HTTYD - Day 22, Part 1 (Patreon)

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Thursday, November 5

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The moon shone through the windows of Jessie’s bedroom as Marcus woke up early the next day, a little after 4:30am. Now that his daughter was having him go to bed with her, he figured there was no use in trying to squeeze in several hours of extra sleep every single morning just to match Jessie’s sleep clock. He didn’t exactly want to be waking up as early as he was, it almost felt unnatural since it was still dark out and he didn’t have work to go to or another good reason for being up so early. In fact, as he climbed over her to get out of her bed, he looked back at her peacefully sleeping, knowing she’d be in her deep slumber for a good few more hours, and felt the tiniest bit of annoyance that his body just didn’t need as much sleep as hers. Or that she couldn’t wake up early because she needed as little as him. But he could recognize that Jessie had been in a better mood the last couple days, and she definitely seemed to be sleeping well. I mean, I should know, she’s making me sleep right next to her. So he easily brushed aside his slight feeling of annoyance since he knew it was for her benefit.

He reflected on last night’s debacle, with Jessie and her friends accidentally getting tipsy at Paris’ house. Was it an accident though? Yeah, it definitely seemed like it was. He’d known Paris since she was just a little kid, and only a few times before had he ever seen her act as scared to get in trouble as she was last night—and each time it was because she really did end up getting in hot water for something. But he hadn’t gotten a call from her parents last night, which meant she must not have said anything to them about him and the other teens sneaking out all the cans of hard seltzer into the trunk of his car to throw away at his house. Never before had he ever neglected to inform another parent of something as serious as what had happened. But ever since he shrunk, there seemed to be a lot of things he was doing for the first time.

Because Thursday was one of Jessie’s game days, Marcus made sure to cook his daughter a hearty omelette with ham, bell peppers, and cheese that was ready for her within minutes of waking up. They got to talking at the dinner table about the day she had ahead of her, and Jessie decided that she missed having her dad come to support her at her mathces. “You used to come like, all the time before you shrunk,” she reminded him, her voice taking on a melancholy spirit. “Like, I get why you haven’t been in awhile, it’s probably kinda embarrassing being so small. But… and like I don’t want you to take this the wrong way or anything Daddy but… you should at least try to, you know, return to your old lifestyle or whatever as best you can. Do you know what I mean?” Marcus was looking off to the side, out the window to the great outdoors as the world slowly woke up to another sunny day. “Like I remember when I was your size, and how adults were kinda scary cuz they were so much bigger than me and stuff, but I wasn’t like, shy or anything, I still went out in public and socialized and stuff.” I understand the point she’s trying to make, he thought, but it’s kind of a stretch. ‘Going out in public’ sounds like talking about adults, but she was literally a toddler the last time she was close to my height, and even then it wasn’t as small as I am. It wasn’t just that people around her were bigger, it’s that they were a lot older too. The fact that me going out in public a lot of times means being around people younger than me kind of makes things worse. Despite him feeling like it was an unfair comparison though, he knew his daughter was right. Both of them seemed to understand that his problem wasn’t that he didn’t go out in public, because he did. Just the other day he’d taken her to get new clothes at the mall. But those kind of days together where a lot less frequent than they used to be; it felt like Marcus only did the bare minimum, only going out when she needed to go out. But going to one of her volleyball matches would be a first. He had absolutely no obligation to go (besides being a supportive father, of course), but it would also mean being around a lot of giant people. More than the clothing store and movie theater had when they went on Monday, and she literally dragged him to those places. Her volleyball match tonight, if he went, would be the boldest step he’d taken yet. But that also meant he had the most to gain in terms of his confidence.

“I can’t tell you what to do obviously,” Jessie continued, “I just think like, I’m suggesting that you try and go out in public more often. Because it might help you get used to being around bigger people. Just my idea, you know? But like yeah I’m also gonna be in school for a few more years, aaaaand it’d be cool if my only family member could show up to one of my games a few more times.” Her last statement was dripping with sass, but he smiled at her since he knew she was just being cheeky.

Marcus took a deep breath, and nodded slowly to show his agreement with everything she’d said. “You’re right, Jess. I’m sorry I haven’t come out to support you yet. I know a lot of the other kids’ parents go, so I’m sure you haven’t been able to ignore having me gone. But it’s been almost a month now, and you’re totally, 100% right, I should start trying to acclimate myself back into society now.” He reached out across the table and grabbed ahold of two of her fingers as he smiled warmly. “So I’ll be there tonight, it’ll be great.” She blushed, glad that she’d been able to convince him to come back and spectate her, as he let go and leaned back into his chair. “But now you won’t be able to slack off anymore since I’ll be there watching, so you’d better win!” She rolled her eyes as he laughed at his joke, as they continued eating their breakfast together.

* * * * * *

Marcus was sitting in his car in his daughter’s school parking lot, taking a deep breath. I’m not gonna feel any better just sitting out here trying to get myself amped up. Part of his issue, he had realized on the drive over, was that going to watch her play would feel like a solo experience. She’d be there too of course, but every single other time he’d ventured out of the house in the past month since shrinking, he’d had Jessie there right by his side. Despite her being twice as tall as him, she gave him comfort and a sense of calmness and familiarity wherever he went. Jessie would obviously still be nearby now, but she wouldn’t truly be with him. He’d be sitting alone, surrounded by a hundred super tall strangers.

That shouldn’t matter though, he reminded himself. Being in public without her is part of why Jessie thought I should come tonight. He shook his head and opened up his car door to hop out, attempting to clear his head. He held his head up high as he locked the car and walked confidently towards the gymnasium doors. He wasn’t an outcast, or a freak of nature; he was just a little small is all. I can do this, he told himself, pushing the doors open with all his strength to get in.

“Hi, welcome!” said a woman in her mid 40’s, sitting next to one of the students at the ticketing table. He had half-expected the gymnasium to be roaring with the sound of hundreds of excited fans, until he remembered that this was a volleyball match and not high school football. Not to mention the fact that he’d attended dozens of these things before—it had just been so long that his expectations had been messed with. The squeaks on the courts and callouts from the players were louder than the collective audience, which seemed to have around 60 people at best scattered among the stands, not counting the team members sitting in front. It was a good sized crowd; not a disappointing number, but not too overwhelming for Marcus’ first time back.

The mother smiled down at him kindly as he walked up and dug a 5 dollar bill out of his pocket, while the girl next to her looked a bit shocked to see someone of his size. She clearly didn’t know how to act as polite as the mom running the cash box. “Are you Jessie’s dad?” she asked, looking him up and down somewhat incredulously. He hated when people did that, like he was some kind of oddity, and people her age seemed to do it a lot more often than adults.

He forced a polite smile to the girl and nodded as he handed the older woman money for a ticket. “Yeah, I guess words gotten around.” He actually wasn’t that upset that Jessie had a tendency of telling people about him. He knew she didn’t tell everyone, but it was the kind of news that was bound to get passed around and gossiped about if only a few people knew. And he was her dad, it wasn’t like she could hide his existence anyways.

“Oh, was I not supposed to know? Sorry, Derek told me like a week ago,” the girl apologized.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” he chuckled. I don’t even know who Derek is. Or who she is.

“Here’s your ticket, enjoy the game,” the woman told him, handing Marcus a red stub. He thanked them and turned back to the match as he walked around to the front side of the bleachers. The first set seemed to have just started, but he couldn’t see Jessie out on the floor yet. She was probably sitting in the front row with the rest of her teammates. In fact, he couldn’t really see anyone in the crowd from how close he was to the people sitting on the far edge of the seating, but evidently someone was able to see him. A hand shot straight up from the crowd before a young black girl stood and excitedly gestured for him to come over: Paris. Her attendance at the match tonight and ever radiant grin on her face pretty much confirmed to Marcus his assumption that her parents never found out what happened last night. And upon seeing a familiar face, his heart seemed to skip a beat out of both surprise and relief. He marched up the stairs with a bit more hop in his step, before reaching her middle row and scooting on by several pairs of oversized legs to reach her as she sat back down. He could feel pairs of eyes on him as a few crowd members and a couple students noticed the shrunken man joining the stands; it wasn’t everyday that someone with Marcus’ condition showed up. But he just ignored them, knowing they meant no harm.

“I can’t believe you’re here Mr. Tilden, Jessie didn’t tell me you were gonna come to a game!” Paris exclaimed. “Oh, um, you can— you should sit between us,” she said, turning beside her to look at Amy, her secret girlfriend, seated next to her. She still seemed to be nervous about people finding out they were a couple for some reason, but she scooted over anyways to make room for his small body to sit between theirs. “Do you remember Amy, from yesterday?”

“Of course, it’s nice to see you again,” he told her politely, climbing onto the seat between the two giant teens.

“By the way, thank you sooooo much for saving us last night,” Amy said in a hushed tone, but not quite whispering. Paris blushed and looked around, paranoid as always that someone would hear what they’re saying and have any reason to think they were talking about something nefarious. The only surrounding people were too focused on whichever daughter, niece, or cousin of theirs was on the floor though.

“Oh, yeah, no problem,” he replied. “I know it was just a mistake.”

“Can you see OK by the way?” Paris asked, always one to look out for others. “Here, you can sit on my backpack,” she offered, grabbing it from beside her as he hopped back off so she could place it on the seat for him.

“Yeah, that’s better now, thanks Paris.” Even sitting on the makeshift booster seat though, he wasn’t even as tall as the two young girls’ shoulders. But he could see the gym better now, and he scanned the backs of the heads of all the teammates that were lined up. Just as he spotted his daughter’s hair tied up in a ponytail, she turned to look at the crowd behind her, not for the first time that evening. Her eyes instantly spotted him, and an electric wave of joy seemed to sweep over her face as she energetically waved at him. After the game had started and he still hadn’t shown, Jessie began to lose hope, but seeing her dad now reinvigorated her spirits, and she couldn’t wait until she was called on to join the court and show off how her skills had improved since he last came to a game. Seeing Jessie light up just from his appearance warmed Marcus’ heart as well, and reminded him why he came tonight.

“Awww, you guys are so cute,” Amy commented, seeing her classmate’s reaction. “Did she know you were coming?”

“Technically she did, but I don’t know if she really believed I would show up,” he chuckled as Jessie turned back around, and they continued watching the game.

The team was in the middle of the second set, the first one having been won by Jessie’s team. He’d even seen Harper play a little, the friend of Jessie’s that he’d met a few weeks ago, having totally forgotten that she was even on his daughter’s team. But now Paris and Amy had gone off, having needed to use the bathroom for a few minutes, leaving Marcus to watch their stuff momentarily. Throughout the first set, he’d cheered and called out approving ‘good jobs!’ and ‘nice ones!’ here and there alongside Paris and Amy when their team had scored a point. But his voice didn’t carry like it used to, and he found himself a bit quieter now that he was alone again. Jessie was in the rotation now, and with eyes like a hawk, he watched her on the court, following her every move with a smile on her face. He couldn’t tell if it was from her having improved since he last watched, or if she was just playing better because he was there, but regardless of the reason she was playing like a star on the court!

A trio of boys who Marcus didn’t notice at first made their way up the bleacher steps, off to the left and a few rows behind where Marcus had been sitting. Nobody was really sitting near them, but his smaller ears gave him somewhat sharper hearing, and he started tuning in on their conversation without even realizing it. They were talking about which of the girls they thought was hottest, and Marcus couldn’t help but smirk upon their tribal-like debating over his daughter’s peers. He didn’t necessarily approve of it, but he remembered doing the same thing when he was their age, going to the volleyball games specifically because the uniforms would show more than the basketball and soccer ones. But then his smirk started faltering as they talked about a certain player who he didn’t exactly want to hear about.

“Whatever, I still think Jessie’s ass is fucking insane dude,” one of the boys said.

“Yeah but her tits aren’t that big,” another replied. “I’m telling you guys, boobs are underrated as shit.”

“The fuck Connor? Dude Devon’s right, her ass is easily the best on the team. And most of them are still like, growing or whatever. Just wait til we’re in college, I proooomise she’s gonna have big mommy milkers.” He broke out into an snicker, and one of the friends slapped him on his head.

“Shut the fuck up bro, stop saying that, holy shit.”

“He’s right though, literally nobody in our class except Veronica has nice boobs yet.”

“Did you see her story last night? I can’t believe her parents never like, say anything about it, I wonder if they know.”

“Who gives a fuck dude.”

“Yeah, just enjoy it while it lasts.” They were quiet for a few moments, and clearly nobody else either heard them talking, or seemed to care. Marcus was just glad they were done talking about his daughter… or so he thought.

Jessie dove for the the ball, bumping it in the nick of time but falling on the floor in the process. He would’ve cheered for her initiative, but her butt, tightly restrained by her short shorts, jiggled upon her hitting the gym floor and set off the boys behind him again.

“Holy shit, I wanna eat her ass so bad,” one of the boys muttered again, causing the other butt-appreciator of the three to snicker.

“You literally sound like the biggest fucking virgin when you say shit like that, Kyle.”

“He’s kinda right though, I mean I literally wouldn’t have even come with you guys if she wasn’t playing. She’s the only ass I look at. Like the whole time. I can’t believe she switched out of gym 2 for fucking racket sports. It’s got shape, it’s got size…” Jessie leaned over with her hands on her knees as she waited for the next serve, inevitable sticking her butt out in the process. “Uugggh, yes,” the boy moaned, causing the other two to break out into laughter at how horny their friend was acting. But Marcus couldn’t take it anymore. Too nervous to confront the boys who were no doubt twice his size, and probably impossible to argue with, he simply stood up in a huff and walked along the row away from them, back down the steps, and headed to the bathroom to get a break.