As the full impact of my reduction dawned on me, I instinctively hugged Matthew tighter. I needed his touch to ground me in reality -- even if that 'reality' was preposterous. Without that essential human contact, I felt I'd quite literally go mad.
The situation was totally unbelievable, totally intolerable, totally insane: How could a tall, handsome, sweet man like Matthew be reduced to doll size in seconds. Divine justice -- never mind the laws of physics, shouldn't, wouldn't, COULDN'T allow it!
As I held Matthew's naked body in my embrace, I could feel him rembling...perhaps it was from the joy of being reunited. Maybe it was fear, or -- more likely -- just plain cold. Matthew was stark naked -- he'd literally been shrunken right out of his clothes.
I, on the other hand, was fully clothed. Yet even through my clothes, I felt a distinct chill in the air -- notwithstanding the fact that the room had felt quite comfortable before my reduction. I pulled off my shirt and, without hesitation, gave it to Matthew: "Here take this, it'll help you warm up."
"No, no, you keep it Danny," Matthew said. "You're thinner than me. Y..you...n..need it more."
"TAKE IT!" I insisted, with a force that surprised both Matthew and me. He then gratefully took the shirt and quickly slipped it on, anxious to cover and warm himself.
"Cold, eh?!" the gargantuan Doug asked with a laugh that was palpably chillier than the air. "That's one of the side effects of shrinking: Shrink a normal body down proportionally, and the ratio of surface area to body mass increases rapidly. The higher the surface-area-to-mass ratio, the quicker body heat is lost. That's why small warm-blooded animals like hummingbirds and ferrets have to eat continuously just to maintain their body heat..."
Doug's cold-blooded logic was more than I could take: "SHUT UP!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. It must have taken Doug by surprise, since he stopped his monologue abruptly, frowned for a moment, and then smiled broadly.
"Very good, Danny! Sounds like someone's been doing assertiveness training! If my eyes didn't tell me otherwise, I'd say you've grown up since we broke up!"
I may have been small, but Doug's smug, "Aren't I witty?" remarks filled me a growing sense of disgust, rage, and courage.
"Yeah, you're a big, big man now, aren't you Doug?!" I said defiantly. "It's easy to bully Matthew and me when you're so much bigger than us."
"You've got THAT right!" Doug said shamelessly, with a shit-eating grin.
"Yeah....well....Well, it's time now for you to keep your promise...."
"Eh? What was that?" Doug said, pantomiming deafness.
"I said it's time for you to keep your promise!" I said more loudly and firmly.
"Sorry, can't hear you," Doug said, leaning over and cupping his right hand over his right ear mockingly -- as if he was making a sincere effort to hear. He began laughing aloud at his great 'joke.'
When Doug?s ear was just inches away -- I screamed at the top of my lungs: "KEEP YOUR GOD-DAMN PROMISE!!!"
The volume and pitch of my voice made Doug wince, and he stood up quickly to his full 50-foot-plus height, crossed his arms, and glowered down menacingly at Matthew and me for several seconds, before smiling malevolently again.
"Promise you say? And what promise might that be?"
"You promised to grow Matthew back!"
"I did WHAT?"
"You promised to grow Matthew back!" I repeated, fists and teeth clenched, seething with rage.
"I most certainly did NOT!"
"You did too! I said you could shrink me down if you...." I stopped mid-sentence. My heart seemed to plummet to my feet when I heard in my memory -- and my ears -- the exact words I'd used, repeated now ever-so-obligingly by Doug:
""...if you would let Matthew go." That's what you said, Danny boy. You -- and I -- said nothing about restoring his size."
"DAMN YOU!! You, you...HAVE TO!" I screamed up at Doug. If he'd been anywhere near my size, I'm sure I could, and would, have killed Doug. As it was, Matthew had to use his full strength to restrain me from running up to Doug and pouncing like a micro-madman on his foot. "Danny, stop....STOP!... It's useless...no use fighting...Maybe if we do what he sa...."
"Yeah, that's right, Danny," Doug interrupted. "Listen to that cute little -- and I mean VERY little -- boyfriend of yours."
"I will let Matthew go, if..." Doug smiled broadly, pausing for dramatic effect before his, literally, captive audience.
"IF WHAT?!" I screamed. "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOUR SILLY GAMES!"
"Really? Well, that's a shame, because the fun is just beginning!"
"TELL ME...tell me...just tell me..." Overcome with emotion, I collapsed in a heap of frustrated, impotent rage.
"That's good....Sit down...Be quiet..." Doug said, almost gently. "Conserve your energy, Danny..." And then suddenly Doug was laughing again. "YOU'LL CERTAINLY NEED IT!."
Matthew and I looked at each other and then up at Doug, speechless. What did that deranged madman-ex-boyfriend have in mind?
And, as if in answer, Doug dropped his pants, slipped his hand down into his briefs, pulled out his semi-erect cock, and started stroking it....saying nothing, but staring at Matthew and me all the while.