“GO!”
The four boys tore away the false backings and hastily took their pens to the puzzles hiding underneath. Scott’s confidence flagged when he discovered that said puzzles were, true to their back-of-the-box nature, so easy that they wouldn’t even challenge a normal boy his current age. Mazes with obvious thrulines, cereal-related arithmetic, word searches with no terms longer than two syllables. Speed would be just as important as mental acuity, and if the furious scribbling of his competitors was any indication they’d be more than a match for Scott on that front.
Determined as the eight-year-old was, his bravado took another hit when he realized that his reduced dexterity had yet to be tested before this. The pen felt fat and clumsy in Scott’s small fingers, despairing as he grappled with the ballpoint and realized that it was an advantage to be bigger even when it came to something as unathletic as solving puzzles designed for babies. Tempting as it was to give up – feeling a boyish impulse to pout over what felt like “cheating” being perpetuated by the other contestants – Scott became set on making up for his previous helplessness and proving that he could be capable in any form. He poured all his focus into finding words, adding sums of clusters and flakes, guiding mascots through gauntlets until…
“AND…TIME! PENS DOWN!”
Scott exhaled as he dropped the instrument, nursing his cramping hand as he looked over his work. Though there were a couple puzzles that he hadn’t gotten to before time ran out, a quick scan suggested that everything he did finish had been done perfectly correctly. At this point, he could do nothing but hope but sheer accuracy would be enough to make up for his disadvantage in development.
“A FINE EFFORT, LADS! DOESN’T IT FEEL INVIGORATING TO GET THOSE BRAINS GOING FIRST THING IN THE MOOOOORNIIIIIING?” Barrie crooned as the screen embedded into the dining room wall became covered with pink noggin emojis. “AND FOR ONE OF YOU, IT’LL BE AN EXTRA-EXCITING START TO THE DAY GETTING A BOOST IN AGE TO GO ALONG WITH YOUR BREAKFAST! FOR EVERY WINNER, HOWEVER, THERE’S A LOSER – AND BRINGING UP THE REAR ON THIS OCCASION IS…KAI!”
Scott’s jaw dropped as he turned to the oldest of the four, who seemed just as surprised by the revelation. The dread that darkened his handsome preteen expression vanished just as quickly as it appeared, however, as Kai shrugged his shoulders and put on a disaffected smile.
“Never was any good at those things.” He chuckled. “I always goofed off during breakfast.”
“AND NOW YOU’LL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR BEING SUCH A SILLY BOY!” Barrie hooted. “BUT WE’LL GET TO THAT LATER! FOR NOW, IN THIRD PLACE…IT’S ERNESTO!”
“Hmph.” Ernesto sniffed. “I didn’t wanna get any older any way. Puberty sucked.”
“THAT JUST LEAVES US WITH FIRST PLACE AND RUNNER-UP! FALLING JUST SHORT AND COMING IN SECOND, IT’S…
“…SCOTT! WHICH MEANS JACKSON IS OUR WINNER AND THE FIRST AGE BOOST RECIPIENT OF THE SEASON! FRONT AND CENTER, MISTER!”
“Hell yeah!” Jackson chirped as he presented himself to the screen, scratching the back of his head and smiling bashfully as he was bathed in clapping hands, hearts, and shocked faces. “I’ve got a big book of puzzles like that at home, I do them to relax. The cover says it’s for ages 4 to 9, but, like, what do little kids have to be stressed about?”
“A REAL CONUNDRUM, THAT.” Barrie chimed in with a verbal roll of the eyes. “IN ANY CASE, YOU’VE EARNED BACK A COUPLE OF THE YEARS YOU’VE LOST, SO ENJOY THEM! BUT DON’T GO NUTS JUST BECAUSE WE’RE LETTING YOU BE A BIG KID FOR A BIT!”
The other three contestants – and the millions watching at home – knew they were in for another small taste of age wizardry when they saw Jackson’s beaming expression take on an absent, dreamy air. Blinking heavily, Jackson stared off into space as his limbs lengthened, as his torso and shoulders broadened, as his boyish features took on a touch more sharpness and definition. While it may have only been two years, the jump from eleven to thirteen had clearly been a significant one for Jackson. The five inches of height and considerable musculature he’d gained in the last minute – which still left him tiny by adult standards – meant he was now slightly bigger than Kai in addition to holding a year of age on him.
“Whoaaaaaaa, that was majorly relaxing.” Jackson sighed in the hoarse timbre of an eighth-grader, eyes lighting back up as he examined his new gains. The boy was now well too big for the athletic bottoms and loose-fitting tee he’d been wearing, his newly adolescent form straining against both garments as he playfully flexed and posed. “It’s a good thing I was going commando, I’d be busting through my briefs right now otherwise.”
“Yeah.” Ernesto piped up with a grimace. “But if you were wearing undies then we wouldn’t have to look at that.”
“Oops.” Jackson blushed and chuckled as the boy pointed out the obvious tent in his nylon shorts. He took a moment to tuck himself into the waistband, stealing an approving glance at his bigger bits as he did so. “Niiiice, I even got a few of my curlies back! If you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna go get changed – and take care of this little problem while I’m at it.”
“You’re so gross!” Scott shouted at Jackson’s suggestiveness, joining Ernesto and Kai in scolding the chuckling young teen as he scampered out of the room. The eight-year-old fell silent as the two older boys talked amongst themselves, groaning over how insufferable the good-natured jock would be now that he was the biggest of the four. Scott, meanwhile, was more shaken than he’d like to admit by the sight of Jackson popping a stiffy. The pubescent boy’s most common biological function had drawn into sharp focus that he, by comparison, was completely sexless.
While the middle-aged agent now rarely had occasion to employ seduction in his line of work, he still came across the occasional unloved executive or closeted politician that would only spill sought secrets once between the sheets. During these interlocutions he’d make exceptional use of a proud cock crowned with copper curls, a firm and hefty tool that was now nothing more than a hairless little nub. It wasn’t even the miniscule size that bothered Scott as much it was the impotence, the strange ache of knowing one’s self to be incapable in an especially immature and emasculating way.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, dudes!” Scott was lost in thought for however long it took Jackson to change clothes and release some hormones. Curiously, he’d returned to the dining room dressed in a bathing suit instead of standard shorts. “Barrie told me to get into these while I was up there, said he’d say why once we were all together.”
“INDEED I DID!” Barrie barged back into the conversation. “AND THAT REASON IS BECAUSE WE’RE TAKING OUR FIRST NO GIRLS ALLOWED FIELD TRIP!”
The boys jumped as digital noisemakers popped and multi-colored confetti filled the screen.
“AND SINCE THE FOUR OF YOU – FOR THE MOST PART – HAVE BEEN VERY GOOD BOYS SO FAR, YOU’LL ALL BE SPENDING THE DAY…AT SUPERSPLASH WATERPARK, THE TRISTATE’S FAVORITE SPOT FOR THRILLS, CHILLS AND SPILLS! WE’VE GOT A CAR WITH A PRODUCTION AGENT READY TO TAKE YOU THERE FIFTEEN MINUTES FROM NOW, SO YOU OTHER THREE LITTLE TROUBLEMAKERS GET CHANGED AND GRAB WHATEVER YOU NEED FOR A DAY OF FUN IN THE SUN! OH, AND KAI? WE'LL BE CARRYING OUT YOUR PUNISHMENT ONCE THERE, SO DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE JUST YET. BYYYEEEEEEEEEE!"
“A water park?” Scott frowned as another burst of fanfare heralded Barrie’s departure. Ernesto merely shrugged in response as he exited the room, muttering something about how it was nice to finally get a real freebie from the show. The eight-year-old turned his attention instead to Kai, who seemed all ears to the little boy’s concerns. “I really don’t want to go anywhere looking like this, but I especially don’t wanna go anywhere in just my bathing suit.”
“It’s okay, I'm pretty sure they'll let you wear a shirt and stuff. If anything I should be the one worrying, whatever they're gonna make me do will almost certainly be out in front of everybody.” Kai reassured Scott as he guided the boy towards their room. “Though I’m pretty sure you can only wear your bathing suit while you’re going down slides. I’m gonna wanna do those, so will you be okay waiting for me at the bottom?”
“Um…” Scott played with his hands as they ascended the stairs, feeling lost by the mere thought of being in a crowded waterpark without Kai by his side. “I…guess it’ll be okay…”
“…no, it’s cool.” Kai paused at their door to study Scott’s uncertain expression, smiling at the boy and ruffling his hair as they went inside. “It’s probably best we stick together when we’re out in public, so I’m okay with doing whatever you wanna do.”
Scott was far from satisfied by Kai’s acquiescence – if anything, the patient understanding of the older boy made him feel clingy and helpless by comparison. He rationalized that yesterday he’d been half-naked for hours before a worldwide audience, so what did it matter to don some trunks in public and have a bit of fun?
“…well, what I wanna do is go on the slides.” Scott declared after a moment’s thought. “The biggest, tallest, scariest ones they have.”
“Yeah?” Kai snickered as he got changed. “Even if they’re not for kids? Even if the lifeguards say you’ll definitely super duper die if you go down the really big one?”
“I especially want to go down that one.” Scott giggled. He felt suddenly playful as he shucked his shorts and undies, fine with his bottom being bare as he searched for swimwear. An azure pair of trunks adorned with super-cool dolphins in sunglasses proved the winner, and to complete the look he grabbed a pair of electric blue sunglasses and a bucket hat adorned with a fierce cartoon crab. Scott couldn’t help but smile as his awesomely garish outfit, at how the bright garments and playful accessories made new status and role obvious to everyone. He disappeared into his disguise much to the approval of his child and adult personas, both thinking him very much like a spy in that moment. And while it admittedly was terrifying to think of being this small while out in the world, the flip side was that it made Scott feel very brave to tackle the challenge head on.
“Looking cool, brudda.” Kai whistled as he came up behind Scott and looked him over. The eight-year-old took the opportunity to silently eye the floral print swim shorts the older boy had chosen for himself; though Scott liked them, he had guessed – and his cheeks reddened as he thought this – that Kai might swim in a Speedo and was surprisingly disappointed to discover otherwise. “Ready to go?”
“Yup!” Scott beamed as Kai wrapped a warm hand around his slender shoulder and guided him out of the room. The spy knew he should be frustrated at the loss of so much searching time, but in that moment – under the wing of this cool, handsome older boy as they headed to a fun day out – he could think of little beyond how tremendously happy he felt.
(What punishment does Kai endure at the waterpark?)