as paper before derezzing. As a safety feature, any actual tinies that entered the play area not residing within a mech were highlighted a bright shade of red and were accompanied by a warning message on all players’ displays.

            “It’s fine. We only need to save 30% of them,” Pierce said, ignoring the canned screams filtering through the speakers. “I’ll provide some cover fire to distract him while you lay on the big damage.” Pierce jetted through the streets towards the imposing starfish, the feet of his mech equipped with wheels for zipping around. The AR goggles imprinted the image of flames roaring out from the mech’s exhausts as it thrusted forward. Pierce unleashed a bevy of machine gun fire on the gigantic creature, interspersing the barrage with potshots from the bazooka. His attacks did minimal damage, but they were successful in agroing the boss to target him, allowing Jackie to rush in and smack it down with a roundhouse kick.

             Star Force collapsed onto a couple high-rises. The weightless illusion was unable to actually demolish any of the model structures, explosion modifiers were planned to be released as a post-launch add-on, but cracks and other signs of damage appeared along the buildings through the AR display. Star Force took its time getting back up, vessel-like tendrils writhing out from its suction cups and wriggling their way through the cracks in the buildings.

            “Shit, it’s spawning zombies!” A sea of tiny undead burst out from the doors and windows, growling and clambering to wreak havoc. The hellish mass of minions were far faster than a regular tiny, swarming Pierce in seconds, clawing at his armor and dowsing him in acidic bile. In the upper left corner of his display, his health bar slowly dropped down as he took repeated hits.

            “I got you!” Jackie slammed her foot down into the crowd, squashing a dozen zombies into a comical explosion of orange and pink globs of flesh. Surrounding zombies climbed onto her foot and scratched at her, but the giant woman couldn’t feel a thing. Unlike the mechs, big players didn’t have health bars. Instead, their primary concern was the safety of the virtual population. Careless stomping and negligence towards small mobs would lower the survivor count, resulting in a game over; they also had to be careful about the boss’ attacks as those would send them tumbling into buildings and crushing more civilians. “Pierce, can you help me out here?”

            “Huh?” Pierce panned up from her foot and noticed the swarm ascending her ankle. “Oh, right!” Pressing the Ittō-ryū button, Pierce unsheathed one rod from his mech’s waist. A dazzling green light shot out from the futuristic hilt forming the beam sword’s blade to which Pierce swung in a wide arc around his suit, obliterating a swash of enemies surrounding him. Holding down two attacks buttons at once sheathed his saber and held his arm at his waist; releasing them sent him rocketing forward, baring his beam sword in the blink of an eye and annihilating the zombies swarming Jackie with an iai-slash.

            “Thanks.” Jackie brought her foot down on more zombies, mashing the horde into virtual viscera.

            “I can take care of these things. You focus on the boss,” Pierce suggested, his will to win trumping his desire for Jackie dispatch more enemies beneath her soles. He style-switched to Niten Ichi-ryū, wielding a second sword in the opposite hand.

            Far above, Jackie swung another punch as the monster reared its “head,” but whiffed hitting the squirming tentacle, sending her fist crashing into a nearby skyscraper and reducing the inside toy furniture into a jumbled trash heap. “Sorry!” she said to the digital lives lost to her attack. Star Force wrapped one of its tentacles around the giantess’ waist and slammed her into the tower, her body not only decimating the skyscraper but the rest of the block behind it as well as she tripped onto the unfortunate offices and apartments. Jackie pushed herself off the ground and winced at the debris peppering her chest, belly, and waist, and the tinies plastered to her torso. “Aw man, are we still above 30%?”

            “For now,” Pierce replied, bisecting zombies in a flurry of stabs and cuts, “but the zombies are spreading. I can’t keep up with them.” Seeing Pierce continue to fight against impossible odds, Jackie centered herself and got back up. Facing her opponent, the giantess raised both fists before her face and ducked and weaved. She stepped forward and let out a barrage of jabs. One, two. One, two. Jab, jab, upper! “Woah, you box?”

            “Only if you count maining Steve Fox in Tekken.” Each blow sent the monster reeling back, cornering it against a block of skyscrapers where Jackie could really lash out on it. She punched and kicked at the ethereal construct, the haptic sensors tricking her brain into thinking she was touching a solid object. In her unrelenting assault, the monster’s health quickly diminished, dropping as hastily as the amount of time left on the clock. But Star Force was far from finished. Its westward tentacle spiraled and constricted until it took the form of a drill, launching the appendage towards its assailant. Jackie, mid-punch, couldn’t react fast enough to dodge, the drill point headed straight for where her brow met the bridge of her nose.

            Slash

            Flying through the air like a blazing comet, the Azure Dragon sliced clean through the tentacle with four of its laser blades in hand. The mech’s head nodded to Jackie, and she responded with a wink, circling around the wailing monster and locking its remaining limbs in a standing full nelson. Pierce activated Rokutō-ryū, equipping all six swords, one between each gap of the robot’s fingers. In a dance of radiant death, Pierce carved away at the monster. The creature writhed in Jackie’s grip, but she held strong, holding the starfish in place as Pierce turned it into sashimi. The boss didn’t have a visible health bar, but the damage portrayed on its character model suggested it was nearly defeated with only a minute remaining on the clock.

            “Just a little more!” Pierce shouted, mashing every button combo he could think of. “Just a little…” but he was interrupted by a new message on the display: [NEW MISSION PRIORITY] - Rescue the President!

            Down at the other end of the street, a tiny man in a blue suit and red tie dangled precariously out of a window fifteen stories up. The building itself was on fire, a furious inferno blazing out of the windows accompanying black billowing smoke. Jackie looked back and forth between the leader of the free world and her teammate, unsure how to react to the sudden change of circumstances.

            “Go save him!” Pierce advised. “This thing’s almost dead. I can handle it on my own. Go!” Jackie followed his command and released the monster, darting towards the other end of the model city. Star Force immediately regained its composure and swung at the flying mech, but Pierce narrowly dodged the strike. Jackie reached the burning building and plucked the president off the windowsill. Thirty seconds remained.  

            What do I do with him? What do I do? Jackie thought, turning every which way to determine her next objective. The president attempted to maintain balance in her palm and dribbled on about how grateful he was and how Jackie performed a great service for her country and that he would reward her a Medal of Honor when he got back to the White House and some other stuff probably; Jackie wasn’t really listening. On a nearby high-rise, a bright green square bordered the roof, a helicopter hovering over the building. Jackie dropped off the president nowhere near as gently as she would a real person, letting him fall a good ten feet onto the cement roof, but the videogame NPC took no damage and safely reached the helicopter.

            Fifteen seconds remained. Jackie returned her attention to the alien starfish. Pierce had landed a plethora of hits, and the thing was certain to go down with one final attack. “Pierce, you got this!” Jackie cried out running towards the action. In its last fit of desperation, Star Force lunged two tentacles at the Azure Dragon, but Pierce outmaneuvered both of them. With his six swords readied, Pierce lunged towards the creature, ready to take the thing down once and for all. But the moment he reached its bulging eye, his blades vanished and his propulsion ceased. He had used up all his energy, his bar fully depleted.

            “No! Not now!” The Azure Dragon plummeted towards the ground, now entirely inoperable. “I was one hit away!” Star Force’s tentacles rebounded, returning from behind to strike down Pierce. They collided with the mech, leaving it only a single pip of health.

            “Pierce! No!” Jackie ran as fast as she could. Three seconds remained. Pierce’s mech, a smoking, flaming mess, was headed for a ravenous horde of zombies. It wouldn’t survive the fall, its last hit point to be lost the moment it met a zombie’s claw. Jackie didn’t have time to save him. One more hit was all it would take to defeat Star Force. As fast as she could run, she had just nary a window to deal a final blow to the monster and complete the level, at the cost of her friend’s life. Jackie ran harder than she ever had before.

            “Do it, Jackie! Kill this son of a bitch once and for all!” With a few button presses, Pierce dropped the drained hilts of his beam swords and gave a defiant thumbs up as he descended to his certain demise.

            One second remained. Jackie had no choice. She dove in front of Star Force and grabbed the Azure Dragon out of the air, holding it tightly to her chest as she fell to the ground, sliding across the street and decimating a horde of zombies with her back and shoulder. Zero seconds remained. [MISSION FAILURE].

            With the game over, all the AR projections vanished, including any illusory damage to the Azure Dragon. Jackie eased her hold on the mech and kept it cradled in her arms. “You’re safe,” she determined with heavy breath. “That was close.”

            “Thanks?” Pierce said from the safety of his cockpit. Jackie’s face and chest took up the entirety of his display. “But we could have won if you attacked the boss instead. Player deaths don’t affect the mission results.” Jackie set the toy robot on the ground and pouted, a little peeved by her friend’s lack of gratitude. “You do realize I wasn’t actually in danger, right?”

            “I know that. But I couldn’t just abandon you.” Jackie walked over to her wedges and put them back on before returning to Pierce. She squatted in front of him, forgetting once again she was wearing a skirt, and held her hand out just below the mech’s torso. Pierce opened the cockpit’s hatch and walked onto her hand, avoiding meeting her crotch’s gaze.

            “Well, that dive was pretty sick. And you came in clutch stomping those zombies. And you should really consider picking up boxing.” Pierce waited while Jackie lifted him to her shoulder. Her palms were sweaty and her face flush red, obviously from all the physical activity. “So, thanks.” Pierce took a seat on the white cloth of Jackie’s shirt. Her chest heaved with every breath, glistening in sweat. This time, Jackie caught the tiny man staring, but she decided to let it slide. Walking out of the play area, she strolled through the devastated street as a team came in to set things up for the next in line. Trying to stay out of their way, Jackie stepped to the side, catching her wedge on a wayward chunk of debris. She tripped on the plastic bobble, her upper body lurching forward and sending Pierce tumbling off her shoulder and into her collar. As a matter of instinct, Jackie reached her hand out and caught the tiny before he could lose himself in the forbidden valley.

            Shit! Jackie thought. That was my chance!

…

            After a long day attending panels, fooling around in the arcade, buying Blu-ray boxsets and artbooks, and ordering too much kimchi at the Korean barbeque place down the street, Jackie and the others returned home from the con. The larger twin stood outside her dorm room holding Pierce in her hand. Lynn had sequestered with Alena in the latter’s dorm, wanting to make full use of the tiny’s costume before she took it off.

            “You sure you don’t want a lift home?” Jackie asked. “I don’t mind.”

            “Nah, I'll be fine. Long drives at night are cathartic for me.” The two stared at each other for a while, knowing what they wanted to say but having no clue how best to say it.

            “I had a lot of fun today.” Jackie tucked her dyed hair behind her ear with her free hand.

            “Same here,” Pierce replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he struggled to figure out what to do with them.

            ‘We should do this again sometime’ Just say, ‘We should do this again sometime.’ Jackie concentrated so hard on keeping her hand from shaking that she couldn't form words, her cheeks fidgeting as she attempted to remain still. Just the two of us. Together. Doing something.

            This is it. Ask her now. This is the best chance I'm ever going to get. Pierce kept getting distracted by minor details, like how there was a near invisible hair growing out of one of Jackie's freckles just below her left eye. Or maybe I should wait five seconds. Maybe that's the best time. 

            Is it rude to ask him out like this? Her eyes darted between him, the floor, a crack in the drywall, back to him, back to the floor. He's stuck there on my hand. Trapped. Unable to get off without injuring himself. What if he thinks I'm trying to coerce him? Even if he said yes, would it just be because of the implication?

            Shit, it's been ten seconds. I'm too late. She'll think I'm a weirdo if I ask now.

            I should say something. It's been quiet for too long. He definitely thinks I'm weird. 

            Why even bother? She's going to say no. There's no way I'm good enough for her, not in a million years.

            What would Lynn say if she were here? A chibi Lynn with shark teeth and devil horns popped into Jackie’s imagination. ‘Why fret over asking him out? Just shove him down your pants, you pussy! That’d make for the best day in this dork’s miserable life.’

            Screw it! I gotta take the shot. I'm gonna ask her. “Hey, um…”

            “Yeah?”

            “Are you going to put me down?”

            “Oh, right!” Jackie lowered her hand gently to the floor and waited for Piece to step off. “My bad.”

            “See you in class tomorrow,” he waved, beginning his trek down the hallway.

            “See ya.” Jackie stepped into her dorm, closing the door behind her.

            Slowly making his way through the massive hallway, Pierce was filled with a sense of contentment. Today had been a good day, spending time with friends, making memories that would last a lifetime. Sure, it would have been nice if him and Jackie had beaten that level, but maybe they'd have another chance when the full thing released. Of course, he couldn't afford it, and even if he could, it wasn't like he had the space to fit a tiny city in his already tiny house. And it's not like Jackie could fit it in her cramped dorm room. Realistically, their only hope would be if Heather happened to buy it and invited them over to play the game. But she'd have to do that of her own volition. Pierce couldn't ask her to buy cool stuff for him, that'd be abusing their friendship, and he was certain she had plenty of “friends” that only really cared about her infinite wealth, and he was determined not to end up as one of them. It was nice of her to cover everyone's tickets today, though. Everybody else seemed to have a good time too. Even Lynn, who claims to not be into this sort of stuff, absolutely slayed her cosplay. And Javi must have had a blast spending some personal time with Heather. And Alena looked like she was in paradise, even when she was fussing over Lynn. Today had been a good day. Pierce made it past two other dorm rooms before he pulled out his phone and called Javi.

            “Dude, I fucked up!”

            “What happened?” Javi asked as if prepared for this call.

            “I had the perfect opportunity to ask her out, and I fucking flaked.” Fortunately, no one else was around to overhear the panicking tiny.

            “Calm down. How long ago was this?”

            “A few minutes ago.”

            “Alright. You're going to hang up on me and call her immediately. Don't waste time with small talk or pleasantries. Pop the question as soon as she picks up.”

            “What if she doesn't pick up?” Pierce asked.

            “Don't leave a message. Just hang up and wait for her to call back. If she doesn't call back, you're in God's hands.”

            “I don't know about this. What if she thinks…”

            “You don’t know what she thinks! And you never will until you ask her. Now, do exactly what I said or you're going to regret this moment for the rest of your life.” Javi hung up.

…

            Jackie slumped against her door, burying her face into her knees. “Gaahhh! What is wrong with me?” A storm of emotions brewed within her: anger at herself for being gutless, regret over failing to get what she wanted, envy that her sister made this look so easy, and fear that Pierce secretly hated her despite her inability to formulate a rational reason why he would.

He's still in the building, she thought. It'll take him at least ten minutes to walk out. I have plenty of time to catch up to him. She sat by the door and fantasized about rushing to his side, asking him to go out with her, and whisking him away to some coffee shop which would inevitably become their spot on the start of a long and immaculate relationship. Instead of following her heart, Jackie trudged into her kitchen, grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a large spoon, and shoveled the sweet spread straight into her mouth.

            Jackie nearly dropped her spoon at the chirping of her ringtone. As soon as she saw the call was from Pierce, she answered it, not even letting the call finish the first dial tone. “Hahwo? *Gulp* *hack*” Jackie pounded at her chest in an attempt to choke down the glob of peanut butter stuck in her throat. “Hey, what’s up? *gyek*”    

            “Th-th-that new Spider-Man movie comes out this Friday. Want to go out with me and see it?”

            Two seconds. The silence lasted for two whole seconds. And within those seconds, spanned an eternity. Adrift in the boundless sea of anticipation and anxiety, Pierce's soul wandered through the astral plain, searching, longing for anything that could anchor him back to the material world. Upon reaching the edge of reality and standing atop the altar of naught, Pierce found his keystone in Jackie’s response.

            “Yeah, I’d love to. Let’s figure out a time tomorrow.” Her words resonated as if spoken by the Bodhisattva, guiding the wayward Pierce down the path to enlightenment.

            “Cool. See ya tomorrow, then.”

            “Bye.” Out in the hallway, Pierce fell to his hands and knees, crashing back down to Earth after his brief ascension to Heaven. To say he felt exalted would be putting it lightly. Pierce pulled his phone out and called his best friend.

            “What’d she say?” Javi asked.

            “Yes!”

            “Hell yeah.”

            Inside her dorm, Jackie jumped into her bed, laughing into her pillow and kicking against the mattress. The raging storm of emotions subsided, a ray of happiness piercing the clouds.  

            “You’re taking Jackie to the movies, huh? Bold move for a first date,” Javi remarked. He and Pierce were shooting hoops in the rec center.

            “What do you mean?” Pierce took his shot and missed. If they were keeping track of the score, Javi would be ahead by twenty points.

            “Come on, a tiny takes a big to the movies? We all know how this goes.” The look Pierce sent Javi's way made it abundantly clear he had no clue how this supposedly went. “Don't tell me you aren't familiar with the Popcorn Tub Gambit. It's the oldest trick in the book.” Javi flung the ball behind his back from the foul line, sinking it through the net.

            “The hell are you talking about?” Pierce tossed his ball, hitting the backboard and watching it rebound to the other side of the court.

            “Alright, let me walk you through it. When you get inside the theater, where do you sit?”

Pierce thought for a moment. “I don't know. I've never been to a big theater before. I guess on her shoulder?” Big people's movie theaters typically had special seating for tinies directly under the projector, protruding from the walls on balconies.

            “If you're a coward, sure. But a real man,” Javi fell back past the three-point line and sunk another shot, “sits on the rim of their date's popcorn tub.”

            “Why would I do that?” Pierce grabbed his ball and flung it again and missed again.

            “Think about it. Sitting there, what's behind you?” Javi pretended to juke around Pierce, sinking another shot.

            “Popcorn.”

            “No, you're not sitting over… The popcorn's in front of you, so what's behind you?” Every time Javi made a shot, the ball would bounce back towards his way, as if it were rooting for him to make another one.

            “Jackie.”

            “More specifically.”

            “Jackie's boobs.” Pierce tossed the ball from the foul line and finally sank one.

            “Exactly. Paint the picture in your head. You're sitting there on the rim of that bucket, the fragrance of salt and butter wafting up in front of you while your date's warm breath hits you from behind. You're twenty, maybe thirty, minutes into the movie, both of you are having a good time, and then she reaches into her tub to grab some popcorn. Without thinking, she shakes the tub a little, you lose your balance and fall back between those supple mountains.” Javi darted forward and dunked the ball. The crowd in his head went wild.

            “And then she screams, calls me a perverted freak, and never talks to me again.” Thinking he found his mojo, Pierce took another shot, whiffing completely. “There's no way I'm reaching second base on the first date.”

            “Mixed size relationships travel faster than the speed of light, my guy. Bigs are scheming how to stuff you in their clothes from the moment they lay eyes on you; getting intimate with tinies as soon as possible is simply their nature, like the size difference eliminates the boundaries of personal space. Trust me, she wants this as much as you do, if not moreso.” Javi oft made big claims regarding bigs, but it wasn’t like Pierce had enough experience dating giants to refute them.

            “Okay, but what if I fall forward? Sounds like there's a fifty-fifty chance I wind up between her teeth.” As Pierce dribbled, Javi ran up and stole the ball, making the shot in his stead.

            “That's the gambit. Great rewards don't come without great risk.” Javi noted the fear in Pierce's eyes and adjusted his approach. “Kidding, I’m kidding. This is Jackie we're talking about. She's not going to mistake a person for a popcorn kernel.”

            “Alright, but what if she's covered up? She usually wears T-shirts. If I fell back on that, I'd just roll into her lap.” Pierce tried stealing Javi’s ball, but the athlete outmaneuvered him and made another basket.

            “I already told you, she wants you in her cleavage.” Javi ran to half-court, slung the ball like a shotput, and made it. “I bet she’ll buy something low-cut specifically for this date.”

            “You’re crazy.” Pierce grabbed the ball and went for a layup. Missed. “She wouldn’t put in that much effort for a date with me.”

            Javi tilted his head back and sighed. If he had a dollar for every time he had to put up with this schtick from Pierce, he’d buy out Heather’s penthouse suite. “You’ll see, man. You’ll see.”

…

            Pierce stood outside the massive theater complex by himself, a lone tiny in a cement desert loitering by the building’s outer wall on an expansive sidewalk traversed by towering pedestrians. It was late afternoon. Pierce had been waiting ten minutes, having arrived twenty minutes early, wearing a freshly ironed polo shirt and khaki shorts. A thousand-yard stare accompanied the prickling of nerves crawling beneath his skin. A part of him feared Jackie would change her mind and stand him up; Another part of him hoped she’d come to her senses and stand him up. But beyond the unbridled anxiety, a hearth of excitement burned steady in the back of Pierce’s mind.

            “Hey there,” Jackie said, breaking the tiny from his contemplation. He didn’t notice her approach, but the larger twin loomed over him, casting him in shadow as her colossal figure stretched into the sky. Peering up the human skyscraper, Pierce was immediately caught off guard by Jackie’s top. She wore a lavender crop camisole, suspended by spaghetti straps and split down the center by a deep V-neck. From the ground below, Pierce could look straight through Jackie’s cleavage, the top revealing the full inner curvature of her breasts. The cloth covered little more than lingerie, stopping just above the midriff. Were the twins the same size, Pierce would have figured Jackie had borrowed it from her sister, never expecting the larger twin to be caught dead in something so scanty. Standing there, Jackie tugged at every edge of the fabric, trying to get it to cover more than what was physically possible. The rest of her outfit was more in character, clashing with the ostentatious top. An unzipped hoodie hid her bare shoulders, arms and back. A pair of well-worn jeans spanned her towering legs down to her combat boots, the platforms reaching up to Pierce’s abdomen. And per usual, the home-knit grey beanie kept much of her dirty-blonde bob under wraps.

            “Hi! You look great,” Pierce said. A latent goblin nesting in his thoughts worried complimenting her appearance would make him out to be a creep.

            “Thanks. You clean up nicely yourself.” Jackie crouched down and held her hand out for her date to climb on. Her dormant mind gremlin fretted her remark implied he didn’t normally look good. Pierce stepped onto the open palm and rode the living elevator up to the level of his date’s prodigious chest, forcing him to turn his head from her. Jackie stifled a giggle as she carried him into the theater. The interior was glitzed up in nostalgic décor reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood. Movie posters lined the walls and incandescent light bulbs dotted every doorway and frame. Jackie approached the ticket booth and set Pierce down on the counter.

            “Two tickets for Spider-Man, please,” he said, pulling out his phone and opening a cash-sending app.

            “Well, aren’t you the gentleman,” the older woman behind the glass barrier remarked, causing the tiny to cock his head. “It’s rare to see a tiny buy their own ticket. Most have their friends smuggle them in.” The clerk accepted Pierce’s payment and handed over the tickets, one the size of a microchip. Jackie grabbed hers and let Pierce get back into her hand, carrying him into the lobby and towards the concessions stand.

            “I’ll pay for the concessions if you cover dinner,” Jackie offered.

            “Deal. Just a popcorn and a Diet Coke for me.”

            “Got it.” Jackie greeted the person behind the counter and went ahead with her order. “Two tubs of popcorn and two large Diet Cokes.” For a minute there, Pierce was worried they might get two giant sized tubs and cups, but the theater staff deduced what Jackie meant and gave the couple their correctly scaled snacks. Jackie’s items stood like silos to the two-inch man. Pierce gazed up at the top of the humongous popcorn tub, squinting at the theater’s overhead lights hanging over him. There was no way he was attempting that stupid popcorn trick Javi mentioned, even if Jackie’s outfit seemed well suited for it.

            Jackie lifted Pierce onto the lid of her soda, wrapping one arm around her popcorn and carrying her food and her date to their movie. She found a seat at the end of the row to sit in, far out enough so that Pierce could hopefully still see if someone sat in front of them. Pierce remained sitting on the soda lid, concessions held in either hand, as Jackie lowered the pop tower into the cup holder. There was no way he was attempting that dumb as hell popcorn trick; he wouldn’t even suggest to sit there, the idea so ridiculous.

            Without a word, Jackie softly pinched Pierce between her fingers, hoisting him upwards. It was a sudden shock even with how gentle she was, the tiny unused to unconsenting handling from Jackie of all people. She brought him closer to her chest, careful not to spill his snacks, and plopped him onto the rim of her popcorn tub. Pierce couldn’t believe it. He turned his head and tilted it back to catch a glimpse of his date. Jackie stared off to somewhere in the distance, her cheeks tinted red and her lip quivering.

            No way, Pierce thought. Was Javi right? Is the gambit a real thing?

            The lights in the theater dimmed as the opening trailers began rolling. The room was packed, it being opening night, but to the fresh couple’s luck the seat in front was occupied by a child, meaning neither the tiny man nor the short woman would have difficulty watching the movie. Jackie scooted to the far edge of her seat to ensure there was enough breadth between her and the tall lady seated next to her, mortified by the thought of potentially touching elbows with her. Fortunately, the introvert had her date, the movie, and a whole bucket of popcorn to distract her.

            Jackie dived her hand into the tub and scooped out a heap of buttery kernels. She was careful not to rock the bucket at all, which clearly took considerable focus despite how natural her movements appeared. This proved quite the boon for Pierce as it was awkward to have to hold his drink in one hand and rest his tub on his lap, though the only thing on his mind was the gambit.

            So far, everything had gone as Javi predicted. Pierce didn’t even ask for the unorthodox seating, Jackie just assumed he’d sit there. Given how uncomfortable it was for the tiny, it was not at all inline with her usual behavior, so it’d stand to reason there was a greater purpose behind the act. But still, second base on the first date? Unheard of. Preposterous. Unreasonable. Pierce should be barred from dating for even considering such a possibility. Bigs having a natural inclination towards smothering tinies? That doesn’t even make sense. Sure, they like to coddle small creatures, cuddle with pets, cradle babies in their arms. And sure, mixed size relationships certainly offered a wide variety of intimate interactions, often involving overwhelming a tiny with their giant partner’s prominent features as a mutually beloved show of affection, but to find oneself lost in the valley of dreams so soon was wishful thinking to the max.

            Pierce had become stranded in the labyrinth of uncertainty, so caught up in what ifs he didn’t realize the movie had been playing for over twenty minutes. Suddenly, Pierce could feel Jackie’s breath on his shoulders. The humid air had blown there the whole time, but the tiny could feel the breaths getting shorter. He also felt vibrations rise up through the paper board tub as Jackie tapped her fingers against the container. Just as the film left the exposition, transitioning to the rising action, Pierce felt a tension building in the atmosphere.

            Like a comet descending through the ozone, Jackie’s arm plunged into the reservoir of popcorn, her wrist knocking against the edge of the bucket and sending Pierce careening off the rim. Pierce lost his orientation. One moment he was seated before a sea of salt and butter, the next he was pinned between velvety walls. He could’ve sworn the bucket tilted back just before his tumble, but the minor details didn’t matter anymore. He was entrapped within silky skin barricades, bound by buxom beefers, imprisoned within a bouncing tomb of corpulent flesh, stuck in a spot most desirable, sandwiched between the boobs of his lovely date. Jackie’s heartbeat pounded in his ears. Strawberry scented body wash filled his lungs. A gentle heat radiated off her skin and enveloped the tiny. If there existed a world beyond her, Pierce could no longer tell.

            The trapped tiny looked up through the crack in the sky, a thin sliver that led to the outside. He could see the bottom of Jackie’s chin; she seemed to still be watching the movie, though he couldn’t see her face from his position in her chest. Pierce considered calling out to her, let her know he accidentally fell onto her, but he wondered if she was ignoring him on purpose. She must have felt him in there. He could feel her squeeze her knockers together as if trying to get a better grip on their captured prey. What started as squeezing shifted into kneading his puny frame into her flesh.

            Unbeknownst to Pierce, Jackie crossed her arms under and around her chest, framing her perky features and pressing them together. She could feel his faint heartbeat pulse through her skin and his body shifting as he tried nestling into his new home. Glancing at her neighbor, Jackie was happy to see the other woman oblivious to her little game. No one else in the theater was aware Jackie had her miniscule man stuffed between her mammaries. It was their little secret as the film went on unabated.

            By some miracle, Pierce kept his concessions in his hands, spilling only a minimal amount of miniature kernels. The confines of Jackie’s cleavage were tight, but they offered just enough room for him to snack. Through the slight crack in his skin-tone sky, Pierce could still view most of the movie; now accompanied by two bulbous borders, but viewable enough and well-worth the price of admission.

…

            Credits rolled, and the lights faded on. Jackie stretched her arms skyward, happy that Pierce remained tucked away in the best seat in the house. The larger twin stayed seated as the names of foreign marketing staff scrolled by, most of the moviegoers having long left. With no one around to see her, she plucked her date out from his chamber.

            “Did you enjoy the show?” Jackie asked, holding Pierce up to her eyes. She was trying to sound sultry, but her whole face glowing redder than Rudolph’s nose dampened the intended effect.

            If I say yes, she'll think I'm a pervert, Pierce calculated. If I say no, she'll think I find her unattractive. And I can't say maybe because that doesn't make any sense. Potential responses fired off in Pierce's mind until he finally found one he could settle on. “It was a bit dull at the start, but things really heated up in the second act.”

            “Yeah, I get what you mean.” Jackie stood up and carried Pierce out of the theater, throwing away her detritus on the way out. Outside, the sun retreated behind the horizon, losing its daily contest to the stars of night. Pierce shivered in her palm, adjusting to the open air. The scent of Jackie’s peach hand lotion was buried beneath the buttery aroma of popcorn, and her skin was a tad dry from the salt.

            “What do you want to do for dinner?” Pierce asked.

            “Something simple. McDonalds? Pretty sure there’s one next block over.”

            “That works for me.”

…

            Jackie set her tray down at an empty booth, taking her seat as Pierce stepped off the hard plastic and set his order onto a miniature table placed across from her. In an effort to manage his weight, the tiny planned on getting just a quarter-ouncer w/ cheese and a fry, but the McRib was back, and he hadn't had one since he was a kid, so Pierce decided to splurge and add that on as well.

            “How is it?” Jackie asked from behind her mountain range of food. She got a Big Mac, 10pc nugget, fries, and a strawberry shake. 

            “It's alright, I guess,” Pierce said after taking a bite. “I remember it tasting better when I was younger.”

            “Mind if I try?” Her date ripped off a piece of his sandwich from the other end and placed it on the tip of her index finger. What was really one fourth of the sandwich was no more than a crumb to the giantess, but she licked it off her finger and let it drown in her saliva. “You’re right. That ain't worth the hype.”

            “I'm surprised you can even taste it.”

            “My palate is quite refined, I'll have you know,” she said before scarfing down a fistful of limp fries. “Lynn always gets upset when I steal from her plate. Says I should lick the crumbs off mine if I'm still hungry.” Having spent enough time with the twins, Pierce finally noticed Jackie was not only the taller of the two but also pudgier than her slimmer sister, though that fact was usually obscured by the baggy clothes the giant typically wore.

            “Can’t say I blame her,” Pierce shrugged. “I’d be miffed too if a big ‘borrowed’ from my meal.”

            “Oh crap, did you see that?” Jackie gawked, pointing to the soda fountain in the corner of the restaurant. Pierce turned around to see what she was talking about, giving his date the opportunity to pluck three meager fries from his tray.

            “I don’t see… Hey!”

            “Oh, is something amiss?” Jackie teased, tossing the dinky potato wedges onto her tongue, sticking the muscle out to flaunt her spoils. “And what are you going to do about it? Come and get them?”

            “If that’s what it takes.” Pierce stood and rolled up his sleeves, ready to take back what was rightfully his. Jackie was more than willing to indulge such brazen foolhardiness, but she convinced herself he was joking and swallowed the fries before she gave in to unseemly temptation.

            “Sorry. I suppose that was rude of me.” Jackie grabbed one of her fries and plopped it onto Pierce’s table, each end dangling off the sides like a pool noodle. “Here. Take this as recompense.” Pierce sat back down, joining Jackie in a fit of laughter. The nerves that haunted the couple earlier that evening went the way of crumbs in Jackie’s mouth. Pierce nibbled on the giant fry, its girth proving difficult to wrap his jaw around, before Jackie mercilessly took it back.

            “How’s your PC working?” Pierce asked.

            “Great. Thanks again for your help with that.” Jackie bit into her Big Mac, dripping sauce onto her boob, leading her to scrape it off with her finger and suck it off. Pierce wondered if in a past life he had rescued a gaggle of kids from a burning orphanage or liberated a kingdom from a tyrannical despot. “It’s an old unit, so it can’t handle any triple A games too well, but it’s perfect for older titles and indie stuff.”

            “That’s good to hear. If you want, I can come by again and see if there’s anywhere it could be further optimized.” Pierce had a dollop of barbeque sauce on his cheek. It took all of Jackie’s willpower to resist dabbing it off.

            “Please, you’ve done enough already. It’s fine as it is.” Jackie slurped her shake, trying not to look at Pierce. He got more barbeque sauce on his face, and it dawned on her how perfectly he could fit in the dipping cup that came with her nuggets. “But thank you. Wish I could return the favor.”

            “Never steal my food,” he jested. “Promise me that, and I’ll consider us even.”

            “Fine,” Jackie conceded, rolling her eyes. She put down a nugget and raised her right hand. “I solemnly swear never to… Hey, is that Javi over there?” As soon as Pierce turned his head, she snatched a couple more of his fries.

            “Hey!”

…

            After dinner, Jackie carried Pierce back to his car. Once again, she offered to lift him back to the tiny district, but Pierce was persistent on driving himself.

            “I’ll be working on the car again tomorrow if you want to come hang out,” Pierce offered, stepping into his EV. “Javi’ll be there, helping out as much as always.”

            “Sure thing! Seeya tomorrow.” Jackie waved and watched as the tiny car drove off into a grate leading to the underground highway network. Once her date was out of sight, she zipped up her hoodie and began the not-so-far walk back to her dorm, pulling out her phone and texting Javi.

            Hey, that popcorn bucket thing actually worked!

            Told you it would, Javi replied. A few seconds later he sent a follow-up message: To be clear, he didn’t fall into the popcorn, right? Still don’t get why you thought that was the goal.

            No! I tipped the bucket so he’d fall backwards. A tucked away corner of Jackie's mind dreamed what could have been had Pierce fallen forward instead. I just figured the point was to get him into the popcorn since it was in the name. It’s not that big a deal, don’t think too hard about it.

            Suuuuuuuuure. Whatever sort of stuff you get into with him is your guys’ business. Just try not to traumatize my best friend lol.

            Whatever :P I have no idea what you’re implying. Jackie slipped her phone away and headed home, the evening’s highlight reel repeating on loop in her wandering mind.

            “This won’t do, Javi. You’re at a C+ after that last test,” Shawna chided, seated backwards in the desk in front of Michelle and the tiny. Women’s and Gender Studies 101 had just wrapped, and Michelle and Heather were packing up when the redhead approached their spot in the back corner. She had on a white dress shirt unbuttoned far enough to display her plunging neckline and a maroon pencil skirt that accentuated her nylon clad legs. Her wavy scarlet hair cascaded past her shoulders, pairing off her crimson red lip gloss. “We have to remedy this immediately, lest it affect your athletic career. It’s time we had ourselves a one-on-one tutoring session.” Shawna held her hand out on the desk, waiting for Javi to climb on without thinking to ask if he was available.

            “Yeah, that test was rough,” Heather interjected, leaning forward on her desk to push herself into the conversation. “Maybe I could get in on some tutoring.”

            Shawna gave her a cursory glance and formulated a counter offensive to the heiress’ obstinance. “Rough, you say? Your A- begs to differ,” Miss Everhart said with a calculated smirk, eliciting a tongue click from her student. “I’m open to offering you any assistance you’d require, but it will do you and Javi more good to see to you both individually given the stark difference in your performances.”

            With a hiss and an eye roll, Heather conceded her point, standing up and hoisting her skateboard-laden backpack on her shoulder. “See ya tomorrow, Javi.” Michelle sat there idly as Heather made her exit. She wanted to butt in but realized her B+ wasn’t going to get her any further than the heiress.

            “See you guys,” Michelle muttered, leaving Javi alone with the teaching assistant. Javi grabbed his stuff and stepped onto Shawna’s palm, keeping his balance as she elevated him to chest level.

            “Man, when was the last time I held you like this?” Shawna asked, doing her best not to lose composure with a cute guy in her clutches.

            “Not since we were kids. Feels like ages ago. We’ve grown quite a bit since then…” Javi took a quick glance at the ballistics fighting a winning battle for his attention. “…haven’t we?”

            “We sure have.” Shawna eyed the puny basketball star, which was easy to do when his whole frame fit within her view. A lean build complimented by chiseled features, lush black hair hung down in a neat trim, and a tan as smooth as caramel were just a few of the features responsible for Javier Delgado’s animal magnetism. One might assume his diminished stature would be a mark against his appeal, despite being rather tall by tiny standards, but if anything, his puny physique in conjunction with the rest of the package made him even more desirable; an athletic dreamboat destined for success small enough to literally wrap your finger around made for many a girl’s ideal man.

            Shawna stood up into the aisle, slowly lifting Javi skyward along with her. The classroom had since cleared out, leaving the room nice and empty for a private tutoring session. “Would you be okay with doing this over at my apartment? It’s quiet there and would make for a better learning environment,” Shawna suggested, correctly predicting the nod Javi gave her. “Good. As for carrying you there…” The TA brough her hand closer to her chest, hovering it over the deep valley of her cleavage. “I’m sorry to admit that I’ve recently developed carpal tunnel, so carrying you in my hand is a no-go.”

            “I could always ride on your shoulder,” Javi said smirking.

            “I’m too clumsy,” she fibbed. “You might fall off and get hurt.”

            “You have any pockets?”

            “Nope.”

            “Then how about your purse?” Javi almost lost it at Shawna’s pouting.

            “You could get pinned under a pen or my phone or- Look, don’t make me say it. You want a ride or not?”

            “Fine, fine. Carry me however.” Javi felt a sudden drop as Shawna tilted her hand a full ninety degrees, landing him between the soft mounds below. Before he could get his footing, Javi felt a lumbering finger shove him deep into the abyss, surrounding him in thick walls of warm flesh. When inserting her passenger, Shawna made sure to keep her long, red fingernail pointed away from the tiny’s body, to prevent any unwanted injuries.

            Javi got as comfortable as he could inside his friend’s cleavage, not that the bulging breasts gave him much room to maneuver. He could feel Shawna’s pulse just beyond her skin, her heart racing as she secured her student betwixt her buxom beauts. Each step the giantess took sent her pair bounding, jostling the tiny as she sauntered out of the classroom.

…

            Upon entering her apartment’s bedroom, Shawna pulled Javi from his cozy abode and tossed him onto her mattress. The room didn't have much in the way of personal effects. Everything served a function: a simple bed with navy blue comforter, a plain wooden desk covered in loose papers, folders, and various office materials, a nightstand with a lamp and digital alarm clock, file cabinets filled with documents bearing a router and modem across their flat surfaces. While the tiny sat himself up near the edge of the bed, his towering friend waltzed over to her desk and grabbed a few sheets of paper, then proceeded to plant her fine ass in a leather office chair and rolled over towards Javi. She kicked off her pumps and crossed one knee over the other, wiggling her nylon-clad toes hypnotically.

            “I have here some practice questions from the test. Not all of them were on the exam, but going over them will help you prepare for next time,” Shawna said, knocking up her papers with her knee.

            “Wait, we’re seriously going to study?” Javi asked.

            “Of course. What’d you think I brought you here for?” Shawna paused to draw out the tiny’s blushing. “You need to keep your grades up so they don’t kick you from the team, and I find myself responsible for helping you manage that. But just because you're learning doesn't mean we can't have fun with it. I recognize the value of extrinsic motivation. So, how about this: for every question you get right, I'll remove one garment of clothing from my body.” Javi’s eyes nearly leapt from their sockets. “But for every question you get wrong, you have to strip. First one to bare it all is the loser.”

            “What do I get if I win?”

            “What do you think, lover boy?” she purred.

            “And if I lose?” Javi’s goofy grin contrasted with the devilish smirk forming at the corners of Shawna’s satin lips.

            “Best you don’t find out. It may not be considered kosher among pedagogists, but corporal punishment is still an effective motivator.” Judging by the tiny’s unbridled enthusiasm, the TA’s analysis was correct. Ms. Everhart licked her lips in anticipation, amused by the miniscule pupils tracking the muscle’s revolution. “First question: What year did women gain the right to vote?”

            “Easy. 1920 for bigs, and 1924 for tinies.”

            “Very good.” Shawna pinched the end of her legging and tugged it off, the smooth fabric gliding across her calf before jettisoning off her heel and toes. “Of course, tiny women couldn't vote in federal elections until?”

            “1943. Same as the rest of us.”

            “Right again.” Javi’s study partner did the same for her other foot, drawing things out for maximum sex appeal. Afterwards, she propped her feet just beside the two-inch man, one heel crossed over the other. Contrary to popular stereotypes, feet didn't do much for the tiny, and the musty stench wafting from Shawna's pent up peds would have at one point repulsed the little guy, but date enough bigs and one eventually acquires a taste for their pervasive B.O. “Now, name a prominent figure involved with each size's suffrage movement.”

            “Uh,” Javi wracked his brain for names he remembered getting lectured on. “Jane Austen and Miriam Silvers?”

            “No. Austen is an English novelist from the late 18th century, and Miriam Silvers is the lead character of a romance novella. Did you get this mixed up with English class?”

            “Probably. Too many names to keep track of.” Javi unrolled his socks slowly, sensuously. He stretched his legs out and crossed one foot over the other in playful mockery. His toes wiggled with the intent of hypnotizing the giantess, but it didn't seem to have an effect unless a soft chuckle counted.

            “Right. I bet it's tough having remember all these women. Can you even recall mine?”

            “Of course, Shawna.” He noted the small smile she flashed him and her eyes trailing towards the next question. “Hey, that counts!”

            “Huh?” She glanced at the miniscule finger pointing eagerly at her shirt and rolled her eyes. “You’re not getting tested on my name, dummy.” Javi’s finger remained unwavering, drawing out a grating sigh from his tutor. “Fine. I guess you got me.” Shawna set the practice test down on her lap and untucked her shirt from her waistband. One by one, she undid each button, gradually revealing her alluring figure from her voluptuous breasts to her flat midriff. A black lace bra cupped her chest beefers as best it could, causing her skin to bulge out from the top of the fabric.  “Next question, a real one this time: What is uptalk?”

            “Nothing much. What’s up with you?” For whatever reason, Javi suspected that wasn’t the answer she was looking for. The raised eyebrows and dead silence supported that theory. “Did I get it right?”

            “Take your shirt off. The answer I was looking for is: an upwards inflection at the end of a sentence typically associated with women’s speech.” At Shawna’s behest, the tiny lifted his T-shirt off, giving his rippling abs room to breathe. His perfect pecs peeked out from under the upturned fabric, and his expansive wingspan, for his size, left a lasting impression on his one-woman audience.

            “Eyes up here,” he teased, tossing his shirt aside and combing one hand through his silky hair. Shawna blinked a few times and averted her gaze towards the practice test.

            “N-next question: What promise did you make to me when you were in third grade?”

            “You expect me to believe that's an actual test question?” Javi scoffed.

            “You got a freebie for knowing my name, so it's only fair I get one too. I want to see those shorts off stat.”

            “Hold on…” Javi thought back to ancient times on the playground, to honeyed words offered to the pretty neighbor girl three grades up. “I promised to buy you a house with a swimming pool once I become a professional basketball player because your parents refused to install one at your own.”

            “I can't believe you remembered that!” Shawna said beaming. She took her feet off the mattress and stood up, her partially naked figure towering far above the tiny on the bed. “I was sure I had you.” The TA unzipped her skirt, letting it drop to the floor. A black lace thong covered little more than the essentials. Recently trimmed pubes dotted the woman’s groin. From the tiny’s perspective, her thighs were larger than the mightiest oaks. Grabbing her practice exam, she sat back down, crossing her legs to give the tiny a tantalizing view of the underside of her thigh and the fine ass it led too. “But I’ll stump you with this one: List the four facets of masculinity.”

            “Hedges complement March shrubs.” Javi rambled off with an odd amount of confidence.

            “Excuse me?”

            “It’s a neural device Heather taught me.”

            “Mnemonic device,” Shawna corrected, clicking her tongue.

            “Yeah, one of those. You replace the complicated words with silly ones that are easier to remember,” he explained to the teaching assistant. “So the answer is: hegemonic, complicit, marginalized, and shrubordinate.”

            “Very impressive.” Shawna let the error slide and reached behind her back to unhook her bra, freeing her jumblies from their restraints. Two perfect jugs bound out from the thin lace once holding them together, each flowing into pert, pink caps pointed the puny man’s way. “Now, describe one of them for me.”

            “Uh… shit.” At least he got to look at some titties. Thanks, Heather. Javi pulled his shorts down, his boxers beneath billowing out. A sharp V bordered his groin, carving out his thighs from his waist. His tan continued seamlessly up his trunks.

            “One more question to decide it.” Shawna chewed on her lower lip as she formulated the final stretch of their game. She’d have those boxers off in no time. “Who was President James Buchanan’s First Lady?”

            “What?” Javi shot her a dumbfounded gape, but she didn’t waver. The TA waited for the correct answer with bated breath. “How the hell am I supposed to know that? Did we even learn that? There’s no way that’s a test question.”

            “History is very important, my dear, and behind every great man is a much better woman, or something to that effect. You should familiarize yourself with our country's leading ladies and their accomplishments.”

            I don't even know who President Buchanan is. Javi scratched his head, trying and failing to recall anything related to this from class. He may not have been the most attentive or the best notetaker, and having three giant women constantly vying for his attention didn’t help matters, but he was sure they never went over this. “I don't know, Eleanor Buchanan?”

            “Bzzzzt! Not even close.” Before Javi could so much as move, Shawna leaned forward and pinched his meager frame between her fingers, lifting him up before her face. His entire torso was eclipsed by her thumb, his face sandwiched between her digits with his legs kicking aimlessly in the wind. Shawna didn’t hesitate in yanking off the tiny’s boxers, finally getting at the girthy, relatively speaking, treasure she had long yearned for.  “Buchanan never married. He didn’t have a First Lady.”

            “That’s not f-” The squirming tiny was interrupted by the oppressive pressure of his study buddy’s tongue dragging across his body. Shawna pushed the little man into her salivating muscle, relishing every bit of his scrumptious flavor as he struggled against the tensile wall.

            “Sorry. Them’s the brakes.” Shawna licked him a few more times before pressing him into the velvety vermillion of her lips. She wrapped her expansive mouth around Javi’s crotch and played with his member, slipping the tip of her tongue beneath his shaft and tugging on his manhood with the strength of a giant. Javi instinctively pushed back against her lips, trying to get away from the insurmountable force providing him unearthly pleasure, but the power of just the giantess’ tongue was too much for the tiny to defend against. Only after bringing him to the edge of delight did she let up. “Now it’s time for your punishment.”

            Shawna bared her pearly fangs. Each tooth was formidable enough to tear clean through any part of Javi’s body. One bite from her molars would be all it’d take to reduce the tiny to an unrecognizable pulp. She chomped at the air in front of him, the clacking of her teeth ringing the tiny’s ears. “I really hate to do this to you. You showed so much promise, but I have no tolerance for failures. Underachievers like yourself are better off serving as protein for those at the top. A few extra calories to fuel my study sessions.”

            Javi shivered in the TA’s grip, witnessing a side he’d never seen from his longtime friend. Her cavernous mouth overtook his field of vision, her humid breath condensing against his skin. “Y-you can't eat me,” he pleaded, playing along. “Give me a few years. I'm going to be a star. I'll- I'll get you that pool you always wanted.” Shawna lifted him higher, placing him before her porthole of an eye. She saw the thin veneer of a coolheaded persona twist into fright and savored every bit of it.

            “Save your begging. I warned you of the consequences, and you agreed to them. It’s not my fault you weren’t prepared.” She lowered him back to her mouth, filling his view with her sickly smirk. She could feel his pulse racing through her fingers; the pace at which his lungs inflated and deflated drove her wild. Fear or excitement, it was invigorating beyond belief, but she knew she could only take it so far. “But on account of our chance reunion, and you being such a good friend to me, I suppose I can offer you a chance at mercy.” The cruel grin vanished behind a gentle smile, one the tiny was much more familiar with and found much more comforting.

            “I have prepared a bonus question,” Shawna continued, “but I don't want you to just tell me the answer. Instead, you need to demonstrate to me that you truly understand the material. Ready?”

            “As I’ll ever be. Not that I have much choice,” he continued acting. Shawna stepped forward and kneeled on top of the mattress, continuing to dangle her tiny plaything before her.

            “Your final question, one I deem to be of great importance in the subject of women’s studies, is this: What is cunnilingus?” Shawna let go of her prey, sending him careening down the length of her torso and into the canopy of her panties she so graciously held open for him. After flailing through the air, Javi landed on the plush fabric of the gigantic thong, rolling down the slope and crashing face first into a seeping labia. Before he could regain his bearings, the lingerie snapped against his back, pinning him in place. If that weren't enough, he also had the honor of bearing the brunt of the giantess’ fingertip, the heavy digit mashing him into her from the other side of the lace barrier.

            Javi, sandwiched between a ravenous pair of lips, searched under the hood until he found the smooth orb. His technique began with a firm squeeze and a gentle rubdown from both hands. As he polished the giant pearl, Javi had to hold tight, the giantess collapsing onto the mattress and all but ramming him into her hole. Next step, Javi wrapped his lips around as much of the clit as he could, and lathered it with his tongue, swirling it around the nub in clockwise motions regularly interspersed by a counter-clockwise twist. With the sweet spot properly soaked and the expected chorus of moans bellowing in the distance, Javi transitioned to nibbling the bean. Through thorough experimentation, the tiny determined that bites at roughly seventy percent of his miniscule jaw’s strength elicited the best reactions on average, making minor tweaks to match his partner’s preference for roughness. For Shawna, he discovered that her enjoyment peaked around eighty-five percent.

            Light briefly flashed in Javi’s eyes before an imposing hand blocked out the daytime rays. Shawna couldn’t take any more, shoving her hand into her underwear and submerging her lovemaker into her hot, sticky chasm. The giantess lurched at the lithe limbs titillating her insides, her fingers pushing him ever deeper into the steamy darkness. Once she delved as far as she could reach, the tiny took the baton and crawled all the way to the back. Shawna writhed on her bed, one hand clutching her hefty tit while the other massaged her G-spot. All the while, Javi tangoed with the cervix, dancing a rapturous rhapsody in the hallowed hall of love.

            The old bed creaked furiously as Shawna bucked. Weightlessness overtook her, the elation of sex without the restriction of a full-sized man holding her down, her body moving any which way under the throes of passion.

            In contrast, Javi's world tightened around him, flesh and cum consuming the tiny on all sides as his tutor climbed further and further towards climax. As his range of movement shrunk, his motions were less meditated and more instinctual, rapping against the concaving walls in forceful bouts of pleasure. 

            After enough jerking, gyrating, clenching, contorting, gasping, and groaning, the two reached a euphoric release. Shawna fell limp, lying in a pool of her own sweat. A satisfied sigh accompanied her light panting. Once the walls around him loosened up, Javi crawled his way back into the light, the open air cooling his cum-stained figure. The stubble of freshly trimmed hairs dug soothingly into his backside as he bathed in the afterglow.

            “Oh shit, I've got a class to get to,” Shawna remembered, glancing at the digital clock on her nightstand. She quickly sat up, sending the still blissed tiny rolling off her lap, and gathered her discarded clothing. After wiping herself off with a tissue, the TA got herself dressed; a quick comb through and touch-up were all it took to make herself presentable once more. “You headed to main classroom? I can take you there, if you’d like.”

            “Yeah, but could you wash me off first?” Javi asked, his naked body drenched in a thick layer of ejaculate.

            “Sure thing,” she said giggling. She lowered her open palm for him to walk onto and carried him into her bathroom. “And let me know whenever you need more tutoring. Can’t have you falling behind.”

            “So, how’d your tutoring session go?” Heather asked incredulously from her seat, head resting on her arm. There were still a few minutes before the start of class, and the heiress decided to bring up the topic that Michelle was too anxious to. The other woman scrolled through her feed, her smartphone dwarfing the tiny seated beside it, but her real focus lied on him and his response.

            “Huh? Oh yeah, it was very… educational.” Javi scratched at the back of his head, optimistic that he could disarm the glare Heather pointed his way.

            “Uh-huh,” she snarked, glare unphased. “I'm sure you must be a real expert on Women’s Studies now, a diehard feminist through and through. Care to share any of that knowledge with me, Smalls?” 

            “Hold up,” Michelle interjected, slamming her left arm down to form a barricade between the tiny and the other woman. “If anyone is getting a piece of that… knowledge, it should be me. I have a lower grade than you, and I've known Javi for a lot longer.”

            “What does-?” Before Heather could finish her retort, Shawna sat down in the seat in front of Javi and Michelle, her partially unbuttoned shirt displaying as tantalizing a view as ever. It took every fiber of Heather’s restraint not to let out an ear-splitting groan.

            “Hello, Javier. Do you feel like you have a better grasp on the material after our little excursion?” Shawna managed to keep a straight face as she focused on her tiny friend, though the mocking gestures appearing in the corner of her eye kept begging for her attention. Michelle’s chortling didn't help, laughing at the heiress cupping her breasts and pouting demurely in poor imitation, but the TA wasn't going to let base insults from the jealous bunch derail her. “I believe it will do us some good to get another session in after class today to make sure my exercises are really sticking.”

            “Hey, what about me?” Heather interrupted, finally getting the scowl she was looking for. “You ever gonna ‘tutor’ anyone else, or does pretty boy here only get your honest attention.”

            “My office hours are on the syllabus, Miss Suzuran,” Shawna growled. “If you need assistance, which in my professional opinion you don't, then you see me then. Now if you excuse me, I'd like to get back to a student that will actually benefit from my time.”

            “Psh, sure.” Heather checked her backpack leaning against the wall behind her, skateboard strapped securely to it. She sat in the back corner of the room, a door leading outside just a few feet to her left. Today, they were going over the next chapter of the textbook, nothing important and nothing not worth missing. The sound of the second hand on the classroom’s clock echoed in the young lady’s ears, a dull death toll of the fifty minutes of monotony that awaited her. Out of nowhere, a random memory flashed in Heather’s mind. Along with her best friend Alena, Heather had attended a private, all girls, all bigs high school, and had comparatively little experience interacting with tinies than her public-school peers. Still, state standards required all students get formal training in cross-size relations, and one lesson Heather remembered was how to pick up and carry a two-inch tall person. Lay your palm flat on the floor and let them climb on themselves before slowly lifting them to chest or face level. Never pinch, pluck, squeeze, or grab a smaller individual, nor hoist them at moderate to high speeds. It made sense to her at the time, respecting a tiny's autonomy and not invading their personal space. But all rules are meant to be broken once in a while.

            Heather lunged over Michelle's arm, snatching Javi between her fingers and ripping him out of his miniature desk. While the others were still processing, she grabbed her bag and booked it out of the classroom, her puny friend trapped within her closed fist.

            “Hey! Wait!” Shawna leapt out from her seat and tried to give chase, but a row of desks blocked her way. By the time she squeezed through them, the 6’7” skater was already sprinting through the hallway.

            “Miss Everhart, where do you think you're going?” The professor called out, stopping the TA in her tracks. “Class is about to start.”

            “That haughty bitch!” Shawna cursed under her breath.

            Heather ran through the hall towards the spiral staircase leading to the first floor, keeping watch of where she stepped to make sure there weren't any unfortunate passersby in her path. Upon reaching the stairs, she hopped onto the railing and slid down to the ground floor, getting off and rushing outside. She burst through a revolving door and darted out onto the pavilion.

            “You there! No running on campus!” A security guard belted out.

            “My bad!” Heather slowed her pace to a swift trot, maneuvering around her fellows as she cornered the college building and made for the street. All the while, Javi remained sealed in her closed palm. Admittedly, it wasn't as comfortable as riding in Shawna's cleavage. The rich girl's palm reeked of a grimy, rubbery odor, likely from changing the wheels on her skateboard. Javi could feel Heather’s pulse race through her fingers, the gaps between giving him enough air to breathe.

            Once she got to the road, Heather pulled out her board and dropped it onto the asphalt, skating off towards her apartment. With a bit of wriggling, Javi slipped through the open end of her fist. “You should be more careful,” he jested, rising with her hand to face her. “The fines for kidnapping a tiny are very expensive.”

            “Ha! I probably spent more on breakfast.” Wind blew through the woman’s hair as she drifted along the city streets. If Javi wasn’t firmly situated in Heather’s grip, the torrential breeze would have sent him flying. “Sorry about the snatch and grab. Hope you weren’t looking forward to today’s lecture.”

            “I was more looking forward to a nice nap.” Javi had to shout to project over the rushing wind and ambient city soundtrack. “It’a been nice if you grabbed my bag too though.”

            “I was in a hurry! Michelle will look after it, just get it from her later.” Heather cruised through the street, straying from the bike lane to intermingle with backed up traffic. Weaving through the road, she had half a mind to trick off the congested cars, but figured it best to avoid nauseating another tiny.

            “Where we headed?” Javi asked, only slightly worried about being dropped in the middle of the street.

            “My place. Figure we’d have our own ‘study sesh’ with no stuck-up TAs butting in.” To Heather’s delight, her captive raised no protest as she swerved through the concrete jungle.

…

            Heather burst into the luxury hotel lobby, her bicolor hair, baggy pants, and worn-out brand-name sneakers clashing with the guests dressed in fanciful attire and the ostentatious opulence of the hotel itself. 

            “Welcome home, my lady,” Julius, Heather's chauffeur and butler, greeted. Heather pressed down on Javi's head with her thumb, concealing him within her fist. “You have returned early today.”

            “Independent study.” Heather rushed past the distinguished gentleman and into her private elevator.

            “Then I wish you the best on your studies. Do remember that you must maintain a 4.0 GPA as per your father's terms for…”

            “Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine.” The doors closed, separating the lady from her butler and taking her to her suite.

            “You could have at least introduced me to your little friend,” Julius muttered, returning to his station. “Ah, the splendor of youth.”

            Now that they were finally alone, Heather opened her palm, letting Javi stand and stretch. Watching the tiny tug and bend his meager limbs, Heather noticed how damp he had become enshrouded by her clammy skin. She patted her pockets for a tissue or handkerchief but found herself dry out.

            “What was that about your GPA?” Javi asked. Standing on a hand in an elevator unnerved him, feeling the pressure affect both his body and Heather's.

            “Nothing worth worrying over.” Heather leaned back on the elevator wall, letting the vibrations course through her back as they ascended. “I get to remain independent so long as I'm Daddy's perfect angel. If my grades slip or I get into trouble, then I'll be wisped off to Japan to join the rest of the family, continue my studies there, and become a ‘proper’ heir to the Suzuran name.”

            “Sounds rough.” Javi imagined Heather's father as a powerful yakuza boss with a cutoff pinky and a designer suit draped over his shoulders, surrounded by fearsome tattooed gangsters brandishing katanas.

            “Not really. My dad acts strict to keep up appearances. My mom has always insisted I grow up in America with a normal life like she had, and Dad would cross the Pacific in a makeshift raft before crossing her.” The image in Javi's head morphed into Papa Suzuran kneeling before and kissing the hand of Heather's mom, the woman seated in a elegantly upholstered leather throne with a designer blazer draped over her shoulders, surrounded by fearsome tattooed gangsters brandishing katanas. “Those are my only real stipulations. I can do whatever I want, spend however much I want, and ‘associate’ with whomever I so please. So yeah, if a tabloid wants to print a hit piece on a certain scion paying a hefty fine for kidnapping an up-and-coming basketball star, then it's no skin off my back.”

            The elevator continued rising, alongside Javi's anticipation, for what felt like forever. “I've never been in a penthouse before,” he admitted.

            “That so? Glad I could be your first. Once you go pro, you’ll be staying in them all the time.” The doors finally opened to the sprawling oasis at the top of the tower. Between the glass encased waterfall, fully equipped bar and kitchen, the outdoor helipad and swimming pool, and the entire unseen second floor, the whole suite fought for Javi’s attention. Heather strolled through her place of residence, dropping her bag at the foot of the white silk sofa, and headed towards the bar. She placed Javi on the black marble countertop and circled around to the other side. “Want a beer?”

            “Sure.” Javi started at the aluminum silos slammed down in front of him. Imperial stouts, each with an ABV of twelve percent. The cans’ labels were as black as the pit forming in the tiny’s stomach.

            “Want to see a trick?” Heather ducked behind the counter and grabbed a pen. Standing back up, she lifted one of the cans in the air like it was nothing and stabbed a hole in the bottom. Quickly popping the tab, the woman held the can over her mouth, letting sixteen fluid ounces of beer stream smoothly down her gullet in one continuous gulp. After chugging it all down, she let out a reeling sigh and slammed the empty can before her applauding audience. “That’s nothing. You should see me do it while smoking a cigarette.”

            “Mind if I try?”

            “I was hoping you’d ask.” Heather leaned forward and rested her chin on the counter’s edge, sticking her tongue out to form a slobbery ramp. “Together?”

            Javi stepped forward, turned around, and fell backwards onto the wet, living mattress. Heather scooped him up and held him flat outside her mouth as she tilted her head back and poked a hole in the other can. A waterfall of beer cascaded into her mouth, crashing into Javi’s face and dripping down to her throat. Very little alcohol actually made it into the tiny’s mouth, most of it splashing against his face and chest, but it wasn’t long before his gut was filled with stout. He only made it four ounces in before having to lurch forward, scooting towards the tip of the tongue to catch his breath and keep from drowning. The booze he did swallow was already inebriating him, a dizzy feeling racking his brain as the corners of his vision faded and blurred.

            After finishing the rest of the can, Heather plucked Javi off her tongue and sat him on the counter. She was about to say something, then hiccupped, tried again, and then belched, instead clutching her forehead. Javi, soaked in beer, took off his shirt and shorts, giving the tipsy woman behind him an appetizing view.

            “Want to lie down?” she asked. With a slur sloshing her tone, it was difficult to parse whether that was an open offer or a statement of intent. “Get all comfy cozy for our hyper-intense, no-holds-barred study sesh?” She flattened her hand against the counter, letting her guest clamber on. His skin was sticky, coated in a fine concoction of beer, spit, and sweat, but the warmth of his body sank into her palm and his soaking musculature scintillated beneath the bright penthouse lights; she wanted so bad to wrap her fingers around him and squeeze the bejeezus out of that tight little bod, but breaking handling decorum once was already enough for one day.

            Heather carried her friend to the sofa and lied down, flipping her hand over and dropping Javi onto her chest. The giant athlete had a much fitter build than either Shawna or Michelle, resulting in a much more modest cup size. However, the two-inch man sitting cross-legged on her left tit found he still had plenty of room to get comfortable. Unable to resist, Heather stuck out her forefinger and fussed with the tiny’s hair.

            “So, how would you like to go about this? I’m up for anything.”

            “Well, I find notecards helpful. We could quiz each other.”

            “You know I wasn’t serious about studying, you jerk,” Heather laughed. “Come on, you expect me to believe you and Shawna were going over test questions together.”

            “We sorta were,” Javi admitted.

            “Nuh-uh, we didn’t skip class to enrich ourselves. Let’s have some real fun. What do you want to do? I’ve never hooked up with a tiny before, so like I said, I’m down for anything.”

            “Anything?”

            “Anything. I can put on my old high school uniform if that’s your thing. Or stuff you in my sweaty sock,” Tinies are into that, right? “Or I can call you ‘Master’ and serve you a homecooked meal. You name it.”

            Please don’t tell me you actually think any of that is to my taste. Still, Javi wasn’t sure how to respond. Bigs don’t usually ask the tiny to take the lead, not in his experience anyway. He was used to going along with whatever his partner had in store for him. Deep down, he knew what he wanted, but he’d never ask for it, not in a million years. But enough alcohol to fill his insides was quickly coursing through his veins, corroding his inhibition into swiss cheese. “Can I lick your armpit?” he blurted out.

            Heather just sort of stared at him for a minute, the both of them engulfed in woeful silence. The flowing waterfall could be heard behind its glass enclosure, and it sounded like an airplane may have been flying overhead. The kitchen refrigerator kicked on and started humming. A couple pigeons cooed beyond the penthouse windows. Javi wanted to die, his face reddening greater than what the alcohol had already accomplished.

            “Pffffft! Hahahahaha!” Heather’s heaving chest nearly sent the tiny rolling off the side. In her raucous uproar, the giantess spattered her friend in stray spit droplets. “Sorry, sorry. I’m not laughing at you, just was not expecting that.”

            “It sounds like you’re laughing at me,” Javi said, wiping his face off.

            “No, I promise. I’m not judging. Here…” Heather sat up, sending Javi falling into her lap, and took off her crop top, revealing the sports bra supporting her underneath, and more importantly, her bare shoulders. Lying back down, Heather grabbed the tiny and brought him closer to her face, plopping him beside her as she tucked her forearms behind her head. The tender underside of her armpit stretched over Javi like a bonny wall, a briny aroma wafting out from the perspirant pocket. Javi stepped back and looked up at the mountainous face for approval, doubting any of this could really be happening. “Go on. I’m curious what this’ll feel like. I did put deodorant on this morning, but I think most of the chemicals have washed off by now.”

            Javi didn’t hesitate. He leaned forward against the tucked away skin and took a lick. The taste consisted largely of salt with a floral hint lingering from the woman’s deodorant, but beyond that was savory, like well-seasoned meat. Javi recalled former partners descriptions of what tinies tasted like and noted the similarities. Their inclination to get a mouthful of him was starting to make a lot of sense to the miniature man. Heather hadn’t recoiled or retreated out of reach, so he took another lick.

            The giant skater girl relaxed on the couch and watched the top of her puny friend’s head bob to the rhythm of his lapping. She closed her eyes and relished the sensation of that tiny tongue dragging across her sensitive skin and washing her pit clean. She could feel his meager arms pressing into her for support and, was that the tip of hard-on she felt prodding her? A content sigh escaped her lips. She thought back to past lovers and how roughly they treated her. Sex was an act of primal force enacted on one another, a fight for dominance as both parties relented to their urges. But this, this gentle devotion, stuck out to her as something wholly novel.

            Javi rubbed his tongue over the stubs of freshly shaved hair. He got between every crevice, wiping off miniscule beads of sweat with his tastebuds. The slight folds and deep pours offered some resistance, but the little challenges only made lapping down the whole pit more enthralling. Within ten minutes, Heather’s underarm was drenched in the mini man’s saliva.

            “Mind if I make a request?” Heather asked, peeking over her shoulder.

            “Shoot.”

            “How’s about we move this somewhere more intimate.” Heather sat up, her torso towering over Javi’s diminutive frame, and slipped out of her bra, flinging the garment behind the sofa. She plucked Javi off the cushion as she returned to her prior position and dropped him off on her bare tit. As he got his footing, he saw the massive index finger pointing at her swollen nipple.

            Javi crawled over to the pink stump, the nub about the size of his head, and kissed it, sending the giant woman’s heart a flutter as a soothing symphony of tingles coursed through her nerves. He got a few more kisses in before returning to licking, lathering the nub from every angle.

            “You’re really good at this whole worshiping thing,” Heather sighed, practically purring at every lick. “A girl could get used to this kind of treatment.”

            “You’re actually into this?” Javi asked, raising his head to meet her gaze. “I'd have guessed you'd be all too used to being doted on.”

            “True, but it's not the same.” Heather stared up at the ceiling and chewed on her thoughts. Meanwhile, Javi moved on to serving the areola, sending another shot of dopamine through the giantess’ system. “It's all so disingenuous. All anyone cares about is my name and the wealth behind it. Any kindness shown me is a chance to accrue favor with the family or because they're simply paid to do so.” She bit her tongue. “Sorry, I don't mean to complain. I know I have no right to, but I can't express how fortunate I am to have friends like you and Alena and the twins. You guys actually care about me, the person behind the name.”

            “I think you're giving me too much credit.”

            “Trust me, I'm not. I know you're enjoying yourself, and that's it. That's all there is to it. This isn’t some ploy to get in my good graces. I’m not pretending to like you while our dads settle on a deal. We're just having fun together, the two us, living in the moment and basking in the other’s company. And that tongue of yours is working wonders.” Heather reached into her bag and pulled out a cig and a lighter. She lit up and took a big whiff, making the conscious effort to blow away from her chest. “This right here’s the fucking life.”

            “You know, I’ve never seen someone our age smoke one of those,” Javi observed during the brief moments his mouth wasn’t occupied. Despite the woman's efforts, the toxic odor still wafted its way to the tiny, the pungent fumes overpowering the succulent taste of her skin.

            “Started in high school, thought it’d make me look cool. Turns out I was a century too late.” Streams of fetid fog rose into the air, dispersing to the beat of the woman’s breath.

            “I’ll admit, it is kinda sexy.” Javi said, hiding his disgust. His tongue was on the verge of drying out as he reached the areola's outer edge, and the tobacco smell took its toll on his stamina.

            “Don’t enable me!” she joked. “It’s bad enough Julius buys these for me.” Heather continued smoking, unaware of the impact it had on her friend's performance, or his arousal. With one nipple sufficiently serviced, Javi decided to move onto the next one. Standing up, he stretched his legs and cracked his joints, proceeding to leap from one tit to the other. To no surprise, the adept athlete stuck the landing, but the woman's breast was a much softer surface than the court. His feet sunk into the doughy tissue and sprung back, losing his balance and knocking him off into the shallow cleavage. Heather couldn't help but laugh mid-puff, sending a cloud of smoke billowing towards the tiny.

            *Hack* *Hack* *Cough* Enveloped by the pale haze, Javi's throat stung and his eyes watered, the taste of nicotine searing his tongue. 

            “Oh shit! Shit! I'm so sorry!” Heather reflexively sat up, causing the choking Javi to tumble down the length of her torso. “Shit!” She cupped her palm and caught him at the navel. He tried to recover but was still hacking away in her hand. “Ohmigod, I'm really, really sorry! Wait there, I'll get some water.” She set him down on the couch cushion and ran towards the bar, crushing her cigarette in an ashtray on the way there. She pulled a pitcher from the fridge and a seldom used tiny-size glass from beneath the counter and poured, spilling water all over the counter in the process.

            As careful as she could in her hectic state, Heather pinched the glass between her fingers and carried it over to the sofa, losing half of its contents by the time she got there. She knelt beside the couch and handed Javi the drink. “Here. I’m so sorry. That was so stupid of me!”

            Javi was sitting up on the expansive furniture still coughing. “Don’t worry *Cough* about it. It’s no *Hack* big deal.” His eyes were bloodshot with tears streaming down them. He had tried wiping them off a few times, but that just smeared them across his reddened face. Heather wanted to fondle him, hold him, comfort him in some way, but she was afraid to even touch him. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, though she managed to blink them back. Javi gulped down the water, coughing a few more times in the process, but he pounded his chest, cleared his throat, and put on a brave face for the concerned visage bearing down on him. “Thanks for the drink. That helped a lot.”

            Heather nodded as if she believed him. She watched over him until his coughing died down, and then circled around the couch and grabbed her bra, slipping it back on before sitting down. She sat on the far end, away from Javi so that the impact wouldn’t reach him. “Let’s take it easy for now. We could watch TV?”

            “Sure. That sounds good.” Javi coughed into his arm, trying to mute his discomfort as best he could. “I’m guessing you have every streaming service that exists.”

            “Yep, even the ones neither of us have heard of.” She tried smirking, but the lingering regret drained the bliss that had so recently felt abundant. Heather picked up the TV remote and started browsing, keeping her attention far away the tiny save for the quick, worried glance. Javi felt painfully isolated in the center of a couch longer than a football field, but he feared getting closer to Heather might only further unnerve her. Flipping through an infinitude of options, Heather settled on a random episode of The Office. For the rest of the morning and through the afternoon until Javi left, there were a few soft chuckles, a wayward remark here and there, and a sold-out concert of awkward silence.

            Tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap

            “Heather, you good?” Alena asked from her seat next to Heather. Ever since Alena had walked into class with Lynn in her hand, Heather had been tapping away at her desk with a haggard look in her eyes.

            “I’m fine,” she said. She kept her vacant gaze pointed straight ahead, and her voice was devoid of life. The tapping didn’t stop.

            “You sure don’t look like it,” Lynn commented from her tiny desk atop Alena’s. She noticed the dark wrinkles under Heather’s eyes, how her lips and eyelids quivered erratically.

            “I said I’m fine!” Heather shouted so loud, she almost knocked Lynn off her seat. The anger scrunching her features subsided as quickly as it arose, Heather unsettled by the concern painted on her friends’ faces. “Sorry. I know you’re looking out for me, but… Fuck, I’m sorry.”

            “What’s wrong?” Alena asked, reaching over to place her hand on Heather’s wrist. Her touch calmed Heather’s fidgeting, ceasing the restless tapping. Lynn walked over and leaned forward onto her girlfriend’s arm, her way of offering her own support from across the distant gap between desks. Heather let out a deep sigh; she didn’t want to get into this, but how the hell was she supposed to say “no” to these two?

            “I haven’t had a smoke since Wednesday. Two days without a cigarette, it’s driving me crazy.” With her hand locked in Alena’s gentle grip, Heather gnawed on her lip in search of an unattainable sense of satisfaction.

            “You’re quitting!? That’s wonderful!” Alena cheered.

            “No, it ain’t. I fucked up.” Heather hadn’t spoken to Javi since their tryst went awry. The only thing keeping the cravings at bay was the guilt providing a modicum of motivation when it wasn’t eroding her self-esteem. Seeing Lynn cozy up to her girlfriend’s humongous arm worsened the hurt, an adorable display of what Heather had so carelessly thrown away. “I hurt Javi, and that pisses me off. I never want to do that to him or anyone else ever again.”

            “What, by blowing smoke in his face? That’s no big deal,” Lynn raised. “Some guys are into that.”

            “It’s not safe, Lynn,” Alena chided on Heather’s behalf. “Your lungs don’t have the strength or capacity to handle all those toxins.”

            “Psh. If Javi’s seriously upset by a little smoke, then he’s being a big baby about this.”

            “Lynn, he’s striving to be a pro athlete,” Alena argued. “His lungs are super important to his performance on the court. How can he play basketball if he can’t breathe?”

            “No pain, no gain.” Lynn pushed herself off Alena’s arm and stood in front of her on the desk, arms crossed as she looked up at her partner looming over her. “He’s not going to get very far if he freaks out over every hiccup. Seriously, why would anyone even be into such a wuss?”

            “Guys, don’t get into a fight over this,” Heather interjected. “Javi wasn't upset. He didn't lash out or anything, even though I deserved it. But I don’t know, he's probably just being nice to me.”

            “That’s a good sign, I'd say,” Alena posited. “It means he still cares what you think of him.”

            “I can talk to him if you'd like. Making people squeal is my specialty, in more ways than one.” Lynn winked at Alena, the latter shaking her head in disapproval, though the tiny read her true thoughts clear as day. Heather cracked a smile, her fidgeting easing for a moment.

            “I appreciate it, but you don't have to trouble yourself. I'll see him again soon enough.” Heather held out her fist for the little lady across the gap. Lynn punched the wall that was her middle finger with enough force to register as a bump, having to wave her miniscule hand around afterwards to alleviate the sting. “I'm sure everything will be fine.”

…

            The tiny center's walls rumbled with all the commotion inside. Halloween was swiftly approaching and with that, the most important campus event of the first half of the fall semester: Galaween. The main event, The Phantom of Ballroom Dance, was organized and operated by the senior members of the tiny committee in cooperation with their sister committee ran by the bigs. Juniors and the underclassmen of each committee were responsible for setting up and hosting their own sideshows to coincide with the main event, though freshmen usually helped out with their upper-classmates’ undertakings rather than lead their own. As such, tiny chair Melanie and her fellow seniors were busy planning everything while the plucky group of freshmen tried their best to keep up. And as was becoming a yearly tradition, a heated debate over one of the sponsors broke out.

            “You promised last year we weren't partnering with Beanstalk Co. again!” Jeremy declared. A burly fellow whose clothes always seemed a tad snug for his frame, Jeremy was a junior and likely candidate for the chairman's position next year, though his eagerness to boister his not always so popular opinions proved a hurdle to the throne he felt was rightfully his.

            “I said I'd consider it. I never made any promises,” Melanie argued. Though not one of her stated goals, part of her mission as chair was to keep Jeremy from inheriting the title. “They've been our biggest supporter for years. I can't simply cut ties with them to satisfy the dissenting opinions of a vocal minority.”

            “Sorry to be out of the loop,” Sam said, “but what is Beanstalk Co., and what makes them problematic?” Sam was another freshman, having joined the committee the second week of the semester. They had a petit build and soft, handsome features, their silky white hair contrasting with the black of their turtleneck.

            “They invented the Vore Suit and pretty much popularized the whole vore scene,” Melanie explained. “A lot of the higher ups are alumni of mixed size universities, ours included, so they make pretty hefty donations to events like ours in turn for advertising spots. There's nothing problematic about the company itself per say, but some people are vehemently against vore as a concept.”

            “It's barbaric!” Jeremy incited. “Maybe they don't teach this in public schools any more, but giants used to EAT us, like chew up and digest us. The fact people get off to that is sickening.”

            “People used to say sex itself was barbaric and look how far we've come,” Melanie reasoned. “Besides, vore isn't like that. Sure, some like to fantasize about the deadlier aspects of it, but it's moreso about simply being inside another person. And if modern technology let's us explore these ideas safely, then who are we to decry it?”

            “I think I'd be willing to try it,” Sam posited before Jeremy could get a chance to protest. “Getting swallowed sounds fun, like sliding down a big waterslide. It would have to be with someone I trust though.”

            All eyes in the room kept shifting towards Jackie, expecting the only big present to have an opinion on the subject. She was sitting just outside the circle with Pierce on her lap. The conversation had garnered her full attention, and though she had plenty of thoughts on the matter, having the courage to express them was another thing entirely.

            “The whole vore thing is kind of creepy if you ask me,” Pierce said. All eyes pointed to the mixed size couple. Even Javi, who had been glued to his phone the whole meeting, looked from his spot on the couch beside Jackie's knee. He only had assumptions to go off of regarding Jackie's “tastes,” but Javi was dead certain Pierce just stepped on a landmine. “Even with the proper protections, it seems unnatural wanting to get eaten like that. I don't get the appeal.”

            “Exerting control, that's the appeal.” Jeremy jumped at the chance to get his point across, especially if it undermined Jackie and her aberrant relationship. It was no secret Jeremy wasn't fond of the big who barged into what had once been a tiny only space, and he wasn't passing up the opportunity to sew some discord between the young couple. A bad breakup could be all he needed to get her out of his hair. “Since oppressing us in no longer legal, freakin giants had to get creative with how they touted their supposed superiority.”

            “It's not like that at all!” Jackie shouted. The tinies nearest her all covered their ears, not used to the big speaking at full volume, and Pierce nearly tumbled off her thigh in shock. “Sure, the predator and prey dynamic is a major component of vore, but it has nothing to do with oppression. It's no different from BDSM or pet play; it’s just an alternate way for people to express their love. Like Sam said, it's about trust. Vore is about giving yourself up to your partner to become one in body and spirit.”

            The room fell silent, Jackie’s outburst echoing inside everybody’s head.

            “Better be careful, Pierce. Your girlfriend’s quite the expert,” Jeremy goaded. “Might wake up one day in a dark, dank cave.” 

            Pierce kept quiet. He didn't understand what everyone was getting worked up for, but his intuition told him he'd do best to stay silent. Still, wandering thoughts wormed their way into his conciousness. Visions arose of Jackie tossing him into her mouth, chewing him up like beef jerky, and swallowing the bits with eerie satisfaction. No, she wouldn't do that. Jackie would never be into that. He looked up at his girlfriend. Her cheeks blared a bright shade of red, her eyes trained on an empty corner of the room. 

            If Pierce wasn't on her lap, Jackie would probably run for the door. Her fetish was a secret known only to her, something she was ready to take to the grave. To think she came so close to outing herself here of all places, surrounded by tinies. Jackie couldn't look down at her lap. Whether Pierce put two and two together or not didn’t matter, the mere thought that her boyfriend might think her a monster mortified her.

            “That’s enough! Beanstalk’s sponsoring the event and that’s final. You don’t like it? The door’s right over there,” Melanie declared, shutting Jeremy up for the moment. She took a breath and turned her attention to the rest of the room. “I’d suggest trying vore out before knocking it. It’s a lot of fun if you go in with an open mind. My boyfriend and I once rented a bunch of suits and had a pool party in his stomach. Great time. Just, uh, be careful with any alcohol. Swimming in a pond of vodka sounds fun on paper, but all I’ll say is that the afterparty did not go as planned.”

            “Well, you two convinced me,” Sam decided. “If I ever find that special someone, I’ll gladly jump down their throat. The way Jackie talked about it sounded so romantic.” They looked up at the blushing big and shot her a grin in solidarity. Jackie mouthed Thank you back to them and Melanie while Jeremy pouted on his side of the circle.

            “Hey, I got an idea for Galaween!” Javi announced. Melanie and the others all cocked an eyebrow, amazed Javi was paying attention to any of that. “Let’s do an escape room. Lock a bunch of tinies in a maze and have big, scary Jackie hunt them all down while they try to solve puzzles or some shit. We could have a plant in the crowd wear a Vore Suit so she can swallow him for real and scare the shit outta everyone.”

            “That’s… not a bad idea actually. Doll up Jackie in some monster getup and give the whole thing a haunted house vibe. I could talk to our reps at Beanstalk; I’m sure they’d lend us a suit and some other toys, they’ve expanded beyond just vore products you know.” Melanie scratched her chin, considering all the possibilities.

            “I nominate Pierce to get swallowed,” Javi suggested.

            “Me!?”

            “What, you’re cool with your girlfriend swallowing other guys?”

            Pierce sat there baffled by the question. Should I not be?

            “I… I…” Conflicted thoughts waged war in Jackie’s cerebrum. So much of her wanted to play the predator, to swallow her man in an all-consuming display of intimacy, though she would have preferred to do that in the privacy of a bedroom. She had to hand it to Javi, scary haunted house monster made for a great cover, and any enjoyment she got from the process would surely heighten the illusion to the willful victims- er, participants. “Kind of creepy”? Pierce’s words played on loop. She understood how he felt. The desire to be eaten is crazy talk, going against eons of evolutionary programming. And for a tiny, who could realistically find themselves as another person’s meal, that fear was only natural, that skepticism deserved. But what if this was her chance? What if this was a one-in-a-hundred opportunity to show her partner how fun vore could be under the guise of play-acting?

            “I’m up for it,” Jackie nodded. Melanie and Sam’s support motivated her to push past her fears and take the shot. “But only if Pierce is willing. I’m not swallowing anyone else.”

            All eyes were now on the tiny in her lap. Sweat coated his back and forehead. Was he the crazy one? It wasn’t like he didn’t trust Jackie. It was perfectly reasonable to be afraid of being eaten even with all the proper precautions. Accidents happened. What if there was a tear in the suit? What if he slipped in her stomach, fell unconscious, and drowned? What if she sneezed while he was in her mouth and bit his head off? What if the tight, dark, bottomless corridor of her esophagus drove him mad? These were all rational fears! “Can’t we just do a bake sale?” Pierce pleaded. Javi shook his head. “F-fine.”

            “Javi, Sam, you two should be plants too. One scare ain’t enough, I want to make our very own big into a deranged serial killer. No, a massive mass murderer. No, a towering tyrant of terror!” Melanie practically cackled at the bevy of possibilities flooding her mind. While she pondered the many available, attention-grabbing alliterations, a boisterous behemoth barged into the room.

            Michelle stomped past miniature furniture and scrambling tinies, all sensors targeted at one man in particular.

            “Oh, hey Mi-mmph!” Javi attempted to greet her before she snagged him between her fingers, reaching past Jackie and wisking him far from his fellows below. Without a word, she trudged out into the hallway, tiny man secured in her clutches, and disappeared into the crowd.

            “What was that about?” Jackie asked. As her eyes panned down towards her lap, she caught Sam staring at the doorway, and it occurred to her that this wasn't the first time she had noticed them do that shortly following Michelle's regular arrivals. 

            “Javi and Heather skipped class together the other day. Maybe she's upset about that,” Pierce deduced.

            “You don't think Javi's cheating on her, do you?” Sam asked.

            “That's impossible. He'd have to be dating her to do that,” Pierce explained. Unlike her boyfriend, Jackie picked up on the glimmer in Sam's cornea. “She's been pining for him for as long as we've known her, but he's always distracted by other, more assertive girls. I guess she's finally fed up being the last one out.”

            “Is that so? I wonder what she sees in him.”

            “You should try saying ‘hi’ to her next time she comes in,” Jackie suggested, casting Pierce in shadow as she leaned forward.

            “Really? I doubt she'd even notice me.”

            “It's worth a try.” This time, Jackie shot Sam the supportive smile, brightening the tiny’s dour demeanor. Jackie was ready to delve into all the experience she didn’t have to advise her lovelorn protégé, but then she checked the time on her phone. “Oh, we should be going too.” Jackie held out her palm beside her thigh and waited for Pierce to crawl on before lifting him several feet into the air. “See ya, Sam. Feel free to reach out if you ever want someone to talk to.”

            “Thanks. Same goes for you,” Sam responded, waving the couple off. “And I’m looking forward to getting terrorized by you, oh towering tyrant.”

            “Actually, I’m thinking ‘Sinister Siren of Significant Scale,’” Melanie corrected to a chorus of groans. “Or is that too much of a mouthful?”

            Jackie broke into the hallway with her boyfriend in tow, keeping as much distance as possible from any oncoming bigs as she made her way towards their class. Holding Pierce up at chest level at least gave her something pleasant to focus on, drowning out the world around her.

“Are you sure you're up for this escape room idea? No one's going to judge you if you aren't.”

            “It's fine. I'll be fine.” Pierce tried his hardest not to think about it, a difficult prospect being so close to her mouth as she talked. Halloween was still a couple weeks away, plenty of time to shelve any anxieties. “What about you though? You aren't weirded out at the thought of swallowing me?”

            “Oh, uh…” She couldn't tell him the truth, not yet, maybe not ever. Goddammit, Javi, why'd you have to put me in this position? And why'd I have to go and agree to it? She knew why. As she looked down at the succulent piece of meat in her palm, dreams of his flailing form inching down her esophagus rattled her mind.

            “Is everything alright?” Pierce asked, pointing to the corner of her mouth. “You're drooling.”

            “Ah!” Jackie quickly wiped her mouth with her free arm. “Sorry, guess I'm hungry. Ha ha… What were we talking about? Oh right, uh, it doesn't bother me. I’m good at swallo- I mean, I’ve got a deep thro- no, no… It'll make for a good scare, don't you think?” She probably shouldn’t admit she swallows gummies and other candies whole as a discreet form of roleplay, and wishful practice for the real thing. Lost in thoughts and excuses, Jackie jerked to the right, barely avoiding an inattentive student passing through. “Want to change the subject?”

            “Please.”

            “So, how about Sam, huh?” Jackie asked, skipping up the stairs to the second floor. The staircase on this end of the building was often deserted at this time, making it far more ideal for an introvert than a packed elevator.

            “What about them?”

            “Come on, it’s obvious they have a crush on Michelle. Every day, their eyes are glued to her from the moment she walks in.” Jackie got off the stairs onto the second floor, juking around an oncoming professor. “We've got to set them up with each other. You and Javi have known Michelle since high school, and in all that time he's never made a move. I can't imagine that changing now all of a sudden.”

            “I don't disagree, but I'm not sure how you expect me to help.” Pierce scratched at the back of his neck. “I ain't exactly an expert on asking girls out.”

            “We're together, aren't we? Don't sell yourself short.” Jackie brought Pierce to her lips and kissed him. The tiny still wasn't used to receiving kisses that spanned half his standing height, the pressure of the vermillion walls threatening to topple him, but his body stood firm, fortified by the strength of his affection. Jackie stopped walking and huddled up against the wall, not ready to let the moment end on their way to class. When she finally pulled back, the friction of her skin clung to her lover's frame, forcing Pierce to push himself off the bountiful lips, a herculean task both physically and emotionally.

            “Hey, guys,” Alena greeted as she caught up to the couple. Jackie joined Alena as they continued towards their classroom. “Anything new in your neck of the woods?”

            “Someone in our club has a crush on a girl who has a crush on Javi who I am convinced should get with Heather already. It’s a whole love triangle.”

            “It’s more of a rhombus, really,” Pierce corrected. The two women glanced down, giving him a look that either meant they didn’t know what that was or they didn’t care. “And you forgot about Shawna.”

            “I don’t even know Shawna,” Jackie huffed. “But I know Javi and Heather, and I think they’d be perfect for each other.”

            “Speaking of Heather,” Alena jumped in, “be extra supportive when you see her, and patient too. She’s quitting smoking.”

            “Good for her! I always hated that stuff.” Jackie grimaced and waved her free hand in front of her face, miming clearing away a cloud of smoke. “Makes me cough and gag.”

            “Now that she’s hanging around tinies regularly, she’s trying to be more conscious of how her actions affect them.” The two women entered their classroom and sat down in their usual spots in the back, Jackie grabbing a tiny desk for her boyfriend. “Which I suppose is true for me too. Lynn keeps complaining that I'm too gentle with her. How about you, Pierce, happy with how Jackie handles you?”

            “I've got no complaints,” Pierce said as he sat down in front of his girlfriend. “She's the most considerate person I know.”

            “Stop it,” Jackie waved off, blushing. “You don't have to flatter me.”

            “No, it's true. You're good at seeing things from other people's perspective and making sure they're comfortable. I'm usually on edge around bigs, friendly or not. I've got to stay alert in their stead. But it's not like that when I'm with you.” Jackie rested her hand beside Pierce's seat, taking his hand between her thumb and forefinger and softly massaging it. “It's nice letting my guard down when you're around.”

            “Aw, you two are precious,” Alena cooed, tugging at the others’ bashfulness. “The four of us should go out together sometime. Maybe this weekend?”

            “I’m down,” Jackie said with Pierce nodding along from below. “Just let us know the plan.”

…

            After a momentous struggle, Javi managed to poke his head out from Michelle’s tight grip. She had brought him outside of Main Classroom, carrying him across the school pavilion. “Where we headed?” Javi asked, his body swaying to the swing of Michelle’s gait. Fortunately, he enjoyed riding the topsy-turvy attractions at theme parks, so he kept his breakfast tucked in his gut for the time being.

            “My dorm,” Michelle answered in a huff. “I’m not letting those harpies anywhere near you today.”

            “Ok, but could you stop swinging me?”

            Michelle paused and lifted Javi to her face, opening her palm so he could sit freely on it. “Oh, sorry.” The giant woman breathed heavy as she spoke, hurling strong gusts at the man in her hand. Javi could smell her breakfast on her breath: eggs, maple sausage, and orange juice. To his shock, the food’s lingering aroma still smelled good, likely a mark of the meal’s quality. Michelle continued walking while holding Javi flat in front of her. The T-shirt/hoodie combo she wore covered most of her skin, but her tubby figure stretched the fabric thin, bouncing and swaying with every step. “Have you eaten anything recently?”

            “Just the coffee I had for breakfast.”

            “That’s all? We gotta fix that.”

            The sky above was veiled in grey. The brisk October air bit at the skin, but the warmth residing within Michelle’s hand kept the cold at bay. The dorms were but a quick jaunt away from Main Classroom, and before long, the pair were sheltered from the Autumn elements. A short elevator ride and a brief trip down the hall and the two found themselves at Michelle’s door.

            Once inside, Michelle brought Javi into her kitchenette and placed him on the table next to a miniature dining set. “I didn’t expect you to have tiny furniture,” Javi commented, sitting down at the table fit for him.

            “It’s my roommate’s,” Michelle admitted. While her friend got himself situated, she walked over to the fridge and pulled out an assortment of ingredients. “Her best friend is a tiny. She’s a nice gal, but I wish they’d tell me when they’re having guests over. I can’t count how many times I almost sat on someone.” Michelle pulled out two frying pans from her cupboard. One large and one small, by her standards; both were still larger than a swimming pool to the tiny seated at the table. After fiddling with the stove, Michelle placed two beef patties in one pan and a meager smattering of shredded hashbrowns in the other, seasoning the beef with spices from an unlabeled mason jar. Beside the stove, she dumped a basket of fries into a countertop grease fryer.

            “Basketball season’s starting soon. You excited?” Michelle asked, adjusting the stove’s dials.

            “Yeah, practice has really amped up, but I’ll be ready for gameday.”

            “I’m sure. I already bought season tickets, so I’ll be cheering for you at every game.” Once the patties were brown on the outside, Michelle tore a pinch of meat from some raw burger still on the counter. With her fingers, she molded the ground round into a small disk and placed it beside the hashbrowns in the smaller pan, sprinkling a measly helping of finely ground seasoning she had prepared beforehand. Seconds passed and one flip later the burger was ready. Everything finished in sync as planned. Michelle plated the food, placing the meat on hand-baked sesame seed buns, the tiny patty on a smaller piece of artisan bread torn off a full loaf, and decking them all out in a menagerie of locally sourced toppings.

            She brought her plate over first. Javi shook at the impact of it landing on the table. Two mountainous burgers paired with a rolling hill of fries. There was probably enough food on that plate to feed a thousand tinies. Michelle grabbed Javi’s plate, no bigger than a confetti sprinkle, and dropped it into her palm as gently as possible. She devoted her full attention to carrying it over, scared of spilling the contents. The rest of her body trembled as she concentrated on keeping her fingers still, delicately lifting it between her thumb and forefinger and lowering onto the tiny table. Her grin stretched from ear to ear upon a successful landing.

            “Thanks for the food.” Javi looked over his plate. It smelled good, like sitting at the bar of a classic, 50s style diner, but the presentation could use some work. The burger itself was a bit of mess, the bun and lettuce torn roughly off the larger source, and despite being less than a bite’s worth for someone of Michelle’s stature, it was still much too large a serving for the tiny, equating to the size of Javi’s head. The burger sat beside a helping of “fries” which really amounted to a wee stack of hashbrown straws. Nevertheless, Javi wrapped his fingers around the awkward burger and dug in, his eyes widening at the first bite. “This is delicious!”

            “You really think so? Thank you!” The meat was juicy, perfectly seasoned, and tender as the memories of a first love. The fluffy bun, crisp lettuce, and succulent tomato came together in a passionate fusion, drawing out the flavor profile of each ingredient into an explosive sum that rocketed beyond the stars. The “french fries” fared just as graciously, crisp on the outside and soft as a cloud on the inside, and perfectly salted. “Would you like some iced tea? I brewed it myself.” Michelle ran over to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher. Returning to the table, she pinched Javi’s miniscule glass and poured it full, spilling a fair amount of tea onto her fingers and the table below. She placed the glass back on the mini table, happy to have not spilled any on Javi or his food. The impact from putting down the pitcher did rattle her guest though.

            “Bigs usually suck at cooking our kind of food,” Javi admitted, taking a sip of his drink. It was a tad sweet for his tiny palate but refreshing none the less. “But this is incredible. What’s your secret?”

            “My dream is to open my own restaurant,” Michelle explained with a glimmer in her eye. “I’m studying business here, but I also plan on attending culinary school. Whether as a chef or a manager, I want to have a holistic expertise on all aspects of the food industry for patrons of all sizes. Maybe I’ll even host my own food program on TV, though I guess I could just start an online cooking show, but that doesn’t have the same panache. But aside from that,” Michelle squirmed in her seat, glancing off to the side, “if I were to marry a tiny, I’d want to cook tasty meals for them.” Of course, by “a tiny,” she meant Javi, but she had read online that tiny men feel strongly about their independence and assumed he wouldn’t take kindly to talks of tying the knot so early in their relationship.

            Javi, zoned in on eating, didn't think too deeply about her comment or notice her body language. “Give me a call when you open. I'll eat there any chance I get.”

            “R-right. I'll reserve a table for you at the grand opening.” Michelle gorged on her food, shoveling a half-pound burger and thick cut fries into her mouth like they were water. The room went quiet save for the sound of smacking lips. Michelle struggled to discover another topic for conversation while Javi was too preoccupied with his meal to contribute. He was impressed with his host’s voracity, however. The only thing more awe-inducing than standing at the foot of a giant was to watch one eat. A human jaw wielded the strength to demolish houses, and a mouth had enough space to pack several winters worth of food in a single bite.

            In no time, Michelle cleaned her plate, her cheeks smeared with grease and condiments. Javi gave up halfway into his oversized burger, having eaten enough to last him the rest of the day. They each leaned back, rubbed their bellies, and let out a sigh to celebrate the end of a hearty meal. 

            “Would you care to head out?” Michelle asked, clearing off the table. She took what remained of Javi's food and gulped the crumbs down. “I thought a walk through the park this time of year would be nice.”

            “Sounds good to me.”

…

Tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap-tip-tap

            Minutes before Women’s and Gender Studies began, Heather tapped away at her desk, stranded by the empty chairs around her.

            “Goddammit,” Shawna bemoaned upon reaching the isolated corner. “You guys can't keep skipping class with Javi. It's going to reflect poorly on his grade.” Heather didn't respond. She wasn't even paying attention. Her glass eyes bored straight through the wall. “What's wrong? Are you okay?”

            “I'm fine.” Heather didn't have to think; the words just slipped out on their own. Shawna sat down in the empty desk next to her, crossing one nylon-clad knee over the other.

            “Sure you are. What, did you quit smoking or something?” Finally, a glimmer of life flashed in Heather's eye.

            “How'd you know?” She asked, turning towards the TA.

            “I vaped all throughout high school,” Shawna admitted. Leaning on the desk, she scanned Heather from head to toe, piecing together all the visible withdrawal symptoms. “Quitting was a bitch, but I got through it. Seeing you like this has me nostalgic.”

            “Save the gloating. It's giving me a headache.”

            “Are you going cold turkey? There's nothing wrong with weaning off the habit. Patches, ecigs, you have options.”

            “No. It's all or nothing, and I ain't letting this shit win. I'm better than that.” Heather stopped tapping, clenching her fists so tight her nails dug into her palm. Shawna sighed and pulled out a pen and notepad, scribbling a name and phone number onto the parchment.

            “If you’re going to be stubborn, then here.” She handed her the note bearing the name Melvin Adams. “He’s a therapist employed by the college. General practitioner, but he has lived experience with addiction, and I can personally vouch for his effectiveness.” Heather pouted and opened her mouth to say something. “And don’t give me any lip about handling this on your own. You’re not weak for seeking help. Shouldering the burden by yourself does no good if you collapse under the pressure.”

            Reluctantly, Heather pocketed the note. “Thanks. Didn’t expect you to care so much.”

            “You’re my student. Even if we don’t always see eye to eye, I have a responsibility to look out for you.” Shawna winked at Heather and returned to the front of the classroom. Alone again, Heather stared at the vacant seat next to her, more specifically at the spot Javi usually sat. She didn’t return to tapping. Instead, she stuffed her hand in her pocket and caressed the note, keeping her eyes locked on that seat.

…

            The metropark was awash in the ocher hues of autumn. A long cement trail carved through the trimmed grass, running parallel to a flowing river. Even with the chilly weather, the path was populated by runners, bikers, strollers, and those taking a long romantic walk in the park. Of course, park rules forbid tinies from using the path unless carried by a big; they had a separate pathway exclusively for them with tunnels undercutting the larger path at any point they intersected.

            Natural. Natural. This has to be it. I can't imagine any place more natural than this, Michelle thought while carrying Javi in her cupped hand. She had read online that places surrounded by natural splendor had a higher average success rate regarding marriage proposals. Michelle leaned on a wooden fence overlooking the river, holding her friend above the rapids below. This will work. Now's the time to ask.

            “Javi, you know about that school dance that's coming up? Galaween, I think it's called. Would you care to be my date for the ball?”

            Javi hesitated to responded. Not out of any social anxiety nor fear of commitment, but his focus lied on Michelle’s shaking hand and the far drop over the rushing water. “Sorry, but I already have an obligation that night.”

            Shit! Did one of those homewreckers get to him first?!

            “I'm helping the tiny committee run an escape room during the event.” Javi didn't get why Michelle sighed in relief, but he was happy that her hand finally stilled. “I won't be available for most of the dance, but if I can get a break in, then I might be able to join you for a bit.”

            “Gotcha. That's fine,” Michelle consoled herself. “I guess I'll go with some friends and hope to see you.” She returned to the trail and headed back towards downtown, her gait stiffening compared to the relaxed pace she adopted prior.

            “So, we going back to your place?” Javi asked.

            “No, I've got another class to get to,” Michelle huffed.

            “Oh. Alright then.”

            “Why?” Michelle cocked an eyebrow. “Were you expecting something else?”

            “No, no. Just curious what the plan was,” he shrugged. Maybe she had once planned on skipping that other class. Maybe she expected a certain someone to accept her offer. Maybe she was ready and willing to take him home and shove him up an unmentionable orifice. But whatever the case may be, Michelle had lost her appetite.

…

            Lynn rang the doorbell suspended an inch off the ground. Each door in the dormitory had one which produced a unique sound so that residents could know what size guest they should expect to greet. Lynn swayed her hips back and forth in gleeful anticipation as she waited for her girlfriend to answer the door. However, upon hearing that familiar creaking sound, it was an entirely different figure looming in the doorway.

            The woman, a bit taller and a tad thinner than Alena, peered down at the unfamiliar tiny. Shadowy mascara and equally dark lipstick complimented her brown complexion. Bright streaks of green highlighted her otherwise raven hair. Steel toe boots with tips taller than Lynn led up into a battered pair of black jeans, with a matching denim vest adorning her shapely figure. After getting an eyeful of the vivacious lady at her feet, the woman crouched down to greet her. “You must be that Lynn Richards I've heard so much about,” she said, licking her lips. “I'll admit, if I didn't like Alena so much, I'd have to snatch you up for myself.”

            “You make quite the first impression yourself,” Lynn smirked. She wore a chic, low-cut tee, a designer skirt that accentuated her wide hips and slender legs, and wedge sandals. Not the outfit best suited for the fall weather, but that was one of the perks of living two floors below her girlfriend. “If Alena were willing to share me, and I can't blame her if she isn't, I suppose I'd consider taking you up on that offer.”

            “You sure you could handle the both of us, little one?” she purred.

            “That's a good point,” Lynn shrugged. “You'd need at least three or four women to really satisfy me.” The punk straightened her stance, taken aback by the tiny's bravado. “Though I suppose if Alena's involved, you all could just rely on her to carry you.”

            “I've taken part in plenty of tiny orgies, and can honestly say I've never met anyone like you. Name's Naila. I'm Alena's roommate if that weren't obvious.” Naila held out her index finger which Lynn promptly shook.

            “Lynn. But you knew that already.” Naila stepped aside and let Lynn walk herself in. The dorm looked much like the twins’, albeit with their own personal touches and a shared bathroom with the dorm next door. Alena's side wasn't too far off from Jackie's, the walls and furniture covered with nerdy game and anime merch. Despite the aesthetic being inspired by the other side of the pond, Naila's half of the room was just as colorful. Band posters littered the wall, electric instruments and amps piled up the corner, the Union Jack adorned her bedsheets, and bongs in a variety of technicolor patterns dotted every inch of shelf space. While Lynn took in the scenery, Alena sat in her bed talking on the phone.

            “No, Mom, I'm not interested in meeting him. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but…” Alena noticed her girlfriend step into the corner of her vision. “Sorry, Mom. I gotta go.” Lynn thought she heard faint protesting from the other line as Alena hung up.

            “What was that all about?” Lynn asked, approaching her giant partner.

            “Nothing to worry about. Everything’s fine, just Mom being a mom.” That answer didn’t appear to satisfy the little lady, climbing onto Alena’s outreached palm with her hands on her hips. “You know how they are, always trying to butt into our lives.”

            “Yeah, that tracks. But you didn’t have to hang up so quickly. I wanted to say hi!” Lynn stomped on Alena’s skin, leading the giantess to wince. Bewildered, the tiny looked down at her foot, wondering how her heel’s flat sole could cause her massive girlfriend any pain.

            “Oh uh, you’ll get a chance to eventually. No need to rush.” Alena searched the room for a subject to change to, delighted to see her roommate sit down on the bed across from hers. “I see you finally met Naila. You two hit it off?”

            “I mistook the incessant praise as embellishment,” Naila said, “but from the little I’ve seen of Lynn, I think you’ve been underselling her.”

            “I tend to have that effect. It’s so hard to find words that do me justice,” Lynn boasted before turning to Alena. “I can’t believe it’s taken this long for me to see your room, especially since you’ve seen mine so many times.”

            “That’s because it’s rare for Naila to not have company over, and even rarer that said company is wearing clothes.”

            “Hey, you two are invited to join anytime. Don’t get me wrong, I love covering my body in tinies, but I’d die for a partner my size to smush them between.” Naila fell back on her bed and massaged her crotch, wild fantasies running rampant in her mind. Alena dropped her free hand onto her palm, forming a barrier between her girlfriend and her roommates public display, but Lynn grabbed onto Alena’s fore finger and lifted herself to peek over the top. “It’s a real shame your monogamous, Alena.”

            “Are you kidding? Keeping up with Lynn is hard enough,” Alena laughed, lifting the barrier upon realizing its worthlessness. “I’m just glad she found me before you could add her to your collection.”

            “Wait, you’re single?” Lynn asked, diving into her phone’s contacts list. “What’s your opinion on librarians?”

            Naila stopped pleasuring herself to ponder the question. “Not my favorite fetish, but they’re somewhere in the top thirty. Above nuns but below teachers. Why do you ask?”

            “I’m setting you up with my coworker.” Lynn found Justine’s contact info and airdropped it to Naila’s phone along with a picture.

            “Oh fuck!” Upon seeing the photo, Naila shot straight up. “Is she working right now?”

            “Yup.”

            Naila leapt off her bed and bolted for the door. “See ya guys. If you need anything from the library, text me.” With the punk gone, Lynn focused her attention on her massive lover.

            “Goodie! Now we have the place all to ourselves.” Lynn knelt beside Alena’s thumb and hugged it tight, squeezing her supple tits against the appendage. Alena used her other hand’s forefinger to rub down Lynn’s back, eliciting a soft purr from the tiny with each stroke.

            “Just gauging the room, but are you actually interested in orgies?”

            “Not really. Everyone else involved would just distract me from you. And I don’t share with other tinies. If I’m not the center of attention, then it’s a waste of my time.” Lynn kissed Alena’s thumb and caressed it in much the way Alena was rubbing her. Alena smiled wide, elated to hold such a wonderful woman in the palm of her hand. “Now, what I’m really interested in is getting ready for Galaween. Let’s go dress shopping tomorrow!”

            “Shopping? I was just going to wear my prom dress. It’s not like anyone here has seen it already. Aside from Heather, but she doesn’t count.”

            “Nonsense! I want to try on dresses with you!” Lynn pouted. “What’s the point of making fat stacks at the library if we aren’t treating ourselves with it?”

            “I get that our minimum wage is a lot for a tiny, but you’re in for a rude awakening if we’re shopping for me too.”

            Lynn propelled herself off the thumb and pointed at Alena’s expansive face. “Dammit, I’m going to watch you try on dresses even if it costs my entire earnings! If you’re not the third prettiest girl at this gala ball, then what kind of girlfriend does that make me?”

            “Third?”

            “Me, Jackie, and you,” Lynn counted on her fingers. “Jackie’s only second because she aped my look,” she said of her slightly older sister. Alena covered her mouth as she laughed, unable to hold out against her puny girlfriend’s conviction. Once she got that out of her system, she lifted Lynn to her lips and planted a kiss across most of her body.

            “Fine. If it's really that important to you, we can go dress shopping tomorrow. But for now…” Alena repositioned herself so she was sitting fully sprawled out on her mattress and placed Lynn between her high-walled legs. A lascivious glint flashed in the giant woman's eyes, one reflected in the miniscule pools of her partner’s. “...I'm more interested in undressing.”