“Well if you losers are just going to sit here and read all night, then I’m going out. I’m going with some friends to see Shrek 5 so don't bother waiting up. Max if you want you can tag along…. Im pretty sure I could sneak you in without paying” Megan dangles her sock playfull in your direction.

“While I’d LOVE to spend two hours trapped in your shoe, I think I'll stay and study with Ashley” you reply with a pretty thick layer of sarcasm.

“Love being trapped in my shoes, you say? Well if you ask me really really nicely maybe I could be persuaded to let you spend the night in Chateau le foot.” Megan giggles and skips back out of the room and heads upstairs to get ready for her night out.

Shuddering at the thought of getting stuck in a sock for the remainder of the night, you silently curse yourself for always insisting on trying to get the last word.

“You know you really ought to be careful what you say to her. I wouldn’t put it past her to actually drop you in that stank coffin.” Ashley reminds you. “Sometimes it’s better to just ignore her and the subject entirely”

“I know, I know. All these years later and I still sometimes think that I’m the tough one in the family. But I’m not worried. she knows the rules. I may not be big anymore but I’m still in charge.” You exclaim confidently, puffing out your chest and shielding your slightly wounded ego. 

“Oh you’re in charge are you? That’s interesting. Very, very interesting” By the time Ashley is done with her sentence she is baring her teeth a mere inch away from your tiny form. You look up in amazement and ponder the notion that she could swallow you whole if she felt so inclined. But you were less afraid of being eaten than you were of being burped on again.

“WE…. I meant to say the WE are in charge. WE make a pretty good team if I do say so myself.” You look up past her big soft lips directly into her emerald eyes. You feel quite confident with your compromise to discussion about who runs the show in this house.

“I suppose I can agree to that. As long as you agree to actually focus on the task at hand and study.”

You and Ashley return your combined attention to the textbook in front of you. You’re sat on your small pillow on the floor, with Ashley lying on her stomach behind you. Above you, you can feel her rhythmic breathing, air passing in and out of her nostrils which to you are the size of a subway tunnel. The events and conversations from earlier today definitely had you thinking more than usual about the size of the world around you. There was a time when you stood at 6’ tall and Ashley, while tall in her own right, had to look up to you. These days you had to be careful not to get trapped beneath one of your beautiful sisters. 

“I said are you finished on this page?” Ashley asked a bit louder than necessary. That probably wasn't the first time she had just asked.

“Yeah, yeah im all set” you lied. While you knew that Ashley wouldn't ever punish you, you still didn't want to upset her. 

“Okay good. Well if you're alright then I’m going to put you in your room, and go take a shower” Ashley began packing things up and moving you to your room.

“Wait, why don't I just do the quiz with you on your laptop? And how come you need to take a shower? I was just kidding about the BO thing.” You were a bit caught off guard by the proposed deviation from your usual routine. 

“Well, I’m not going to bother with the quiz. I’m confident I’ll be okay without it. And I’m going to shower because…… well because I’ve got a date tonight.” Ashely said, not making eye contact with you.

This revelation was not something you would’ve expected. Normally this is the sort of thing that you and Ashey would’ve talked about earlier. Not that she needed your permission to go on a date, it was just unusual that she didn’t tell you. Come to think about it, this is the first time you can recall Ashley talking about going on a date.

“Oh a date? I didn’t realize you had met someone. Who’s the lucky lady?” you ask, hoping to get a bit of information. 

“Her name is Alexis, and I met her on campus a couple weeks ago. She’s usually in the library during the time that I’m waiting for you to finish up your appointment with Dr. Amata. We started chatting and I finally agreed to go on a date with her.” Ashley definitely seemed to be a bit withholding with the info about this new girl. She finished packing up the study supplies and moved you into your room.

Your room was an incredibly nice collection of containers specifically designed for RPs. Engineered by the minds at ProTech, a company whose claim to fame was a line of commercial and residential products for RPs, your habitat consists of a small chamber that was the size of a medium sized fish tank with a plethora of tubes and additional chambers that ran through the house. You could call a small spherical shuttle through each of the tunnels via a keypad located at each end of that particular tube. This system made it very easy for you to navigate through the house and even gave you some alone time if you were to ever need it. This particular model was insanely expensive for the average user, but your late father was able to get it for you free of charge since he was a sales consultant for the company. Aside from the obvious perks that went along with such a position (i.e. inexpensive or even free ProTech equipment), this job also allowed your father to leave behind a good deal of money for your family, along with a sizeable inheritance that could be accessed on your 25th birthday. With easy access for full size humans to get access to, Ashley could pop the top off of your main chamber and place you gently inside. 

“Well, this is a nice surprise. How come you didn’t tell me you had started talking to someone?” you ask, hoping to pry some more info out of your suddenly quiet sister.

“I just didn’t want to bother bringing it up until I knew it was going to become something, ya know? I didn’t want to make a big deal out of something that doesn’t end up panning out.” Ashley is now looking down directly at you. “I’ll only be gone a few hours and Megan should be leaving soon so you’ll have some time to yourself tonight.”

“Sure, sure. I’ve got plenty of food in my fridge and my computer is still hooked up to the main router so I should be fine. I hope you have a good time!” You smile up at your gorgeous sister. You genuinely meant that too. After all she does so much for you that you want her to have all the happiness that she deserves. 

You go over to the large desk and monitor in the corner of your room and decided to look up the quiz before you lose any and all motivation to do so. Meanwhile Ashley and Megan prepare to head out for the evening.