[pseudoclever]

19. Hypothesis


I don't know how long I dozed there, lying naked on Anthony's stomach, feeling his heat radiate through me, letting myself rise and fall with his breathing. Enough time that his 'essence' was beginning to dry on me. It felt as if I were wearing a suit of hardening Play-Doh. Both my lovers were still pretty out of it. The smaller of the two, Tiffany, had ended up even smaller than I was. She might've been five inches tall, to my six. But honestly, at that point, what was the difference? We were in the same boat, regardless of who had a slightly larger paddle.

Anthony was watching me through slitted eyes, and to say he was huge would be like saying the center of the sun was vaguely warm. He was bigger than a house. It might've been thirty feet from where I was laying to the tip of his chin, and further than that down to where his feet rested at the end of the bed. I remembered how it was only twenty-four hours ago that I'd considered him 'adorable,' and had to stifle a laugh.

?Morning, sunshine,? Anthony grunted. His gigantic hand came slowly into view. Under different circumstances the scale of it might've frightened me. Not with my Anthony. He reached out to me, and oh-so-gently caressed my cheek with the rough tip of his finger.

From my back I wrapped both my little arms around it, hugging the enormous digit the way I wanted to hug him, and kissed him soundly. ?Morning,? I agreed.

He let me crawl to a standing position. I took all of three steps toward his face before he scooped me off my feet, and brought me to his lips. It was more than a little disorienting, but I didn't mind in the slightest. It wasn't a kiss that he gave me, not exactly. Anthony just pressed my entire body softly against his lips, let me feel their smooth texture against my stomach. His breath was warm, and after the chilling air it was making me tingle with pleasure.

Tiffany, as was her habit, ruined the moment. ?If you two are done playing snuggle bunnies, we have a rather serious situation to deal with here.?

Begrudgingly Anthony released me, set me down on the center of his chest. Walking down his body, I met up with Tiffany somewhere around his bellybutton. What I said before, about it not mattering that I was an inch taller than her? Yeah, scratch that. She barely came up to the rosy tips of my breasts, and it gave me that same, cheap thrill to be larger than someone ? even if it didn't mean much in absolute terms.

?Wipe that smile off your face,? Tiffany demanded. ?This was a fun evening, most definitely. But do you have any idea how long it's going to take for us to get back to normal? If we have to spend the next year living like Anthony's little pet hamsters, we'll be lucky. Think about that ? A YEAR! What do you think is going to happen to your apartment, Samantha? Your job? Do you think you'll just be able to....?

?Shut up.?

It might've been my tone, how I was neither asking, nor demanding. I said it as if there was no doubt in my mind that she would obey. And so of course, she did.

The silence hung between us for a long moment. Little Tiffany stood there, arms crossed, watching me expectantly. Something had been nagging at me all evening, tickling the back of my mind. I thought I might have finally made the connection...but before I opened my mouth, I wanted to be sure.

I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and began. ?Okay. So Tiffany. We know that the shrinking cream....?

?Serum,? the tiny girl interrupted, rubbing her temples in exasperation. ?Call it serum. 'Shrinking cream' makes it sound, I don't know, like you think it's magic or something.?

?...as I was saying. We know the shrinking cream can take away an almost unlimited amount of height in a single day. I mean, we've prove that conclusively. But the GROWTH cream can only give you a couple of inches at most. True??

Tiffany sighed. ?Yes. That's exactly the center of our problem!?

I grinned, spreading my hands. ?Why??

She looked at me like I was stupid. ?Why? WHY?? Tiffany paused, chewed her lip thoughtfully. ?You know I've never...I always assumed it had to do with...well, it's easier to lose mass than it is to gain it, of course.?

?The steam,? Anthony put in. His chest shook as he spoke, and it was all Tiffany and I could do to keep our footing.

?The steam,? I agreed, giving him a go-to-the-head-of-the-class nod. ?When you're shrinking, all your 'mass' comes off you in that stuff. Maybe, just maybe, the reason you stop growing so quickly is because you've already absorbed all you can from the air around you. And possibly just the teensiest bit from the person massaging you. So the conclusion is...what??

?If you kept moving to a different places, you could grow a lot faster!? Anthony crowed in his booming giant's voice.

?And you might be able to reclaim it,too,? the five inch girl added, with an air of finality.

I cocked my head. ?Sorry, you lost me there.?

The smaller girl grinned at me wickedly. She came to stand by my side and, reaching way up, managed to slip her arm around my shoulder. ?That steam you're talking about. The distilled essence of our height. It's still in the room right now. Can't you feel the humidity? Don't you see it fogging up the windows??

I nodded slowly, a smile blooming across my face. ?You're right. Anthony closed the door when he came in, and that trapped it in the room with us. It could work, it really could! It might not be enough to get us back to normal, but it WILL cut down our recovery time.?

Anthony coughed apologetically, and this time both Tiffany and I DID fall. ?I ah...I left the growth cream in MY bedroom. I'm going to have to open the door to go get it. Some of the steam is going to escape.?

There was a long, awkward silence. Finally I said, ?Still, it's better than nothing. Come on, the sooner the better.? With something of a maternal air I took little Tiffany by the hand, and led her toward the edge of Anthony's chest. Together, we prepared to slide off him down to the bed.

?Um...w-wait!? she chirped, squeezing me with her little fingers. I turned, and found her looking up at me with a cringing, nervous kind of expression. Another first, as far as I could tell. ?Samantha? If...if it's alright with you...why don't YOU take most of the growth serum this first time? I think...I'd like to stay small awhile longer.?

I frowned, raising my eyebrows. ?You're sure??

The tiny girl nodded at once. ?It took some time. And more than a little convincing on your part. Let's just say you were very...persuasive.?

?Well I won't argue with you. As a matter of fact I'm looking forward to having you the right size to cradling in my arms again. Like my tiny, little pet.?

?That makes two of us,? Anthony agreed, giving me a significant look. ?And believe me Sam, once you get a bit bigger...cradling will be the least of it.?

I grinned. ?Get on with it, then.? And with that the two of us jumped down onto the bed, and Anthony got the potion.


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Honesty's Reward will be concluded Tuesday.