Steve at Derek and Johnny's Whims
Family's New Shrink Ray
chapter 7
by
copier
· original author:
navegully
Steve's eyes went wide. He'd always considered Johnny to be a bad influence on Derek, and that was when he was regular-sized. At only an inch tall, he'd be powerless to order them around, or even get them to behave. And even if he got away safely, he'd be in an unfamiliar house at the size of a bug. He tried to protest but found the air leaving his lungs in a scream instead as the palm beneath him turned vertical and he plummeted off the side into a huge pocket on his son's shorts.
The tiny father sat up and wiped off some lint that was resting at the bottom of the pocket. There was barely enough light in here to see anything, and the fabric somewhat muffled the sounds from outside so he could only barely hear anything beyond the shuffling of giant legs around him and Derek's occasional humming as he busied himself with whatever he needed to do. Steve pondered climbing up and out of the pocket, but the swaying was already making him unsteady even without attempting to stand and he had no idea where he'd go after reaching the pocket's opening. For better or (likely, he thought to himself) for worse, his fate was in his teenage son's hands.
Several loud voices interrupted his glum thoughts. He could recognize Derek's voice as well as his wife Debbie, but between the distance and the scale he couldn't make it out as anything but noise from above. Debbie sounded inquisitive. Maybe she was asking where Derek was headed, or when he'd be back. Maybe she had noticed Steve was missing, but it had only been ten minutes or less so he doubted it. What were the odds she'd think to look for him now, and within the pockets of their middle child?
He felt a sudden chill through the fabric, and a slight shift in the lighting suggested that Derek had stepped outside. He found himself huddling against one wall of the pocket that felt warmer, realizing moments later that he was probably resting against Derek's leg and feeling the body heat. It didn't help to imagine how small he was compared to his son's thigh, or how close he was to various body parts that would surely make him feel smaller still.
The next half hour or so felt like a blur. Noises, scents, flickers of light through the opening as Derek walked, all of it unfamiliar at this scale and yet vaguely recognizable. Soon enough he heard the sound he'd been dreading: another boy's voice. He could only guess as it sounded weirdly deepened and amplified, but it was surely Johnny.
His fears were soon to be confirmed as light flooded in from above. He raised an arm to shield his face while squinting up, just in time to see an enormous hand reaching in to blindly feel around for him. It soon found its target, fingers curling around his tiny figure before he could hope to put up much of a fight for all the good it would do.
He tumbled again as he was let go, this time rolling from the edge of fingers onto a hard cold surface. It wasn't enough of a drop to really hurt, but he found himself immediately beginning to shiver. His scientist mind, desperate to focus on anything else, began to calculate, coming to a hypothesis that his scale barely allowed him to retain any body heat of his own, so even the soft chill of air conditioning would be like a winter day to him.
He rolled over onto his back and looked up, heart pounding, as two enormous faces filled his sky. Both were terrifyingly familiar and grinning with delight and anticipation at his predicament. No doubt Derek had been eager to explain that now Steve was the one being grounded.
"Boys, please! I can't stay like this! Derek, take me home and fix this with the ray, and we can forget this all happened!" He rose to his feet, trying his best to look confident while his mind ran more calculations about the size difference. Far shorter than even a pinky finger, less mass than a penny... No matter what number came to mind, it only made him feel more and more helpless...
Derek chuckled and raised a hand with a familiar device in it. "What, this ray? Don't worry, I took it with so we wouldn't have any more 'accidents'." The sarcasm that dripped from his last words struck a cold chill, a fresh reminder that Derek was all too aware of what Steve had been planning to do and an assurance that vengeance was due in his son's mind.
"Tell you what, though. I'll be fair. If you do everything me and Johnny ask, maybe you'll get some size back. Keep at it and you might be big enough to be a real boy."
"It's okay if you don't, though," Johnny chimed in with eerie glee. "Derek said I can have you for a day or two if you don't behave for us."
Steve's heart skipped a beat. Anything but that. At least with Derek here he had a hope, but if he was left alone with Johnny, he couldn't even imagine what might happen. He could only helplessly wait as Derek gave his first command.
The tiny father sat up and wiped off some lint that was resting at the bottom of the pocket. There was barely enough light in here to see anything, and the fabric somewhat muffled the sounds from outside so he could only barely hear anything beyond the shuffling of giant legs around him and Derek's occasional humming as he busied himself with whatever he needed to do. Steve pondered climbing up and out of the pocket, but the swaying was already making him unsteady even without attempting to stand and he had no idea where he'd go after reaching the pocket's opening. For better or (likely, he thought to himself) for worse, his fate was in his teenage son's hands.
Several loud voices interrupted his glum thoughts. He could recognize Derek's voice as well as his wife Debbie, but between the distance and the scale he couldn't make it out as anything but noise from above. Debbie sounded inquisitive. Maybe she was asking where Derek was headed, or when he'd be back. Maybe she had noticed Steve was missing, but it had only been ten minutes or less so he doubted it. What were the odds she'd think to look for him now, and within the pockets of their middle child?
He felt a sudden chill through the fabric, and a slight shift in the lighting suggested that Derek had stepped outside. He found himself huddling against one wall of the pocket that felt warmer, realizing moments later that he was probably resting against Derek's leg and feeling the body heat. It didn't help to imagine how small he was compared to his son's thigh, or how close he was to various body parts that would surely make him feel smaller still.
The next half hour or so felt like a blur. Noises, scents, flickers of light through the opening as Derek walked, all of it unfamiliar at this scale and yet vaguely recognizable. Soon enough he heard the sound he'd been dreading: another boy's voice. He could only guess as it sounded weirdly deepened and amplified, but it was surely Johnny.
His fears were soon to be confirmed as light flooded in from above. He raised an arm to shield his face while squinting up, just in time to see an enormous hand reaching in to blindly feel around for him. It soon found its target, fingers curling around his tiny figure before he could hope to put up much of a fight for all the good it would do.
He tumbled again as he was let go, this time rolling from the edge of fingers onto a hard cold surface. It wasn't enough of a drop to really hurt, but he found himself immediately beginning to shiver. His scientist mind, desperate to focus on anything else, began to calculate, coming to a hypothesis that his scale barely allowed him to retain any body heat of his own, so even the soft chill of air conditioning would be like a winter day to him.
He rolled over onto his back and looked up, heart pounding, as two enormous faces filled his sky. Both were terrifyingly familiar and grinning with delight and anticipation at his predicament. No doubt Derek had been eager to explain that now Steve was the one being grounded.
"Boys, please! I can't stay like this! Derek, take me home and fix this with the ray, and we can forget this all happened!" He rose to his feet, trying his best to look confident while his mind ran more calculations about the size difference. Far shorter than even a pinky finger, less mass than a penny... No matter what number came to mind, it only made him feel more and more helpless...
Derek chuckled and raised a hand with a familiar device in it. "What, this ray? Don't worry, I took it with so we wouldn't have any more 'accidents'." The sarcasm that dripped from his last words struck a cold chill, a fresh reminder that Derek was all too aware of what Steve had been planning to do and an assurance that vengeance was due in his son's mind.
"Tell you what, though. I'll be fair. If you do everything me and Johnny ask, maybe you'll get some size back. Keep at it and you might be big enough to be a real boy."
"It's okay if you don't, though," Johnny chimed in with eerie glee. "Derek said I can have you for a day or two if you don't behave for us."
Steve's heart skipped a beat. Anything but that. At least with Derek here he had a hope, but if he was left alone with Johnny, he couldn't even imagine what might happen. He could only helplessly wait as Derek gave his first command.
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November 12
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