Chapter Text
Lance woke up, his head aching and brain foggy. Where was he? He didn’t recognize whatever room he was in, and whatever was underneath him definitely wasn’t standard carpet.
What the hell?
He blinked, looking around him, but he was having trouble parsing what he was looking at. Torn up paper all over the floor, but it was way thicker than normal paper. It was almost like canvas. The light was warm, but unfamiliar.
And… was that glass all around him?
Something beyond the floor-to-whatever glass was moving, and he felt his heart jump into his throat. He tried to move back, but caught a glimpse of something smaller moving out of the corner of his eye.
Oh shit… that was Adam!
Lance pushed himself up, stumbling in the thick layer of paper around his ankles, trying to get closer. His hands smashed up against another layer of glass… or Plexiglass. Plastic, or something. God, it was like three inches thick!
“Adam!” He shouted, cupping his hands to be heard through the thick plastic that separated them.
The taller boy clutched his head, spitting into the colorful paper.
“What… what the fuck is this?” He said, but Lance could barely hear him, muffled through the layer of plastic between them.
“Dude, where the hell are we?” Lance called back, his breath shallow. Adam shrugged, brushed off the weird papers that were clinging to his blue jacket. He glanced to the side opposite from Lance, where Kyle was pressed, waving his arm at Lance.
But Lance couldn’t hear what he was saying through two layers of the stuff. He swallowed.
“Oh, good, you’re all awake.” A voice so loud it could have been played through concert speakers crashed over them, and Lance winced, his head still pounding. He looked up to follow the noise, but… he couldn’t even comprehend what he was looking at.
It was that girl – the one that Adam had insisted they introduce to the neighborhood. She’d been cute, totally Adam’s type, but Lance had gotten a weird vibe from her. Usually, when they approached the new kids, they got some money from them or something. That was all. Adam usually didn’t let his games go too far. Well, there was Randy, but… they were gone, now.
But the girl that loomed over him like a fairytale giant wasn’t possible. Her big brown eyes hovered over them, narrowed, as if she was trying to figure them out.
“That makes this easier.” She said. Her smile looked a little annoyed, like she didn’t want to be doing this. Lance felt his breath leave him, and he stumbled back, falling into the shredded paper.
Which… holy shit, wasn’t just paper, it was bedding. The kind that his sister used for her guinea pigs. And it was thick enough under him that it didn’t even hurt to fall into it. He took in a short, gasping breath.
“What the hell?” Adam shouted up, and Lance looked at him, standing tall, face red. Or… as tall as he could stand at what must be four inches tall. He didn’t look afraid at all, totally unlike how Lance was feeling. “What did you do? What the hell is this?”
The girl sighed.
“Hey, I didn’t want to do this.” She huffed, folding her arms and leaning back. “I warned you, okay? Don’t blame me because you don’t like the outcome!”
“F-fuck, how can you blame this on me?” Adam shouted up, his face reddening further. “You fucking… you shrank me!” He smacked his little hand onto the terrarium glass, looking up furiously.
Bec’s mouth turned up at the corner.
“Uh, yeah.” She said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“That’s not fair!” Adam shouted, starting to sputter. “Change us back, you can’t… you can’t keep us like this!”
Lance wished he would stop shouting, but he didn’t disagree. He turned up to look at Bec’s massive face, and watched nervously as she pressed her lips together, narrowing her eyes at Adam’s tiny form.
“Not fair…?” She said, scoffing. “And what exactly were you going to do, when you didn’t think there’d be any consequences? I told you to back off!”
Adam folded his little arms, refusing to be cowed, even when he was looking at someone that outsized him a hundred times.
“We were… we were just gonna get some money, okay? That’s it!” He said, and Lance felt his own stomach curdle. God, how stupid were they?
Bec snorted out a laugh.
“Money? What do you need kid’s money for?” She asked, tilting her head, leaning closer to the terrarium as if she was examining Adam. He wrapped his jacket around himself, blushing furiously at the idea of being inspected. “You’ve got plenty.”
“F-fuck you!” Adam spat back. What was he supposed to say? It wasn’t exactly untrue.
“Yeah, right.” Bec said, rolling her eyes. “So you were gonna bully me out of the twenty in my purse, and… what, buy a pizza or something? God, you’re arrogant.”
“Shut up!” Adam snapped, gritting his teeth. “You don’t know anything about me!”
Bec sighed, resting her cheek on her hand, looking down at him with a soft smile.
“Yeah, okay.” Her tone was infuriatingly condescending.
Lance caught Kyle moving out of the corner of his eye, and watched his mouth move, even though he couldn’t hear him. Bec huffed a breath out her nose and shook her head.
“Yeah right! And let you guys go right back out to be this awful again? No, okay? I did this, I gotta see it through.” She said, and Lance watched Kyle fold up on himself, his eyes wide. He shivered.
Adam didn’t shut down.
“What the fuck, so you’re just gonna… keep us like this f-forever?” He said angrily, but Lance heard just the barest hint of fear under his voice.
“No, come on! Do I look like I want to be dealing with you three for the rest of my life? No thanks! I got stuff to do, okay? Don’t worry, you’re not gonna be like this forever.”
Lance felt something like hope in his chest. While he didn’t really want to be like this at all, knowing that there was going to be an end to it made him relax a little. But… who knew how long she meant?
“So what, we’re your summer pets or some shit? Gonna make us fight or something? Are you gonna try and teach me tricks?” Adam spat, and Lance winced. Why the hell did he keep antagonizing her? He banged on the plastic between them, and his face flushed.
“Shut up, asshole!” Lance shouted, his heart pounding. “S-stop pissing her off!”
Bec glanced down, her eyes focused gently on him, and she let out a quiet noise. But then Adam flipped Lance off, and started shouting again.
“Shut up, coward! Just cuz… just cuz I’m like this doesn’t mean I’m going to give up, got it?” He glared up at the girl over them, who only sighed, annoyed. “I’m not gonna be your fucking pet!”
Bec shrugged.
“Whatever you say, bud.” She looked at the three of them, tapping at her lip. “Alright, who’s going first?” She asked.
Lance felt his body go cold, every muscle tensing.
First? First for what? He didn’t like the look in her eyes, a little sparkle like she knew something they didn’t.
Which, considering what she’d already done to them, really could be anything. All his anger from shouting at Adam deserted him, and he stepped back, sinking into the stupid paper bedding underneath his feet.
Her eyes flicked over Adam in the middle. He put his hands up, shaking his head.
“Not you. You’re last.” She said, and there was an edge to her voice that there hadn’t been before. Her lip even curled a little. What the hell was THAT supposed to mean? Lance felt terror as she focused on Kyle, pursing her lips. He saw the guy fall to his knees and put his hands together, like he was praying. Bec raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
“Mm… maybe…” She murmured.
Then her eyes turned to Lance, and her expression shifted.
She looked Lance up and down, something that must have been easy considering how little of him there was left, and nodded, smiling slightly.
“Yeah, you first.” She said, reaching in through the open top of the room he was caught in. He let out a terrified, humiliating squeak, scrambling away from her approaching hand, his heart racing like he’d never felt before.
No, no no!
He felt like a prey animal trying to escape from a godlike predator. She let out a quiet tsk, chasing him into the corner, where he pressed his back into the sticky silicone joint and sank down into the paper bedding. He threw his hands up to cover his head, shaking violently.
“I… please…” He managed, and Bec sighed.
“I’m not going to hurt you, buddy.” She said patiently. “I got you here without hurting you, didn’t I? Don’t worry.” Her voice was so soft and gentle that Lance felt his fear loosen involuntarily, like he really was just a mouse that responded to gentle reassurance.
But then her fingers wrapped around him, and the panic was back.
He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but the warm, living softness that pressed into him from all directions wasn’t it.
He could feel the incredible power of just her finger muscles, all of which would be able to pin him easily. Her heartbeat slammed through her skin, throbbing against his body.
She was so incredibly powerful, but she was also incredibly delicate as her fingers easily slid around him, scooping him gently into her palm without pinching, twisting, or hurting him. He considered fighting, but where would that get him? Dropped on the floor, probably.
“N-no… don’t…” He whispered.
She closed her fingers around him gently, cupping him softly in a loose fist, enough that he could probably wriggle free if he tried. But then he was moving, his inner ear screaming while he flew through the air. He let out a panicked breath and grabbed for anything he could reach, his tiny hand closing around one of the wrinkles in her palm.
“You two behave, okay? Quit whining, I’m not going to kill him.” Bec said down into the cage he’d just been taken out of, and realized that one of them must have said something. He could feel her voice vibrating through her hand, but he couldn’t catch his friend’s voices.
“W-where are you taking me?” He asked, but his voice didn’t come out strong enough. She didn’t even look down. Instead, she began walking, each step sending a painful jolt through his body. He winced, clutching his fingers into her palm again, trying to keep from panicking.
She’d said she wasn’t going to kill him, that was good, right? He… He wasn’t about to die.
But he was gripped in someone’s fist – completely helpless, smaller than a person could even be. It didn’t matter what was coming next, it wasn’t up to him at all. She could pick him up, move him without even noticing his resistance.
He’d never imagined being this helpless, completely out of his own control. He choked on his own dry throat, but he refused to cry. There was no way he was going to let himself start crying.
Where was she going? Was there even a point in wondering?
What did it mean that he was first?
Why him? Why did he even hang out with these losers in the first place if this is what it got him? He was soft one, the easy target. No wonder she’d picked him to be first – she probably thought he’d be the easiest to break. Whatever torture she had planned for him, he’d be the one to give up first.
Oh god, did she have a dark torture chamber somewhere in the basement with tiny little weapons? Nail clippers or a pair of scissors? Was she going to put him in the microwave and threaten to start it if he didn’t talk? Would she just put him on the floor and step on him?
But she didn’t take him to a torture chamber, or the kitchen, or anywhere else.
No… this was the bathroom. He swallowed heavily as she nestled him carefully into a soft folded washcloth. His shaking legs folded instantly as he sank into the soft layers of terrycloth.
“Okay, you can stop acting like I’m about to eat you.” Bec said, glancing at the door. “You’re gonna be fine, it’s just a bath. But that friend of yours needs to stew for a while, so I can’t just tell him, you know? I’m gonna make him sit with it, the arrogant little bastard.”
Lance blinked, his mind having trouble catching up. A bath?
His first thought was that he didn’t need a bath, he’d just showered earlier than morning. He hadn’t taken a bath since he was a baby, probably. But… he couldn’t really process anything but relief that she wasn’t about to do something horrible to him.
“I bet you’d look good in green.” Bec said, reaching down into a drawer under the counter. “Here, you can wear this once you’re done, okay?” She set down a pair of comfortable gym shorts and an emerald green t-shirt next to him. They looked soft and smelled like laundry detergent. And… they were his size. So small they looked like scraps of fabric between her fingers.
He blinked down at them, his mind spinning in confusion.
“You’re… you’re not gonna…?” He stammered and Bec sighed, a slight smile on her face.
“Oh my god, you guys think that just because you guys tried to take my money I’m going to torture you?” She scoffed. “I’m not my dad, okay? I’m not insane.”
He swallowed, his face reddening.
“Jeez, why does everyone think I’m going to kill them the second they find out what I am?” She said, sighing and looking away. “I didn’t… ask to be born this way, okay? And… just because I was doesn’t mean I’m a monster.” She choked on the word monster, and looked away.
Her voice was bitter, and for a second, Lance caught a glimpse of the girl underneath the terrifying giant. She ran the sink for a minute, running her fingers under it until it was warm.
“No, okay? I’m not gonna hurt you, I’m not gonna do anything. But you guys, blondie especially… You gotta learn your lesson.”
She trailed off and filled up a shallow saucer, placing it on the counter next to where she’d set Lance. He looked at it nervously, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But she only scraped her fingernail against the bar of vanilla scented soap and left it on the edge of the saucer.
“Listen, you guys can’t just go around shaking down new kids, okay? I mean, that’s really shitty of you guys, especially with kids who don’t know you. I mean, you could really scare someone, or hurt someone. You just happened to mess with the wrong girl this time.”
She paused, looking down at Lance with an expectant look. He blinked up at her, then startled. She was waiting for him to answer!
“Oh… yeah, I know.” He said, flushing guiltily. He knew it was wrong, but if he didn’t stick with Adam, then he risked being one of those kids with their money stolen. Better safe than sorry, at least… that’s how he justified it.
She shrugged, pushing herself to a stand.
“Just… take your bath, okay? I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
Then she was gone. Really gone, she even closed the door. Lance let out a long breath he hadn’t realized had been stuck in his chest, and let the tension flow out of his limbs. He couldn’t stop shaking.
Was that all she wanted, was for him to take a bath? He shook his head. No way was he going to strip down and take a bath in… what looked like an actual dish. But even as he thought about it, he couldn’t deny that the idea of washing off in some warm water sounded really good. That, and… the fact that she had clothes for someone his size was both encouraging and terrifying.
Did that mean she’d done this kind of thing before?
Should that relieve him as much as it did? Now that his brain had time to think and calm down, he could tell in the way she’d picked him up that she already knew how to do it. She hadn’t hurt him, not even by accident.
At least… at least she cared enough to be careful with him.
Because who was this girl? How was she able to do things like this without blinking an eye?
He glanced at the door, then shrugged, slipping his shirt off. He wasn’t about to turn down a small comfort, not when the world was this messed up. Maybe he’d wake up and find out this was all a dream.
He finished undressing and stepped into the water. Dammit, she’d even got the perfect temperature. Even though the water was thicker than he was used to, like half set gelatin, it still felt nice on his achy muscles. He carefully slipped in, letting the warm water surround him. He wasn’t going to enjoy this, he was just going to be here long enough to let his muscles relax.
That was it.