Mass Emotions

Shrunken

"Oh Patton, I'm sorry. There's no way in this world I could ever be afraid of you! I-I had thought that you had grown and that somehow it was my fault. I was so worried over nothing and it made you feel terrible. I'm really sorry Pat."

"Awe Virgil! That's the first time you've ever called me Pat! That makes me really giddy inside so no need to worry. Still, I'm glad to know that you aren't scared but it seems like you also don't know why you've shrunk."

"Yeah...I have no idea why I'm like this. It doesn't seem like I can grow back right now either. I think I'm still too worn out from that testing."

Virgil stared down at his hands and compared it to the size of Patton's thumb. Sure he wasn't afraid, but he wondered about something else.

"We should probably go find the others and see if Logan can give us any answers."

As Patton was about to rise up from the ground Virgil whispered under his breathe, "Is this how you all felt?"

Patton stopped rising abruptly, puzzled by Virgil's mumbling. He gave him a worried look in response.

"What's up kiddo? Is something wrong?"

"Hey Pat...could we stay here a bit longer, just you and me. I have some things I want to get off my chest before we see the others."

Patton gave Virgil a smile and sat himself down on the ground.

"I'm all ears!"

"Thanks. I um, I wanted to ask if this is how you felt the first time I held you?"

"What feeling would that be?"

Virgil paused for a moment in order to better word his response. He needed to ask, but at the same time he didn't want to hurt Patton's feelings like before.

"Afraid...not that I'm afraid of you, but it's like an instinctual reaction to seeing something so much bigger than yourself and that creeping sensation in the back of your mind that reminds you that you're not in control."

"I'll be honest with you Virgil. Yes, I was afraid but not because I thought you were going to hurt me. I was afraid of losing you more than anything."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you mean a lot to me Virgil. I fight to keep my family close to me and you're my family. Even if we hadn't known each other for every long I did know that you were not a bad person."

Virgil couldn't help but be overwhelmed with emotion from such words. He grasped tightly onto Patton's thumb and rubbed his face against it. Patton giggled a bit as it tickled and Virgil was just too adorable. Yet, Virgil still had other things to talk about so he stopped his fooling around and continued.

"That test was really intense. I'm still not sure what happened by the end of it and obviously I have no idea what happened after as I've become like this. All I really remember after I got on my stomach was this weird power rising up inside me and then the rest is kind of hazy. Patton...how big did I get?"

Patton twitched at the question. He wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to tell him yet so he remained silent as Virgil continued,

"What did the others do afterwards? How did they react? I remember at one point Logan asked me to keep my eyes open so I wouldn't hit my head on the ceiling again, but when I saw your figures getting smaller and smaller there was no way I could keep my eyes open. I couldn't help remembering how Roman first looked at me back in the forest. That face, I'm still scared that I'll have to see it again."

Patton wasn't sure what to answer first or what to say. He waited for a short while until he began to respond.

"Virgil, I'll tell you what happened but I need you to promise me that you understand that you are safe here. None of us think of you as a monster and we would never want you to feel like one either. Can you promise me you can handle what I'm about to tell you and not think badly about yourself?"