sizebrained

[sizebrained]

Birthday Trip to the Big City, Part 3

Jane, Betsy, and David make their escape from the police raid. And Jane gets a bird's eye view of the city, whether she wants to or not.

CW: Adult themes, language, content. Fear. Peril. Injury, but also all that size stuff to rev your engines.

4800 words.

***

David, followed by Jane, being pushed by Betsy, and, finally, Betsy rushed through a short, narrow hallway. It was illuminated only by a red exit sign at the end of it. They burst out into the alley behind the bar. David immediately looped around and slammed the door behind them.

He moved over to a dumpster, beside the door, and pushed it with all of his might. David wanted to block the back door to buy them some time, should they be followed. But budging the dumpster was going slowly.

Jane stayed still, standing like a statue, trying to keep calm and small. Betsy kept her hands on the sleeves of Jane’s plaid shirt, rubbing her arms up and down in smooth strokes. Betsy knew from years of experience with Jane's growth that the fabric was enough of a barrier to keep Betsy from growing too.

“Janey. Janey, I’m right here it’s going to be okay,” Betsy said slowly and calmly, more for herself than her distressed girlfriend.

In her head, Betsy was freaking out. Not just because of Jane’s growth, but because of the prospect of jail for indecency. For perversion. She’d never hear the end of it from her dad when he had to come bail them out.

Jane was now eye level with Betsy, but she kept her eyes closed, clenching her jaw. Trying with all of her might to stay small.

Everything sounded dull and far away to Jane while she breathed deep and heavy. She felt like she was being pressed against the inside of a jar. She felt an increasing pressure to burst out of it. Her body wanted to grow but, in a tremendous display of willpower, she kept the jar unbroken.

“Help me!” David shouted over them, trying to move the dumpster enough to block the door.

He knew no one else would be coming out this way but the cops, everyone would be rushing to the other exit not this one. Betsy looked over and quickly joined David, putting her back up against the disgusting metal and pushing with her legs. After a few moments of strain, the dumpster lurched to a stop blocking the door enough so it couldn't be opened. “We have to get out of here!” Betsy shouted in a stifled whisper at David.

“Yeah no shit brainiac,” David said sarcastically at the prospect of getting arrested.

Especially in these circumstances, because, unlike Betsy, David's parents had no idea he was gay. He didn't know what they'd object to more, that he was gay or that he was working at a gay bar to pick up men easier.

David panted hard, walking away from the dumpster to check both sides of the alley. He turned first towards the street where the front entrance was and saw flashing red and blue lights. There didn’t seem to be any cops by the squad cars for now. They must have still been trying to wrangle as many people as they could from inside.

But it was still too risky to try and get away that direction.

David turned around and looked at the other side of the alley. There was a trash truck blocking the way, huge and just barely fitting into the tight space between buildings. So tight, in fact, that the driver had blacked it into place. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have been able to open the doors on either side.

David looked at the gap between brick and the door. He thought of Jane's petite proportions, thinking she might have had a chance but he was far too bulky to fit through too.

“Fuck!” David exclaimed, realizing they were trapped.

Betsy was sitting on the ground, ignoring how dirty it was, her back still pressed up against the dumpster. She followed David’s gaze up and down both sides of the alley realizing the same thing.

The relatively small dumpster was one thing to move. But an entire garbage truck was an entirely different thing. The driver had even raised up the container section so that no one could climb over it.

Betsy realized that the cops must have planned for this in advance, before the raid started. That meant they knew about the alley and it was only a matter of time before the three of them were discovered.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” David repeated looking around frantically for any other escape route.

“Wait. I know, we’ll just have to…HOLY SHIT!” David was about to say 'Climb up the fire escape to the roof,' when he turned and came face to face with Jane.

Or rather, face to chest with Jane. Because even though he was over 6 feet tall, Jane was well over 7 feet. Standing still, he could see her slowly creeping higher, growing inch by inch with every passing second.

Betsy had just been thinking over whether it’d be a good idea to let Jane get big enough so she could pick up the garbage truck and move it like a toy. David's shock snapped her out of it as she looked over at him. It was the first time she remembered him seeming small by comparison to anyone.

Betsy got up and rushed back over to Jane. The also, normally, tall Betsy stood between David and Jane, and was now the shortest of the three. “Janey?” Betsy probed up to Jane's shut eyes in concern.

“What the fuck! Why is she so HUGE?!” David interjected in disbelief that the five foot nothing girl he'd always known was suddenly two feet taller.

And growing.

“David! You’re not helping,” Betsy barked in annoyance.

“Helping what?!” David asked, still looking for an explanation of the impossible.

“Shut up dimwit! Before someone hears you,” Betsy warned in a hush, trying to juggle her concern for Jane with the threat of prowling cops.

“Fine! Explain later but we have to get out of here. Now!” David exclaimed, much softer now.

“Enough with the mannequin impression Janey!” David demanded up at her as he started to slink away.

“I think the cops are going to notice a 7…” David looked her up and down again, correcting himself, “7 and a half foot redhead standing in the middle of an alley like a scarecrow!” 

“Janey, we have to go. We have to go now, come on,” Betsy cried, pulling at Jane’s clothed arm.

Jane was too big for her to budge at all, and her arm was so thick that Betsy's fingers didn't even touch when she put them both around her girlfriend, desperate to flee.

David was at the nearest fire escape, bolted to the building opposite the back of the bar, in the alley. He leapt up trying to reach the bottom rung of the ladder, to pull it down. But it was too high. He kept trying, knowing that it was the only way to escape. His jumps got sloppier and more desperate each time.

“Jane! We have to get out of here, please, we can’t get caught like this!” Betsy pleaded up to Jane, pulling at her sleeve as a little kid would, trying to get a parent’s attention.

Betsy didn't mean at a gay bar, but at her girlfriend's secret being discovered by the absolute wrong people.

Betsy turned and looked down the alley, she thought she saw figures at the police cars. She did see figures, struggling. Cops and patrons. She felt like they’d be noticed at any moment. 

Betsy knew she could survive getting arrested. But she was more worried for Jane. Jane couldn’t get caught, not like this. It seemed ludicrous to worry about her, as Betsy looked up at her big, beautiful girlfriend locked in a struggle with herself.

It didn’t seem like anything could hurt Jane, especially after the other day. If she was the same size now the tallest building wouldn't even reach her waist.

But Betsy was trying to block that out. She tried to think of little Jane, the Jane she first fell in love with years ago. Not the Jane that could hold her dad’s truck with barely any effort. Not the Jane that filled her with crushing terror. Betsy hated having both of those feelings fighting with each other inside her heart.

Jane opened her eyes, still struggling to keep from getting too big. Jane nodded in agreement and Betsy nodded back, still frantically trying to pull Jane away from the center of the alley. But there was no way she could move Jane unless Jane wanted to be moved.

And it was taking everything Jane had to stay focused on keeping the glass jar inside she felt inside herself intact. But it was too great. The glass was cracking from her body’s demand to grow. She wouldn’t be able to stop it entirely.

David was panting, and about to jump again for the ladder. Then Jane appeared next to him all of the sudden.

He looked up at her nearly twice his height. She reached up and pulled down the ladder, granting access to the fire escape steps like she was going up into an attic. 

David stared at Jane for a moment, slack jawed. She was the biggest person he'd ever seen. The biggest person ever. But the fear of being caught took over. David skipped a few rungs, stepping onto the highest he could reach and pulled himself up, scrambling along the ladder.

Now Betsy was the one frozen in place. The realization of what she’d have to do to escape sunk in, it felt sharp and crippling. She didn’t think that this night could possibly get worse, but she was wrong.

Betsy stared at David, rising higher and higher. He made it all the way up to the ladder rather quick and started ascending the zig zagging steps. He was getting so high. Betsy started having trouble breathing. “I…I can’t…I can’t—Just go. Leave me. I’ll…I’ll…I can’t…” Betsy whimpered, her eyes welling up with tears at the impossible task.

Jane bent down on one knee to look at Betsy, eye to eye. She was getting big and they needed to get going before they had a very different problem. Jane wrapped her huge hand around Betsy’s shoulder, rubbing it tenderly. Betsy stifled a sob.

“Just leave me Janey,” Betsy reached up and put her hand on Jane’s sleeve, experienced enough when Jane was growing to not touch her bare skin.

“Bets, I would never leave you. Never. Just close your eyes for me,” Jane explained, letting go of Betsy’s shoulder.

Jane used both hands to button her shirt all the way to her neck, flipping up the collar. Betsy guessed what Jane was planning and went stiff. She closed her eyes like Jane told her, whimpering in dread.

Jane gently slipped a finger between Betsy's slim shoulder and the straps of both of their bags she was carrying. She had grabbed Jane's at some point in the hallway as she pushed her out into the alley. Jane's large finger looped under both bags at the first joint, and lifted, slipping them off Betsy's arm.

Jane shoved them, quickly, into the back pocket of her jeans like a wadded up bandana. Her pockets, and Jane, were big enough now that they easily fit. Jane wasn’t about to leave anything incriminating in the alley for the police. The next thing Betsy felt was one of Jane’s long arms wrapping around her whole backside. Jane’s forearm was pressed into the back of Betsy’s leg, and her torso became wedged between the big girl’s bicep and right side. Betsy could tell that Jane was still kneeling. She felt a rising panic at the prospect of getting so high like David, still ascending the fire escape's stairs. “Honey, put your arms around my neck and don’t touch my skin okay? I’ve got you,” Jane tenderly instructed the love of her life, who kept her eyes shut tight.

Jane wanted to kiss her so badly, but she didn't need Betsy any bigger than she already was to make this even more challenging. Betsy hesitated for a few moments, but ultimately did as she was told. Betsy pressed herself into Jane, looping her arms around Jane’s neck, covered by the upturned collar. Betsy locked her fingers together.

Jane stood up, Betsy felt it and a frightened sound escaped her.

Betsy’s heart was pounding between her ears and she tried to shut everything out. But she couldn’t. All Betsy could think about was Jane’s enormous eye peering into her dad’s truck, her fingertips pressed into the side windows. And Betsy being very, very high up. Terribly high up.

Even after years of memories of being together. It was that moment that would always be front and center. It was going to haunt her dreams, pure nightmare fuel. 

Betsy sobbed into Jane’s shirt. She pressed her face into it, trying not to think. But as Jane’s big body walked then started swaying, climbing, it was impossible. Betsy was totally enveloped in paralyzing fear. Jane had walked over to the fire escape, thrown up the ladder, so anyone normal sized couldn’t follow them easily, and started climbing up the outside of fire escape. She was using the whole structure like a ladder. She was too large now to fit and follow where David was still climbing up.

The fire escape held firm. Thankfully, she wasn’t big enough for her weight to be in danger of pulling it out of the brick. Yet. David looked down at Jane, sweating profusely, not expecting such a work out. She was gigantic. And catching up quickly. After a moment of stunned gawking, noticing that she was only using one hand to climb because the other was carrying Betsy against her chest, he returned to rushing up the steps. He was nearly to the roof.

Jane cradled her usually tall, now tiny, girlfriend against her body while she climbed. It made her go slower, but her still lengthening limbs made up the difference by covering far more distance. She was nearly at the roof far, a lot quicker than it had taken David.

Betsy cried and whimpered with every jerk and sway of Jane’s heavy body. Each lurching movement meant that she was getting higher and higher. Betsy was too scared to open her eyes to confirm it.

She was hyperventilating now. Her lifelong fear of heights like a sharp knife slicing up the length of her spine. She felt the pointed tip of fear pressing at the base of her throat, pressing into her brain stem. She was going to throw up.

Suddenly, Betsy felt a long swing, deep in the pit of her stomach, and a sudden stop. Then, blissfully, nothing.

“Bets? Honey? Honey? We’re on the roof but it’s okay. You’re safe. Honey, you’re safe,” Jane whispered to her girlfriend.

But at this size, Jane’s whisper was far louder than her normal speaking voice. David was doubled over, his legs burning from such a quick ascent up so many stairs, and didn't agree that they were safe. He tried to listen for anyone following them, while catching his breath. He was about to shush Jane so he could hear. But then he looked at her and, realizing just how massive she was, thought better of it.

There were twenty stories of distance between them and the police below now. David hoped that the cops were unaware that anyone had made it up. But they needed to get further away, somehow.

Jane was sitting cross legged, over 15 feet tall, cradling Betsy against her in both arms like a baby. Jane could feel Betsy struggling to breathe. Betsy’s smaller heart pounded furiously against Jane's oversized embrace.

Jane hated seeing her like this and it seemed to be happening more and more frequently. Jane blamed herself and felt awful for it. “Honey, can you open your eyes and look at me?” Jane asked hopefully, too afraid to touch Betsy's sweat covered face.

Jane could feel that she was still growing, but it did seem to be slowing down at least. The initial rush had passed for some reason.

Even seated, she was still a head taller than David. Jane could feel him staring at the pair of them, his hands were reversed and resting on his hips. He looked like he'd run a marathon.

“You look ridiculous by the way,” Jane smirked at David’s outfit without taking her concerned eyes off of Betsy.

“I look ridiculous?” David replied incredulously through his panting. “Are you kidding me right now?” He reiterated, noticing Jane’s head was still creeping higher, bit by bit, and he gave up on any snappy comeback.

“What’s wrong with Betsy?” he asked, changing the subject.

“She’s afraid of heights,” Jane replied.

“And she’s dating you? That’s funny,” David quipped.

Jane turned and glared at him. David shut up.

“What’s the plan now? Just stay up here until they’re gone?” Jane asked after a beat, looking at Betsy again, so badly wanting to touch her the way a normal girlfriend would.

They both heard shouting, echoing up from the street below. People were, rightfully, resisting arrest. It was getting contentious. David and Jane looked at one another, knowing they couldn’t wait it out.

“Well…” David started looking around at the other rooftops.

“Once I got up here I was going to…I live over…there,” David paused while searching for the right roof top.

He recognized his building from numerous early mornings, spent with coffee and a cigarette, at sunrise. He pointed at it. 

David’s building was a good quarter of a mile away. And it was not a straight, level shot across rooftops.

“And?” Jane asked him, confused.

“And…I was going to you know. Get up here and then…whatever, until I get over there,” David gestured in the direction of his building, like it was easy.

Jane’s eyes narrowed in skepticism, then she turned her head to look again. She knew he could make some of those jumps. But even seated, she could tell the gap between some of the buildings was far too great for someone his size. 

Plus, she saw some rooftops were a lot lower or higher than the preceding building. It was an obstacle course at Jane’s size but downright impossible for someone David’s size, despite being a pretty solid athlete.

No wonder the police didn’t bother to worry about the fire escape and just the alley exits. There was no way any normal person would get far. They would have gotten stuck somewhere along the way. Maybe for the whole night or worse and have to call out for help, getting caught.

They couldn’t stay here, just in case the cops decided to check the roof.

“Bold…but dumb….” Jane tried to whisper to herself, remembering what David was like in high school.

But she didn’t do a good job adjusting her volume. “Excuse me?!” David objected.

Jane stood up to her full height. Betsy squeaked in fear, clutching her tightly as she rose. Jane’s neck was too far away now for her to reach and she had to settle for gripping handfuls of Jane’s shirt. 

David’s head and neck had to bend straight up, his back arching, in order to see Jane’s face. He wasn’t going to push it.

He took several steps back. She was enormous. His eye level was just over her knee. She must have been 18 or 20 feet tall.

“Bets?” Jane asked down at her girlfriend, still frozen in terror.

Betsy could only shake her head, refusing to do anything other than stay curled against Jane. Her phobia had a complete hold over her. Jane hoped it’d be better if they got some more distance from the cops and down from any roof.

“David. Look. Betsy isn’t going to move and I can’t think of any other way to get you over there. So,” Jane bent down onto one knee again.

“Get up here and then put your legs in my shirt pocket and lay over my shoulder. Do NOT touch my skin! Anywhere! Got it?” Jane ordered down, pointing out each step for him with a nod of her chin.

David stared, trying to remind himself it was still Jane, but it was so different when she was this huge. She was intimidating, whether she meant to be or not. He gulped and nodded.

David hoisted himself up onto Jane’s waiting thigh. Then, very precariously, he reached out to her shoulder. David balanced, stepping into her shirt pocket like he was about to run a hop sack race, one leg at a time. 

He didn’t fit all the way inside, the top of her pocket stopped at his knee. Jane stood upright again and he wobbled, falling forward and holding onto her shoulder like she’d instructed. 

“Okay!” David confirmed giving Jane’s shoulder a pat like a circus elephant. 

It was a strange way to travel but it was better than the alternative of holding onto her back. David looked down over Jane’s shoulder seeing a sliver of the ground below. He had a better appreciation for Betsy’s fear.

“That one right?” Jane said, pointing, and her arm seemed to stretch out forever.

“Yeah that’s—whoa!” David exclaimed.

Jane readjusted David with her one free hand. Betsy was wrapped around the other side of Jane’s chest, the one without a pocket. Jane’s arm locked, keeping her cradled close. She was crying softly into Jane’s shirt, overwhelmed for the second time in a few days. 

Jane reached the edge of the building. She stretched one leg over, carefully with David and Betsy on her like this. It would have been a tremendous leap for David but Jane simply stepped across. 

Jane made her way like this, from building to building. Stepping on each ones as if they were stones in a creek. She took a roundabout way, trying to take the path of least resistance, but still making progress towards David’s building.

She didn’t want to rush, not only for fear of dropping David, or worse, Betsy. But also because she started to worry she was getting too big and heavy for some of the buildings. She could feel some of them seeming to strain under her footfalls and got to the next one as quickly as she could.

The cops would definitely notice a collapsed building. And who knows what would happen to David and Betsy if that happened.

Jane arrived at one building blocking their path that was many stories higher. It was the tallest she’d come across and, hopefully, that made it stronger too. She’d have to climb over it. “Bets? Honey? Can you…” Jane started but stopped, the answer was obvious as she looked down at Betsy’s little body curled in the nook of her arm.

With her eyes firmly shut, Betsy looked like she was having the worst nightmare of her life. Jane exhaled through her nose and surveyed her options. 

She thought about tossing David up to the roof first, but it was too high and she didn’t want to get any bigger.

David needed a smoke, but he left his pack under the bar. Thankfully, he had kept his wallet on him so the cops wouldn’t find that, at least. Tiny mercies.

“I’d ask for a boost and then pull you up, but…” David added with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, trying to reclaim some dignity from being slung over her like a kitten. 

He was completely unaware that Jane had just been sizing him up in her head, ready to toss him like a baseball. Jane ignored his quip. He’d gotten a lot sassier since high school. She looked at the side of the tall building facing her. Then, determined, she kicked out a window, a step above her, with her right foot. Shattered glass burst into the unoccupied room. 

Jane stepped cautiously onto the windowsill, putting her foot inside like it was a stirrup. Her red, high top sneaker was nearly the entire width of the ledge, but thankfully it wasn't so big that it'd get wedged against the sides. She kept most of her weight on her back leg, still standing on the roof’s edge.

Slowly, she added more of her weight to the windowsill, testing it. 

As she did, the brick crumbled a little—but it didn’t give way entirely like she feared. She shoved her foot in as far as she could so that only a bit of her heel stuck out, thinking this would help disperse her weight. “Hold on,” Jane warned Betsy and David, both of them tightening their grips on their giant ride.

Jane stepped onto the taller building, putting her full weight on the foot inside the window. The brick gave way even more, the depth of her penetrating foot not doing anything to help. 

Jane reached up with one hand. Her big fingers could barely grip the ledge of the closed window at the edge of her reach.

Jane pushed up with her leg, and pulled with one arm. Keeping her other arm cradling Betsy against her side, Jane’s enormous body rose up along the side of the building. She locked her leg straight and bent her other leg.

Jane tried to rest her foot on a higher windowsill ledge, but it gave way under her weight. It was too much for just the lip. Bricks broke off under Jane’s shoe and tumbled down to the ground below.

Shit, Jane chided herself in her head. This was much harder than she thought it’d be, and way too dangerous with David and Betsy on her like this. But she didn’t have a choice, she had to go over this building to get to David’s.

Jane hurriedly kicked out the next window closest to her raised, bent leg and shoved her foot inside. Jane exhaled and pushed up, grabbing onto another, higher, windowsill ledge with her fingers. She rose again.

Jane repeated this process several more times, nearly slipping a few times but also nearly to the roof. As she reached up to the last window with her hand, a light turned on in the room attached to it, where her big fingers rested. 

Jane pulled her hand back out of sight quickly and nearly lost her balance. She tried to lean against the building, but she feared she’d crush David and Betsy. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Jane’s whole body was shaking desperately to stay put. She had so little purchase and was nearly 40 stories up.

She punched out a window with her hand. Stifling a cry, Jane gripped the window frame before she fell. Her long hand crushed the inside wall in her powerful grip. She felt it giving. Her huge fingers left their indented impression in the wall as she gripped.

Shards of glass still in the window's frame cut into her hand. She clenched her teeth at the pain.

David pressed his head into her shoulder, not looking, sensing her struggle to not fall. She quickly looked down at Betsy, she was crying. Hard. Jane wanted to cry too. She missed being the size when she could climb trees like she used to love doing. But right now, she was thankful for the experience it gave her.

Jane peered up at the window with the light on inside. She couldn’t stay like this for long. She had to risk it. Jane kicked out the final window next to her bent leg and shoved her foot in. She reached up again with her fingers, trying not to smear any blood.

She'd already left enough baffling evidence for someone to find, but she was more worried her blood would make her slip. Jane’s body rose and her face passed the lit window.

She couldn’t help but peer inside.

A man was standing inside about ten feet away from the window, next to a record player, holding an album in both hands. A lit pipe was sticking out of his mouth.

He locked eyes with Jane. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. He dropped the record to his carpeted floor.

Then Jane pushed the last bit, her face flew up past the window followed by the rest of her impossibly long body. She scrambled to get the rest of the way up to the safety of the roof. 

She landed on hands and knees at the top, panting from the effort. David had to cling to her to keep from slipping at the awkward angle. Betsy was shivering. She took a few moments to catch her breath and rest.

Jane stood back upright and strode across the roof. She stopped for a moment to reach down and pinch the roof’s access door. The handle twisted from the force, locking the door shut.

She wanted to make sure that the man couldn’t come up to confirm what he just saw out his window in the night.

She got to the edge and decided to jump down to the next building instead of trying to climb. Her hand was cut and throbbing. And badly bleeding. She shoved it under her armpit, going across her chest and pressing down into David and Betsy, to slow the bleeding with pressure.

Jane paused, then leapt. She landed, making the building shake, and did something to her ankle in the process. Jane winced in pain but kept going, hobbling as fast as she could to the next one. After a few more, much easier buildings, they made it to David’s building. Jane fell to her knees in gratitude. David held on and pulled his legs out of her pocket. He dropped to the roof, off of Jane, landing on his feet. Jane slowly set Betsy down too. Betsy cried out in relief as soon as she touched the hard surface.

“Help her get down to your place?” Jane asked David in exhaustion.

He quietly obeyed, overwhelmed in relief that they had escaped. David helped Betsy up and over to the access door. The pair of them disappeared through it and the door shut behind them with a metallic clang. 

Jane sighed in relief and spun on her knees. She weakly reached into her back pockets with her good hand, pulling out her and Betsy’s bags. She dropped them to the side, then sat down on her butt with a heavy groan. Jane lowered herself, laying down flat on her back. She slowly let her legs go out flat like the rest of her.

Her ankle really hurt, throbbing with her pulse. So did her bloody hand. She tried to keep both slightly raised up in the air, hoping that would help it feel better. It didn’t. And she was too tired to sustain it.

But it was worth it. They had made it. But more importantly to Jane, Betsy was safe.

Despite the fear it caused, Jane's size had saved them. Again.

Jane closed her eyes and sighed. In her mind, she saw the cover of a magazine from a bookstore earlier that day. It was about mountain climbing. The cover of the magazine was a simple black and white photo with its name and a list of articles, inside, superimposed over it. The photo was of a man, bent over and climbing up a cliff face. He was holding onto a rope that disappeared off the magazine’s edge.

Jane couldn’t imagine anyone doing something like what she just did for fun.

About ten minutes later the roof door burst open, Betsy ran out to Jane with a bed sheet in tow. David followed carrying a large bowl of water, a lit cigarette dangling out of his mouth.

“Janey! Show me your poor hand!” Betsy demanded, unfurling the sheet.

“No, don’t touch me,” Jane warned weakly, ready to fall asleep.

“Give me your god damn hand!” Betsy insisted, pulling at Jane’s wide wrist like she was rowing a boat.

Jane relented and offered her hand to Betsy, nearly knocking her over by accident. Betsy gasped at the bad state of Jane’s palm and fingers. Betsy took the bowl from David, dipping one corner of the sheet into it, soaking up all the water. 

She gently wiped away the dried blood on Jane’s skin looking for any remaining bits of glass. She easily pulled a few out of the large cuts, tossing them aside.

“Go get more water! And alcohol, strong alcohol…Now!” Betsy shouted at David, her eyes filled with tears. 

David stood there watching, frozen in place for a moment before he disappeared through the door and down the stairs again.

“Bets…” Jane started before Betsy shushed her.

“Quiet you big beautiful mess. Just let me take care of you for a change,” Betsy pleaded and started crying.

“You do take care of me Bets, you do,” Jane smiled appreciatively at her little girlfriend.

“I’m sorry Janey. I’m so fucking sorry,” Betsy wept, wiping Jane’s hand clean with the sheet and her own eyes with the back of her hand.

Jane smiled and lifted her head. She lightly pressed her forehead against Betsy’s tinier one. It was like a dog head butting a bus. Then she laid her head back down again and fell asleep.

***

End Part 3

[sizebrained]

Extra: Morning After The Pact

The morning after. I'm such a sap for morning afters.

CW: Adult themes, language, content, trauma/ptsd, mentions of wounds, injuries, nearly dying, drinking, sexual attraction, desire, angst.

***

Hazel gasped, sitting upright not sure of where she was at the moment. Thunder had woken her up. She could hear the rain now. She turned to look out towards the windows but saw Ben sleeping instead, it'd be impossible to see the them over him.

Hazel calmed down immediately at the sight of him sleeping. She took long slow breaths through her nose as she stared at him. She adored him always, but especially when he slept.

She relished seeing him truly peaceful. As she stared at him resting, she felt it. Hazel focused on where the feeling was arising from in her body, right in the gap between her stomach and spine. She felt him asleep, like she hadn't woken up yet herself.

If she let it, he could put her back under. He was so much stronger than she remembered Mary being, but that made some kind of sense. He seemed nearly twice her size sometimes, so maybe his emotions were too.

Hazel remembered his long fingered hand resting over her as she drifted off to sleep in the night, like he was worried something might come for her again. Her head followed his forearm to see his hand was resting on the other side of her, on the pillow. She smiled and looked back at his face.

Her eyes traced down Ben's neck and up along his broad shoulders, following along the curved outline of the giant sleeping body under the covers, down to his feet. He had to sleep diagonally, knees bent, to fit in his bed. Even then it was just barely. She was sure that if he stretched, his hands and feet would go over the edges. It was like sleeping next to the white cliffs of Dover.

Lightning filled his bedroom window again, followed by the rumbling of thunder, reasserting its presence. It was quite the storm.

Hazel laid back down on the exceedingly soft pillow, surrounding her on all sides, and pulled the small square of blanket up to her shoulders once more. Ben had cut it from one corner of his own blanket.

He had used the very same scissors that he had eventually freed her from the first night they'd met. He was so delicate with the task, and it was such a simple, unrequested, gesture that she found him all the more endearing.

Hazel stared up at the ceiling, smiling wider. As she did, the sensation of Ben's sleep fell over her again, several layers of heavy blankets threatening to put her back to sleep. She thought about letting it, but fought against it. She'd forgotten about this part of the pact.

Hazel ran one hand down the left side of her torso, feeling for the rat's bite. Searching for the deep, ugly puncture that went almost completely through her body...she found no trace of it. There was no trace of it. She knew, if she looked, there wouldn't even be a scar.

The pact had saved her life. By connecting to him Ben, he had physically absorbed Hazel's injuries. She wanted to see if it had left a mark on him, but she wanted to let him sleep. She didn't think she'd ever seen him sleep through a storm without his headphones like this.

Hazel knew that whatever befell her, would happen to Ben, like he had taken her place, for the rest of his days. Hazel tried not to think of how few of those he had compared to her, it was too awful to dwell on. She feared the decades could feel like days. They often did for her.

Hazel was now, very likely, invincible to any bodily harm for as long as he lived. And he would barely notice it. Hazel, blessedly, would only feel his injuries, and even then to a much diminished version.

If the pact was fair, at his size, even pricking his finger might kill her. She couldn't ever quite understand how to explain it until she'd seen the human's radar system. It was during the war. Hazel was fascinated by it, like all human contraptions. She missed the days of great gears and machinery.

Now they hid all of the inner workings of their machines. It felt like settling for the mundane instead of reveling in the equally magical workings underneath.

The hospital had shared a wall with a military intelligence operation. She'd often go over to visit with her mother and the professor, who was working there. Once, she went with them to see what they called the "Receiver Room" where it was operated from. At night, the operators, surprisingly women in uniform, were on constant lookout for bombers.

Every tiny dot was an incoming threat. After the first time seeing it, Hazel often snuck up to watch the women tend to their work. The professor had explained it to her like the radio in his library, but for sight using sound. She could have watched it for days if she wasn't equally enraptured at watching Mary working.

Hazel suddenly thought of the night she lost her mother and the professor from a bomb. The radar hadn't amounted to much in the end. Ben's huge body shifted uncomfortably in his sleep. She knew her grief filled memories were seeping into him and she hurried to clear her mind of it.

Like radar, Hazel would know whenever Ben hurt himself, and where, and how badly. Hazel got to be the radar display. She would only get a tiny green dots on a screen, but Ben would get the full sized airplane dropping death from above. But at his size, unlike those bombers, it would likely amount to nothing even noticeable.

It was so much more beneficial for her than for him, but that was the whole point of it. And unlike pain or injuries, good feelings, like pleasure, were felt equally between them.

She stared at his sleeping face, resting peacefully once more without her interference. She could feel her love for him as if it was a separate living, breathing force inside of her. She watched the corners of his mouth raise into a slight smile. He seemed content.

She realized how overwhelming all of this could be for her. But she was too thankful to be alive than to be in that kind of mood. Her eyes scanned down looking over his body again and felt her own reconsidering that assessment.

It made lying impossible. She didn't need the pact to know when the poor thing was lying, he was terrible at it. But when he said "I love you," over and over last night, she felt like the sand on a beach being pummeled by the ocean in a storm like the one outside.

It wasn't bad, just...a lot.

With some reluctance, Hazel threw off her blanket and stood up on the shaky footing of the plush pillow. Her tail swished wildly from side to side to help keep her balance on the soft fotting. After steadying, she looked over and up at him. She couldn't help it. Something about nearly dying she supposed.

She started walking away from him, towards the edge. But she kept looking back, checking on him. As he receeded more and more as she got further away, she could pretend he was smaller. If she was far enough away she could pretend he was her size. She liked that fleeting sensation.

She always imagined him being able to hold her with his arms rather than with a finger or hand. She yearned for it. But as she looked at him now, she knew she'd not have him any different. She'd take whatever she could get from her poor, overgrown savior.

"Sleep darling. You need rest," Hazel whispered staring at his poor, bandaged hand still on the pillow.

Now that they were in a revealing pact, Hazel also had to consider just how much she wanted to sway him. It was another benefit of it for her. Hazel couldn't outright control him like a puppet, but she could influence him.

She could press here, or pull there when she didn't want him to feel something. Or she could get him do something that he wasn't necessarily inclined to do. It was complicated, morally, but also draining for her physically.

It could be a lifesaver in the right circumstances, but it felt wrong. She didn't want to control anyone for any reason. And never understood the compulsion that humans seemed to have for it. It was a major difference between her kind and humans.

Thankfully, he stayed asleep without her help.

Hazel hopped down from his bed to the light gray carpet. But instead of going under the door to leave, she made her way to one of her cutouts. She was over being naked. She needed get some clothes from her space on the shelf. But more importantly she wanted to see it.

She needed to see where she'd nearly died.

Hazel made her way through, arms were crossed over her chest as she walked. Her eyes were taking everything in, keeping a mental inventory of all of her mistakes. She felt her self-criticism mounting.

Her list grew every few steps. Escape paths not created, footholds and handholds missing, barren spots where there should be spare supplies, and more. Like food for holing up as long as needed until a suspicious human gave up. She kicked herself and cursed under her breath thinking of extra line, blades, the very tools her kind needed to survive in the human world.

It was a lot of work, but necessary. She had put it off and it had nearly cost her everything.

But Ben made her feel so safe. It was a poor excuse. Danger didn't only come from humans. She should have never let this sacred space exist in such a neglectful state. No wonder she'd gotten herself into such a mess with the rat.

Hazel kept going, knowing she was getting closer and closer. She could smell it. Her near death.

Hazel turned the corner, just as lightning flashed outside. The normally dark passage was illuminated just long enough to give her a snapshot to take in every detail. She let out a short cry, thankful for only a momentary glimpse.

The wall was gone, leaving a jagged looking hole going several feet up towards the ceiling. It must have been Ben. Everywhere else was the rat's blood. And hers.

It looked almost black now, like someone's awful nightmare made into a terrible painting. She closed her eyes as each moment replayed in her head, keeping a hand over her mouth. She finally gasped for air realizing she'd been holding her breath.

She felt Ben rustling in discomfort and focused on his sleep instead. She let his feeling win, it soothed both of them. She couldn't tell what he was dreaming about, the pact didn't let them read each other's minds, but it wasn't a nightmare. Whatever it was, as she focused on it, she could smell the tall grass in a heavy breeze back at her childhood home.

She looked ahead of her again. She didn't want to walk through it with bare feet. That would have been too much, even for her. She walked out the Ben-made hole, and across the floor, instead.

After a few steps, she came upon the rat, or what was left of it.

She felt herself gagging as she stared at it in the dim light.

It looked smaller than she remembered now that it was on the floor. She spotted her mother's tool glimmering nearby and rushed over, picking it up. She clutched it, lovingly, for a moment.

Then she noticed several large sections of the rat's fur were gone in perfectly shaped rectangles.

"Da..." Hazel thought as she wondered what he would make from it. She had a hazy memory of him mentioning boots.

Hazel made it to the bookshelf and made quick work of getting to her shelf. She surveyed Ben's empty condo. Her father had already left with no trace other than the rat's hide. It was his way.

She couldn't imagine how beyond uncomfortable he must have been from yesterday's events.

Then Hazel spotted Sam. The big girl was hunched over at the kitchen island, by herself. Hazel looked at the clock, it was very early. Hazel knew how late Cob slept in. Annoyingly so in Hazel's opinion. But seeing Sam there, alone, seemed odd and concerning.

Hazel watched Sam take a sip from something, staring blankly out the window at the storm. It was too early for her to be drinking...wasn't it? Even from here, Sam seemed off, very off. But Hazel needed clothes first.

After she was dressed, Hazel slipped her mother's tool around some twine and slung it over her back. She wanted it close for now.

A few moments later, and some quiet sneaking on her part, Hazel was standing on Ben's kitchen counter looking up at Sam. The huge girl hadn't noticed Hazel moving around or staring at her for some time in worry. Hazel recognized her eyes, they were exact same as Ben's, but not the look filling them.

"Good morning! Although, not a very bright one with such a dreadful storm. It is rather terrible looking out," Hazel exclaimed, more chipper than she'd normally be.

Hazel looked out at the weather with Sam. She knew how awful it'd be in the shed in such a state. And worse, Hazel doubted her father could have even made it there before it began. She wished he had stayed.

Sam silently looked down at the counter at Hazel. Hazel saw her big green eyes were bloodshot. Sam looked like she'd been crying. A lot. Sam wiped her nose with the butt of her palm and sniffed.

"Want some tea?" Sam got up before Hazel could respond and started making it.

"Thank you," Hazel said up to Sam's back, keeping it facing Hazel while she made it.

"Sam—I wanted to thank you for yesterday. You saved my life just as much as your brother. I cannot thank you enough actually," Hazel continued.

"Oh...You're welcome babe..." Sam replied but her words felt flat, there was no emotion in them at all.

Hazel's brow crunched up with concern.

"Sam..."

"Listen, I already pulled a favor with Ben's doctors. They're going to come out here with a mobile x-ray instead of getting him to go there. He's not getting in a car in this weather."

"I think you are quite right, that was very thoughtful of you."

"They should be here around 11," Sam added, checking the clock on Ben's wall.

She set down a coffee cup filled with tea in front of Hazel. Sam dipped a tablespoon into the steaming surface, filling it. Then Sam placed the tablespoon down on the countertop beside the coffee cup. Sam opened a drawer then set down a very tiny, plastic toy mug.

Sam's fingers looked like a crane holding a pine cone as she lowered it down. The toy mug was a little to large for Hazel's taste. It was like drinking out of a pitcher, but she made due.

"And...uh...I called his building manager and left a message that Ben tripped and fell through Sadie's wall. So they need to send someone to fix it today no matter what it cost...So he doesn't have to worry about doing that, he can just focus on his hands." "You sound like you are not planning on being around for any of this." "No—I'm not. I have some stuff to do this morning. I'm going to get out of everyone's hair," Sam excused herself, making her way to the door.

"In this weather? Would you not stay? At least until your brother is awake?" Hazel was very confused now as Sam paused at the question.

Sam stayed quiet for a few moments holding the door knob.

"Can...Can you tell Cob that I had to go out of town for a few days please? They'll be alright here with you two right?"

"Of course but where are you going?" Hazel asked rather sternly for someone her size.

"I...I have to go," Sam opened the door and very quietly closed it behind her with a soft click.

Hazel stood there on the counter, dwarfed by the coffee cup of tea, beside the untouched tablespoon and mug. She looked at the empty beer can Sam left behind alongside the coffee cup. Then she made her way to the edge of the counter to try and look out the windows down to the parking lot.

She could just barely make out Sam's figure in the storm. She was running, not driving?

"Well I suppose that is safer than driving...but what on earth happened..." Hazel wondered to herself never having seen Sam like this before. Normally Sam was bold and boisterous. But that confidence was nowhere to be seen this morning. She seemed like she was a different person altogether.

Hazel sat down beside the coffee cup with her toy mug. She waited feeling the warmth radiating through the ceramic side of it. It felt nice.

Hazel watched the storm outside and waited, sipping her tea, to see which one of the two laziest people in her life would get up first, Cob or Ben. Surprisingly, it was Cob.

They joined their sister on the counter and Hazel offered them the still warm, refilled toy mug. They took several bracing gulps.

"Have you seen Sam? She wasn't in the bed this morning," Cob worried, sitting right up against their sister like one of might disappear at any moment.

Cob hadn't explained to Hazel yet that they were worried they would be the one to suddenly vanish. They wondered when would be a good time to bring it up.

"Yes I saw her, but it was very strange...She told me to tell you she needed to go out of town for a few days. Wanted to make sure you would be alright staying here with me and Ben," Hazel spoke carefully watching Cob's expression for clues.

Her sibling's eyes were suddenly downcast and filled with sadness. They stayed silent.

"I very much doubt Sam is actually leaving town," Hazel said the suspicion evident in her voice before she went on, "Cob what on earth happened last night?"

"It..." Cob started and sighed.

"It was a lot Haze. Everyone was worried about you. Obviously. And I was a mess but Ben...Ben was scary. He really lost it when he thought you were gone."

"Is that all? Surely Sam has seen her brother in a state before no? Remember how upset you were that year there were no holiday treats in the shed?" Hazel reminded Cob of something they would much prefer not to remember.

"No Haze. This was different. He really lost it and not just on the wall. He said some things that were...unkind," Cob finished having to search for the right word.

"About Sam?"

Cob nodded and took another sip from the mug.

"Oh dear..." Hazel said after another long moment, "What did he say?"

Cob summarized the worst of it for their sibling.

"How bloody awful. Those poor things," Hazel said of both Ben and Sam.

Cob nodded again.

"It was pretty bad. I've never seen Sam like that. When we got back here she drank without saying a word. She just grunted when I tried to talk to her or ask a question. Then she went to sleep and when I woke up, she was gone. Is she going to be ok?"

"I am sure she will be, it is just a dreadful misunderstanding...I'm sure," Hazel reassured Cob squeezing their shoulders and giving them a peck on the temple.

Hazel lied. She knew how bad things could get with humans.

Ben's bedroom door finally opened. He ducked under stumbling and yawning into the main space. He limped over to the kitchen, his eyes half closed and sat down at the counter.

"Hey there," Ben smiled at Hazel, crossing his arms and putting his chin down on them.

He looked at her and felt like he might cry at seeing her on his countertop again after yesterday.

Hazel was hit with a sledgehammer from his feelings for her. It took her a second to compose herself. This was going to be more challenging than she expected.

"Hey yourself," Hazel stood up from next to Cob and walked over to Ben.

In a few quick leaps she was on his forearm, standing just in front of his face. She leaned over and kissed the tip of his nose, it was as high as she could reach, and felt a shudder wrack her whole body.

Ben's eyes went wide at the jolt he felt from her touch, catching him off guard. He lifted his head and took a deep breath.

"Whoa...what was that?!" Ben looked down at Hazel who seemed to be a bit wobbly herself.

"It was the pact. It is settling in." "Settling in? What does that mean?" Ben asked flustered at how good that tiny kiss felt.

"It means we are in for quite an adjustment. I will have to explain some things to you about how this all works as you may have noticed just now..."

Hazel was interrupted by Ben kissing her back, his soft lips pressing into her face. They both moaned and pulled back from eachother.

"Wow..." Ben finally said.

Cob watched the pair of them over the toy mug of tea, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the scene.

"It's not all good..." Hazel warned.

She reached behind her and pressed her fingertip into the sharp point of her mother's tool still slung over her back.

"Ow? Ow! What?!" Ben exclaimed surprised, pulling his arms away as Hazel hopped off to the counter.

He sucked on his corresponding finger that she had just pressed rather hard into the point of it to make her point.

"Sorry! I hope that was not too much, certainly not as much as I expected," Hazel looked very sorry.

Her finger, normally, would have been bleeding from that but it had already healed over as if nothing had happened.

She felt each of his emotions register one after the other inside of her, his love, his confusion, his dismay, and relief. They swirled together yet somehow she clocked each one ticking along right after the other.

"It will get better I promise. Just still a bit fresh and strong is all," Hazel hoped. "Ok...but..."

Ben lowered his head again and kissed her, his lips covering her from face to her stomach this time. Hazel let out a high pitched yelp as she felt the flooding wave again. She took a few more steps back trying to get out of his reach.

"Do not do that again for a moment please," Hazel panted not expecting that either.

"I want to do it again. Really badly actually but...oh my god how are we going to," Ben asked as this new reality dawned on him, "What if...we, you know when we..."

"Later. I will explain later. But first—two things."

"Yea?"

"First, we have to do something about your sister," Hazel noted and felt Ben's shame hit her.

Ben stayed silent. Even if Hazel couldn't feel what he was feeling, it was very obvious from his face.

"Second...do you have a rain coat or umbrella? I think we need to go out and find my father somewhere in the grass between here and the shed," Hazel worried seeing the storm seem to intensify as she mentioned going out in it.

"Oh it's raining," Ben finally observed just as lightning cracked again in a bang that made Cob jump from their spot, spilling tea.

"More than raining..." Ben said slowly, surprised at himself.

She was amazed that he seemed completely unfazed by something that would have left him a quivering puddle not so long ago.

"Did you not notice the storm?"

"No...I guess...It doesn't bother me anymore?"

Hazel smiled feeling his satisfaction at such a milestone.

*** End

[sizebrained]

A Revealing Pact, Part 2

^^^The colored version of @guaxinimraccoon's amazing commission I've been saving for this.

So it's been a year with these four. I never contemplated that it'd go so long when I started writing it. I'd like to thank everyone who read along, but especially the few who have been from the start. I have really appreciated the likes, comments, and messages. It's nice to know that some other people like reading about these four too.

Last summer, I badly injured myself and was unable to walk or really move at all for a while. I needed something to distract me and was inspired/encouraged to make my own g/t story. I started writing this because I had the image of a borrower stuck in a glue trap and what would happen next.

And it got way out of hand from there.

Hopefully, if you're reading this, and have been reading it along with me, you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

Content Warning: Adult language, themes, content, blood and injuries, nudity and trauma, mentions of death and self harm/suicide ideation. LOTS OF HEAVY EMOTION, but also lots of love.

Or as Hazel might, pedantically, say, "Memento amori" (remember to love).

***

"What?" Ben asked his sister looking over at her, his voice defeated.

Hazel was lying down on the surgical pad after Sadie's examination, not moving.

"How many of them are there..." Sadie muttered under her breath, seeing the two tiny figures astride Sam's shoulders like epaulets.

Sam's whole body was vibrating with urgency.

"IT'S—I DON'T KNOW?! CATCH!" Sam shouted, warning her brother.

But without warning Jug, Sam's right hand crossed her chest reaching up to where he stood on her shoulder. She clutched all four inches of him in her hand, like he was one of her old softballs.

In one smooth motion, her elbow locked and pointed behind her. Then the former pitcher swung her arm around twice at her shoulder, building up momentum. It took all of two seconds.

Her hand opened after the second windmill. Jug launched towards Ben like a fastball.

Ben saw Sam winding up but she did it so fast he didn't have time to stop her. Instead, his wide body quickly turned to face her. Ben extended his arms out, ready to catch Jug like he was on the court again.

Jug soared through the air creating a high pitched sound. He was screaming in sheer terror as he went faster than he ever had gone before in his many centuries of life.

As he was about to make impact, Ben's hands were there. Ben caught him, matching Jug's speed as he did to cushion Hazel's tiny father like an egg. Otherwise, he would have gone splat. Ben fell back hard on the concrete floor, taking the brunt of the fall to make sure Jug was protected.

Ben grunted when he landed, but quickly scrambled back while keeping Jug in his cupped hands. Ben got onto his knees and set his hands onto the table with Hazel, waiting for half a second.

Ben could feel movement and opened his hands a bit to check on Jug. Hazel's father was fine. Dazed, but fine...and furious. Jug started shouting words in a language that Ben couldn't understand. Jug's accent wasn't helping.

"What thing?!" Ben shouted back down at him, cutting his tirade short, Jug's body shook from the force of it.

Ben parted his hands completely so the small man landed on his feet beside Hazel. Jug knelt down to check on his daughter. He knew they didn't have long. Jug waved a hand at Ben, beckoning him to come closer.

Ben's face lowered to Jug as close as he could get to him before his vision went cross, listening intently.

"Gros idiot—do what I say and she will live," Jug ordered with his thick accent dripping off every word.

Ben let the idiot thing slide for now.

Jug told Ben exactly what to say and what to do. If he did, Ben would enter into a revealing pact with Hazel. It was the only thing left to save her from certain death. It was the absolute last thing that Jug wanted. But if the choice was for his daughter to live and be bound to this huge, and Jug thought rather stupid, human or die right now—then there was no real choice.

Ben followed the instructions word for word, racing against time. He was having a difficult time following with the speed, stress, and Jug's accent. But Ben was determined to avoid any mistakes, knowing Hazel's life may depend on him getting it right.

Sam watched intensely from the threshold of Sadie's home. She barely noticed when Sadie slipped behind her and shut the door.

From their place on the broad expanse of Sam's shoulders, Cob could feel her massive heart pounding very hard and fast. Cob rested their hand, palm flat, against the side of Sam's neck. Cob's body completely filled with the pounding rhythm of it.

Usually, Cob found comfort in Sam's heartbeat. Its steady thumping could be very soothing. It was Cob's favorite way to fall asleep. But Sam's heartbeat, many times larger than Cob, did the opposite now. It was different than when she worked out or had come back from a run. It felt worried.

Rather than providing relief, Cob felt flooded with fear by it. Knowing that their giant protector, and sometimes lover, terrified them. Cob started shivering.

"Sam!" Cob desperately sobbed up to her.

Sam didn't have to look at Cob to know they needed her. She reached up with a a searching hand towards her shoulder. Her fingers, each one may times thicker and longer than Cob, delicately curled around their body until they were completely engulfed.

Sam felt the little body shuddering in her grip. Cob had enough space to tuck their tail around their waist while curling into a ball. They started crying into Sam's palm.

Cob couldn't imagine a future without Hazel in it. But, being held like this, they also couldn't imagine a future without Sam in it. They were overwhelmed by a looming dread for Hazel, hoping their father was right. But Cob also felt, and had been feeling for some time, an increasingly desperate need for the human holding them now.

Their human.

Cob cried, unable to catch their breath in the soft confines of Sam's hand. They inhaled in jerky, shallow gasps between sobs. As they gulped for air, the fruity scent of Sam's lotion filled Cob's nose.

Cob had mentioned, only once, how rough Sam's hands were from always working out. Ever since then, Sam religiously applied lotion on her hands throughout the day, trying to soften them for her little roommate.

Hazel and Cob were impossible to separate in Cob's thoughts and feelings. Without their sister, Cob would have never met this human. Cob thought that their long life was just a passing of years before Sam came into it. The events and memories that Cob had considered highlights were rendered meaningless. Everything was lesser after Sam. She was the spring after winter, bringing light, life, and joy.

As Cob cried into Sam's hand, they suddenly realized that they would far outlive her. Someday there would be no more Sam, no more spring.

First their sister and then Sam. Cob felt crushed by the impossible weight of losing both of them. Cob shuddered even harder into Sam's palm, breathlessly screaming.

Sam still noticed it. She brought her hand to her chest, opening it enough so that Cob's body was pressed against her directly.

"Babe, it'll be okay," Sam shushed, looking down at the little curled up ball in her hand. Sam had no idea if that was true, but she hoped. Sam could always manage to hope her way through things.

And Ben finished Jug's instructions.

He waited. Ben stared at Hazel's still limp body, but nothing happened.

She was still. Lifeless.

"Hazel..." Ben whispered, delicately sweeping a fingertip across her forehead. He brushed her dark hair away from her face, it looked paler than usual. Ben feared the worst.

"Hazel stay with me please...Please?" Ben begged.

"I can't...you can't...you can't come into my life and then go. Not like this. Not ever. Hazel please," Ben kept pleading.

He laid his head down with his cheek pressed flat against the table, facing her. Hazel hadn't moved for a long time, too long. She was so small Ben couldn't tell if she was breathing anymore. He started talking to her, hoping it would help, waiting for something to change.

"Remember when I first saw you like this? Of course you do, I know how terrifying being trapped like that is...well not in glue...but you know what I mean. I think about that night sometimes," Ben spoke as tears started rolling down his face.

"You asked for help and I heard. Those tiny little boots sticking out...I thought you were a toy or something. But then I saw you like this, just like this. I had to lay my face down to see that you were real. I thought I was going crazy...but Hazel if you don't get up now I really will go crazy. So please Hazel. Hear me this time. Please hear me. Help me this time," Ben cried as the thought of losing her crept in.

Ben repeated the slow, careful stroke of his fingertip across her forehead. He was so enormous compared to her he always had to be so careful. But he could still feel the smoothness of her skin, it was cold. Very cold.

"Hazel? Please?...Hey...it's okay. It's okay if you can't right now, but please try. Try for me? I need you Hazel. I need you so much. And I'm sorry I wasn't there. I should have been there. I'm so, so sorry I wasn't there. Hazel? Please," Ben bit his lip trying to hold it in.

"I swear I'm going to kill every rat in this building with my bare hands and every rat I ever see again for the rest of my life..." Ben promised, his voice becoming angry as he blamed himself.

"Sorry. Sorry for saying sorry. We do not say sorry unless we have done something wrong—but can you forgive me?" Ben asked in a terrible British accent trying to sound like she did to him.

"Just this once? Please Hazel. Just wake up and tell me it's okay to say sorry for something. Just this once and I promise not to do it again. Please? Hazel? I'll make sure rats will never bother you again. Hazel...please...don't go."

Ben pressed his nose against the side of Hazel's arm.

"Hazel...I know you think I saved your life, but you saved mine too. After the accident...I didn't," Ben shifted uncomfortably, as he felt a need to tell her everything that he had kept in for so long.

Things he had never said out loud.

"I...didn't...I didn't...really care anymore. I just didn't want to be here. There didn't really seem like there was...any point. Everything felt sharp and brittle and loud. I couldn't stand it. I guess...I was depressed. No...yes. Yes, I was...I...I was so depressed. I was so fucking depressed," Ben had a hard time starting to put words to his deeply buried feelings of his life before her.

"I missed Max so much...it was so unfair. How did he die when I was the one who filled up the whole car? It should have been me," Ben talked even faster through his tears, stroking her forehead again before continuing, "It should have been me..."

"I wish it had been me. It should have been me. Everything afterwards hurt so much more. It was so painful and draining with the surgeries, the treatments, the doctors, cast after cast, and those awful god damn crutches. I wanted to give up and die," Ben slowed down, emphasizing each word with a hollowness as he did.

"But Sam pushed and kept forcing me to do it. I could have had a normal treatment, whatever they normally do. But she pushed me to do this experimental procedure," Ben said his voice turning angry again.

"I was mad at her for it, no more than mad—I hated her for it. I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do anything. She forced me to do it. I had to suffer through even more pain...and for what? What was the point? And I was so lonely...I missed Max and just everything the way it was before. I couldn't get past it. It was so awful," Ben kept on speaking, the words flowing out of him. "To play basketball? I wasn't going to play ball again. Max was gone. No one else would cared about me unless I played. People only care about Big Ben if he scores points and wins games. Otherwise, they just gawk at me or whisper or make fun of me. No one EVER cared about me until I started playing basketball. I hate basketball so much. I only kept playing so people would care...so they would stop looking at me the wrong way," Ben's fears and doubts poured out of him.

Sam heard every word from across the room, along with Sadie. Sadie looked up at Sam. Sam's eyes were filled with tears. She was completely gutted as she listened to her brother.

She'd tried so many times to get him to talk to her. He gave her nothing but silence. Now she knew why. She had hurt him when she thought she was helping. He thought she only cared about him because of his basketball career. He hated her.

She couldn't remember ever feeling this terrible. This was worse than anything else. Far, far worse.

Sam pressed Cob deeper into her chest and covered her mouth with her other hand, trying to stifle a sob.

Sam never knew it was that bad for him. She had suspected it but thought she was helping. She'd seen people with injuries like his get better. She cared so deeply about her big, little brother. As she thought of it, Sam realized that she had put everything into making him recover. She didn't ask him what he wanted, she chose for him thinking that was the right thing to do.

But she was wrong. Everything Sam did had just made it worse. She felt something inside her breaking.

Sam couldn't stand upright anymore. She fell to the floor and let out a soft cry. She kept Cob to the side and pressed her knees into her forearm. She put her face into her knees.

Ben raised his head up and pressed his cheek against Hazel, totally oblivious to everything and anyone else. She was cold.

"But you cared. You cared. And you didn't care about me playing basketball. You thought I still mattered without it and could do something else. You didn't care what it was, you just cared about me. You saw me, me. I think you love me. It's okay if you don't because I love you. When I didn't think that could happen in a million years. So Hazel, please. Please."

Ben lifted his head up and looked down at her as he kept talking, like she wasn't lying there cold and lifeless in front of his face. He spoke like they were just two people laying together in bed. Ben was in denial.

"I can't believe I got to meet you because of a spilled bowl. I was watching a scary movie and I got scared. Over a movie. My body was such a wreck and my head was worse. I couldn't even get through the days, everything pushed me over the edge. I lost count of how many panic attacks I had and every single one felt like I was in the accident again...trapped in the car with..." Ben stopped and lifted his head up to look straight down at her face.

"I don't even remember what movie it was—but I got scared and I knocked the bowl across the room. Remember? After I got you out of the trap? I had to clean up all of that popcorn on the floor? Hazel...Hazel? Please?" Ben kept begging her to live, watching her face for any sign.

Ben's hand slid up to cover her cold, naked body, trying to warm her.

He kept talking to her as if she could hear. His thumb swept across her forehead lovingly, still hoping.

"That's the only reason why I had to go into the closet. Because of that bowl. I didn't have a vacuum cleaner because I didn't care about anything. Who cares about vacuuming when you don't want to be alive?" Ben lowered his head and gently kissed her face above the crook of the hand he held over her.

"I'm going to get that fucking bowl framed like a trophy. If I hadn't spilled popcorn out of that huge stupid bowl I would have never met you. I love that bowl so much. It's the greatest thing I'll ever own," Ben whispered, kissing her again to no response.

"Hazel? Please stay with me. Come back."

Hazel was surrounded by Ben's warmth and love, but she was motionless.

"Don't you want to interrupt me? Or give me a look? You would have asked one of your questions that aren't real questions eight times by now to make me get to the point," Ben tried to laugh, but his tears ran harder and his lips quivered.

"Please interrupt me? Please? Please?!" Ben begged again to her silence.

"If I drop out of school will that get you to say something? I'll drop out of school and burn all of the books in our place. You'd hate that. Some of those are library books. I'm not doing that. That was a stupid thing to threaten I'm sorry. Sorry for...sorry. Hazel. Hazel. Please. Please Hazel," Ben continued, about to lose it entirely.

"Ben..."

It was Jug.

"Ben."

Ben's face stayed over her, but his eyes moved to look at her father. He was still kneeling on the other side of Hazel's body. His face was set, staring right at Ben.

Ben knew before he said anything.

"Hazel is gone," Jug said slowly, his accent somehow entirely gone. Each word was clear and cutting.

Ben inhaled sharply and let out a pitiful whimper. He inhaled again and pressed his forehead into the back of his hand still covering her. He slid his hand away to press his whole face against her, sobbing.

Then he exploded.

"No!" Ben's fist suddenly slammed against the table.

Jug, and everything else on the table, flew up into the air and fell back down in a clatter. Jug nearly toppled over when he landed. He took several steps back from the massive human as he saw Ben's face now. It was filled with grief fueled rage.

Ben slammed his fist against the table again. And again.

"NO! NO! NO!" Ben repeated, slamming his hand into the table each time he shouted.

Ben stood up pushing himself away from the table like it was on fire. He walked over to wall and slammed his hands flat against it, bracing himself with his forearms.

Ben kept screaming, each cry of "No" somehow louder than the last. The words turned into a terrible sound from the pit of his soul.

Then Ben suddenly punched a hole right through Sadie's dry wall, clear through to the other side. He pulled his arm out and did it again. And again. And again.

After a few more, he was starting to expose the wooden studs underneath. His hands and forearms started bleeding.

Sam shouted at him. She got up from her spot on the floor and carefully set Cob on Sadie's lap.

Sadie took Cob and wheeled backwards. She was suddenly very afraid of her more than 7 foot tall neighbor. He'd always been nothing but kind and downright goofy the few times she had talked to him.

But Sadie had never seen anyone like this. He was going to bring the whole wall down. She had to find somewhere else to live. Somewhere without neighbors this size.

Sam watched in quiet horror as years of pent up anger and hurt exploded out of him, like an avalanche tearing down a mountainside.

She got up and went over to him, touching his back, "Ben stop."

He didn't. Sam tried to grab his arm to stop him, but he forced it into the wall again. She tried again and they started struggling.

She grabbed at him and tried to pull him away from the wall, trying to keep him from breaking all the bones in his hands. Ben screamed louder and broke free.

Sam slipped her arms under his armpits, locking hers and pulling him back again. It slowed him down but only for a moment. Sam felt her feet leave the ground as he wouldn't be stopped. He started slamming his shoulders into it, left then right.

A large chunk of the wall crashed to the floor. Then he slammed into it again and took out two of the wooden beams.

Sam moved one arm out from under Ben's arm and slipped it around his neck, screaming too. The crook of her elbow pulled back against his throat as hard as she could manage. But he was so huge and her feet weren't on the floor. He punched the wall again.

Sadie's condo had been transformed into an old Godzilla movie. The two towering siblings wrestling one another. Sadie's jaw dropped open at the sight and what was left of the wall.

Sam pulled again, wrapping her legs around his torso. She locked one foot behind the other foot's heel. She locked her wrist around his neck with her other forearm. Sam pulled again with her whole body.

It worked.

Her and Ben fell backwards. Thankfully, Ben's body spun so he landed on the floor first instead of Sam. Sam held on, landing on her brother's back in a heap.

They both stayed like that for a moment. Over five hundred pounds panting heavily on the concrete floor. Then Sam let go of him and slid back away from him. She bent her knees again, dropping her face into them and started crying again.

Ben rolled onto one side on the floor. His hands were caked in blood and wall, gripping his stomach.

And then Ben felt it and his body went stiff as a board.

"Fuck!" Ben exclaimed.

His eyes slammed shut and his whole body tensed up. He felt like his teeth were going to crack from his jaw clenching.

Ben felt a searing pain at the base of his skull that spread through the rest of his body. It was far worse than the accident and what came after had been. Ten times worse.

"Ben?!" Sam cried out as she looked at him, totally confused as to what was happening.

Then he started glowing blue.

"What in the hell..." Sadie said watching from across the room.

The blue glow faded away but Ben stayed stuck frozen in place. He felt like he was drowning.

Then just as suddenly as it started, his body relaxed like a sprung trap. Ben got up off the floor onto all fours, heaving. He was beyond exhausted, and fell back down to the floor on his back this time. His eyes were still closed and he felt like he was going to pass out.

Then Ben felt it. He felt her. Hazel. He could feel her like she was standing on his shoulder again. One of her tiny hands caressing his earlobes like she did to calm him down. It felt so real.

"Ben..."

On the table, Hazel's eyes had opened and she was sitting up. She was looking down at him, his long body sprawled across the floor.

Ben thought he heard her. He smiled. He thought of her face when she'd come back after that first night and woke him up at his kitchen counter. He'd been so sure that he'd never see her again. He was so happy she came back.

"Ben?" Hazel said his name again.

Ben opened his eyes. He sat up and stared right at her. Ben's bright green eyes were filled with tears, holding his breath as he looked into the tiny dots of her blue eyes looking back at him.

"Thank you," Hazel smiled at him.

"You came back..." Ben said in disbelief.

"I came back...your poor hands..." Hazel replied, tears in her eyes.

Ben leapt up to his knees and snatched her off the table. He brought her up to his face, clutching her tenderly. He kissed her. He kissed her again and again. He couldn't stop kissing her.

"Stop! Stop! Ben! Stop! BEN!" Hazel gasped while laughing as he smothered her with his enormous lips.

Sam, Sadie, and Cob all stared in shock. Jug casually crossed his arms as if nothing incredible just happened. Like this had been expecting it and this was his plan all along.

"I told you. Do what I say and she will live," Jug's thick accent had returned.

"YOU COULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING BEFORE HE LOST HIS SHIT!" Sadie yelled angry at the state of her home.

Ben's hands were shaking, passing Hazel from one to the other like he was trying to make sure she was real. He could feel her, he could hold her, he kept kissing her. She was alive. She was alive.

Then Ben's knees buckled and he crumpled in place onto the floor. He brought Hazel to his neck and held her there. Her little hands swept across the wall of Ben's skin at his jawline. She could smell the blood, sweat, and tears covering him. She hugged her body against his.

"Ben. It is alright. You saved me—Again. You saved me. I'm here. I'm here," Hazel smiled, pressing her forehead against him then kissing his neck.

"Thank you. I love you," Hazel wept.

"I love you," Ben replied.

"I love you," Hazel said it again.

They repeated it to each other, in quiet whispers, again and again, holding each other as best as they could.

Any remaining pretense between them was completely gone. He was hers and she was his.

After a few moments of Ben and Hazel's reunion, Cob leapt off of Sadie's lap and ran faster than they had ever run before towards Ben. They scrambled up his back.

Ben felt Cob and begrudgingly brought Hazel away from his neck. He could tell they were having a hard time climbing up him. Ben rested his hand holding Hazel against his collarbone to make it easier.

Cob came over the ridge of Ben's shoulder and saw their sister. Cob rushed and tripped towards her but Hazel caught them in her open arms. They held each other tightly, standing on Ben's palm. Cob started bawling again.

"Shh, shh, shh," Hazel whispered to Cob, running her hand down the back of their head over and over.

Ben stood up to his full height and took a step, groaning in pain, towards the table. Everything hurt. When he got to the table, he lowered Hazel and Cob so they could go to their father. They did and all three of them hugged.

Sam was still on the floor, breathing slowly with her head down on her knees. She was trying to process everything but couldn't.

Ben came over to her and slipped his hands under her armpits. He lifted her up to her feet, making a straining sound as he did.

Ben wrapped his arms around her, holding his sister up in a bear hug.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry...I'm sorry," Sam cried into him, her feet dangling in the air again.

"No—I'm sorry. I love you Sam. I could never hate you. Please forgive me," Ben replied holding her tight, his voice full of regret.

Sam kept saying sorry and kept crying.

Sadie blinked several slow, deliberate times from her chair, surveying all of them and her apartment. Her cheeks puffed up as she exhaled in resignation.

"Listen. I hate to break up whatever this has been but you all have to get out of my damn house," Sadie said after a few more moments of all of them hugging it out.

Ben set Sam back down on the floor and winced again, the pain in his hands and body fully registering. She wiped her face and turned away.

Ben was covered in dust and debris from the wall. His own blood was smeared all over him. He winced and tried opening and closing his hands, struggling to do it and in tremendous pain.

"Ow...ow...ow..." Ben whimpered each time he curled and uncurled his fingers.

Hazel, still being held by Cob and Jug, dropped one arm to her side. She clenched her own hand and, even though she was several feet away, felt Ben's as she did. She peeked over her father's arms at his pained expression to confirm it.

Though it had been years since she'd last experienced it, she recognized the effects of the pact that had saved her life. They were connected, sharing sensations. And she knew more would come as the days passed.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph..." Sadie groaned in annoyance at Ben, "Come on you big idiot. I'd be amazed if you didn't break every bone in your hands and a few others in you."

Ben wasn't a fan of everyone adopting this big idiot thing.

Sadie went over to her closet again and got a different plastic box of medical supplies from the shelves. She wheeled over to him with the box on her lap.

Hazel winced feeling a version of Ben's pain coursing through her. She whispered to herself, "Good lord Ben..."

"Come sit down let me take care of this," Sadie ordered, regretting her oath and wondering if it applied to humans or just animals.

"Sorry...Sorry...Kind of lost it there," Ben added as he sat down in a chair next to Sadie, holding out his hands for her.

"Yeah no shit," Sadie replied as she removed supplies from the clear box before continuing, "I'm going to clean and bandage these. You should go to the ER tonight or see a doctor first thing tomorrow for x-rays. And after that you're going to make sure to get my wall fixed."

"Uh yea. Of course...Sorry. About the wall and the...well everything. I'm sorry, thank you. Thank you for everything tonight I really appreciate it and sorry," Ben sheepishly apologized while squirming in the chair that was far too small for him, making it creak under his weight.

"You're welcome. I'd probably lose my shit too if the person I loved died right in front of me...then...came back to life...somehow. But I don't have time for all of that, it's late and I'm starving. You ruined my house and my dinner," Sadie explained emphasizing dinner as she worked on Ben's wounds.

"Sorry," Ben repeated, feeling his cheeks flush under all the grime covering his face.

While Sadie took care of Ben's hands, Sam silently moved through the condo trying to clean up. She found a broom and swept up debris and smaller chunks of wall into a single pile.

Ben had, in fact, taken down most of one entire section of the wall. The dark, vacant condo next door was fully visible. Sam could have easily walked into it.

After Sadie finished bandaging Ben's hands, everyone left her in peace. They made their way to the elevator and up to Ben's condo in silence. Jug and Cob held onto one another on Ben's shoulder. Sam stayed silent, staring down with her arms crossed over her chest.

Ben had his arms crossed over his chest too, but his freshly bandaged hands were curled around Hazel. He held Hazel right against him, over his heart.

And even though he was in excruciating pain holding her like this, he didn't care. She was alive.

Everyone went inside, Sam leading the way. Jug leapt off her and found his pack on Ben's countertop, where he had left it earlier. He unrolled his bedding right there and laid down. He was asleep in a few deep breaths.

Sam walked in and made a detour to the fridge. She grabbed a six pack of beer that she'd put in it earlier. Then she went into the spare bedroom and closed the door. Cob followed and slipped underneath the crack of it, unsure of what was wrong with Sam.

Ben walked over to Hazel's bookshelf and stopped in front of it. He looked at her miniature bed and things occupying one shelf.

"Can I ask if you would..." Ben started, looking down at her before she interrupted him.

"I am coming to bed with you Ben. But you are quite the gentleman for asking. Now it is very late. Come on," Hazel said gesturing with her head towards Ben's room, the implication obvious.

Ben nodded and walked them to his bedroom. He squeezed her against him with her hands in a hug.

"Ben?" Hazel asked, looking up at him.

"I love you."

***

End of Part 2

[sizebrained]

Birthday Trip to the Big City, Part 2

Jane is contemplative on their trip and the girls make a big discovery. Plus some danger.

I managed to work Jaws into this for its 50th anniversary. It's the best movie of all time don't at me. And yes the ending events *did* happen in real life because being gay was illegal. So was drinking in some states unless it was in a "private" club.

CW: Adult themes, content, language, sexually suggestive language and touching, mentions of alcoholism, troubled home/abuse, but lots of size changing, g/t relationship angst and fluff.

7500 words - Sorry but I love these two so much I can't stop...it's a condition. Send a therapist.

***

The train ride was uneventful. Betsy read while babying a cup of coffee with enough sugar in it to kill a horse. Jane dozed. Betsy only roused her when she started snoring. Loudly. Some of the other passengers gave them dirty looks for the noise. Jane and Betsy returned the glares, twice as hard then laughed.

When she wasn't dozing, Jane ate. Since she'd woken up in the woods, she'd eaten about four times what she usually did after a spell. And she was still hungry. It made sense. She had been about four times bigger than she ever had been before. She finished a sandwich, wondering if yesterday was her size limit.

She could sense that she could get even bigger. It worried her.

Jane reached into her bag for another sandwich. The basket Betsy had brought to the woods had been filled with two whole loaves worth of them. After making her way through most of them before getting on the train, she had packed the last few into her backpack for the trip.

After finishing the last one, Jane slipped a hand into her pocket with a sigh as her stomach growled, still hungry. She felt a wad of cash bulging in the empty space. Agreeing with her stomach, she considered spending some of the money at the dining car till she was full. She bit her lip several times thinking it over, before finally deciding against it. It had taken her nearly two months to save up for this trip, she didn't want to waste it on her appetite alone.

She looked over at Betsy lost in her book and sipping coffee. It was amazing how much the two of them got along when they were so totally different. One of their many differences was money. Betsy had it and Jane did not.

Betsy never brought it up, that was something people with money did. They took it for granted like air, it was always there. People with money could go through their days thinking anything else they wanted. It must have been nice.

Somehow despite her privileged upbringing, unlike some people in their hometown, Betsy had stayed simple and grounded. She even worked part time at the library. Although the library was named after Betsy's grandfather, who had donated a large sum for the building's renovation. The part time librarian job barely paid for Betsy's coffee habit. Jane knew she did it mainly so she'd have an excuse to be around books and read all day. Plus lots of kids visited the library, mainly for Betsy.

When it came to money, Jane's only serious criticism of her girlfriend was the number of shoes she owned. Jane was willing to bet her girlfriend had more pairs than anyone else in the state. Jane thought of Betsy's closet overflowing with them and looked down at her own shoes. They were the only pair she had. It showed.

Jane shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It felt like her clothes wanted to help emphasize her circumstances. They felt a little tighter than usual. She hoped it was just because she'd put on a little weight, rather than something to do with her compunction. Most of Jane's clothes were threadbare, ill fitting, or patched over. A lot of them were her father's clothes she'd altered to fit her better. She was almost always in one of his old plaid button downs. Other than when her compunction acted up, she'd been the same size since she was 16.

Since then, Jane watched Betsy's two middle sisters, despite being several years younger, reach her eye level then outgrow her. They had offered Jane some of the clothes when they outgrew them but, besides being tall, everyone in Betsy's family was also very lanky. There was no way Jane could hope to fit in them. It made it easy to turn down their kind gesture.

And Jane didn't want to be a charity case. She reinforced this boundary constantly with Betsy, who meant well but couldn't understand what it was like. Jane didn't let Betsy spend money on her unless it was for an acceptable occassion, like Christmas or a birthday. But Jane was willing to overlook food, especially if she was this hungry.

Jane looked out the window. She started playing with the corner of one of the dollar bills in her pocket. She thought of how she earned it as she watched the passing scenery, trying to distract herself from her gnawing hunger.

Most of the money in Jane's pocket came from doing odd jobs and chores for neighbors. One of them was old Mrs. Rosen. At just over two miles down the road, she was their closest neighbor. Jane first met her when she was 76 years old, but that was many years ago now.

Mrs. Rosen was one of the few people who knew about Jane's compunction. Jane was only 15 when it happened. It hadn't been on purpose.

On that day, Jane was heading back home from town. She couldn't drive yet so she still relied on her bike, laden with groceries. One of the many duties Jane had to take over after her dad died was grocery shopping. If she hadn't, their kitchen would be empty. Except for cheap liquor bottles at varying levels of empty.

After her dad died, Jane wasn't the only one who went through changes. So did her mother, but in a far worse way than a finicky size issue. Before his death, Jane's mother rarely ever hit her and never Bobby. If she did, it was for something like back talking.

It became constant and worse. It felt dangerous and unpredictable, like she wanted to hurt someone on purpose. When she was like that, Jane purposefully drew her mother's ire hoping to spare little Bobby.

Even though it terrified her when it first happened, getting huge was one of the few silver linings to her compunction.

Because after her first growth spurt, the violence stopped. Even in her worst states, their mother didn't dare lay a hand on her or Bobby, fearing the consequences.

Jane's mother was rarely sober anymore. When she wasn't, she kept her distance and rarely talked to Jane other than to give her tasks that needed tending. As the years went on, she sank further and further into drinking. Most days, she did it until she passed out only to wake up and start all over.

It left Jane to take care for herself, Bobby, and the farm. She couldn't take a four year old on her bike and groceries. So that morning, before she went to the grocery store, she left Bobby with another neighbor for the day until she returned. Jane must have traveled over 30 miles by foot and bike so far that day.

As she cycled past Mrs. Rosen's house from the grocery store ready to be home, Jane heard a furious yowling coming from a tree. Jane stopped to look. After a few moments, she spied a small orange kitten on a very high branch. It was stuck. Jane was tired. She hesitated and considered leaving it there.

But the kitten noticed her. It cried louder and more desperately.

Suddenly, Jane felt stuck. She couldn't leave any animal in distress. Even though very few people came out this far from town, Jane checked both ways down the empty road to make sure the coast was clear. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the feeling that arose from the base of her spine when her compunction acted up.

Then she got big. Too big. Bigger than she had wanted. Jane had just recently figured out she could nudge her compunction. On its own, her compunction would force her to spend some days 7 feet tall, sometimes 12 feet, sometimes more.

It was more this time. When she opened her eyes, she was looking down at everything far smaller than she was expecting. The house roofline was now the same height as Jane's waistline. She must have been 40 feet tall.

"Damn it..." Jane thought in her head for fear of how loud her voice would be.

Jane slowly dropped to her knees to find the kitten again, trying to adjust to the new perspective at this size while searching for its mewing. She squinted, shifting through the leaf covered branches like it was small bush. She finally found it again, clinging onto a branch for dear life at the sight of her.

Jane pulled it off the branch and up into the air with two fingers, now only about the size of a small grape to her. As she did, Jane looked over at the 2nd story window of the house that was facing the tree.

There, in the window, stood Mrs. Rosen staring at Jane through a pair of glasses with very thick lenses and a blank expression on her face. She was holding a broom. Jane wasn't sure if she had already been holding it or she had picked it up once she saw Jane, preparing to swat at the giant trespasser.

Jane gave the old lady an awkward smile and wave with her free hand, holding the still yowling kitten in the other. Mrs. Rosen put down the broom to open the window.

"Hello dear, why don't you have a seat?" Mrs. Rosen suggested.

Jane fell back off her knees to sit on Mrs. Rosen's lawn, sitting cross legged like a building sized kindergartner waiting for a story. Her heavy body hit the grass with a dull boom that shook the whole house, including the shocked old lady who wobbled in place. Jane grimaced. She'd never been so big and wasn't adjusting very well. The cat was trying to scratch and bite her fingertips to escape, but at this size she could barely feel it.

"I uh was on my way home and saw her up there so I stopped and...well here you go. Sorry," Jane said carefully lowering the furious kitten to Mrs. Rosen at the window for her to grab.

Mrs. Rosen took the kitten gratefully and said, "You did nothing wrong. In fact, you've been a big help, no pun intended. It's Janey isn't it?"

They started talking.

Mrs. Rosen adjusted rather quickly to Jane's size. In fact, she seemed amused by it. Mrs. Rosen explained that Jane had also rescued the old woman from a terrible plan. Without Jane's help, she'd been planning to climb out of the window and onto the roof, somehow, to rescue the kitten with the broom.

As bad of a plan as that was—it seemed better than the alternative of calling the fire department. She didn't like fuss at her age.

"I don't like fuss and I just know those boys would be annoyed to drive all the way out here for a cat," Mrs. Rosen kept talking and Jane could barely get a word in.

Once Mrs. Rosen started talking, she had a hard time stopping. But Jane enjoyed it. She sat there, filling the yard, listening to the frail old woman's voice through the open window. The cat would occasionally look at Jane and hiss.

They chatted for hours. At one point, the old woman disappeared and returned with a plate of cookies, resting them on the windowsill. Jane tried to pick one up but, at her size, it was like a bear trying to get a miniature tea cup out of a doll house. She nearly knocked them to the ground.

With concerted effort, Jane picked up the whole plate between her pinched fingers instead. She lifted it to her waiting mouth and dropped them all in to her mouth, setting the empty plate back on the windowsill. It made her even more self conscious, but Mrs. Rosen only laughed. Even though they were crumb size and she could just barely taste them, Jane could tell they were loaded with sugar and chocolate.

As night fell, Jane finally stood back up off the ground, realizing again just how badly she'd mis-nudged her compunction. As she stood to her full height she watched her bare feet, the ground raced away while they stayed in place. It was the biggest Jane had been so far. Everything looked so small, unreal.

It was so wildly different from being 10 or 20 feet tall. Jane didn't want to admit it but it was thrilling. She felt an urge to giggle. She moved her hand and looked at it, really looked at it. It looked the same. It was everything else that was wrong. Or was she wrong?

Jane looked down at Mrs. Rosen's car a few yards away from her right foot. If she wanted to, she could easily crush it. For a fleeting moment, it made her she feel invincible. It felt incredible, but then the scene played out in her mind. She realized something awful.

Whether she did it on purpose or by accident, the consequences of stepping on the car at this size sunk in. Jane felt her heart skip a beat. She was dangerous...very dangerous. Jane didn't like it. She had to be so painstakingly careful. Suddenly, being this big wasn't as great as she first thought a few moments ago. She felt an urgent need to get home.

"Uhm...thanks for the cookies and the chat Mrs. Rosen but I really need to get home now," Jane thundered down at the little figure in the 2nd story window.

"Wait a minute!" Mrs. Rosen rushed to the front door with her purse in tow.

She pulled out ten dollars and looked up at Jane, rethinking. She saw the grocery bag strapped into a basket on the front of Jane's bike. She walked over to it and slipped the cash into the paper bag.

Jane saw the money go in with the groceries, but it was so small from this height in the dark she couldn't tell how much.

"Here's ten dollars. You earned it," Mrs. Rosen added to circumvent Jane's pride from accepting it.

It was Jane's turn to be shocked. She didn't remember the last time she had so much money to herself. It could pay for a week's worth of groceries.

The giant teenager started to sniffle, fighting back tears. It was so hard for her those days. They were barely making ends meet without Jane's dad. And not just because they had so little money. Since her dad died, her home felt barren and sad. This afternoon felt normal. Or at least as normal as it could be when she was this big.

With her mother out of the picture, Jane didn't have anyone to talk to or confide in other than Betsy or Bobby. And Bobby wasn't very interested or concerned about the same things as his sister. It was the first act of kindness from a grownup in a long time.

Jane said thanks again and carefully picked up her bike between her fingers. She held it delicately thinking of the ten dollars stowed away. But Jane appreciated the talk just as much as the money, maybe more. Still, ten dollars was pretty great. Carefully, Jane made her way home trying not to leave tracks that were too obvious from her steps. It was easier in bare feet, she tried to keep her foot falls in the ditches on the side of the road to help disguise them.

Since her growth spells began, Jane learned that anything directly touching her skin would grow with her. It was like she had an electric current running through her, but it stopped at a certain point. Jane was so relieved. The idea of being naked all the time, and enormous, was mortifying.

Unfortunately, she'd made the mistake of wearing long socks with a nudging attempt just a few days earlier. The socks had kept her skin from touching her shoes and they didn't make it. She had originally meant to go into town to look for a cheap, replacement pair but they were out of food. She always ate so much after she grew. They didn't have money for both. Food won out.

The following day, Mrs. Rosen showed up at Jane's door. Jane answered it. The old widow was to see Jane at her usual size instead of dwarfing homes.

"Janey, I need your help with something. Bring Bobby," she said turning around and not waiting for Jane to refuse. Jane grabbed her little brother and took him to the waiting car. Then, Mrs. Rosen drove them both back to her house, talking the whole way.

It felt incredibly strange to be inside Mrs. Rosen's car after yesterday. She looked up at the car's interior ceiling, trying to imagine what she must have looked like to someone down on the ground. Jane started to worry that maybe her whole life had become some kind of terrible dream.

When they got close to the house, the imprint of Jane's body was obvious from the road. There were two deep, circular indentations across the lawn between the tree and the house. Jane recognized it immediately. It was the exact outline of her own butt. Jane's face burned from the embarrassment and she slinked down in her seat a tad.

At first Jane thought she was in trouble, but then Mrs. Rosen said, "I think there must be a sinkhole or something under my property. I'm worried someone will fall into it."

She was playing dumb for Jane's benefit and continued, "Would you be a dear and level it out for me? Maybe add some grass seed from the shed?"

Jane wordlessly got out of the car and got to work. Mrs. Rosen stayed in the car with Bobby in the back seat.

"Janey...where on earth are your shoes?" she asked concerned.

Jane, embarrassed again, explained what happened to her shoes the other day when she grew. Mrs. Rosen only nodded and said she had to do something in town but that they'd be back.

When Bobby and the old widow returned, the lawn was level again. Filled with dirt and grass seed. Even more surprising, Jane was the still the same size as when she left, just under 5 feet tall.

"You did all this at your size?" Mrs. Rosen said shocked, impressed by the girl who was only about an inch shorter than herself.

Mrs. Rosen could tell Jane was strong by looking at her. But seeing the lawn, Mrs. Rosen realized just how much hard work the young girl must be doing at the farm.

The truth was that Jane was afraid to try and control her compunction again. That morning, she was overjoyed when she woke up in the barn her normal size. She wondered if she shrunk down faster when she nudged it versus her compunction being in charge.

"Well, you did a great job. Go get cleaned up inside and I'll fix you and your brother something to eat," Mrs. Rosen said handing Jane a plain shopping bag.

Bobby jumped out of the car and raced past them both into the house, a new toy airplane in his clutches.

Jane looked at Mrs. Rosen confused, but took the bag. Jane looked inside and saw a shoe box. She quickly took it out and opened the lid. Inside were a pair of new, bright red, high top converse sneakers. Jane bit her bottom lip trying to hold back tears.

"Oh and here take this. I don't believe in free loading. Honest pay for honest work," Mrs. Rosen declared while handing Jane another dollar and walked into the house after Bobby without another word.

From that day on, Jane, and sometimes Bobby, became a regular presence at Mrs. Rosen's home. No matter her size, it was a safe haven. Besides Betsy, it was the only other safe haven Jane knew.

As she got older, Jane realized a few things about the situation. The first was how most of the "chores" Mrs. Rosen needed done rarely required Jane's compunction. She hadn't noticed it when she was younger and got a lot of practice at various sizes because of it. But as she got older she realized that, most times, being bigger actually made whatever the task was more difficult. The tasks were also largely unnecessary busy body work.

And this made Jane realize something else. The widowed, childless Mrs. Rosen was lonely, which wasn't that much of a surprise. She was happy for some company regardless of Jane's size or Bobby's volume. Jane was lonely too. She needed Mrs. Rosen's company just as much as Mrs. Rosen needed hers. It wasn't long before Mrs. Rosen became a makeshift grandmother.

Eventually, Betsy started visiting Mrs. Rosen with Jane. When she did, they often talked about politics and books. The elderly widow always enjoyed Betsy's company, but Betsy never came as often as Jane.

Unlike Jane, Betsy had a big loving family. It was another major difference between the two of them. Betsy didn't need Mrs. Rosen like Jane did.

And after a few visits together, and maybe because of the very strong prescription for her glasses, the old widow's keen eyes picked up that the pair of girls were more than friends. One day, Mrs. Rosen asked Jane about it outright.

Jane feared the truth would put an end to her visits but she had to be honest. Jane confirmed the old woman's suspicions and waited for the fall out.

"Oh. Well that's very nice. Betsy's such a smart lovely girl, but she's lucky to have you Janey. You make an adorable couple," Mrs. Rosen observed.

Jane started crying on the spot, and it lasted for nearly half an hour. It was a bit of a problem because, when Mrs. Rosen had asked her, Jane was around 40 feet tall again. So she could, allegedly, adjust the TV antennae on the roof. Jane drenched everything below her as she wept in relief.

Mrs. Rosen tried to pay her for washing the house, which made Jane laugh.

A few days before the birthday trip, Jane had spent several hours over at Mrs. Rosen's house under the pretense of doing things. She'd spent most of the time moving the same piece of furniture around in the same room while chatting with her precious old lady.

"Janey," the old woman started saying.

She was almost 82 years old and looked far older than she did at Jane's first visit. Jane paused. Her red, braided hair was grazing the 9 foot ceiling. She held a three person couch on her hip like it was a laundry basket, waiting for where she was supposed to put it next.

"I have a confession. I don't much care for where that couch is, I never sit in it anyway because it's too high for me. I just made this up to get you to come over. You've done so much over the years...I've...well I've plain run out of pretenses," Mrs. Rosen said.

Jane had already figured that out but kept listening.

"You're a grown woman now...a lot of ways," Mrs. Rosen commented looking way up at Jane's face before continuing.

"I don't...I don't know...I don't how much more time I have. I can feel it. It's like my bones are going to quit and leave the factory any day now. You probably won't understand this until you're older...but would you still come over? Even if I didn't make up these silly chores for you?" The old woman asked, craning her neck to see Jane's face for her reaction.

Jane stayed silent, staring lovingly down at the tiny, now ancient, Mrs. Rosen. Her fake chores and money were the absolute last thing she cared about or needed from her.

"You're not mad at me are you?" She worried up at the huge, still silent girl filling her living room.

Jane dropped the couch to the ground in a sharp clatter making the cat, now fully grown, screech and bolt off. Then Jane dropped to her knees and delicately hugged the tiny old woman. Sobbing.

Mrs. Rosen wasn't able to put her arms around Jane in a hug back but stayed there as Jane kept sobbing. It took Jane a bit to regain her composure. She stayed and talked for a while after, putting the couch back where it was when she first started.

As Jane was about to leave, Mrs. Rosen gave her $50 dollars. Jane tried to refuse it, but she insisted. Jane had made the mistake of casually mentioning Betsy's birthday trip. Mrs. Rosen said she wanted to make sure Jane didn't have to worry about having enough money to have some real fun.

Jane started bawling all over again. Mrs. Rosen, standing well below Jane's hips, gave the huge girl several reassuring pats on the thigh and waited for it to pass.

On the train, Jane caught her own reflection and noticed her eyes were tearing up. She wiped them, turning to see if Betsy noticed.

As she did, a paper bag full of food gently fell into Jane's lap. She had gotten so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed Betsy get up to go to the dining car.

"I thought you were hungry and...Janey are you ok?" Betsy asked sitting down again and putting a hand on Jane's thigh seeing her face.

Jane sniffled and cleared her throat.

"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking about something. You shouldn't have done that," Jane chided as she opened the bag and started eating the food anyway.

"I could hear your stomach growling, it made me keep losing my place in my book. Besides, we have a big day and night ahead of us I need you energized bright eyes," Betsy grinned leaning closer as she emphasized the word big.

Jane rolled her eyes and nudged her back to her own seat with an elbow.

"Can't you at least tell me what we're doing or where we're going?" Jane begged between bites.

"Nope. If you get to pay for everything, then I at least get the joy of surprising you. But don't worry, I don't think we're doing anything or going anywhere that will set it off if that makes you feel better," Betsy added before opening up her book again to read.

Jane huffed and kept eating. Their train pulled into the station soon after Jane had emptied the bag.

Their first stop was to an art museum. Jane was rarely thrilled by art, but she didn't mind it. Especially if it was for her girlfriend. Jane had only ever been into the city for school trips anyway, so she appreciated how familiar it felt. She wondered if Betsy chose it on purpose for that reason.

As they wandered around, Jane followed Betsy like she was on a private guided tour. But she kept getting distracted from the art by people watching. Jane had lived such a secluded childhood. She came to appreciate people more and more as she aged. And something about total strangers was compelling, maybe it was because they couldn't know she was different.

Jane kept saying hello and making small talk, or asking people what they thought of whatever art they were looking at, every time they came across other visitors. She knew it was nonsense, but deep down she thought that, maybe if she was friendly enough, people wouldn't mind if she was 20, 50, or even 100 feet tall if they liked her beforehand. Or, as yesterday proved, even bigger.

Despite Jane's attendance record, this deliberate choice to be curious and interested in others was how she got along with everyone in high school. That plus a rumor that she had some kind of terminal illness that was causing her to be absent so much. Jane never confirmed or corrected the rumors because she got a lot more leeway from it than she would have otherwise.

Besides the other museum goers, Jane also kept losing focus from the art because of Betsy. She thought her girlfriend was so gorgeous. She knew Mrs. Rosen was being kind, because Jane felt like she was definitely the lucky one. Even if they had just stayed best friends.

Betsy was wearing platform shoes, as if she needed to be any taller, tight jeans, and a robin's egg blue, silk blouse with a vertical pattern. Her whole outfit accentuated her long runner's build. She was all legs.

She seemed right in place at the museum. Surrounded by so much art, she looked elegant and refined. And she was wearing that expensive perfume of her mother's again. Jane didn't think it was fair, the short girl didn't stand a chance.

Jane kept obsessing over Betsy rather than listen as she explained some painting. Besides being tall, or at least usually tall compared to Jane without her compunction, Betsy was also so smart and well read. Jane wondered if the other visitors thought that this stocky redhead was some special case getting a private tour from the nice lady who worked there. It was another one of their major differences.

Quite often, Jane felt dumb around Betsy. Betsy got mad whenever Jane hinted at this. Betsy said she wouldn't be with anyone she thought was dumb. And Betsy did not think Jane was dumb just because she missed a bunch of school and hadn't read as many books. Betsy said she was only dumb for thinking she was dumb.

Jane liked school. But ever since her compunction started, Jane was always just one or two days short from having to repeat a grade. It was a miracle she graduated. Betsy was the valedictorian and got a lot of grief from the principal for her very politically charged speech at graduation.

"Are you listening to me?" Betsy asked with a big grin knowing Jane had been staring at her rather than listening.

"Huh? Oh yea, it's some painting!" Jane lied bringing her eyes up from Jane's slender waist back to her face.

"It's a statue," Betsy corrected as she gestured to the art piece she'd been talking about.

"Right..." Jane replied, caught red handed.

Betsy closed the distance between them and slung her arms over Jane's shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Jane's eyes went wide and scanned the room where they stood. A few other museum goers were there but didn't pay them any mind.

"Bets we're in public!" Jane worried in a hushed whisper.

She felt her compunction lurking just under the surface, waiting. Jane forced it down.

"Relax sweetie, we're in the big city. I'm sorry if this is boring. I promise I have better things planned for my cute little girl," Betsy whispered down into Jane's ear.

Betsy playfully nibbled at the Jane's earlobe. Jane felt the wrong sensation. She clenched her jaw, the rest of her body tensing up.

"Bets!!!" Jane warned louder than she intended through gritted teeth.

Several people in the museum turned to look at the source of the shout. Betsy let go, knowing she'd gone too far.

"Sorry! Sorry! I wasn't thinking. Uh...let's go. We've stretched our legs enough," Betsy said, holding onto Jane's covered shoulder.

Betsy rushed them out of the museum. Jane went almost limp, like she was sleep walking. She was totally focused on staying the same size, everything else became hazy.

After a few minutes, Jane felt like it was safe. She realized they were in a taxi, it felt like she had blacked out.

"Oh...damn it. Did you want to stay? I should have..." Jane apologized before getting interrupted.

"Stop. It was my fault, I just got too excited and wasn't thinking. I'm sorry. That was so stupid, it's...sorry," Betsy interrupted, wanting to touch Jane in reassurance.

But she kept distance between them in the backseat, just to be safe.

"Where are we going?" Jane wondered out loud, trying to change the subject.

"Somewhere a little more private. I think we could use that right now," Betsy said while checking the time on her watch.

The taxi pulled up in front of a movie theater. There was only one movie playing and there was a very long line of people waiting to get in. The marquee at the front of the theater read "JAWS."

They got out of the cab and joined the end of the line. People kept coming. Jane had never seen so many people going to a movie before. Betsy loved movies, but especially ones that she could compare to the books they were based on.

"What's this one about?" Jane asked, taking Betsy's hand in both of hers making Betsy smile.

Betsy squeezed one of Jane's smaller hands in hers. Jane would have smiled too, but she was trying to block out thoughts of almost destroying the museum roof and ending up on the news.

"You'll see, it's pretty incredible. You've never seen anything like it I promise. But I think the book was better, seedier. They took some artistic licenses to make it more art house," Betsy said.

"Wait, you've already seen this one?" Jane asked.

Betsy gave her a "forgive me" look before she replied.

"Yes, I've seen it but I want to see it again. With you. And I noticed some things the first time I want to double check to see if I was right," Betsy defended herself.

If the crowd was any indication, Betsy must not have been the only one seeing this movie again. After they got their tickets, Jane got them each their own buckets of popcorn, the biggest ones they had. But Jane fully intended to eat both of them herself, knowing Betsy would let her. She was somehow still hungry. And she needed something to take her mind off of it and what that meant, a movie would be good.

Unlike Betsy, Jane rarely saw movies. When every penny counted, two dollars made seeing one a luxury. She only went to them when Betsy insisted and Jane, begrudgingly, let her pay for the tickets as some kind of advanced present.

But today Jane paid. She felt proud at being able to be the one who did for a change.

The theater was far bigger than the one back home. Jane appreciated how high the ceilings were and how invisible she seemed somehow in the dark, crowded space. She felt herself relaxing.

Unlike Betsy, very few things spooked Jane anymore. Maybe it came from knowing that, if push came to shove, she could simply squash anything if she wanted. Very literally.

But this one wasn't like the few other horror movies that Jane had seen with Betsy. She was right, it was artsy. There were only a few scenes clearly meant to make the audience jump. Betsy not only jumped, but shrieked and clung to Jane over the theater armrests.

The first time she did it, Betsy immediately let go as if she'd been cut herself on a piece of broken glass. Worried that she would set it off. In the dim screen light, Jane gave her reassuring look and held her hand interlocking their fingers. Betsy looked pleased. Jane giggled each time Betsy shrieked and clung onto her afterwards.

"What did you think?" Betsy asked as they walked out of the theater after the credits started rolling.

"It was good. Not a very big shark though," Jane said.

"It swallowed Quint whole!" Betsy objected.

"So could I...but I wouldn't...yuck," Jane added thinking of sliding a full grown man down her throat.

"I'm guessing you're hungry, want to get dinner?" Betsy asked.

Jane nodded and slipped her arm around Betsy's walking side by side. It would look innocent enough to someone else on the street, especially in the dark evening.

"Good. I know a place on the way. And if you're still hungry later...you can eat me," Betsy teased kissing the top of Jane's head.

Jane gasped and Betsy started cackling. But as they walked, Jane felt a nagging, lingering sense of dread. She could swallow Betsy whole. Just like the shark. She didn't like the thought.

The diner waitress thought the two young women were pulling her leg with their dinner order, especially the small redhead. But Jane put cash out on the counter to let the waitress know she was serious. As they talked and ate, Betsy kept looking out the big plate glass window instead of Jane.

Across the street, the state university campus was lit up for the night. A few students were coming and going from night classes. Betsy looked at it like a kid looking for Santa's sled out of their bedroom window on Christmas Eve.

"Bets...are you happy?" Jane asked, using her fork to play with a piece of rib eye steak on her plate.

Betsy looked caught off guard and turned from the window to face Jane, sipping her 4th cup of coffee of the day. Her slice of "birthday cake" was only half eaten, but she knew Jane would finish it for her.

"What? Of course! I'm having an amazing birthday with you. I'm glad we still came. I knew it would get better once we got into the city," Betsy replied smiling at Jane.

It was a soft loving smile. Betsy looked content but Jane still worried.

"Good...I'm having fun too but...I meant are you happy...with me. With us? With not being there," Jane said motioning to the university in view with a nod of her head.

Betsy put her coffee down on the table with a clank.

"What do you mean," Betsy probed, her tone changing.

"You know...you should be...here. Going to school over there. Not in Smallsville being...held back by—me," Jane confessed keeping her eyes on her plate in front of her, not able to look Betsy in the face.

"Are you trying to ruin my birthday again?" Betsy questioned sternly.

"I'm serious Bets. You're so smart and," Jane continued before being cut off.

"Stop," Betsy warned.

"No. Bets...You should be in college here or somewhere else, you don't belong that little library back home. It's too small for you," Jane said realizing the irony of that before continuing,

"You should be going to museums every day, sitting through interesting lectures about things I couldn't even pronounce, and..." Jane added keeping her gaze averted.

"If that library is too small for anyone at this table," Betsy interjected, chuckling at her own dismissive joke.

Jane stayed silent, still staring at her plate. She played with her lip thinking about the end of her sentence in her head..."and not with some poor dumb hick with a medically impossible condition that makes her a monster."

"Janey. Janey. Look at me," Betsy demanded.

She looked up from her plate to her girlfriend of almost 7 years and best friend for 15. Jane looked into her deep brown eyes, she knew that look.

"I love you. So fucking much," Betsy said moving her hands up to hold Jane's cheeks between them from across the table.

Jane tensed up and looked to the side, worried someone would notice. But no one did and even if they had, she could tell Betsy wouldn't have let go.

"Do you understand how fucking much I love you? I could never. Ever. Ever! Leave you. I am going to grow old and die with you, wherever we end up. Don't you dare suggest taking that away from me—from us again ok? I'd rather be swallowed whole by you than have that happen," Betsy warned choking up and laughing at the same time.

Jane almost started crying, but she held it together and just nodded silently.

"And I wouldn't be able to enjoy being anywhere else even if I did. I couldn't...knowing that you'd be stuck on that farm with your mom," Betsy added letting go of Jane's face.

"And Bobby," Jane muttered wiping her eyes and face with the back of one hand.

"Oh stop, you know he's not bad," Betsy replied getting up and sitting next to Jane on her side of the booth.

"No. And I'd be alright. You..." Jane said before getting interrupted.

Except this time it wasn't by Betsy's words but by her lips. Jane felt herself get pulled slightly up off her seat as Betsy bent down to kiss her. Long and hard.

Jane felt the wrong sensation starting but it passed. Jane let Betsy kiss her, the diner was empty now and the waitress was on a smoke break. They stayed like that for a while before Betsy finally let go. She put her forehead against Jane's as she spoke.

"Don't. Ok? Just don't. You're worth more than anything else to me. Living with you like we are is all I could ever ask for, except maybe it could be in the same house some day," Betsy dreamed out loud.

"Besides, it's not like books have different words in them just because they're in a university library," Betsy said returning to her side of the booth and picking up her coffee again.

But in her heart, Betsy knew there was some truth in Jane’s shared worry. When Betsy stared at the university, she felt a tug in the pit of her stomach pulling her towards it.

It was just as strong as the pull she felt from Jane, but she couldn’t go in two directions. That was the worst part, because Betsy had no idea what to do about it. Sometimes the two big forces, her girlfriend and her own future, felt like they might tear Betsy apart if she dwelled on it for too long.

"If I could have just one birthday wish...It would be for you to let me buy you an outfit and doll you up for once. Instead of this hot, busty, cross dressing Tom Sawyer vibe you..." Betsy chuckled at her distracting joke just as she got stopped by Jane lightly slapping her arm in protest.

They looked at one another for a moment, silently smiling. Both in quiet turmoil but still happy together.

"Can you finish your feast so we can get going?" Betsy asked, sliding her half eaten cake across the table as the waitress returned with their check.

"To the hotel?" Jane asked finishing the last remnants of her steak and moving to the offered plate.

"You'll see," Betsy promised, finishing her coffee.

After dinner, Betsy and Jane walked for a while till they came to a rather sparse looking city block. Betsy led them to a very plain looking, windowless building with a large steel door. It looked like a machine shop or something. The sign on the door only read, "Book Store - Members Only" with the address below and no phone number. Jane looked at Betsy.

"Is this some kind of all night book store?" Jane asked.

Betsy only grinned in response and went up to the door, pressing a doorbell. A slit opened and a pair of eyes looked out, waiting.

"Oscar Wilde's best work was with boys not words," Betsy said out loud.

Jane looked up at Betsy surprised.

The door opened and they went inside. It was a bar, not a bookstore.

And as Jane looked around, she realized it wasn't just a bar. It was a gay bar.

"Bets!" Jane pleaded.

"It's fine. It's a private club, they can sell alcohol. And you saw the door, you have to know the open sesame to get in. We're fine," Betsy said again.

Both of them knew it was illegal to have public bars in the state since 1965. It was one of the many rants that filled Betsy's house from her dad's study at night, complaining of various, oppressive social engineering measures from the government.

"I found out about it from a protest friend a few years ago. But I've been saving it to come with you," Betsy smiled and grabbed Jane's hand, pulling her into Betsy's taller, slimmer body.

Before Jane could protest, Betsy bent down and kissed her to shut her up. But this time it was different than either of them had felt when they kissed before.

It felt...safe. Not rushed, or secret, or worried.

They kissed like they were allowed to kiss. Like they were meant to kiss. Jane leaned up into it. They used their tongues.

Betsy trying to kiss away thoughts of college with the desire and Jane reveling in one of the only true comforts she had ever known. Eventually, they came up for air.

"Jesus...Christ...Bets..." Jane said impressed and feeling wobbly but not in danger of growing.

"Let's get champagne! It's my birthday right?" Betsy said excitedly, making her way to the bar.

"None for me, but you go ahead," Jane said, reaching for some money in her pocket as she followed.

Jane thought of the first, and last, time she drank alcohol with Betsy. They were 14 and she was curious what her mother was so obsessed with all the time. One night, she took one of the half empty bottles from kitchen and snuck out to the barn. Betsy was waiting for her, begrudgingly in an empty horse stall.

They both got pretty buzzed pretty quickly. Jane's mother drank cheap, but very strong booze. As they were talking and laughing, Jane's head hit the ceiling of the empty horse stall. Very hard. She passed out till the morning and woke up with Betsy asleep on top of her shirt. Between that incident and her mother, Jane hadn't touched any alcohol since.

As they finally got to the front of the line to order a drink, both girls looked at the bartender and did a double take.

"DAVID?!" they shouted in shocked unison.

Hearing his name, the tall, broad shouldered bartender looked up from mixing a drink. He was wearing a high school football jersey that only came up to his sternum. It was their high school's football jersey. He had nothing under it and an even tighter pair of jeans than Betsy. The bartender looked at the two girls staring at him in disbelief and turned pale.

"Oh...Uh...Hi Jane...Hi Betsy...How are..." David stuttered off balance before he stopped, realizing something.

"Wait you're gay too?!" David added.

"What?!" Betsy shouted in disbelief as Jane stayed quiet, still in shock.

"Not you! You? Obviously—I meant Janey," David clarified while pointing from Betsy to Jane as he spoke.

"What?!" Betsy exclaimed again, angrier this time.

Jane felt her face flush and pulled her lips into her teeth. She wanted to die.

David was David Thompson the Fourth. He was a year ahead of them in high school. He was the school's quarterback, homecoming king, and the boy most sought after boy every girl, other than Jane and Betsy, for as long as they could remember.

His father owned the car dealership and David drove a bright red, convertible sports car through high school. The passenger seat featured rotating cast of different girls. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes with a cemented legacy as a hometown legend for no actual achievement, other than just existing.

And, apparently, David was either gay or very comfortable in a gay bar for someone who might be lost. He was staring at Jane like he was waiting for an explanation as to why she was in a gay bar, rather than him.

"Uhm...Yes?...Betsy and I are...well we're..." Jane started before Betsy interjected.

"ASSHOLE! What do you mean YOU OBVIOUSLY?!" Betsy demanded, thinking she had done a better job hiding.

David gave Betsy a look. They were all quiet for a beat.

"Okay! Fair...but YOU?! You're gay?!" Betsy shouted over the bar noise breaking their silence.

Before the three of them could get into any additional revelations, the club's front door burst open by force.

A dozen men in uniforms streamed in from the now open front door. A few rushed in from the back, shouting orders at each other and the panicking people in the bar. It was the police.

It was a raid.

Betsy and Jane looked at each other in wide eyed terror. Then Betsy's face changed to concern. She could tell Jane felt it. Jane focused on trying to stop it, but she was already a few inches taller in just a few breaths. Jane was managing to slow it down but she was creeping towards being eye level with, formerly, her much taller girlfriend. Betsy wouldn't be taller for long.

"Oh shit!" Betsy exclaimed, then looked around at the chaos trying to find a way out.

Not noticing Jane growing, David threw up the bar's countertop and shouted at them.

"Come on! Follow me!"

"Jane hurry!" Betsy cried pushing Jane's lengthening back as they heeded David.

She hoped they had enough time.

*** End Part 2

[sizebrained]

Birthday Trip to the Big City, Part 1

Betsy and Jane have a plan for a girl's trip to the "big" city.

Happy G/T July!

CW: Adult themes, content, language, sexually suggestive language and touching, lots and lots of women loving women g/t relationship angst and fluff.

2600ish words.

*** Jane didn't remember falling asleep, but the chirping and trilling of birds filled her ears. She was still in the woods. Even though she was awake, she kept her eyes shut.

Jane couldn't tell how big she was when her eyes were closed. She dreaded finding out by opening them. These brief moments of respite filled her with appreciation. She got so weary of changing all the time. She felt like a yo-yo. Up and down. Up and down.

Sometimes she wished she could just be normal.

Jane's hands were laying flat at her side against the ground. She curled her fingers in towards her hand. It made her hand raise up as her fingertips ran along the forest floor. She held her breath as she waited to feel something that'd tell her whether she was 5 or 50 feet tall.

"Finally," Betsy exclaimed at Jane's rustling fingers.

Betsy's voice came from behind and above Jane's prone body. Jane opened one eye. She looked straight up at the sky. Betsy's grinning face filled her view, framed by the tree canopy and clouds.

Betsy's curled over to look down at the now much, much smaller girl.

"Don't worry shorty. You're back," Betsy said as her grin turned into a full toothy smile.

Jane sighed relieved. She saw now that her head was resting between Betsy's outstretched legs. Betsy's fingers came down to push a strand of shimmering red hair off of Jane's forehead. Betsy tucked the stray hair behind her girlfriend's pale ear. Jane smiled.

When they first started dating, just a simple gesture like that was enough to send Jane soaring upwards. Her compunction wasn't nearly as sensitive now as it had been. The years, and lots of touching, had built up her tolerance.

Betsy had to get a lot bolder now to make Jane big. And she did. Often. Jane didn't think her compunction could ever build up a tolerance for some of the things Betsy and her got up to these days. But right now, just this simple, affectionate touch felt safe. It was heavenly.

"Mmn how long was I out?" Jane moaned then yawned, bringing a hand up to her eye and rubbing it with the butt of her palm.

"It's been a while but I kept myself entertained," Betsy explained.

She ran the back of her fingers across Jane's forehead in a loving stroke. Jane noticed music coming from a radio and lifted her head. She looked to her side over Betsy's leg and saw a makeshift campground.

Jane had been out long enough that Betsy must have gone back to her house to get some of her things. She recognized the folding chair, Betsy's radio, and a duffel bag open with stuff pouring out of it.

Everything was on a laid out blanket. There was a big book opened on it with a stack of several more right next to it. It looked like she'd been entertaining herself for some time.

Jane's stomach growled. She was beyond starving.

"I went to your place and explained you were sleeping it off," Betsy casually said while she opened up the lid of a basket next to her.

"Bobby helped me make sandwiches for you. I think he felt sorry," Betsy said while handing Jane a thick sandwich wrapped in paper from inside the basket.

Jane sat fully upright and spun around on the ground. She snatched the wrapped sandwich from Betsy's offering hand. She ripped it open and took several huge bites. She barely chewed before she swallowed. Betsy already had another one ready for her.

Jane's usual appetite was off the charts. Especially for a girl her current size. Betsy thought it made sense given what her body went through with her compunction.

But even when her compunction hadn't acted up in a while, Jane usually ate enough for three or four football players. She had no idea how Jane's body had the energy to grow like it did. After this last spell, Betsy prepared a lot more food than she usually did.

"That little shit should be sorry," Jane said between breaths as she gulped down another sandwich.

Jane wasn't even tasting them as she ate. She had no idea what kind of sandwiches they were. She didn't care. Jane only knew that she needed to consume them.

"He's just a kid. A good one you know," Betsy said excusing the little boy's behavior.

Betsy was a lot better with children than Jane. So many little sisters had given her the patience of a saint around them. Kids adored Betsy, especially Bobby. She would make an amazing teacher if she didn't have bigger ambitions.

"He even helped me do some of your chores. Even helped me take care of Milkshake so you didn't have to like you suggested," Betsy said handing another sandwich to Jane like she was feeding logs into a wood chipper. Jane scoffed through bites.

"And you were right, she does have some pretty nice teets. Not as nice as yours though," She joked as Jane finished yet another sandwich.

Betsy was surprised the little redhead was taking the time to even unwrap the sandwiches. She expected Jane to unhinge her jaw to swallow them whole like a snake eating a horse. She felt like she was going to throw up again.

"He has a crush on you," Jane garbled through chewing.

"Good taste must run in your family then," Betsy said while she stood up.

She picked up the heavy basket with two hands and dropped it closer to Jane. She turned around so her back faced Jane's gorging form on the ground. Betsy stretched, twisting her body from side to side. She ached from sitting so long waiting for Jane to wake up.

"It's still Saturday so it's not too late you know?" Betsy said like she was fishing for something.

"It's Saturday?!" Jane paused eating to cry out.

She checked her dad's watch on her wrist. She'd worn it ever since he'd died. It was already noon. She stared at Betsy's turned back. Jane recognized the body language. She looked mad.

"Yes...Saturday..the 10th..." Betsy dragged out her words waiting for it to register with Jane.

Jane's face was a blank expression of confusion, half of a sandwich in her mouth and the other half in her hand.

Betsy turned sharply on her heels.

"You fucking forgot..."

"What? No...I didn't forget..." Jane hesitated trying to remember what she was forgetting.

It came to her.

"Your birthday..." Jane realized feeling a panic swelling inside her as she watched Betsy's building rage.

"Fucking...Real nice bright eyes! I came to surprise you...and instead you scare the shit out of me! Nearly kill me! Make me sit out in the god damn woods for a day and a half watching you sleep! On my fucking birthday?! That you forgot?!" Betsy was angrily stomping her feet with every other word.

Jane scrambled up to stand on her own feet with her hands raised in contrition. She clutched the half eaten sandwich. It was dripping.

"No! No! No!" Jane cried up to her now much taller girlfriend.

Without her compunction, Betsy was over a head taller than the thick little redhead. She seemed even bigger when she was this angry.

"I didn't forget! Of course I didn't! I could never forget Bets! I just didn't realize what day it is! I swear!" Jane continued.

"Oh bullshit!" Betsy yelled angrily.

Betsy stormed over to her stuff. She turned off the radio and folded up the chair with a slam. She hurriedly gathered up her things, shoving it into her duffel bag. She slung the overstuffed bag over her shoulder, grabbing her chair and radio with her free hands.

She stomped away heading out of the woods. Jane guessed she was making her way back to her dad's truck.

"Wait wait wait! Betsy! Hold on damn it!" Jane said quickly finishing the sandwich in her hand.

She picked up the heavy basket in a single hand with ease, unlike Betsy, and ran after her.

"No! I'm sick of this. I'm not your damn secretary. You'd forget your god damn head if it wasn't attached to you!" Betsy said speeding up.

She was nearly running, muttering frustrations to herself.

"Betsy please! I just woke up and I'm sorry and I'm starving please?!" Jane whined as she tried to catch up, basket in tow.

For a fleeting moment, Jane considered growing big enough to just snatch Betsy up in her hand so she couldn't stomp away. But Jane had only made that mistake once. She knew to never do it again.

It was a few years ago and the fight was over something stupid. Betsy had an inclination to flee whenever she was mad. To stop her, Jane had grown big enough so that she could pick her up under the arms like a large doll. It made Betsy far angrier than she had been before as her legs kicked furiously in the air.

Even though Betsy was much smaller, she bit and kicked at Jane with as much might as she could muster. Shrieking.

It hurt in more ways than one. Using her compunction to so overpower and outsize her girlfriend like that, just to cut short a silly argument, crossed a major line. Jane never did it again. She'd never seen Betsy so furious at her. She wouldn't speak to Jane for days after.

Betsy spun around and Jane nearly ran into her. Jane halted just in time and looked up at her girlfriend with sad puppy dog eyes.

Betsy was about to yell something else and hesitated. Her mouth snapped shut and her jaw clenched. They stared at each other for a few heavy heartbeats. Betsy was breathing heavily through her nose. Finally, she groaned at the sight of Jane's wounded expression.

"Don't give me that look...do you have to be so god damn cute all the time," Betsy complained through gritted teeth finally breaking the silence.

"You still think I'm cute?" Jane asked pressing her luck.

Before Betsy could answer, Jane dropped the basket. She reached up and grabbed the back of Betsy's head with one hand and her waist with the other.

She pulled the taller girl down into a long hard kiss. It was totally unlike Jane. Betsy made a surprised sound but didn't fight it. She melted into the shorter, stronger girl's arms. She went limp in Jane's grip as she kissed her back. Her things fells to the ground.

After a few moments of deep, sloppy kissing, Jane pushed Betsy back and looked her right in the eye. Betsy didn't look mad anymore. She look flustered and needy.

"Betsy. I didn't forget...I..." Jane hesitated.

"You're scared," Betsy finished for her before kissing her again on the forehead.

"It's...I'm not ready," Jane added after a long pause.

"Janey if we had kissed like that four years ago I'd be looking at your knees right now," Betsy huffed still wanting more as she kissed Jane again to emphasize her point.

They had a plan for Betsy's birthday. Her "present" was supposed to be a girl's night in the city. Hotel stay and all, even if it was a very cheap one. Betsy was going to go first so she could have some time to herself in her favorite bookstores, which would have bored Jane to death. Jane was supposed to come into the city to join her, that very morning, so they could spend the day and night together in a hotel.

It had taken Betsy and Jane two weeks of convincing for Jane's mother to finally relent and grant her permission. Even though she was 19, Jane still lived under her roof. She liked to remind Jane of that constantly. And unlike Betsy's parents, who were sworn to secrecy about the pair of them, Jane's mother had no idea that Betsy was more than just Jane's best friend.

If her mother had known Jane was gay, being forbidden from a night in the city with Betsy would have been the least of Jane's problems.

"I want to...it's just...it's so risky..." Jane confessed, keeping Betsy in her arms.

Jane's hand holding the back of Betsy's neck slid down to join the other at the taller girl's waist. Jane dropped her forehead against Betsy's chest and swayed with her reveling in being the small one. She loved Betsy but she especially loved feeling small in Betsy's embrace.

Jane would never forget the first time she got to hold Betsy like this without growing. It felt so natural.

Over the years, and with great difficulty and creativity, they'd made the physical part of their relationship work somehow. Thankfully, it had gotten better with time. The worst period was just after they had first confirmed their feelings for one another.

They were so young. Full of excitement and pubescent desire. But Jane's compunction acted up if Betsy so much as looked at her a certain way. After their first real kiss on the lips, they were both shocked as the touch of Jane's lips had made Betsy grow a foot taller. Jane had the wherewithall to notice and break it off before she made Betsy too big. Poor Jane didn't stop and had ended up nearly twenty feet tall.

Betsy was Jane's first everything. First friend, first girlfriend, first kiss, first unintended growth.

When Betsy came home that night she had to bend under the door to get in. She towered over her father. It was quite an impossible growth spurt to explain, especially since she'd left the house several inches shorter than her father that morning. Her parents had to accept that not only was their first born gay, but she had a girlfriend with some unexplainable condition that made others grow.

As if on cue, Jane's head bent down filling up the front doorway to see how Betsy's parents were taking it. Jane's impossibly sized face grinned sheepishly at the family assembled around Betsy, whose own head kept bumping into the chandelier in their entry way.

Betsy's parents took it remarkably well compared to the lesbian news. Betsy's sisters took it even better. They were all enamored with their even bigger sister and begged Jane for a turn being big.

"Hey...listen to me...I'm going to be right here with you. I'm always going to be with you," Betsy said standing with her now several years later in the woods.

Betsy brought a hand up to cup Jane's cheek. Jane closed her eyes and leaned into the hand. She exhaled through her nose contentedly.

"So that's why you came back..." Jane started before Betsy interjected.

"For you. I figured you'd get cold feet about it. So I came back to ride the train with you into the city instead. I just didn't think I'd come home to find you bigger than one," Betsy finished.

Jane opened her eyes and looked into Betsy's, keeping her face in the taller girl's cupped palm.

"What if I get big in the city?" Jane asked concerned.

"What if I get hit by a bus in the city?" Betsy said furrowing her brow in skepticism.

"It's not the same. Besides you know I wouldn't let that happen," Jane added then pulled Betsy even closer.

The thought of Jane holding a city bus in one hand that was about to run her girlfriend over filled Betsy's head. It made her think of the old black and white movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Betsy wasn't into science fiction, but she had kept a poster of it in her room for years now. Despite Jane's objection it was tacky.

"It'll be fine Janey. It's just one night. What's the worst that could happen in one night?" Betsy asked speculating.

Jane sighed into Betsy's chest trying to bury her face even deeper into it.

"Fine..." Jane mumbled into Betsy's shirt.

Jane felt herself twirl suddenly as Betsy spun around in glee dragging her short girlfriend along for the ride. Jane wanted to feel happy too. She lived to make Betsy happy. Even if it made Jane unhappy.

She wouldn't be worried normally. She didn't like the city but she'd been there before without incident. Except, for some reason, Jane could only feel a creeping dread as she thought of her compunction. It felt like it was waiting. Waiting for a chance to truly ruin her life.

*** End Part 1

[sizebrained]

It's my 1 year anniversary on Tumblr with my silly blorbos 🥳

[sizebrained]

Taller than the Trees, Part 3

Jane and Betsy get to process what just happened, we learn more about them, and they get some wholesome, and not so wholesome, quality one on one time.

I originally was going to have this take place in the 1950's—but those days *sucked so hard* for women I couldn't have it be both be historically accurate and do what I wanted to do storywise.

For example, they banned women's running events in the Olympics for 40 years because they thought women were too delicate. This was based on female Olympians looking very tired after the 800m race in 1928 as you would be! It was also a widely held belief that a woman's uterus might fall out if they ran too far. So if any women were allowed to run in any kind of organized athletic race, it was only for distances less than 200 meters until some pioneering women proved them wrong in the 60's?! The 60's?!

Anyway, I'm crazy about these two and can't stop writing about them.

CW: Adult themes, content, language, historic homophobia, sexually suggestive language and touching, lots and lots of women loving women g/t relationship angst and fluff.

5300 words. I can't stop. Send help.

***

No matter what was going on in her life, running always made Betsy feel better. Especially in the woods. A cross country trail could be so quiet and peaceful.

Except for now.

Right now—the trees ahead of her were anything but quiet and peaceful.

Because Jane's towering body was hitting the woods like another twister causing storm. She had given up on hunching over. Standing upright, the canopy now only reached the chest pocket of her cut off overalls. Jane looked like she was in a wheat field instead of a pine forest.

Thankfully, the trees weren't that close together. She could move faster, but she was making quite a racket. And quite a mess. It made it more dangerous for Betsy who followed after her.

Smaller branches, not strong enough to withstand Jane's lumbering mass, kept snapping off as she passed by. They tumbled to the forest floor in a jarring mess of noise. Creaks and groans from tree limbs and falling branches filled the air.

A steady rain of wood followed after Jane's every carefully placed step. Betsy stayed well behind her—but she still needed to jog at a moderate pace to keep up at a safe distance.

Just as Betsy wove around a big broken limb, a few frightened deer thundered across her path. They were trying to escape Jane's thundering footfalls. Betsy halted, nearly toppling over to avoid being trampled.

Betsy recovered. She crossed her arms crossed on top of her head, panting. As she stood there dazed, the entire top half of a 40 foot tree came crashing down about ten feet in front of her where the deer had been

Betsy nearly fell over again from the scare. This was turning into an unacceptably hair raising day.

Jane's trudging abruptly stopped. Her head snapped backwards, whipping her long red braid around as she scanned the ground, worried, for Betsy. Jane's hand clapped against her chest in relief at seeing her girlfriend was safe.

Betsy's hands were on her hips. She gave Jane an indiscernible look as she met the enormous girl's gaze. From so high up, Jane couldn't tell what she was thinking.

The sun was high and bright in the sky again, as if there had never been a storm at all. Betsy had to bring a hand up to her forehead, like a makeshift baseball cap, to block the sun shining in her eyes. Jane shifted a little to her left of where she stood. The tree tops shuffled against her gigantic silhouette.

It was just enough for the redhead's shadow to fall over Betsy, blocking the sun for her.

Betsy lowered her hand back to her hip, cocking it to the side at an exaggerated angle. A big toothy grin smiled up at Jane giving her the answer she needed. Betsy wasn't mad at her, even though she'd nearly crushed her by accident.

Betsy's first thought after the tree top fell wasn't anger. When she saw Jane's head snap back looking for her, Betsy's first thought was actually, My girlfriend is so damn pretty.

Betsy thought "pretty" undersold her girlfriend's beauty. Betsy felt lucky to have Jane at any size.

Jane's compunction enlarging her to such a massive scale only reaffirmed Betsy's opinion. It enhanced every one of the features she adored. Like the rounded curves of Jane's heart shaped face and the captivating way freckles were splattered across it.

Betsy could get lost staring at them for hours. She thought of them like tiger stripes or the wild spots of some other beautiful, exotic animal she'd seen in a nature magazine.

Jane's, normally, compact body was strong and dense. She was so different from Betsy. Even at her normal size, Betsy sometimes felt like she was a blade of tall grass resting against a boulder. At the moment, the big girl providing her shade felt closer to a mountain.

Jane and Betsy had been best friends since the first grade. Almost all of their memories featured each other. At most, they'd only ever been apart for a week or so, when Jane had to go to a farm show or Betsy was on a family vacation.

Whatever the reason, their temporary separations were few and far between. Ever since they'd met, they'd been like a lock and its only key. The pair of them only made sense when they were together.

By middle school, Betsy knew that Jane was more than just a friend for her. For the next several years, Betsy lived in unspoken agony. But if those years of silent longing were good for anything, it was giving Betsy the time she needed to come to terms with herself.

Betsy had never felt anything for boys. Not in that way. But to keep up appearances, she gave it her best try. She suffered through awkward dates with guys who seemed more concerned with not being alone than being with her.

Betsy endured each of them, just long enough, until she figured out a clever way to end it on friendly terms, without raising any suspicions. Somehow, Jane and Betsy being friends since they were 6 had kept any rumors from starting. And Jane was like a sunbeam, everyone loved her and she got along with everyone.

By the time they were in high school, Betsy couldn't look, talk, listen, or even be near Jane without thinking about her in a way that was supposedly wrong. Over a couple summers, Jane had blossomed from being cute to utterly devastating.

Most boys thought Betsy was, ironically, too tall compared to her best friend to give her much attention. Jane, normally a whole head shorter than Betsy, had to practically beat guys off with a stick.

If they only knew...

Jane's pale blue eyes were unnaturally bright as they stared down at Betsy from the sky. Sometimes Betsy wondered if they could glow in the dark like a cat. Her hair was a thick, dark red that shimmered like ink. She kept her hair long, well past her shoulders. It was always in a braid that Betsy, or one of her many younger sisters, did for her. Betsy's sisters had been experimenting with more and more elaborate patterns over time.

For about a year in high school, Betsy's middle sister, Margaret Anne, was obsessed with trying out variations of a princess braid on Jane. Each new attempt made Betsy struggle to get through the days, barely able to keep herself from swooning over her friend's shining face framed by that braided crimson hair.

And then there was her body. Years of working long hours on her family's farm had left her unusually strong. She was thick and stout. After puberty, Jane's she had developed a lot more than Betsy. Betsy had always been lanky and puberty just stretched her out even more. She felt like a ragdoll next to Jane.

And those freckles...like exploded fireworks of paint across a white canvas.

Betsy didn't know what to do. But she knew that she had to do something because she couldn't take it anymore.

She told her parents first. They were Catholic. It was not easy. She felt like she was going to vomit the whole day leading up to it. Her father took it the worst. Amongst his many objections, including damnation, was that it was specifically illegal in the state. There was lots of yelling. He threatened to kick her out of the house.

Betsy's mother couldn't have cared less that one of her daughters was different in that way. And Betsy's five younger sisters worshiped the ground that Betsy walked on, especially as she had raised them like a second mom.

The thought of Betsy getting kicked out of the house, against her will and for something that didn't seem to be a choice, was absolutely not happening as far as her five sisters were concerned. When he tried to assert his role as the man of the house, her sisters packed up his suitcase instead. They promised to make every day of the rest of his life utter misery. And they could.

Her father relented. The morning after, he interrupted Margaret Ann who was about to pour sugar into his truck's gas tank by telling her that he had been bluffing anyway. Betsy could stay. He certainly didn't approve of Betsy's revelation, for a lot of reasons. But she was his first born and, before her admission, the apple of his eye. He loved her too much to hate her for anything. Even that. Love the sinner and hate the sin.

Since her coming out, he had gotten a lot more comfortable with the idea. He even tried to give her tips about picking up women once. Betsy felt closer to vomiting than the day she told him she was not interested in boys.

Betsy's father was a lawyer. His real concern was for her well being, in this world and the next.

One morning at breakfast, her father held up the morning paper. The dread was obvious on his face. Right there, in plain print, was an article about a night club of homosexual "deviants" being raided by the police. And every single person who was arrested had their names published in the paper—their lives were ruined.

He couldn't protect her from everything. He hated that and it led to another big, misguided shouting match. She didn't need him to tell her that to stay safe—she needed to stay hidden outside of the house.

A few weeks before that publicized raid, Betsy had made a special trip to that very same club during her last trip to the city. She was thankful she hadn't mentioned that fact. The visit had made her feel less alone. But everywhere else, it seemed like everyone, everyone, thought that Betsy's nature was wrong. Immoral. Unnatural.

But it didn't feel wrong or immoral or unnatural to Betsy. Especially when it came to Jane. And even if it was all of those things, or worse, it didn't matter.

Betsy couldn't take being around Jane any longer without telling her how she really felt.

Shortly after the newspaper fight, Betsy finally summoned up the courage to confess her feelings to Jane. They were sitting together on Betsy's porch, talking about nothing very serious one night. It was such a huge risk, but Betsy had to take it.

Betsy started her very long explanation, that she had rehearsed a million times. But before she couldn't even get halfway through it, Jane interrupted her. Not with words, but by kissing her long and hard on the lips.

Betsy's risk taking had been rewarded.

But the next thing she knew, Betsy found herself suddenly sprawled out flat on her porch deck. Jane had pushed her away and run down the steps. Betsy was stunned. Why Jane would kiss her so passionately only push her away?

Betsy feared the worst. Jane didn't feel the same way or, even more unthinkable, wouldn't even be her friend anymore after her revolting confession. But why did she kiss her then?

She raced after Jane for an explanation. Betsy caught up quickly, and Jane stopped when Betsy called after her. But when Jane turned around, Betsy would never forget having to look up at Jane. And up. And up.

Betsy screamed. Jane cried. Eventually, they both calmed down.

For the rest of the night, Betsy sat on the porch steps while Jane sat on the grass beside her talking everything over. Even sitting down, Jane's head went up to the 2nd floor of Betsy's house.

Now years later, Jane towered over Betsy again like she did that night. Only she was about four or five times the size as she had been then. One of the many surprises the two shared over the years was just how big Jane could get. Today was a new record.

"You trying to squash me bright eyes? Do we need to get you glasses? Maybe we can ask Mister Peterson if we can go to the planetarium again and steal the telescope lens for you," Betsy teased up at Jane.

"Sorry...a bird or something flew into my mouth," Jane said, smacking her lips in disgust.

Even the biggest bird on the planet would be like a buzzing fly at her size. And for a such big country girl, Jane had a surprisingly low tolerance for bugs.

"Yeah, well you probably took out the poor thing's nest...and also probably all of the nests for...a ways..." Betsy said as she looked backwards at Jane's path of near destruction, lowering her voice as she did.

"Huh?" Jane asked struggling to hear.

"Nothing. Let's just get to the pond," Betsy pleaded.

So far, jogging hadn't helped clear her mind as much as Betsy had hoped. She still felt the crippling dread at the base of her spine from being inside her airborne truck. Betsy climbed up and over the broken tree top blocking her path. She started running again. Faster.

Jane nodded silently and resumed her labored walk. In a few moments, she was the first to push out of the trees to the pond clearing. Jane felt relieved at finally having some breathing room.

Being so big at her farm had made her feel trapped. It was so disorienting to be that size. And frightening. She felt like she was going to crush everything just by touching it. She lucked out.

She was getting some more control over it, but she was getting so much bigger it almost didn't matter.

She hoped it never happened again, but she knew deep down that it would. Or worse. Maybe today wasn't the limit to her compunction. It wasn't exactly a new fear, but today her worst nightmares felt very real.

What if she got too big for Betsy and everything else?

What if she couldn't get back?

She reminded herself that everyone was safe. The twister, and way too big Jane, had left everyone unharmed.

Jane slowly got down onto her hands and knees, exhausted. She'd gotten all worked up and skyscraper sized for nothing. Jane had no idea how long she'd stay bigger. It took so much energy and focus just to get down to this more manageable, yet still huge size.

When she was younger it could take days, sometimes a week or more, to return to her normal size. Although, she wasn't really sure what was a normal size for herself anymore. Jane didn't feel like she'd had a normal size since she was 12.

She turned over to lay down onto her back, propping herself up on her forearms so she could see over her feet. She watched the trees waiting for Betsy.

A few more moments later, Jane's girlfriend burst out of the trees into the clearing.

Jane smiled down at her. Jane thought her girlfriend was so pretty. Betsy was the total opposite of Jane in looks and personality. She was so tall, well usually, and very lean. Her skin was smooth and pale, like fine porcelain. Her black, raven colored hair used to be longer than Jane's.

For many years now, Betsy kept it cropped short right at her shoulders. She claimed that it made it easier to run. But Jane knew that the real reason was that long hair was "too girly" for her tastes. Jane suspected it had also had to do with Betsy's obsession with James Taylor and that she was trying to look like him, but she'd never admit to it.

Betsy had warm brown eyes that were always full of trouble. She was almost always in trouble. Not anything serious, but she was the girl that everyone, including the teacher, would groan when she raised her hand in class. It was never to just answer or ask a question.

It was like she couldn't stay still and was waiting on everyone else to catch up. She pushed Jane in ways that she wouldn't have pushed herself. She needed Betsy like her farm's crops needed water and sunlight. Jane simply couldn't imagine life without Betsy in it.

She'd had a crush on her since they first met, but Jane never knew how to explain or express it. And she'd never told her parents about her questioning feelings, even when her father was alive. She knew how both of them would react.

Jane couldn't believe that Betsy's family was ok with their first born daughter being a lesbian when she told her about her coming out that night.

And then, when Betsy told Jane that she felt the same way as Jane, the little redhead thought her heart was going to explode. She was so overjoyed. It wasn't just that she wasn't alone in being different. Her best friend was just like her. Even better still Jane's best friend wasn't just like her but liked her.

Jane had been suffering through so many years of hoping, it was like a dream come true. She kissed Betsy to see if it was real.

But instead of exploding, Jane grew.

Jane worried that any chance together was over as she stood over Betsy, taller than the house and sobbing. But it turned out that Betsy didn't mind.

In fact, over the years, Betsy seemed to like Jane's compunction a lot more than Jane ever did. There did seem to be a lot more perks in it for her girlfriend than for Jane.

She was walking over to Jane's prone body as long as one side of the pond. Betsy was wearing a light blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Her shirt was tucked into a pair of high waist, denim shorts. It made her look like she was all arms and legs. They were glistening with sweat from her run. Betsy looked pleased to see Jane taking it easy.

"Took you long enough, you're getting slow..." Jane joked as Betsy walked over to her.

She stopped next to Jane's big red shoe pointing up towards the sky.

Betsy balanced herself with one hand against its red expanse like a wall. She pulled up one leg, bending it at the knee behind her to stretch out her hamstring.

"You try running through a forest while it's raining wood in penny loafers," Betsy exhaled while she stretched. "Oh...I didn't notice...I was only joshing you," Jane sat up a little, looking down at Betsy with concern.

"I know. It's fine," Betsy said dropping her leg back down.

Betsy ran her hand up and down Jane's shoe like she was petting a horse's side. They were silent for a while.

"No. It's not," Jane finally replied.

Jane wasn't talking about joking that Betsy was slow.

"No it's not...That was...so damn terrifying Janey," Betsy admitted, pressing her whole body, face first into Jane's shoe.

Betsy crumbled up against it, shuddering and crying.

Jane sat upright and leaned over towards Betsy. Jane pressed three of her fingertips against her tiny girlfriend's back trying to comfort her. But her fingertips were so big they covered her whole back. It didn't leave much room to for a comforting caress.

Instead, Jane shushed the little figure pressing herself into Jane's shoe.

These were the times when Jane really despised her compunction. It kept her from doing the things she wanted, like hugging her girlfriend to make something better. And it was her compunction's fault that Betsy was riddled with terror from being so high in the first place. Or maybe it was Jane's fault, which was even more unthinkable.

Jane knew how much her girlfriend hated heights. She was just trying to keep Betsy safe. She did, but only by giving her one of the worst frights of her life.

"I thought you were out of town for the weekend?" Jane finally asked.

Betsy's truck spontaneously appearing in her driveway during a tornado flustered her and she had probably overreacted.

"I wanted to surprise you—Surprise!" Betsy exclaimed sarcastically through heaving sobs.

Jane's thick eyebrows stayed furrowed, quietly worrying but trying to give Betsy time and space. She kept her fingers pressed into Betsy's back. At least it was something.

"I went straight to my folk's place from the station to borrow the truck and come over. I thought it'd be a fun surprise even though I know you don't like surprises. But then the siren went off and...well...you were so huge. And you shoved me in the truck with just your fingertip and then you picked it up...high...so high," Betsy sobbed out sound like she was running out of breath as she continued.

Betsy turned around trying to hold onto Jane's hand, but she pulled her fingertips back. They hovered there just out of Betsy's reach, too worried about touching skin to skin. Betsy untucked her shirt and wiped her face with the bottom half.

Betsy and Jane sighed together.

"It was so high..." Betsy cried again as if repeating it would exorcise her fear like a prayer.

She unbuttoned the lower buttons of her shirt and tied the tails into a bow above her waist. Crying so hard had just made her feel even hotter. She coughed several times trying to stifle any more sobs.

"I know, it wasn't great for me either," Jane added sadly.

She pulled her hovering hand behind her back like it was the culprit and she was trying to hide it.

"You were so...You've never," Betsy's thinking brain kicked in, trying to work through her confusion out loud before Jane cut her off. "I know. I don't know what happened...I didn't think that would happen. The animals were freaking out with the storm. They were too worked up to move so I had to get sort of big. I was carrying the last two cows into the barn when Midnight got free and ran off. Then Bobby started running away from the shelter to get her. I saw the twister coming and I just...lost it..." Jane gave up, bringing her knees up to her chest.

Betsy took a step back as Jane's shoe moved with her bending legs. The sound of her car sized, rubber soled shoes shuffling across the ground was so odd. Betsy never thought she'd get used to how Jane's size changed the simplest things in unexpected ways.

Even at her smaller size, Betsy always thought her girlfriend had a presence.

But when Jane got big it was totally different. Betsy could sense Jane's body all around her even in total silence. Like right now. Betsy felt like she was standing on her house's wrap around porch. And in any direction Betsy looked, there was her house.

"Is Milkshake okay?" Betsy was trying to change the subject.

"She's fine. It was her skittish behind I was carrying to the barn when Midnight got loose," Jane explained.

Milkshake was a thousand pound, full grown milk cow. Betsy was very attached to her, unlike any of the other animals on Jane's farm. Because Betsy saw herself as Milkshake's human mom.

One night, right after Jane's compunction had acted up at exactly the wrong time as it often did, Milkshake's actual cow mother went into labor with her. Jane, who'd been expecting to help it along, suddenly found she couldn't fit into the barn.

Jane had to talk Betsy through it instead. Peeking in through the second story loft window like a reverse Alice in Wonderland. Betsy said it was one of the worst, most disgusting things she'd ever done in her life. She said she would never forgive Jane for making her do it. Betsy didn't like animals that much but, ever since, she treated Milkshake like a favorite toy.

"I know you were just trying to keep us safe. Did you know that you could..." Betsy got interrupted again.

"No. Never. Not that big. You know that," Jane huffed into her knees.

Jane tried to press her face deeper between her legs. She'd gotten pretty used to being around the size she was now, but before—that was something else entirely. She hated it, more than she usually did. She felt like she was watching a version of herself through a pair of binoculars the wrong way.

Jane suddenly felt Betsy's light touch on her thigh. She inhaled sharply and tensed up. Betsy's hand pressed deeper against Jane's skin, right at the only place Betsy could still easily reach at her height. Betsy's hand lingered there, just past the folded up hem of Jane's cut-off overalls.

Ever since Jane's compunction started, Betsy thought that her girlfriend was overly cautious about touching. It could make things between them difficult sometimes. Because Betsy was very touchy.

And touching Jane was worth it to Betsy, even if it had caused her to end up 7 or 8 feet tall a few times. She didn't mind the occasional boost from her girlfriend, but that was a little too much of a boost for Betsy.

In high school, Betsy developed the the habit of sneaking a kiss, or something more, from Jane before a big race. Betsy claimed it was just for good luck.

But the truth was that Betsy wanted her legs to be just a little longer when she wasn't confident about doing well against certain rival teams. Betsy was very good at making Jane flustered enough to set off her compunction.

Jane always acted pissed off when Betsy did it. But really, she was just worried it'd hurt Betsy. Or it'd make Jane too big and she'd destroy the school in the process. Or someone would notice that Betsy was suddenly and obviously taller, even for her. Or any of the other countless worries Jane could think of when it came to her compunction.

Truthfully, she thought a kiss from Betsy was worth those risks. But Jane didn't want to admit that to her girlfriend, because one of them needed to have some self control and it wasn't going to be Betsy.

"Can you try to shrink down more? You did great just now..." Betsy asked curiously.

"I don't think so...I feel spent. Like when I can't get that last hay bale up onto the truck or something. Does that make sense?" Jane yawned, resting her chin on top of her knees as she thought about just how tired she really was after everything.

"It does...but does that mean..." Betsy ventured to put her other palm against Jane's thigh and stroke it like she was washing a car in big, wide motions.

Jane tensed up even more, but she let her. It was like Betsy's hands were crawling spiders, but nothing happened.

They waited for a long while, Betsy stroking her thigh the whole time, but still nothing. Jane wasn't shifting or growing. It's was like her compunction's gas tank was out of fuel.

"Oh Hell yes!" Betsy burst out with excitement.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Jane cried in a hurry, knowing what was coming.

But it was too late.

Betsy was already scrambling up Jane's side, clutching the enlarged seams and anywhere else she could get a grip on Jane's overalls. Jane groaned while straightening her legs flat to make it easier for her girlfriend.

Betsy bolted up Jane's torso and when she reached the chest pocket of her overalls, she leapt towards her face. Betsy's arms and legs were outstretched like a starfish as she hurtled through the air. Jane yelped in surprise and her head fell back down against the soft ground.

Betsy landed sprawled across the middle of Jane's face. Her torso pressed into the length of Jane's nose. The smaller girl frantically kissed all over the space between Jane's eyebrows.

"Ow...Jesus! You're gonna scratch up my chin with those things!" Jane complained, referring to Betsy's penny loafers, while giggling at the intense flurry of little kisses.

Betsy kicked her shoes off her without stopping her kisses. She kissed Jane over and over. She pecked every freckle she could find like she was in a timed contest. It was one of the rare occasions when she knew it was totally safe to touch Jane as much as she wanted without any compunction consequences. At least for a while.

Betsy wasn't going to let the precious opportunity pass unused.

"If you want to worry about scratches you should be worried about my pa's truck. If you dented it with your clumsy fingers he's gonna be real mad," Betsy said taking forever to get her thoughts out.

Betsy couldn't stop frantically kissing Jane as she spoke, each word interrupted by another kiss like the stops in a telegram message.

Jane's right hand came up towards her face, gently pinching Betsy by her legs. Despite all of Jane's hesitancy, the years together had provided them with ample opportunities for trial and error. At her current size, Jane knew exactly how much force would be safe for such a grab.

She dragged Betsy's little body, feet first down along her face. Betsy felt her body stop as her face plopped right between Jane's top and bottom lips.

Jane opened them just a tad and then pressed them both forward engulfing Betsy's whole face in a kiss. Then Jane repeated back what Betsy had done to her, kissing her relentlessly over and over.

Despite her effort, Betsy's kisses were very slight though still wonderful. Jane's were totally different. At her size, each one was overwhelming. And one right after the other was becoming more than Betsy could handle.

Jane tasted the smaller girl on her lips. Her skin was salty from the running and crying. She was determined to make her girlfriend feel better after frightening and nearly crushing her with a tree. Jane started humming with each kiss, knowing what it'd do to Betsy.

Betsy spread her arms to her side and limply held onto Jane's cheeks trying to brace herself. The huge redhead's lips were soft but felt like getting pummeled by a wave. And the effect was heightened by her humming. It shook Betsy's entire body from head to toe.

She was thankful that Jane rarely wore lipstick or she'd be an even bigger mess.

"No fair! You're...my legs..." Betsy managed to gasp out from the battering by Jane's lips.

Betsy was getting absolutely smothered and panting harder than when she had been running through the woods after her. Concerned, Jane released Betsy's legs.

Like a coiled snake waiting to pounce, Betsy immediately flew off Jane's face down to her neck. She turned and scrambled down Jane's body towards the open top of her shirt.

"Hey! No, no, no! You faker! You want to play with teets you can go take care of Milkshake," Jane laughed watching her girlfriend trying to pry her heavy overalls up enough to slip in.

Jane playfully tried snatching her up again with one hand. Her fingers were deliberate but soft, like a kitten batting at a ball of yarn. Jane let Betsy push her fingers away each time they got close, amused at how dedicated she seemed to get down her shirt.

"No way. Besides hers aren't as big as yours are," Betsy chuckled.

Jane gasped in mock offense. Her thumb and index finger gripped Betsy by the waist like a claw.Jane pulled the smaller girl up off her body and brought her back up to her face. Jane tried to look insulted and annoyed.

She failed and started giggling instead. Betsy joined her. The tiny girl dangling in the air made a dramatic show of struggling to escape Jane's fingers to get back to her shirt.

Jane's giggle turned into a loud snort through her nose. It caused some birds to flap out of the nearby trees and both laugh even harder.

Then Jane lowered Betsy down for a real kiss.

*** End Part 3

[sizebrained]

Taller Than the Trees, Part 2

I've been thinking about this new story quite a bit and love these two girls who feel very flushed out in my head. Also 50's slang is weird and not easy to incorporate. I don't have a title for this universe yet but I'm sure one will come to me.

Happy Pride!

CW: Angst, some fear, some cursing, mentions of bodies and being in relationship.

*** Betsy was panting. Heavily. The windshields were starting to fog up from her hot, labored breathing. She thought about cracking open a window, but Jane's fingertips were completely covering both sides in her grip.

Meanwhile, Betsy was gripping the back of her seat with one hand. She held onto the steering wheel for dear life with the other. She was trying to brace herself in the truck cabin as if that could change how high up the whole truck was at the moment.

Betsy couldn't tell if she was going to pass out first or vomit. Probably both. She just wasn't sure in which order yet. Because Betsy had a terrible, lifelong fear of heights.

And right now she was higher than she had ever been in her life. She found no comfort at all that she was in Jane's clutches.

If anything, seeing her sort of secret girlfriend this big was just as terrifying as being several hundred feet up. Betsy had never seen Jane get this staggeringly tall. It made Betsy worry there was no limit to just huge Jane could get if her body wanted. Typically, she was the shortest girl in any room.

But now, Betsy would wager there was no room on earth that could even fit half of her girlfriend’s body in it.

Betsy looked out the truck's windshield to see the edges of the furious tornado passing by a ways off. She saw various scrap and all sorts of things swirling amidst the angry black clouds. For a very fleeting moment, she thought it was amazing. Beautiful really.

But then she noticed how small everything looked from the truck cabin. Betsy remembered where she was and groaned, feeling very sick to her stomach.

One of Jane's big bright, pale blue eyes looked in through the front windshield. Just her eye seemed to be the size of the truck as it peered in. Betsy definitely felt like vomiting was going to come before she passed out.

Jane moved the truck further away from her face. Betsy watched Jane bite her lower lip with her two front teeth. They were a little oversized, even when the rest of her wasn't. Betsy thought her big front teeth were cute, especially when they played with her lips.

But they definitely stood out and were an easy target for bullies when she was younger who would make beaver jokes or "bucktooth".

Betsy also couldn't imagine anyone daring to call Jane that right now.

Jane's freckles stood out darker against her face as her cheeks flushed red. Betsy wondered if she was actually getting embarrassed by being so gigantic. Like she had been caught doing something wrong.

If Betsy could peel one of the freckles from the big girl's face it'd fill her whole palm. Maybe more. It was so hard to tell when Jane was this big.

Jane lowered the truck a little but kept it steady in the grip of two fingers. Betsy watched as a black horse appeared in the windshield's view. It was being held in the two fingers of Jane's other hand.

"Midnight?!" Betsy asked out loud to herself from the truck. "Hold on a tick..." Jane tried to whisper as softly as she could to her tiny girlfriend in the truck, not hearing her.

Unlike Betsy, Jane's voice sounded like it was coming from a bullhorn at this size, even with concerted effort to barely whisper. Betsy nodded as if Jane could see that instead of hearing her.

Betsy tried to force herself to realize she was safe. It was just Janey. Just giant, giant Janey and she was holding Betsy and her whole damn truck up so very, very high.

Betsy felt the urge to vomit again and let out a cry instead. She watched the horse disappear from the windshield's view. Then she felt a sudden drop and held on tighter. Betsy put her feet up against the dashboard as the truck flew downwards. Jane was bending over to set Midnight down into a fenced in pen within her reach. She didn't want to make more footprints than she absolutely had to at this size.

For Betsy, the simple act of her girlfriend bending down, and bringing the hand holding Betsy's truck with her as she did, felt like she was flying.

If Betsy were to guess, it must be what it felt like to be on a roller coaster. And Betsy never got on roller coasters. Too high. It seemed laughable now as her insides did somersaults from the jostling in Janey’s grip.

It wasn't that Jane was being careless on purpose, she simply had never gotten this big before. She wasn't used how different normal movements would be at this scale.

Betsy closed her eyes and groaned through her gritted teeth hoping that made it better. It did not. Then she felt herself suddenly rushing back up. She was definitely going to vomit. Just as she thought she was going past the point of losing her lunch, it stopped.

After a long moment of stillness, Betsy ventured to open one eye to peek out the truck's windshield. She saw Jane's face from a respectable distance away through the front windshield. She was still enormous but it wasn't as overwhelming. Instead, it was like Betsy was driving past a billboard with just a sliver of her girlfriend's face plastered across it. Betsy turned her head to see her girlfriend's fingers weren't covering the driver and passenger windows anymore. Betsy lowered her legs and slowly uncoiled her body. She had been tensing this whole time. She felt like she'd just run a 6 minute mile on the track field.

Betsy leaned over in the driver’s seat to peer down out her window. She saw that she she, and the whole truck, was resting on Jane's flat, outstretched palm. Betsy lowered her head and rested it against the steering wheel trying to compose herself. She rubbed her face against her hands and pushed her shoulder length hair back behind her ears. Then she looked out the driver's side window again and thought about getting out of the truck. But she decided against it. Instead, she cranked the window down and leaned her head out. She stared straight ahead directly at Jane.

Jane looked worried. Her red hair, pale freckled face, and bright blue eyes stood out all the more against the still dark gray and black sky behind her. The underside of the clouds looked very close to the top of Jane's head. "JANE…DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME GIRL?!" Betsy yelled out, saying her name like she always did. As two syllables, Jay-Nee.

Jane shrugged looking confused at her girlfriend. She stayed quiet, now mindful of how loud she was now.

Betsy let out an exasperated sigh of frustration.

"DO YOU REALIZE HOW BIG YOU ARE?! DON'T JUST JOSTLE ME AROUND OK?! YOU NEARLY GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!!!" Betsy yelled out the truck window again trying not to sound mad.

Betsy wasn't mad, just scared. She felt a constant lurch in her stomach and a jolt in her spine being this high. But she needed to keep it together for both of their sakes.

Betsy knew it wasn't Jane's fault, she couldn't help it. Ever since it first happened, Jane had been trying to learn how to control it. Sometimes it seemed like it was the only thing that Jane would think about.

It made Betsy feel so bad for her. She had comforted her huge, distraught girlfriend at various sizes so many times. Jane always thought she should have a handle on it.

But this was definitely a new height for both of them. And Betsy couldn’t stand being up here much longer, even if she was in Jane’s hand. Jane nodded understandingly. She kept her hand with Betsy and her truck on it steady and flat. She raised her other hand up beside her face with her fingers crossed.

Despite herself, Betsy laughed knowing what Jane meant. The giant ginger was hoping that she wouldn't screw up again but was making no promises. Jane smirked back instead of laughing. She uncrossed her mammoth fingers and pointed.

Betsy turned her head around and looked backwards to see where Jane was pointing. Betsy saw a tree line that wasn't much higher than the telephone pole at Jane's ankles. Betsy looked back at Jane's face.

"Pond?" Jane mouthed silently with a questioning look. It was Betsy's turn to look confused at her girlfriend. Normally, when Jane would get big and didn't want to be out and about, the forest at the edge of Jane's farm was a good hiding place. Because, normally, Jane didn't get much taller than those trees at her biggest.

In the dead center of those woods there was a big, deep pond fed by an underwater river.

The pond was Jane's safe place, and it figured that she'd want to go there now. Except Betsy didn't understand how the forest was going to provide any cover. As soon as folks came out of their storm shelters, the first thing they'd be able to see for as far as they could see was Janey standing taller than everything else. But Betsy didn't want to argue. Even if she could argue, she didn't want Jane's voice filling the air and making things worse. The coast would be clear of the tornado soon and people would be surveying the damage.

The pond was as good a place as any to head instead of making the poor girl just stand here like a redwood tree. Betsy remembered being awed by those trees as a little girl on her single trip to California with her family.

She never thought she'd actually be dating one someday.

"OK! BUT PUT THE TRUCK DOWN FIRST! CAREFULLY!!! I'LL DRIVE OVER AND MEET YOU THERE!" Betsy instructed.

Jane nodded silently. This time she bent down at the knees, crouching so that it kept her palm flat and upper body upright. She went very slowly. Betsy greatly appreciated Jane's care as she watched the sky zoom past her on the way back towards the ground.

She closed her eyes until it was over. Jane laid the back of her hand flat against the earth. Then, very slowly and delicately, she gripped Betsy's truck again with two fingers of her other hand, took it off her hand without lifting it much higher, and put it down safely on the ground. Betsy felt the rubber tires make contact with the much harder ground compared to Jane's hand that felt like being on sand. The driver side door flung open and Betsy toppled out onto the grass.

She stayed on all fours, her head pressed down against the ground in celebration at being there again. She breathed in the smell of dirt for a few more moments then rolled over onto her back. She looked up at the sky and saw Jane filling it. She was bent over, hands on her knees looking down at Betsy laid out. Betsy suddenly understood what so many bugs must feel like.

Her heart was pounding as she was looked over by her girlfriend of four years. She reminded herself it was Jane. Just giant, impossibly huge Jane.

Jane smiled, her big white teeth even brighter than usual against the stormy sky. Betsy kissed her hand and extended it up towards Jane.

It was something they'd started when Jane was a lot bigger than Betsy and didn't feel comfortable touching her or being touched. It wasn't a good idea to be touching Jane when her compunction acted up.

Besides her clothes growing with Jane, anything making skin to skin contact also grew. This was a source of constant frustration for Betsy who didn't feel like she'd been her proper size since the two first made out.

It caused Jane to shoot up and Betsy along with her. Betsy ended up being over 7 feet tall for a week before they'd manage to right size her again. Jane's secret was out to Betsy and the rest of her family. Along with the fact that they were in love.

Neither of them knew which fact was more challenging for their families.

Jane kissed her own hand and blew a kiss back.

Jane's hand stayed in the air and curled into one extended finger. She pointed towards the pond. Betsy nodded and got up with a grunt and back into her truck. She slammed the door shut, started the engine, put it into drive and started down the dirt road towards the one trailhead at the edge of the woods.

It would only take a couple of minutes to get there. Betsy looked in her rear view mirror back at Jane's legs. They weren't moving. All the redhead had done was stand back up to her full height. "What are you..." Betsy started asking herself in the truck cabin before Jane turned her body taking a step towards the forest.

Jane awkwardly stretched her foot over her farm's edge, the road and onto the grass across the way. Betsy realized she was trying to keep her footprints to a minimum. Stepping on tall plains grass made it a lot easier to disguise than when her canvas sneakers imprint could be plainly read on the ground.

After precariously balancing to get started, Jane caught up to the truck in just a few more steps. Her stride at this height was ludicrous. "Oh I see..." Betsy finished as her truck shook from each of Jane's footfalls while she drove.

Betsy reached the trailhead at just about the same time as Jane. She parked it and got out looking way up at Jane.

The big girl stopped and stood still again. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was tensing her whole body. Then she exhaled several long, deep times. It was slight, but Betsy noticed each time that Jane shrank down a little more each time.

Betsy was much better at math than Jane. She realized what must have looked like a little bit of height from her spot on the ground must have actually been dozens of feet lost for Jane with every exhale. Betsy was stunned. Jane had never been able to control it this much or this well before.

After a few more moments of doing this, the trees were at Jane's chest level. She was still real big but much more manageable and hideable.

"Oh my god Jane! That was amazing!" Betsy cheered, her hands cupped around her mouth as she yelled up to her girlfriend. She lowered them from her mouth to applaud, clearly impressed.

"I don't think I can do much more. I feel dizzy...like I'm going to throw up," Jane said pausing and bracing herself. One hand gripped the edge of her cutoff overalls. She looked wobbly.

"I know the feeling," Betsy crossed her arms.

She was amazed at herself for not making a mess several times by now from Jane moving her around like a toddler playing with a toy.

Betsy was usually the tall girl. Betsy's legs seemed to make up most of her frame. Her high waisted trousers made her look even taller. She was rail thin from years of running track.

People thought Betsy should play for the basketball team since she was tall. She was tall even without an unexpected boost from Jane. But she refused to play by the strange girls rules they'd made up for it compared to the boys, so she stuck with running.

In fact, she was a full head taller than Jane at her usual size. Her tan skin and short black hair couldn't make her look more different from her typically short girlfriend. Betsy often commented on how Jane was built like a "brick shithouse" from so many years of farm work.

Betsy liked that it made Jane blush every time she did.

But today Betsy was the small one and she wasn’t very amused by Jane’s compunction today like she normally would be. "You alright? Can we get your big backside out of sight before the whole town sees it now?" Betsy said turning her head towards town, listening for any shrieks.

Betsy was feeling a sudden urgency to get Jane hidden from view. The sky was turning more and more gray with each passing moment. It'd be broad daylight again soon. "I thought you liked my big backside," Jane objected letting her hands fall to grab her butt for emphasis.

"Listen you big goof, I don't care how big you are..." Betsy warned.

Jane held up her hands in surrender.

She hunched over and started carefully pushing her way into the forest like it was a cornfield, careful not to knock over or uproot any trees as she did. Betsy followed her into the woods.

Even if Betsy didn't know the woods like the back of her hand by now, it wouldn't be difficult to follow her girlfriend's pale, freckled legs amongst the tree trunks leading the way. *** End Part 2

[sizebrained]

I'm not sure if this is *supposed* to be a pair of giant legs the way the telephone pole and line make it look.

But I love this so much I had a little story idea pop up in my head I couldn't get rid of so I had to write it down.

Also great glow up from the last version, love tofupixel's stuff.

Whoops new g/t universe... CW: None, SFW

Word Count: 2,000

*** The town siren's crying wail filled the air. Easily heard over the increasingly louder and louder wind, even all the way out here. As if the angry sky wasn't enough of a warning of what was heading their way. The cows and horses on Jane's farm knew long before the siren had confirmed it. There was a tornado coming. First one of the season. Jane hadn't wanted to grow bigger before the storms, but the animals had panicked. They kept pulling out of Jane and her mother's grips. Desperate to follow their instinct to run away from the oncoming twister.

At her normal size of exactly 5 feet tall, Jane could never have managed to get them to the barn when they were this agitated. Even with her mother and ten year old littler brother Bobby helping.

Bobby's normally annoying demeanor disappeared in these kinds of situations. He was trying very hard to actually help. But one twist of the cow's head sent the poor boy flying sideways every time.

So she focused, held her breath, and grew. When she was done, she was four times her normal size.

It had been several years since Jane had discovered that her body had this "compunction" to grow bigger. She didn't know if it was nature, or magic, or what. She could just grow bigger. A few, mostly random, townfolk knew about Jane’s compunction too but they promised to keep it secret.

When she was big, Jane provided manual labor for them sometimes that would have either been impossible or very expensive otherwise. It helped ensure their silence.

It started shortly after her father died. Also right after she began puberty, like that wasn't hard enough without this complication. At first there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to what set Jane to growing, how big she would get, or how long it would last.

For lack of a better word, the family doctor had settled on what happened to Jane as a "compunction." There was nothing in any medical text that he had come across to explain it. Other than being a danger to low ceilings and tight places, he said Jane was otherwise a pretty typical, healthy teenager.

When their family doctor made the first house call after her first growth, he found a 20 foot, very embarrassed looking girl in pigtails looking down at him in the barn. He took it rather well. "Not the strangest thing I've seen to be honest," he told Jane's mother. It always made Jane wonder just what he had seen that her being bigger than an elephant didn't register at the top of his list.

When she first started getting her compunctions, she made the animals nervous in their stables. Even though Jane had cared and fed some of them for years, most were unnerved by her newfound size.

Eventually, the animals got used to Jane's bigger version. Now, most of them didn't seem to think it was unusual to be moved around as easily as a child's favorite stuffed toy.

Jane was currently walking with two cows under her arms towards the barn like they needed to be tucked in for bedtime.

Thankfully, Jane's clothes, and anything else that happened to be touching her body at the time, grew along with her when she did. They couldn't afford to go through clothes at the rate of her body's "compunction spells" otherwise.

One time she grew while she was brushing her hair. It ended up being 10 feet long. Jane had never timed it right to be holding it again when she shrank back down. So the 10 foot brush was hidden up in the barn's haystacks till she did.

Over the past several years she had learned to control it. Somewhat.

Better at directing it was more accurate. She couldn't really control it that much or for that long. It was like tensing a muscle or holding her breath. Trying to hold her breath seemed to slow it down sometimes. But sometimes holding her breath also made her grow.

Jane's body would do what it wanted to do whether her mind agreed or not. She felt like her body betrayed her. Sometimes in more ways than just getting bigger.

And getting back down to her usual size could sometimes take days. Jane was thankful to have finally graduated high school. She got tired of coming up with new excuses for missing so much school, waiting to shrink back down to her normal five foot nothing self. Jane's eyes passed by her bedroom's second story window as she made her way to the barn with the cows. Jane's mother had taken Bobby by his hand, heading as fast as she could manage across the open field between the barn and their modest farmhouse.

They passed each other heading in opposite directions. Jane with cows and her mother with Bobby. Jane's mother yelled over her shoulder at her first born. "Jane! Get those two in the barn now! And if you're not fixing to shrink down in the next 5 minutes to fit in the shelter then you need to make sure you're nowhere near that twister!" "Yes mama. Don't worry about me, just get safe in the shelter with the ankle biter."

At this size, Jane only had to speak in her normal voice to be heard over the increasingly louder wind. Her enormous red converse sneakers were making big oblong imprints in the grass with every step. It felt like she was just going outside in a light rain storm at this size. Bobby wasn't quite small enough to be a literal ankle biter.

Jane smirked about that while walking into the barn door. She was glad she didn't have to duck to fit. Jane carried the cows in like house cats, instead of several thousand pounds of beef. She set the cows down in a big pen in the corner with the three others she had wrangled inside. Jane shushed the animals, scattering some feed like spilt table salt in her enormous fingertips. She offered more calming reassurances down at them in her deep booming voice. Jane felt an overwhelming relief that they hadn't lost any of them. While she was distracted by that fleeting thought of gratitude, like she had jinxed it, their old mare Midnight got her stable door open.

The horse made a run for it out of the barn trying to get away from the coming storm. "Midnight! No!" Jane cried and stomped out of the barn after her. Unfortunately, Bobby also saw Midnight emerge from the open barn door. And while his mother was occupied getting the shelter door open with both hands, Bobby also ran after Midnight.

He started towards Midnight in a straight line as his sister emerged out of the barn shaking the earth in pursuit. Jane glared at the boy for his recklessness. "Bobby get your scrawny ass in the basement! I'll get her!" Jane boomed across the field at her little brother.

She grew noticeably bigger while she yelled. The ten year boy old froze in place at the sound of his big sister's much bigger voice giving him orders. Their mother rushed over to Bobby dragging him, slack jawed and staring at his huge sister, back and down into the basement shelter. Jane caught up to Midnight in a few rushed steps. She slid to a stop and scooped the scared horsed up with one hand. Her kicking hooves lifted up into the air frantically searching for the ground. Jane heard the clattering of the shelter's steel door. Her mother was having a hard time getting the shelter door shut. She looked over to the horizon. The tornado was in sight and it was getting closer.

It was a big one. She felt scared.

Then Jane felt the wrong thing.

"Aw crap," she thought to herself. Jane quickly set Midnight down on the ground again. The horse whinnied but stayed put, agitated but loyal. Jane didn't need to deal with an overgrown horse trampling everything on top of what she knew was coming.

Jane looked down at her shoes. She saw the ground racing away around them while the shoes stayed put.

Jane's mother and Bobby stared up at Jane for one long moment before shutting the shelter door and locking it from the inside. Jane felt queasy as the ground swirled below. Except that wasn't what was happening. Jane was getting bigger. And bigger. Jane looked at the 50 foot telephone pole on the side of the road in front of her house on the long dirt road leading into town. At first she was looking up at it. Then she could stare at the top at eye level without having to crane her neck at all.

In a few heartbeats more, Jane was looking down at it.

And down. And down. It got smaller and smaller as she went up and up.

She could feel her feet sinking into the ground as she got heavier and heavier with every passing moment. Midnight trotted around the growing set of shoes. The horse decided the safest place was in the gap between them. She settled there while they continued to get bigger.

Jane could tell this was going to be a bad one. She closed her eyes and grimaced feeling sick to her stomach like she was on one of the state fair's carnival rides. Jane didn't notice the old blue truck rushing into her driveway. It came to an abrupt stop at an odd angle next to the telephone pole. Another girl, the same age as Jane, stepped out of the truck and looked up at the towering figure filling the sky. "JANE?!" the girl yelled up towards the black clouds where Jane’s head seemed to be going, making Jane's name into two syllables instead of one.

To the girl, it looked like Jane was trying to have a grow off with the approaching tornado. It looked like Jane was fixing to win. She'd never seen her this huge before. The girl yelled again cupping her hands around her mouth, hoping it helped. Jane heard her own name like a whisper. She ventured to open one eye and slowly tilt her head down. She didn't feel like she was going to throw up anymore. That meant it was over.

But everything was tinier than it had ever been. Much, much tinier.

That meant she was big. Really big. Jane didn't want to hazard a guess at just how big. Seeing the 50 foot telephone pole barely reach her ankle told her enough. "Uh...Hi Bets..." Jane said looking down at the ground. She saw the girl cover her ears and cower as Jane's few words shook everything.

Her normal speaking voice at this size was as loud as the town siren.

Jane was suddenly thankful there was a tornado to help cover up her compunction. Jane looked over at how much closer the tornado had gotten and sighed.

She recognized her girlfriend's parked truck. It looked like one of Bobby's toy tin cars next to her huge shoe. "What are you...nevermind...there's no time..." Jane apologized while bending down. One huge finger extended from Jane's hand and gently pushed her girlfriend back into her truck's still open driver side door. Then she pushed the car door shut as delicately as she could manage with her finger tip.

Jane picked up her girlfriend's truck between two fingers, with her safely back inside of it, and lifted it. Up and up and up. Betsy screamed, holding on for dear life inside the truck cabin.

Jane reached down with her other hand and also, very delicately, picked up Midnight with just two fingers like she was picking up a house spider to take outside. Jane turned her head to look at the tornado. Luckily, it would pass harmlessly across the field between the barn and house. She got worked up and huge for nothing.

Mom, Bobby, the animals, and all of their earthly possessions were safe.

Jane lifted the truck up to her face and gave her girlfriend Betsy an awkward smile. Jane’s freckled face filled the smaller girl's windshield like the morning sunrise. Betsy waved back, still a little frightened at seeing Jane this enormous.

Then Jane carefully, and slowly, stepped over the telephone lines and dirt road parallel to her house. The enormous 19 year old took a few steps to the side and watched the tornado pass by her.

At this vantage, she could admire just how beautiful it was and was thankful that the tornado would help cover her enormous sneaker tracks a bit. ***

look at my forever wip

[sizebrained]

A Titanic Typhoon (Mermay AU), Part 4

Ben and Hazel slow down to get to know one another now that they’re "neighbors" on this isolated island next to a deep pit of horrors.

Content Warning: None, SFW but lots of awkward attraction and unintentional interspecies flirting.

Word Count: 3,200 ***

A loud tapping against the lighthouse woke Hazel up. It echoed through the tall structure’s mostly empty interior. A few days ago, Hazel would have thought of the lighthouse as tall.

But with Ben around everything else seemed quite diminutive. Ignoring the fact that there was nothing else big enough to tap on the upper level's exterior with a single finger, the tapping was also in the same pattern as the night before.

Still lying in bed, Hazel opened her eyes to look out the lighthouse's first floor window. It looked out onto the ocean beyond. The mattress was bare without any sheets or blankets, just a pillow.

Her arrival to the island had been so chaotic that she hadn't unpacked or even bothered to get the lighthouse properly ready for human habitation again. After everything that had happened, she had collapsed out of exhaustion. As he gorged himself on giant lobsters, or at least the giant ones that had chased Hazel, Ben promised to keep watch for her that night. He said he didn't mind if it would make her feel safer. He claimed that he was a light sleeper.

It did help. She had slept like a log under his watchful green eyes.

Now that she was awake, she felt it again in her chest. It wasn't a dream. Ben was real.

The morning sunlight streaming through the windows was replaced with the shadow from his huge looming form. Her ocean view had changed to one big green eye peeking inside. But she could still hear the familiar sounds of waves and sea birds in the distance.

Ben's eye was so big the window couldn’t even frame it. She mainly saw his glowing iris bordered by crisp whiteness. Hazel felt like a tiny goldfish in a bowl being checked on by its owner.

He was so gigantic. Just one of his eyes was filling a window that she could easily climb out of with her whole body. It reaffirmed that she had discovered the biggest animal on the planet. Ever.

But was that accurate? It was more accurate to say that he had discovered her. He was the one who chose to rescue her.

And he didn’t have to rescue her. She was surprised that he even noticed something her size. He could have let her drown and she would have had no idea he ever existed in that storm. He must have incredible vision.

She thought he had mentioned something about keeping an eye out during storms for some reason. She wanted to know more. She wanted to know everything. It seemed ironic that after years of struggling and lobbying and campaigning for money to come to this island, all of her work seemed to go overboard like she had off the ferry boat here.

Nothing else she had planned mattered now.

Hazel slowly sat upright and let her bare feet touch the cold stone floor. The sensation helped wake her up.

What was she to Ben? Not food. If she was food, he would have surely eaten her in the storm. She thought he would when she found herself in his mouth. But no.

He'd saved her life. Twice if she counted the lobsters. He even kept watch over her like her own personal lighthouse keeping her safe under those glowing green eyes.

Even at five stories high on a 50 foot cliff, Ben dwarfed the lighthouse that Hazel now called her home and base of operations for the next year.

Were they friends? Already? Could they be? Was she going to be like Jane Goodall or Diane Fossey? But instead of apes she got the biggest undiscovered intelligent species ever?

Should she be treating him like a field subject instead of a friend? Had she crossed some line?

What even were the ethics around something like this?

Still sitting on the side of the bed, Hazel watched the massive green eye move up to a higher window then back down again to the one closest to her tiny bed.

Her unmade bed was against one wall of the main floor of the lighthouse. The living space, her research equipment, dive gear, and other supplies but especially her mini fridge sized submersible drone all shared the first, main level of the lighthouse. There was a small loft one floor above that must have been used for old radio equipment. Some wires remained but everything else was gone. Other than that, it was just a built in staircase winding up along the lighthouse wall to the lens assembly at the very top. Ben tapped the side of the lighthouse again with one of his claws in the same pattern. Hazel sighed. She wished she could talk to her old Professor for advice. She’d never reacted well to a neighbor waking her before her body was ready, but she’d make an exception for him. "The sun is up. Max was always up before then," Ben added as his membrane flicked sideways across the eye filling the window.

Hazel looked at her watch and saw it was almost 7 in the morning. She groaned and fell face down back in bed, holding a pillow over her head. Normally, she was an early riser.

But not after the past 48 hours she'd had. "Alright. Alright. Can I please wake up with some privacy for a moment?" Hazel asked realizing how absurd this was to say.

The eye whooshed away from the window letting yellow sunlight pour back in. She had examined almost every inch that made up all 230 feet of Ben, as impossible as that seemed. And she was the one asking for privacy.

She had cataloged, measured, photographed, and taken extensive notes about everything she could think. But it felt like she was just getting started. Were they friends? Had she already made a friend with another intelligent species?

She'd also been inside of him. Literally inside his mouth.

She couldn't say that of any of her previous romantic relationships. Her latest ex-girlfriend Mary barged into her mind and Hazel's morning mood was very much under threat of going south. Ben didn't deserve that, he'd been nothing but kind and sweet. She would need some very strong tea this morning. After several long minutes, Hazel opened the lighthouse's steel door and walked outside. Visible remnants of what happened to the lobsters were all over the ground. Dried fluids and bits of broken shell. Hazel braced herself with a big sip of her tea. She bent down and picked up a palm sized piece of shell, slipping it into the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt to look at later. As soon as she turned the corner of the lighthouse, there was Ben. Everywhere.

He was in the same spot as last night. She wondered if he'd been there the whole night or had taken "water breaks" like yesterday. "Did you stay there all night? Did you get to sleep?" Hazel asked up at his face looking down at her. Her neck was sore from having to tilt her head back to see him yesterday. Even lying down on his stomach…or stomachs…he was so big and high.

This wasn’t going to work. Hazel held up a hand before Ben could answer to gesture for him to wait. It had worked before and worked again now as his face looked like it was holding something in.

Hazel went back into the lighthouse and trudged up the winding staircase to the top. She made it to the very top where the lantern room where the lens assembly waited for night to automatically turn on after charging all day.

Hazel walked over to the old glass door that led out to the small deck that wrapped the whole way around the lighthouse top. It was usually called the "widow's walk" for being a place on the roof of a house where women used to wait for a sign that their sailor husbands were returning safely in the old days. They often didn't return, hence the name.

She struggled to push open the glass door but it finally gave with a sharp creak. She walked out cautiously onto the steel grating, thankful for something Ben's size nearby in case it gave way or she fell.

She walked over to the railing and held on with both hands to look straight ahead. Now she could look at him eye to eye. Or at the very least, look at his face without destroying her neck. It was sore from doing it so often yesterday in her excitement.

Even though she could see his face by looking straight ahead, she was caught off guard by how Ben’s size disoriented her. He seemed to fill the sky in front of her. She expected to see a cloud bump into his head at any moment.

It wasn't just his height, but for lack of a better term that didn't easily come to her mind, it was also his girth. He was so broad and thick like a whale would be.

Hazel peered down over the railing. His human looking torso went all the way down almost midway of the cliff face.

Her eyes followed his body down to where the human part met his tail stock, the caudal peduncle. He had curled his body to one side so he could sit, at least his version of it, along the shoreline.

The ocean waves lapped against his backside instead of the rocks. It probably helped him keep from drying out like yesterday when he beached himself.

This new vantage from the top of the lighthouse made him seem bigger not smaller. There was so much of him.

She felt her heart skip a beat as the full size of him sank in. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach just as much as her brain could process what she was seeing. Her eyes traced his body back up to his waiting face.

She was gawking. He seemed to notice her staring. He looked almost...bashful.

“No, not the whole night. I think the critters...or lobsters you said? They stopped coming onto shore once they realized there weren’t any returning…so I went for a swim. But don't worry I would have seen them if they came up to shore,” Ben explained seeming disappointed he didn't get to eat even more of them.

Hazel could only guess as to how many car sized lobsters met their ends at his hunger.

“And I'm almost done sleeping...did you sleep alright?” Ben asked his face coming a little closer towards her standing on the lighthouse.

It was a struggle, but Hazel kept herself still and didn’t move back. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings despite her body’s impulse at something so big coming at her.

"Wait...you are almost done sleeping?" Hazel realized the answer before she had even finished her question.

Ben must sleep with unihemispheric slow-wave sleep like a dolphin. He could let one side of his brain sleep while the other functioned. She had wondered if he was maybe like a sperm whale or whale shark that slept in a vertical drift for fifteen to twenty minutes bursts.

But of course, something that could learn human speech was more like a dolphin with intelligence so sleeping like one made sense. This was incredible.

"You're so fascinating..." Hazel said to herself thinking out loud without realizing it.

"Uh...thanks...But did you get a good night's rest? It looked like you did," Ben said truly embarrassed now.

It was so unreal to see something so big be nervous. Hazel felt her heart rate slowly getting faster as she thought about it.

“I did thank you. How are you so…did Max and Jenny teach you manners and English?” Hazel said curiously trying to distract herself with conversation.

Ben just nodded in response.

“Jenny was a governess before she married Max and they moved here. She said she’d whip me into shape in no time. I didn’t know what she meant until much later,” Ben explained.

“Speaking of…well manners…you never told me what you’re doing out here,” Ben said as the membrane blinked over his eyes again expectantly.

“Oh my...did I not?��� Hazel touched her forehead and ran her hand backwards trying to smooth her messy hair.

She suddenly felt very self conscious about being in front of him straight out of bed.

She was so caught up in excitement she completely forgot. It was so unlike her. But these were very unusual circumstances.

“I apologize, that is rude of me. Here I am moving into the neighborhood and…sorry,” Hazel stopped realizing he probably didn’t know what a neighborhood was.

She thought of how to explain it so he would comprehend. She spoke more slowly and deliberately than she normally would hoping it was easier to follow. A lot had changed since the 1800's.

“Jenny was a governess? I am like her. But I do not teach children. Well I did but not anymore and they were never young, young children just younger than me. Nevermind. Anyway, I am a kind of teacher at a university in England. Well not really teach at the moment but I study the ocean and its inhabitants. I came here to study this trench for the next year,” Hazel finished having made a mess of an easy explanation.

When she had mentioned the trench, she pointed behind Ben at the dark expanse of water off the island's shore. His enormous head turned to look.

It was where the real deep began and where she imagined he came from.

“Oh! That’s why you did all of that yesterday with me? All the questions and stuff? I just thought it was just one of the stranger reactions I've gotten from your kind. You seemed excited not scared. Usually it's a lot of screaming,” Ben asked sounding excited now.

“Yes that's why and I understand why a lot of people might be scared of you. But I'm not," Hazel tried to steady herself by smiling as she continued because she was scared but also thrilled at the same time.

Both feeling fought inside of her as she went on, "Ben the other humans may not have fully appreciated this, but you are quite extraordinary. You are extremely large but that is just one of the things about you that interests me. Even if you were my size, there has never been anything like you that we know about. So for me it's an opportunity of my lifetime. You're one of a kind."

Ben suddenly looked confused.

“I have a sister,” he replied.

Hazel felt like she was going to faint right off the lighthouse.

“There is…are more of you?!” Hazel asked gripping the railing tightly.

Ben nodded again.

“We don’t stay around the same place at the same time together for long. Not enough food. I haven’t been back here for…well...a while? I needed to give this patch of ocean a rest,” Ben said as if he was a farmer explaining a fall harvest.

Hazel was thinking a thousand miles a minute. Of course something his size would have to move around. He could decimate an entire reef, no an entire ecosystem. She wondered if some notable fishery collapses in the past that had mystified scientists could actually just have been Ben or this sibling or some other relative overeating. The fact no one had noticed something his size after all of the years was the real wonder.

“Of course…” Hazel replied softly still shocked.

Ben’s face moved a little closer to her, just a few feet away now. If he got any closer, she would have thought his big green eyes would cross. Hazel stayed still.

“Are you ok?” Ben asked worried.

“Yes Of course. Why did you ask?” Hazel lied.

This was all too much. She felt like she was going to pass out.

“Your heart is beating very, very fast,” Ben said matter of factly.

“How can you…” Hazel started feeling betrayed by her own body.

“I can see it…we’ll not see it. Not with my eyes anyway but I don’t know the word. I can also see by hearing? I really only use my eyes for surface details,” Ben explained.

Oh my god of course...Hazel thought. The way he could speak without his tongue and what else she guessed he must have been capable of doing with his remarkable bioacoustics.

If he had anything even close to a dolphin’s sonar abilities, like he did with their same way of sleeping, he could easily detect her heartbeat and probably much more. She wondered just what else he was capable of doing.

She now had a big new concern about revealing him to the world. A concern almost as big as Ben. She knew less scrupulous military scientists would have very different reactions to him.

Ben stared at her getting lost in her silent train of thought again worried that he'd said something wrong.

“I’m sorry was that rude? Jenny didn’t like when I did that. She called it spying but I can’t really turn it off. It just happens by itself, like this morning. I didn’t actually need to look in the window I knew you were already waking up. Humans seem more comfortable with thinking I have to use my eyes to see them…” Ben rambled getting flustered over something that was perfectly natural for him.

The idea that something more than 10 times her size could get flustered in front of her was flattering.

Oh god...he's cute...why is he cute?! Hazel thought in distress then tried to calm down realizing he'd notice.

He did.

“You did not do anything wrong. I am just thinking...too much. You are quite amazing Ben,” Hazel said trying to cover up her worry by smiling at him.

"Uh anyway, I need to unpack and figure out what...well where to start," Hazel said slowly stepping back from the railing. Ben nodded again and shifted on the shoreline, it caused a rumble that shook the lighthouse all the way up to the widow's walk where she stood. Hazel grabbed hold of the railing again.

"Oh sorry...I didn't...sorry," Ben said looking sheepish.

"It is alright. You are just very, very big," Hazel said through a forced smile as her heart started racing again from terror this time.

"Do you want...I can put you down out front if you don't want to use the stairs," Ben offered trying to be helpful.

That didn't seem like a great idea to Hazel at the moment.

"No, no, just maybe stay still until I am back down please?" Hazel said steadying herself back towards the glass door.

She struggled to open it again, but then the tip of one huge claw floated over her head. It bent very slightly at the seam of the door and it popped open rather effortlessly.

"That always gets stuck. I think it's the salt air," Ben said pulling his finger back away from the now open door.

"Thank you. You really are quite the gentleman," Hazel turned to smile up at him. This was going to be a very different year of research than she had expected. *** End Part 4

[sizebrained]

A Titanic Typhoon (Mermay AU), Part 3

The scientist in Hazel takes over as she explore more of Ben and learns a bit about what else lies in the deep trench offshore.

Content Warning: So much size fluff and some terror but otherwise SFW...again.

Word count: 4,000ish

***

Ben's long, wet, unkempt hair was down over his eyes and face. He shook his head and shoulders like a dog spraying everything with even more water. Hazel laughed as she got drenched. She was sure that it was totally unintended. But she thought she may need to wear her wetsuit a lot more around him. Ben looked down at her and grimaced. "Sorry. It's been a while I forgot how much...sorry. I didn't mean to get you so...wet," Ben carelessly wiped his shoulder with a hand and only made it worse. His hand swept enough water off the surface of his smooth skin to fill several small swimming pools.

Hazel ran her own hand down her face wiping off some water.

“It is alright, I doubt it could be helped at your size,” she reassured him.

She gripped the bottom of her overshirt and rang it out with her hands forcing water out onto the sand at her feet. She gave up. She was drenched.

Hazel took it off, fluffing it out, and laid it out on the rock to dry. She was thankful that her tank top was navy blue today. She made a note not to wear her white ones around him if she was going to get soaked like this every time he came out of the ocean. "Um...how do you want me to, I can't really lie on my back and I don't think you should climb up here..." Ben struggled thinking of how to accommodate the tiny human who seemed very excited by all of this.

"Oh! Just lie on your stomach like before please and can you open your mouth first? I want to see if you have teeth. It was too dark the other night and I was thinking of…well...being swallowed. It was very distracting. Speaking of do you know how many stomachs you have?" Hazel exclaimed spilling over with excitement.

She pulled out a notepad and camera from her bag. The membrane blinked over Ben's eyes again as he very slowly and deliberately laid down until the front of his body rested along the island's shoreline again. Hazel hopped off the rock and ran up to the side of his resting head.

"I don't know how many stomachs I have...do you?" Ben said perplexed as he slowly laid down.

"Yes I do know, I am human and humans have just one stomach. But most baleen whales like Humpbacks have four of them. So let's see inside your mouth..." Hazel explained. She ran around to the sand about ten feet in front of his face. She looked up at his incredibly bright green eyes. They looked like they glowed even in daylight. Ben's head went up and up and up towards the clouds.

Ben extended one long finger from under his chin towards her. The point of the claw rushed forwards. Then, quite tenderly, it poked Hazel square in her midsection right above her stomach. He was so gentle for something so huge.

Hazel had taken several stumbling steps backwards as the tip of the claw came towards her like the bow of a cruise ship. But she couldn't escape it. It was so gentle when it finally made contact with her shirt it shocked her. She'd been poked harder by female relatives harassing her about when she was going to finally have a baby.

"Just one little stomach? It must not take very much to fill up..." Ben guessed and pulled back his fingertip to rest under his chin again nonchalantly. Hazel exhaled not realizing she had been holding her breath.

She took him in again, amazed at all of this and finally stuttered out, "Open...open wide...please..." She lifted the camera up to her eye and focused it as he did. Still a bit caught off guard by his touch. Her heart was racing. Ben opened his jaw like she requested, just enough for her to see inside his mouth. Hazel gasped. She could clearly see two different rows along the top and bottom of his jaw. They were different in both shape and texture.

In front, there was a row of sharp, conical teeth just like an orca or sperm whale. But Ben's were far larger than either of them. Each tooth must have been two feet or more in length.

She wondered if he didn't show his teeth when he smiled because he had learned it was somewhat terrifying.

Just behind the long white spears there was a darker, yellowish baleen filter. It ran along the whole length of his upper and lower jaw like a long thick broom head.

Given his size, he must have needed a tremendous amount of energy for his body. What a strange adaptation that allowed him to gather food in completely different ways. "Bloody hell...I truly have no idea how many stomachs you have," Hazel said giggling and furiously clicking picture after picture with her camera trying to capture everything. She was thankful she brought plenty of backup hard drives. "What?" Ben asked very clearly even though his mouth was wide open.

His speech wasn't obstructed at all with his mouth open for her...he didn't use that big tongue to speak. He must have been only using his larynx somehow. She couldn't imagine how he had that kind of control over it. Maybe he had some kind of phonic lips like a dolphin. "Wait…do that again," Hazel demanded. "What?" Ben asked again in his clear, deep voice that rumbled through her whole body from head to toe. Now that she was focused on it, she realized he spoke from deep in his throat not mostly at the lips and mouth like her. "Fascinating!" Hazel said taking a few more photos then furiously scribbling in her notebook. His bioacoustics must have been incredibly complex. She had to know more. This questioning and poking and prodding went on for hours. Ben had to take several "water breaks."

His enormous body labored to get off the shoreline back into the ocean for a bit, only to have to beach himself again for further examination.

He was being such a good sport about it. Hazel felt a lot more like a doctor giving an overgrown patient a checkup than a scientist cataloguing a new species.

"Ben...how deep can you go?" Hazel asked looking up at his house sized face.

"Deep," he said simply tilting his head down to look at her.

"Yes but exactly how deep do you think?" Hazel reiterated.

"To the bottom...I can go down to the bottom if I need to but not for too long," Ben replied making Hazel gasp again for the thousandth time.

She continued taking photos, measurements, and asking him questions for hours.

It had taken most of the day and now the sun was starting to set.

Hazel was standing on the top of Ben's back as daylight mellowed with the sunset. She was resting a hand to balance herself against the huge dorsal fin that stuck straight up like the lighthouse.

She had made a makeshift ruler using a spool of safety line that she had for cave diving. This guide line was a critical piece of safety equipment under normal circumstances. There was 150 feet of line on that spool and she could already tell it wouldn't be long enough. She continued walking down his body pulling out the spool. Hazel kept getting distracted by the almost fluorescent white of his spots. They were dazzling.

"These are so gorgeous...Just like a whale shark...I love them..." Hazel said more to herself than Ben. She bent down and traced the circular shape of one with her finger.

She'd never gotten to be up this close or handsy for so long with any marine mammal this size. She felt like she could explore and learn about Ben forever.

"Thanks...I grew them myself," Ben said looking over his shoulder at her with a toothless grin.

She was making her way down the small of his back towards his fluke tail. She was standing right where the humanish looking part of him converged with the whale part of him. "You could hear that?!" Hazel said stopping and turning to look at him. She noticed where his ears could be if he was a person but only saw two large holes on the otherwise smooth sides of his head. "Yes? I have pretty big ears...well not ears..but you probably have another word for them," Ben explained.

Hazel had been listing off strange sounding words at him all day while she was examining him.

"Tympanic bullae," Hazel replied immediately.

"I'll keep calling them ears..." Ben said after a brief pause at the strange sounding words.

"Oh I almost forgot, I can also do this..." Ben said as the white spots on his back suddenly disappeared.

Hazel looked down in surprise as the top of his back began to change colors in seconds. In a moment it turned tan and blended in with the sandy beach. Then it went through a series of colors under her feet like a kaleidoscope.

It was as if she had been standing on a movie theater screen.

Hazel's jaw dropped. Only a few species had the kind of chromatophores under the skin to allow for this kind of manipulation. Mostly cephalopods. And absolutely no whales could do it.

This was impossible, but then again everything about Ben was impossible from her current scientific understanding. Hazel realized it must be how something so large had avoided being seen by satellites or drones. "Wait...do you do this when you swim at the surface?" Hazel asked stopping her measurements to jot down some thoughts in her notepad. She was nearly out of pages.

"Yes...or when I'm hunting deeper..." Ben said looking out at the ocean just as the membrane flicked over them again.

Hazel felt a shiver run up her spine at the thought of something his size hunting and pursuing her despite how gentle he'd been so far.

"You should head inside the lighthouse soon. It's a full moon tonight," he added, tilting his head back to better look at her still writing notes.

"Oh I adore a full moon on the ocean, why should..." Hazel started, staring straight down at her notes before he interrupted. Louder. "It's not safe tonight, not on a full moon. Especially not after a big storm like that, everything gets stirred up. There'll be critters. That's what Max and Jenny used to call them. Critters..." Ben emphasized the word especially.

"They come up on full moons from the deep. I think the light attracts and confuses them," Ben continued watching as she pulled the line down along his body measuring. "Critters?!" Hazel asked incredulous putting her notepad in her pants pocket.

Ben's normal coloration returned and she was suddenly in a field of white dots again like smashed dandelions on black silk. "I will have you know I grew up almost as much on or in the sea as you. And other than, well YOU, I have seen every other manner of 'critter' there is in the water. I’m not scared of animals," she finished trying to convince herself of it as much as Ben.

Humans know more about deep space than the deep oceans. The grant she received, that landed her on this island in the first place, was based on trying to learn what unknown things could be at the criminally under-explored trench just offshore.

No one else was willing to come to such a remote place for so long so she lucked out. At least in not having anything or anyone tying her down on land.

A new species, or even dozens sometimes, is discovered every time a deep submersible goes down. If Ben existed, it made Hazel wonder what else could be out there. It made her uncharacteristically anxious about what a critter might be.

But she was too proud to admit that now. Especially after being saved by Ben in a way that might have killed her father from embarrassment. Falling overboard in bad weather, she could just imagine the scolding she would get for such a travesty.

"Ok…suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn you," Ben frowned.

Hazel jumped off of Ben holding onto the spool of line. She swung it like a jump rope so it rolled and reached over his tail.

Ben lowered his fluke at the same time so that the sharp outline of it was flat against the sand to make it easier for her.

Hazel noticed and smiled. She was so insignificantly tiny compared to him and yet he was so considerate of her. It was almost as much of a surprise as his existence.

She reeled the line back in with the hand crank on the side of the spool, counting to herself.

"My god...230 feet..." Hazel let out quietly. She stared up along the length of him to his curious expression. He was the width of a football pitch. Twice as long as a blue whale and much thicker even at his narrowest. "Is that a lot?" Ben asked tilting his head slightly. "You're the biggest creature...ever," Hazel added having no idea how she might get an accurate weight for him. "Creature?" Ben asked twisting his body slightly so his neck didn't have to turn as much.

His dorsal fin scraped across the ground as he did, knocking over several tall palm trees by the roots like they were weeds in a garden. "I am sorry Ben, I meant animal. You're the largest animal...ever. Especially a warm blooded one..." Hazel gawked at the side of him while making the long trek back towards his top half. "It's ok. I guess I'm a lot..." Ben gave her a toothless grin like she had mistakenly put milk in his tea. "I'm getting dry again though and it's getting dark...Would you stay inside the lighthouse tonight? Please?" Ben pleaded again. Hazel had thought it odd for the lighthouse to have such a thick steel door. She wondered where it came from.

She thought maybe it was for kind of bad storm she had experienced yesterday. But she'd been at lots of lighthouses around the world and she'd only ever encountered sturdy wooden doors. Sometimes there'd be a metal door, but it was always much thinner than this one. Even in places that had similarly terrible storms.

The door on the lighthouse almost seemed military grade. It reminded her of the door for some of the deep submersibles she'd taken trips on at Woods Hole in Massachusetts. They were the ones who had funded her research grant to come here. Ben didn't say anything else about it as he contorted his tremendous mass back into the water. For something so large, it was eerily silent as he sank down into the water. It created another huge wave for her but what must have been only a small ripple for him.

The water that rushed to shore came all the way up to Hazel's knees. She watched him go in quiet amazement.

She hadn't felt like this since she was a little girl and saw her first shark in an aquarium. Watching the sinister looking shape slowly swim by in its tank during a school trip was etched into her brain like a core memory. But she wasn't scared by the shark. She was filled with awe. She'd been chasing that feeling ever since.

Now with Ben she had it in droves. More than ever before. It reminded her of poets like Shelley talking of the divine to be found in nature. Ben didn't surface again once he went under. He had told her he could hold his breath for a while. She had intended to time him the following day. Maybe he needed a longer dip after so much time on land.

Hazel lugged her heavy pack filled to the brim now with Ben data back up the small hill to the lighthouse. She went inside, changed into some fresh clothes, and made herself some dinner. While she was cooking, she found a bottle of surprisingly good rum in her crate of provisions.

She didn't remember packing it, it was too expensive for her.

The Captain must have slipped it in feeling guilty for almost killing them. "Bless your brilliant soul. You old salt," Hazel smiled to herself and poured some in a coffee cup.

She took a small sip enjoying the spicy burn. Hazel looked out the window and saw the dark water lit up by the rising full moon.

It was beautiful. She thought the way the ocean reflected the moon's light was far better than the stars. Although out here, away from all civilization, the starry sky was also magnificent. She felt ridiculously blessed to see both on such display.

She took a moment to be fully in the moment.

But then she thought of Ben's dazzling white spots and how his skin could change at will. Compared to him, Hazel thought the night ocean and sky had lost much of their luster.

She debated herself about what such a discovery like Ben would mean.

Her modest academic career would be catapulted into the stratosphere for a start. This would define her life and who she was forever.

If she went public, not only would her research grant be deemed a massive success, she'd be listed amongst the greatest scientists and explorers of all time.

Especially when there were maddeningly few women who got any credit for their work. The closest comparison she could think of was Mary Anning, who discovered the first dinosaur fossil and changed all known natural science.

But those were just fossils, an ichthyosaur ironically, a creature...no animal of the sea like Ben. But Hazel tried to imagine what would have happened if Mary Anning had discovered an actual, living dinosaur.

Ben's existence would also change everything known about natural science, maybe even more than the dinosaurs had. Even a living one.

That is...if she did let the world know about Ben's existence.

She had to share his existence with the world...didn't she?

She wondered whether any of the other humans who had encountered him, like this Max and Jenny before, realized what Ben would mean to the human world.

Is that why they kept him secret?

Should she keep him a secret too like they had apparently decided?

And what would happen to Ben if the world knew...He certainly couldn't fit in any aquarium. Maybe he could be convinced to willingly linger near Monterey Bay aquarium's shoreline.

Hazel took another sip of the rum and walked out of the lighthouse, listlessly, down towards the beach.

She looked down at one of her father's dive watches on her wrist. It was almost midnight. Her mind was preoccupied with her predicament. She hadn't even been on the island for a day but everything was different now.

The smell of the ocean air relaxed and restored her. Just being near the ocean, regardless of its inhabitants, made her feel like she was home. She wondered if anyone would even believe her about Ben without seeing for themselves. Otherwise he might be dismissed as some kind of jackalope like prank. She sat down on the same large rock at the shoreline that she was on earlier in the day with him. Ben's enormous body had left a deep impression...everywhere. Her eyes followed the long, unmistakable indentation of his curved shape that depressed the earth almost a full foot downwards, or more, in some places. Then she heard it.

A strange clicking sound...from behind her. She turned around while sipping her rum to see what it was.

When she did, she dropped her cup screaming.

Hazel scrambled backwards, falling off the rock into the sand with a wet thud. Thankfully, it didn't knock the breath out of her like yesterday on the boat. The sound was coming from a lobster. But the lobster was the size of a truck.

It looked like a regular lobster but enlarged by some kind of growth ray from a bad, 1950’s science fiction movie. And like a regular lobster it had two front pincer claws, but they were huge.

Each pincer claw was as long as she was tall, maybe a bit more. They were opening and closing ever so slightly. And as they did their thick, armored shell clicked against itself.

That was the sound she had heard. Hazel forced herself up to her feet. She turned to run away as fast as she could manage. She made it about ten feet, just picking up steam, before she almost ran right into another one that had come out of nowhere.

Hazel skidded and turned in a big arc just in time. She kept running. She made her way up the hill back towards the lighthouse.

She was running for her life.

The lobsters of unusually large size followed her, much faster than she expected. Their big, snapping claws were leading the way. Clicking as they followed her.

She feared that they were hungry. Hazel had never known a wild animal to forego an easy meal. She kept running, panting, and wishing she hadn't been drinking rum.

She made it to the heavy, still open, door of the lighthouse and pulled it shut as fast as she could. It was moving slowly but she was glad for the weight as it closed with a heavy clank. Just in time.

Then she heard a terrible disjointed banging and scraping against the door. They wanted in. They wanted her.

Hazel ran across the room and rifled through her dive bag in one corner. She found what she was looking for, pulling out a big dive knife from its sheath.

She flipped the kitchen table over onto its side and crouched behind it, watching and listening to the door. She didn’t know what she hoped for but it gave her the illusion of safety. She knew they were too big to get in through the windows. Even if they wanted.

She suddenly had a much greater sympathy for the small fish she often found in nooks and crannies of reefs when she went diving. Just like them, Hazel was hiding from something dangerously larger that wanted to eat her.

Something totally unlike Ben.

She wished now that she had listened to him. Were these the critters? Did he not have the words for giant man eating lobsters?!

The banging got worse. But then it stopped. Hazel waited.

After what seemed like a lifetime of more silence there was another sound.

Three quick taps followed by a long pause followed by three slower taps. The patterned taps repeated again.

That didn’t sound like the critters.

“Hazel? It’s Ben, you can come out now,” she heard the deep reassuring rumble of Ben’s voice.

Hazel leapt up from the cold kitchen floor, dive knife still in hand. She twisted the steel door's handle open and pushed with her shoulder.

One huge, dismembered lobster leg was lying on the ground just outside the lighthouse door. She screamed again out of surprise.

Then Hazel watched as Ben’s two even bigger fingertips plucked it up off the ground.

It made her remember the feeling of when he had done it to her. He had done it so delicately, taking her out of his mouth to deposit her on the beach.

The leg was lifted into the air. It flew up over and behind her head. She walked outside, her hand bracing her against the lighthouse as if it could protect her. Cautiously, Hazel followed the leg's airborn trail.

Hazel had walked along to the other side of the lighthouse. This side faced a sharp cliff with just a small patch of land before the drop. After that it was 50 feet down to rocks.

Except instead of a cliff face, Hazel's field of vision was filled with Ben’s wet upper body glistening in the full moon’s light.

He towered over the lighthouse. He had tucked his lower, tail half sideways so it was spread out over the top of rocks. His big arms were crossed and resting on the small patch of land taking it up completely.

She realized he had been able to reach around from the backside of the lighthouse to tap on the front door.

It was like he was casually hanging out on the side of a pool.

He was also chewing voraciously.

“Hey,” he said then swallowed what Hazel guessed was what was left of one of the lobsters.

“Hey yourself..." Hazel said in shock after a long moment of stunned silence staring up at him.

"You saved me...again,” Hazel finished, her arms dropping to her side. The knife still in her grip.

“You seemed to be doing okay yourself. I don't think they were going to get in there. I was worried you weren't going to listen and stay inside so I kept an eye out for you. I felt a little responsible. That’s the word? Maybe I picked the wrong words to warn you?" Ben said.

His green eyes were glowing again, competing with the full moon. His jaws snapped another one of the vehicle sized lobsters in half in a sharp cracking bite. "Max always just called these critters. I’m sure you have a different name for them I can't say. But they taste so good. They usually hide from me so they’re not easy to get. This is a nice treat,” Ben explained tossing the leg she had followed, and was still holding with one hand, into his mouth like it was popcorn. "Lobsters...they are lobsters...or I think they are in the same family. There is no scientific name...I guess I get to name them..." Hazel said watching his face in the air above the lighthouse's beacon automatically spinning again.

The spotlight lit up Ben's white chest as it rotated endlessly.

Meanwhile, another giant lobster had nearly made it to the lighthouse.

Before it did, it was snatched up by Ben's even larger clawed hand. Its legs writhed frantically as it struggled to escape. Hazel knew it couldn't. Ben was so much bigger and stronger.

Hazel watched as Ben bit off the top half of the big lobster's body. Then he seemed to suck everything out of the bottom half.

It reminded Hazel of how her sibling Cob ate ice cream cones. And these lobsters were just about the same size to Ben. Small ice cream cones...

Between the rum and the running and the fear, Hazel felt like she was going to throw up again. Watching Ben eat wasn't helping.

***

End Part 3

[sizebrained]

A Titanic Typhoon (Mermay AU), Part 2

Hazel learns a little bit more about Ben and about why she's there. He isn't the only surprise she's in store for on this trip. Content Warning: None totally SFW, oh god what's happening to me. *** "...thanks...um...so are yours...I think..." Ben said as he tried lowering his head while squinting at her. It wasn't as easy for him to see small details like that on land as it was underwater. Hazel took a step back as he did. His head coming closer felt like a avalanche rolling towards her. She felt it deep in her stomach. Her hands flew up to gesture "stop" as if that would work. She felt danger even though her mind knew she wasn't in any. Amazingly, Ben's head froze in place as soon as her tiny hands went up. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you..." Ben apologized. It'd been a long time since she'd been around any animal close to this size. Even then Hazel was looking down at it from the relative safety of a boat. This was an entirely new experience. She could never think of elephants as big again. "It is alright. You are just very...well you are the biggest thing I have ever seen or has been. I think it would be safe to say maybe the biggest animal since the dinosaurs...actually bigger," Hazel offered.

"I know those! Dinosaurs. That's what Jenny thought I was...you...you sound just like her when you say it," Ben said excitedly.

"Sound like her?" Hazel thought for a moment, "You mean my accent?" Hazel asked searching. Ben's voice was very deep and flat. No accent at all. And loud. But she could pick up on tonal changes just like she was talking with a person. She wondered what his throat looked like and whether he could make other vocalizations. Based on his speaking voice, she guessed that he could just like a whale.

She wanted to know if he could use echolocation. She hadn't noticed any clicks yet. She wanted to know everything about him.

"Who is Jenny?" Hazel ventured to ask. Ben's expression suddenly turned. He, and Hazel felt confident in guessing the creature was a male from what she could see of its upper torso, looked...sad. He turned his head away. Hazel had to take a lot of steps to walk back around his body so she could see his face directly again. She waited in silence hoping for an explanation. "She was the keeper's wife a long time ago. I think it was a long time ago? I'm not sure I don't really keep track of the time...other than day and night and season...and things happening. He mentioned once it was One Eight Eight Four?" Ben offered finally.

"1884?!" Hazel shouted in surprise. She was so obsessed with his size, and that he was something entirely new, and could talk and everything else, she had never thought about how old he might be. She didn't really know anything about this creature.

"Is that a lot? What year, they're called years right? What year is it now?" Ben looked down at her tiny body. He lowered his head, pressing his chin down onto the sandy beach again.

The membranes flicked quickly over Ben's green eyes in a sideways blink to keep them moist. It was something that would take some getting used to for Hazel. Hazel's answer to Ben was a blank expression. She didn't know where to start, there was just so much to learn and share. "1884 is over 100 years ago, a century," Hazel added for context.

"Is that a lot then?" Ben asked again.

"It is for a human. Most of us don't live that long," Hazel said. "Oh, that's sad...You all disappear so quickly," Ben said with a forlorn look.

"Jenny and Max lived together on the island back then. She taught me how to talk like you. She said it was good practice for...But she didn't...well she died," Ben said before changing the subject, "Did you bring any books?"

It was a lot different talking to such a huge non-human creature. Despite his aquatic features, she could pick up every slight expression on his enormous, smooth face.

Unlike a human, he didn't have a sharp nose protruding outwards. Just a slightly raised hump in the middle of his face with two nostrils. She wanted to see his back and look for a blowhole.

"I brought a few but none of them are fiction...although I guess I could try to download some using the satlink," Hazel said to Ben's confused expression. "What is download?" Ben asked. "Oh...well..." Hazel started wondering how long it would take to catch Ben up on how much has changed since 1884. "It is difficult to explain, but yes I can get some books. Do you like to read? Did Jenny teach you?" Hazel asked curious. "She tried. I know some letters, she used to draw them on the sand," Ben explained as one of his huge fingers extended and the clawed tip traced out letters in the air. "But your books are pretty small for me to read. So she would read stories to me," Ben finished. "I would be happy to read some to you!" Hazel smiled clapping her hands together. The thought of having a rapt audience was such a delight compared to her teaching assistant days. "Can I ask you for a favor as well? I got a little out of sorts with the almost drowning yesterday and...you...I have not really had a chance to unpack. Would you be a darling and stay around? Just wait a bob for me? I need to do a few things and I would like to gather a little information about you if that is alright? I am a scientist and I was here to do research on the trench..." Hazel said pointing to the dark patch just off the shore where the sea got deep very quickly. Very deep. "Would that be alright? I just...you are extraordinary Ben. I have never, no one has ever, you are sui generis," Hazel held her hands together like a prayer pleading up to the huge creature hoping he would stay as gentle as he seemed to be so far. "Ok..." Ben said not sure what sui generis meant, "I'm getting a little dry though. I'm just gonna take a dip but come back when you want I'll come out again," Ben said pushing up off the beach again. As his body lifted she watched a shower of sand fall from his chest and torso like a theater curtain. He lifted himself up like he was doing a yoga stretch. He went so high up. Hazel couldn't help but let out a little "Whoa..." as she looked up at him. She was interrupted by the whole island shaking from a deep reverberating thump. He had lifted himself up and scooted towards the water.

But at his size, the slightest move on land could make tremors. Hazel laughed as she bounced in place again from him shaking the whole island. She watched as he slipped into the water much quieter. His mass displaced the ocean onto the sand. So much water came rushing inland that it came up to the middle of Hazel's legs before slowly retreating back and sinking into the ground all around her. She bolted to the lighthouse. She furiously started opening crates and bags looking for various equipment. She kept looking out the windows to see if Ben was still out there.

She saw the shape of his back breaking out of the water in a curled arc. His massive dorsal fin stuck straight up like a black sail before disappearing under the surface with the rest of him as he dove. She stuffed a day pack full of tools and gear. She shoved a granola bar down her throat in a few quick bites. Hazel threw the bag onto her shoulders and sprinted back down to the beach.

She dropped her pack down on the sand and hopped up onto a rock. She began frantically waving her arms over her head again to try and get his attention. "Ben! Ben!!! COME BACK!!!" Hazel shouted at the top of her lungs out to the water. Then in the darkest part of the water's surface, the trench, the top of Ben's head broke up through the surface. He kept rising up higher and higher. Sea birds scattered and cawed madly in the air above at the disruption. Ben came up out of the water to about his sternum before dropping back into the ocean in a heavy plop. It made a wave that rushed towards her on shore. Just Ben's head was up above it from the neck up. The nostrils on his face flared and made a loud noise as he exhaled. Hazel panicked and jump off the rock, grabbing her backpack full of expensive, and some not very waterproof, equipment before scrambling back up to the rock.

The wave hit just as she got back up on the rock, coming up the several feet. Ben's long hands laid down on the beach one after the other as he pulled himself up onto land out of the shallow water. So much salt water was dripping from so high up on his body it felt like a brief summer rain. Or it would have except for the saltwater smell filling the air.

*** End Part 2

[sizebrained]

A Titanic Typhoon (Mermay AU), Part 1

So I actually prefer the G in G/T but I rarely get to write that in my story. Since I missed Mermay last year...this is an idea I've been toying with as an alternate universe where Ben is mer-whale-creature bigger than a blue whale and Hazel is a researcher on an isolated island. Then they meet.

CW: Totally SFW, maybe some scares with storms, thoughts of drowning/dying, getting eaten. *** The trip was testing Hazel's rueful boast that she had never, ever, been sick at sea. But it was either by boat or another plane trip, and she thought that she needed some fresh salt air. Another large swell lifted her feet off the deck again. She fell back down in a hard landing.

Fortunately, she was holding onto a rail over her head. But after 4 hours of this, her shoulders were starting to get sore. Standing at 5'4", it was also a bit of a reach. She took the risk of moving on the bridge between swells to a spot where there was a handrail at waist height instead.

She glanced over at the Captain and noticed his rounded midsection seemed to keep him far more anchored in place as the boat was pounded by every passing wave.

He kept his post at the helm admirably. But the serious look on his bearded face made her worry. The darkened sky flashed brightly for a moment followed almost immediately by a bone shaking rumble of thunder. The sky opened up and rain poured down making the visibility even poorer.

"I thought you said we would be there by now?!" Hazel shouted at him over the storm, somehow her British accent still noticeable at that volume.

They had seen the weather before they left. But he had assured her that he could make it to the island and be on his way back before it became an issue.

He was wrong.

"Have you noticed the weather Miss?! We're in a bit of a head wind!" the Captain yelled back at her sarcastically, his own nontraceable accent also noticeable as he did.

Then he almost lost his footing from another swell and used the wheel to balance. It made the boat list dangerously to starboard.

This time Hazel felt herself nearly go horizontal and clutched onto the rail for dear life.

This was Hazel's first typhoon. She had hoped to be on her new island research home before the season really picked up. She had intended to be there by late March. But she was delayed helping her sibling get over their first major breakup. It took longer than she expected to get them to a stable enough place, and the delay made her now arrive in May.

This was her first trip to the Pacific Ocean after a lifetime spent on the cold Atlantic for her studies. She'd been in plenty of hurricanes before but this was different. She had also thought that if she did get the bad luck to experience a typhoon it'd be on land, not on the water. This was quite a memorable welcome.

"We're almost there! I'll have to stay till this passes! Better hope the boat survives otherwise you'll have a roommate for a while!" the Captain said laughing at his own insinuation.

Now Hazel really felt like throwing up.

Her body tensed up out of reflex as the small windows facing the Captain were hit with a wall of water in big slap. She was sure the glass would break at any moment. "I see it!" the Captain cried in relief.

Hazel stared where he was looking. She couldn't see a bloody thing. She was about to say so when she saw a tiny golden dot on the horizon. It was the island's lighthouse now powered by an automatic, solar battery. She saw it flicker again as the beacon rotated.

"We're going to be ok!" the Captain shouted...

Just as an enormous swell came from nowhere and sent both of them up into the roof of the boat's cockpit.

Hazel's back and shoulders hit the fiberglass ceiling hard. She cried out. Then she fell to the floor, along with the Captain, and felt her stomach give out. The wind had been knocked out of her.

She gasped trying to breathe when another wave lifted her up off the floor.

The next thing Hazel felt was...warm water immersing and surrounding her. She opened her eyes and felt the sting of salt as she did. Now it didn't matter that she had the wind knocked out of her.

She realized she was under the surface of the angry ocean. She looked up at the patterned surface and felt a tingle up her spine at the sight.

There was no way the Captain, if he was even still aboard, would be able to find her in this. She kicked towards the surface and broke through into air, still gasping. Her open mouth filled with salt water as the raging surface lapped against her head with rain and wind.

"Oh God, I am going to die out here..." she thought in a heavy panic. She looked for the boat but couldn't see anything, just terrible waves rising and falling all around.

Hazel didn't want to die, especially not at sea. It was her favorite place. The place that she spent most of her time, that restored her and gave her joy. For it to be her end seemed cruel and unfair.

She didn't know what she was seeing at first, but the water's surface around her seemed to be brighter than the rest of the stormy ocean.

And it was a bright green, like the bioluminescence of some sealife at night. It was in a circle that must have spanned twenty or more feet all around her.

She looked up thinking somehow it may have been the boat or a rescue helicopter or something. But she just saw the clouds above and waves everywhere else. Then she looked down.

Hazel was confused again. She could have sworn she saw the outline of what appeared to be two human shaped eyes just below her. But they were far too enormous to be human. And they were glowing green.

Maybe she was passed out and this was a dream that would take her to the other side.

The green light disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared. Then Hazel felt the water around her tremble and become abnormally still.

She was being lifted up?

She looked around her and saw what appeared to be...fingers. But that couldn't be...they were gigantic. Each one was far longer than her whole body and much thicker. They were nearly the size of the boat she was just on.

The green light appeared again, covering her again. But this time it was coming from above her. She looked up.

Her mind couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing but her eyes were still working as far as she knew.

The huge, glowing green eyes were looking down at her in the makeshift pool created by the giant creature's cupped hands.

Unlike the surface of the ocean, the water between the creature's hands was calm and there wasn't even any rain...

She realized the creature was hunching over so that its broad back shielded her from it like a roof.

Hazel's eyes scanned all over, taking in as much information as they could. It looked like a gigantic human but not quite.

The skin facing her was almost eggshell white but she saw a black edge near his neck, shoulders, arms, and torso. She'd seen a blue whale once from the deck of ship. This creature seemed far bigger from what she could make out in the darkness of the storm.

The glowing green eyes blinked down at her. She looked at the humanish lips slowly part as the mouth opened. She couldn't make out whether it had teeth or not. Before she could, the creature brought it's cupped hands up to its waiting maw.

Hazel screamed as she realized it was going to eat her. She coiled herself into a ball and waited. But she landed on something soft and wet. It was a tongue. The creature had put her in its mouth, but didn't swallow. Hazel was panting, she hadn't even noticed she was breathing again. And it smelled awful. Like fish, and salt, and a sickening staleness.

Now she really was going to vomit.

The tongue beneath her moved a bit and she along with it. Hazel noticed another sensation, she felt her body lurch like she was on a passenger train. The creature was moving.

After a few moments she felt it stop. Then she felt the rising sensation again like she was being lifted. The mouth opened and the tongue stuck out. She felt the fabric of her storm jacket get pinched and pulled just behind her neck. By what, she couldn't tell.

Then she felt a controlled drop as she looked down and saw...land.

It was the flat expanse of a rocky outcropping and her rubber boots made contact gently. She felt her jacket go free and she turned to look up. She saw a pair of clawed fingers pulling away from her and the creature's face staring back.

Its eyes weren't glowing like they were before but she could still tell they were green, even in the storm. He had swam her to the island in its mouth.

It was even more surprising way to be welcomed to the island than the typhoon. She was supposed to stay for the next year. She looked around to try and get her bearings. She saw the lighthouse that would be her makeshift research station.

She looked back at the creature.

It was...pointing towards the light house with one clawed, outstretched finger. Then it lowered its body somehow. She tried to look around the side of it to see, but it was just way too big.

From this far away, all she could see was its bright white front. But she guessed the creature was slinking backwards, somehow, into deeper water again. Whales couldn't move like that. Neither could sharks.

What was this thing.

Its enormous head got closer to her as sank back into the water.

It had a face. And it looked...human. Well human-ish.

"That way," it said in what must have been a whisper to it at such an incredible size. But it still reverberated through her body like she was an empty church and someone had just belted out "Hallelujah!"

And it spoke English. It spoke English words. Now Hazel really did think she must be dead.

She stared up at it in silence.

The creature furrowed its brow at her after she stayed frozen in place for several long moments. She was captivated by it. She'd spent her whole life studying the ocean and its creatures. And now there was this impossible mass taking up most of the beach. And it could talk.

Two of the creature's tree sized fingers tilted down and went straight...to look like a pair of legs. It flicked them in succession like it was making the finger legs walk.

Then it pointed emphatically at the lighthouse again.

"You..." Hazel said taking a step towards it. It looked like a man.

"Saved me?" Hazel said and asked at the same time.

The creature lowered its hand down to the shoreline, letting it gently lay flat. Even in the rain she could tell it stretched out what seemed like forever. She looked back at its face. It noticed her staring at its hand. It curled its clawed fingers inwards making a fist, like it was self conscious of the way it looked.

The creature nodded at her one single time. But it clearly nodded.

"Welcome," it whispered back down at her form. Her raincoat was flapping in the wind.

Hazel could have stared at it forever. She was beyond enchanted. It was the biggest animal on earth. And it could talk. It talked to her. This changed everything.

She felt so insignificant standing in front of it like this, like she was a mouse looking at a sabertooth tiger. Something that shouldn't exist in today's world. It was better than magic. She wanted to know everything about it. She wanted to take pictures, videos, and maybe even samples.

But then it moved backwards in one smooth motion that didn't seem to make sense for something at its scale. It slipped back underneath the stormy sea's surface like it was getting into a bathtub.

Just like that it was gone.

Hazel stood there staring at the waves for a long time, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Finally, she turned and silently trudged the short distance to the lighthouse in the storm.

She reached the old, rusted steel door. It was stuck. But she managed to push it open with a loud creak using her shoulder. The Captain was inside the main room fiddling with the radio.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday! We have a man overboard! Anyone in range please respond! Urgent rescue needed! Last seen coordinates are..." the Captain turned pale at the sound of the creaking door.

He was sure that his passenger had died at sea and this was its spirit come for revenge.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" he exclaimed at seeing Hazel's soaking wet body.

"How in the hell?! What the?! I swore you were a goner! What are you a fish?! How did you make it here?!" exclaimed the Captain.

He rushed up off the stool leaving the radio's receiver dangling next to the large window. He rushed over to her and closed the door bringing her to the warm fire.

Hazel realized she wasn't dead as she felt its warmth on her dripping body. The creature was real. It saved her. It could talk.

She looked out the window at the stormy sea for any sign of it.

The next day, after the storm had passed, the Captain, still relieved beyond belief and grateful for Hazel's miraculous survival, left her again. His boat had survived.

He promised he would return regularly with supplies and if she needed him before that he'd keep close monitor on the agreed radio channel. He had treated Hazel like she was some kind of angel or something after the whole ordeal.

He waited on her hand and foot and even cooked her breakfast in the morning. She was grateful just to be alive at all, but the breakfast was delicious and it certainly helped.

She gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder as he boarded the boat and set off. Hazel watched as the Captain and his boat slipped further and further away into the horizon. She waited for him to be out of earshot.

Once he was, she sprinted back to the other side of the island where the creature had dropped her off so casually on the shore.

She ran back and forth along the water's edge trying to see any sign of it. Unlike yesterday, the water was clear and calm. She could even make out larger fish and a turtle amongst the reef a few yards away.

She put her hands to her mouth and screamed "Hello?!" over and over at the top of her lungs for a good fifteen minutes.

"Why are you shouting?"

The deep voice made her body shake where she stood. It came from behind her.

She turned around and saw it again. It was even more striking in the daylight.

The gigantic creature was lying on its side, its head propped on its long clawed hand. Its elbow pressed into the rocks as it lay half in, half out of the water.

Hazel looked over him and down to where there should be legs. But instead there was clearly a long caudal penduncle that no doubt led to a fluke hiding just under the surface.

She wanted to see if it was horizontal or vertical. Was it a shark? A whale? What was it. Hazel gasped again several times furiously scanning over it's body taking up her whole field of vision. The creature looked curious.

"You're real..." Hazel shuddered in amazement almost to herself.

"Uh..." the creature rumbled looking confused. It lifted itself up with its hand, gripping a rocky outcropping that Hazel heard strain under his weight.

It then maneuvered and slowly laid down on its torso on the beach...like a beached whale.

She didn't even understand how it had gotten there without her noticing it. It shouldn't be able to move like this, no whale or shark could. But the upper half looked human, despite its skin coloring.

And it was so silent.

She watched as the huge expanse of white skin slowly pressed in a wave of its own down on the shoreline. Hazel took a step back as it did, thinking she may be crushed under it.

But its house sized face stopped just a few feet in front of her. Its long clawed hands intertwined and laid palm down on the beach. Then it set its broad chin down on top of them staring at her. It blinked a few times.

Hazel noticed that it was blinking not with eyelids but a nictiating membrane. She hadn't noticed in the storm.

"Hey?" the creature finally said sounding almost apologetic.

The force of its breath made Hazel's hair blow backwards like a breeze. She recognized the terrible fishy odor from before.

"Hey yourself..." Hazel stared in wide eyed amazement, her jaw slack and gaping at his facial features. It had long wet hair on the top of its head, just like a person that had gotten out of a pool to lay on a sun lounger.

It was a mammal?

The creature shifted a bit like it was uncomfortable. Hazel would have never guessed that it was uncomfortable from her silent stare. She stepped to the side so she could look down along its body. It must have been 100 feet long at least maybe more. She couldn’t see all of it, but she could see its back.

High up from where she stood, there was the crisp silhouette of a large dorsal fin sticking straight up from its back blocking out the light. His one side blocked out most of the light.

Hazel noticed the fish that were in the shallows all vanished from sight as the creature’s massive shadow darkened the water.

She could also see that the edge of where the white its underside met a deep black that covered its whole top half. It was something shared amongst other large predators like orcas and sharks.

The creature’s back was patterned with shimmering white dots like a whale shark. She desperately wanted to see whether it had teeth or a baleen like a blue whale. As she stared all over its body, the creature took a deep breath.

"Ben," it said down at her. Its head tilted to the side to look directly at her staring at its back.

If it were any closer, Hazel would have had to look straight up to see its eyes. Just its head was nearly a third of the height of the lighthouse.

"What?" Hazel said in a voice that must have sounded like a whisper to it.

"Me? I mean I'm Ben," the creature repeated.

"You have a name?" Hazel asked in disbelief.

"Yes?" the creature replied and finally added, "Do you?...uh…have a name?"

Hazel stared again in slack jawed silence. Maybe she was dead. This couldn't be real. She'd made the discovery of the century, maybe ever. Or rather it had discovered her.

"I'm...H...Hazel...My name is Hazel..." she finally got out.

The creature...Ben blinked at her again with the membrane instead of eyelids.

"So...you're staying on the island for a while then?" Ben asked.

Hazel closed her mouth after another long silence. Her mouth was very dry. She needed a drink and hoped the Captain had packed some form of alcohol.

"Yes?" Hazel replied seeming unsure.

The creature...Ben...nodded slightly on top of its crossed hands.

Hazel took a few steps towards it. It stayed still watching as she did.

She reached a hand out and slowly, carefully came closer and closer until she touched near the bottom of its very human chin.

It felt just like she expected, smooth and slippery like when she had touched other marine mammals like dolphins to tag them. It was a mammal.

"You're a mammal..." Hazel said to herself more than the creature.

"Uh...yes? I guess? I'm not a squid or anything,” the Titanic sized creature replied, confused.

"How can you..." Hazel started before it interrupted her.

"Talk? Oh this island has been here for a while now, you're not the first person to stay on it," Ben said with a cryptic smile. But the lips were closed.

Hazel really wanted to know if it had teeth. She hadn't been able to tell the other night when she was on its tongue.

"Oh! Oh! You saved me! Thank you!" Hazel exclaimed suddenly, forgetting to be grateful because she was so enamored with the creature's existence.

"Uh…you're...it's fine...you're welcome," Ben said quickly.

"I saw the little boat heading towards the island and thought it was lost because no one comes out here. Or at least it's been a while, I'm not sure how long actually. When there's a storm I make a habit of keeping an eye out for boats...because...it's a...well...anyway...I...I saw the boat then I saw you and figured that you would need some help with the storm. You could have drowned," Ben said in a hurried explanation. Its voice got louder and louder as it talked forgetting to whisper.

She thought it sounded...nervous. By the time it finished, Hazel's hands had raised to clap over her ears. Even then she could still hear it. It was so loud.

She wondered if it could make calls like a whale. It must have been able to sound across half the Pacific. What did it sound like? Had someone heard this creature and not known what they were hearing?

The other members of her department were going to freak out. The world was going to freak out. This would change everything they knew about marine biology. Maybe change everything.

As Hazel got lost in her own thoughts about the scientific ramifications of Ben, she watched as several slits along both sides of its neck opened like flaps. It was like they needed to vent. After exhaling, they then sealed shut again. They were barely noticeable, just thin lines against the white skin.

"I'm glad you did. You saved me. Drowning would have been awful but you saved me. Thank you..." Hazel said again lowering her hands.

Ben smiled again without showing what was beneath the lips.

"Your eyes are amazing..." Hazel said almost in a trance as she looked at their color and size. Each one was almost the size of her flat in London.

Then, if she didn't know any better, she could have sworn the white of its cheeks looked like...they were blushing?...

***

End Part 1

[sizebrained]

New Year, New You, New York - Part 4

CW: Adult themes, language, sexually suggestive, fluff, angst.

Ben and Hazel return from their date in the Gotham and realize there's no going back. ***

Hazel woke up as her whole body jostled in Ben's shirt pocket. It was very disorienting and she didn't remember falling asleep. "Sorry! Sorry for sorry! It's...ah...there was a package at my door. I bent over to pick it up and then I thought you'd fall out and then I stood up too fast and kind of tripped..." Ben whispered in explanation.

Hazel's arms were outstretched pressing one hand against his chest and the fabric of his tee shirt pocket out and away from him with the other to gain her bearings.

"Ben you can apologize for things that you should apologize for you know? But it was an accident, when did I fall asleep?" Hazel asked yawning as she shakily stood up.

Before she ever got into one, Ben's always purposefully stretched out his tee shirt pockets with his fist to make it "roomier" for her.

It was actually far worse when he did because she felt like she was always trying to maneuver on a falling blanket. But it was such a thoughtful gesture Hazel never wanted to correct him. She would just make it work.

"Uh ok...well about 20 minutes ago? I like it when you..." Ben paused for a moment considering his words. He pushed the box inside his condo with his foot and ducked into his place, his duffel bag slung over one shoulder. "I like when you fall asleep on me. In me? Or my pocket? You know what I mean, I like it...when you're close like that..." Ben finished, closing and locking his door behind him.

He made his way over to the kitchen and dropped his bag on the countertop. He went to the fridge and opened it grabbing some food as he did the same with some nearby cabinets. He was starving again. Hazel did not like being close to him when he ate. He wasn't messy or sloppy, she just found being able to feel him chew and swallow was unsettling deep in her primal brain. "I do too usually, except when you eat." Hazel said and started making her way up and out of his shirt pocket by bunching up fabric in her grip and heaving herself up like she was a sailor climbing netting. "What's wrong with the way I eat?" Ben asked confused and garbled from speaking through his mouth full of food.

Hazel emerged from Ben's pocket and looked up at him. His chin was tucked completely against his chest to actually see her. It did not help his cause as he chewed. Hazel's eyes narrowed and her head tilted slightly amazed he just asked that question. Ben swallowed what was in his mouth and set the food down on the counter. He brushed his hands off against his pants making several loud swishes echo in his largely empty condo. Then without his typical warning, Ben's two fingers reached towards Hazel's half revealed body. He closed them around her shoulders like pincers, firmly but somehow softly at the same time. Before she could say anything, she was lifted up the rest of the way out of his pocket. Ben then twisted his wrist in a smooth motion and Hazel found herself laying flat on her back in his palm. She looked up at him in total surprise. He noticed. They both stayed quiet for what felt like a very long time staring into each other's eyes. Hazel felt her heart beating faster. One corner of his mouth lifted upward in a slight grin. It was something new she didn't recognize from him. "Sorry, I...I should have asked first..." Ben whispered not sounding very apologetic compared to what she was used to from him. "It is fine," Hazel assured him. Ben just made a humming "Mmn" sound Hazel was confused now. Whether he had realized it or not, Ben had slowly raised his hand so she was the perfect distance for him to see in focus without his own face being contorted by some strange angle. She took a deep breath. He was beautiful. "You're so beautiful..." Ben finally said to the open air.

Hazel swallowed and turned her face away just slightly. Being held in his hand like this felt so wonderful. She loved the feel of his skin, the smell of it, she needed it more than she ever thought possible.

Except now everything seemed impossible and hard. "Thank you...but..." Hazel started surprised at how flustered she felt and how difficult it was to speak. Ben walked over to the massive sectional in his living room and very slowly sat down. He twisted his body until his legs were extended and he was slightly elevated against a large pillow. He lowered his hand to the middle of his chest and Hazel knowingly stepped off of it. Ben set that hand flat down against his stomach and his other hand joined it, resting there. The silence between them returned. He looked more like his nervous self suddenly. "I'm sorry, it's...I shouldn't have..." Ben turned his head away and his cheeks were reddening.

Hazel hated how much more attractive she found him like this. "No, no, no, it was a compliment. You...it was such an amazing, lovely, unforgettable trip...date...and the train..." Hazel found herself lost for words.

She didn't properly think through the consequences of what they did on the train. She was so caught up in the moment of seeing him suffer and a deep desire to make him feel better. But it was more than that and she knew it. She also could tell he was very inexperienced. They had probably had the same number of human partners. Her earlier realization that she would suffer either way now was becoming more and more apparent with each passing second. "Ben I..." Hazel began before he interrupted. "I love you!" Ben blurted out, continuing, "I love you Hazel...I have loved you for a long time...I think...maybe since the night we met...I..." Ben stopped. He looked like he was going to cry. Now she worried he was a virgin caught up in a first love. She didn’t want the burden of being his first and it ending in heartbreak. That would kill her. Hazel took several deliberate steps upwards along his chest towards his face. She grabbed the very tip of his chin between her hands. It made her feel like she had just grabbed onto a bus. "Ben. Listen to me. I care for you too. I care about you and for you so much. You not only saved my life...you...you saved me. Who I am. I was so lost for so long. And that night in the closet when you found me…you just took up everything else and not just because you are so bloody gigantic...Ever since you have just been so...wonderful," Hazel felt her own eyes tearing up.

"And kind, and well, big but that is just circumstance. I never...I never thought that...you have been...Ben...I cannot..." Hazel struggled.

"You can't love me back?" Ben asked slowly each word filled with heart-aching worry. "No! No! No! Ben I...it is just that..." Hazel hated this. She didn't know how to tell him that this was going to tear her soul apart either way it went. Hazel's hands stayed put, even though she knew she wasn't actually able to hold him or move his head in any way unless he wanted to move it. She was so powerless but she wanted to be able to really hold him. It was the first time in a long time that she hated being so small compared to humans. She sighed and came a bit closer to him so she could lower her forehead between her hands to rest it against his chin.

"Ben I want to...I...think I do..." Hazel lied. She knew she loved him but saying it out loud was eliminating all doubt and ensuring her misery to come.

One of Ben's large hands came up from his stomach and his fingers parted letting her tail slip between the gap. Then his hand moved against her back and legs, lifting her up until her front was pressed gently against his cheek. He held her there for a long moment in silence. She didn't protest. "Is this ok?" Ben finally asked. "Yes. Of course." Hazel said pressing into his face and glad for it. It wasn't what she really wanted but realized it was as close as she could. "You weren't my first by the way...I know I...well on the train it seemed like...but I'm not a virgin or anything..." Ben finally felt compelled to explain. Hazel was relieved for some reason and also disappointed. She wished they could have been each other's firsts. "Who?..." Hazel started to say before Ben interrupted her again. He spoke softly, his face barely moving so his cheek remained still. But Hazel's whole body filled with the force of him. It was so pleasant it felt like a warm bath with every word. "Well lots of one night stands and hookups, but…the first person I loved?…Max...my friend...the night of the accident...that was why...That was how we ended up in the car. We had stayed in the locker room after everyone else had left and..." Ben partially explained. Hazel tried to press into him further. "You poor poor darling I am so sorry..." Hazel offered. "It's ok it's no one's fault...but for a while I thought it was mine. That maybe because of me, because of what we did then maybe if we hadn't or there had been a second or two difference in time that we wouldn't have gotten hit. If I hadn't taken time for one more kiss or I had taken time for more he would still be here..." Ben confessed. "My therapist helped me realize that wasn't a very productive inner monologue and it was an accident. It wasn't my fault, but still..." Ben explained. He didn't sound very convinced. It sounded like he was trying to dismiss it as if he had put salt in his coffee instead of sugar. Something silly and inconsequential. It wasn't. "I know. But It was an accident Ben. I know how you feel, truly I do and I am so sorry because I do know...we never know who lives and dies. Life is so unfair. I am so sorry you lost him like that," Hazel said thinking of the night of the bombing and losing her mother and the Professor. She thought of so many other nights and days that went wrong that she blamed herself for. She thought about Cob and her father and how she still blamed herself for ruining their lives through her choices. She thought of the glue trap. "Ben without that glue trap I would have never met you. You wonderful, darling, magnificent..." Hazel was about to say boy and stopped herself. "As harsh and as cruel as it sounds, we cannot help that accidents happen and sometimes good things come out of them." Hazel added. Ben made another humming "Mmn" sound. "Loving you isn't an accident Hazel," Ben said. Hazel let out a single stifled sob into his cheek. "I cannot lose you..." Hazel whispered. She knew he didn't hear her. Ben waited in silence. "Can I kiss you again?" Ben finally asked. "Of course." Hazel said. Ben brought his hand away from his face and held her tiny body very carefully near his lips. He kissed her. It was much less awkward this time than in their hotel suite in New York. Then Ben's stomach rumbled and they both laughed, their eyes filled with tears. *** End Part 4

[sizebrained]

So I got lucky and got a slot with the amazing @guaxinimraccoon who is one of my fav artists on here (let alone one of the best G/T artists)!!! It's getting warm here again and almost pool season, and both my lovelies and I could use some happier times in sun given these dark times. Guax came up with this amazing scene with all four of my OC's from the first installment of my story Unstuck Together @sizebrained Look at them! I can't tell which version I like best they're so good thank you @guaxinimraccoon!!!!

(There's a final colored version but I'm saving that for my maybe final chapter)

[sizebrained]

A Revealing Pact, Part 1

Ben seeks help from his veterinarian neighbor for Hazel's life threatening injuries.

Content Warning: Injuries, nudity, trauma, mentions of death and suicide. *** Sadie turned off the stove. She picked up the pot with one hand and made her way over to the sink to drain it. Then her whole condo shook with an enormous bang.

She lost her grip on the pot with her dinner. It went flying and made a mess all over her long counter. A jolt ran through her body at the sound making the whole wall shake. It was her front door. Sadie took a deep breath to calm her nerves, but the pounding continued. "SADIE!!!! PLEASE ARE YOU HOME?! I NEED HELP!!!" Ben yelled from the hallway. "What the actual..." Sadie muttered, adding several things she wouldn't dare say to anyone's face mad about the dinner mess. Sadie recognized her oversized neighbor's voice.

She doubted it could be anyone else even if she hadn't recognized his voice, no one else in the building could threaten to knock her door off the hinges. The only other occupants of their building was a retired couple and a middle aged man who largely kept to himself. Sadie wheeled over to the door and reached out to turn the handle. She opened it one handed while wheeling back in a practiced motion. The door swung open and she looked at the top of Ben's chest, his face hidden above the door frame. Then he bent down to look into her condo. He was a mess, like he just finished a marathon while sobbing the whole time. He had one hand out in front of him against his sternum with the other hand cupped over it protectively. "You're a vet right?!" Ben asked softer but with the same urgency. "Yes I am, what..." Sadie replied before Ben cut her off by thrusting his hands forward near her face. He slowly lifted up the hand covering his palm. Ben's enormous hand made her look even smaller than she actually was, but it was unmistakable. There was a tiny, naked woman curled up on one side of her body. She had a long, tufted tail the same color as her hair wrapped around her waist, limp. Sadie made a sound from quickly inhaling in shock. "I never thought I'd actually see one..." Sadie declared. It was Ben's turn to be shocked. But his worry for Hazel took over.

"Please she's hurt badly, there was a rat and..." Ben teared up.

"Bring her over to the kitchen table quickly," Sadie ordered. She turned and went further into her apartment towards a closet. Sadie pulled a clear plastic storage case about the size of a shoe box from a low shelf. Sadie came over to the table, setting it down. Ben watched carefully. He was towering over her with Hazel still curled up in his hand. For once, he was too worried for her to bother feeling awkward about his height and Sadie's face well below his waist.

Sadie took out a large surgical pad and a series of tools from the case. She laid the pad out flat on the table and flattened it only touching the edges. Then she slipped a thick plastic headband on her head like a crown. It had magnifying lenses and a head lamp. Sadie cleaned her hands with a bottle of antiseptic and slipped on a pair of sterile gloves. She craned her neck to look up at Ben's face, the light on her forehead blinding him for a second. He winced as she held up her gloved hands expectantly. Reluctantly, Ben carefully picked her up with two fingers and set her down in Sadie's hands. He could smell her latex gloves and worried it'd bother Hazel. She carefully lowered Hazel down onto the surgical pad. She flipped the magnifying lenses down and looked over Hazel for several moments. She was still breathing somehow, just barely and slow. Her body was caked in dried blood. Her own and the rat's blood in a dry, patchy mess across her.

Sadie took out what Ben thought looked like one of the paper square packages containing hand wipes that he would sometimes get with his chicken wings. She ripped it open. "This will sting. I'm sorry but I need to get a better look at these wounds and clean them. Tell me if it's too much alright?" Sadie whispered delicately down at Hazel, hoping she'd hear. She touched one corner of the wipe against Hazel's leg, but there was no reaction. That wasn't a good sign.

"What's your name little one?" Sadie whispered again at Hazel's limp body. There was no response.

"Her name is Hazel, uh...I don't actually know if she has a last name..." Ben answered for her, embarassed to realize he didn't actually know if her kind used last names or not. Sadie nodded and started speaking to Hazel and Ben while she wiped Hazel's little body clean. Each dap revealed deep gashes and wounds everywhere. It was bad. "One of my professors told me about them. He was Jamaican but he got his degree in England. He practiced there for a few years before he met an American woman and moved here. He was the best veterinarian I ever met and the best teacher I ever had. I wouldn't have believed him otherwise quite frankly. He told me a story about once about someone calling his practice in the middle of the night. The man was frantic and said it was an emergency. He demanded my professor's help."

Ben listened without taking his eyes off of Hazel. Sadie's voice was so different from hers. No accent and no playful tone. Sadie was professional and all business. She was polite but it felt cold compared to Hazel's voice. It made Ben think of all of his time in hospitals with doctors just like her.

Sadie exhaled through her nose. She wasn't sure how Ben and Hazel knew each other but she could tell that he cared deeply for her. As she cleaned Hazel with the small sanitizing wipe, Sadie knew the injuries were too bad. There was nothing she could do for her. This would be hard news. "So my professor waited for the client to show up. He lived above his practice and he was expecting something like a cat that had been hit by a car earlier in the night. But instead, my professor swore he was telling the truth about this part, the client brought in a small box lined with a soft hand towel. When the man opened the lid of the box, there was an much tinier man inside of it. He was about the size of a mouse and had a tail too. My professor thought he was having a dream or something." Even if Sadie had the equipment she'd need to perform surgery in her kitchen, and she did not, Sadie hadn't done any procedure on a mouse since her school days. She doubted her abilities. But even if Sadie was better practiced with surgery on something this size, Hazel's injuries were in the wrong places and too far gone. She wasn't bleeding anymore and that wasn't a good sign.

Sadie doubted there was much of a pulse anymore. She was amazed that the poor little thing was still alive. She knew that Hazel wouldn't last for long.

"Of course, my professor was shocked. The tiny man had been attacked by a cat. The human client was beside himself. He said his name was Tobias and he had to save him. That Tobias had practically raised him, which really confused my professor. That Tobias was the most important person in the world to him and he couldn't die...But...he was too injured for my professor to help." Sadie sighed.

Sadie flipped the lenses of her headband up and turned off the light. She was staring at Ben like she was talking about him instead of someone else from a story decades ago. She paused her story and looked at the massive college student trying to muster as much empathy as she could. This part was never easy.

Sadie quietly pulled out a small vial and a syringe from the clear container. It was the smallest sized needle that they manufactured. Sadie set them down next to the surgical pad with Hazel on it. Ben wondered why Sadie didn't seem to be doing anything to fix Hazel. "My professor said he tried everything he could to save Tobias, but it's very difficult to perform internal surgery on small animals especially back in the time when he was practicing. And his specialty was large animals not tiny tailed people. He was sorry for the man and for Tobias, but he was beyond care. In the end, all he could do was end the obvious pain that Tobias was in and let him go peacefully...do you understand?" Ben blinked not understanding. He looked at the vial and syringe then back at Sadie's face. "Ben. I am truly sorry. But there's nothing I can do for her now...except help her go peacefully..." Sadie explained again, this time touching the syringe with her gloved hand suggestively. Ben fell to his knees. He understood.

Even kneeling, Ben was still much taller than Sadie in her wheelchair. She reached up and put a hand on his big arm. "Maybe if we could have gotten to her sooner with the right equipment. It's a miracle she's still alive right now. I don't think she has much time left. She can probably still hear you but she is too weak to talk. She didn't even flinch when that alcohol touched her." Sadie patted Ben's arm and wondered where his sister was, this felt like it was out of her depth as a vet. She was used to helping people say goodbye to old dogs, not this. Ben was frozen in silence on his knees, his eyes locked on Hazel. She hadn't moved.

"I could give her enough morphine to make sure she isn't in any pain and help her along..." Sadie offered. She only did it to try and give him some sense of agency over a situation out of his control. Sadie knew Hazel would go at any moment. There was a heaviness in the air between them.

"Is there enough for me?" Ben asked flatly before continuing, "I know I'm big but do you have enough of that stuff here? I can wait here if you have to get more." "Enough morphine for you? " Sadie was confused. "If she goes, I go..." Ben got closer to the table and laid his head down. He put the side of his face flat against it. It was cold. Ben thought Hazel looked like she was just sleeping. He wanted her to wake up. He wanted to see her tail go straight as she stretched awake on his chest or in his hands. He needed her to wake up now. Ben reached one fingertip out and very lightly stroked the top of Hazel's messy hair hoping it would help. "Hey..." Ben whispered at Hazel waiting for her smile. Hazel didn't smile and she didn't move. "It's ok. Don't worry I'll be there right after you. Maybe we'll be closer in size and our necks won't hurt as much to see each other's eyes." Ben softly chuckled at the thought.

"Ben where's your sister?" Sadie asked worried. She wheeled away from him to get her phone to call someone for help. She didn't like his tone. Ben placed a finger down on the corner of the surgical pad where Hazel stayed motionless and slid it over to his face. It reminded him of the glue trap and night they first met. He brought it so close the tip of his nose touched her tiny forehead. He started sobbing uncontrollably.

Suddenly, Sadie's condo was filled with another big voice. "YOU HAVE TO DO THIS THING!!! HURRY!!!" Sam yelled, Cob and Jug were on her left and right shoulder respectively. Ben lifted his head up and looked at his sister.

*** End Part 1

[sizebrained]

The Reason for the Glue Traps...The Rat Part 3

Hazel is terribly wounded, Jug is not happy but tolerates the giant siblings, and there's Cob... Does this count for #macromarch?

CW: Adult themes, language, danger, threat of death, terror, trauma, blood, wounds.

***

"Hurt? How?!" Sam's panic about Cob vanishing was compounded by worry now for Hazel. Sam saw the look on Ben's face. It was a mixture of fear, anger, and a devastating sadness. He looked worse than the night of his accident. Sam rushed to her brother. She dropped, sliding across the floor in one deft motion. Years of volleyball. Sam quickly clocked what was happening and saw what Ben was kneeling down in front of--the hole filled with fur and Hazel being held by another tiny figure. Sam looked closer at Ben. She wasn't sure if he was going to sob uncontrollably or throw up. Maybe both. Sam looked at the tiny person's face holding Hazel. Her big green eyes stared right into his. "You must be Jug..." Sam whispered carefully. Ben's head turned in surprise at his sister. He had no idea who was holding Hazel. He could just feel the authority emanating out of all four inches of him. Ben didn't like that Sam knew who he was and he didn't. Jug nodded. Even though they were kneeling, the pair of humans were impossibly large. Even after hundreds of years, Jug found himself surprised by them. He thought he'd seen it all from humans. But this was new and terrifying. His spine crackled with dread. Even on their knees, they radiated sheer size that made him feel insignificant in comparison. Jug did not like it. They reminded him of when he saw a stuffed bear in a museum. "Can I see her?" Sam asked slowly as she opened her hand and set it down on the floor in front of Jug.

Her palm was facing up expectantly. She smiled trying to not seem threatening. He took a half a step back from Sam's hand without even realizing. Jug saw Sam's white teeth peaking out behind her smiling lips. Each one was the size of his head. Some larger. He shivered. Even near death, Hazel could feel her father's fear shaking his whole body. "Da...she saved Cob...." Hazel managed to groan out into her father's chest.

Sam didn't hear Hazel's weak words of reassurance but Ben did.

His ears were constantly tuned in to her voice and sounds. Even now he heard her like she was kneeling next to him like Sam. His breath caught in his throat and he stifled a sob. Sam noticed that. She put her other hand on her brother's broad back and rubbed it reassuringly. "Please let me have a look and see if I can help..." Sam whispered again. Soft but insistent. Jug swallowed as if his hesitation would go down his throat again. He came closer to Sam's outstretched palm. It was enormous.

The side of her thick palm was higher than his knee. Sam's hands looked like the rest of her, toned and strong from years of exercise and sports. Jug felt unsure of trying to put Hazel in the huge human's hand without stepping on with her.

He hadn't let a human touch him since Jacques. Not even the Professor, who was like a partner father to Hazel and looked after his family for years. Certainly not Mary or her husband. No human contact for hundreds of years. Jug stayed near the hand, he adjusted Hazel in his arms. Sam felt her patience slipping. Time was a factor. She took a deep calming breath in through her nose and slowly out of her mouth. "She's very important to all of us. I would never hurt her," Sam promised. She felt like she was trying to coax a scared kitten out of a sewer drain. Normally, Sam would just grab him and pry Hazel from him but she knew better. Cob had told Sam about their father one night. Mainly that he was still living in the shed and by Ben's building and she would likely never see him. Cob said their father had gone through something terrible with humans when he was younger. Sam asked what had happened but Cob wouldn't explain. Only that he didn't like being near, seen, or touched by humans. Sam wished Cob was here instead of Jug. She missed how chatty they were by comparison. "Please I need to see what I can do and then try to find Cob, they disappeared and..." Sam said tilting her head and squinting at a sound she thought she was imagining at first. Sam thought they heard Cob's voice shouting, but it sounded muffled. "I'm here! I'm here! Jesus Christ! GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!! PLEASE!!! ANYONE?!?!" Cob whined. Jug grunted hearing his other child.

Jug braced himself then stepped onto the hand in one quick movement. He slowly knelt and laid Hazel down on the broad patterned skin of Sam's palm. Tenderly, Jug caressed Hazel's forehead with the back of his hand and cupped her cheek. He turned his head and looked up at Sam without speaking a word but his eyes drilled into her. It was a warning. "Imbécile!" Jug exclaimed, hopping off the hand. Jug had already guessed where Cob was and followed their shouts towards the hole Ben made. As soon as Jug was off her hand, Sam stood straight up with Hazel. She rushed over to Ben's bathroom, keeping her hand as steady as possible. She came out a moment later with a first aid kit. She was using her one free hand to pull things from the kit. Ben stayed on his knees in front of the hole. He watched Sam over his shoulder. He was afraid to move to see how bad it was but he was afraid to stay if this was his last chance to be with Hazel. He felt his eyes stinging as tears started rolling down his face. "Idiot géant!" Jug yelled up at Ben to get his attention. Ben blinked and looked down at the source of the voice unsure of what he had just said. "Oui! Big Fool! Help me!" Jug implored. Jug was standing in front of the dead rat. He was pulling on its whiskers desperate to try and make it budge. Unknown to Ben, Cob was on the other end stuck between building and its body. They had teleported again in a blue shimmer without any real control. Ben sniffled and reached down with one massive hand. He gently pushed Jug backwards with the back of it, the knuckles pressing into him as he moved Hazel's little father.

Jug thought it was strangely casual, like the human was very used to being around them and didn't seem phased by their tiny size at all. Jug tumbled backwards caught off guard by being swept out of the way. Two of Ben's long fingers wrapped around the rat's throat. Ben felt little resistance as he pulled it out of out the passage like it weighed nothing. Because to Ben -- it did.

Jug hadn't managed to make the rat budge with his whole body. Jug watched in horrified silence as Ben's size and power were on full display. As soon as the rat was clear, Jug looked to see Cob scared and confused from what had happened. Jug really needed to figure out what to do with his youngest child over this before they got themselves killed with their gift. Jug motioned for Cob to come to him. He didn't have to wait long as Cob rushed to their father's embrace. They both looked up at Ben as he held rat's body in his grip. Ben's sweaty, tear covered face looked furious. Jug watched while holding his breath. So did Cob. Cob had never seen a look like that on Ben's face. It was the first time Cob ever held fear and Ben in their head at the same time. They understood a lot better now why their father avoiding humans wasn't crazy.

"Ben?" Cob asked worried. Ben pulled Hazel's pick out of the rat's skull and let it fall to the floor in a light metallic clang. He squeezed the rat's body. Blood and viscera started pouring out of the poor creature's limp corpse onto the floor below. "Ben!" Sam yelled from his kitchen. "Bring Cob over here I need them!" Sam yelled again trying to figure out where to start with Hazel but finding her tiny body very difficult to manipulate safely. Ben dropped the rat from his grip letting it fall to the floor in a wet thud. He reached down to pluck Cob up with the same two fingers he had used on the rat. Cob screamed and Jug stood in front of them protectively. Ben's blood covered hand froze in the air. He came to his senses. "Oh God...Cob...I'm sorry..." Ben stuttered suddenly filled with shame. He drew his rat dirtied hand back and held it against his chest. He started crying, wiping blood and rat bits across the front of his shirt. Jug looked over their shoulder at Cob. His wide eyed stare spoke volumes.

It was Cob's turn to look embarrassed feeling their father's disapproving shock. "It's...it's ok...Can you maybe...use your other hand?" Cob asked stepping around their father in a leap of faith. Ben nodded, sniffling and lowered his other hand down flat for Cob. They hopped onto it like they'd done countless times. Right after Cob was lifted up and away as Ben made his way over to Sam. Jug stared at the rat's mangled, crushed corpse. He wasn't sure whether that would make it easier or harder to skin. Ben was next to Sam in a few steps and lowered his hand to the countertop for Cob to get off of it.

Ben paused for a moment feeling himself freeze as he stared at Hazel's body lying flat on her back. It reminded him of when they first met. This was worse. Sam kept her eyes on Hazel, squinting to try and see her tiny injuries. It was impossible. She was just too small. Sam kept trying to look over Hazel's body as she talked to Cob without looking at them. "You disappeared! Where did you go?! How did...Nevermind. Help me get her clothes off." Sam ordered Cob. She'd get an explanation of how Cob could disappear and reappear miles away later. It was Cob's turn to freeze. They looked over their big sister's body and a hand went to their mouth to stifle a sob. It was bad. Hazel looked dead. But Sam's booming voice snapped them out of it. They dutifully obeyed and carefully stripped their sister, being mindful of her wounds. Sam was rifling through drawers before she finally found what she'd been looking for--a magnifying glass Ben had specifically bought to see the details of something Hazel was sewing. Holding it now, Sam lowered her eyes down to Hazel. She lightly pushed Cob back with an outstretched pinky finger. Without the clothes and with the magnifying glass, Sam could finally see. It was worse than she feared. Far beyond her training. Sam was amazed Hazel was still alive. Sam exhaled and looked up at her brother. She took a moment to try and form her words. "Ben...she...I can't..." Sam started. Ben stood there and felt his heart between his ears. His mind was racing back to the night of his accident and all the days and nights after. Then it was only Hazel that filled his thoughts. Her smile, her laughs, her grimaces, her crying...

Her everything...she was everything to him in a way nothing else had ever been before. She couldn't die. Then it struck him. He rushed to Hazel and very delicately maneuvered her body into one of his hands through her protesting moans and whimpers. "Shh...save your strength darling you're going to be ok." Ben whispered. "Darling?" Cob and Sam both asked in unison at different volumes. Ben lowered his face down and kissed her curled up body very lightly. Then he covered Hazel's body with his other hand and speed walked out of his place.

Sam broke out of her shocked stupor at her brother's public affection, finally. "Where are you going?!" Sam yelled after him. "Sadie's a vet!" Ben yelled as he disappeared out the door. *** End Part 3