Savagely shrinking

The board to share all your fiction
User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:05 pm

It was about to be a Savage World again, and Kali and the guys couldn't be happier.

Oh sure, they had kept up with texts and the like, but the guys had really missed Kali in the interim, and gaming sessions by texting, email and audio just weren't the same. And because of where Kali's dad was posted, she didn't have enough bandwidth to communicate with them any other way.

Not that Kali had been any great beauty. Truth be told, she was small, thin as a rail, and wore headgear that was reminiscent of the young Willy Wonka in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Blemished would have been the kindest thing you could have said about her face, and her hair was so constantly tangled, it qualified for a grant under the EPA Superfund.

Still, the guys loved her, and she had instantly become part of the Savages since she meeting the guys in the seventh grade.

They called themselves the Savages after "The Fabulous Five" from the Doc Savage pulp fictions. There was George, the tall, thin brunette with a stuttering problem, who was not only a math genius but knew quite a bit about theoretical physics and programming. He shared something of an overlap in the physics department with Steve, the short, solidly built blonde young man whose father insisted he wear a crew cut at all times. Steve's appreciation of physics was more on the practical side and was coupled with a knowledge of electronics and optics. Tom was the group's surfer boy, and although none of the guys were in bad shape, per se, Tom was the only one who actually worked out, and his time in the sun was reflected in his light brown hair and bronze skin. Tom was the quiet one, preferring to observe, so that when he did throw in a comment, people listened. Despite his high rankings in his biology and chemistry class, Tom was the only one of the four who could have mingled in with other cliques in school if he had wanted to. But Tom preferred being with the Savages.

Kali rounded out the group with her near encyclopedic knowledge of literature and mythology, which had made her the group's go-to gamemaster until eighteen months ago, when her Dad's government job required he and his daughter move to some remote island in the Pacific for a year and a half. Kali was a more than fair artist, drawing all the guy's character images exactly how they wanted. She was even a decent seamstress, creating all the guy's costumes for the local comic-cons. She never made one for herself, though, only feeling comfortable in the company of her gaming friends.

Kali never talked about herself as the ugly duckling, but it came out once in a while. The last time was before she and her Dad moved away. She had created a pixie sorceress for herself, and wistfully wondered what it would be like to actually be a pixie. This led to a spirited discussion among the three guys, with words like "compressed matter", "the squared-cubed rule," and other phrases the more liberal arts oriented Kali didn't follow. With a rare laugh, Kali asked the guys to table the discussion until she wasn't there.

Table the discussion the guys did, but they did bring it up later. Eighteen months later, that discussion would lead to a remarkable coming home present for their friend Kali.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:06 pm

"An-and the f-f-f-first thing you ask isn't g-g-g-going to be w-w-w-will you r-r-r-run an adventure," George admonished Steve.

"Hey, there'll be plenty of time to ask her when she actually gets here," Steve replied, his tone revealing that he wasn't (in his own opinion at least) that uncouth. Turning to the third friend present, he asked, "So are you going to ask her?"

Tom, leaning back in his chair, replied, "Thought I'd let her get off the plane first, before asking her to the senior prom."

All three guys (though Tom didn't show it) were excited at the prospect at being eighteen and starting their senior year at high school. Though none had steady girlfriends, none of them were strangers to dating, and especially Tom, who according to the school rumor mill had no less than two cheerleaders interested in him. So none of them were really worried about having partners to all the big social events looming in the school's social calendar. But Tom had brought up the problem of Kali. They couldn't very well just leave her at home for things like Homecoming and Senior Prom.

And as soon as Tom brought up the problem, he provided the solution. "I'll take her to Homecoming. Senior prom tool Let her know just as friends."

George and Steve gave a collective sigh of relief. It wasn't that they didn't think of Kali as their best friend. It was just neither of them thought their "game" could take the hit of showing up with Kali at a school dance. George had a sort of Beautiful Mind meets Hugh Grant thing going on, and Steve had gone to the gym just enough so that the adjectives "stout and stolid" rather than "stumpy and dumpy" were used on him. But both felt showing up with Kali at a dance would ruin their chances of losing their virginities before graduation.

Tom either wasn't worried or didn't care. Probably both. Tom made friends easily, mainly because he was comfortable who he was.

Before Steve could make any further comment, the Skype on the computer the three were sitting in front of began ringing.

"Morning guys," a feminine voice greeted the trio through the speakers. "Oops, it's afternoon there. How is yesterday?" Kali said with a laugh.

Kali had taken to laughing more, the guys thought. She had a nice laugh, especially since she was no longer talking through and around wires and other metal. She had wrote the guys that she had had the device removed about a week after getting to her new home.

"It is afternoon," Tom replied for the group. "Starting your morning workout?" he asked.

Kali laughed again. "Yeah. Even though we're packing up and we'll be home in a couple of weeks, my trainers aren't slacking up on me. And I do have a great Polynesian adventure for everyone, Steve, before you ask. I plan to start running it as soon as I get all my moving boxes unpacked," she added with a laugh.

All three guys smiled at her laugh. They had been worried about Kali when her and her Dad moved. She had told them she would be the only teenager on the island. It was either going to be all young kids are adults in their thirties and older. The guys knew Kali lived a pretty isolated life as it was. Without the three of them, it was going to be just her and her dad. And only him when he wasn't working.

Instead, Kali had hit the ground running. Although she didn't have the bandwidth for video communications halfway around the world, she could take online courses from nearby colleges on the more populous islands. And the small community she was living in had plenty of experts in all sorts of fields. Kali wrote all the time about learning how to sail, becoming proficient at some native Pacific martial arts, and all sorts of things.

"Hey, my dad says I could make this a video call," Kali added. "You guys haven't seen me without all the aluminum and rubber bands. I guess I ought to give a sneak preview so you won't be too shocked."

The guys felt a little guilty about not having asked to see Kali without her headgear before. But it would have felt kind of weird.

Before the silence stretched too long, Tom answered, "Sure."

"Okay, hang on a second, let me get the phone situated, and I'll even show you how I do the workouts," Kali answered.

It was probably for the best the guys own webcam wasn't on when Kali's picture filled the screen. Their friend halfway around the world wouldn't have known how to react to their slack-jawed silence as she did a dumbbell bicep curl for them.

Image

"The great thing about being my head being gear free is I don't clank anymore when I do curls," she laughed. "Listen, guys, I gotta run. But I promised, Steve, polynesian adventure when I get home and unpacked. Later."

As the screen went blank, the guys looked at each other in continued stunned silence before Steve summed it up nicely.

"We're in trouble," he advised.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Tue Apr 14, 2020 4:06 pm

"W-w-w-why are we in tr-trouble?" George asked.

Before George could answer, Tom interjected,"Because before Steve knew what Kali looked like, he was worried about being seen in public with her. Now that he can get non-nerd girls to go out with him. Now that he knows what she looks like, he's worried she'll think she's too hot to be seen with us. Or more specifically, with him."

"That's not true," Steve replied heatedly. When Tom just arched an eyebrow and continued looking at him, Steve let his shoulders sag. "Okay, not completely true. But you got to admit, I mean, that's not the same Kali who left us almost two years ago. You know Dan Rogers is going to be all over her." Dan Rogers was the cliche of popular football stars that any nerd angst filled story would be incomplete without. All things considered, Dan was not a bad guy. He and Tom, for instance, exchanged pleasantries any time they crossed paths. But Dan had a way of finding what made someone insecure and needling them about it. Dan was the one who had gotten Steve to actually begin a gym routine. Or rather, Dan poking Steve in the stomach during his sophomore year and making the Pillsbury doughboy laugh (which got a lot of laughs in the corridor) was what made Steve start going to the gym.

"Kali might have changed on the outside," Tom allowed, "But she's the same friend of ours as she was two years ago. She even told you she had an adventure to run for us without you even asking. Now, do I expect her to expand her circle of friends?" Tom asked. "I hope she does. The rest of us have friends outside the Savages. There's no reason she shouldn't as well. Doesn't make the rest of us any less best friends."

Steve nodded, but didn't look convinced. As for Tom, he was actually regretting the fact that Kali wouldn't be needing him to escort her to any of the dances or other parties that year.

"And d-d-d-don't f-f-f-forget, we still h-h-h-have the surprise," George added.

Mollified by that reminder, the three guys discussed all the possible reactions Kali would have to their surprise.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Tue Apr 14, 2020 7:37 pm

For George, Steve and Tom, it was a tortuous two weeks. There were no further calls, as the sixteen hour time difference, coupled with the fact that Kali and her father were in the process of moving from the far side of the world. Kali sent the guys an occasional text with a status report, but that was it.

What was more frustrating (though understandable) was the fact that Kali didn't immediately meet them once she and her dad did make it back home. Of course, father and daughter needed to recover from the flight, and had boxes to unpack and get set up, and do all those little things with the local school system, utilities and government one has to do when just moving from across town, much less from a different hemisphere. Fortunately, much of that could be taken care of online. And schoolwise, the school year had just ended. Kali would have the entire summer to get everything situated for her senior year.

Finally, after three and a half weeks after that fateful video call, Kali contacted the guys and they agreed to meet up at Sundollar, a local coffee shop that catered to surfers and the trendy caffeine crowd.

Image

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Wed Apr 15, 2020 3:17 am

George, Steve and Tom got to Sundollars first. But they didn't have to wait long. And it was obvious when Kali walked into the coffee shop.

She didn't wear anything special (Steve was a little disappointed that Kali wasn't wearing something with as much cleavage showing as the workout outfit he had gotten to briefly see her in). Point of fact, the outfit Kali entered the coffee shop in was almost identical to what she wore two years ago: a slate gray oversized sweater, baggy "Mom" jeans, cheap, no label sneakers and no makeup. But unlike the Kali of two years ago, both Kali and her clothes were clean and fresh, and even the looseness of her clothes couldn't completely conceal a trim, womanly figure underneath. And while the Kali who left almost two years ago scurried about, trying desperately to withdraw into herself every time she held still, this Kali was all smiles and brightness, and actually seemed to shine. The disaster that had once been her hair was clean, dark, straight and glossy, and was tied in a long, loose ponytail that swung in a happy gait behind her.

The coffee shop was filled with high school and college students enjoying the beginning of their summer break, and it seemed every eye tracked this new arrival, sure they knew here from somewhere, and yet also equally sure they had never seen her before. After all, they would certainly remember such a vision, they told themselves.

All the guys, and especially Steve, were disappointed when Kali sat down at their table without giving them some kind of hug as a greeting. The air that this new Kali exuded made it seem she was the sort that liked to hug people. The old Kali never did, and the guys guessed it was just wishful thinking on their part. But it sure seemed new Kali was the type who liked to hug her friends.

New Kali liked to laugh, and talk excitedly. The guys appreciated that fact. They also appreciated the fact that she smiled brightly, occasionally swung her ponytail about, and occasionally stretched or bent in such a way to make her sweater a bit more form revealing.

They also discovered the exuberance and friendliness Kali showed only seemed to extend to the three of them. Kali was friendly with the barista who took her order, but it was a very limited friendliness, with the words used in the exchange dished out sparingly. Patrons at nearby tables that tried to catch Kali's eye so they could make an excuse to come over found their eye contact diligently avoided.

And then Dan Rogers walked into the Sundollar.

Of course Dan Rogers would walk in, Steve thought, feeling suddenly depressed. The guy must have some kind of spider sense that let him know when a new hot girl came into town.

Dan's eyes scanned the room to see if he recognized anybody. Steve instantly knew when Dan spotted Kali. Steve could swear he saw Dan's pupils narrow and his nostrils flare, as if he caught Kali's scent. And when Dan spotted Tom sitting next to this new hot girl, a small smile came to Dan's face. Steve wanted to groan, but there was nothing he could do. The bastard had his in.

"Yo, Kahuna," Dan said walking over, using the century old slang in what he thought was an ironic and funny way, "What's happening?"

"Hey Dan," Tom replied. "Just enjoying the summer. You know Steve and George, but I don't know if you remember Kali."

"Yeah, hey guys," Dan said with a dismissive tone. "But I'm sure I would remember you," Dan grinned at Kali.

"We've met," Kali sai, her tone neutral and are eyes narrowing. "The last time we talked was two years ago. I was wearing a thing," she added, making a circling gesture around her face. "You asked me if I only got AM and FM, or if I got satellite too."

"That was you?" Dan said with a laugh. "Well, whatever you did since then, I definitely approve. Hey, maybe we could meet and catch up on what you've been doing."

"I'm busy right now, catching up with my friends," Kali answered, the last word emphasized with a sudden drop in temperature. Dan completely missed it.

"Sure, we'll catch up later. Welcome back to town, Kali," Dan said, standing up and moving to another table, where he got a warmer welcome.

"So," Kali said, turning her attention back to her friends, all frostiness gone from her demeanor, "When are you ready to run through my new adventure? It's called Sea Caverns of the Daku. It's got shark deities and..."

Before Kali could get warmed up, Tom cut her off. "Actually, we might have something you might be more interested in."

"Oh really?" Kali paused, sounding intrigued.

"You remember the character you ran in my last campaign?" Tom asked.

"Asemchli, the pixie sorceress?" Kali queried. "What about her?"

"How you'd like to run her for real?" Tom asked.

AB23
Shrink Adept
Shrink Adept
Posts: 162
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:08 am
Gender:
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by AB23 » Wed Apr 15, 2020 3:58 am

Oooo. This is a continuation of one of the short stories right?

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Wed Apr 15, 2020 4:00 am

One of my flash fiction ideas, yeah. :) The one with the scene of Kali in a Captain Marvel outfit. On a side note, even though the movie was getting trashed even before it came out, I rather liked Captain Marvel.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Wed Apr 15, 2020 4:36 am

Tom had an interesting living arrangement. His father had decided, about the time Tom was two, that he wanted his family to live off the grid. By the time Tom was ten, the residence not only met all its own energy requirements but always kept enough stored battery power to last the household for two weeks easily.

Tom's father had his own ideas about what 'herbal' crops he should be able to grow without proper government licensing, an opinion that the local and federal government vehemently disagreed with, which resulted in Tom's father currently residing in a minimum security prison. Tom's mother didn't care to be married to an imprisoned prepper, and had disappeared shortly after Tom's father was incarcerated. Tom's guardian of record, a younger uncle who was happy to send Tom a weekly check and sign any papers as long as he didn't have to get it personally involved, had no problem letting Tom more or less take care of himself. The whole combination could have made Tom a wild child, but Tom was pretty level headed about the whole thing. He didn't host wild parties, made excellent grades, and only ditched school if the surf was up that day.

So naturally the Savages did their gaming sessions there. The"Pixie Project" was set up there as well.

It was on the last that Kali was listening to her friends incredulously.

"So you're saying you could reduce my size to, what, fifteen centimeters?" The non-belief was obvious in her voice.

Two days after meeting Steve, George and Tom at the coffee shop, Kali met the guys in the designated gaming room at Tom's house. all the papers and drawings she had for her new adventure. But the guys didn't want to talk about her new adventure. They wanted to talk about their Pixie Project.

Kali couldn't believe what the guys were telling her. Somehow, a comment she had made had gotten the guys talking about whether it would be possible to "shrink" an individual down to a fraction of their size. This had translated itself to the guys coming up with a device that could actually shrink a person. They had even produced a film of Tom running around at fifteen centimeters. Or she thought it was Tom. The image was really blurry, like one of those images you see that have been intentionally blurred to protect the identity of the person being filmed. The guys had been explaining that the shrinking effect caused some kind of localized distortion or something, that made it nearly impossible to film someone who had been shrunk.

Kali thought this was all some kind of elaborate "welcome home" prank the guys were pulling on here, and she was waiting for the gotcha at any moment.

"S-s-s-so would you like t-t-t-to try it?" Steve asked.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Thu Apr 16, 2020 5:12 pm

Kali looked between the three guys with a serious look before she burst out laughing.

"Okay, guys, you really put a lot of work on this gag, and I really liked the CGI you guys made with Tom. And the whole interference because of shrinking effect on the video, that was a nice touch!"

"No, really, we can shrink you down to fifteen centimeters," Steve insisted. "Well, I mean close to fifteen centimeters, with a standard deviation of a couple of millimeters."

"Of course," Kali said with an air of mock solemnity and sanguinity. "Listen, since Tom has been shrunk once before, if he doesn't mind, I could just watch him get shrunk again. Then I'd be more comfortable getting shrunk myself."

"Well, the only downside to that," Tom answered, "Is that the process drains all the battery power I have at the house. So if we use the shrinking process on me, it'll be a week before we can use it on you."

"That's okay," Kali assured her friend. "I don't mind waiting."

Tom shrug, stood up, and said to Steve and George, "Okay guys, let's show her how it works."

Kali was grinning from ear to ear as she followed the three guys. Whatever "gotcha" the guys had planned for this whole shrinking prank, Kali felt she was going to be two steps ahead of them.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Sat Apr 18, 2020 10:38 am

The guys led Kali down to the basement and Kali couldn't help but suppress a grin.

Any minute now something is going to pop out to try to scare me, Kali thought, mentally laughing. The guys have really gone all out. I bet they have the basement done up like something out of an old black and white mad scientist laboratory.

Except that they hadn't. The basement was neatly organized, with a control panel that George matter-of-factly advised kali had been surplused from their school's robotics laboratory.

And that was when Kali started doubting that all this setup wasn't just some elaborate prank for her benefit. George had explained to her about the console without stuttering. And the only time George didn't stutter was in a serious academic setting.

Kali's mind, though, refused to take seriously the possibility that the guys had invented some type of shrinking device. So instead she decided to asi some questions to see how well thought out the idea behind this prank was.

"So what's it like when one of these guys picks you up, Tom?" Kali asked, as the guys moved from one monitor to the next, calling out what she was sure were random numbers and units of measurements. "I mean, I assume your weight goes down as well as your height when you get shrunk, right?"

The guys froze, and at first Kali thought she had caught them out, assuming they hadn't thought the scenario through. Instead, it was George's answer with his returning stuttering that made her once again doubt that this was all some elaborate prank.

"W-w-w-we, uh, we d-d-d-don't do that," George answered. "W-w-w-we give T-t-t-Tom steps and st-st-stuff to get ar-r-r-round."

"Yeah, uh," Steve continued. "It just seemed weird to all of us to pick up Tom because, you know, he's a guy, and we're guys, and..."

A light flickered on Kali's head. "You're worried picking up Tom while he's shrunken would make you GAY??!!" Kali couldn't help but start laughing. Obviously, while the guys had been brainstorming about the backstories for this prank, the subject of picking up Tom had come up. And, being eighteen year old boys, their minds had immediately considered the sexual connotations of that action.

"Hey, we're not homophobic or anything like that," Tom insisted, The usually unflusterable surfer dude was showing himself very flustered by the subject, which amused Kali to no end, "We're all members of the Straight-Gay Alliance at school. It's just that, you know...

"Well, I'm happy to hear that. I like to think if I were a lesbian, we could all still be friends,"

"Are you?" George asked, his stutter free question surprising everyone, including himself.

"No," Kali answered, clearly uncomfortable. "I don't think so, at least." The truth was, Kali hadn't really given her sexuality that much though, at least not until recently. She had noticed that there was a change in the reaction of the men and women around her to her appearance. Dan Rogers wasn't the only one who had tried to strike up an acquaintance upon her return.

There was an awkward silence as the teenagers were left to their own thoughts, which Kali finally broke. "So, is this device ready to run? I'm ready to see you guys shrink Tom." Or more specifically, she thought, see what kind of joke you're going to try to pull on me.

"Yep, ready to roll," Tom replied. "Last chance. You sure you don't want to try it yourself? It'll be a week at least before we can do it again."

AB23
Shrink Adept
Shrink Adept
Posts: 162
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:08 am
Gender:
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by AB23 » Mon Apr 20, 2020 8:06 pm

Hope we see the next chapters soon!

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:40 pm

"No, no, I'm good," Kali answered, suppressing a giggle. She had to give the guys credit for their acting skills. They were taking this joke to the limit.

Tom just shrugged and moved over to a corner, where there was a Star Trek-like transporter platform. Tom looked down at his feet, adjusted his stance then looked over at George and Steve. "Ready when you guys are."

Steve and George nodded, and made some kind of entry into the console.

And then Tom disappeared.

Kali realized that she had somehow been distracted and during that moment of distraction, Tom must have stepped into a hidden closet or something. Classical misdirection, like in a magic act.

"Okay, I get it," Kalia said with a roll of her eyes at George and Steve. "Something went wrong and Tom's disappeared, or he shrank out of existence, or he's in some molecular level universe, or something like that. Fine, you guys, your prank went off without a hitch. Now where is Tom?"

George and Steve just grinned and pointed at the platform. More specifically, they pointed to the floor. Kali's gaze went to the platform, to be met with the sight of a fifteen centimeter Tom, grinning and waving up at her.

Kali just shook her head. "No, this isn't real. This is like a remote control doll or something." Kali dropped to her knees and peered down at Tom. "This isn't real. This is just part of the trick you guys are pulling on me."

"Okay, if you think that I'm not real," Tom answered, obviously nonplussed by the huge size difference between him and Kali, "Why don't we do...George, what's that test you do to tell the difference between a bot and a human?"

"A Turing test," George answered, his stutter gone in a laboratory setting.

"So let's do a Turing Test," Tom continued. "Ask me questions, I'll answer them. That way you can tell I'm not some kind of doll."

"So maybe you're remote controlling this doll from somewhere else," Kali retorted, not believing her eyes.

"Steve, have you got a sheet of copper or something?" Tom asked.

"Aluminum foil will do," Steve replied. "I'll go get some from your kitchen."

Tom nodded as Steve ran off. "So if I am a remote control doll, if I wrap myself in aluminum foil, then wherever the real me is, won't be able to do the remote control. Okay?"

Kali just nodded, her mind still refusing to believe any of this was real. "So how is it your voice sounds normal?" she asked. "I mean, if you're a doll...well, the size of a doll, why doesn't your voice sound tinny, like you sucked helium. Or how can I hear you at all?"

"George would probably be a better person to answer that," Tom answered. "I mean, a lot of things seem counterintuitive about what's happening. Like, how are my lungs handling supersized oxygen molecules. I can eat and drink at this size. And...I can do this." Tom took a running leap and bounced from a low stool to the table top. Kali's jaw literally dropped as she watch Tom jump about.

"I'm kind of like the Ant Man now, except for not being able to talk to ants," Tom laughed as Steve came back into the room. Steve handed Tom a torn sheet of aluminum foil, which Tom wrapped around himself.

"So, radio waves are being blocked. If I was radio remote controlled that is, and not really Tom Thumb," Tom laughed. "So ask me your questions."

-----

The next twenty minutes was filled with a combination of Kali asking the most obscure questions about Tom she could think of, while watching the acrobatics and other feats Tom could pull off in his shrunken stature.

"Hey, Tom, can we call it a night?" Steve asked. "My Mom wants me to go the flea market with her, and George has to go to his cousin's bat mitzvah."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Tom answered, leaping down off the table and back to the "transporter platform." Almost nonchalantly, George and Steve restored Tom to his normal height.

"So," Tom asked as he walked off the platform as if he had been normal sized the whole time, "You want to give it a try next week?"

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Wed Apr 22, 2020 12:01 am

"I...I've got to think about it," Kali replied. Steve looked like he wanted to press the issue but Tom shook his head, immediately silencing him.

"Hey, why don't we meet Saturday morning, and start working up our characters for your Polynesian campaign?" Tom quickly interjected.

"Cool," Kali said, relieved that the guys weren't going to try to pressure her.

Tom drove Kali back home and, on the way home, peppered her questions about how she was going to adapt standard classes and races for her Micronesian campaign, and what had inspired her adventure.

Kali kept up with the guys during the week online, and there was no mention by anyone of shrinking her.

Which was both good news and bad news, because even if the guys weren't talking about, Kali couldn't help but think about it. And she had no one to talk about it. Well, she could talk to her father about it, but she was fairly sure that her father would absolutely forbid her participating in an unsanctioned scientific experiment. Not only that, if her father believed her story, he would probably contact the authorities who would in turn confiscated anything and everything associated with the guys' shrinking device.

Okay, Kali thought to herself, she wouldn't rat the guys out, but did she want to let them shrink her down to fifteen centimeters? It did look cool the way Tom was jumping over the place, but being that tiny...just the thought made her feel vulnerable.

There was only one thing to do.

On Thursday night, she called up Tom.

"Hey can we meet tomorrow for lunch or something?" she asked. "I mean, just the two of us. I want to talk to you about...well, you know, stuff."

AB23
Shrink Adept
Shrink Adept
Posts: 162
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:08 am
Gender:
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by AB23 » Fri Apr 24, 2020 1:38 pm

More, more!

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Sat Apr 25, 2020 5:07 am

Image

Tom's eyes didn't bug out when Kali walked into the cafe. But that was probably because he was wearing sunglasses.

The outfit that Kali was wearing wasn't particularly revealing. Point of fact, one might argue that she was wearing too many clothes, considering she was near a beach and the official start of summer was only a few weeks away. But an unseasonable cool snap had hit the area, and Kali had been living in warmer climes for the last year and a half, so it could be understandable why she decided to wear an extra layer or two,

And although the outfit was modest, it wasn't the uber modest outfit that Kali normally wore. Or that she used to wear two years ago, before she left for the islands and had her miraculous transformation.

Kali didn't notice any of the set of eyes that clicked on her as she entered the restaurant. Her eyes scanned the tables, spotted Tom at the back, and made a beeline for him. When the patrons of the restaurant saw where Kali was headed, a few of them flashed Tom surreptitious thumbs up.

"So why did you want to talk to just me about this?" Tom asked, once the two settled in and placed their orders.

"Because you've been through it and, well, you're the only guy who won't pester me to do it if I don't want to," Kali answered. Looking around to make sure no one else was trying to listen in, she continued, "You have to admit, this is pretty wild. I mean, it's like something out of a Marvel movie. So how many times have you been shrunk? Have the other guys tried it? Anything really, really weird happen?"

Tom laughed at the lightning speed of the questions was throwing at him, and Kali blushed. "Well, I'm sorry, but this is just..." Kali shrugged, unable to come up with the right adjective.

"I've done it four times, and it's still..." Tom made a gesture with his hand to indicate there were no good adjectives. "But in answer to your questions, I'm the only one who's done it, mainly because I'm the only one who has access to the AP biology lab at school, plus I've got friends at the university who'll run biosamples for me, no questions asked."

Kali nodded, but she knew that wasn't the only reason Tom was the only one of the guys who had volunteered. Of the four of them, Tom was the adventurous one. If Kali hadn't pondered out loud what it would be like to actually be a pixie, she doubt she would have been asked, and she certainly wouldn't have considered accepting such an invitation.

"So anything weird? I mean, besides the obvious?" she asked. "I mean the stuff I've seen so far."

"Well, fresh chocolate chip cookies are wonderful," Tom replied, which evoked a laugh from Kali. Tom's love of a good chocolate chip cookies was legendary. "I mean, you know I love them already. But they are pure ambrosia when I'm shrunk."

"Well, all the metal I had on me sort of turned me off to sweets," Kali said, waving at her face. "But maybe I'll get a bonus somewhere else."

Tom noticed that Kali was talking as if she would go through the shrunken process, but didn't say anything.

"And the second thing that happened was that I grew a moustache?" Tom said.

"Grew a moustache?" Kali asked, reaching up to touch her upper lip. Tom laughed at her reaction. "Don't worry about it.It only happened once, and there weren't any changes in my bloodwork afterwards. I think it was a mental thing. I had been watching a western beforehand, and I think somehow my mental state wanted me to have one of those handlebar moustaches."

"Huh. Well, maybe it would grow my hair out faster," Kali pondered out loud. "May another fifteen to twenty centimeters. That would be interesting, don't you think?"

Tom mentally noted that would put Kali's hair over her breasts, but wisely did not voice that observation. Instead, he asked, "So you think you want to go through with it?"

"I'm still thinking about it," Kali answered. There discussion was sidelined by the arrival of their food. And as they ate their meal, their discussion turned to Kali's upcoming Polynesian campaign.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:38 pm

"OK, here are the rules," Kali began, as the other Savages listened intently.

Nobody really expected Kali to agree to being shrunk at all. Even after all the testing, the other guys had been surprised that Tom had volunteered to be shrunk. And Tom was the daredevil of the group. Heck, Tom was the one at school everyone thought of as fearless.

So the guys never really thought Kali would agree to be shrunk. Even Tom, after his lunch with Kali, didn't think Kali would really agree to it.

"Sure, whatever you say," Tom agreed for the group.

"First, I'm only agreeing to once. Maybe I'll do it some more, maybe not. But I'm only agreeing to once," Kali said firmly. "So don't ask. I'll let you know if I want to do it again."

The guys all nodded, still surprised that this was going to happen at all.

"Next, the first time is only going to be fifteen minutes. Maybe less, if I want to be unshrunk. But no more than fifteen minutes," Kali continued.

The guys nodded.

"Finally," Kali concluded, "Nobody touches me while I'm shrunk. Nobody. Unless absolutely necessary. And if it's necessary, only Tom gets to touch me."

"But why Tom?" Steve whined. Ever since he had seen Kali in her exercise outfit, he'd been having fantasies about her. Including one or two fantasies where she was shrunk. "Me and George did all the hard work, building the device."

"Because Tom knows what it's like to be shrunk," Kali said, not backing down. "That's one of my conditions. Take it or leave it."

Steve looked like he wanted to argue some more, but George cut him off.

"W-w-w-we und-d-d-derstand, Kali," George interjected.

Steve pouted, but conceded with a nod.

"So," Kali continued, suddenly not sounding so confident after all. "Do we do this before I start my campaign, or after we run through the first section?"

Bobascher
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 683
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:31 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by Bobascher » Tue Apr 28, 2020 8:43 am

Interesting set up! What could go wrong?? Can’t wait to see what happens to our dear Kali

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:24 pm

"Okay, you want to sit down for the first time," Tom told Kali as she sat down on the "transporter" pod. Kali had decided, after listening to the guys, to go ahead and try the shrinking first.

"Why do I need to sit down?" Kali asked, though she went ahead and did as instructed.

"Yeah, w-w-w-why does she need to sit down?" Steve asked as he made some adjustments on his console. "Y-y-you didn't your first time?"

"And I regretted it immediately," Tom said as he knelt down by where Kali was sitting. "I'm not sure what it is, but my brain tried to superimpose what it thought the world ought to look like to what it really is. It only takes a few minutes for your vision to get readjusted. And it only happened the first time I got shrunk. It never happened on my subsequent shrinkings."

"Wait, do I need to worry about brain damage or something?" Kali said, wondering if she was making the right decision.

Tom shook his head. "Before I did my first shrinking, I got a full physical, including a brain scan, to establish a baseline," Tom explained, tapping his head with his forefinger. "And I got brain scans and blood work after each shrinking. Everything's good."

Kali nodded, still not convinced, but not wanting to back out now.

"Don't worry, Kali, it's all going to be good," Steve added, walking over to the transporter pad.

"Back off, Steve," Kali yelled, her nervousness making her order more forceful than she meant to.

"Hey Steve, I need you over here anyway," George said, gesturing toward another console. Obviously miffed, Steve returned to his station.

Kali wasn't sure what she was expecting, or if she was expecting anything, but what happened next was definitely not it.

One moment, she way eyeing the basement at...well, eye level, and the next, it looked like all the world was stretching up above her, while her vision was reduced to in a tight tunnel. All around her, there was a cacophony of loud, clashing noises.

Then suddenly, everything was back in focus. Tom was kneeling at her, his voice (in what he probably thought was a whisper) asking, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, you're right, it was like a sensory overload." Kali stood up, feeling a little wobbly, but waving off help from (the now giant) Tom.

"This is...this is...WOW!" Kali said. This got a laugh from Tom, which made Kali blush. "Everything feels like, I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like I'm super energized."

"S-s-s-so are you ready to r-r-r-run the g-g-g-gauntlet," George asked, gesturing toward a table that blocks, legos and various models had been set up on.

"You know, I saw you get up there in a couple of jumps," Kali told Tom, eyeing the table and the distance between her now diminutive form and the tabletop, "But I think the first time around, I could use a lift up."

Tom nodded and put his hand palm up on the floor beside Kali. Kali gingerly climbed into the proffered palm. Her first impression was that Tom's palm was warm and very comforting. As for Tom, as he slowly stood up, he was very much aware of the warmth exuding from Kali. And even though Kali was wearing an oversized sweater and baggy jeans, and even though technically only her feet and palms were touching Tom's palm as she crouched in his hand, Tom felt very aware of the femininity of that warm form in his hand.

As Tom moved toward the table, Steve moved as if to intercept them. This caused Kali to cringe in Tom's hand. Tom moved the hand holding Kali in his hand to one side. "Dude, seriously, space," Tom admonished the other teen. Steve frowned but stepped back.

As soon as Tom placed her on the table and Kali literally went to building block town. She leaped, jumped, lifted, ran and had a blast. Tom reached down and moved some of the blocks around, creating an impromptu obstacle course, and Kali laughed as she ran and jumped over it. George hesitantly did the same, then grinned when Kali ran through his creation.

When Steve shoved an obstacle course in front of Kali, she ignored it.

Steve was about to whine something when the alarm rang, marking that the fifteen minutes was up.

Kali ran over to Tom, leaping into his palm as soon as he opened it.

"Hey, we can do some more time," Steve whined, frustrated that he hadn't had a chance to interact with a shrunken Kali.

"F-f-f-fifteen minutes is w-w-w-what we agreed to," George reminded Steve. Steve wanted to argue, but Tom was already carrying Kali over to the transporter pad. "Fine," Steve grumbled underneath is breath.

The unshrinking process was even more anticlimactic than the shrinking process. One moment, Kali was looking up at everyone, the next, she was eye level with everyone again.

"That...was a blast," Kali beamed, her grin extending from ear to ear.

"So, do you want to do it again?" Steve asked. "We even have pixie wings built especially for you, although you'd have to put them on your bare back," Steve continued, hoping to see more of Kali's skin and have a chance to handle her.

"Actually, T-t-t-tom did all the h-h-h-hard work," George interjected. "The b-b-biofeedback and such. Everything else w-w-w-w-was off the shelf."

"Well, George did all the coding and programming," Tom countered. George blushed at his friend's compliment, but Steve seemed irked at not getting any credit. Before he could interject, Kali took over the conversation.

"Actually, I got an idea, but I'll need your help, George," she grinned, which got raised eyebrows from Tom and George, but only irritated Steve, as he felt he was getting shunted to one side. "But we'll talk about it after we run through the first part of my campaign."

With that, Kali went to her backpack and brought out her books, screens, notebooks and dice. The rest followed suit as they got their character material ready to run.

Bobascher
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 683
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:31 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by Bobascher » Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:49 pm

Yea! I am glad Kali likes it!

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Thu Apr 30, 2020 6:57 pm

Steve had a problem. Tom just didn't know what it was.

Steve pretty much pouted through the first session of Kali's campaign, and almost got the group killed. The fact that Kali didn't seem offended by Steve's behavior just put Steve into a bigger huff.

The brief shrinking experience had made Kali giddy. She was laughing and joking, and drawing Tom and George into her light heartedness. During breaks, she and George whispered about something, which they refused to talk to about with the other guys. The secrecy made Tom curious, but only put Steve into a bigger snit. At one point he whined "Are you guys going to gossip all night, or are we going to get back to the game?" The fact that his bad mood wasn't contagious seemed to only put Steve into a worse mood.

When Kali informed the group they had reached a good stopping point for the night, Steve growled "Good" and started packing up for the night.

"And next week we won't be running my campaign," Kali announced. "George is going to run a stand alone adventure." George was beaming. Tom raised an eyebrow. George's speech impediment usually made him uncomfortable running his campaigns. When he did, they involved very little talking, and usually involved miniatures and multimedia presentation.

"Well, maybe we can't all be here next weekend," Steve replied.

"I'm in," Tom replied, which earned him a dirty look from Steve. Tom shrugged it off and continued, "So what's going to be so special about this adventure George is going to run?"

"I'm going to be one of the miniatures," Kali answered with a grin.

Bobascher
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 683
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:31 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by Bobascher » Fri May 01, 2020 12:11 am

Image

Kali getting ready for the game!

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Fri May 01, 2020 12:14 am

Kali's not quite that ready to get that risque...yet ;)

Bobascher
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 683
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:31 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by Bobascher » Fri May 01, 2020 1:10 am

FifteencentiKim wrote:
Fri May 01, 2020 12:14 am
Kali's not quite that ready to get that risque...yet ;)
One day!

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Fri May 01, 2020 2:40 am

Before she left, Kali was in charge of the guys' costumes. Give her enough time, and she could sew, stitch, weld...well, whatever it took to make a costume for whatever convention the guys were going to, Kali could make it. So making the outfit she wanted to wear for her tabletop gaming experience wouldn't have been a problem if she had more than a week. But she didn't.

Fortunately, her old/new hometown has Graphic Unlimited. And Graphic Unlimited had Whitney Slater

Image

Like her namesake from Last Action Hero, Whitney was atypical. She was a popular senior, co-captain of the cheerleaders, adventure runner extraordinaire, burgeoning arc welder and a mainstay cosplayer at her uncle's gaming and comic emporium, Graphic Unlimited.

"You know, I could set you up with bikini chainmail," Whitney was telling Kali. "I mean you would look hot. Whatever you did while you were gone, it definitely worked. Dan Rogers can't stop talking about you."

Kali ducked her head and blushed. Outside of the Savages, Whitney Slater was one of the few people who treated Kali decently before Kali left. Kali and Whitney weren't best friends or anything, but neither did Whitney treat Kali liked she was something to be scraped off the bottom of her shoe.

But that was Whitney. She moved through the popular circle, she was a member of the popular circle, but she wasn't defined by being popular. In a lot of ways, she was like Tom. She associated with who she wanted to associate with, and you had to live with it.

"I...well, I was thinking something leather. Not Xena leather," Kali quickly added. "Black and white Robin Hood leather."

"Seems a shame to hide that body in something so bleh, but okay," Whitney added. "Need anything blade or bow wise? There's a bladesmith I met, he's a Forged in Fire winner, he always has some interesting things at his shop."

"I, uh, have a bow, but I wouldn't mind looking at swords," Kali answered. "It can be a blade with an edge. It's for LARP, but we're, uh, using dummies. Um, thank you for doing all this for me, Whitney."

Whitney just grinned and hugged Kali. Kali, a little stunned, returned the hug.

"No problem," Whitney answered. "I'm just glad to see you go beyond your little circle. When Tom told me you we're coming back, I was glad to have a second chance of getting to know you."

Kali was a little surprised to hear that, and a little flustered as well. She didn't think there had been anybody outside of the Savages who had wanted to be her friend before she left. Of course, she was also having a hard time adjusting to the fact that a lot of people seemed to want to be 'friendly' with her now that she had come back.

"I thought you were dating Dan Rogers," Kali began, "I mean, if it's okay to ask."

Whitney had her back turned to Kali, looking at swath of lincoln green cloth. She spun around and grinned at the question. "You can ask anything you want. Just remember to not believe the rumors. Guys like to exaggerate. Dan's a good example. The legend of Dan doesn't quite live up to the reality. Your friend Tom was different."

"Oh," Kali asked, finding a bit unexpected jealousy creeping into her voice.

"Oh indeed," Whitney said with a wink. "He's a very nice guy, in a lot of ways. I would probably still be dating him if we weren't so much alike. But I would highly recommend him for your first time."

Kali blushed furiously, which made Whitney laugh. "Come on, let's head down to the basement. I think we've got something that'll fit exactly what you're looking for."

Kali followed her new friend, happy to start moving out beyond the Savages.

User avatar
FifteencentiKim
Shrink Master
Shrink Master
Posts: 343
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 6:22 am
Contact:

Re: Savagely shrinking

Post by FifteencentiKim » Fri May 01, 2020 10:20 pm

Image

"So what do you think?" Kali said, swirling around in her costume in the basement room holding the shrinking device, before pulling down the hood and grinning at the guys.

George just grinned back. He had already gotten a preview of the armor already. Tom whistled in response and even Steve, who was still acting a little pouty, a holdover from last weekend, looked impressed.

"So how do you afford this?" Tom asked.

"The bow and quiver are mine, the sword and the costume are on loan. Whitney has a friend who's a bladesmith." Kali answered. She pulled the sword out and went through a series of impressive exercises. The guys quickly stepped out of the way. Kali sheathed the weapon and grinned. "More than a year's worth of lessons with the sword and the bow."

"Whitney Slater?" Steve asked. "I didn't know you knew her." Steve knew Whitney worked and modeled at the Emporium, but he didn't know Kali knew the other girl well enough to get loans like this."

"I didn't know that you dated her, Tom," Kali added. Tom just shrugged, then laughed when Kali, "And I didn't know she thought George was cute."

"Player!" Tom laughed, slapping George on the shoulder. George, already red at Kali's announcement, turned a brighter red.

"So when are we going to start?" Steve asked, sounding miffed at getting left out of this exchange. "You ready to shrink down, Kali?"

"Yeah," Kali answered, a little irritated at the way Steve so bluntly put the question. "You guys will need to stay behind me when I shoot my bow. My arrows might be reduced in size when I get shrunk,but as we saw with me and with Tom, my muscle strength isn't proportionally reduced. I'd hate an arrow to blind someone, or possible even worse, if it lodged in someone's throat. Same with my sword work. Also, Tom, George is going to be my official handler this time, since he might have to move me during different parts of the adventure."

"Cool," Tom said with a nod.

"Hey, when is it going to be my turn?" Steve blurted out.

"I am not a toy that everyone is taking turns with," Kali almost spit out, glaring at Steve. "I'm setting out safety protocols for myself and you guys. So I decide who picks me up and who doesn't. Is there a problem with that?"

"No problem," Steve muttered, though he was clearly not happy at getting dressed down like that by Kali. He was beginning not to appreciate the changes she had made to herself while she was gone.

"So, are you guys ready?" Kali asked, turning back to George and Tom. Both of them nodded. Kali stepped on the transporter pad, while George (and a disgruntled Steve) stepped over to the consoles. In the blink of an eye, Kali transformed into a fifteen centimeter tall warrior.

"Okay, George, let's get this adventure started," Kali whooped.

With a grin, George set his hand down on the floor. Kali jumped on his palm, and George gingerly carried her over to the table where the adventure was set up.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests