So it turned out there were some benefits to being Micro. One, Lio's new house was sweeeet. It was basically a villa, filled with all his heart's desires. On his scale, it was pretty damn large too. Due to manufacturing processes, it was a 20x20x6 (meters) building to Lio, excessively large for one person. But to the rest of the world, it was only 10x10x3 (millimeters).. absolutely puny indeed. It needed the relatively large surface area to make proper handling a possibility.

The rest of the day, Lio explored his new place, astounded at how well-made everything was. After weeks of being on a wrong scale, having an entire villa at the "right" size lifted a huge mental load from his mind. He tried not to think about how Rachel's fingertip, the one that had carried him here, had absolutely dwarfed the structure when she set him down. He tried, and failed. Regular people were mountains to him now. His sister had sat on his old bed for a little while, in case he needed her help with.... anything at all. But once Lio had found his new, Micro-scaled phone, he had told her that she could relax. Surprisingly, she listened to him.

Lio went to bed really early, and woke up pretty late. Apparently, shrinking so much at once and settling at your new size drains a lot of energy. However, it was the manner that he woke up that was most interesting. It was rather sudden, as if his instincts forced him to wake up due to....danger? He groaned as he realised he was awake, raising himself up on his arms. His thoughts were sidetracked immediately, as he softly muttered "This new bed is fucking amazing...."

A few moments later, he sighed, turning around and getting up from his bed. His new pyjamas were also great. He was aware Rachel had said she took care of everything, but he hadn't expected it to all be so amazing. His room was dark, the house had blinds. Well, at least the bedroom had, Lio hadn't really bothered to check all the other windows. He walked towards the window and opened the blinds, closing his eyes for a second as he expected to be hit with a lot of sunlight.

Except, he wasn't. So, Lio opened his eyes to find out what was going on....

"Holy shit!" Lio yelled out in surprise and slight fear as he gazed into a gargantuan lake of black, white, and especially gray-blue.... an eye he knew all too well.

"Good morning to you too.~" Ava's voice boomed around him. Her usual tone feeling more melodic and ear-pleasing than it ever had before. The window was closed, but Lio could feel and even hear the wind hit the glass as the gargantuan eye blinked. He couldn't help but note that even those eyelashes were considerably longer than he was tall.

------

Ava had arrived as soon as she could after Rachel had called her to tell the news. The taller brunette knew Lio hadn't informed Ava yet, because otherwise she would have shown up in the middle of the night if it was necessary. But the older woman thought Ava deserved to know, and her assumption had been correct. The two women chatted for a little bit, Lio being the main topic. They clearly had some semblance of an "alliance" when it concerned dealing with a Micro-Lio.... They also just got along really well.

Eventually, Ava went to Lio's bedroom. The girl was uncharacteristically slow and gentle when opening the door, not wanting to spook her friend. Like Rachel had said, she found Lio's Micro-House on his old desk. The same desk the pair had spent many hours doing schoolwork, years ago. She stood there for a minute, waiting to see or hear any sign of life. Micros could feel "giants" coming from quite far away, they were forces of nature. So, given there was no reaction, Ava deduced that he wasn't awake yet... That gave her an idea, both a little devious and soothing (in the sense she'd still treat him as her buddy no matter the size).

Ava sat down at the desk and reached out. Then, delicately but firmly, she placed her index finger atop the house's flat roof. The brunette then dragged the house from the center of the desk to the edge... and waited. When she heard movement from inside (the SDV really gave ridiculously good senses), she scooted the chair back and bent down so her left eye was directly in front of the building... which was smaller than the eye....

------
With her plan a resounding success, Ava brought the chair a little further back so Lio could actually see her face. Meanwhile, the Micro opened his window so the pair could talk more easily. Even though Ava's hearing seemed more than good enough to go through his microscopically thin walls. He leaned out the window and gazed upon his gargantuan best friend. Seeing his sister like this was one thing, she'd always been someone he looked up to, literally and figuratively. But Ava, Ava was his equal, his friend, she'd affectionately called him "buddy" for nearly a decade at this point. Now here she was, a mountain in his old bedroom. Like with Rachel, his mind tried to comprehend such a massive being by linking her to divinity... and his attempts at suppressing it weren't as successful as it had with Rachel.

"Helloooo? Earth to Lio? Anyone home?" Ava called from seemingly hundreds of meters away. He watched those lips move so nimbly. With how close her eye had been, Lio had a pretty good idea of how small he would be to those humongous pillow-like ridges. He imagined what it would be like to touch those lips... He'd done so before, a little, but he'd always seen Ava as his best bud.... Now, seeing all her features blown to massive proportions.... his feelings were a little different.

"Lio?" the voice called out again. But this time, the playfulness was gone, replaced with genuine concern. That was what finally managed to shake Lio out of his trance.... hearing his favourite (don't tell Rachel) lady be so worried...

"I'm here Ava! Don't worry! I was just, uh, lost in amazement a little. I know it's you but you're just so....."

"Big." Ava finished for him.

"Big doesn't do it justice. Remember that year we went hiking? You joked about it then, but you were right. If you were as big to the world as you are to me now, those mountains would have been less impressive than you..."

It was true. Though Lio could only see Ava's face, her long brown hair in its usual loose ponytail, he was fully aware she stood a comparative 3.5 kilometers in height. And that was disregarding her actual proportions... some very impressive indeed.

"Yeah I guess... Hey, you know you can talk to me, right? About anything that's bothering you, I mean. Remember, I am technically trained to help with Micro.... rehabilitation would be the best word. I'm not gonna force you through anything... But I want your word that you will tell me if something feels weird. Some minds.. don't deal with the perspective change that well. And, well, you know, stuff I've told you a thousand times since I chose my college degree."

"I know, Ava. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. I don't think I've gone crazy. But I will need to get used to everyone being... literal landscapes. Probably just need time, maybe actual experience."

"Well, you know Mount Ava is always open for certain individuals. Just say the word and you'll be granted access."

She said it so nonchalantly, but Lio swore she saw her cheeks go the tiniest bit red when she did. So there were multiple benefits to Ava's face being a cliffside, Lio could finally pick up her most minute bodylanguage. That being said, he couldn't help but think what that would be like... He knew how she looked, obviously, but found himself imagining what it would be like to travel across her body. Like any straight man, his mind wandered to certain.... areas of his lovely female companion. But then his logical side kicked in, ruining the fun.

"I... uh... maybe another time. Not really in the mood right now. How about we just get used to handling and being handled. Because I couldn't help but notice you moved my house to the edge of my desk."

Ava got the message, and was more than happy to be herself again. She was a little disappointed Lio hadn't accepted her offer, but she knew better than to push him. Besides, given the timing of his pauses, she guessed what kind of effect being a Micro had on him. She guessed he was one of those who felt the sheer size of people only enhanced their features, their beauty. Even things that wouldn't be appealing to them normally would seem rather intriguing. Specifically, she guessed Lio now saw "new wonders of the human female".

"Well, yeah. Couldn't exactly have my eye at your window when it was in the middle, could I? I could've pressed my head sideways on it, but they you would've been staring at a wall of skin, maaaybe the corner of my eye. Besides, Rachel told me everything I need to know. Your house is so durable I could try and stomp it with my shoes and it would be fine. Everything is bolted down or so secure no earthquake could ever break it. Et cetera et cetera. Oh, and that you have a new phone and didn't even call or text me last night. Some friend you are."

Her final words were emphasised by Ava's hand reaching forward. Her index finger came down pretty hard on the roof, shaking the house but everything being completely fine. Lio didn't even lose his balance. If he did, it was because of the mental shock and not the actual tremors.

"Come on Ava, don't do that!" Lio called, though his tone held the annoyance he always held whenever Ava used physical means to tease him. Thinking about it, Ava was only that physical with him. With others, she was far more reserved and calm. She liked a good party, but didn't have as much physical contact with all her other friends, even the girls.

"Oh please, you're fine. This house is designed to be carried and placed wherever big ladies like myself choose. I could make you live in Rachel's room, or on the bath's edge. I could put you on the couch, or the coffee table. I could even smuggle you with me, anywhere in my clothing. I could leave you in my pocket or in the warm, damp caverns of my size 9.5s. Or I could make you be my roommate, granting you vistas many of our old classmates would be so jealous of.~"

Lio thought about it, imagined it, and almost wished for it. All of those ideas sounded fantastic, though those involving Rachel were more platonic. But he didn't doubt Ava's willingness to try those things, if only because of her devious curiosity. He knew she had experience with Micros. But those were essentially volunteer-patients for her academics, encounters wrapped under ethical and procedural rules that only gave a little wiggleroom to make sure the patients knew Ava saw them as human. Lio was her best friend, as perfect as any Micro could ever be for her desires and curiosity. She wasn't his friend because he was destined to be a Micro..... but it was one of the greatest side-benefits she could think of.

Meanwhile, Ava had already confirmed her previous theory due to how long Lio took to respond. Poor guy was lost in thought, his imagination going wild. Though eventually, more than a minute later, he finally spoke up.

"Well, uh, good luck trying to smuggle me past Rachel. She trusts you but the house itself is staying here at all times. And I cannot guarantee she won't go into maternal-mode if she thinks you're being careless. We may be adults now but I don't think she will ever stop scolding us if we misbehave."

"Maybe, but what if hid you so well that she'd need to thoroughly search me?"

"She wouldn't care what she has to do to get me back to safely. If needed, she would make you do things only specialised customs crews are supposed to do."

"I bet half the town wouldn't mind doing such a thing in front of Rachel."

"Ava. She's my sister. Fucking gross."

"Said the guy who's new chores apparently all involve the 'maintenance' of his sister and her belongings.~"

Lio's eyes widened as he looked up at the massive face, a wide grin showcasing literal ivory towers. "How do you know that? And what do you mean, all?"

"Us ladies like to chat amongst ourselves as well, little buddy. We share secrets, ideas, stories. And I gotta say, some of them are right up my alley. I always knew your sister was awesome, but I never imagined she'd be so aligned with my own fun ideas involving a certain Micro."

"What did she tell you? Ava. You have to tell me what she has planned."

Ava leaned in close again. However, this time it wasn't her eye that filled his horizon, but her lips. Each time she spoke, Lio was granted a glimpse of the dark, warm, wet cavern behind some of the softest parts of her body, and the hardest.

"Not a chance. Now, as much as I would love to hang out with you all day, I already pushed my luck at work by asking for different hours literally the sams morning. Bye buddy.~"

As quickly as she had arrived, Ava left both Lio's room and the house. But not before saying goodbye to Rachel as well, telling the 32 year-old some of what she told Lio.

And, most importantly, not before leaning in even close and enclosing Lio's entire house in a soft, quick smooch. The Micro was cast in almost complete darkness, except for the few electronics-based LEDs in his room. It was surreal, he could feel the warmth of Ava's lips permeate the walls, and a gust of warm, moist air blew in through his open window. He could also swear he saw a glimpse of something that definitely wasn't her lips through the dim light, flashing past the window. Was that....her tongue?

Needless to say, Lio was left stunned as Ava pulled back, waved innocently and got out of his room. They fooled around a ton, but Ava rarely gave him an actual kiss, and it was always on the forehead or cheek....