In the Big House Now
An unfinished old story I binge wrote and never posted.
Wanted to put it here even though it is unlikely to be continued.
Part 01
Haley Morris had been a pretty typical fox teen. Puberty was more generous to the shy girl than she was comfortable with, so she spent most of high school enveloped in her over sized hoodies at the back of class. Until one day she started growing in considerable excess of the typical teenage growth spurt. Within a few weeks she could no longer fit into her home and it was obvious she was well on her way to becoming a macro.
Her family did what they could but soon she was entirely reliant on the government programs to help people like her out. The social workers assured her that over 90% of macros learn to control their size in time and that her public embarrassment would soon be over. She soon proved to be in the minority as she shot past 100 ft. The social workers shifted from getting her to hold out for change to getting her to accept a new life.
It was a difficult transition; for a girl who had been glued to her phone and loved to doodle in her notebook moving out into the wilderness away from the city for "safety reasons" was the last thing she wanted. The few friends she had stopped visiting her, given that she now lived hours out of town she couldn't really blame them. The only peace she found in the wilderness was that she wasn't getting photographed as much, the government clothes she had been issued didn't leave much to the imagination. At her size she was afforded little more than a crop top and booty shorts.
She finally topped out at just over 500 feet, almost 100 times her old height and on the larger size for macros. Some of the social workers were size-shifters themselves but eventually the difference between someone being as tall as her knees and being as tall as her toes didn't matter all that much. On a weekly basis she would get a delivery of provisions and recorded messages from her family. Aside from that she was mostly alone in the wilderness.
Occasionally she would be contracted to do some heavy lifting, as one of the few permanent macros she had to pay back her government aid in such ways. A career as a glorified crane was not what she had hoped for, though the one time she was able to help out during a flood was nice. Even that was short lived, as the macros capable of shifting sizes tend to be more useful in those situations and she only got called in because they were understaffed. By the time she was 21 she had mostly come to terms with the life she was living.
It was a bright summer morning and she was listening to the latest message from her mom. She noticed a helicopter heading towards her "camp" which peaked her interest. Her deliveries had been yesterday so this could only be a visit intended to give her some new job. As menial as the labor was, it at least add some variety to her day to day activities. The helicopter flew overhead and landed on the helipad on the bluff next to her.
The bluff overlooked the forest and she slept next to it at night to shield herself from the wind. Sitting down she could still lean against it and prop her arms on top of the grassy clearing at the edge. This was the most convenient way to have meetings with the social workers, aside from holding them in her hand which she had never really liked. She watched as a single figure emerged from the helicopter. A black anthro cat in a nice suit was not what she was expecting.
"Ms. Morris, I'm Kyle Lumley..." he extended his hand out of the habit of offering a handshake, only to awkwardly drop it back to his side when he realized her claws were nearly as large as he was "... I'm a lawyer representing the executor of an estate and I'm here to offer you a house."
"I don't fit in houses anymore" Haley said slightly annoyed.
"Actually you would fit in this one, its Burnham House, have you heard of it?"
"No" she said, her mood shifting to one of intrigue.
"Well, Alexander Burnham was the heir of large mining fortune, as a young man he became a permanent macro like yourself. He eventually built a house. It's one room with as many amenities as possible. Not much for a mansion but at least it is all in proportion."
"Why would he give me his house?" she asked confused.
"Well he's dead mam" Kyle said stone faced.
"Oh, uh, sorry" she replied sheepishly.
"I never knew him myself. But my client, Frank Carter, was a friend of his and became the executor his estate. He has established a trust to manage the house and provide it to another permanent macro of appropriate size as per the late Mr. Burnhams wishes."
"huh" she said unsure of what to think. "What do I have to do to get the house?"
"Well not much really, if you agree its only a matter of paperwork at this point. The one condition of being a beneficiary of the trust is that you continue to participate in the Macro Works Program. But as resident of Burnham House you will also be given a stipend to provide you with clothing and personal items that the government either can't or won't."
Haley was used to social workers making promises that never kept up with reality and this all felt to good to be true. Her face must have communicated as much because Mr. Lumley continued "I understand if you're skeptical, I have an audio recording of the full details of the offer if you would like to listen to it. In all honesty though, you are the only permanent macro on this side of the continent that meets the qualifications outlined in the trust. There is no rush if you want to consider it longer."
"Nah." Haley said lazily. She sat upright and stretched. Her foot grazed some nearby pines prompting some roosting crows to panic and fly away cawing.
"I'll take it. If its a bad deal its not like anyone can stop me from walking away" she said with a half chuckle.
"heh, I suppose not." said Mr. Lumley trying not to make it obvious that the figure of the young woman was capturing his attention better than her words.
"So, do I need to sign something or what?" she said clawing a small X in the dirt in front of the lawyer.
Mr. Lumley tried to ignore the claw gouging a trench in the earth like a plow and said "No, a verbal affirmation is sufficient for this stage of the process. I will contact the Macro Works Program and alert them of your intentions. Thank you for your time, we'll be in touch"
He walked back to the helicopter as the rotors spun up. Haley watched it take off and fly away she tried not to get too excited about the prospect of living indoors again. But still her mood had been lifted enough that she decided to take a walk to the lake on the other side of the mountain.
Part 02
Haley feared she had imagined the meeting with the lawyer over the next few days. She regretted not taking the audio recording of the deal, just to have something to remind her that the meeting had actually happened. Then her social workers came out two days ahead of her normal delivery and detailed the plan for her "transport."
"Transport" was just a euphemism for the travel plans as she would, of course, be walking the whole way. It was the typical struggle of making sure the giant fox didn't wander too close to small towns, electrical wires, highways, etc. One of the reasons Haley so rarely got work was because it took her three times as long to get anywhere. She always had to leap frog through public land, old farms, and parks. As well as the trouble associated with finding places to bed down.
When the time came to start following the guide helicopter she let herself feel giddy for the first time in a long time. The days melted by as she walked as fast as she was allowed. Late in the afternoon of the fifth day she spotted the house nestled between two hills just past a small city. At a glance she guessed she was taller than all but one of the buildings in the downtown area.
She wasn't thrilled about having the "neighbors" especially when she realized that she was going to have to circle around the city to actually get to the house. It took longer than expected because the side of the house facing the city was actually the back of it. The entrance faced a national park to the south which she would have conditional access to. It was nearing sunset when she approached the front door.
She paused before opening the door. It wasn't a normal hinge door, which she realized might be mechanically difficult to build at this scale. It seemed to work like a modified hanger door sliding to the side, but it didn't budge as she lightly pushed it. She heard a crackle from the speaker of the helicopter to her right.
"The key is on the ground to your left"
Haley turned around "A key? Really? A door bigger than a building, that basically no one can open, has a key?"
"The previous owner was a bit of an eccentric" the social worker said, clearly hoping to quickly end the last of several long days they had all had.
Haley picked up the key, unlocked the door, and slide it open. She bent down and tepidly laid her ears back as she ducked in under the door frame. It had been a while since she had to consider bumping her head into anything, but she guessed she was maybe a head taller than Mr. Burnham had been. She turned back to close the door "Thank you for the escort, I think I'm just going to go to sleep now" she said to the helicopter.
Standing inside of a house for the first time in five years, she realized how odd it was that she had gotten used to talking to helicopters and trucks though speaker systems. "Thank you for your cooperation Ms. Morris" the helicopter said rising and flying over the house.
Haley shut the door and turned around to survey the house in the dwindling sunlight. There were empty shelves on most of the walls and no chairs, everything seemed to be designed to be used from a squatting position or for sitting on the floor. Along the rear wall there was a futon, a small table, and a privacy screen surrounding what she assumed was a toilet.
To her right was a sort of kitchen nook with a minimal prep station and some utensils. To her left was a larger table and a ... phone? It was an old fashioned design, with a handset and cord. Haley sat down in front of the table, shocked at how normal it felt.
She picked up the phone and heard a dial tone, with some trepidation she dialed one of a few numbers she had memorized. It rang twice. "Hello?" answered the voice of her mother. The tears Haley had been holding back finally came.
Part 03
Haley talked to her mother for awhile, explaining everything that had transpired over the last few days. No one had contacted her family about the move, but in a way she was glad to be able to give the good news herself. It was long after sunset before she hung up with a promise to talk again tomorrow. She crawled over to the futon, it was only a few inches thick, relatively speaking. An equally thin pillow laid at the top of it.
She rolled onto it and almost started crying for a second time that night. It was the softest most comfortable thing she could remember laying on. Years of sleeping on the ground had all but obliterated any memory she had of a bed. She was too tall for it, but she didn't even notice her feet being on the floor as she drifted of to sleep.
Haley was awoken by a loud ringing. It took her a moment to get her bearings. Rolling over she realized it was the phone. She picked it up with a yawn and said "Hello?" unsure of who even had this number.
"Ms. Morris, good morning, this is Kyle Lumley."
"Hmm?" she said sleepily. Surprised that it was so late in the day, the sun was already fully up and she usually woke up at dawn.
"The lawyer, we met last week" he said.
"Oh yes, of course. Thank you so much for getting me this house, I can't tell you how much it means to me" she said earnestly.
"Well I was just the messenger, but I'll be sure to pass your gratitude along to Mr. Carter. That's actually what I am calling about today. Mr. Carter would like to arrange a meeting with you, at Burnham House, to discuss some of the stipulations for your continued occupancy" he said.
"Uh, sure" Haley said cautiously "have I done anything wrong?"
"No, no, no" said Mr. Lumley backtracking a bit "nothing like that, I honestly can't tell you what he wants to discuss outside of the original deal. He's playing this very close to the chest you see. There has been some trepidation about a new macro moving into the house. We've all been fairly busy fighting the city council of Rockwell on the issue" he said as delicately as possible.
"But he is determined to honor Mr. Burnham's final wishes, Rockwell doesn't really have a leg to stand on concerning the house as it's out of their jurisdiction. It's all very tiring to be honest" he finished with a sort of half laugh.
Haley assumed "Rockwell" was the town she had circled around to get to the house last night. "I guess they'll have to get used to me, cause I don't intend to leave" she said without any indication that she was joking.
"Very good, would it be alright if Mr. Carter were to visit at say seven o'clock tonight?"
"Yeah, uh, my schedule is clear" she replied.
"Excellent," Mr. Lumley said ignoring the hint of sarcasm in her voice. "We will give you a call before arriving."
Haley hung up the phone. She looked around the room wondering what time it was. On the wall over the "kitchen" was a clock, small enough to fit in her palm. She took it off its hook and heard the second hand ticking away, it read 10:30. She turned it over and found a little flap with a key engraved on it, "Turn until clicking to wind" was written underneath. She turned the key until, sure enough, the clock produced a metallic clicking sound and she flipped it back over. There was a plaque on the face, beneath the 12, but the writing was way too small for her to make out. She hung the clock back on its hook on the wall and continued to look around.
The toilet area had some basic items on the shelf; a comb, tweezers, nail clippers, and a file. They were small and very simple, but she treasured each one as she examined them. Back over at the desk with the phone she found a single drawer.
There wasn't much in it. A speaker and recording device was the most noticeable thing. Larger macros really couldn't use pen and paper practically, so most business and communication was done through audio recordings. There was a charging station at the middle of the desk against the wall, she set the recorder into it. A large green LED seemed to indicate it was fully charged.
In the drawer she found a puck like object with a pair of dials on top, but she couldn't tell what it was from the blank display. It looked like it would fit in the recorder charger so she swapped them out. It came to life, and the sound of radio static emitted from it, with the display showing a frequency. Excitedly she turned the left dial and the sound went away, she reversed it and it came back to up to full volume. Still fairly quiet but good enough for the smallish speaker.
She searched through the stations with the other dial. Talk radio, country, talk radio, rap, rock, more talk, honestly it had been so long hearing music she could have listened to anything. Eventually she circled back around to the bottom of the spectrum and a classical piece was playing. She left it there for now as she examined more of the drawer. The only thing left was a small lock box. She opened it and found a magnifying glass resting on top of some documents about the size of a postage stamp to her. They were huge by normal standards and printed out on some kind of poster board. Still not large enough for her to read without the magnifying glass. It was just some boring legal documents that she couldn't make heads or tails of.
She remembered the clock and got up to read the little plaque. "Worlds largest pocket watch, presented to Alexander Burnham for a lifetime of charitable contributions..." and then a bunch of dates and names, and the name of the watch manufacturer. She returned everything back to its proper place, and opened the front door. The rear wall of the room hand some pivoting windows up top, which she also opened. She spent the rest of the afternoon happily listening to the music of the radio, sitting in the shade of the house, and watching nature out her front door.
Part 04
The rest of the day passed by peacefully. Haley had lost track of time listening to different stations on the radio when the phone rang. She picked it up and checked the clock on the wall 6:55. Mr. Lumley's familiar voice came over the line "We will be arriving shortly Ms. Morris. Please leave the door open and a clear flight path to the desk for us."
"Sure, see you in a few minutes" she said.
Having already sat next to the phone and with the door still open from earlier she simply waited for her guests to arrive. Soon the unmistakable sound of a helicopter was near and she disconnected the radio. It entered the room through the massive door frame easily and elegantly landed in the middle of her desk.
She sat cross legged and sitting upright. Even though this Mr. Carter seemed to be familiar with at least one macro, she knew that most people didn't like being loomed over and wanted to make a good impression on her benefactor. As the blades spun down, Mr. Lumley exited the craft and turned to help the presumed Mr. Carter out of it. He was an older mouse gentleman, and carried himself confidently despite needing a cane and his lawyer to help him down the stairs. They approached the edge of the table and he spoke loud and clearly "Hello Ms. Morris, I am Frank Carter, you can call me Frank" he said punctuating his sentence with light tap of his cane.
"I'm Haley, its nice to meet you" she said unsure of how formal to be.
"Is everything to your liking so far? Do you have everything that you need?" he asked genuinely.
"There's so much here, and it's so much nicer than what I'm used to" she began, trying not to tear up again "I really am grateful that you're letting me use this place."
"Nonsense, if anything I'm sorry we couldn't get you in here sooner. It's taken months to finalize Alex's affairs and this place sat empty and unused for far too long in my mind" he said in a somber tone, remembering his friend. "It's what he would have wanted" he said looking into her eyes.
A large piece of cargo was dropped from the helicopter and Frank turned to look at it "Ah, yes inside that box you'll find a folded up document. On one side is a map of the forest, with the preferred paths the forestry service would like you to stick to if you need a walk. On the reverse side is a list of phone numbers including Mr. Lumley's office, emergency contacts, etc"
"Oh" said Haley "would it be too much trouble for someone to unfold it, I can't really handle paper" she clicking her claws together "like at all."
Mr. Lumley volunteered "Don't worry it's a Kevlar blended material Mr. Burnham had developed for macro use, it's much tougher than you would expect."
"Well, Thank you then" she said a bit surprised. The silence hung for a while in the air, before the sound of another helicopter could be heard. Haley looked out the door and saw that sure enough it was approaching the house.
Mr. Carter started, "They are a bit earlier than I hoped, but that's the other stipulation of your occupancy on its way." Haley turned back to him curiously. "You may have noticed the guest house outside?" he said pointing his cane to the door. She had not, but she now saw the two story house built right onto the outside of hers, just a half pace to the right of the front door.
"Well its going to be occupied soon" Mr. Carter said with a sigh. "You see the Macro Works Programs has rules about how close larger macros can live near large population centers, their insipid algorithm puts this building right on the edge of the allowable distance for yourself from Rockwell. The city is leaning on them to prevent your occupancy and they are trying to make exceptions in recognition of Alex's donations to the program over the years. We've struck a compromise, a chaperone will reside in the guest house until "Safe Permanent Residence" has been established, whatever that means."
Haley didn't really see what the big deal was so long as the chaperone stuck to the guest house she had no intentions of making waves. "That sounds fine to me" she said.
"Well this is the part where I have to ask you a favor" Mr. Carter said rubbing the back of his neck. "The MWP have rules about shared occupancy for their staff and clients, for good reason. The city council doesn't want to pay anyone for the position, and the forestry service doesn't want to get involved at all. So it fell to me to to pick someone of importance within my company" he sighed again "So I picked my son."
"oh" said Haley still unsure of where this was going.
"This isn't what we have in mind for a permanent fix, it's just the best we can do to get the ball rolling" he said in an apologetic sort of way. Haley watched the helicopter outside land and its passengers disembark, among them she saw a mouse in a track suit and assumed this was Franks son. "My son, Benjamin, isn't a good fit for the corporate world, and he spends a bit too much time enjoying himself" Frank said sadly. "He'll stay here as long as necessary to serve as your chaperone. Though hes been told in no uncertain terms to leave you well enough alone. After talking with your social workers I feel confident that your past behavior indicates that you are more than trustworthy to stay here unsupervised. Hopefully this compromise will convince the MWP and the city council of the same soon enough."
"Uh-huh" said Haley still not seeing how any of this is a favor shes granting him.
Mr. Lumley sensing the confusion decided to interject "Mr. Carter is asking you to watch over his son, we're hoping that a few months removed from his social circle and an inglorious life at the edge of the forest might help him to see the error of his ways."
With that it all clicked. Haley realized she was actually the one chaperoning the spoiled rich kid who was being given a do nothing job to keep him out of trouble. "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem" she said "having some company around sounds like a nice change of pace."
Mr. Carter smiled "Good, and again if you need anything or have any problems at all, the relevant phone numbers are at your disposal. Oh and don't be afraid to keep my son under your thumb, literally if necessary" he said with a half smile, and Haley wasn't sure that was a joke.
"Thanks again for letting me stay..." Haley began to say, but she was interrupted.
"YO, DAD" someone was yelling down by her side. The mouse in the track suit had walked in and was at the foot of the table. Haley looked down at him and his ears went back when his eyes met the giant foxes. He mouthed a quiet "sup" with a head nod, but if he actually said anything Haley didn't hear it. Haley returned the head nod with one of her own.
"What do you need Benjamin?" Mr. Carter yelled down to his son.
"Keys, the house outside is locked up."
"Oh, I still have them" said Mr. Lumley reaching into his coat pocket "I can toss them down to him."
"No" Mr. Carter said waving his cane. "He needs a proper introduction to Ms. Morris. If you don't mind" Mr. Carter said turning to Haley "could you, uh..." he paused as he made a lifting motion with his free paw.
"Sure" said Haley laying her paw down in front of the mouse on the floor.
Ben took a step back as the waist high fingers laid flat in front of him. He looked back up at Haleys face. She raised her eyebrows and nodded towards her open hand. Ben slowly crawled up into the center of her palm and stood back up. Trying to stand while being moved by a macro was a beginners mistake, "He'll learn" Haley thought as she lifted him up to the table. Ben predictably fell onto his ass, though he didn't attempt to stand again until her hand was on the table. He walked to the edge of her palm and jumped down. "Thanks" he said meekly.
"No problem" said Haley.
Mr. Carter walked up to his son and said "Haley Morris, Benjamin Carter" as he motioned to each of them.
"Nice to meet you" Haley said.
Benjamin took slightly too long to respond as he shamelessly stared at her chest "Uh, yeah, call me Ben" he said looking back up to her face. He turned to his father "Dad, keys?" Mr. Lumley pushed them into his hand. "I tried calling you but there's no cell phone reception out here" Ben continued talking to his father, without acknowledging Mr. Lumley at all.
"You don't say" said Mr. Carter with a knowing smile "I'm sure you'll make do with the landline in the house. Anyways, I'll be leaving you two to get to know each other, I need to get back to the city if I'm going to make my flight" he said walking back to the helicopter.
Mr. Lumley followed his employer as the blades of the copter began to spin up. The old man turned around and said "It was a pleasure to finally meet you Haley" with a big thumbs up. He then moved his thumb into a pressing down motion, with a smile on his face and boarded the helicopter. Haley and Ben watched the helicopter take off and fly out the front door. The second helicopter that dropped Ben off at the guest house also took off and followed suit.
Ben turned to Haley "Ok, listen here's the deal.." he began.
Part 05
Haley folded her arms as the mouse went into his pitch. "I know my dad thinks hes going to stick me out here in the woods to keep me locked down. I'm just trying to live my life. So in a couple days, after I've answered the phone a few times, my boy Teddy is going to come pick me up. They'll probably call you if I stop answering and you just need to cover for me for a little while. I mean this chaperone thing is so stupid, right? You look like you can take care of yourself, you're a big girl after all!" he smiled broadly in his attempt at wit.
Haley was amazed. Most people were afraid of her. He was either too dumb to realize he was talking down to someone 100 times his size or he had literally never had his ego challenged once in his life. She reached past him and picked up the box of cargo. She cracked the lid off with her thumb and set it down at the edge of the table. An object about the size of a spool of thread fell out into her hand. She laid it on the desk and unrolled it, about as long as a sheet of paper.
"Hello?" Ben yelled up at her incredulously waving his hand.
Haley continued working on the map "Move, please" she said as she began unfolding it towards Ben. He walked to his left and she smoothed out the document. She picked up a corner and rubbed it with her thumb and forefinger. It was tough, but she was pretty sure she could still tear it if she wasn't careful.
"So do we have a deal or what?" Ben said a little anger coming through his voice.
"No" Haley said without taking her eyes off the map.
"Excuse me?" he said far more aggressively than he really should have.
"No, you're not going anywhere" she said turning back to look at him.
"WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT DOES IT MATTER TO YOU WHAT I DO?" he yelled at her. A shadow descended over him and his attitude changed from anger to panic. "Woah, woah, stop, woah, stop" was all he could sputter out as her index finger fell on top of him.
She realized his father had recommended using the thumb, but the angle for that was kind of awkward. She wasn't even pressing down, the weight of her finger alone was sufficient to hold him in place. "GET OFF ME YOU CRAZY BITCH" he screamed. She pressed down a little bit.
"I don't care how mad you are or how loud you get. Nothing you say is going to change my mind" she said flatly. She let her finger up and he began sucking in air loudly. "If you had just been a nice guy for a couple days I probably wouldn't have noticed you leaving. But you had to flaunt the fact that you have no intention of sticking around so now I can't even pretend to look the other way. You really only had one opportunity to get away with your little plan and you spoiled it in less than ten minutes." She let him up.
"You can't keep me here" he said his face flushed and rubbing his chest.
"Yeah. I can. I'm bigger than you, by a lot" Haley said suppressing a chuckle. "Listen, I've spent the last five years sleeping in the dirt. I had no where to go in rain, or snow, or wind. I've been stuck outside and alone ever since this stupid thing happened to me. I've missed out on most of High School and College, and everything else that makes up a normal life." She was struggling not to cry thinking about the last few years.
"But I got to sleep indoors in a bed last night. The only reason I got to do that is because a bunch of people I've never even met negotiated some convoluted deal that includes you being here" she said pointing a claw at him. "I get that you want to party and hang out with your 'bros' like you've been doing every day up until now. But if your freedom endangers what I've been given here, then you can live in this desk drawer for all I care." the finality in her voice hung over Ben. For the first time in the conversation he actually looked a little afraid.
"The life I've had didn't offer me many choices. So I'm taking this one and you can have a bad time or a good time here based on the choices you make" she said turning back to read her map.
Part 06
The map was minimal, but interesting to Haley. There was a highway around the mountain that she was supposed to avoid. The rest was national forest, the "range" she had been given was an improvement from her old stomping grounds. There was one lake that looked pretty secluded in the mountains. Only hikers and dedicated campers could get up there, so it might be worth checking out for bathing.
She flipped it over, on the back were the emergency numbers like they had said. But that was really all there was to it. She looked back at Ben who was leaning against the crate the map had come in.
"Did you bring any luggage?" she asked
"It's in front of the house, we couldn't get in, remember?" he said holding up the key.
Haley nodded and slowly stood up. Ben watched as she rose higher and higher. The surface of the desk barely came up past her knees. She was arching her back and stretching her arms into the air, her fingers almost grazing the ceiling which didn't even look real to him it was so far away. Her tail swished back and forth as she walked out the door, each step reverberating through the entire house. He felt those steps in his bones even through the desktop. As big as she was sitting down, he didn't quite grasp the scale of her until she started walking.
Once she was outside he looked over the edge of the desk, there was no way he could get down. She walked back in and shut the door behind her. The massive door moved so much air just by sliding that he couldn't fathom the strength needed to move it so casually. She was carrying something in her fist. When she sat down she dumped his two suitcases and backpack on the table.
"Hey careful, there's a laptop in there" he said walking over to pick up the backpack. She pretended she didn't hear him. "Why did you bring these up here anyway? I'm just going to have to take it all back to the house" though he was uncertain of that even as he said so.
She just stared at him "You're not going back to the house."
"What? That's where I'm supposed to sleep. You can't be serious" he said more pleading than angry.
"Trust me you don't need a bed to sleep. Plus the phone is in the house, and I can't trust you not to call one of your friends in some ill conceived escape attempt. Also I don't think I could get you to come out of the house without breaking it open, and I don't want to do that to the nice little guest house. You're staying out in the open where I can see you" she said, enjoying the bad bitch routine more than she wanted to admit. "Now open up your cases."
He dropped the backpack and folded his arms. "No" he said flatly. Haley scoffed at the gall of him.
"I can smash them open if you would prefer" she said raising a finger. "You're not keeping me out of them, this is one of those choices we were talking about, remember?" Ben dejectedly began unzipping the cases. "Take everything out, lay it out nice and neat" she added watching him carefully. It was indeed mostly clothes, but two bottles caught her attention. She pointed to them "Whats that?"
"Vodka and Whiskey" he said.
"I don't think you'll be needing that during your stay" she said rolling up the minuscule bottles into her hand. "Now the backpack" Ben sat on the desk and opened it up. Laptop, cables, another bottle of something, a bag he tried to crumple up in his hand...
"Stop, whats that?" she said. She saw his reflexive lie coming, but he stopped himself and just opened up his hand to reveal a bag of greenish plant material. "We'll you won't be needing that either, toss it here, and the other bottle too" she said with her paw outstretched. He threw them both as instructed.
"Is that it?" she asked. He upended the flimsy backpack and shook it vigorously, hoping she wouldn't hear the pills rattling in the tiny front pocket. "Good, now hold that open for me." He did so and she rolled the liquor bottles into the bags open hole. She was barely able to pinch the bag of weed with her claws, he heard the baggie pop and saw the contents spill out as it fell into the pack. "Zip it up" she ordered and he did.
One upturned claw was practically poking him in the chest, he took a step back intimidated. "Well" she said wiggling the finger, "give it here." He dropped his head as he slipped the arm straps over the claw. She stood up and placed it on a shelf hundreds of feet over the desk.
"Put it on the fucking moon, why don't you?" he said to himself, a bit louder than he intended.
"What was that?" she said looking down at him, placing a judgmental hand on her hip. Ben, it appeared, was still committed to talking his way out of this job.
Part 07
"I get where you're coming from" Ben said to Haley "No one told me about your history. What you've been though sucked" her eyes narrowed "and, and I know that's putting it mildly" he continued, raising his hands defensively. "Well I was told to pack my bags this morning and that's all I knew until I got in the helicopter. I didn't realize I was getting shanghaied into a permanent camping trip, you know?"
"It's not like they are going to kick you out of the house. No one else can use it, there's basically no one that can force you out," he said with a laugh "and dad is going to be massaging the situation with money and lawyers the whole time. So the way I see it, you've been forced into this terrible situation, that's gotten a little bit better and all of a sudden this strange guy" he motioned to himself "is inserted into your business. Meanwhile I've been forced into this temporary situation that there's no reason for me to stay in."
She did not see it that way. Ben hadn't quite realized she wasn't buying it and continued anyway "I just hoped that we could see eye to eye on getting me out of here ASAP" with an overconfident clap of his hands ending his little speech.
Haley started laughing. A roaring laugh that shook Ben almost as badly as her steps. "You hoped we could see 'eye to eye', huh" she said with another chuckle "That's adorable." She bent down "Alright, lets give it a try."
Ben saw her hand reaching for him, instinct kicked in and he started to run. He had nowhere to go, but before he could remember that a 25 foot wall of flesh fell flat in front of him. The sudden appearance of Haley's palm displaced enough air to stagger him. Before Ben could pick another direction to run the pad of a thumb hit his back and he was pushed forward a few steps. The forward momentum was enough to keep him in place while an index finger swung around to engulf his chest.
He felt his stomach lurch as he was pulled up into the air. Ben clung desperately to the black fur in front of him as he rose hundreds of feet in a few seconds. His fear soaked mind had no idea that Haley was moving a bit slower than usual, to keep him from passing out like the one social worker who swore to her "I do this all the time, I'll be fine".
She brought him up to her eye line, though he was facing outward and overlooking the room from nearly 500 feet in the air. She rolled him in her fingers, turning the mouse 180 degrees. Ben was greeted with a golden iris larger than he was tall, the pupil shrank dramatically as Haley focused on her tiny subjects face. That was the look she remembered seeing on peoples faces; terror.
"So here we are eye to eye" she said bemused. Haley began pacing about the room with her captive "I'll tell you how I see things Ben. What you want doesn't matter." She pulled him away from her eye, so that he could see her whole face "I'm in charge here. I don't know how long you have to stay, but while you're here you have no say, in anything."
Part of him wanted to respond, but a deeper more primal part of him could do nothing but focus on her canines. Teeth as tall as lampposts flashed at him as she dressed him down. "I can do whatever I want to you, and for some reason you haven't realized that yet. For instance I can put you on a shelf, hundreds of feet off the ground and leave you there as long as I want."
Ben hadn't noticed that in her pacing she had walked over to the wall and sure enough he was getting set down on a shelf. He stayed seated, his heart still pounding in his ears. Haley walked back over to the desk and dropped to her knees in front of it. She swept the open suitcases and clothes into her palm.
Ben was full on panicking now, he didn't care if he ran out into the woods he just wanted to get away from her. Unfortunately, she had described his situation pretty accurately, an empty shelf hundreds of feet off the ground didn't offer him any chance of escape. He heard her approach and turned to be greeted by the largest pair of tits he had ever seen. "Whoa" he said softly, realizing that the government issue crop top didn't leave anything to the imagination at this close range.
"Ahem" Haley coughed refocusing Ben's attention. She dumped his belongings on the shelf next to him.
"Hey" he protested "They were all folded and everything!"
"Well you can fold them again" she said wryly "you have the rest of the evening and not much else to do."
"What about food?" he asked.
"I'm sure you'll last til morning."
"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" he was really grasping at straws but any excuse to get off the shelf would do.
"You have two suitcases, figure out which one you like the least."
"You're joking." he said with a scoff.
Haley leaned in close to the little mouse, uncomfortably close, "Do I sound like I'm joking?"
"No" he said meekly into her looming face.
"AND" she said poking him in the chest with her claw "stop staring at my tits. It's rude."
"It's not my fault they take up my whole field of view" he said rubbing his chest.
"Seriously?" she said angrily leaning in again.
"I'm joking, sorry, I'll look at my feet or something. Damn" he said backing away and looking down. Haley wasn't really satisfied with his dismissive attitude but the phone had started ringing.
"I'm going to take that call and you better not give me any reason to talk to you for the rest of the night" Haley said sternly "Got it?"
"Yeah I got it" Ben said squatting down to sit on one of the suitcases. He rubbed his hands on his face while Haley went to answer the call from her mom.