An energetic and over-enthusiastic Josh James found himself fascinated by several small cylindrical tubes which were contained on a shelfing unit on the wall of Trevor's back room lab at "Aztek Parts and More" and while he technically wasn't disrupting anything, it was hard for Lexi or the Dr himself, Dr. Trevor Hilfmann to focus on what they were talking about as they both found Josh's inspection a tad distracting.
Still, the elder doctor couldn't help but crack a slight smile at the youngster's antics, glad to see some scientific curiosity was still alive in the current generation.
Josh would tap one of the vials cautiously.
"So these are all Lexi's blood samples over the last few months?" Josh asked, looking them over.
"No... THESE are Lexi's blood samples over here" Trevor said with a shake of his head, gesturing to a similar containment unit closer to where Lexi sat, her arm currently sporting a small thin white strip of medical gauze. "Those are just novelty tubes ... you flip them around and they kind of resemble lava lamps"
"Oh, for real?" Josh asked, a bit surprised... not that such a thing existed but how much it resembled the blood vials. He'd turn one upside down and watch as a glob of darker red liquid filtered its way to the other side creating a similar effect to a lava lamp as the doctor mentioned, "you uh ... ever get these mixed up with actual blood samples?"
"...sometimes" Trevor said, having another look at the latest sample taken before putting it into a small machine that sputtered and sparked as it provided an analysis. "To be fair, this isn't exactly what I thought I'd be doing after ... well, retirement"
"What are you talking about, retirement?" Lexi teased, "you're like, what 35?"
"Well thank you..." Trevor said with a jovial smirk of sorts, "but all I mean is ... I thought I was done with all of these kind of tests after my time with Enormo Enterprises..."
"Yeah no.... I get that..." a guilty Lexi responded, holding her sore arm a bit as she looked away, "I didn't mean to pull you into this again or get you in any trouble..."
"Well... I was in trouble the second I pulled the plug on my career at Enormo..." Trevor said, his eyes intent on the computer monitor as it began compiling for him the latest batch of results on Lexi's condition.
"Wh-What do you mean?" Lexi asked
Trevor let out a heavy sigh, as he hoped the results would load before he would have to address the issue. Unfortunately for him, there was no such luck as Josh also got closer to listen to him.
"Let's just say Max doesn't exactly take well to people ... um... deserting the cause..." Trevor sighed
Lexi leaned her head down, a bit worried as she pondered it all.
"The mad doctor has been pretty quiet lately..." Lexi murmured
"Well ... I can't say with any certainty..." Trevor sighed, "but I can almost gaurantee you that won't last... while you were gone, I was combing through what you'd call the deep net ... and while it's mostly just rumors, I know from working at the Big E that Maximillian is very rarely quiet this long ... unless he's planning something big"
"Oh!" Josh chimed in, hearing something he could relate to when he heard the term 'deep net' "So you think it's true he's developing that robot chinchilla?"
"Not ... all the theories are credible..." Trevor sighed, a bit relieved to see the data he was seeking loading onto his computer program. It had been a software he would use for analyzing samples at Enormo, but he had modified it significantly, especially when Lexi's results were unlike anything any of the science division had witnessed before. Had he not been so invested, he could definitely understand why the likes of Dr. Max or others were interested in finding her to study. "Anyways ... I have good news and bad news"
Lexi nodded, kind of used to that kind of 50/50 outlook from the doctor.
Josh eyed the monitor with great curiosity at the wireframe of Lexi's body and various vital signs that ranged in quality, signified by several variating health bar looking meters.
"Well ... you said when you were in that other dimension..." Trevor said, some of the readings showing "???" as they represented values that couldn't be tracked through medical or scientific means, "you were exposed to some kind of electrical energy?"
"Well I was in this kind of ... medical chamber? It was weird" Lexi nodded, the whole experience being kind of a blur as she had healed from her paradox poisoning at one point. She had noticed since returning back to her home dimension she was feeling a bit different, although in a good way. She almost felt a bit stronger, faster and able to shrink herself and others with a bit more ease. "It healed me from some kind of spell I was under but it also seemed to well ... change me, I guess"
"So you have noticed..." Trevor nodded, pointing to a couple of the stats that had no clear values, "the polarity of your body was already off from the experimental exposure at the Enormo lab ... but whatever happened to you in that dimension seems to have stablized it ... for now"
"For now?" Lexi asked
"Well, that's the bad news" Trevor said, "I have no way of ascertaining if the effects are going to be sustainable ... have you been experiencing the weird aftershocks lately?"
"Honestly? No" Lexi replied, glad to be done with that phase of her life, at least for the time being. It was a scary feeling when her body would occasionally seize up or she'd feel an electric jolt for no reason. Often times it had led her to making mistakes or just feeling faint.
"I'll keep an eye on it but for now anyway, your body seems to be in better shape than it was before your trip into the vortex..." Trevor sighed
"Gee, don't sound so excited" Lexi joked
"I just ... I don't know what we're dealing with here" Trevor confessed, "the technology you were exposed to at the Enormo Enterprises lab was already highly experimental ... it likely came with its own side effects but at least I was somewhat familiar with what those could have been ... the nanites I had been injecting you with were stablizing you ... but now that you've been exposed to a completely unknown substance, I'm not sure if that'll be the case anymore"
"W-Well ... maybe I don't need the nanites..." a dumbfounded but also grinning Lexi mentioned, "maybe with this new energy surging through me, I'll be like ... some kind of human battery... or something"
"Oh, like the Human Torch!" Josh chimed in, "but ... without catching fire"
"...Hopefully" Lexi mumbled
"This isn't a joke..." Trevor sighed, seeming a bit excaserbated, drawing a frown from Lexi and Josh, "I'm sorry ... it's just ... this is serious stuff ... you're okay ... for now ... but I worry ... your body has taken on a lot of different kinds of energy ... you even mentioned being able to grow while you were in the other dimension"
Lexi simply nodded to confirm this fact, not wanting to speak out of turn.
"That could also cause some kind of rubber banding effect..." Trevor sighed, again beridden with feelings of enigmatic confusion. "I just ... we just don't know enough about some of these things ..."
"So what are you suggesting?" Lexi asked
"M-Maybe just ... go easy on the shrinking for a while" Trevor said, "there's nobody MAKING you be a superhero and maybe over time these readings will level out"
Lexi simply nodded. She wasn't going to promise anything but she understood the risks. The selfish part of her was just happy to be feeling a lot more chipper since her return from Quartzaria. Not only that but she had felt more energetic, her powers seemed to be supercharged and things just felt right for the first time in a while. On the other hand, she did keep it in the back of her mind that the positive effects could be short lived. Still, she wanted to ride it out as long as she could.
"Anyway..." Trevor sighed, looking around and noticing his phone had seemingly moved from where it was. He attributed it to simply fatigue on his part. He almost always kept his phone on the lab bench where he had been working on the computer but it seemed to have relocated to the desk across from Josh with the vials on it. "I don't mean to worry you or anything like that ... and I know I've taken up a good amount of your time"
"Time..." Lexi murmured, letting the word sink in for a bit before Josh reminded her of what was to come.
"Oh, Lex ... your interview!" Josh nodded
"Oh shoot, that's right..." Lexi nodded, patting Trevor on the shoulder, "I appreciate the time, I do ... but I've gotta go"
"Of course" Trevor said, shaking his head in confusion at how he could've forgotten the location of his cell phone. He shoved it absentmindedly back in his pocket as it blinked a bright red for a moment, "Good luck on the interview"
"Thank you Doctor!" Lexi said, going out the back exit to Aztek Parts and more with Josh as the duo would jump back in the shiny purple "ShrinkMobile" and Lexi would proceed to take her friend back home.
The drive back was a bit silent as the two sat there, simply taking in what they had just heard. Lexi gingerly reached for the volume nod on the dashboard to turn up the radio until finally Josh looked over, sounding a bit concerned.
"Wh-Why didn't you tell us?" Josh asked
"Hmm?" Lexi asked, turning down the radio a bit to hear her friend better.
"About the ... electrical shocks or whatever..." Josh said, "Leah and I had no idea ... we found out from the doctor while you were gone but ..."
"I didn't wanna worry you guys..." Lexi sighed, giving Josh a bit of a downward frown, "I understand why you'd wanna know but ... there was nothing anyone could do about it and ... I don't know ..."
"Well still" Josh said, sounding a bit more insistent, "you can tell us anything you know, we're your buds"
"Y-Yeah..." Lexi sighed, "I know ... I'm sorry ... I just ..."
"H-Hey, no worries" Josh said, with a bit of a forced smile, "the important thing is you're feeling better now"
"Y-yeah" Lexi nodded, coasting by Leah's job at the Fashion Boutique where she'd see her best friend's car parked there. She couldn't help but wonder how Leah was doing at the new job as she entered her third week there.
Sally's Fashion Boutique found on a rare standout strip of Minitropolis was home to Sally Davidson herself ... who was Sally Davidson? Well, not much in the overall fashion world but in the tightly knit community of Minitropolis, she was someone to be proud of. A fashionista who opened a small shop in what is usually a revolving door of individually owned businesses. Not too many establishments stand the test of time in Minitropolis outside of a few food eateries. The high taxes and crime rates usually ensure business owners move out more often than not but Sally was different.
For one thing, she grew up there in Miniborough and had a huge passion for fashion from an early age. Supported by her dad to follow her passion, she'd show her designs to some of the biggest clients she could, even traveling to New York City at one point to try and hit the "big time". She found meager success but generally wanted to be closer to home so she opened up a small shop with some help from her dad and the rest was history.
It was also happenstance that Sally, in her youth went to college with Leah's late mother, Debra. The two were never super close friends or anything but it was nice to see Leah Henderson taking such an interest in her mom's work, as Sally's few memories of Debra were of her in fashion classes they took in college. In general Debra was usually dressed pretty spunky (for the time) and that clearly carried over to Leah, as did her warm and pleasant manner.
Leah, usually not very confident in herself when it came to certain things, especially jobs, already felt at home at the small boutique. Staged in what basically felt like an old loft that had been renovated, the store had a solid selection of brands from smaller to larger and featured a number of articles of clothing of Sally's own design, embrazened with an SD emblem, although not in a very showy way, it was understated but refined.
It was around midday when Leah was folding a few crimson tops before piling them up neatly on a display counter that was meant to showcase their significance as well as their special price. Passing thoughts had Leah thinking about Lexi and hoping her interview was going well, since that was coming up soon.
The thoughts would soon be interuppted, quite literally by a small chiming bell that rang as a customer entered the store. The flow of traffic into the store wasn't terribly much. There might be a rush on the weekends or the occasional hour of hectic activity but it was generally as it had been that day, with just one or two people milling in and out at a time.
This particular woman was quite striking though as she looked into the store, peeked in and then began to lean out, the bell making a sort of half ring as her silhoutte hadn't quite made up its mind on which way to go. Normally Leah would see this and let the person go. After all, she didn't want to be pushy. But there was something about this woman that made her want to at least stop her and say hello.
Perhaps it was ...
"Omigosh I love your hair!" Leah yelped out, blushing a bit as she held the red top to her side, before going back to folding. The woman in question got a chuckle out of this and decided to commit to a visit into the homely boutique, a few clacks of her heels also signaling her presence.
"I'm sorry?" the woman giggled. While it wasn't an uncommon thing to hear ... after all, not many people had purple hair like hers, Leah's reaction felt the most genuine and not out of a place of lust or just compliments for compliments sake. It felt sincere as the shop itself had been.
"Your hair ... yeah ... I'm sorry, I'm a dork..." Leah sighed, "I just ... wow ... yeah..."
"The hair?" the woman smirked
"No... I mean yes, but your whole... your whole outfit..." Leah blushed. The woman gave her a bit of a defensive stare at first. She wasn't sure what the next words out of the young brunette's mouth would be but Leah wouldn't take long to get to her point, "your outfit is ... well, it's awesome"
The woman raised an eyebrow. Rebellious ... excessive ... needlessly dark. Drab. Those were words she heard from people about her outfits most days, if anybody even dared to make a comment. This was a curveball and while Leah's style didn't exactly match hers, she was willing to at least indulge in the praise.
"Awesome, huh?" the woman said, a bit of flatness in her voice. Leah couldn't tell in that moment if she had offended the new woman or not, "and you're ... what, some kind of expert?"
Leah stammered a bit, looking hasty to take back her compliment, "What? No ... I mean I .. I just work here... see? Nametag?" Leah giggled nervously gesturing to a white plastic nametag on her red shirt, "I ... I mean yes your clothes are awesome but I wasn't trying to like ... say anything like..."
"Chill, I was kidding" the lady chuckled, then leaning up a bit to read the nametag, "...Leah"
Sally peeked in from around the corner just to make sure everything was okay. There was something about the look of the woman in black she didn't trust. She hated to profile but it was so hard not to in a neighborhood that could be wholesome but also had a dark history and a tumultuous present.
"Oh!! Oh yeah..." Leah sighed, "s-sorry... I guess I got a bit ... uptight there... if you were busy or whatever, I get it"
"Well ... I don't know..." Delia shrugged, walking further into the store. "This usually isn't my kind of thing but ... you got something ... different about you"
"The store?" Leah asked, confused
"You" Delia giggled, "name's Delia by the way"
"Oh..." Leah giggled nervously watching the charming woman saunter around her. This she wasn't used to at all. On occasion, guys had checked her out but very rarely girls. Maybe she wasn't even being checked out, although Leah could swear she saw a raised eyebrow from Delia and even a slight lick of the lips as she checked out her posterior.
"I like how you look in those pants too..." Delia winked, causing even more blushing from Leah.
"Oh ... oh gosh ... Miss... Delia?" Leah said
"Call me Dee" Delia chuckled
Damn, why couldn't the guys be this gracious with her? Leah thought to herself.
"Well ... um... Dee... I ... uh ... I get it... if this isn't your style... I mean, we do have some nice shoes and belts and stuff that could compliment your look" Leah nodded, always trying her best to match any client up with a style that would work. She didn't really expect the darkly dressed Delia to take her seriously though.
To her surprise though ..
"Oh yeah? Think you could show me?" Delia smiled warmly.
"Oh? Oh yeah ... s-sure" Leah blushed, walking her over to the belts as they hung on silver racks resembling trees with no branches. Delia herself would poke at the belts before looking right at Leah
"What would you recommend?" Delia asked
Leah took a quick look over the prospective client and handed her a silver belt with a deep purple charm in it.
"Wh-What do you think about this?" Leah asked, "it matches your necklace... which is very pretty by the way"
"Oh thank you ..." Delia smirked, booping Leah on the nose. In that moment, she couldn't tell but she even felt a bit of a chill. Not a sexual thing but just ... something. Something almost magical. "Y'know what? I've been meaning to mix up my wardrobe ... I'll take it ... and that pair of black heels down there as well"
"Oh, yeah of course" Leah giggled, reaching down and going for the shoes. She could perceive again that Delia's eyes were lingering on her. She didn't hate it but she had to be honest with the woman in case there were any misunderstandings.
Leah would walk with Delia to the counter as Sally retreated into the back for now. It seemed Leah had this sale closed at the very least. Maybe it wasn't proper to assume the worst just because of the woman's dark clothing.
"S-So ... this is going to sound kind of weird..." Leah scoffed, suddenly feeling more shy than maybe she had in a long time, "but uh.... am I picking up a vibe?"
"What do you mean?" Delia asked, half not understanding and half just playing coy as she leaned on the counter. If Leah didn't know any better, she could swear the mystical woman's eyes glowed purple for a brief second but attributed it to a trick of the light,. perhaps the purple bauble on her chest just reflecting that way.
"W-Well like ... I don't know..." Leah scoffed, scanning the belt and the shoes, "I'm being silly..."
"No no, tell me!" Delia shrugged, "you got me in here... may as well close the sale"
With that Delia's lick of the lips more or less confirmed the flirt.
"Oh... oh okay so you are ... and I'm ... okay..." Leah blushed looking away
"Hey, if it's not your thing..." Delia shrugged, leaning back a bit as she put her hands on the counter to stretch, showing off her curvy body a bit with a slight dip. Leah gulped, but not because she was attracted. She felt really bad if she had to be the one to ... well, reject someone? Although it was't REALLY rejecting?
"I uh... omigosh..." Leah blushed, further confirming Delia's fear. "I'm sorry ... I just ... I don't ... not that you're not... you're very pretty"
"Chill sweetheart" Delia chuckled, "it's fine ... I figured you were taken or something"
"Oh! Oh no... it's not even that ... it's just that I don't ... yeah..." Leah gulped, realizing she should've just quit while she wasn't ahead. To make matters worse she continued blathering on about her life, "I mean ... I don't ... I have a friend..."
"A friend?" Delia said, raising an eyebrow
"Well... I just ... meant like..." Leah gulped, "Her name's Lexi ... she likes girls..."
...why was she saying all this... it was almost like Delia's mere presence was causing Leah to blurt things out.
"Oh yeah?" Delia shrugged, "what else can you tell me about your friend?"
"Oh nothing much..." Leah said slowly, going to get some tissue to wrap up the shoes as she placed them in a box but upon making eye contact with Delia again, her mind grew fuzzy and she wasn't quite sure if she said what came out of her mouth, "...she's ShrinkGirl... I designed her costume, it's super cool ... it's all purple and gold and stuff ... and she's super nice ... and ... I ..."
Leah's words slowly trailed off as if she were coming out of a drunken stupor.
"Go on..." Delia said
"Go on.... about what?" Leah said, suddenly feeling like she just woke up in the middle of the day ringing out a strange newcomer.
"Your friend, Lexi..." Delia said, playing a bit dumb, "wait ... you mean Lexi ... the ShrinkGirl?"
"Huh?! no no ... not uh ... not Lexi..." Leah chuckled nervously, "Did I say Lexi? I meant Alicia... yeah Alicia .. she's ... she's nothing ... she's not even Catwoman... she's super nice though ... yeah"
"Uh-huh..." Delia sighed, drooping her eyes a bit as she stood on the other side of the counter, losing interest in the interaction for now. She had gotten what she needed anyhow. Well, except for one thing.
"That'll be $99.98" Leah said with a smile, "Will you be paying cash or credit?"
Delia leaned in again and whispered to Leah
"You're going to let me have the shoes and the belt ... and say have a nice day...." Delia said in a calming whispering tone. For those brief moments, it felt as though they were the only two in the store. Leah handed Delia the clothes like a zombie and nodded as she left the store.
"Have a nice day ..." Leah said, watching Delia leave before her senses slowly began to return to her.
Sally peeked out from the back room.
"You ... did remember to charge her, right?" Sally asked
"Huh? Oh ... oh yeah, of course I did" Leah said before gulping nervously.
I THINK I did...
------
Back at the Cole residents, a very flummoxed and confused Lexi's father perused his own house, keeping his search brief as he combed a section of the kitchen and dining room rather arduously.
"What are you looking for?" Lexi's mom asked
"My phone ... I had set it down... right here" he said, gesturing to an empty counter. He then looked over to see the circular dining room table in the corner now housed the phone, "that's really weird ... did you move it for something?"
"I didn't touch your phone, dear..." Lexi's mom responded with a less than enthused look on her face.
"I wasn't saying anything, I was just wondering..." Lexi's dad shrugged, noticing the phone was fine, save for maybe being lower on battery than he remembered it being. "I geuss I'm a bit anxious for Lexi ... I hope she lets us know soon how the interview went"
"I'm sure it'll be fine" Lexi's mom said, "I just hope she left herself enough time to get there punctually"
Meanwhile Lexi had to wonder to herself as she hastily made her way towards the Snack Shack if she had left herself enough time to get there punctually. She thought she had... but the traffic was proving to be an unneeded obstacle in what had already been a day jam packed with things to do.
Lexi frowned as she peeked out the car window, noticing just how far the traffic stretched. Sure, the interviewer would probably be understanding, even if she were only a few minutes late but Lexi didn't want to start a new interview off on a bad foot. She leaned out the window again and noticed something.
The Shack was maybe a couple of streets over, yet she'd have to wait in the grueling traffic to get there the "normal" way ... OR she could walk by cutting across a couple of alleys. She smirked to herself as she saw the alleyway, not too far from her. Sure she'd raise a few eyebrows but not like she hadn't done that before.
"Alrighty then..." Lexi muttered, getting ready to activate the one feature that made the Shrinkmobile the most unique car in the universe, "time to take a little ... shortcut"
Lexi would then pause, looking around at the empty car surrounding her.
"...Why do I only make these great puns when there's nobody here to hear them?? Ugh!"
Giantess World
