It didn't take long for Samantha to pick up, and when Freddy asked if she was at the apartment still, she confirmed his worries. He let out a frustrated groan.
"Why? You didn't bring home a smoking hot date or something, right?" The teasing in her voice was clear.
"Haha, you're a real comedian. Look, I was just hoping to get the apartment to, uh, ourselves for a few hours. Boss wants me to host the team I work on for some... training exercises."
She was quick to pick up on what he was trying not to say out loud. "Wait, seriously? You're really gonna be wandering around the apartment like tiny little ants? Oh, this I've gotta see."
"Sam, please! I'm serious. This is supposed to be the easiest shift ever, since it's just checking our gear and I know there's no bugs in the place. Please, can you just... I don't know, go hang with some of your friends?" He brushed a hand through his hair, trying not to meet the stares of his coworkers in the seats beside him.
"Yeah? Well, I'm serious too! This whole shrinking thing sounds neat, and I'll probably never get a better chance to see it up close. Plus I pay half the rent so I can't just be kicked out!" She paused for a moment, humming thoughtfully. "Aaaaand you know? If you want this to be, like, a safe training exercise, what better way to do that than with a supervising giant? I can be there if anything bad happens, and maybe you can do, uh, practices for avoiding big people? I seem to recall that was a weak spot of yours, bug."
"Don't-!" He grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose. "... Please, don't call me that... I guess you're not gonna budge on this one. Fine, you can... stay around and watch. Just watch, got it? I'll let you know if we need your help at all, I guess."
"You got it. See you in a bit, my little bitty brother!"
Freddy hung up and relayed the plan to Amber and Terence. Amber just shrugged and said, "You gotta admit, having a safety net sounds pretty smart."
Terence, however, just seemed to get nervous at the thought of a giant nearby. "I-I don't know if I'm ready for that..." He sighed. "But I guess that's why Sal wants us to run these drills, huh?"
Amber rolled her eyes as she checked her gear. "Trust me, Ter, you'll get used to it quick. I can't say it ever gets normal but you at least can be prepared for when somebody shows up during a real job. If we even get one this week." She huffed. "At least Sal's paying us for this."
All three finished their preparations and made sure the van was secured and locked up before heading in with Freddy's keys. The entire elevator ride up, Freddy and Terence were nervous, for entirely different reasons. Terence couldn't keep his mind off the idea of being absolutely dwarfed by a regular-sized person up close, while Freddy knew his sister could get excited and teasing real easily and just hoped she'd actually listen to him and not make this take any longer than it had to.
Samantha was waiting in the living room when they arrived, and she grinned as she looked the three up and down with their uniforms and gear. "Geez, you really get kitted out! You almost look like Ghostbusters with all that stuff." Before she could launch into a barrage of questions about this or that piece of equipment, Freddy introduced her to his coworkers and vice versa and busied himself with prepping the shrink effect.
As Sam stood by, eagerly watching, Freddy found himself having to decide what size they'd wind up.
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