It is scary to see Janet at first. She is already a tall, intimidating woman. The way her hair is worn, her glasses, the look and physical expressions. Every part of the woman seems to be made to be a supervisor. She is no supervisor, though. She is a partner, if you will, in Tech Support. She sits at the desk next to me at work, and talks to me a lot. She, Megan and I have actually done quite a few things together, outside of work. No doubt word of this got to her when I called work last night, and she got worried. However, it did not make her any less intimidating. When I was six foot, she was intimidating. At this height, it is downright scary.
I reach up, and take her hand. She is still staring at me, as if she expects me to just disappear. I don't blame her, really. Who would have thought something like this would happen to me? As I take her hand, I wrap my fingers around her first three and look towards the hallway at the end of the kitchen, that leads to the living room.
"Come on. Let's go to the living room and we can talk, Janet. Oh, and don't worry about your shoes. Just leave them by the door."
As I instruct, she slips her feet out of her slippers. I catch a slight whiff of strawberries as she did so. Being lower to the ground like this makes a few other things different, like smells. Smells are a bit stronger to me now. A light, faint smell is now as clear as day, so it makes sense that I can smell the lotion she has on her feet. I know it is her lotion because I know her. She puts it on periodically, every day. There is not a single day that goes by at work where she doesn't whip out some hand and foot lotion to make herself smell a little better. She is a bit anal about her scents.
I still remember the day we were at work and she forgot to bring the lotion with her. She got so freaked out about it that I had to go to the supermarket during my lunch break to get her a bottle. That was the day she and I started to become friends and get close. She practically painted my face with her lipstick from it. Talk about being overly appreciative of someone. If I knew buying lotion could make someone like you, I would have bought lotion long, long ago.
I must look like a child, leading a parent around a household. There are butterflies in my stomach, just being in her presence. No offense to Janet. I love her as a friend, but she is intimidating. I want to get her sat down on the couch so I can be a little more comfortable with this. As we get into the living room, I let go of her hand and climb myself onto the couch. Once seated, I pat my hand on the cushion next to me, motioning for her to join me. Her hands are twitching a little, no doubt still in shock from this. I don't blame her. Megan was a little twitchy at first, too.
I finally manage to get her to sit down, and I realize just how much she dwarfs me. As I sit with my back against the couch, my legs stretch and practically end at the end of the cushion. The edge is against my ankles, and my feet just sort of dangle over the edge. Beside them are Janet's legs, hidden by a pair of black pants, reaching all the way out to the coffee table, where her bare feet are propped up. I look at them, and then up at her. She is looking at me, still a little confused.
"Okay, so..." she starts. As confident as she always sounds, this situation clearly has her baffled.
"Well, it's like this..." I start. After several minutes of deep explanation, and many breaths, I end up telling her what happened. How I contracted the MI-N1 Disease, and what has happened, thus far. I try to explain it as easily as I can. After I am finished, she stays silent for awhile. It will take time for her to process this in her head, as it would anyone. This seems like something straight out of fantasy, yet it is reality.
"So, you're stuck like this?" she asks, as if I can be expected to tell her I will magically return to my former height overnight. I sigh and nod my head towards her. There is no easy way to explain that to someone, that their friend is forever going to be the size of a small child compared to them, if not smaller as time goes on.
"But, there must be something that can be done! A doctor, anyone, who can figure out how to beat this disease and reverse it's effects! Right? So you can be back to your tall self soon? Sure they can--" She is going off on a tangent with this, and I interrupt her to stop her. This is the biggest issue with Janet. She is a problem-solver. She thinks she can fix everything that can possibly go wrong to anyone. I grab onto her hand and look at her with the most serious look I can muster.
"There is no reversal, Janet. I know it might seem hard to accept, but this is me. It's even harder for me to accept it, seeing everyone towering over me. I feel like a child like this, and Megan has to go through all kinds of extra trouble for me. But...that is how it is. I just, can't go back. I am going to be like this for the rest of my life, and I might get smaller. It is scary to think about, but please, don't try to fix this for me. Just stay calm, and be okay with it."
It is hard for me to say things like that. Those very thoughts make me feel sad, and down on myself. I am a victim of this disease, but right now, I have to be strong about it. Janet is having a hard time with this as well, and it ill not help her to see me down on myself and hating the situation. I look at her, with every muscle in my body trying to keep myself from bursting into tears, as I want. Her eyes meet mine, and she slowly nods.
"I..I'm sorry. Is there, well, anything I can do to help with this?" she mutters, her voice a little weak. I can only stand up and and sit myself closer to her. I lean against her and give her what little bit of a hug I can.
"Just don't try to fix it. No one is having an easy time with this. Poor Megan is overstressed. I know she never shows it, but I can feel it. Don't stress yourself out over this. I am fine. I promise."
Janet breathes heavily as she nods to me, once more. Her arm comes down around my shoulder and softly pats on me.
"Alright. I'll try. But, you seem to be alone here right now. I don't have to work tonight. I want to stay here and keep you company. At least until Meg gets back."
As her suggestion comes out, I smile and lean against her again. For the next few hours, we sit on the couch and watch TV...
Giantess World
The Illness by L2K7