Love in Flux

Cammie's left hand was utterly gigantic.

Her scream came a seconds later, and it was loud enough to drive the birds from the trees once more with a cacophonous flapping of wings. She clenched her other, smaller hand around her wrist, and I wasn't even sure how she managed to keep her massive mitt held up - it must have been at least four times its normal size.

"AAAH!!!" I heard her screech, as she stared at her hand. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING Oooo-AAAA-CHOO!" She sneezed again, and her right hand ballooned in size too, only it wasn't as large as her right one - it only looked to be about half the size. The strange surge of growth only took a couple seconds as her flesh rapidly expanded like a balloon being blown up by an air compressor. She looked over at me, utterly shocked as she tentatively flexed the fingers on her huge hands. They were as thick as sausages, but, surprisingly enough, they still seemed to have their full range of motion; she didn't look like she had any trouble moving them, or even lifting them, despite their increased size. She just stood there, neon-blue eyes wide and mouth agape, as her face contorted into a look of pure panic. A moment later, she crumpled to the ground and hugged herself tight, wrapping her impossibly large hands around her shoulders... and then she began to hyperventilate. I rushed over to and stooped low, trying to comfort her in any way I could.

"Cammie? Cammie! It-it'll be okay! You're alright. Breathe with me, baby. Just... breathe," I rasped, somehow managing to conjure the words despite the panic currently tearing its way through my brain. I tried to follow my own advice and slow my own thundering pulse as I threw my arms around her and pulled her close. Tears streamed from her eyes and her body shook with the intensity of her sobs, and my eyes widened as my fingertips brushed against the hardness of her cuticles, even though my hands were halfway down her back.

"J-Jordan... m-my... hands... they're—" She was still struggling to get the words out, taking in huge gulps of air with each pause.

"—I know, baby. Just... try to relax, okay? You need to breathe. Breathe with me, Cam." I forced myself to take deep, heaving breaths, in and out, and I could feel the steady rise and fall of Cam's's chest against mine as her heart rate started to slow down alongside my own. I pulled away from her, worry pooling in my chest as she studied her hands with a look of pure confusion. She just sat there, deathly silent and ghostly pale. A few seconds later, I gently placed my hands on her shoulders and spoke up, my voice soft:

"Cammie? A-are you alright?" Her breathing finally evened out, and then she was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"Alright? Alright? Of course, I'm not alright, Jordan! Just... look at me!" she exclaimed, as she fanned out her oversized fingers once again.

"I-I know, but... freaking out isn't going to do any good. You... you feel okay, right? Besides the... you know, your hands?"

"I... I guess so, but what am I supposed to do about this? My hands are huge! I really am some kind of f... fr... FRRAAAABLOOO! ASHOO!" She sneezed twice in rapid succession, and her hands suddenly shrank... except they somehow ended up smaller than normal; they looked almost infantile, a strange and impossible sight considering they were attached to her normal-sized wrists. She ran her miniaturized hands through her blue-tinged locks. "What the hell is happening to me?!" She started to breathe heavily again, but then she shook her head and scrunched her face into a scowl - she looked pissed as she clenched her little baby hands into tiny fists. "Why is this happening?!" She wrapped her diminutive fingers around the vine and actually shouted at the flowers dotting the green tendril: "Whatever you did to me, turn me back!" I heard a little hiss come from her direction, then she sneezed one last time... and her hands finally returned to their usual size. She leaned against the tree and let out a heaving sigh as her features drooped into a miserable frown.

"U-um, well, at least they're back to normal now, right?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. Cammie's hands drooped to her sides as she shook her head, her eyes downcast.

"Nothing about this is normal," she replied glumly, just before letting out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I don't know what that pod thing did to me, but between my hair, my eyes, and... whatever the hell that was, I... I really am some kind of freak now." She looked around us one more time, then back at me, and I saw a look of total despair there. "What am I supposed to do, Jordan?" I was silent for a moment, and as the sounds of the forest mingled with the steady pitter-patter of my heart thumping along in my chest... I knew I didn't have an answer for her. Whatever was going on was so utterly impossible that I couldn't even begin to comprehend it; I couldn't even imagine how she must have felt... but, even if I didn't have an answer to the insane and unthinkable situation that we had found ourselves in, I knew I had to be there for her.

"Cam, whatever it is that's going on... we'll figure it out. Maybe if we can get away from the flowers, it'll stop? It might have something to do with them." It was the only connection I could think of; this latest development had begun as soon as the flowers appeared, after all.

"I think it might be the pollen," she said. "Just before my hands... grew, or whatever, the flowers released some; that's what made me sneeze." I nodded.

"Gotcha. So, we just have to stay avoid the flowers and find our way out of here, yeah? Once we get out of the woods, it shouldn't be an issue!" My confidence was returning by the second as I felt a smile find its way onto my lips. Cammie was silent for a moment, but she didn't look convinced.

"What if it keeps happening, though? What if it's not just my hands?!"

"Babe, try to relax. We don't know that for sure," I said, but she shook her head and stared down at her hands again.

"What if I catch a cold, or something, and my hands go crazy again?" Her eyes widened. "Oh, God, and don't even get me started on my seasonal allergies—"

"—Cammie," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Right now, we need to focus on finding our way out of here." She nodded, after a moment.

"You're right." She looked around us, eying the vines and the strange blue blossoms warily. "Let's get moving, then." She gingerly stepped across the vines, making sure to keep her distance from the flowers. We walked for another ten minutes or so before I spoke up again.

"Are you recognizing any of this?" She looked over at me and shook her head, looking a bit dejected.

"Not really. God, this is insane. All I wanted was a nice, relaxing weekend in the woods. Instead, I get dragged away by vines, my hands are blowing up like balloons, and—" she gasped as her foot caught on a downed tree limb tangled in the vines. She tripped and stumbled a bit then fell forward. She instinctively tried to catch herself, planting her hand on a skinny, vine-riddled tree. She gasped and pulled her hand away as the vines on it quivered, but it was too late; a parade of blossoms appeared a few seconds later. "Oh no - not again!" She shot back and got as far from the flowers as she could, but just like before, soon the plants had spread across the immediate area in a dazzling display of growth that was admittedly hard to tear our eyes from. A hummingbird flitted past us and landed on a branch, taking a moment to dip its long tongue down into one of the light blue blossoms. A few seconds later we both gasped as the hummingbird's body spasmed just before it ballooned in size and let out a discordant chirp as it promptly fell on the ground, where it hit the ground with a thump. We watched in awe as the beast awkwardly flapped its oversized wings and flew off in a huge blur of movement.

"Holy shit," I said, as I looked over at Cammie. "See? It's not just you that's getting bigger! That hummingbird just became a humunging-bird!"

"Dammit, Jordan, that pun was excruciating. But yes, I saw. It was pretty hard to miss," Cammie said. She rolled her eyes at me, but I saw a bemused grin creep onto her face for just a moment before she grew serious again. "Clearly, the flowers are doing something, but you don't seem to be affected at all. Why not, though?" I shook my head and shrugged. Cammie sniffed the air yet again. "And you still can't smell the scent these things are giving off at all?" I smelled the air around us, and sure enough, it still just smelled like forest to me.

"Nope. Is it fruity, like the nectar?" Cam took a great big whiff of the air as another breeze blew past us, shaking the flowers that dotted the vines again.

"Yeah, but I can't really place it, exactly. It's not like any fruit I-I've ev...ever...ah... ah..." I saw her face scrunch up midsentence, and I knew it was coming just before it happened as she let loose another thunderous sneeze: "...AH-CHOOOOO!" All the air seemed to leave my lungs as I saw her nose explode in size, until it nearly overtook her entire face - it had grown impossibly large just like her hands had earlier. And just like before, her hands shot up to the affected area as her mouth contorted into a horrified grimace as she let out a surprised wail that sounded a bit lower than usual: "My doooooooooze! It's hyooooooooj! Why? Why dudd dis keeb habbeding to bee?!" Her face turned crimson as she pressed her hands against her nose and her giant nostrils flared with each breath; I could see every pore on the damn thing, and admittedly, it took everything in me not to laugh. She looked silly as hell, but I knew she would probably murder me if I mustered even a chuckle. "Jordid, go away! Don't look at bee!" I could hear her begin to sob as she sped off in a seemingly random direction to try and hide herself away. Her hands brushed against the vines along the trees as she haphazardly rushed through the woods, causing even more flowers to bloom in her wake.

"Cammie, stop! Don't just run off like that!" I yelled as I chased after her, but she wasn't listening, just pumping along in panicked desperation, as if she could outrun this strange affliction that had overtaken her. I didn't blame her for wanting to be alone, but we needed to stick together. I saw her turn just ahead, and she stopped dead in her tracks, standing stock-still. "Cam, why'd you stop? What's... wrong...?" the word died in my throat, and then it was my turn to stop in my tracks. My heart lurched in my chest and my stomach dropped as a shiver of fear raced down my back.

PART TWELVE: THE PART WITH THE BEAR

There was a goddamned bear just ahead of us. An honest to God, motherfucking bear - and it was huge. I didn't think we'd actually run into one, but now that I was seeing it up close and personal, I realized that I had definitely underestimated how big it would be. It hadn't noticed us yet, but was sniffing around in the thicket ahead of us. I just hoped I wouldn't need the change of underwear that was waiting in my pack. Cammie and I both froze as the bear pawed at the vines snaking up the trees, seemingly distracted by the strange and invasive foliage.

"Don't moob ubtil I say," she whispered - all of the emotion she was feeling earlier had disappeared, leaving only a deathly serious stare behind. "We deed to try an go around it... slowly... go dow."

My pulse was thundering in my ears, and I could see Cammie quaking with fear as she willed herself to move. She slowly strafed around the trees, keeping her eyes glued to the beast, and I followed suit, trying to stay as quiet as I could. And then I saw her freeze next to me as nostrils start to flare up again, and she clamped her hands over her nose... but she was too late. She threw her head back and sneezed again. My breath caught in my throat as the bear's face swung in our direction. I instinctively looked over at Cammie and then my eyes widened, and my dick sprung to life unbidden as her boobs ballooned outward, becoming larger than watermelons within a couple of seconds; neither her shirt nor her bra stood a chance. Her eyes widened in surprise and her cheeks blazed with heat, and I was also feeling flustered from the sight of her oversized nipples, which stuck out from her tits like pink cigar butts.

The sudden shift in weight from her chest pulled her to the ground, which caused another barrage of blooms to spring forth in a brilliant blue wave as she planted her palms on ground to catch herself. I heard her gasp just as the bear reared up on its hind legs and huffed at us. Cam quickly scrambled to her feet and brandished the can of bear repellant, then closed her eyes and covered her mouth as she hastily emptied it in one long spray that seemed to never end. The air around us filled with a heady, musky scent, and it looked like the bear was perturbed... and then I jumped as I heard her start to scream and grunt at the beast. The bear trained its gaze on her and sized her up, no doubt planning to make a meal of her.

I grabbed her hand, and she looked over at me and shook her head, her eyes blazing with a dogged and deranged sense of confidence. She let go of my hand and simply continued to bellow at the damn thing.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I snapped. "We have to run!"

"No! We deed to make ourselbs look bigger... intibidade it." Her massive tits were certainly doing something to me, but I didn't think the bear would be all that scared.

"Are you crazy?! Come on!" Cammie glared at me and shook her head again, more vigorously this time.

"Jordid, no! We won't be able to outrud it! We hab to stand our gr—" Cammie started to say, before I saw her eyes widen as her silver-dollar-sized nostrils started to flare again. She threw her head back and let out another monstrously powerful sneeze, and I heard a strange sound down by her feet. I looked down and saw that they too had grown, leaving her boots destroyed and her socks in tatters... but then my focus was wrenched back in the bear's direction when I actually heard the damn thing sneeze. I gasped at what I saw once my eyes found the bear once more - not that it was hard to miss. It turns out that Cammie's feet weren't the only thing that grown larger... the bear had, too.

I thought it was huge before, but let me tell you, it was a miracle that I didn't shit my pants at that point, because it somehow managed to get even huger. I looked over at Cammie and I could see her confidence falter for a moment, but for some reason, she still didn't seem to be running. The bear stared us down, and as it stepped forward slowly, I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out if it was going to make a meal out of us - I made an executive decision, grabbed Cam's hand and pulled her along behind me as I bolted in the opposite direction.

"Jordid, what da fugg?!" she asked, as she struggled to find her balance on the balls of her humungous heels. Eventually, though, she found her stride and matched her pace with mine - she seemed to have no trouble keeping up with me once she got the hang of using her newly embiggened feet. The vines around us bloomed with each footfall as she left a trail of blue flowers in her wake.

"I'm saving our asses!" I replied.

"I 'ad it 'andold!" she stuffily snapped back, as we both continued to run. By that point I could hear the pounding paws of the beast behind us as it gave chase.

I heard the bear roar again and I didn't dare look back, but heat blazed in my cheeks as I saw Cammie's gigantic tits bouncing up and down as she ran alongside me, her stupendous stompers trampling over the vines as she went. "You don't rud from a bear, Jordid! Id'll catch us in a heartbe-a heartb-a... a... A-CHOOOO!" She sneezed yet again, and I skidded to a stop as soon as her hand pulled away from mine. I turned around and gasped when I saw that Cammie's whole top half had shrunk down at once - her head, her tits... and her arms, too. Her body proportions somehow managed to get even stranger still, with her miniaturized torso somehow managing to fit atop her flared hips, plump ass, and long, slender legs... which gave way to feet as long as skateboards. The bear was still a ways behind, and I saw it sneeze again, thankfully getting smaller instead of bigger that time - it was a bit smaller than a normal bear at that point, but not by much. The grating sound of Cam's tiny voice drew my attention back to her, though. "Jordan!" She was able to enunciate properly again, but her voice came out in a shrill, high-pitched tone as she struggled to see through her torn shirt, which managed to cover her face. I reached back and considered what to do for a split-second before I just thought, 'fuck it,' scooped her up at the waist and threw her over my shoulder. She tugged at the shirt on her head, and I effortlessly tore it off and tossed it behind me, hoping it would disorient the bear somehow. I felt Cammie's baby-like hands collide with my chest as she flailed around, but I barely registered the impact. Now her feet were a different story entirely, and I grunted in annoyance her huge heels bonked against my back. I kept my eyes glued forward as the sound of Cam's tiny protestations squeaked in my ears. "Jordan! What are you d-doi-doooaaaAABBLOOOO!!" She sneezed again, and the bottom half of her body finally decided to match the miniaturized top half, leaving her flustered and furious form fully fun-sized. Her pants fell away, and I heard her scream as she started to slide off of me, but I caught her and quickly tucked her under my armpit, grateful that her feet were no longer bumping into me. Her panties slid off, leaving her completely naked at that point; she couldn't have more been a foot tall at that point... possibly even smaller. I was too busy running away from a fucking bear to think about that too much, though.

"Jordan, if we survive this, I might kill you myself!" Cammie screeched. My lungs were on fire and my legs were sore, but I somehow managed to pick up my pace thanks to the adrenaline pumping through my body. I blundered through the trees in serpentine patterns, long past caring which direction we were going - I was just trying to keep away from the bear.

"Any ideas? Could we maybe climb a tree, or something?" I asked.

"No dice! Bears can climb trees better than we can, Jordan!"

"Fuck!" I shouted, my voice filled with frustration; I made a mental note to study up on my bear facts if the bear - or my girlfriend - didn't do me in first. I swore I heard it sneeze a few more times while we were running, and it sounded like it was a bit further away at that point, like we had managed to gain some ground. I stole a glance backward and my heart sank when I saw the bear coming up fast between a break in the trees. It was back to its regular size, and still just as deadly, but it was definitely smaller than it had been before when it started chasing us. I picked up my pace and ran faster as the angry beast bear continued to charge toward us across the tangle of bare green tendrils, and then an idea formed in my head that offered at least a chance at a solution: if the flowers had started all this, maybe they would be able to end it. "Wait. The flowers! Cammie, do your... your thing!"

"Huh? What do you mean, my 'thing'?" she asked, clearly not following where I was going with it.

"The... the flower thing! You know, make them grow!"

"That's what got us into this mess in the first place!" she reminded me.

"Yeah, but maybe this time it'll shrink! It's smaller than it was before!" She looked at the bear, then turned and spoke in my ear again.

"You're right, but... what if it gets even bigger, though?!" she snapped back. It was a risk we would have to take; I didn't see any other way out of this.