Preston scooted close to his PC, readying himself for a pleasant afternoon of gaming. It was the perfect day for it, he was home from school for the weekend, his parents were visiting friends out of state, and the weather had offered up a cool breeze and a slow drizzle out of an overcast sky. He was browsing his Steam library, trying to decide what he wanted to play, when the doorbell rang.

He sighed and got up, fighting to keep himself calm. The whole point of this weekend was to relax after all, ever since the diagnosis… He listened to the slow pitter patter of rain starting to pick up, and the doorbell rang again as whoever was out there grew more insistent.

He threw open the door, half expecting to find a delivery parcel, but he was greeted by a smiling girl in a bright yellow raincoat.

“Preston!” Sita said excitedly, “Are you okay? I came over as soon as I heard!”

Before he could reply Sita had forced her way in, and was stripping her raincoat off and hanging it on a nearby hook, underneath it she was wearing a simple pair of grey sweatpants and a loose t-shirt from their days in high school band. She had a few bags with her, and he raised an eyebrow as his old friend walked into the kitchen, placing them on the counter.

“Hey Sita,” he said, walking behind her. “I’m fine, you don’t need to-“

“Wow,” she breathed, looking him over, “it’s already started, huh?”

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh.

He usually stood a head taller than Sita did, but now he was looking levelly into her brown eyes. She wasn’t a tall girl either, maybe an inch or two above five feet. Thankfully the Shrinking Syndrome he’d been afflicted with had a cure, but he wouldn’t be able to get medication until Monday. Until then he’d be slowly dwindling away.

“So, you get smaller when you’re stressed, right?” Sita asked, opening the bag she’d brought and placing items on the counter.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “the doctors told me to just take it easy this weekend and I should be fine.”

“Well, I’ve got plenty of things to help you relax!” Sita said with a smile. She slowly drew out a tupperware container, and Preston couldn’t help but eye the chicken curry inside eagerly, but also with a hint of wariness.

“Did you or your mom make that?” he asked, hoping he sounded casual.

Sita picked up the real intent of the question and scowled. “My mom did, happy?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, Sita’s mom was well known in the neighborhood for her cooking, both her native Indian dishes and what she’d picked up from American cuisine over the decades since moving to the country with Sita’s dad. While Sita herself had inherited her mom’s black hair and light brown skin, the ability to throw together miracles in a kitchen had apparently skipped a generation.

“I’ve got scented candles,” Sita said, showing off the selections, “and I figured we could just hang out, binge watch something stupid, you know, just take it easy.” She beamed, “If anything does happen, I’ll be right here to take care of you, you know, if you get small!”

“I’m not going to get small,” he said dismissively, “I’ve got nothing stressful this weekend, I was just going to play some video games.”

Sita bit her lip, “Uh… Preston, that might not be a good idea for you.”

He frowned. “What do you mean? You and I game together all the time, it’s one of my favorite things.”

“Mine too,” Sita said, “but uh… well, you see…” she tried to choose her words carefully, “you’re supposed to avoid getting upset.”

“I don’t get upset when gaming,” Preston said angrily. “I might get a little into it-“

“Okay,” Sita sighed, “just… maybe play something on your laptop, down here in the living room…” She smirked, “and no online play.” She held out two of the scented candles to him, “now would you like Warm Laundry or Autumn Woods?”

The pair found themselves lounging in the living room, and Preston had to admit that the candle was a nice touch. Sit was laughing along with him as they rewatched their favorite series, and the rain outside echoed against the roof.

“Isn’t this nice?” Sita asked with a sigh, sitting up as an episode ended. “We really should do this more often, not just when you’re-“ She paused, “are you smaller!?”

Preston looked up from his laptop in surprise. “What? No! I’ve just been here relaxing with you!”

“Stand up!” she ordered, and with a sigh he did, and he started with surprise as he realized that instead of looking Sita in the eyes, he was staring her in the chest. His clothes were looser too, something he must have missed while lounging with his laptop on the couch.

“I must have just had a… random shrinking attack,” he insisted, trying to hold his pants up.

“A random shrinking attack?” Sita asked, crossing her arms as she looked down at him, “no Preston, you were stressing yourself out! What game was that?” She tried to push her way around him, and he tried to get between her and the laptop.

“I-It was… Animal Crossing!” he lied.

“On a laptop?” she asked incredulously. She smirked as she easily pushed his reduced form to the couch, causing him to grunt as he hit the cushions. He was similarly helpless to stop her from plucking his laptop from his hands, looking over the screen for a moment.

“XCOM!?” Sita asked, her eyes wide. “Preston, you probably lost an inch for every missed shot!”

“Fine,” he said, “you pick a game for me.”

Sita sighed and scrolled through his steam library. “No Elden Ring, definitely no Darkest Dungeon…”

“I’ll play Crusader Kings or something, just give me back my laptop!” he protested.

“Oh no you don’t,” she scolded, “I’ve seen how worked up you get playing those map painting games, the Duke of Burgundy will die or some other thing out of your control will happen and then you’ll be tiny.”

Preston rolled his eyes. “I’m half tempted to just boot up Call of Duty just to show you that games aren’t making me stressed!”

Sita stared at him a minute, then smirked. “Fine Preston, it’s clear you’re determined to stress yourself tiny… and it would be better if it happened when someone was here to take care of you.”

“What do you mean?” Preston asked suspiciously as she handed him his laptop back.

“I mean,” she said, a glint in her eye, “that I know you’re not making it to the end of the afternoon at full size, and I think I’ll just keep you for myself until it’s time to regrow you on Monday… for your own good of course.”

“What do you mean ‘keep me’ exactly?” he asked nervously.

Sita just giggled and leaned over him, and he was suddenly very aware of how her t-shirt stretched over her breasts, “I’m just going to make sure you’re relaxed Preston…”

He snapped out of his trance and smirked up at her. “Fine, why don’t you and I play something? You’re easy enough to beat that I can safely say I won’t lose a single inch if I’m up against you.”

Sita pursed her lips, “alright fine, you stay there on your laptop and I’ll go use your PC, set up a private match.”

“In what?” he asked.

She just laughed, “anything.”

“Fine then,” he chuckled, grinning to himself as he loaded up League of Legends.

The game started off easy enough, and while a one on one match wasn’t what he was used to, he was confident he could handle Sita, who almost always preferred either a support or a jungling character.

His eyes went wide as he saw Sita’s champion appearing behind his own. Shit, he thought, his heart racing as he clicked orders. It was too late, Sita had forgone her usual preferences and chosen a powerful offensive tank character, and within seconds he’d been defeated. He gulped as he felt his mouse expanding in his hands, his laptop screen seeming to stretch in front of him.

“Are you okay Preston?” Sita’s voice giggled over his speakers. “That probably shaved some height off of you.”

“Are you kidding?” he laughed, keeping his voice level, “I’m cool as a cucumber over here.”

Son of a bitch! He thought a moment later when Sita ambushed him a second time. He watched his champion’s health deplete as he struggled to reach the hotkeys for his spells.

The rest of the match didn’t last long, and he waited with apprehension as he heard her footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked down at himself, then at his laptop, trying to guess how big he was. His shirt had certainly gotten… billowy.

“Cool as a cucumber huh?” Sita giggled, strutting victoriously into the living room. “This is exactly what I was worried about Preston, you’re not even half the size you were when I got here!”

“I’m just slouching,” he said defiantly.

Sita rolled her eyes and plucked the laptop out of his grip again, grabbing his tiny arm and pulling him off the couch. He struggled to hold his pants up, or to even stay upright as he hit the floor, suddenly further away than he remembered it being.

Sita just laughed, putting her hands on her head and causing her shit to drift up just enough to give him a glance at her bellybutton, which was now eye level with him.

“Have you learned your lesson yet Preston?” She chuckled, “now, can we agree no more gaming until-“

“One more match!” he said defiantly, “Call of Duty, Nuketown!”

“You’re joking right?” Sita asked, “Preston you can barely use your mouse!”

“Then maybe I’ll suck enough for you to get a kill or two before you lose,” he replied.

Sita thought for a moment, then smirked. Preston thought she was about to reply to his taunt, but instead she gripped the hem of her shirt, lifting it over her head. Preston’s heart skipped a beat as he looked up at the towering goddess who was now topless save for a powder blue bra.

“I think you should understand the stakes,” Sita said, bending over and letting her breasts hang in front of him, “if you get yourself too worked up playing video games…” her finger traced along her chest, finishing its journey in the valley between her breasts, “you’re going to spend the rest of your weekend right here.”

“I-I don’t know if that will keep me calm,” he stammered.

“Come on Preston,” she said with a wink, “it’ll be soft, warm, and you’ll be close to me… nice and safe.” She stood back upright, looming over him with a grin for a moment before walking back towards the stairs. “Go load up the map,” she said, “and remember, try to have fun, it’s just a game after all.”

Just a game, he thought, blinking as he tried to gather his thoughts, so… obviously all of those people who said Sita liked me in that way were right…

He breathed out slowly, fighting to manipulate a mouse that was as big as his hand. The stakes had been raised, that much he understood. Sita wasn’t just trying to shrink him via stress, she was making a move… and he was struggling to come to terms with his own feelings on that as he watched the loading screen come up on his monitor.

He struggled to control his character as he sprinted through the stage, and he barely managed to reach the directional keys to dodge the first of Sita’s grenades. He grinned as he saw her in the window of a nearby house, he’d realized that at his smaller size precision shooting would be impossible, so he’d chosen a machine gun with the largest magazine the game allowed, a strategy that paid off as he lit up Sita’s character with a burst of gunfire.

“Git Gud!” He shouted over the microphone.

“Someone who is about to be a few inches tall should probably be more… humble,” she replied. His eyes lit up in surprise as she punctuated the remark with the crack of a sniper rifle, and he watched as his character sprawled on the street.

Damnit, he thought, his heart racing as he chose his next loadout. The keys seemed to be racing away from his fingers as he felt the adrenaline spike, and he struggled to hold the ever expanding mouse in his hands.

“You okay Preston?” Sita’s mocking voice came over the microphone, “you seem to be having some trouble moving your character.”

“I-It’s lag,” he stammered. He fought the urge to swear as a grenade landed in front of him. He reached for the mouse, but he realized it was out of reach. He looked up at his laptop screen, now easily as tall as he was, and swallowed nervously. The explosive went off, and he stared at the deathcam as his character tumbled backwards over a car. He realized with a start that he was naked too, having stepped out of his massive t-shirt at some point during the match without realizing it.

“How big are you right now Preston?” Sita teased.

“I’m the same size,” he lied. “I’m just… having an off day, I didn’t chug a Monster like I usually do before an FPS!”

“I’m going to come down there and check.” Sita said.

“No!” he said, his heart pounding. “I-I’ll blast you if you do!” He scrambled across the couch, reaching his mouse and hefting it up to his chest. It was like carrying a sandbag as he hefted it down next to his computer, pressing his entire palm down on the key as he struggled to find Sita. He heard her footsteps plodding down the stairs as he spotted her avatar, simply standing in the middle of one of the map’s houses.

“Aw come on, don’t shoot someone who’s afk,” Sita giggled, leaning over him.

He looked up at her, then back to the screen. He gripped the mouse on both sides, struggling to bring his crosshairs up on Sita’s character, but she just laughed, reaching hand down and prying it away from him. She stared down at him smugly as he struggled to cover himself, diving back into his shirt as she glanced at his screen.

“I think your afternoon of gaming is up,” she said, closing the laptop.

“Y-Yeah,” he managed, awed by the giant woman standing over him, “I think maybe you were right about me being uh… too into the games.”

“You think bug boy?” she teased. She blinked, “wow, it’s happening so fast I can see it now…” She bit her lip, stifling a laugh. “What could be stressing you out now Preston?” She leaned over again, giving him another view of her boobs as her grin grew wider. “We’ve stopped playing video games… what’s making your heart race now?”

“A-Are you serious!?” he shouted, pulling his shirt up like a blanket to hide his body, and more importantly his erection.

“Now what would I see if I pushed that shirt down?” she asked, grinning as she ran her finger along the hem. Preston watched, spellbound, as the digit thicker than his arm rested playfully in front of him, hooking over the cloth and slowly, but forcefully, pulling it lower. Her eyes went wide, and she giggled in excitement as he was exposed.

“S-Sita,” he stammered, watching her rise higher above him as his heart pounded like a drum, “t-this is very stressful!”

Sita sighed, then reached down for him, slowly raising him into the air. “Preston,” she said softly, cradling her warm fingers around him, “look at me…”

He looked up into her billboard sized face, seeing the familiar kind eyes as she smiled warmly at him. His heartbeat slowed, and while he was scared to be a few inches tall, scared to have one of his oldest friends suddenly becoming more than that, he felt… safe.

“Everything’s fine,” Sita said slowly, “just relax, if this is all going too fast I can get you a tissue or something to wear and throw my shirt back on-“

“No!” he said, a little too quickly. He gulped, looking down at her massive breasts, and remembered the threat to imprison him between them… “Leave your shirt off,” he managed, smiling up at her.

She didn’t let it show, but she felt a sense of relief. After far too long trying to get Preston to see her as more than a gaming buddy, it was nice to know that he felt the same. With a sigh she flopped onto the couch, still holding his tiny body in her hand. He’d stopped shrinking at least, which she took as a good sign.

“So,” she drawled, dangling him over her chest, “I think I’ve proved my point, games are far too stressful for you when your Shrinking Syndrome is acting up.” She slowly lowered him down, wedging him between her breasts with a sigh. He struggled slightly, trying to find his footing, but her finger came down and easily pushed him in, leaving his head exposed as the rest of him disappeared between those caramel colored orbs.

“You’re right,” he said dreamily, relishing the soft warmth, “this is much better…”

Sita smiled as she looked out at the dreary day outside, and reached for the TV remote. Idly she flipped it on, resuming the series they’d been watching before. Preston’s world jiggled as she sat up slightly, placing a pillow under her head and getting comfortable.

“I think,” she said, reaching down for her shirt, “that a nice nap is in order.”

Preston’s world went dark as she slowly slipped her shirt back on, the fabric sliding overhead and blocking out his view of the world. There was something peaceful about it, sealed between the warmth of her breasts while her shirt concealed him and he listened to the soft steady thump of Sita’s heartbeat.

Sita put her hands behind her head, feeling the tiny man squirming within her bosom and thinking about the rest of the weekend. He’d need her to take care of him of course, and she smiled happily as she thought of all the fun that would entail.

As the rain pattered outside and the slow chimes of the TV show’s opener began, she pulled out her phone, deciding to do a little research on Preston’s condition as he was lulled to sleep by the rise and fall of her breathing.

Shrinking Syndrome will recur throughout a sufferer’s life, she read, usually at monthly intervals. Such individuals are advised to simply avoid stressful situations until they can reach a treatment center. She grinned as she read “monthly intervals,” this might just become a regular thing, she thought, staring down at her chest.

Beneath her shirt, snuggled deep between her breasts, Preston finally stopped squirming, giving in to sleep and relaxation as Sita’s warmth enveloped him.