Eve's Boutique - Ch 50

Hearts and Minds

Abigail stumbled into the shop.  Fuck.  It had to be well into the afternoon, but exactly how late was anyone's guess.  Her internal time sense was all out of whack, and besides that, Eve didn’t seem to care too much for clocks.  She couldn't even check the time on her phone, since she'd misplaced it – again.  She was bleary-eyed, foggy, and badly in need of a stimulant.

It took five grumpy minutes of searching to find what she needed.  It was under the sink, hidden behind a bundle of mugwort and a bottle of dish soap.  The ancient tin of instant coffee clearly pre-dated Eve’s tenure at the shop – by a decade at least – but beggars couldn't be choosers.  She microwaved it and drank it black, drowning out the bitterness with sweet memories of the night before.

It had been… well, magical.  It was the best descriptive word that her sleepy brain could dredge up at the moment.  But there was magic last night other than size changing, or hyperbole about the sex.  She had felt Eve.  Dylan too, to a lesser extent.  In the latter case she could maybe explain it: the two had shared the witch's essence potion.  But if that was all there was to it, then why did she feel connected to Eve, as well?  And why wasn't it wearing off?  On the contrary, it seemed to be getting stronger.

It wasn't a bad thing.  At least, she didn't think so.  It had made certain things feel absolutely transcendent.  But there were a few notable times when she hadn't been sure whether she was experiencing the witch's emotions, or her own.  Sometimes it had felt like they belonged to both of them at once.  It was a trifle disconcerting.

She concentrated, and discovered she could feel both of them, even from this side of the magic door.  Dylan was in a state of awe, but then, that was default for him these days.  Eve.  Wow that was complex.  But the top notes of her current emotions were, “caring,” and, “mischievous,” with a dash of “horny” thrown in like a cherry on top.

Hm.  Chloe and Kayla must be awake.  She was probably missing something fun.

Abigail drained the last of her coffee, her mind made up.  Who cared if there were weird magic things happening to her brain that she didn't understand?  Introspection could wait.  There was still plenty of time for purely hyperbolic magic, before she had to deal with the real thing.

Just then, at the precisely most inconvenient moment, there was a knock at the shop door.

Fuck all, they were still doing this?  Abigail loved a call-back as much as anyone, but the timing here was just rude.

The woman who stepped into the boutique was too small to look over Abigail’s ankle.  She was smartly dressed, and stern-looking.  At first, Abigail failed to recognize her.

The woman held up a small garment bag, offering it unsmiling to the giantess.  “You were supposed to pick this up today.  I figured you might be busy.  Here.”

“Oh!  You’re the tailor from the big and tall shop!  Eve’s friend?”

The woman nodded.

Damn.  She’d commissioned a dress what felt like a million years ago.  With everything going on, she’d completely forgotten about that.

Abigail accepted the dress, carefully pinching the tiny hanger between her fingernails.  “I appreciate your efforts, really I do.  I wish I’d said something.  It must’ve been hard, making a dress for an eight-foot-tall woman.  I’m um, not that, anymore.  It’s okay though!  Eve has a way to fix it, and I’m sure it’ll look stunning….”

“Eve’s fitting spray won’t be necessary.  Have a look.”

Abigail did.  She withdrew the tiny dress from the bag, and held it aloft.  Even in miniature it was gorgeous – smooth green satin, cowl-necked with thin little spaghetti straps.  The black lacy bra she’d requested was tucked neatly inside.

“You can't just hold it,” the woman said, her tone vaguely impatient.  “You have to think about putting it on.”

The dress remained too small for her, for just a moment.  Then it shifted in her grasp, billowing out at the speed of gravity, becoming the correct size.

“Oh my God,” Abigail cooed, spinning around happily, holding the dress high.  “This is perfect!  It’s exactly what I wanted!  You must’ve borrowed some of Eve’s magic for the fit.  A different potion, maybe?”

The woman shrugged.  “I’ve saved up a few favors over the years from people like Eve.  I used quite a lot of them on that dress.  The size match won’t reset at midnight.  You’ll also find it doesn’t rip easily, and it’s resistant to stains.  Except chocolate.  Don't get chocolate on it.  I have shoes for you as well.”

Abigail put her hands on her knees.  She bent far, far down, so she could see the woman better.  “You’re really going above and beyond for me.  Thank you.”

“I happen to know you’re caught up in something scary.   Between Eve.  And the other one.”

“Um.  Yeah.  I guess I am.  If the other one gets her way, something really bad is going to happen to Eve.  Maybe even to the whole world.”

“That’s sad.”  The steely-eyed woman considered it for a moment.  “What happens if Eve wins?”

Abigail felt her eyebrows go up.  “I… don’t actually know.  I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I doubt Eve has either.  Do you want some advice?”

Feeling numb, Abigail nodded.

“Their game.  How it’s scored.  The other one is probably wrong about it.”

Abigail lowered herself further, hardly daring to breathe.  “How could you possibly know that?”

The faintest ghost of a smile touched the woman’s lips, and failed to reach her eyes.  “I’ve been around their kind for a long time.  They talk a lot about Rules.  The things they say usually end up being some kind of riddle.  And I know the other one – Lilith – is much too literal to work it out.”

“So if she's wrong, how do I figure out what's right?”

The woman shrugged again.

Abigail stared at her.

“Anyway,” the tailor went on.  “Check out your shoes.  You didn’t give me specifications, so I guessed.”

They turned out to be a pair of vegan leather platform boots, that came almost all the way to Abigail’s knee.  The heel was enormous – four inches at least, if she’d been normal-sized.  She started to do the math on how that translated to her current stature, and only got as far as, ‘much taller than any human.’

“You need a little lift for the dress to hang right,” the tailor was saying.  “Platforms are best for balance, if you aren’t used to heels.  There’s a little give to them, so they’re easy on your feet.  The strap gives you good ankle support.  You can even dance in them.”

“I really don’t know how to thank you, Miss….”

“Just call me a friend for now.”  The woman gave her a more genuine smile.  “I hope I see you around.  Mind getting the door for me?”

After she left, Abigail thought for a long time.  What was she to make of that woman?  She supposed Eve and Lilith needed human contacts, people to do odd jobs for them.  Maybe there were people like her all over the world – adjacent to magic, but not taking part in it.  Maybe that was a career path for Abigail, if things came out okay.  It wasn’t like her French Lit major offered a lot of employment prospects.  Would a size shifter need someone to explain alexandrine meter?  Or maybe she could play Cyrano de Bergerac for a love-lorn witch.

As for the woman’s advice – that ‘hearts and minds’ didn’t necessarily mean what Lilith believed.  Abigail felt she almost understood it.  She realized now that her subconscious had already been working that problem, and was very near an answer.  It felt like when she was writing a paper, or working on a poem for a composition class.  Sometimes you got fixated on the wrong idea.  Or you were trying too hard, and needed to come at the piece from a new angle.  When that happened, you had to let go.  Relax, and come back later when it was fresh and new.

She should just go back to bed, where all her lovers were waiting, and….

Abigail laughed out loud with sudden realization, and sprinted for the bedroom door.

Eve had shrunk down – a mere five hundred feet if Abby had to guess.  The witch had an eyedropper out, and was administering growth potion to Chloe and Kayla.  “You’re sure you don’t want any of this, Dylan sweetie?”

“No thank you, ma’am.  I’m rather enjoying this size for now.  It comes with some magnificent views.  The three of you are absolutely stunning.”

“Aw,” Chloe cooed.  “He really is a cutie.  Sometimes he says things that just give me this warm little glow in my tummy.”

“Happy to be of service, Miss Chloe.”

Abigail panted, hauling herself up the side of the bed like a mountain climber.  She felt more thankful than ever for the little bit of muscle tone she’d picked up during her initial growth spurt last night.

“Well someone’s in a hurry,” Kayla observed.  “Chill out.  In a couple minutes Klo and I will be bigger than you again.  I want a second crack at topping you, and no asking Eve for a size boost this time.”

Eve chuckled.  “You’re all sure you’ve had enough?  If so, I’m going to mix it with the reality potion I altered last night.  Remember, no more drinking it after that.”

Chloe nodded, smirking over the edge of the bed.  “Provided I’ll grow enough to look down at her again.”

“You guys,” Abigail gasped, cresting fully onto the mattress on her hands and knees.  “I figured it out.  Hearts and minds.  What it means.”

Kayla grinned.  “Then catch your breath and tell us.  I’ve had enough dramatic revelations to last the rest of my life.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to wait for a bit?  Let me build up the suspense, have a long moment of silence while you all stare at me?”

“I think we’re done with that,” Eve said.  “You have the floor, dear.”

“Okay.  Well.  Hearts and minds.  It means.  This.”  Abigail pointed at each of them in turn.  “Us.  What we’re doing.  Right now.”

Chloe cleared her throat gently.  “I think you might want to try that again.”

It took a while to make them understand.  By the time she’d finished, both her friends were bigger than her, and still growing.  With the exception of Dylan, she was now the smallest person on the bed.  Chloe and Kayla were only a few relative inches taller.  But Eve, pensively smiling as she leaned against the headboard, was more than three times her height.  As she made her speech, Abigail was finding these size differences mattered to her less and less.  They were her lovers and friends, no matter how big or small.

“If what you’re saying is correct,” the giant witch said.  “It would give us a far greater advantage over Lilith than she ever thought she had over us.  What with my particular domain and abilities.”

“Yeah,” Abigail agreed.  “We just have to play our cards right.  Think strategically.”

“Are you suggesting,” Chloe said.  “That our goal tonight should be to get as many people as possible to… fuck?”

Kayla shrugged.  “Hell.  It’s what I’ve done at every party I’ve ever been at.”

“Not fuck,” Abigail said.  “Though that’s for sure part of it.  We want them to find each other.  Not transient connections, built on a few minutes of physical contact.  We want people together with more than their bodies.  With hearts, and minds.  Like we are.”

Eve was smiling, dreamily looking into the middle distance.  “It’s literally what I was made for.”

Abigail frowned at the witch.  Tentatively, she sent out her awareness, trying to feel what Eve was feeling.  Again, it was terribly complicated – wistful, determined, and more than a little sad – but all of that flitted away in a warm bubble of surprise.  Eve’s expression hardly changed, but inside her mind, it was almost as if the woman had turned to look at her.

Her lover’s lip turned up in a smile.  And mentally, Abigail got the strong impression the witch had shot her a wink.

“I’m not sure if I can help with this plan,” Dylan was saying.  “I’m shy at parties.”

“And it works for you,” Abigail told him, coming back to the physical world.  “I know this advice is cliché, but just be yourself.  I wouldn’t have fallen for you otherwise.”

Kayla nodded sagely.  “She’s got a point.  If I weren’t gay as springtime, I’d be all over you.”

Dylan blushed.  “That’s okay, Miss Kayla.  You um, don’t go to an art museum because you want to sleep with the Mona Lisa.  It’s enough just to appreciate her from afar.”

The four women exchanged a look.

“Yeah,” Chloe said.  “He’s going to do just fine.  So we’ve got a few hours before the party.  Any last plans to impart to us, Captain?  Oh!  I forgot, you don’t like that nickname anymore, do you?”

“No.  But I had another one in mind.  If I’m the one leading us, what do you all think if we call ourselves the A-Team?”

Kayla glanced up at the titanic witch.  “Not the E-Team?”

“I like Abigail’s better,” Eve said.

“In that case,” Abigail said.  “Why don’t you all call me Big A?”

The other four cringed.

“Abby?  Pumpkin?” Chloe said.  “You might want to rethink that one.”

She sighed.  “Okay.  Then how about… just Abigail.”