"Are you sure about this?" asked the little speck on the coffee table. Grace looked at the tan bipedal bug, him quivering out of fear for his lover's safety, "Yes, babe. You want to grow back, right?" The bug nodded, a movement almost too subtle for Grace to notice, "And I want you back, too. You touched the book with bare hands when you shrank. Even though it says not to touch it, I'm wearing the gloves so I'm probably safe! We've got to see if there's a way to undo the curse in here. I'm going to be okay, Stephen."

The tiny man stepped back, drenched in cold sweat as he watched his comparatively massive girlfriend carefully touch the ragged old book to his left. The book towered over him like it was a three story office building, its binding a wall of mold-speckled brown cast an unbearable stench at his height. Grace slowly dragged her hand across the front of the book, stopping over the warning label. It was a silhouette of a hand touching a flat surface, with an arrow pointing from it to a skull-and-crossbones. It had been stitched onto the original front cover, as though whoever had this book before it was sent to Stephen's apartment wanted to warn its new owner of its dangers. If that was the purpose, the donors most certainly failed, Grace thought to herself. Never underestimate men's refusal to read warnings. Grace studied the label, then gingerly opened the first page. She pulled her hand away, then put it back. Nothing happened. She looked back at her tiny boyfriend, grinning with satisfaction, "The gloves are touching it, but not me! Who's the smart one, Steph?"

Stephen sighed, "You are, Grace."

Should have read the warning on the front, Stephen scolded to himself. Man, am I dumb.

Grace stuck her tongue out a bit past her lips, "That's right," She giggled, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Now, let's see what we can learn about this little curse you got," She blushed with embarrassment, "Sorry."

Grace stared at the front page, richly decorated in intricate geometric shapes that almost dizzied the reader. At the center of the page, some characters clearly indicating a title and authors. Her emerald eyes narrowed in a scowl,

"Hmm. It's all in a different language. Babe, what language has A's with little circles on the top?"

Stephen answered immediately, "Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, lots of Sámi languages"

"But you don't speak those, do you?"

Stephen shook his head again, "I know a lot about how they work, and the way they interact with the cultures where they're used, if that helps?"

Grace chuckled, "Sorry, I doubt your linguistics degree will help here. I'll just try a translator..."

She typed in the text into her phone and read it aloud to Stephen, "'Compendium of Common Curses and Their Cures' by The Society for the Preservation of Nordic Witchcraft. Huh, okay. Magic is real, I guess."

Grace continued to the table of contents, typing in each entry into her translator until she yelped, her shout causing Stephen to cover his ears. "Here! Defenses Imbued on this Tome! Let's go there..." The air displaced by Grace's speedy turning of the pages rustled the tiny man's hair. The more he stayed this diminutive size the less safe he felt. He watched the subtle changes on his girlfriend's face as she read all the tome said about how it protected itself, trying to distract himself from the absurdity of the situation. God, even at this angle she's stunning. He found himself focused on her lips, remembering how he had kissed her just yesterday when she left his apartment for work. When she came back this afternoon, she found him on the table, shrunken after he had received this book in the mail. She had bent down to see him and her lips took up nearly his whole view for a bit. Those same soft, light pink lips could now easily envelop his entire body. Imagine laying on those. That'd feel... What the fuck am I thinking? Stop distracting yourself, dumbass! Stephen kicked himself out of his trance through his girlfriend's booming voice, "Grace, what does it say?"

She looked back at her tiny boyfriend, "Well, we both got real lucky. That curse you had is one of a lot. A bunch of pages, recipes, even ways of turning pages can trip traps on this thing. Not all of them shrink you, and it seems gloves only work against the shrinking curse. Some of these are... well, painful sounding."

"But is there a way to reverse mine?"

She looked at her phone briefly, "Yes. It's a weird one," She frowned as she studied her translation further, "Lemme just read it aloud: Should an ignorant fool be reduced in his stature from reading this Tome unprotected, there is but one remedy. He must understand the risks of curses and their effects on those who suffer them. Hence, he must feel the greatest of curses: death, at the hands of a lover. The cursed one must be consumed, fully and happily, by his true love thrice under the light of the moon. Upon his third embrace of death, he shall awaken restored to his normal size, sure not to trifle with the Craft again."

Stephen stammered, blinking rapidly at the giant, "...consumed? Happily!? I-I-"

Grace rested her hand on her chin, "I guess... I have to eat you. And you need to be glad I'm doing it."

"How are you so serene about this, Grace? I mean, can we even trust this thing? Maybe it's another curse!"

Grace shook her head, "I think it's real. Most of the other curses here are hexes you put on someone to teach them a lesson. You know, treat people with respect, don't steal my cow, stay away from my husband. That sort of thing. This seems in line with that theme. Besides, what else can we do?"

Stephen racked his brain to try and finagle some kind of plan, but soon enough he fell in line, "I don't want you to flip through more of that book. You could trip another curse," He let out a long sigh, "Well, it's almost dark. I guess there's no time like the present."

Grace's lips curled into a sweet, comforting smile. "Hey. It's gonna be okay," She brought out a finger and lightly ruffled Stephen's hair with it, prompting the tiny man to duck.

"I believe you. But how do we make this a "Happy" death?"

Grace's smile got wider, "I might have an idea for that."