4 – Sugar We’re Going Up
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Okay remember when I said I could be impatient? This is me being impatient, I wanted to share another chapter with you all earlier than Friday. Just oooone more. There's a bit of foreshadowing in here for what's going to happen for our fair KT. We'll have to see where Jerrod's changes and transformations take him! Hope you enjoy!

 

“Okay, but how could Sushi-Go-Round be closed?? It’s a Saturday for God’s sake in a college town right after finals? You’d think everyone would want to gorge themselves?” Kass almost threw hir backpack down on the bed until zie realized that I was still in there. Instead the backpack was gently lowered back on the bed. 

“I know right? My damned luck strikes again.” I said, shaking my head. “I could have really used some sushi, especially after it turns out every single member of the magical community is a total tool.”

“Hey!” Kass said, unzipping my backpack prison, “I’m a member of the magical community. Am I a tool?”

The backpack was nice transportation, sure, but it was getting a little cramped for me. So I was happy to really stretch my paws again. Everything was feeling more natural to me now that I had gotten over the initial shock of my pint-sized new body. Enough so that I was able to move across the bed and towards Kass in half the time that it took me earlier in the day. Any improvement is big improvement. It also just made me wonder how fast I could go if I really put my mind to it. 

At this point in time I know I should have felt shocked, or uncomfortable even. But after the initial concerns over my early departure from this mortal coil, all I felt was raw excitement. This was my chance at self improvement, maybe, and if I could handle this body and the changes that would come with it I could throw myself into applying for jobs after this wild month was over. I’d be a new man!

“Nah Kass, you’re not a tool. But you also apparently don’t hold much power or sway in the magical world either.”

“Well, duh dingus. I’m still a student. They don’t even consider me a real wxtch yet.”

“God that’s fucked up.”

“Eh, you get used to it. A little bit of condescension and ego-battering is kind of worth it for the opportunity to learn some pretty amazing stuff. At least, that’s what I tell myself.” Zie started to look down for a moment, before quickly smiling and looking my way. Not that I bought what zie said, just because someone was in a position of authority over you doesn’t mean they need to make you feel like shit for being a good person. I don’t know how zie could have put up with so much of their nonsense in order to learn how to do magic that they would get mad at hir for practicing. Fucked up, if you ask me. “Oh my God in all this craziness we never let you get a good look at yourself huh? Do you wanna see what your KT looks like now so we can be vigilant for any changes?”

If I had ears they would have immediately perked up. “OH yeah! I’ve been kind of wondering that but uh, kind of a problem…” my voice trailed off to a mumble as I tried awkwardly to stem my embarrassment. “I uh, well. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get up to the mirror or anything, and your phone is a little too big and I don’t think I want pictures taken of myself right now. Not that I liked pictures taken of me before, but, y’know.”

Kass paused for a moment, “Oh right that could be an issue huh.” We stared at each other, and in the pit of my essence I know what zie was going to suggest but I was kind of putting it off anyway. If neither of us brought up hir pi- “Okay what about this, how about I carry you over to the bathroom and plop you down on the sink? You’re probably going to still kind of need my help to get around the apartment, at least til you grow a bit.”

If my body had a heart it would have been pounding. There was something about getting picked up and carried around that felt so.. Off to me. So wrong. It was one thing to be carted around in a backpack, that was a magical necessity in order to visit Wizard Town. Getting picked up like this felt, well, weirdly intimate and kind of like a reminder of my diminished size. 

“I uh. . . I don’t know. Like yes, I know that it is our best option but something about it doesn’t sit right with me. I think it’s just like, you’re so much bigger and you’ve done a good job about being, uh, relatively cool about that but you’re still like 5 times my size and it’s kind of scary.”

“Hmm,” Kass paused, stroking their chin thinking. “How about this. We’ll do things hella consensually. We try it out, with me carrying you. And if you really don’t like it we only do it when we need to AND when you ask for it. I know I kind of hold all the power in this situation so we let you be in charge and then after this test run you decide when and how I lift you up. How about that? And maybe I can set it up so we move some chairs and stools around so you could more easily travel? Sound good?”

“Ughhhhhhh. Yeah I guess.” I lifted my arms up towards hir. “Like this, dingus?”

“Yeah, yeah totes. Alright get ready I’m going to grab you now.”

As soon as hir hands wrapped around my sides, my brain started firing off that this was a mistake. My limbs left the ground and immediately, almost by reflex, they started thrashing around. I wanted the comfort of the ground! I wanted my own autonomy. I needed to get out, this was extremely too much for me. 

My discomfort wasn’t overlooked by Kass, “You are so squirmy oh my Godddd.”

“I’m sorry I’m just having a hard time getting comfortable. Like I know that I’m safe with you but still my brain is just shouting out ‘flee, Jerrod, flee!’” I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me, like some deep instinct inside just hated being carried around. 

“Well if you don’t stop squirming,” zie said trying to get a comfortable position on me while my limbs were in total thrash mode, “I’m going to drop you and I don’t think you want that.”

“Noooo don’t drop me I’m so soft and squishy!”

“Well stop moving!”

“WHY IS THIS SO HARD!” I shouted, although my shout was more like a petulant whine. “Whyyy is this taking so long? Why can’t we just be at the bathroom already??”

“Oh my God JJ, you are sulking like a teenage girl. We’re almost there, okay?”

“I just want to be there right nowww this feels too weird. I want this ride over, like asap!”

At that very moment I felt my paws drop down onto the cool tile of the bathroom sink and immediately the shame over my actions overwhelmed me. Why was I being such a big baby about this? We worked out the consent. We talked it over. Why was this such a big issue for me? I guess it was just an unfamiliar situation, and yet every fiber of my being wanted me to jump out of hir arms the entire time zie carried me. 

“Uh, Kass. I’m sorry that I was, uh, like that.” my face burned with a mix of frustration and shame. Kass was helping me so so much, why was I being such a shit?

“Hey, uh, no worries JJ. It’s a weird situation for the both of us, y’know. I’ll just try not to pick you up until you really need it alright? Hella consensual.”

“Yeah, I nodded. Yeah that sounds good. Um, do you mind giving me some space? I kind of need to take some time to really soak in my rental body.”

“Oh totes, cool cool. What if I, uh, order us a pizza from Premium Pie, huh? Onions and peppers?” Still burning from the shame I just nodded and Kass left the room, giving me some quality time with myself. 

Uncanny was the first thing that came to my mind when I looked in the mirror. Also of course the world looked so large, I was definitely on the teeny size. I mean larger than a Barbie doll, obviously. But I definitely wasn’t even the largest stuffed animal that Kass owned. That honor went to a 3-foot tall massive panda with a big squishy belly perfect for hugs. I must have been around a foot in height, judging by the scale of everything else around me. Tip-toeing around the stray toothbrush and razor on the sinktop I made my way closer to the mirror to really get a good look. 

The easiest way to describe what now was my body would be… well it would be like if I commissioned someone to make a simplified doll version of myself. My deep brown felt hair was fuzzy and untamed, sticking out in all directions and ending around where my ears would be if they existed. My face consisted of two green eyes and a thin almost string-like mouth. The eyes looked like someone drew them on with marker, but they moved around just like normal eyes would. Almost like an enchanted drawing. I opened up my mouth, and was kind of surprised to see that I still had teeth. I wasn’t like some kind of muppet, even though the teeth were also some kind of fluffy fabric. 

Okay logistically, did that mean whoever designed the KT had to painstakingly make a template of a human being for people to use. Like did they have to hand stitch the teeth in here because that seemed like a lot of work. Maybe it was all just a magical thing and my tiny brain just couldn’t understand how it really worked. I mean that would make sense. More sense than crafting a stuffy that looked 100% like me. Why did Kass even have a KT anyway? I guess zie wanted to study it to get a head start on hir master’s work. What an amazing student and person my friend was. Genuinely lucky that I have Kass in my life, I mean especially because there’s still a life to have because of hir. Wow, really had to think of some nice things to do for Kass when I can, y’know, do them. 

Turning back to my body, I was surprised to realize that I was wearing clothes. Just, y’know something basic. Shorts and a T-shirt that looked absolutely ridiculous on my body. I don’t even know how I didn’t realize they were on me. It would have been awkward as hell if my body was naked too given all the other random weirdness about this situation. Nobody needs that, especially my already fragile mental state.

For a moment I just stood looking at myself, kind of having my fill. Usually me and mirrors aren’t the best of pals. When I was 13 the mirror in my bathroom shattered by itself, I guess it fell off of the wall. And that was absolutely perfect for me, I begged my mom and dad not to replace it. According to them I had to see my face so their son wasn’t some unpresentable slob, but for like a precious month I was able to avoid seeing myself. After that point I had decided to leave mirrors alone unless I could help it. But now  it was so nice to be able to look at myself and not flinch. The KT provided a buffer between body and self and I soaked it in.

Eventually though I had my fill. I couldn’t just stand here and look at myself all day, who did that? Mentally stable people, that’s who. And there’s no point in pretending to be something that I’m not when instead there was pizza to eat! Maybe I could reclaim a sense of normalcy by stuffing this little body full of ‘za. Which meant one thing, I had to get down from the sink, but there was no way in hell that I was going to call Kass over here to move me. No way, no how. That only left really one option.

I was going to have to jump.

Could I really do it? Could I make it to the floor? Yeah it was a couple feet drop, but I’m basically made of fluff right so it’s not like I can hurt myself. The only other way I was getting down was shouting for Kass to come get me, and there was no way in hell I was letting hir pick me up again for a little while. Which meant that I was going to be stubborn and try something out new. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? I die twice in one day? 

Pacing, I walked back and forth on the counter trying to find the best angle to get down. If I leapt and fell on my feet there was a chance I’d stumble or fall down. But if I tried to use all four of my limbs to kind of brace myself there was a good chance that I wouldn’t eat complete shit. And as long as I didn’t put too much power into my drop I wouldn’t stumble or hit the door and everything would go fine. Science might not have been my strong suit, but I loved learning about trajectories and momentum and all that good stuff in physics class. I really only took the physics class because they always went to a theme park every year to do experiments on roller coasters, which was sick as hell. But that is neither here nor there! I had a counter to get off of!

Centering myself, I crouched down on the edge of the sink and closed my eyes.This was it. The moment of truth. Not giving myself enough time to convince the logical side of my brain that this might be a bad idea I dropped and had a moment of terrifying fall before I skidded to a pretty well handled stop. 

And just like that, it was over. I jumped! Well, more like falling with style, but dammit I made it myself. Maybe I could even try climbing some things too! Kass was going to be so surprised when I told hir about how I handled this myself. Proud of my achievements in mobility, I quietly pawed my way over to the living room to tell hir the good news. 

A soft sob pulled me out of my thoughts, was that, it had to be Kass right? It was coming from the direction of the living room? But what could Kass be crying about though? Well considering the amount of emotion that has been flying around, I would have been surprised if zie didn’t cry. It was kind of a rough day for everyone involved. 

And of course, I’m such a fucking idiot. Zie’s been bending over backwards helping me with all sorts of issues. Taking me to get my paperwork filed, sticking up for me, nearly getting in trouble for me, and then the one time Kass specifically had to pick me up to do something nice for me I snapped at hir. Of course zie’d be upset. Way to fucking go, Jerrod, you fucked it all up yet again you stupid piece of shit. 

Peeking around the door to hir bedroom, I saw Kass sitting on the couch crying into hir hands. It was obvious it was one of those cries where you are trying very hard not to get noticed. Muffled and soft, designed not to catch the attention of others. I was quite familiar with that style of crying, having done that enough in my own room in high school. Those weren’t really the happiest of days and I tried to bury that thought in my mind. That was a problem for future Jerrod, no point in dwelling on a time that I had mostly blocked out of my memory anyway. Right now my friend was hurting and I had to do my damndest to help. 

Clearing my fake throat, I tried to catch hir attention. When that didn’t work I tried again, and this time Kass looked up, hir mascara running creating a waterfall of black under hir eyes. Shame flecked hir face, I had seen something zie hadn’t wanted me to see. Fuck I can’t make this situation worse. 

“H-hey.” I said, trying desperately to break the ice. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. I need to work a little harder at uh, being nice in these situations. I know you’ve done so much for me, probably more than I realize, and uh. You’re a really good friend and saved my life and I’ve been so selfish so thank you.”

A look of panic crossed Kass’s face when I first started apologizing, but zie seemed to calm down. “Oh, yeah, you yelling at me. No it’s all cool JJ. Trust me. It’s no worries. I’m not mad at you or sad about it.”At least, that’s what zie said but hir face showed a different story. Hir eyes were puffy and red and it was obvious that this was hitting hir harder than zie let on. 

“Well okay, if you say so. But I’d like to do something to make it up. Would you, uh, like a hug?”

Kass smiled, although hir eyes still held a deep sadness to them. I could tell that Kass hadn’t fully forgiven me, but I could at least make hir feel better. “Sure JJ, sure. Would you like me to pick you up? I know you hated it but-”

I shook my head, interrupting, “Uh-uh. I actually wanted to try something out.” Taking a running start I aimed for the empty section of the couch and tried to jump up onto the cushions. As soon as I lept I realized that I had made a dramatic error when it came to trajectory and ended up bashing my plush head into the couch cushions, landing on my ass back on the floor much to Kass’s delight. Okay so maybe I wasn’t as good at physics as I thought I was, but a B is a passing grade. 

“Hahaha, oh my God I’m sorry Jerrod, I shouldn’t have laughed but it was so cute. Are you sure you don’t want me to help carry you up here?”

I shook my head, “No way Kass! I want to be able to do this myself. I know I can, just let me try again.” I walked back, giving myself a little bit of space. I got some good height on the last jump but I had jumped a little too soon. I knew I could do it. I trusted myself. Just like getting down from the sink I let my instinct take control and tried again. The carpet sped under my feet as I launched myself again onto the couch, impacting it with my tummy. In a frantic scramble I pulled myself onto the couch, but I did it! If I could get onto the couch I could jump onto any chair, and from there onto counters. Wow, I’m so smart! I’m so cool! But there’s no time to freak about that, instead I had a hug to deliver. 

Making my way to my friend, I tentatively placed one of my paws on Kass’s leg and zie let out a “oh” of shock. I almost jumped back to the other corner of the couch. 

“I’m sorry did I do something wrong??” If I had hackles they would have been raised. The last thing that I wanted to do was upset hir.

“Oh, no no no, no you’re fine Jerrod. It’s just, you’re heavier than I expected. In fact, I think you’re heavier than you were when I lifted you up.”

“Really??” Maybe I had gained a little mass from making my good leaps. It could be that the KT form was adapting to how I was using it. Or maybe just because I’ve been coming to grips with myself it might be shifting a little bit. I’m not the magical scholar, so all I could do is hold onto some conspiracy theories and ask Kass later when zie was feeling better. 

“Yeah. But it’s okay, come on, you owe me a fuzzy hug. Get over here, mister.”

I nodded, laughing. “You got it!"

This time my movements were more surefooted as I clambered over Kass’s legs into hir arms. Mentally I braced myself, worried that my brain would scream in discomfort like it did when I was picked up. Instead my whole soul felt at peace wrapped up in a big hug. Maybe it was because I was more in charge in this situation? Or maybe because my feet were solely on the ground. Whatever it was, it felt nice. Usually in our friendship I was so big I could easily wrap Kass up in a hug. My size had always been a little discomfort for me, as I was always worried that I was taking up too much space. Now things were reversed in the most ridiculous of ways.I was being smothered, but in a way that made me feel so safe. So happy.

We stayed like that for a time, just lost in the moment.I could feel Kass’s breathing slow down as it seemed like zie was getting back to normal. My heart swelled with joy, sure I fucked everything up but I was helping. I could actually be there for my friend. And this proximity wasn’t weird, it was just nice. Way nice. Almost even way too nice. I could lose myself in this.

After a few minutes of just bliss Kass raised hir voice, “Uh I know this is kind of weird, JJ. But you’re so soft. Do you mind if I- no this is dumb. Sorry.”

“No it’s cool,” I looked up into Kass’s eyes, I wanted to do anything to make hir feel better. “What is it?”

“Can I… oh jeez this is embarrassing. Can I pet you?” I think both of us were blushing with that but how could I not be? Oh my God.

“What?” Was really all that I could say right, my brain was still in the middle of processing hir request. 

“Well you’re just so soft and fuzzy. It would just be your hair. You seemed to like it earlier when I stroked your hair, and well, it would be relaxing for me. If that’s okay. If it is way too weird I get it.”

I thought for a moment. It felt like this was taking advantage of hir politeness. But at the same time, it did feel absolutely phenomenal. Maybe I could put aside my pride a little bit, to help a friend of course. Any pleasure that I got out of the deal, of course, would be just a little extra bonus. I nodded and leaned in, almost curled up on hir lap as we both just vibed and relaxed, losing track of time until we both were shocked out of our own heads by the arrival of pizza.

Place your bets folks, place your bets. What kind of future is in store for our energetic bean and his magical pal? Well we'll just have to wait til Friday to find out. For real this time. I promise.

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