“You know they’re gonna hook up,” AJ said, leaning over the back of Ben’s office chair.

“Remind me why I still talk to you?” Ben remarked with irritation. He closed a browser tab showing Heather and Jason being interviewed by a comparatively tiny reporter.

“Am I wrong?” AJ asked, coming around Ben’s chair and leaning against his desk, crossing one long leg over the other. She was wearing high-heeled leather boots. She always wore high-heeled leather boots. They accentuated her natural height and fit effeminate frame. She wore them well, Ben often thought. AJ was AllTec’s staff psychologist, and part of the team who selected candidates for growth experimentation. She and Ben had a long history together. Sometimes romantic, usually not. Sometimes even hostile, but never simple. Nobody had a simple relationship with Dr. Alexandra Jacobs.

Ben chewed his nail, only to have the hand swat away by AJ’s. 

“Hey!” he exclaimed. “You know, this shit isn’t easy for me. And you’re not making it any better.”

“It’s not like I wanted this to happen. If it’s any consolation, I didn’t vote for Heather to be selected for this growth stuff.”

Ben turned to face her, looking perplexed. “You didn’t?”

AJ shook her head.

Ben thought for a moment, eyes darting about, then snapped his gaze back to her. “Did you vote for me?”

“The male candidate...” She paused, biting her lip. “I voted for Jason.”

Ben grew more irritated. “...And the female candidate...?”

“I abstained,” AJ said, idly examining her nails. “To tell the truth, I really hoped I would get selected. Then Jason and I would run off together and the whole world would shake as we fucked.”

“You’re really sick, AJ,” Ben said under his breath.

“Oh I wouldn’t forget about you of course!” she teased, looking around at the nearby empty cubicles to ensure nobody could hear. She leaned closer to Ben, and he couldn’t help but inhale some of her luxurious perfume. “The things I’d do with a little Ben...”

“That’s enough.”

“Jason would get jealous, of course. Maybe to make him happy we’d just have to share you,” she trailed off.

“That’s enough!” Ben blurted. A few desks over the sound of a coworker’s typing abruptly stopped, then resumed after a moment of silence. AJ chuckled and walked away, heels clicking against the tile floor all the way down the hall. 

She had a twisted sense of humor, true, but she had good instincts and was always blunt and honest with Ben. He valued that, even if it sometimes annoyed him. And of course, she was right. Jason was always a threat to Ben, always waiting to get together with Heather, and now the big guy’s path to victory was all but certain.

Ben turned his mind to other troubling developments. While the US media was gushing over America’s twin titans, the foreign press took a different stance. Other countries were scrambling to develop defense plans in case the giants were turned loose against them. Everyone was scared. Even worse, the enemy didn’t even believe the giants existed at all! The war was destined to continue, it appeared, until something, or someone, or TWO someones convinced the enemy to surrender. 

Was Heather even capable of violence? Possibly, Ben thought. Just maybe. She always had a cheery disposition, but Ben had seen the other side of her, the side that nobody sees. Whereas Ben would politely escort a wayward spider out of his apartment, Heather would always insist on squishing them herself. She was raised in a fire and brimstone church, and she damn well believed in divine retribution. Ben was kind of a dove but Heather was always a hawk. Heather was a big advocate for the death penalty, but Ben  - well... They didn’t talk politics much anymore. Or religion, for that matter. Tonight maybe they would. Heather was getting home in just a few hours, and Ben was eager to spend time with her alone, for the first time in what felt like ages. 

Ben’s phone buzzed. It was a text from Heather. 

“SOOOON!!!!11 <3333333”

He smiled, cleaned up his desk, and went home.

Ben tidied up the apartment as fast as he could. Heart racing. Any moment she’ll be through that door and they’ll be alone. Reunited lovers. At last. For however long it lasts. Everything was in its place. Dinner was keeping warm in the oven. The dining table was decorated with rose petals and candles. The lights were dimmed. Rachmaninov piano concertos filled the room with romantic ambience. I’m good, Ben thought.

Click. A key fumbled in the door lock. Ben’s heart tried to pound its way out of his chest to get a closer listen. Handle turned, the door opened. It was Heather, her gorgeous green eyes sparkling with glee and triumph. She threw down her bags and raced across the room to embrace her lover. They kissed and hugged and exchanged a hundred “I love yous” before Ben noticed someone else had entered the room. It was Jason, and he had brought his own luggage. He met eyes with Ben, shrugged sheepishly, and set his bags in the guest bedroom.

“Uh, what is..” Ben started, releasing Heather gently.

“Yeah, it’s just temporary,” Heather said apologetically. “Paparazzi are all over his place, but the media still doesn’t really know my address, soooo...”

“They will though,” Ben said, anticipating this outcome.

“Yeah,” Heather sighed. “About that... We’ll talk about it after dinner. Smells GREAT by the way! Did you take some cooking classes while I was gone?” Heather said, poking Ben in the belly. He winced. 

“Hope you made enough for three!” Jason said from the guest bedroom. 

Moments later, the three were dining on gourmet, out of the box mac and cheese.

“You know man,” Jason started, “I could teach you to cook. If you have problems with that, that is.”

“Ooh! That’d be fun!” Heather exclaimed. “Jason’s a really great-”

“How do you do it?” Ben asked to the two, flatly.

“Years of practice, trying new-” Jason began, Ben cutting him off.

“No, not that,” Ben responded, pointing at the two with his fork. “The growth. How does it work? Some kind of ray? Some pills or something?”

The other two sighed, pushing cheesy noodles around on their plates, uncertain how much they should disclose.

“We just do it, Ben,” Heather said. “We don’t need help.”

“And your clothes?” Ben said, eyeing the two suspiciously. He was ready to have a fun night with Heather, but Jason’s presence put him in a foul mood. It was obvious.

“We can make them bigger or smaller too,” Heather said. “I don’t even have to be wearing it. If it’s close by, I can do it. But we can’t both change the same object at the same time, or even each other.”

How deeply unnerving, Ben thought. If Heather was telling the truth, then these two possessed even more power than they realized. But he had to know. Had to see it with his own eyes. Had to show her that he wasn’t afraid, that Ben was just as much a man as any giant.

“Show me.”

“We’re really not supposed to,” Heather said, turning to Jason for support. Jason was more focused on a piece of noodle stuck between his teeth.

“Go ahead, just this,” Ben said, waving a fork with a single noodle on it. “Make this bigger.”

“Ben, I said no,” Heather said. Ben began to protest, but Heather waved her hand ‘no’. Frustrated, she stood up to gather empty plates. She took the fork from Ben’s hand, walked over to the kitchen and began cleaning up. Alone in the dining room, Ben and Jason stared across the table, rivals daring each other to make the next move. The hulking, 6’4” adonis spoke first.

“You really want to see it?” he said, trying to pry the macaroni loose from his front teeth with a fingernail.

“Yeah,” Ben answered, defiantly. He wanted to show Heather that he wasn’t afraid of her new power, and he damn well wasn’t going to be intimidated by Jason. But this time Ben might’ve been out of his league. An ant challenging a god.

“Hey, if that’s really what you want. Watch closely,” Jason said amiably, tapping the side of the candlestick. “I’ll make this candle bigger than you.”

“You’ll burn the apartment down,” Ben retorted.

“No I won’t. Just watch.”

By the time Ben looked back at the candle it was already bigger, considerably so. In awe, Ben looked back at Jason, who had also grown. The table was growing too, and soon Ben couldn’t see over the top of it. The whole room- wait, no. No.

From the next room, Ben heard Heather say she was going to unpack and take a shower. Christ, she took the longest showers on Earth! With no help coming soon, he panicked, tried to run, but found he was too small to even safely get off his seat! The wooden landscape around him grew dark. Ben looked upward to see a mountain of muscle casting an all-encompassing shadow. Ben was barely an inch high. By comparison, Jason was a god. His abs were rolling hills along the landscape of his tight shirt. Above them his pectorals were expansive plateaus of pure muscle. A meaty, continental hand lowered beside Ben, its palm upturned, inviting him aboard. Ben’s knees felt weak, and his head was dizzy with shock. But he had to keep pressing onward, showing these giants he wasn’t afraid. He climbed aboard, and was brought before the giant’s stubbled, chiseled face.

“Pretty cool, right?” the giant spoke with total confidence and control. “You know how many girls would be begging for this?” Jason continued, tapping Ben on the head with one massive finger. “Look at you, man. You’re smaller than my cock!” he laughed, but not maliciously. There was something a little friendly about his tone, like he already knew he’d won. Why rub it in. He might’ve even felt sorry for Ben. “Yeah. A lot of girls would kill to be in your spot right now. God, I can’t wait to start a collection of tiny chicks.”

The top of Ben’s head felt warm and heavy for some odd reason. Maintaining eye contact with his giant captor, Ben reached for his hair with one hand, and pulled back an unidentifiable gooey, wet mess.

“Oops! That might be spit,” Jason chuckled. “See, I’ve got this little bit stuck in my teeth and I just can’t get it out.” He tried again to pry it loose, using the same finger he tapped Ben on the head with. “Maybe you could help me.”

Oh no. The hand was being brought right to Jason’s cavernous mouth. His perfect, white teeth glistened, wet with the giant’s saliva. He opened wide, his tongue a flat leviathan lurking in the darkness. Ben wanted this over with as fast as possible. Adrenaline coursed through his body; he was quaking with fear. Jason’s breath, thick with wine and macaroni, warm as a furnace, enveloped tiny Ben like a blanket of pure humidity. Jason shifted his hand, extending his thumb toward his mouth, giving Ben a better vantage point from which to stand. Ben, knees shaking, walked to the end of that thumb, whether out of obedience or defiance he wasn’t sure anymore.

With outstretched hands he balanced himself against Jason’s upper left canine. Ben located the offending macaroni. One hand maintained his balance while the other tried to scoop it free. Success! The macaroni was pried loose! Instantly, like a giant viper uncoiling to strike, Jason’s tongue flashed in front of Ben’s eyes, snatching the macaroni morsel from Ben’s tiny hands. Strands of saliva flung everywhere, coating Ben’s arm and face, and throwing him off balance. He fell off Jason’s thumb, but the giant was too quick, and caught the little man between two massive lips. Teeth gently clamped him in place while the mighty tongue returned, hungry for more. It lapped at Ben’s face, getting a taste of the tiny man. A low, throaty “Hmmm” of satisfaction echoed from deep within Jason’s gullet. The giant liked what it tasted. Two huge fingers pulled Ben by his minuscule legs out from Jason’s lips, and dropped him back onto the palm.

“Had enough?” Jason asked, now daring Ben to ask for more.

"You don’t scare me,” Ben retorted, unconvincingly.

Jason nibbled the inside of his cheek. “I’m gonna leave you like this until you ask me real nice.”

Ben smirked, just digging a deeper hole. “Make me smaller. I don’t care.”

The world around him grew again, bigger and bigger. Jason’s palm stretched for miles now in every direction. Ben was a mote, a tiny speck in the eyes of the sky-filling face before him. Smaller than the stubble on Jason’s chin.

“You got some stones, man, I’ll give you that,” Jason admitted. “I’m starting to think you like this.” His ears perked, and he turned toward the bedroom. Heather was done with her shower. Ben felt himself grow again. He was relieved that this nightmare was almost over, but then he stopped growing. Jason left him at two inches tall. Ben looked up at Jason with confusion and anger. Jason looked back at him with a halfhearted smile.

“What are you two doing?!” Heather exclaimed, wrapping a towel around her damp hair.

“He asked for it,” Jason answered, shaking his head.

“I knew this would happen,” Heather said with equal parts disappointment and frustration. Ben felt a little victorious, believing Heather was mad at Jason. But he was wrong. “Ben, you always do this,” she said, her gorgeous face sternly looking down at him. “You’re so competitive.. And...” She waved one hand slowly by her face, as if pushing her anger away, “I love that about you, I do. But sometimes you just take things way too far, and I don’t have the patience to deal with it tonight. It’s the drag race all over again.”

Ben started to squeak in protest, pointing the finger at Jason, but none of it was really compelling. Heather wasn’t wrong. Ben always hated losing, and always had a problem backing down from a challenge. He once landed a night in jail because a cop “seemed” to challenge him to a drag race at a red light. Heather had to sit in the passenger seat while Ben made an impassioned defense of his behavior, dropping words like “entrapment” and “corruption” while the police officer shouted back an ever-growing list of offenses Ben was accruing that night. For a smart guy his ego would often push him to do dumb things in the interest of winning.

“Should I-” Jason began.

“You two just work out your own problems,” Heather said, throwing her hands in the air and walking away. She was far too exhausted from weeks of training and travel, and just needed a good night’s sleep. “And people say women are the crazy ones,” she muttered, closing the door behind her.