Liz was so excited she half wanted to run home, burst through the door and wrestle Barry into complete submission. But why rush? She had the power to fulfil every fantasy she'd ever had, whenever and wherever she wanted. Why do it all at once? Better to take time to think through exactly how she wanted to do it.
She told the ring to shrink her back to her normal size and fix her clothes so that Barry would think nothing had changed. By the time she turned the key in the door she was tingling in anticipation. There would be a magic stone, from another dimension, some pizza delivered, of course, and Superman too! If Barry only knew! But he’d find out soon enough, the dear man, and soon to be her poor little dear man!
"Hey sweetie, I'm home. Did you make dinner?" she asked, knowing he never did.
"Umm, no. I just got home too," Barry said from the sofa. He was in his shorts and t-shirt, had his IPAD balanced on his knee and his second beer in his hand, an empty at his feet. Liz guessed had just started his third episode of Family Guy. He always got home early on Fridays. She pretended to be annoyed and grumbled to herself.
"How was your run?" Barry asked.
"Umm, same as always,” she said grumpily. “Nothing's changing! I'm going to quit."
"What?” he said, surprised, turning away from the screen for the first time to look at her. “But you can’t! We talked about it! You need to just keep it up. You know, um, how I feel about, I mean, how WE feel --
"I know. I know."
"I mean, I'm just naturally so much bigger than you. And stronger. If you don't work at it you'll never --
"I know what you're going to say! But it’s not fair, you know? Why does it have to be such hard work for me? You just sit around and do nothing and you’re still so much stronger than me."
"Um, well I can’t help that, can I? That’s just the way we’re made, but we’re trying to deal with it, you know? It’s not like we could do anything else about it." Liz got this way sometimes, and Barry really did not want a fight on Friday night. “We can order a pizza, ok? And then watch My Super Ex-Girlfriend for, uh, some inspiration.” It was one of their favourite movies to watch together. It always got them in the right mood.
Liz pretended to think it over. "Well ... maybe. I’m going to order from a new place then.”
“But ... well, ok.” If that’s what he needed to do to get her back in a good mood then he’d do without his favorite, Pizza Palace, for one night. She picked up her iPhone and tapped out their usual order. “If only that movie could be real, you know? What I'd do to you if I were super-strong!”
“I know! That would be incredible,” Barry agreed emphatically, although he was glad at the moment that she wasn't. Liz was hard enough hard to handle as it was when she was in a bad mood. A super-powered pissed-off Liz was not something he wanted to deal with. Sometimes he thought her getting stronger was not the greatest idea. But since it would never really happen anyway, he could indulge in the fantasy and act though it could.
“Oh, I found something interesting while I was out running." Liz reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, pink stone. It was very bright, like bubble gum, and had a faint glow.
"That's a funny color, like it's from a child’s toy," he said.
"I know. The weird thing is, it wasn't pink when I found it. It was grey, and I think it was a little smaller."
Barry frowned. "That doesn't sound possible. Let me see."
Liz laughed outside and inside, saying "Oh yay! Barry the geologist will now examine the rock!" while thinking, ’boy, are YOU going to get a surprise!’ She walked over to him and dropped the rock into his hand. Almost as soon as he held it the pink color dulled and the rock turned grey.
"Look at that!" he exclaimed. "It lost its color!"
"Hmmm! And now it's turning blue," Liz observed.
"Like litmus paper, when you take it from an acid solution to a base," Barry said looking up at her. "Maybe your hand was kind of acidic, like from your sweat."
Liz raised her eyebrows. It actually was an impressive deduction, even though it was completely wrong. Now!, she told the ring, and said, "Maybe, but look how blue it's getting. What would your hand have on it that's a base?"
"I don't ... hey, something's strange." He stared at the rock against his hand. "It got bigger."
Liz looked down at him. "No it didn't. But ... Barry ... I don't know how to say it ... are you smaller?"
"Huh?" He scrambled to his feet. He was still taller than Liz, but just by a few inches, and he was smaller all over his body. His arms and legs were thinner and shorter and his shoulders and hips were narrower. The rock was becoming a brighter and brighter blue. "What is this thing?" he said in a panic. He dropped the rock on the floor and kicked it across the room. He stopped shrinking, but was now just two inches taller than Liz. He was swimming in his t-shirt, and his shorts threatened to fall to his feet.
Liz was impressed by his quick reaction. It would leave “room” for more fun later. "Oh Barry!" Liz exclaimed. "Look at you!" He was trembling, so she put her arms around him and held him.
"This feels so weird! How could this have happened?!" he said, shaking. "I feel so small!"
"You're still taller than me, but yeah, I know. You're much thinner too. And I bet ... um, no, never mind."
"What? What were you going to say?" he said anxiously.
"Nothing. Really."
"Come on, tell me what you were thinking!"
"Um, it's just ... well, look at your arms. They're so thin, thinner than mine. You know? I mean, you know what we always talk about. That stone, um, must have taken away some of your muscle as well as your height. What if, um, I'm stronger than you now? You know, like in our little games?"
Barry shook his head. "Uh uh. No way. Your arms may be thicker, but it's all, you know, fat. You always say you don't have any muscle."
"I know, but I do have SOME muscle. When you were holding me before you felt kind of ... well, we can see later, I guess."
“Hold on! What are you saying?”
“Just that ... you felt really weak, ok? That’s all. Maybe you weren't really trying. But it’s no great disaster. Right?”
"Wrong! This is seriously bad! We have to DO something"
"Why? We both wanted me to be stronger than you. Maybe now it can happen, with you so much smaller and, maybe, probably, weaker too. And even if I'm not already stronger than you, I bet we’re a lot closer. And if you hold that rock again, you could shrink down to a couple of inches smaller than me. You can have arms as soft as a little girl’s, and I can push you around and dominate you easily Think about it! We should do it right now." Liz walked toward the rock.
Barry backed away. "NO! I don't want to shrink any more! Keep it away from me! And don't you touch it either! What if you shrink too?"
“But Barry! This is our big chance! Don’t chicken out!”
“No! I don't want to be a total weakling!”
“Hmmph! You’re happy for ME to go through all this exercise pain while you just sit around being naturally stronger, but when there’s something YOU can give up to make our fantasy come true, you won’t!”
“It’s not the same! Exercise is GOOD for you! Being weak sucks!”
“Yeah, tell me about it!” Liz put her hands on his shoulders as if she was going to shake him or push him, but then she dropped her hands, shrugged and walked over to the other side of the room, where Barry had kicked the rock. "I bet I AM stronger than you now."
“I seriously doubt it. But we can, um, pretend.”
She bent down over the rock. “It's so blue! Weird the way it changes color."
"Liz, be careful! Don't touch it."
It was sweet that Barry didn't want her to shrink too. Obviously he wouldn't want her to be even smaller than 5'2", and regardless of what he said she definitely liked the idea that they were so close in size now. She felt a little sorry for him now being so small, for a man, but on the other hand, he always said he wanted her to be bigger and stronger than him, and it was DEFINITELY what she wanted. It was time for part two. She didn't say anything and just picked up the rock.
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