Some days are just fun days. Relaxing days where you can just hang around, play what you want, and talk about whatever you wanted were needed during college. Today was one of those days where the three of us had actually gone shopping together - going to the supermarket, the mall, and a few mom-and-pop shops too.

“... and then Nikki flipped him over…”

“Whoa. Is she alright? You two didn’t get in trouble, did you?”

“No… the security guard and manager said it was self-defense... They said he was a repeat offender harassing the staff and they had video proof, so they thanked her and let us go after taking our statements… Nikki’s was afraid the whole time that she’d get arrested, but I told her everything would be fine…”

“Well, aren’t you a good friend? You worried me when you started that story off, but if security said it was fine, then I guess everything should be okay.” 

“Yeah I hope, Lori… but guys are really scary… He just wouldn’t take no for an answer…”

“Dude got what he deserved for not knowing when to quit hitting on your friend,” I sighed. Alice’s lack of comfort from men was something that we still had to address in addition to her shyness. People like the man she was talking about were certainly going to leave a negative impression on her. It pained me to see it, but the entire time we were talking to each other, Alice was on the opposite side of Lori and had dragged my sister a few feet away from where I was walking. “But Alice, not all guys are as bad as him. Don’t lump all of us into the same group as that idiot.”

“... A-Ah. Sorry, Remy. I-I know, b-but still…” Alice realized she had tried to defend my own gender. “... N-Nikki’s not going to get in trouble after that, w-will she…?”

“Yeah. From the rest of the story, I don’t think there’ll be any repercussions for what she did. That Nikki girl sounds pretty strong,” I answered, frowning at Alice’s stuttering. I was pretty aware of who Nikki was considering I had spent a few hours in Alice’s boot when she was studying with her before. They had spent an extra hour talking about movie recommendations even though Alice knew I was in her boot after she found me inside. “You sure made one crazy friend, Alice.”

“Y-yeah…,” Alice reflexively hid behind Lori when I turned my gaze toward her, but she peeked her head out to look at me when she responded. “N-Nikki’s super nice… She just wanted a movie buddy, but she’s been helping me go outside with people more… I still can’t talk to guys, but I… I want to return the favor to her one day…”

Lori and I shared a glance. Alice had been slowly trying to improve herself. It was still a shame that she was stuttering with me when I was normal sized, but she was certainly stuttering a lot less, especially when talking about Nikki. In fact, the one who was doing most of the talking on our car trip back had been Alice. Shopping wasn’t something the three of us typically did together, but this was one of those rare occasions where we could all talk to each other at regular size. It helped Lori and I see how Alice was doing when it came to talking to guys.

“Well, if you ever need something, let me and Remy know. We’ll help you out,” grinned Lori. She wanted to pat Alice on the back, but she was carrying four grocery bags at that moment.

“Thanks… A-And, sorry, Remy… I-I must’ve been a bother the whole trip for you… I-I still can’t get too close to you…”

“Oh, that wasn’t a problem. If I had complaints, they’d be about having to sit in the back of Lori’s junk filled car. You’ve been talking to me more than you’ve been hiding, Alice, so I’m just happy you’ve been improving,” I reassured her as we walked up to the house. I was straggling behind my sibling and cousin mainly because I was carrying four plastic bags as well as one that had three boxes in it.

“Hey, that equipment’s not junk!” Lori took offense, causing Alice to laugh.

In any case, Lori, Alice, and I had too many items in hand walking back to our apartment from the parked car. Lori wanted to buy a lot of stuff. She needed more hands, including someone to do the heavy lifting, so that was why Alice and I had to come along.

Sadly, I couldn’t be the muscle of our group for very long. After Lori unlocked the door for us to head back in, I had to go through with the obligatory shrinking. After putting things I had carried in the center of the living room, I sighed and walked over to the shrinking platform. 

“Hey, Remy. Can’t you do it after helping us un-bag things?” Lori frowned.

“I can’t even use the bathroom right when I get home, so do you think I can do that?” I shook my head and stepped onto the platform. “Our deal with Aunt Shelly was that I shrink myself right when I get home.”

“D-Do you really have to right away, Remy…?” Alice asked from the entrance as she took off her shoes. “I-I’ve been wondering this from the beginning actually… How would Mom know…?”

“She wouldn’t. The platform keeps track of every time it’s used, but she can’t find out unless she came here herself to check. And with our deal, she’s supposed to stay away so you can actually live independently,” My sister sighed. “Remy’s the type to always follow through on what he says. I remember hearing some girls say that it’s one of his good points, but it’s more just stubbornness on his part. He’s not as flexible as you think he’d be on these sorts of things.” 

“Hey, if Aunt Shelly’s keeping up her end of the deal, I’ve got to keep up with ours.”

“You say that, but sometimes I wonder if you just like being tiny.”

“... Y-You do, Remy?” I saw Alice take a step towards me after she heard my sister’s quip.

“Absolutely not.” I pressed the button on the shrinking machine as Alice got closer. My cousin only ever approached me when I was smaller. As my line of sight quickly fell beneath her shorts, Alice put her hand on her knees and leaned forward, looming over me as my body shrank. Whenever we came home at the same time, no matter what other plans she had, she would always watch me shrink. It was strange, watching her nervous gaze become one of curiosity. There was a sparkle in her eyes as her quivering lips curled into a smile the smaller I got. “I’m never going to get used to this.”

“Ehehe…” I was getting used to hearing the loud giggle escape Alice’s lips whenever I reached the 3 inches. I frowned, knowing I was only level with her ankles due to standing on the stage-sized platform. It was pretty hot for an autumn day, so Alice was wearing some very short shorts with a hoodie, so when I looked up, my eyes traced the path of her bare legs up to her knees and then her thighs but were then to see any further. “I think I’ve gotten used to the tiny you at least…”

“Well you’re not stutte- Mgff!”

Pluck!

Without warning my cousin’s left hand descended and pinched the back of my shirt. She pulled me up so that she could drop me onto her palm.

“I’ll take you to the table, Remy…”

I would’ve appreciated a warning before she had done so, but Alice no longer hesitated when grabbing me while I was small. She brought me over to the dining table as Lori put the food items in the fridge and cupboards.

“Oof… A little notice would’ve been nice, Ali… ce…,” I told her when she put me down, but I drifted off. Alice was way too close to the edge of the table she had put me on. Her legs were longer than table height, so her bare thighs had become walls that dwarfed me. When I looked up I was only able to stare up at my cousin’s crotch.

“... Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~”

Alice didn’t seem to hear me as she was pushing building sized items on the table aside to make room for the other things we had bought. I started backing up whenever Alice leaned forward because her thighs started bumping into the table and her crotch loomed over my body. After putting me on the table, she stopped paying attention to me completely. As was typical of whenever I was shrunken - I dropped off everyone’s notice, but Alice did so way too quickly. 

“By the way, Lori… What kind of games did you buy? You were really excited when we passed that one store…” my cousin asked.

“Hm? I guess they’re more toys than games, but there was a 70% off sale, so I really couldn’t resist,” Lori answered. “I bought three different lego sets!”

“... Lego?” Alice repeated. She actually didn’t know. “... What is that?”

“You don’t know Lego, Alice?” Lori was shocked, but it made sense considering who Alice’s mother was. She gave the girl a proper explanation. “They’re like building blocks! You can make real complicated stuff with them like buildings and spaceships! There are different sets and kits for making different things, and they can be rearranged however you want so you can get real creative with them.”

“I see…”

“It’s not just a kid’s toy. A bunch of adults have assembling lego sets as a hobby too!” I shouted out loud to both help explain and to get Alice’s attention as to where I was. 

“Remy and I loved these when we were kids. Still do too. Do you want to open them up and mess around, Alice?”

“Really…?” Alice’s eyes sparkled. “... I want to try!”

“That’s good, Ali- Mgff!” I couldn’t finish my sentence because Alice snatched me off the table and closed her hand before I could even blink.

Because she never really got to play with them, Alice’s curiosity with toys and games was immense. I had learned that first hand from how interested she was in my dollhouse. Whenever Lori brought out a game for chore betting, she got deeply invested. I would’ve shared Lori in her laughter if my mouth wasn’t being kept shut by Alice’s fingers that wrapped around my entire body.

“Uwo-Oof!” I was put down onto the carpet without much care as Alice began unboxing the lego sets. I didn’t appreciate the unceremonious drop, but I had other concerns when I got up and found that I had to cover my nose. Immediately beside me was my cousin’s white sock which she had taken off. I understood she had taken it off because it had gotten too hot, but this was still the living room. Alice had certainly gotten too comfortable with living with us.

“... Oh wow! … Is it supposed to be an apartment?”

“That one is since it’s based on a place in a movie. The other’s a building set and the last one’s a medieval castle. You don’t have to build them like that though. I have a mess of old sets in a box in my room we can add to the mix too.”

“... Will it fit Remy?”

“Well, they do hurt to step on so I don’t think he’d like it,” Lori laughed as she left the kitchen to grab another grocery bag from the front entrance.  “I think Remy might actually be too big for these sets, though.”

“I’d rather not move into a different place when I’m already forced to move into the dollhouse,” I gave my opinion as I tried to get around Alice’s sock. The issue with avoiding the sweaty used sock was that, because of how Alice was sitting, my only option was to get closer to her left foot.

“But I can make one that fits you Remy… Ehehe…” Alice giggled. She was getting too playful. “Do you want to help me make one that you like…?”

“Well… Urgh… They’re a bit heavy, but I can actually pick them up,” I confirmed Lori’s statement when I tried to pick up one of the lego pieces that had fallen onto the carpet.

“Ehehe… Sorry I asked, Remy… I guess I’ll do it myself,” As she said those words, Alice’s feet started to sway up and down. With how close I was to her left foot, I could feel the hot odor blow into my face as it moved. My face stung for a moment from the saltiness caused by the sweat it had collected from when we went out. I was able to endure it, though, because my mind was distracted with something else: Alice’s expression.

If there was one thing I never thought I’d see from my usually withdrawn cousin, it was a look of confidence. Her interest in trying out the lego brought out her childishness so she couldn’t resist laughing when she apologized. I had proven how weak I was by showing my struggles at her feet, so she must have concluded that I wouldn’t be of any help at all.

My pride took a beating. From her tone, she didn’t actually mean to, but her childish laugh booming in my ears made her sound superior to me. Alice was looking down on me in both senses of the word, so that was pretty much true, especially since I had shown just how incapable I was while shrunken. Even so, it made me want to prove myself.

“Well, aren’t you getting cocky? I can lift this stuff just fine,” I put up as much false bravado as I could to not lose face while at my cousin’s feet. I stacked as many of the four-bump square lego pieces on top of one another to prove my strength as I could. Unfortunately, it was tougher than laying bricks because each one weighed around 40 lbs to me. It was like lugging a mega sized bag of dog food. It wasn’t impossible, but it was exhausting. I wasn’t heavy or strong enough to push the pieces down either so that they properly connected. I ran out of energy after managing to make an unstable chest high tower. “Guh… See…?”

“Ehehe…” Alice giggled, seeing how exasperated I was when I realized I couldn’t actually do any more. “That kind of works…”

Whoosh!

“Uwoh!”

I fell backwards as a peach colored mass descended and flew past me. Alice’s left foot moved faster than any car. It wasn’t the only thing that moved either. Her right foot came from the other end. Together, they surrounded the tower that was right next to me. She pressed the tower between her toes so it wouldn’t topple and then pulled it towards her. It was terrifying when I realized I could have easily been in the lego stack’s place. With one finger, she pushed down on the blocks so they properly clicked together. She then picked it up and added it to the set she had started building.

“Thank you, Remy… Can you do a few more?” Alice asked. She put her other hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing but her body was clearly showing her giggle fit and her mouth was curling up too much for me to not be able to notice. I couldn’t tell if she was mocking me or praising me.If it was the latter, it was sadly in the same manner of praise as she would give a pet.

“Hey, don’t make too much of a mess now. I don’t want to step on one of those later,” Alice’s attitude didn’t seem to be any different to Lori who was putting the last of our purchases away. It must have been because it only looked like Alice was playing around to her. Since I was so small, Alice’s confidence, from her expression to her posture to her gaze, was in full view to the point where I honestly felt a little pressure from it.

Although Alice’s progress with talking to normal sized people was slow, she was making leaps and bounds when it came to talking to me while I was small. At this point, though, I wasn’t sure how happy I was about that. I hoped that her attitude towards me was just because she was having fun joking around.

Still, she wasn’t the only person who wanted to play with the lego set. My sister was the one that bought it after all.

Thud!

“Whoa! Avalanche!”

After Lori finished putting things away, she joined my cousin who was trying to make the apartment on the shown on the box. She brought out her old sets too so that there were more legos to use. I found myself stuck in between their legs and feet as massive structures started being built around me. 

“Alright. This should be more than enough for us to fool around with for the day.”

“... There’s so much more now, Lori! We can make a whole city with these…!”

“That’s the plan! You, me, and Remy could build a bunch of stuff together.”

“Me, build? You sure that’s what’s going to happen, Sis? I’m just going to end up as another part of the set, aren’t I?”

“You can be our interior designer, Little Bro. This is an experience you can only get when you’re small, right?”

“Well, I can’t deny that it does sound fun.”

Although I ended up agreeing, as my sister and cousin loomed over me with smiles on their faces, I felt a little nervous. If Lori was on Alice’s side this time, I wasn’t going to be able to say no because she wasn’t going to be willing to help me.

It was her turn to have some fun now too.