HTTYD v2 - Day 3 (Patreon)

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Saturday, October 17

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It didn’t quite make sense to Marcus initially, but having Jessie home with him on Saturday put his mind at ease. Friday, the first full day after his layoff, had been an improvement over the day before, although he still retained a strong sense of hopelessness and depression as he went about his day. And while those feelings continued into his third day of official unemployment, they were alleviated by the fact that his daughter was around to keep him company.

“I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate all that you’ve done for me these past few weeks,” he told her that morning, sitting across from her at the table while they ate breakfast. His spot at the table now consisted of a mini-chair and mini-table that were made for his size, in place of where his dishes used to reside when he was normal sized. And behind him, in the area where his chair used to be, was now a small U-shaped staircase, that allowed him to independently make his way to the surface of the table while holding his food. For a few days, Marcus had been worried about the idea of shrinking down so small that he’d have to eat at ankle level to everyone else, if he wasn’t picked up and carried down by someone for every single meal. But luckily Jessie had been able to find the stair solution online that let her dad eat at a more respectable level whenever he wanted to.

She smiled down at him, sitting on the furniture that she’d found herself, as she scooped some cereal into her mouth, “Well thanks, Daddy, but—” She cut herself off as milk spilled out of the corners of her mouth, and she giggled.

“But what?”

“But I haven’t really done that much for you,” she replied after swallowing, taking the route of modesty. “Like you said like, ‘all that I’ve done for you,’ but you only got fired a couple days ago and I don’t really feel like I’ve done anything out of the ordinary.”

Marcus sighed as she mistook how he lost his job again, “I wasn’t fired, Jess, I was laid off.” It was important to him that she made the distinction. “And you might not feel like you’ve done anything out of the ordinary the last few days, but ‘ordinary’ lately means something totally different than what ordinary would’ve meant several months ago.” He smiled at her, “I wasn’t sure how my shrinking was going to affect you, like if you’d seem more stressed out and bothered by me, but you’re just the same girl that you were from before.”

Jessie blushed and looked down at her cereal, trying to hide her smile as she spun her spoon around the bowl. In the days after first learning about his diagnosis, her mind and imagination went wild. She wasn’t sure if her dad would only shrink by an inch or shrink all the way down to an inch. She didn’t know if he’d have to live in some kind of medical facility and lose custody of her. She was even worried for a little while that he could die somehow. But none of that happened. And as much as life changed for him in a million different ways, a lot of her life was still mostly the same. She was surprised by how quickly she forgot about his situation in the first place and had simply become accustomed to having him only be as tall as her calves. As if her dad had always been 9 inches tall.

I probably should be looking for a job right now, or some other way to make money, Marcus thought as he leaned back in his chair, done with his breakfast but not wanting to make the trek back to his sink. But I think I’d rather just relax for the day. I don’t need to rush into the job search immediately, I have enough in savings to last a few months. Spending the day with Jessie sounded like a fun idea, but he didn’t know what to do. He and his daughter spent time together fairly regularly, especially since they were the only family they each had (in their household anyways; there was extended family, and Marcus’ sister was present enough in his life, but nobody who lived anywhere near them). I used to love going to Disneyland with her, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have fun there again. He cringed as he imagined Jessie squeezing him in her hand while they rushed down a roller coaster, before something jolted the ride and he flew out of her hand to an untimely death. “How about we watch a movie again?” he thought out loud all of a sudden.

“Clueless!” she exclaimed, smile wide.

“What?”

“Maybe that’s not the right name.” Her smile faltered a bit, seeing that her dad didn’t understand. “Amy said it was a movie on Netflix about a popular girl in high school during the 90s. She didn’t say who the girl was, but apparently Paul Rudd is her brother. She said it’s really good.”

Marcus laughed, knowing just what she was talking about after giving more detail than just a single word suddenly blurted out. “I know what movie you’re talking about, it came out when I was a freshman in high school. My first girlfriend took me to see it in theaters,” he said, fondly remembering his 14 year old self.

Jessie got excited, “Did you like it?”

“Well, I think it had been out for a few weeks when we went to see it, because I remember the theater was totally empty. And I, uh…” he trailed off, not wanting to mention the rest of what they did in that theater. “I don’t really remember much.” He scratched his neck and avoided her eyes, hoping she wouldn’t spot his lie.

“Ewwww!” Jessie twisted her face in a mixture of laughter and disgust. It wasn’t hard for her to spot when her dad was lying, even as small as his face was; she knew exactly what he was trying to hide. “You lost your virginity in a movie theater?” She tried to stifle her laugh, but couldn’t help but giggle at the situation. A movie theater? It seemed kind of lame to her.

“Jessie!” he shouted, although his voice wasn’t very disruptive because of how small he was. His cheeks were searing red at his daughter having asked such an intimate question. “We didn’t… we just made out, it wasn’t anything like that.” Although Rebecca definitely kissed me in a few places that weren’t my mouth… “And don’t talk about stuff like that with me.”

Jessie rolled her eyes at her dad’s antiquated behavior. “Jeez, we already had ‘the talk’ a couple years ago, it’s not a big deal.”

“No, I…” he paused and sighed, trying to think of how to say what he wanted to say. It was times like these that he really wished he had a mother for Jessie to help ease the hurdles of parenthood. “What I mean is that I don’t want you asking about my sex life. Just like I’d imagine you wouldn’t want me prying you about all the boys you hang out with, right?” Jessie looked away, her dad was right. She obviously didn’t want to discuss the kisses she’d had with a few boys so far, let alone divulge the details of going further with anyone, whenever that time came. “You can always ask me anything you want to,” he continued, “I’d rather you ask me than just assume something. That’s how accidents happen. But that’s different than bringing it up casually, like for no reason. Do you see what I’m saying?”

Jessie bit her lip, still feeling awkward. “OK yeah, I guess, can we change the subject now?” She hated this feeling. It was like she was in trouble even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Marcus grimaced, hopeful that she was being honest. And he really did hope she could trust him to come to him about anything. Hopefully this interaction won’t change that. But was I wrong? Was I being hypocritical, or is there a difference like I thought there was? Never mind, she wanted to move on. “Yes. Anyways, Clueless. Your friend was right, it’s a pretty good movie. I haven’t seen it since back then but I think it’s a bit of a cult classic now.” He wasn’t thrilled about watching something that he deemed was just a chick flick, but if it made Jessie excited, then he’d do it for her.

Jessie perked up hearing her dad’s review of the film. “OK, well did you wanna watch the movie tonight then?”

“Who says we have to watch movies at night?”

Jessie paused for a moment. “But it’s like, 10am.”

“So?” Jessie didn’t know what to say again, then erupted into a fit of giggles; the idea seemed so absurd to her, and yet he was right. Her laughter was contagious and Marcus started chuckling too as he looked up at her, “What?”

“I guess we can have movie night in the morning then!” she replied, a few more giggles bubbling up from her. Since she knew her dad preferred to get around on his own, she grabbed his plate along with her bowl to take them to their respective sinks for later washing, and then hurried over to the couch while he descended down his stairs to make his way into the living room. Jessie bundled up a blanket on her lap and turned on the TV to find the movie as her dad climbed up another set of stairs next to the couch. Thinking up an idea, he climbed from the armrest onto the backbone of the couch, then carefully balanced himself along the narrow top as he walked towards Jessie. As she was focused on the TV, he leapt over her shoulder, falling for a brief second before crashing into the soft and safe blanket on his daughter’s lap. She was caught off guard at first and yelped, almost jumping out of her seat until she realized what was on her lap. Marcus was sprawled out on the comfortable folds of their blanket, his head turned skyward as he grinned up at her. She looked behind her, realizing what he’d done, and then smiled back down at him. “That was probably fun,” she noted, and he nodded excitedly, feeling like a kid who’d jumped into a play pit. The sound of a movie studio’s logo boomed from their TV, and he changed his attention to the massive screen far in front of him, so big that he felt like he was at an actual movie theater, as the two of them began watching.

*    *    *    *    *    *

The rest of the day went by mostly uneventfully for the two of them, with Jessie spending a lot of time in her room on her phone, and Marcus lounging around in the main area of the house. He got the idea to start reading books again, starting with The Woman in the Window. A couple of his old coworkers had recommended it back when the movie came out, saying the book was better than the movie. So now, with all his new free time, he figured a book might be a perfect way to fill in the gaps. The time practically flew by, and before he knew it, his daughter’s finger was gently shaking his shoulder, her face peering down at him from high above as she stood behind him.

“Hey, what are we doing for dinner?” she asked, the shadow of just her head surrounding him. “It’s almost 6.”

Marcus glanced at the clock on the wall: 5:47. Shit, the time really does slip away when you’re reading. And he was more than halfway through the book; he’d have to find something new to read (or something new to do) in the coming days. He sighed and gazed out the window, thinking of what they should cook, and the darkening skyline gave him an idea. “You know, I’m not really in the mood to cook something tonight, and I’m sure you aren’t either.”

“I’m never in the mood to cook,” she smirked. But then her eyes began to widen as she realized what ‘not wanting to cook’ would mean for dinner.

“Let’s get something on Uber Eats,” he suggested, and Jessie’s eyes shrunk a little. She thought he was going to suggest they go out to eat, like a sit-down restaurant. Takeout wasn’t bad, it was easier than cooking and sometimes better too, but she liked eating the food as soon as it was ready, not having a boxed up meal that wasn’t as fresh.

“I thought you were gonna suggest we go eat somewhere,” she said. “Like sitting down and getting served.”

Marcus chuckled, “It’s the same food, Jessie, it’s just given to you differently.” I’m also not in the mood to head out in public, especially somewhere as busy as a restaurant on a Saturday night.

“Well I really wanted to go to Red Robin, and then we could eat outside,” she reasoned. “It’s really nice out tonight.” Jessie’s dad hesitated, not wanting to give in. He liked Red Robin too, but he still didn’t like the idea of eating around so many people. “Come awwwwnn,” she protested, turning to the window he’d been gazing out of, and perked up. “If we leave now, we can sit down in time to watch the sunset!” He still felt like holding out, but he couldn’t deny that an evening watching the sunset with his daughter sounded like a nice way to end the day. Besides, he still had years of life left, decades. Getting used to being out in public was just something he was going to have to get used to, it was a necessary step if he ever wanted to get used to living with his condition.

He cracked a smile and looked back up at her, and she smiled as she could tell before he even said anything that she had won him over. “Alright, you convinced me. Red Robin it is.”

“Yes!” she shouted triumphantly, and ran to her room to get her phone while Marcus waited for her. As she came back to the front of the couch, she held out her hand for him to step on.

“Oh, I keep forgetting… we’d have to bike there, right?”

She nodded up and down, “Yeah, why?”

He hesitated to step onto her hand yet. “Well, being held sideways isn’t super comfortable and gets kinda disorienting,” he said, recalling their trip to the park yesterday, when she had to hold him against the handlebars because her clothes didn’t have any pockets. “Plus you squeeze really hard, which I understand, you don’t want me to fall and I don’t wanna fall either.”

“What if I put you in a purse? Or a fanny pack or something?” she offered up as a solution.

The idea of being zipped up into a dark, cramped space that I can barely fit into and doesn’t have any extra air to breathe… He didn’t think it was the most enticing option. “I think I’d get claustrophobic with how little room I’d have.” Jessie scratched her head, thinking over the problem for a better proposal. “What if you strapped me to the tubes? Like one of those water bottle holders or the holder you use for your phone, except instead of those it’d be a Dad holder.”

Jessie smiled at his joke and shrugged, “Sounds good to me I guess, if that’s what you’d rather do. I don’t know what we could use to fasten you to the bike though. Do you think tape could work?”

Marcus shook his head, “At my size the adhesive might be extra strong and it could tear my clothes off if you weren’t careful,” he chuckled. “Plus it wouldn’t be reusable so you’d need to always bring tape everywhere.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” she mused. They both stood in silence for a few more moments, Jessie towering over her diminutive father while brainstorming how to best keep him safe for her bike rides. “I feel like string is the only other option then,” she said.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” he agreed.

“OK, I’ll go grab some from my arts and crafts kit,” she exclaimed, hurrying back to her room. Marcus jumped off the couch and headed towards their front door. It was new, since it now had a smaller, Marcus-sized entrance built into it. He fell just within the 9-18 inch size range, so the handle was level with his head, but at least it was a door he could operate and allow him to head in and out of their house whenever he wanted.

Just as he was closing it behind him, he heard the excited stomps of Jessie inside the house, running from the couch to the door after realizing he was outside. The much larger point of entry swung open as he turned around, and he was met with the gargantuan form of his daughter standing before him, grinning down at him as she slipped on her shoes. “I was scared you might run into me for a second,” he yelled up at her, and she laughed as she walked around him and closed the door before squatting down.

“Maybe a couple weeks ago, but I’ve gotten pretty good about watching where I step,” she said cheerfully. “Can I pick you up?” He nodded, giving her the okay, and she gently wrapped her fingers around his torso before standing back up and walking over to her bike, propped up against the garage door. She knelt back down and was careful to lay him on top of the center tube, between the handlebars and the seat. “You wanna be on your back right? Or your stomach?” she asked.

“Definitely back,” he nodded, his arms reaching to his sides to hold onto the spherical metal he was resting on. His body was about the same width as the frame, so he didn’t feel like he’d be in too precarious of a position once Jessie fastened the string around him. “I think if I was face down I’d get nervous staring at the pavement cuz from my perspective it’d seem like you’re going a hundred miles an hour.”

“I guess that’s true,” she giggled, slowly releasing her hand except for her pointer finger, keeping it planted on his chest as an extra safeguard. With her other hand, she grabbed the first bit of string that she’d cut and wrapped it underneath him, and then brought it back up to join its other end, twisting them together above his ankles. “I gotta use both hands now, are you holding on?” He nodded, and she gingerly took her finger off of his chest, but between his own hands holding onto the bar under his back, and the bit of twisted string, he was fairly secure. She tied the string like she would her shoelaces, and slowly pulled the loops further apart, tightening the knot until he gave the thumbs up. Tight enough to keep his legs from going anywhere, but not too tight to hurt. Then she grabbed the other string and looped it around his chest, just under his armpits. Marcus watched curiously as the array of fingers danced above him, each appendage seemingly several inches wide, tying the string that felt like rope to the shrunken man. But finally the fingers retreated, and her eyes glistened as they examined her work. “OK, try and wiggle around now,” she instructed, cupping her hands underneath him in case he fell. He shook his body about, but could barely move. With more exertion, he squirmed about, as if he actually wanted to get out of the binds this time, but the giant knots held fast and kept him safely secured to her bike.

He stopped wiggling and grinned up at her. “You did a great job, Jess, thanks.” She clapped excitedly and grabbed ahold of the handlebars, slowly walking her bike to the curb.

“Just let me know if you need me to stop, mkay?” she told him. “Cuz you can still wave your arms in case I don’t hear you.” He nodded, his heart racing quicker, like he was on some amusement park ride that was just about to start. He watched as her foot soared over him, planting her legs on either side of him, just over the seat. Cast in the shadow of his daughter’s hips, he glanced nervously at the wide thighs on either side of him. But then she sat back into the bike’s seat and put her right foot on the pedal, all set to take off. “Ready?” she asked, looking down at her dad’s little body, snugly strapped to her bike. He nodded and gave her a double thumbs up, although was too nervous to be smiling anymore. And then she pushed off, slowly gaining speed on the sidewalk as she raced towards their favorite burger joint in the neighborhood.

The bike rattled a little bit as it raced along the streets, the wind whipping against the top of his head. Even though he fully believed the strings were tight, he was unable to relax, intensely aware of the vast open air on either side of him and the rough concrete beneath the bike’s wheels. He could turn his head, but not without hurting his neck since his shoulders couldn’t move. So he was resigned to just staring upwards at the sky… and the giant girl that partially blocked it from his vision. Whichever way he looked, Jessie was always there, whether it was her long arms holding the handles, the kneecaps that popped up as she pedaled along, or her carefree face as she enjoyed the breeze flying through her hair. Every 20 to 30 seconds she’d glance down at him to make sure he was still OK, and then revert her eyes back to the path ahead. But eventually they arrived at Red Robin, and Marcus breathed a sigh of relief that they’d made it to their destination safely as Jessie walked the bike to the bike rack and began untying her father from its frame.

*    *    *    *    *    *

Eating dinner at such a busy restaurant had been nerve-racking for Marcus at first, but it helped that they were seated outside, so he could sit with his back to the crowd and not pay the other diners any attention. “If it all starts to become too much, just focus on my eyes and try to talk to me,” Jessie had told him reassuringly. She had no idea if it would actually help her dad to calm down, but she figured it would be better than nothing. And at one point, after the loud environment surrounding him began to be too much, he ended up taking her advice after all. He simply turned to look at her, gazing deep into her sparkling blue eyes, as they darted between him, the sunset, and random other things that would distract her vision. She had been telling him about some kind of online drama she’d read about that day, talking with her mouth full while chewing her burger. Even though he didn’t particularly care about the lives of her favorite YouTube celebrities, he liked hearing her talk about things with passion and intrigue. So she ended up being right: when the noise around him began to overload his senses, focusing on her helped to ground him and calm his nerves. And she didn’t even realize it.

It wasn’t common to find a restaurant that catered to people with DSD by providing them with smaller sets of eating utensils and plates. But since it wasn’t a very costly expense for the owners, there were still a good number of places around that did. And the Tildens already knew from experience that their local Red Robin was one of them. They still only served normal-sized burgers and sides, but Marcus didn’t mind eating whatever portion of food Jessie would cut off for him. The only real downside was he couldn’t get his own meals, since it’d be a waste of money, but neither Jessie or her dad were picky, so they were always able to find compromises.

After the two of them had eaten, Jessie ordered a strawberry milkshake, along with a stirring straw for her dad. Normal straws were obviously far too wide for him to use, but luckily the little 1mm-wide ones used in coffee shops were perfect for him (and there were a lot more places that had them since they were commonly used by regular-sized people too). When she got her dessert, it was topped with whipped cream and sprinkles and a cherry, just like any classic shake, but it also came with a big metal cup with all the leftovers that couldn’t fit in the fancy glassware. This was what Marcus planned to drink out of. Jessie turned over one of the spare plastic cups and set her dad on top of it, and then handed him his straw. So the two of them happily ate their dessert together, with her spooning in the ice cream mixture while he did his best to suck it down.

The main problem with Marcus’ straw though was that it wasn’t very long, and just barely reached beyond the surface of the excess shake. He literally had made a dent in his food, since he’d run out of milkshake from the area right below him, while the surrounding shake was still too cold and thick to trickle down and fill the gap he’d made. He could’ve just asked for Jessie to rotate the cup for him, but wanting to do things on his own, he opted to lean over and reach out with his straw towards the other end of the cup, where there was still some reachable slurry. For a brief moment, his straw plunged into the ice cream and he thought he’d found victory as he started to suck up some more. But with just enough of his weight on the straw, it began pushing deeper into the drink. He lost his balance, and his eyes locked onto Jessie’s for a brief moment before he fell headfirst into the freezing, mushy shake.

Jessie gasped in surprise, quickly reaching into the cup and grabbing ahold of her dad’s frantic legs, pulling him out and turning him right side up again. “Oh my God, are you okay Daddy?” she asked with concern, as he used his hands to push the milkshake out of his face so he could see and breathe again. A couple surrounding diners glanced over, having heard Jessie’s remark, and one of them stifled a giggle after realizing what had happened.

“Yeah, I’m fine. That was kinda my fault anyways,” he sighed, shaking his head furiously like someone getting water out of their hair. But the frozen treat was practically glued to his head, too thick to unstick itself. “Can you help me out? But don’t shake me off,” he warned, imagining the kind of headache he’d get if someone as huge as his daughter shook his little body back and forth.

“Do you want me to pour water on you?” she asked, an innocent ignorance over what would and wouldn’t help him, but wanting to help him nonetheless.

“Ehhh, that sounds like a bad idea, I don’t wanna have it get up my nose and get waterboarded,” he grumbled, starting to shiver as the cold blanket of ice cream covering his head and torso began to chill him. But then Jessie got an idea, and bit her lip since she knew her dad probably wouldn’t like it. She turned him around in her hand, and then stuck her tongue out and licked from his waist all the way up to his head, completely clearing his backside of all the milkshake that had just been clinging to it. His shirt became disheveled as it got slightly lifted upwards by the slimy muscle. “I— did you…” he stammered, realizing what had just dragged its way up his body. She spun him back around; “Jessie! That was—“ was all he got out, as he watched her lean over again with a playful smile and stick her tongue out, touching base with his stomach and slobbering its way straight up his entire body, before cutting him off from speaking as she finished licking up all the milkshake off his face. He’d had to close his mouth at the last minute to prevent any of her spit from getting in, but it still coated the rest of his face, and the strong smell of strawberry, milk, and saliva invaded his nostrils as he watched her swallow the load of ice cream in a single gulp. His eyebrows narrowed angrily, but he couldn’t open his mouth since his lips had the prankful teenager’s spit on them. But she didn’t waste time in lowering him towards her lap, grabbing a bundle of her shirt to wipe away the saliva she’d just covered him with. She was careful as she dabbed at his face, not wanting to press too hard and hurt him, but still wanting to properly clean up all the curves and accentuations of his little face. But then he was dry, and clean of both her saliva and the milkshake, so she set him back down on the table, preparing for the outburst she knew she was about to get (and probably deserved).

“Jessie, what the hell were you—“ he started to yell, but even though his voice didn’t carry as much as it once did, he still noticed several people at surrounding tables look in his direction as he was about to berate his daughter. He regained his composure and calmed himself down as Jessie blushed and glanced away from him.

Before he could continue though, Jessie spoke up. “It seemed like a good prank in the, like, spur of the moment or whatever it’s called. But yeah, now that it’s all over and everything I kinda realize, like…” She looked away again and scratched behind her ear, now feeling embarrassed about herself. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, daring to look back at him.

He took a deep breath, an irate expression still planted on his face, but somewhat softened by the fact that she had at least recognized her wrongdoing instead of trying to argue about it. “OK, well… good.” He didn’t really know what else to say since she’d already fessed up before he could get his lecture out. And he didn’t want to attract any more attention from the crowd anyways, so he kept it short. “You… just can’t treat me like that. It’s humiliating, Jessie, and there definitely wasn’t any need to… lick my face…” he said, struggling to get the last few words out. “God, that was just, really disgusting Jess. That can never happen again, okay?” She continued looking down, feeling even worse about herself.

She gently nodded. “It won’t. I’m sorry,” she mumbled, scratching at her finger, a nervous tick she had.

He sighed and sat against the pepper grinder, his head turned towards the sky. How quickly a nice night out can turn sour. It didn’t even take a minute. He could still faintly smell the strawberry on his skin. “Let’s just get the check and we can head home,” he said, and she hailed for their waiter, an awkward silence between them. Neither of them had much of an appetite to finish their dessert anymore.