Giantess World
"Ohmigod, you have to get a pair of those jeans," Linda yelled. "They'll make your legs look twice as long."
Daniel knew that in the near future Nell wouldn't have any trouble making her legs look longer. He'd never seen the growth serum cycle less than five times, and that was with the isotope. Nell was bound to have several more spurts than that. He was just wondering when the next growth period would occur. They'd been happening roughly every two hours so far. Nell's last growth had been at 16:25 (Daniel always used a 24-hour clock, for precision), and now it was 18:10. Her next growth was due at any minute.
Seven inches was enough to be noticeable, particularly by that obnoxious friend of hers, who seemed to have a talent for pointing out the embarrassing or obvious. He'd seen Nell and Linda whispering more than once during the night, and sneaking glances at him. No doubt making fun of him for his height. He'd been used to this sort of treatment in grade school, but had thankfully been spared the aspersions for most of his adult life. Now, trying to keep these two girls from running amok in the mall, he felt as sensitive as ever to the stares. They probably thought he was the girls' younger brother.
Your insecurities can wait, Daniel told himself. There's a growing girl who's about to get much taller if you're not careful, and you need to prevent the entire mall from noticing.
"Perhaps we should be getting back to the estate," Daniel said. "I think you two have bought enough clothes." Daniel was holding four shopping bags currently filled to the brim with clothes.
"Oh, c'mon, Daniel," Linda said, hands on her hips. "Nell needs a full-on fashion redesign, from the ground up. We haven't even gone shoe shopping yet!"
Daniel groaned. Nothing he said seemed to have an impact. How on earth was he going to get them to leave before Nell grew again? He turned to Winston. "Um, shouldn't we be..."
"I've already suggested leaving to Miss Nell," Winston sighed. "She did not take to the idea."
"But she might... you know... grow again," Daniel whispered. "Soon."
Winston nodded grimly. "I'll try once more. Miss Nell!" He called ahead to the girls. "Your father would like us to return for dinner now."
"Oh, but we haven't even gotten to jeans yet!" Linda pouted. "And don't even talk to me about shoes, Nell, we absolutely have to get you in something nicer than those flip-flops."
Nell looked down at her pink sandals, and Daniel noted them as well. They were plain old foam flip-flops, but they suited Nell's feet nicely enough. She'd redone her nail polish in a sparkly clear coat; Daniel was glad she'd covered up the blank patches from before. "What's wrong with my shoes?"
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with them," Linda said, stretching the word "wrong" into an exaggerated drawl. "But seriously, you could have so much prettier shoes."
"We need to be getting home," Daniel cut in. "Your fathers are waiting."
"But I really do need jeans," Nell said pleadingly. "Please, Mr. Farmer? It'll only take a few minutes."
Daniel grit his teeth. He did NOT want to be in the middle of the mall when Nell suddenly expanded by several inches. Everyone would know about the serum. Winthrop would have his head on a platter. But how could he communicate the urgency of the situation?"
"Ooh, we can go to Lucky," Linda said, pointing at a storefront. "They've got some really cute stuff." Before Daniel could protest, Linda grabbed Nell's arm and practically dragged her into the store.
***
Nell felt a little bad; she knew she was making Winston and Daniel nervous. But the mall was just so cool! She'd never seen so many different kinds of clothes, just there for everyone to sort through. So many colors and fashions, both on the racks and on the people around her. Nell had never really thought much about changing her style - she just picked out what she liked from the catalogues her father gave her. There were never too many adult companies that had her size. Well, not until now. Now she had so many options!
And the different crowds of people weren't scary now that she was at eye level or higher with most of them. She felt almost like she could be one of them, just travelling to the mall on an ordinary weekend day, passing the time trying on clothes.
The only real downside had been Linda. Even though Nell could now see over her curly head, the girl still treated her like she was a little kid. Just because she'd never been to a mall didn't mean that she needed someone to boss her around. And when Linda wasn't finding some other way to demonstrate her superior shopping skills, she was gossiping, usually about people Nell hadn't even met.
Of course, they'd also talked about Daniel. "He's pretty handsome, even if he is kinda short," Linda had whispered to her in the car, while sneaking glances at him over her shoulder. Nell didn't really know what to say, but she'd just kind of giggled and waited for Linda to stop talking about it, but Linda wouldn't get off the subject. She kept bringing it up while they walked through the mall. "You going to ask him out on a date? You and him would be so cute together! Little Daniel, and bigger Nell." She'd even said that if Nell didn't act soon, she'd try to steal him from her. Whatever that meant.
Nell tried to keep her mind off Linda and just look at the jeans. There was a pair with a flowery pattern stitched down the side that Nell liked. She looked through the sizes for a few seconds before realizing that she had no idea what size pants would fit her anymore. She grabbed a few that looked like they might work and headed for the changing room.
Just seconds after she closed the door she began to feel light-headed. Now she understood why Daniel and Winston had been worried. She didn't even have anywhere to sit down in here. Nell leaned against the wall, letting the plaster cool her forehead, and waited for the feeling to pass.
Surprisingly, the dizziness was over in just a few seconds. Nell opened her eyes. The room didn't even look any different. She let out a deep sigh. False alarm. Maybe the growth was slowing down.
She undid her pants and began to shrug on a pair of the cute jeans. As Nell pulled them up her leg she realized there was no chance they would fit; they barely were making it up around her thigh. They were a little tight in the calves as well. Come to think of it, the entire leg was getting kind of uncomfortable, and the denim was pinching a bit. She tried to ease them off but the jeans had gotten so tight that she couldn't easily pull them around her ankles.
Nell realized that the sound she'd assumed to be the air conditioning was actually the seams splitting on the jeans. She gaped as her leg seemed to swell and burst through the fabric. Panicked, she stood up - and found that she could see clear over the door to the changing room.
She quickly ducked back down, spreading her arms to the opposite walls to steady herself. With a stinging whipcrack, the elastic band of her bra snapped. She could feel the soft fabric of her T-shirt yield to her growing breasts, and tear away. For a second she could feel the walls contracting - like the changing room was closing in on her. When they became stable again, she knew the growth had stopped.
Nell took a quick breath, then called out.
***
Daniel paced awkwardly through the aisles, trying to avoid the swarms of teenage girls roaming the boutique. He hadn't been dragged to the mall since he was ten years old, and he still had no idea what to do with himself while the women were shopping. He didn't have any interest in the clothes, and even the slightest indication of staring would be creepy. So he just circled around the racks and waited.
He was lucky enough to be near the changing rooms to hear Nell call his name. "Daniel, come quick." She sounded nervous. Had there been another spurt? Daniel raced down the hall with the changing rooms, only to remember that each looked identical, and he had no idea which Nell was occupying.
"Nell? Nell, which room are you in?"
The blond girl's head popped out slightly above the last door in the hall. Daniel could tell her cranium was significantly larger now than the last time he'd seen it. "Um, I'm in here."
Daniel resisted the urge to panic as he walked to the back of the room. If he stayed calm, maybe he could get Nell out of here without making too much of a scene. "Are you feeling okay? Able to stand up and walk?"
Nell gave a quick nod, her blond hair bobbing behind the door. "Yeah, I'm fine, except... uh... I don't have any clothes. None that fit anyway."
Daniel could have slammed his head into the wall. "Okay, well, we're in a clothing store... I can just go get what you need. How tall are you when you stand up?"
In response, Nell stood. The moment seemed to pass in slow motion, with Nell's head rising up higher and higher. Daniel resisted the urge to gape as he craned his head back to maintain eye contact. Nell stood head and shoulders above the changing room door. He reckoned she was somewhere around 6'6" - well outside the predicted spurt. There went the existing data...
There was no time to crunch numbers now. This was an emergency. "Wait right here, and stay hidden behind the door," He instructed Nell, "I'll be back in two seconds."
He rushed back into the main room of the shop, and staggered over to the nearest shelf of jeans. As soon as he began sorting through the stack, he realized he had no idea what sizes meant what for girls. He could forgive himself for not taking hip and bust measurements in front of Winthrop Sr., but that information would have come in very handy in the present circumstances.
In a flash, he had the answer. Winston had always helped Nell order clothes in the past. Since Nell's scale was the same, Daniel could just do some mental math to adjust for her growth. He scanned the room for the butler, and found Linda dragging him towards the shoe section. He had to resist dashing after them, keeping himself to a brisk walk. This was not the time to make a scene, or let on that anything was out of the ordinary.
"Uh, Winston? Could I talk with you a moment?"
Linda turned, her face already twisted into a pout. "I need Winston to help carry shoes. There's no way I'll be able to hold all the different boxes myself."
Winston saw the look on Daniel's face and grimaced. "I beg your pardon, Madam Frankenson. I will return momentarily."
Daniel waited until they were a few paces away, then leaned to whisper in the butler's ear. "She's six-six. We need to get clothes and get out."
***
Nell had never been more uncomfortable in her life. Usually everything outside her room and study was just a little too big for her, but that was a minor inconvenience compared to it being just a little too small. She wished she could just stand up straight, but hiding required her to hunch over and stay behind the changing room door. She wondered what people would think if they saw her feet under the door. They'd probably guess she was Bigfoot's hairless sister.
What felt like ages later, there was a knock on the door, and a set of clothes thrown over the top of the divider. A pair of grey-and-pink sweatpants, a huge pack of white underwear, and a plain white T-shirt with a flower design on its front. The flower was nice, but the clothes were pretty boring overall. Well, Nell would just have to find some better fashion options another day. No bra, so she'd just have to do without. She hurriedly tugged on the new outfit then leapt out the door, nearly trampling poor Daniel in the process.
The scientist barely came up to her chest now. His eyes were wide as he gazed up at her, but his face quickly snapped back to a look of determination. "All right, we've got to grab Winston and Linda and get you out of here."
He reached for her hand and set off for a few steps towards the exit, but must have realized how sheerly ridiculous he looked, towing her forward when she was twice his size. Instead he merely turned and mouthed, "Hurry."
They found Winston dragging a whining Linda back towards the changing rooms. "Why can't we stay just a little longer -" Seeing Nell, Linda's complaint seemed to freeze in her throat. Her eyes rolled back slightly. Nell worried she was going to faint. Instead, her face contorted in horror. She raised an accusing finger. "Th-that's unnatural! Impossible!"
Daniel reached out to Linda, but she brushed him aside, keeping her eyes locked on Nell. "Get away from me! Especially you, you huge freak!" And with that, she turned and ran off into the mall.
Nell had never been called that before. Not once in her life had anyone called her a freak. Sure, Linda had teased her when she was short. But freakish - monstrous - was that what she was, now? A huge, clumsy ogre, larger than everyone else around her?
She barely noticed as Winston set off into the mall to find Linda. Nell was too busy trying to hold back the tears stinging the corners of her eyes. Daniel actually had to lead her out of the store, his tiny hand holding firmly to her much larger one. Everywhere she turned, she could see the mallgoers staring at her. There goes the giant freak, stomping through the mall. Her cheeks were burning from the embarrassment.
When she was small, people paid attention to her for being Bill Winthrop's daughter, but she'd always been able to have her own space - she didn't stand out in a crowd. Now she stuck out like a sore thumb, and it felt like she was surrounded, closed in. It was all Nell could do to just keep walking, and avoid making a fuss.
***
So much for keeping up appearances, Daniel thought bitterly. Thanks to that vicious little brunette, Nell was now not only nine inches taller, but also near catatonic. In the back of his mind, Daniel had always thought of Nell as good-natured, but somewhat sheltered. He hadn't realized the full extent of that until now. This was probably the first time anyone had outright insulted her, and she wasn't taking it too well.
Daniel took deep breaths as he waded through the crowds. People were definitely turning their heads in Nell's direction, and Daniel found himself squeezing through the gaps between the crowds, plowing a path forward. He didn't like crowds at the best of times; wading through them felt like drowning in an enormous sea of people. But he was prepared to live with it. All he needed to do was get Nell to the limo; Winston had given him the key.
He kept a firm grasp on Nell's hand. Things were bad enough as it was without the two of them getting separated. He was surprised by just how large her palm was now. When he'd met her, Nell's hands had been proportionally long, but quite delicate. They were still very fine hands, soft to his touch, but now each could easily envelop his, probably all the way up to the wrist.
Daniel breathed a long sigh of relief when they finally reached the arched exit to the mall. Nell had to bend slightly to make it through the automatic doors. Daniel spotted the limo, parked fairly close in. He glanced over his shoulder. Nell's eyes were fairly red, but she was doing an impressive job of holding back her tears.
The minute it took Daniel to fumble the door unlocked felt like the longest of his life. He knew they weren't alone in the parking lot, and felt like everyone was staring at him and Nell. If this got on the news... or even on the internet... They'd never leave Nell alone. Daniel gulped.
Finally the key clicked in the door, and the limo door swung wide. Daniel leapt inside, and turned back to see Nell crawl in after him. She had to crouch over, hunching her shoulders to fit through the doorway. Even with her back against the seat, she seemed to fill the car in a way she certainly hadn't before, her blond hair scraping the ceiling.
Immediately after she closed the door, Nell began to cry. Her pretty face reddened as round tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked over at Daniel, embarrassment clearly showing on her face, then turned away.
Daniel hesitated. He knew he should be doing something - anything, really - he just had no idea what. He'd never been good with people, and that certainly extended to comforting others. For that matter, he'd never had someone to comfort. Still, he gingerly reached out a hand and patted her arm. Despite being smooth and relatively slender, her bicep was now so large around that he doubted his hand could wrap around it.
Nell turned back towards him, using her free hand to wipe tears from her eyes. "I never thought about something like this..." she said. "I mean, I always wanted to be taller, bigger... I dreamt about being the tallest around, but now - now everyone just thinks I'm a freak." She buried her head in her hands, sniffling.
For a second, Daniel simply marveled at how someone with such sheer size could seem so vulnerable. She loomed head and shoulders above him, yet all he wanted to do was protect her. "I don't think you're a freak." He said solemnly. He inched a little closer down the seat, and moved his hand to her broad back.
Nell looked at him askance, through her spread fingers. "Really?"
"Really." Suddenly, he felt stronger, surer - equal to the task of supporting her.
And before he even realized what was happening, she'd turned and kissed him. Her larger lips brushed gently over his, then pressed insistently against them. He could still feel the damp of the tears on her cheeks. She wrapped her other arm tight around him, pulling him closer. He found himself craning his head back to maintain the kiss as he was pressed against her soft, warm body.
***
Nell gently let go of Daniel, and he slid back into his seat.
What on earth was she thinking? She'd just kissed her father's employee. She probably looked like a total wreck with all her crying. She didn't even know whether he'd wanted it - she'd kind of pulled him towards her. It wasn't enough that she'd turned herself into some giant monster, now she was making mistakes left and right.
She wiped her face off a little more, and turned to look out the window. Winston was visible through the darkened glass, dragging Linda by the arm towards the car. Nell could hear her voice, only slightly muted through the car door. "I won't sit in the back! Not with her! I won't, you can't make me!" Winston simply opened the door, and Linda clamped her mouth into a grimace. She sat on the seat opposite Nell, and slid down to the far end of the car, pressing herself into the corner to get as much distance away as possible.
Nell just leaned her head against the cool glass and tried to ignore the smaller girl's presence. She could almost feel the intensity of Linda's disgust, but she closed her eyes and tried to ignore it.
As soon as Winston pulled up to the house, Linda roughly yanked her side of the door open and bolted from the car. The front door opened, and Daddy and Mr. Frankenson were there, waiting to greet them. "How much shopping did you do?" Mr. Frankenson called jovially. Her own dad was frowning.
Linda ran straight to her father and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest and sobbing. As Nell got out of the car and stood to her new height, she could see her dad turn white as a sheet.
Yet for a second, Nell was able to forget all about the disaster at the mall. Even from a distance, she knew she'd finally done it - she was taller than her daddy.
***
Daniel tried to ignore the little voice in his head that was screaming obscenities as he stared at the symbols in front of him. Who knew how much longer he'd have to crack this problem? Now was the time to focus.
Immediately after their return from the mall, Nell had run to her room, Winthrop had pulled Frankenson and his daughter behind a closed door, and Daniel had made a swift exit for the lab. He knew Bill would be expecting a number of explanations - why Nell's growth was increasing faster than before, whether he was closer to a cure, how many people had seen them at the mall - and he didn't feel like answering any of them.
Instead of thinking about that - or, god forbid, what he'd done in the limo - he'd retreated to the safety of science, beginning to craft some kind of formula to stop the growth. He was beginning to think of the project in stages. First, he could find something that antagonistically blocked the binding sites of the first serum. If he could successfully stop growth entirely for a short time, he could then use any isotope, no matter how unstable, to degrade the remainder of the original formula. There wasn't any danger of non-uniform growth if there was no longer any growth whatsoever...
He was startled by the sound of the lab doors whooshing open. Bill Winthrop looked like he'd lost three years of his life and a week of sleep on top of it. He stared pointedly at Daniel. "I hope you're working on a cure."
"Yessir, I am," Daniel said meekly. This was not the time for anything but simple answers. He started to ask what had happened with the Frankensons, but stopped himself just before the words came out.
Winthrop answered him anyway. "Joe can play hardball when he wants to, and getting his daughter upset definitely gave him an edge. At first he wanted all the research we've done on the serum so far, but I've talked him down to having a significant stake in the product if it ever goes commercial."
Daniel swallowed, even though his throat was bone dry. Surely Winthrop wasn't still thinking about this as a business opportunity? "And Linda?"
Winthrop pushed back his hair. "The little brat's still pumping her dad for sympathy, crocodile tears left and right. I should have realized she was turning into a bad apple... Lord knows how she's hurt Nell's feelings."
"Yeah, Nell seemed to take it pretty hard," Daniel acknowledged.
Winthrop sighed. "Well, she's a big girl now," he said ruefully. "She'll just have to toughen up."