Giantess World
It was, Lexi realized now at the exact instant it was too late, probably not the right “time” after all.
Her skyscraping callers trickled in one or two at a time, in intervals of precisely two minutes, as if they’d planned to stagger their arrivals beforehand. Watching the second generation of Omegas slowly crowding the Cade household, smiling and waving up a politely reserved storm at her, the Alpha felt anxiety creeping up her vertebrae a link at a time. What made it worse was that every single visitor was only working to create a quiet, friendly, almost reverent environment. Any ill feeling came entirely from within, and Lexi knew it. No matter her rationalization, though, her insides were in butterfly mode.
She camped over a snowy white tablecloth draped across the kitchen counter, perched up on the roof of her traveling Alpha dollhouse-apartment. An array of appetizers on trays surrounded her. Evelyn had at first suggested parking Lexi’s house on the coffee table, where she wouldn’t have to share the space with the food, but for precisely that reason, the girl insisted on being placed at the counter. Lexi, having spent half the night lying awake in her bed, decided her odds of melting into a puddle of frayed nerves would be lessened if there were social props in Omega-grabbing distance, in this case, the snacks Evelyn had spent all last evening prepping.
Prior to twenty-one months ago, Lexi would have laughed at the idea of communication issues like this, thanks to her bubbly personality and adventurous spirit. But then again, quite a lot had changed since then. A crutch or two would give her a necessary boost. Hopefully.
Once the guests arrived, though, Lexi realized she’d chosen a vantage point that put her much closer to the faces of her gigantic visitors. While the coffee table would’ve had the slightly overwhelming effect of being nearer to the ground and a much fuller view of these tremendous beings, the tradeoff now was that Lexi had set herself up to be painfully visible. She may have been small enough to fit into the palm of anyone’s hand, but the Alpha also knew for a fact that an Omega’s natural sensitivity, combined with their attitude towards any victim of injustice, meant they’d spot a twitch on her little face from a league away.
Lexi at least recognized every Omega that came through the door, even if she didn’t remember all their names. And those whose names she did know were, at most, friends-in-law. The one remaining Omega that Lexi would’ve recognized instantly, apart from Bridget, however, and thus the one she had been subconsciously awaiting, had not appeared yet. Then again, the Alpha wasn’t sure she was up for an encounter with Jenna Reynolds, knowing exactly what the young Enforcer had sitting in a glass cage in her bedroom just a few houses down.
For better or for worse, though, Lexi had yet to speak to more than a couple of visitors, twenty minutes into the little event. After the first passed by for whispered sorries, a soft-spoken young man with doe eyes and kiddish features, the next Omega in line pulled up a bar stool, claiming the spot for the time being. She folded her arms and leaned in close to the roof of the little house for maximum intimacy with the Alpha.
Instinctively, Lexi inched backward, but kept on a brave face. These were good people who only wanted to help, she reminded herself.
“Oh, wow, Alexandra. My God. This whole thing that happened was just so terrible. I mean, it was so awful!” the female Omega uttered, her tone warbling every other line. Seemingly remembering herself, then, she extended a fingertip toward the tiny brunette to shake. “My name is Alexis, by the way. Alexis Banner. I don’t think we’ve really talked before, but maybe you know me?”
“Y-Yes, I think I do,” Lexi said. Her knowledge of Alexis hadn’t come from a face-to-face, though, but somewhere else that the Alpha couldn’t place. After another minute of the girl’s rambling, though, she realized the Omega’s last name was emblazoned on the limitless white banking card Kayla gifted her before her flight.
“I really love your name, by the way. You go by Lexi, right? Lexi. I used to think about going by Lexi when I was little, but you know…” the auburn-haired titaness continued, bopping from one subject to the next without air. Her jaws occasionally shifted, likely pushing a piece of gum between her molars with her tongue. “That’s what I thought of first-thing when I heard about what happened. I thought, what if she’d been me? I thought to myself: if she was me, I’d want to have some time to myself, and I’m so glad you did that.”
“Oh?” Lexi said in a singular moment of quiet.
“Yes! Anyway, really, I’m so sorry about all the horrible things that happened to you back then. You must have felt so sad, Alexandra! I’m sure I would! Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that, I just… felt so bad for you, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot, especially after some of the stuff that happened a year ago, I…”
Alexis paused when a hand tapped softly at her shoulder. The effervescent Omega turned around, then stopped her steamrolling apology in its tracks.
“Anyway… what I meant to say is… I’m really sorry about everything that happened, Lexi, and I’m really happy you’re home safe.” Alexis shook her head, clearly stifling further remorseful digressions, but after the glance with the Omega behind her, withdrew. Once Alexis had said goodbye and risen from the chair, the way was cleared and Lexi found herself staring up at the statuesque, bronze-tanned figure of Claire Lindon: her melancholy carefully masked behind a warm smile.
This one Lexi knew.
It wasn’t lost on her that Claire’s older brother Corey, a Beta, had endured an injustice of his own. Albeit one which, Lexi just had to assume, left him with physical scars as well as mental to show for it. It also wasn’t lost on her that Nathaniel, the troubled orchestrator of her downfall in the name of misplaced vengeance, was pushed over the edge upon hearing of Corey’s nightmare. It left her uniquely at a loss for words as Claire converged, when she was already very short on them to begin with.
“Welcome back, Lexi,” Claire said. At first the Omega made a move to occupy the chair just vacated by Alexis, but seemed to make a conscious effort to instead simply lean across the back, giving Lexi a stone’s throw of extra breathing room. Regardless, there was tension evident in Claire’s athletic frame as she loomed at a distance.
“Thank… you.” Lexi renewed her cordial smile. At least she didn’t feel like she was being crowded right off the roof of the dollhouse. Alexis was so close before, the spiced stink of her cinnamon gum still clung to the air.
“How are you feeling?” Claire’s tone was just as focused as her immovable expression. Her hands braced against the countertop lip, her elbows locked, as if physically holding herself back.
“I’m okay. Or, good…” Lexi corrected. “I’m good.”
“There’s nothing wrong with just okay,” Claire said. “Or letting anyone know it, for that matter.”
“Right. I really am… well, I’m better.”
“I’m so glad.” The Omega appeared to be making efforts to relax her stance, semi-successfully. She exhaled, gathering her thoughts, then spoke again: “Lexi, I... know I don’t know you very well. And honestly, I… only know Bridget a little better than I know you. So, I can only understand what happened to you through… others I’ve known. Others who’ve suffered. But, what happened to you was wrong. In fact, it’s vile. It’s not what Aegis represents. Believe me when I say it’s something that we’re never, ever going to let happen again. And I’m truly, truly sorry. About everything.”
Lexi felt her lungs shudder. Hearing Bridget’s name in the same breath as hers, even hinting at what happened in less-oblique terms, had reactivated a few of the tremors the Alpha had lived with for almost two years. However, letting Claire’s words settle, the girl muscled through the involuntary flinch. She clasped her hands in front of her stomach, wringing her knuckles to soothe herself.
“Thank you, Claire,” Lexi said.
“You’re welcome. And, Lexi, please let anyone here know if you ever need something.”
The Omega bowed her head. She reapplied a solemn smile, then arched back to full stature and moved away from the counter. Though there previously were several building-sized individuals lingering behind Claire for their turn, they’d all since retreated back to the adjoined living room. When the stage was reopened, however, Lexi noticed every pair of eyes in the space except Evelyn’s flash to her, before innocently diverting. She even spotted several of them bashfully lurch forward at the same time, struggling to determine who would go next. Anyone holding an appetizer quickly shoveled it down as a distraction from the cumbersome atmosphere.
A boy ultimately made the first move and power-walked across the kitchen to Lexi’s snack-flanked throne before things got any clumsier. The Alpha mentally fumbled, trying to recall his name, before Kyle Rodgers thankfully saved her with a reminder in his greeting. She was glad he availed himself of the refreshments during this most unusual of icebreaker situations, with chewing filling in any bumbling pauses; Kyle was even kind enough to offer a nib of cracker to Lexi on her roof so she could do the same. Notably, he didn’t say the words “I’m sorry,” which the Alpha was grateful for, though he still expressed great regret for what transpired. As he walked away, despite the relative ease of their interaction, Lexi couldn’t help but keep a head count of how many Omegas remained to address her.
Next came Angela, among the youngest officers present, though she still had a height advantage over half the Omegas present, including the boys. The lanky long-haired ginger was sweet and reserved, but she also sounded rehearsed in her delivery of comforting words. Lexi couldn’t blame her in the slightest. She herself had done a bit of that herself in front of the mirror last night, before feeling too silly to continue.
After Angela followed another partial stranger: a mountainous boy who was outmatched in stature by only one other Omega present. Lexi learned his name was Bennett, after being startled at his low-volume growl contrasting his burly appearance. He stood the furthest away of any of her humongous visitors while he spoke, taking pretzels but not eating them.
Then came another face Lexi did recognize. Among her most enduring memories of anyone in this group came from seven years ago, when a panicked Bridget’s computer went dark and seemingly wiped her final semester essay. Practically in tears, her work was rescued when a petite, stammering, hazel-haired Omega named Dawn had brought it back from the dead in under five minutes of single-hand typing. The Aegis tech whiz had since bloomed, though her placid demeanor remained unchanged. She apologized too, even tearing up, but blinking the moisture away before it could fall. This reunion in particular, to Lexi’s shock, allowed her to feel a semblance of real relief.
Following Dawn, the Alpha willed herself to find a mental happy place, and now that she’d had some practice, she was surprised to find it more or less worked. Another ten Omegas filed through, bringing enough palpable good intention to overcome the last of Lexi’s current anxieties. They definitely outnumbered Evelyn’s modest estimate of one dozen well-wishers. Still, Lexi smiled and made empty small talk and shook their fingertips when offered. When things went dead-silent, she crammed some cheese cube slivers in her mouth. It worked.
Once the unorthodox homecoming visit had carried on close to an hour, the Omegas gradually exited the Cade house. Everyone had taken at least one turn to speak to Lexi, some like Dawn approaching multiple times if there was just a smidge of personal history to latch onto as conversation fodder. Eventually even Dawn had disappeared, too, and the Alpha watched the final few stragglers speaking to Evelyn across the room. Just as she assumed her time on this makeshift stage was through, though, Lexi spotted the last Omega rising from her chair in the living room.
Lexi had noticed Melody King, now Melody Lindon as of her recent marriage, the moment she’d entered the house, of course, given she was the single largest Omega that the Alpha had ever laid eyes on: dizzyingly tall, but certainly not willowy, with her figure filled in generously by a lifetime’s worth of sport-sculpted musculature. Aside from Dawn, she was the only other visiting Omega that Lexi had properly spoken to before, if only due to Bridget’s Aegis desk sitting right next to Melody’s.
The honey-blonde moved with surprising grace across the kitchen, her footfalls landing relatively softly, until she reached the counter. Despite this being the highest available forum for Lexi to stand on in the house, short of being marooned atop the fridge, her eyeline just reached Melody’s stomach, tautly wrapped in her Aegis uniform.
“Hey there,” the colossal woman uttered in a hush.
Before Lexi could let the imposing bulwark of the Omega’s washboard-divoted midriff intimidate her, though, Melody swiftly ducked down all the way to her haunches, until her face actually hovered lower than the top of the dollhouse. The smaller girl took a second to adjust to the sight. She peeped over the edge of her portable home, knowing full-well she was staring at a being who probably had the capacity to rip the countertop off its foundation with her bare hands, yet here she was anyway, planting herself lower than Lexi’s feet.
“Hi.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t come over sooner. I just didn’t, well…” Melody continued. “…you know, want to add to your crowd.”
“That’s all right,” Lexi said. She sat on the precipice of the house, letting her legs swing over the side. The instinctive heartrate bump at seeing the hundred-sixty-foot Omega stride across the room calmed almost immediately.
“I’m… also sorry about all the rest of it,” Melody said. “Maybe you’re getting sick of hearing that.”
Lexi shrugged. “It’s been a long time. And a lot of people have had… worse.”
Though Melody had done an admirable job of figuratively shrinking herself, the Alpha still had trouble finding the words. No matter how far she’d run from home, after all, Lexi had seen the avalanche of news coverage over the near-cataclysm her birth mother had helped unleash. Guerilla footage of Melody catching insurgents over that convention center rooftop had played on a loop for a month straight after. She couldn’t help but wonder how difficult it might be for this demigoddess-sized young woman to look at Lexi, the undistorted mirror image of Alma Warren, and not see the face of a culture that tried to wipe out a generation of people. People like Melody’s new husband. In the awkward silence, Lexi suddenly had the impulse to apologize too.
“Congratulations,” she gulped instead. “About your wedding.”
Quietly surprised, Melody cracked a smile. Her cheeks flushed rose.
“Thank you.”
Another pregnant pause ensued. Lexi studied Melody’s countenance, unable to shake the feeling that she was keeping purposefully silent. Having now spent five days with no attempts at extending herself into potentially aching territory, Lexi resolved to go out on a limb. If anyone in the house had a good answer to the question that had been eating her up all day, it was probably Melody.
“Have you seen Bridget?” Lexi said it in one quick breath, afraid she’d croak if she hesitated.
Melody blinked. She had a good poker face; the Alpha could see that much.
“Not for a long while, Lexi.”
“But… did you… before she…”
“Yes.”
“And did you know she was going to…” Lexi carried on. She could feel her breathing getting labored already, which deeply scorned her, as the last thing she wanted was to appear even more fragile, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. “Did you know she was going to leave?”
“I didn’t. Not for sure. I guess I had a feeling.” The Omega’s tone had leveled out at a furtive murmur, her words only audible to Lexi. “Her desk was next to mine. But you know that.”
“Yes. Did she… say anything?”
Melody briefly glanced away from the toy-sized girl on her portable habitat. Her shoulders visibly tensed.
“Please?” Lexi added. “I need to know how she was.”
When the Omega looked up again, brow furrowed and lips pursed, she gently took hold of the counter’s edge with both hands.
“I wasn’t even supposed to work that late, but I went in anyway. I don’t remember why. It was just her there. I think it must’ve been right after you left, because... she’d just spoken to Dr. Everett,” Melody drawled. “I only knew that because I could see something was wrong, so I asked her if I could do anything, and she… sort of fell apart.”
“What did she say?”
“I could only get parts of it, through the… well, you can probably imagine. Bridget wanted to know where you were going, but she couldn’t tell her. But I think the real reason was from what she heard you’d said to Dr. Everett before you left.”
Lexi’s heart crawled up her throat. She wanted to ask for more, but she was already on her way to being a mess.
Melody reared higher toward the miniature house, still never allowing her eyes to ascend higher than Lexi’s. She halted her speech, clearly considering ending it altogether based on the tears welled in the Alpha’s tiny eyes, but proceeded anyway at a lullabied volume: “She knew you said you loved her, and that you called her your sister. I think by the next hour, she was gone.”