Jess, Macy, and Sasha were at their usual bar Friday night. Jess had just finished relaying the run-in she had with her ex the night before, telling them about all the cruel things he said to her. Macy’s hand was wrapped tightly around her glass turning her knuckles bleach white.

            “That fucking jerk-off,” she said. “The nerve to come crawling back to you like that, like he’s doing you a favor.” She looked ready to hunt the man down and beat his ass right then and there. Jess, on the other hand, was much calmer.

            “I don’t care about any of that,” she said, “I feel bad for Drew. I’m sure he heard all the shit Adam was spouting.” The moment kept replaying in her head. The more she thought about it, the more upset it made her. “It was so awkward after that. I wanted to talk to him about it, but I had no idea what to say.”

            “I’m sure he’s used to it,” Macy replied. “Plenty of people are out there hating on tinies. He’s probably too worried about you to even care about that sort of thing.” Sasha sat in silence, having not said much of anything the whole evening. She never liked Adam. He was always trying so hard to please everyone. To her, it was obvious he was hiding something, that the “perfect guy” persona was just a façade. But everyone thought she was being paranoid, always overly protective of her best friend.

            “That’s not right. He shouldn’t have to put up with that,” Jess said. She kept glancing at Sasha, wondering what the quiet woman was thinking. The three women had been together since childhood and knew everything about each other. Sasha’s dislike of tinies was no secret. Ever since Jess started dating one, it had become a point of contention in their friendship. They each tried to look past the other’s feelings, but letting bygones be bygones could only hold them together for so long. If something wasn’t done, the wedge between them would just keep growing.

            “Jess, I want to meet your boyfriend,” Sasha declared. Jess and Macy stared at her wide-eyed. “I’ve said some shitty things about him in the past. Hearing that dickwad Adam say the same shit pisses me off.” She couldn’t look her friends in the eye, glaring into her half-empty glass instead. “Drew’s clearly important to you, and that means something, even if he’s puny. Maybe if I met him it would give me a new perspective or something, I don’t know.”

            Jess tackled her with a hug, almost knocking Sasha off her seat. “Thank you! You’re gonna love him, I know it.” Sasha remained in her friend’s embrace for a while before pushing her off.

            “Alright, don’t get your hopes up too high,” she said with a smirk. “I might tolerate him if he’s lucky.”

…

            Drew sat on Jess’ couch waiting for her friend to arrive. He twiddled his thumbs and meditated. This was his first time meeting one of her friends, and he wanted to make a good first impression. All he knew about Sasha was that she was, according to Jess, “scared of tinies,” and she was hoping Drew could alleviate her fear. It wasn’t clear how he was going to do that; his plan was to play it cool and hope for the best.

            The knock at the door jolted him an inch off his seat. He recited a mantra in his head, steeling himself while Jess answered it. Sasha stood in the doorway wearing a black, low-cut tank top and a pair of worn-down jeans; her shirt bore the logo of her favorite metal band. “Hey there,” Jess greeted her. “You ready?” Sasha nodded, her balled fists shook at her sides. She was stiff as a board as she approached the sofa and biting incessantly at her lower lip.

            Drew stood up and glanced nervously towards the chubby goth towering over him. Scratching the back of his neck, Drew hesitantly introduced himself. “Hi, Sasha!” he yelled. He couldn’t remember how loud he had to be for a giant to hear him. His first words came out louder than he hoped. “I’m Drew. Jess’ boyfriend. We’re dating. How’s it going?” He held out his arm for a handshake.

            “Sup,” Sasha muttered. She stood there unflinching while Drew continued to hold his arm out. Jess had a massive grin on her face, being the only one enjoying the awkward spectacle. Eventually, Drew pulled his arm back to fuss with his hair. He hoped it looked like a simple, natural motion, but it couldn’t have looked any more awkward.  Sasha continued to stand and stare in silence, unsure as to what was expected of her.

            “Take a seat next to him,” Jess whispered into her ear. “He won’t bite.” Sasha grimaced but complied with her friend’s suggestion. Dropping onto the cushion next to him bounced the tiny man a few inches into the air. Sasha didn’t recognize the impact her actions could have on the man and muttered an apology under her breath. Jess continued to stand in front of them to act as a mediator. “Say something to him,” she whispered again, as if Drew couldn’t hear everything she said. Sasha wracked her brain for anything to talk to a tiny about.

            “Uh, how’s,” she paused, realizing mid-sentence how cliché she was being, “how’s the weather, y’know, down there?” She looked straight forward towards Jess, unable to face the tiny eye-to-eye. It was obvious to Drew that he would have to lead the conversation. He wracked his brain for something to talk about, finding more success than his companion could.

            “Cool shirt. Have you heard their new album? I swear, everything they put out kicks ass.” Sasha pivoted towards Drew with inhuman speed, her face hovering a few inches above him.

            “You listen to Spiritbox!?” No one in her friend group shared her taste in music, no matter how much she forced them to listen to all her favorite bands. Jess and Macy put up with it as best they could, but there was never any convincing them. “Of course I’ve listened to it. I’ve had it on loop since it released. And yeah, they’re the fucking best.”  Sasha was now fully facing Drew, sitting cross legged on the sofa. “Who else do you listen to?”

            “Mastodon, Of Mice & Men, Ice Nine Kills…” The two went off on a tangent about bands and music, leaving Jess in the dust as their conversation flew past her head. For a moment, Sasha forgot she was talking to a tiny as she geeked out. Their conversation lasted a whole hour before Jess decided Sasha was ready for the next step.

            “Try picking him up,” she suggested. “If you hold him in your palm, you can actually talk to him face-to-face instead of crouching over him.” The joy Sasha had felt vanished from her face. She looked to Jess, pleading with her eyes not to have to hold Drew, but the woman stood there adamantly. Sasha had never touched a tiny and would have gladly gone her whole life without doing so. She hated bugs, actual bugs, and the thought of something so small crawling on her skin made her cringe. But her friendship with Jess depended on this, and she was starting to see Drew as a person and not a bug, so maybe she could tolerate him crawling onto her palm.

            She lowered her hand in front of Drew. By this point, he had gotten used to climbing onto giant hands and did so with ease. Sasha hated every second of it. His puny feet using the folds in her skin as footholds, walking along the surface of her palm with his miniscule feet, it felt like a large insect invading her personal space. It took all the willpower she could muster not to swipe him away or crush him with her fingers. Drew was oblivious to the anguish his simple actions caused her. He stood in the center of her palm and waited for her to lift him.

            Having never handled a tiny before, Sasha brought him upward with reckless abandon, thinking the quicker she lifted him the sooner she could put him down. Drew lost his balance during the ascent and was sent flying off her hand. It all happened so fast, there was nothing anyone could do. Drew landed headfirst into Sasha’s cleavage, his tiny legs sticking out from between her boobs. Sasha started screaming as the tiny squirmed against her overwhelming chest. Her hands were flailing in the air as she freaked out. Sasha’s breasts were a lot bigger than what Drew what used to, and the tiny man’s attempt at wiggling free only sunk him further into the abyss. Jess was too busy laughing to be of any assistance.

            “Jess! Get him out!” Sasha demanded. Failing to hold her laughter back, Jess reached into her friend’s cleavage and fondled around for her boyfriend. “Hurry up!”

            “Sorry, they’re so big,” she chuckled. “He must’ve gotten lost.” Eventually, she felt her boyfriend’s miniature frame and lifted him out of the abyss. His face was beet red as he was dangled upside down between the woman.

            “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” he cried out. It wasn’t clear who exactly he was apologizing to, but it sent Jess back into a laughing fit.

            “I-it’s fine,” Sasha huffed. “It wasn’t your fault.” A bit of relief washed over Drew who was still being dangled above Sasha’s chest. He thought it strange that Jess was still holding him there by his foot. It’d be really easy for her to separate her index finger and thumb, releasing her hold on him and sending him plummeting back into the extraordinary cleavage waiting below. As he put the pieces together, he looked towards his girlfriend’s grinning face. Before he knew it, he was back in Sasha’s shirt swimming between her mountains.

            “Jess, what the fuck! Get him out!” Sasha screamed and waved her arms while her bestie fell to the floor chortling. Drew went limp, giving up on trying to worm his way out. It was comfortable between the fleshy pillows, almost like being consumed by a weighted blanket. Warmth radiated from the woman’s skin, and the faint beating of her pulse coursed through the tiny’s body.  It’d make for a great napping spot. Drew felt sorry for getting cozy between Sasha’s tits, but it was his girlfriend’s fault he was stuck there. Though Jess only put him there as a joke, having the tiny sit in her chest did help Sasha get used to his touch. She calmed down as the feel of him became more familiar.

            After a minute, Sasha pushed her hand into her cleavage and pulled out Drew. He shivered as his body acclimated to the colder, open air. Sasha fondled him with her fingers as she held him out. “It’s weird. Even though you’re a person, you still feel like a bug.” She wasn’t gentle with the man in her hand, poking, prodding, and rolling him around in her palm. “Sorry, that was shitty thing to say. I meant it’s weird how you feel, to hold and touch and all that. I don’t get what she sees in you.” Jostling Drew with her fingers became less centered around curiosity and more out of anxiety the more she spoke. “Not in you, specifically. You’re cool. I meant tinies in general. I don’t get the fetish. Or… You know what, I’m gonna shut up now.” She held Drew out toward Jess. “Take him back already, please.” Drew looked longingly towards his girlfriend, begging for her to comply.

            Jess brought Drew safely back into her hand. The scent of her hand lotion soothed him as he sprawled out along her palm. “Thanks for letting me visit,” Sasha said as she got off the couch. “It was good to meet you, Drew. Let’s talk music again sometime.” Jess lowered Drew to the sofa and walked her friend to the door.

            “So, what’s the verdict?” Jess asked. “Can you tolerate him?”

            “You have questionable taste in men,” she replied, “but you did good this time. And look, I’m not going to become some tiny lover overnight, but I’ll try to be better.”

            “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” Jess waved her off and returned to her boyfriend. Drew was lying on his back, relishing in the freedom of being alone on a giant sofa. “Sorry about all that. She isn’t great with meeting new people, even ones her size.”

            “S’all good,” he replied. “She reminds me of my best friend. He’d be just as standoffish around you.”

            “I’d love to meet him.”

            “Sure thing. I’ll find a way to push him into your shirt, then we’ll be even.”

            “Nuh-uh,” she said picking him up. Jess tugged at her shirt collar and dangled Drew above the opening. “There’s only one tiny allowed in there.”