09 - Interesting Developments

09 - Interesting Developments

"I said 'no' and I mean it Sirus!" Eri said with a definitive tone echoing in her voice as she stared down at the 3 inch tall man on the floor.

"And I told you 'too bad'." He countered defiantly, crossing his arms and meeting her intimidating glare. "I already set up a Patreon account and people are supporting me."

A frustrated groan emanated from the towering blonde's throat, her arms held straight by her sides with tight fists. "We don't need it. I make enough from work." She tried to reason with the stubborn, bullheaded man.

They had been arguing for the better part of an hour after she checked her bank account online to see some extra money she didn't make in it. Sirus told her he had set up a Patreon account to help make some extra money, which upset her.

"He doesn't need to do anything, I'll provide for him." She thought, her pride a little bruised by his actions. "I'm the one in charge here mister. You have to listen to me."

"I'm not some invalid, I can help out too." He stated. "What's the harm? We get some extra money and I can do it from here."

"Because I'm suppose to be taking care of you." Eri finally said, stomping her foot unintentionally right next to Sirus. "Oh, no... Sirus I didn't mean to... I..."

Sirus was still standing where he had been, looking up at her unafraid. "If I thought you might hurt me, I would have moved." He explained, looking at the clock behind her. "It's almost time for work."

"Oh, you're right." Eri said, quickly gathering her things and heading for the door.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Sirus asked, running to the hallway.

"I thought you might want to be alone for a bit." She replied timidly. "I mean I almost stepped on you just now..."

"Yeah, I'm angry with you right now but I don't want you to think that means I hate you or something." He clarified, flashing her a confident grin. "Besides, I've basically won the argument by this point."

"Oh you think so, do you?" Eri questioned with a slighly chuckle, walking to Sirus and picking him up. She shrank him down to 1 inch tall and set him in the neck of her sweater. She glanced over at the laptop sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the room before turning to leave the apartment. "I could always get rid of that laptop, it was only $50." She said as she locked up.

After Sarah found out Eri had been homeless she offered to sell her some old furniture and a laptop she had been meaning to replace. It has been over two months since then and Eri was able to get an internet connection for all her entertainment need, at Sirus' suggestion. She didn't know that he'd try to make so money on the side with it, however. Sarah had also been making a habit of either inviting herself over to visit or insisting Eri come over to her place, which had left the blonde with less time than she'd like with Sirus.

As she left her building, Eri put on a cheap bluetooth ear piece she bought on Sirus' recommendation for when they go out so she could talk to him and not look like a crazy person.

"Okay, so I feel like there is something more to this that I'm unaware of. Why is it a bad thing that I can provide a little income?" Sirus asked now that they had calmed down and could think a bit more rationally, really the most of their argument was they talking in circles and not getting to the core of the issue.

"Like I said, I'm your caregiver." Eri stated bluntly. "It's like you think I can't take care of you by myself."

"Whoa, hold on there." Sirus said, confused. "That right there is what I'm talking about, it's like you think five layers deeper into things or something. How did you come to that conclusion?"

"What do you mean 'five layers deeper'? You think I'm not making enough money for the two of us and took it upon yourself to make up the extra." She reasoned sadly confident.

"Oooooor..." Sirus said, drawing out the 'o'. "Maybe, just maybe, and I know this might be crazy but, I might have just thought that I'd like to give something back to you for looking out for me." He admitted, slightly embarrassed at myself. "It's not like I can make you a 'Thank you for everything' meal or something, but... you know..."

"Really?" Eri asked, surprised. "I never thought about it like that."

Sitting on her shoulder, Sirus turned away from her to hide his reddening cheeks. "Yeah... so, thanks... for everything. K?"

"Aww, he's blushing. How adorable." Eri thought, giggling as a slight spring works its way into her step. "You're so sweet Sirus, sorry I got so angry. I thought you might not need me anymore." She confessed, nuzzling him with her cheek.

"Hey, cut that out." Sirus protested, trying to push her warm, smooth flesh away. "I don't think I could imagine my life without you at this point."

Now it was Eri's turn to feel bashful, as she felt her heart skip a beat. "You're a big part of my life now too." She whispered affectionately.

"Not that big." He joked, going to stand and motion at his current stature but slipping and tumbling down Eri's shirt and into her cleavage instead.

"How about you stay there for a bit." Eri suggested, getting onto her bus for work. "People would look at me weird if I started reaching down my shirt." She giggled, using her arms to make her assets jiggle just a tiny bit more as she sat down.

"Sure, I don't spend enough time with the twins anyway." He joked back, relaxing into the soft embrace of Eri's sweater puppies.

"Aww, they missed you too." She giggled, subtly squeezing her breasts together and enveloping him.

The bus ride to work on average took about 15 to 20 minutes depending on just how many stops were made on the way. Because of how the buses ran she was always early for her shift, which her boss appreciated and let her earn just a bit more money if she felt like clocking in early.

"Have fun." Sirus said, standing in the little locker Eri used. The staff room was pretty small, but had a set of lockers to safely secure each employee's personal belongings.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Eri asked one last time. "It feels like I'm locking him in a cage..."

"You can't hide me in that low cut shirt and we both know the pockets in your apron are too dangerous." He reasoned, smiling to her reassuringly. "The only other places you could hide me would make your shift awkward. It'll be fine, I'm just glad the owner installed these things to begin with."

"True, it would have been a disaster if Lauren had gone through my purse that day." Eri agreed, having mixed feelings about the girl she got fired and ultimately replaced.

Lauren was a very social and kind person and everyone at the pub really liked her, except for Sirus. For some reason he cautioned Eri to keep her distance from the out going girl. Then one night, Sirus heard someone enter the staff room at an odd time. Peeking out of Eri's purse he saw Lauren going through someone else's coat and taking some money from their wallet. He told Eri about it and she went to the boss and after a quick investigation Lauren was caught red-handed and promptly fired. Eri was later offered a full-time position and the staff requested better security for their belongings.

"How did you know about Lauren anyway? You never really told me." Eri asked, tying on her apron.

"I don't really know how to explain it... I just had a feeling I guess." Sirus failed to clarify. "Like how I knew I'd be okay in your hands."

"Thanks." The blonde said, smiling. "Well, I'll try to see you on my breaks." She promised, closing the locker door and locking it. "Bye."

"Guess I'll exercise or something." The tiny man thought, listening to the ambient sounds coming from the store front.

Exiting the staff room, Eri clocked in early and headed out to work. At first, Eri's timid personality made it difficult to work and serve customers but soon that very trait drew in a fresh wave of regulars who wanted service like that. Sirus was almost always on her mind, wondering if he was bored and thinking about how she could make it up to him for misunderstanding his intentions earlier.

"He's always trying his best for me, I should do something special for him." She thought, smiling warmly as she took some dishes she cleared from a table back to the kitchen. Just as she set the dirty plates and utensils in the sink, someone wrapped their arms around her neck and hung off her back.

"Hey Erotic Eri!" She heard her assaulter say in a confident, hyper tone.

"Ahh! Sarah! How many times do I have to tell you not to hang off me like that?!" Eri protested, trying to pry the excitable girl off her. "And please don't call me that. It's embarrassing..." She added, blushing.

"Oh, but how can I not? Look at these fun bags!" Sarah said, releasing Eri momentarily only to reach under her arms and grab double handfuls of Eri's sizable chest. "The shape, texture and weight that any man would kill to experience."

"SARAH!" While nothing new from the sexually minded girl, every time she did grab Eri's boobs was still embarrassing. Quickly turning around to face the perverted molester, Eri was able to break free of her grip and covered her breasts. Before her now stood a girl was elbow length, chestnut brown hair and slightly tanned skin. She was about an inch or so shorter than Eri, and had mismatched brown and blue eyes, left and right respectively. Being generous, she might be able to pass for a B-cup and closing in on her 22nd birthday, it didn't look like that was going to improve anytime soon. However, what she lacked in chest she more than made up for it in the rear. Disproportionated to the rest of her slender frame, Sarah's ass was large, firm and smooth, most definitely her proudest feature.

"Hey, I think they got a little bigger." Sarah commented, curling and uncurling her fingers a couple times with a look of astonishment on her face. "Todd, Jerry, Dennis, whadda you guys think? Have Eri's boobies gotten a little bigger?"

The three men present all tried and failed to seem like they were not engrossed by the interaction between Sarah and Eri. Jerry, the bartender, had come back to get a couple new bottles of liqueurs for mixed drinks and silently turned around to walk back out to the floor. Todd and Dennis both worked in the kitchen and fumbled with dishware and cooking utensils while averting their eyes.

"Closet perverts." Sarah sighed under her breath, disappointed by her coworkers. "So you seem to be in a good mood. Is it related to that mysterious guy I always hear about?" She asked, noting the smile form on Eri's lips once she composed herself.

"I don't talk about him that much... do I?" Eri refuted, blushing slightly. While she did her best, it became inevitable that Sarah would learn that there was someone else in Eri's life. She did her best not to give too much away, always speaking as if there was a great distance between them or something like that.

The spunky brunette smirked. "Are you kidding? 'Oh he's so great! I would never have been able to get where I am without his advice. He listens to my problems and really considers my opinions and feeling.' Seriously, if you think so highly of him maybe you should marry him. Don't let someone else snatch him away from you."

"M-m-marry him!" Eri exclaimed, her face burning with embarrassment. "Oh, I swear Sarah just says whatever pops in her head... though Sirus and I do live together, eat and sleep together, care for each other..." The more she thought about, unbeknownst to her, the wider the smile on Eri's face became. She even found herself taking solace in the fact that at the very least he couldn't be taken by another woman. "He and I aren't like that." She finally said, trying to end the conversation.

"Maybe, but do you want your relationship to be like that?" Sarah asked in one of the rare cases when she didn't show she usual playful nature.

"Huh?" Eri froze in thought for just a second. "Do I want Sirus? Not as we currently are, but as true equals?"

Slapping Eri on the back, Sarah headed out to the floor. "We'll talk more later." She said smiling, winking as she disappeared through the doors.

It didn't take long for Eri to get back into her normal frame of mind, her timid but determined nature resetting her rhythm. Her thoughts strayed every now and then, causing her to make a couple mistakes, but thankfully those instances were with regular who thought it was cute and forgave her. The rest of her shift was mostly uneventful, spending what little time she could with Sirus during her breaks.

However, there was still one more surprise for her that night. Near the end of her shift, a small group of five showed up and sat down. Going to serve them, Eri's blood ran cold as she recognized the blonde haired middle-age woman sitting in the back.

Looking up, the woman immediately recognized Eri and beamed her a smile. "Eri! Is that you?" She asked.

"Miss Melony?!" She could barely form the words, but forced herself to be as casual as possible. "How have you been?"

"Sadly, still searching for my lost boy." She admitted, her face darkening for a moment before she composed herself. "But tonight I'm out with my boyfriend and two of my other children." She said, motioning to the others stilling at the table.

"Any news on Sirus' whereabouts?" Eri asked, forgetting herself for a moment.

"Well..." Melony started before being cut off by the other woman at the table. She also had blonde hair, about as long as Melony's, and brown eyes. She was probably close to a decade older than Eri.

"Mom, we're all worry about Si, but we agreed that for tonight..." The woman said. Her tone wasn't cold towards her lost brother, but looking at Melony again Eri could tell the woman was borderline emaciated.

"Right Mom, just for tonight look after yourself." The younger man sitting across the table from his sister pleaded. He had short, dirty blonde hair spiked up with gel and like Sarah had mismatched blue and brown eyes, opposite of Sarah's.

"Oh, I apologize, that was rude of me. You're out with your family." Eri apologized, bowing to the table.

"It's okay dear, you must also be worried." Melony said, smiling. "This is my oldest, Christina, and her common-law husband Richard." She introduced, motioning to the couple to her right.

The man, Richard, had a broad, powerful build to him, very broad shoulders and well defined muscles. He had hair almost as long as Christina's and a well groomed beard and dark brown eyes. They both smiled and gestured politely to Eri and she bowed slightly to them.

"This one is my youngest, Jamie. Sadly his wife is away on business so she isn't with us tonight." Melony continued, motioning to the young man to her left. Looking again, Eri thought he was probably a couple years younger than herself. "And finally, this is my boyfriend Jeff." She finished, placing a hand on the gentleman's shoulder next to her. He has probably in his mid 50s, distinguishing streaks of grey throughout his dark hair with a firm but kind face. He nodded in recognition of the waitress before him. "Sirus' second oldest sister, Alexandra, also couldn't join us. Which is a shame, I would have liked for her to meet you too."

"It's nice to meet you all." Eri said, bowing again to the table once introductions were finished. "My name is Eri, could I get you some drinks while you decide on your order?"

Eri took the table's order, leaving menus for them to look over while she went to fetch their drinks.

"Who was that, Mom?" Christina asked once Eri was out of earshot.

"That was Eri, the former homeless girl that spoke to Sirus before he went missing." Melony explained. "She's a sweetheart."

"The one you met a bit ago?" Jeff inquired.

"Yes, she was quite broken up to hear about his disappearance. He changed her entire life." Melony explained. "She said she was able to get a job and apartment, I just didn't know where."

"You don't think she might have something to do with his disappearance?" Jamie asked, watching the waitress prepare their drinks.

"No, she doesn't seem like the kind of girl who would kidnap someone." Melony defended Eri.

"Sirus is a surprisingly strong guy, smart too with the instincts of an animal. It would take a lot more than a pretty face to throw him off his game." Richard said with a profound amount of respect for the missing man.

"Oh, 'pretty face'?" Christina asked, giggling menacingly at her lover.

"Hey, you know what I mean." Richard said, wrapping an arm around her. "You're the most beautiful girl in the world to me."

"Yeah, but she almost seemed scared to see you Mom, at least to me." Jamie said.

"Oh, she was just surprised. She held Sirus in high regard, his words and actions left a deep impression on her. Seeing me must have reminded her that he was missing." Melony reasoned. "What do you guys think? She's cute right?"

"Mother, are you serious?" Christina asked letting out a long sigh.

"What? I'm just saying, picture her standing next to your brother. I think they'd look good together." Melony said. "And the kids they'd make would be adorable."

Before anyone could reply, Eri returned with everyone's drinks. "Do you still need some time to decide what you'd like?" She asked politely.

"Yes, please. We still haven't decided yet." Jeff said, the only one looking at the menu.

"Alright, just call me over when you're ready." Eri said, bowing politely once more before making her rounds to her other tables.

The rest of the night passed without incident. Eri was able to serve Sirus' family without arousing any suspicion, though she felt Jamie's eyes on her for most of their stay. Melony and company finished their meals just before Eri's shift ended, thankfully, and so after clocking out Eri collected Sirus and headed home. Sarah informed her that she'd be dropping by for a bit after her shift, but other than that Eri was looking forward to relaxing with Sirus.

Sirus had tired himself out in Eri's locker and slept soundly in her purse the whole way home.

"Seems like someone worked himself too hard." Eri thought, carefully placing Sirus on the pillow of her twin sized bed, restoring him up to 4 inches tall. Feeling the fatigue of work catch up to her slightly, she smiled down to Sirus and also climbed into bed for a little nap before Sarah got there.

*****

"Okay, see you in a bit then Sarah." Sirus heard Eri say, as he slowly woke from his sleep. He found himself just inside the pillowcase on her bed, a common hiding place for him as it faced to wall.

"Yup." He heard Sarah reply before hearing the door close.

"Sarah must be stepping out for a bit." He thought groggily as he got up. He liked the promiscuous girl enough, sure she was a bit of a nymphomaniac but not too much and she was actually a caring individual. Her outgoing personality was a good contrast to Eri's timid nature.

He crawled out of his hiding places and jumped down to the floor, heading to the hallway and stretched to get rid of his sleepiness. "So how was the rest of your shift? Anything interesting happen?" He asked as he saw Eri's shadow approach.

"Huh? Is somebody ther-?" Instantly the lingering drowsiness lifted from Sirus' mind and he realized just how careless he had been. He froze as he looked at not Eri, but Sarah who had just walked into the living space of the apartment. Her auburn and azure orbs staring straight at him.

"Fuck."