Sylvia hadn’t known quite what to expect as she stepped through the portal after Maxie. The portal’s bright glow had blinded her for a second but, as her vision readjusted, her jaw dropped as her eyes fell upon the horizon of some place wholly new.

“Oh, my gosh… it actually worked…” She marvelled. She took a small step forward, but a sudden crunch made her flinch and pull her foot back. She looked down, only to see a teeny, tiny flattened car where her foot had fallen. That’s when she suddenly became aware of her immediate surroundings; there she was, standing in the centre of some little town with model-sized houses sprawled all around her. But they weren’t models. Sylvia’s heart leapt into her throat and she pushed a hand against her mouth to suppress an elated squeal, but couldn’t stop her feet from stomping from her excitement.

“Aw, look at you,” Maxie cooed, looking over her shoulder at Sylvia, a few paces ahead of her. Sylvia was impressed at just how calm Maxie was, though she supposed Maxie had done this plenty of time before. Sylvia opened her mouth to speak, before Maxie brought a finger to her mouth - a reminder to be quiet.

“This is amazing!” Sylvia cheered, her hands clenched and pushed against her cheeks. “I feel like a real giant right now!”

“That’s because you are a real giant,” Maxie reminded her, “At least, you are here. Remember, this is a whole other world. By all accounts, we shouldn’t be able to exist here. You don’t think a normal person could pancake a car, could you?”

Sylvia couldn’t argue with that. That didn’t make it any less difficult to get her head around. Her eyes refused to be trained on Maxie for long, quickly pulling away and returning to the ground at her feet. She took an idle step forward - the ground didn’t crack beneath her boot, which was a minor disappointment, but it was more than made up for by the sound. The ‘thump’ was clear as crystal. Sylvia bit her lip. She could hear the thumping of Maxie’s footsteps too as her friend wandered down the street with an astounding amount of composure.

“Maxie…” Sylvia called to Maxie as she slowly lumbered after her, “Where are all the people?”

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask that,” Maxie replied with a chuckle, “They’re in their homes, or at work, or whatever. I made an agreement for this visit - we can explore as we please, and the little people don’t leave their homes. In turn, we don’t destroy anything.” Maxie’s smirk faded slightly. “That last part is important. Keep that in mind, Sylvia, m’kay? Don’t want you getting in trouble.”

“Mhm! Don’t…” Sylvia’s voice trailed off as she processed what was being said to her. The buildings… had little people inside them? Real people? Were they watching her? Were they scared of her? Were their cheeks pink and eyes wide at the sight of her?

A sudden wave of bashfulness washed over the giantess and her cheeks went pink, too. She patted her rose skirt down and her hips swung from side to side.

“Oh, calm down, you silly girl,” Sylvia scolded herself, but she couldn’t suppress the wide smile on her face. Slowly and carefully she let her body down onto her hands and knees. The ground was a bit rough on her skin, but nothing she couldn’t cope with. Closing one eye, she tried to gaze into a window of the closest building to her, hoping to spot some movement. Alas, no one had their lights on in the middle of the day - that, plus her shadow, made seeing inside surprisingly difficult. She had no way of confirming Maxie’s remark, not that Sylvia had any reason to doubt her, but her heart twisted in her chest at the idea that she wouldn’t be able to see any of the tiny people today.

“Sylvia! Come over here!” Maxie called from across the town.

“Ah–coming!” Sylvia called back, shakily pulling herself back to her feet. She could see right across the town and spotted Maxie sitting in some sort of little town square or clearing amidst the houses. She scanned the streets, trying to find the quickest way over there. Maxie noticed, and laughed, “Take your time, Sylvia. We have all day.”

“Right,” Sylvia followed the streets - they were all straight and well paved, so she didn’t have to worry about tripping, at least. With the small scale of this town, Sylvia suspected Maxie had picked this place in particular as a good ‘first experience’. She had to admit to herself that too much likely would have overwhelmed her, so despite the lack of visible people being disappointing, she appreciated the thought Maxie put into this visit.

Once she reached the square, Maxie patted the ground at her side for Sylvia to sit down, which she did. The texture of the ground was a little different - being made of stone bricks rather than asphalt, and she felt them shift under her newly monumental weight. Sylvia did everything in her power to hide how flustered that made her feel.

“Remember how I said we’re not quite normal people in this world?” Maxie asked. Sylvia nodded, before gasping as Maxie picked up a truck that was at her side, holding it from the bottom while the front dangled.

“Here, take it,” Maxie told Sylvia.

“Um, okay,” Sylvia awkwardly slipped her hands under the truck, trying to handle it in the same way Maxie had. “Why am I holding this?”

“You should crush the front,” Maxie told her casually. Sylvia blinked.

“B-but you said–!”

Maxie laughed again, “Ah, vehicles don’t count. I just meant don’t break any buildings. Go on! See what you can do here.”

Sylvia turned back to the truck. It seemed a little… surreal, what Maxie was asking her to do. But Sylvia complied, holding her breath as her fingers curled around the truck’s front as best as they could. It was a little larger than a tennis ball, but an odd shape, so she couldn’t quite get her fingers around it. Still, she stared through the windshield. Real people could fit in this… that alone astounded her.

Sylvia gave Maxie a glance, to which she gave her a nod. Then Sylvia began to apply pressure, curling her fingers in an attempt to form a fist. Her heart practically leapt out her throat as she felt the first snap as a window shattered from the contorting metal. Her fingers were actually causing major dents, and were continuing to dig deeper into the metal as Sylvia applied more and more pressure. She could only stare in awe at herself as her thumb punched through the truck’s underside, her ring finger ripped a hole open in the roof, her index finger drove itself through the windshield and broke the steering wheel off completely, and her pointer finger broke through the hood and began pressing down on the engine. Sylvia’s eyelids fluttered and her chest heaved, her breath leaving condensation along the truck’s metal carapace as she took in every sensation offered to her. One of the wheels popped off, bouncing off of her thigh before rolling off toward the road, while the trailer broke off and Maxie caught it before it could hit the ground. Sylvia squeezed as hard as she could - with a loud, crackling CRUNCH the truck was turned into a ball of scrap metal in her fist, not even recognisable from what it once was. Sylvia stared at the metal in her now open palm, her skin stained with oil as her brain raced to catch up and process what she just did.

“Enjoy that, did you?” Maxie’s voice abruptly pulled Sylvia out of her bewildered state and her hand closed around the ball of metal again almost protectively.

“I–well–” Sylvia’s face went bright red as she realised that Maxie was watching the whole time. She must have looked like such a tool!

“I’ve got oil all over my hand! Ew!” She exclaimed, dropping the scrapped truck before wiping her hand all over Maxie’s arm. Maxie yelped and tried to push Sylvia away, laughing. “Hey, stop that! I don’t need to be a mess, too!”

Sylvia giggled back, though she couldn’t fully hide her embarrassment. It didn’t help that Maxie was grinning at her with a knowing look in her eyes, one she couldn’t meet.

“Sylvia,” Maxie said, “I know full well why you wanted to come out here. So you have a thing about being giant! Big deal.”

“I–I do not have a ‘thing’!” Sylvia shouted defensively. “I just–I was curious!”

“Sylvia, it’s fine. We all have things,” Maxie rose to her feet, offering a hand to help Sylvia up. “It’s cute, seeing you live yours.”

“Hm…” Sylvia took Maxie’s hand. She had to admit that it did feel good to be seen, but that didn’t make her any less embarrassed. “Do you think… I could have another truck?”

“Let’s not push our luck, eh?” Maxie gave Sylvia a pat on the back, “Why don’t we call it here for today?”

“I can come back, right?” Sylvia asked anxiously.

“Of course you can,” Maxie nodded, before leading Sylvia back toward the portal. However, as they walked, something caught Sylvia’s eye and brought her to a halt. Down the road, she spotted…

“Movement!” Sylvia exclaimed, breaking away from Maxie and hurrying down the road as fast as her heels would let her. She slowed a little as she approached the turn where she’d spotted something, and her heart skipped a beat - there, running down the street before her, was a little person. A real one. He was wearing a hoodie, and had pretty blonde hair. Sylvia’s hands came to her mouth and she pointed excitedly, turning back toward Maxie. “There’s a little person, look!”

Maxie laughed at Sylvia’s enthusiasm and followed her over.

“What do we do? Didn’t you say they weren’t supposed to be out?” Sylvia asked as the two giants watched the little person run.

“I guess he’s a troublemaker,” Maxie shrugged, “I get it. I’d probably sneak out at a time like this, too.”

“Really?” Sylvia asked, glancing back towards him. She bit her lip, and Maxie seemed to notice as she leaned forward. “Something on your mind?”

“Well… I dunno, it’s… it’s probably bad, and silly,” Sylvia mumbled. She grabbed her handbag and held it close, drumming her fingers against it.

“Aaah,” Maxie clicked her tongue, “Ah, go ahead, Sylvie. He’s already broken the rules - he’s now exempt from his protections.”

Sylvia’s eyes widened. “So I can…?”

Maxie nodded. This time Sylvia couldn’t suppress her excited squeal, and she let it slip from her lips as she began thundering after the fleeing little person. She felt like she should say something, but she couldn’t find the right words. Her heart pounded in her chest as she made chase, and her cheeks flushed at seeing just how quickly she was catching up to him, with his teeny legs. She felt a little bad for him, but was mostly just excited at the sight of someone so, so much smaller than her. She reached out both hands, giggling hysterically as her shadow fell over him.

The little person hadn’t reached the end of the road yet, but still he turned, disappearing into a thin alleyway. But Maxie moved quicker than Sylvia, and before he could reach the other end, she was blocking his exit with one foot in his way. Sylvia fell onto all fours, this time with much less grace, and peered into the alleyway. Leaning one hand on the closest building, dislodging tiles where her palm fell, she used her other arm to reach into the alleyway to grab him. She had to reach far, until her cheek was pushing against a building’s wall - she couldn’t see so she had to feel around for him, and eventually felt something tiny push against her finger - was that a kick? It might have been. Her fingers grasped at the air, but she found nothing, until she felt a soft brush against the back of her hand.

“A-ha!” She exclaimed, suddenly pressing the back of her hand against the wall to pin the tiny person. Then with some effort, she turned her arm round until her fingers could wrap around his body. Triumphant, she pulled away, lifting him high into the air in her fist as she rose to her feet. “I got you!”

The tiny person screamed and thrashed in her grip, pushing and punching at her fingers while his legs kicked in the air. The most astonishing thing was none of it hurt - he was completely and totally at her mercy.

“Wow…” she murmured, bringing the tiny man closer for inspection. Pretty blonde hair, a slim frame… he was rather cute. That made Sylvia giggle - of course he was cute. He was a few inches tall, anyone that size would be cute.

“Hi…” Sylvia cooed, bringing him closer, toward her lips as she gazed down at him.

“Get off me! Let me go!” His exclamation surprised Sylvia. For some reason, she didn’t expect him to start talking, as if she just expected him to keep squealing and squeaking like a little mouse.

“Don’t struggle, sweetpea… I’m going to take really good care of you,” Sylvia told him as she turned back toward the portal. “And we’re going to learn so much about each other. Aren’t you excited?”

“No! I–I can’t go with you!” The man shouted back - Sylvia couldn’t tell if he was looking at her eyes, or at her mouth, but the thought made her giggle again.

“Of course you can. Do you know why?” Sylvia asked, bringing him even closer to her soft lips. “Because you’re mine,” she laughed, and stomped her feet excitedly. “Mine, mine, mine! That’s what you get for breaking the rules. Oh, you’re so cute. I can’t believe I’m holding you. You little darling…”

Sylvia closed her eyes and pursed her lips, bringing her little captive in for a kiss that she held for a second before pulling away. “My gosh. Thank you for being such a tiny, little man. You’re making this girl real happy, you know that?” She pulled him away from her face a little, before unfastening her handbag with her free hand. “We’ll get properly acquainted later.”

Sylvia didn’t wait for a reply before she dropped the man screaming into her handbag, and promptly fastened it closed. She glanced over at Maxie, only for immense embarrassment to set in as she realised she’d forgotten she was there. Again. But, there was a slight blush on Maxie’s cheeks this time, too… Sylvia giggled. “So what’s your thing, Maxie?”

Maxie laughed, and led Sylvia back to the portal. “Come on. That’s enough for today. We’ll visit again soon, okay?”

“Yay,” Sylvia smiled warmly as they both stepped through the portal, before it closed behind them.