The bus trip downtown from the college is relatively short, and luckily the stop is almost directly in front of the tailor shop. We head in, seeing my friend's father, a middle-aged black jaguar with greying hair and whiskers, turn around as he hears the door open and the bell above it ring. "Welcome! What can I do for-- Goodness!" I donn't even have to guess anymore what was causing his shock.

"Hey, Mr. Higgins," I begin, "I don't know if you remember me, but--"

"Ashton, of course!" The jaguar's eyes light up as he begins to smile. "I remember all of my children's friends. But who's this you have with you?" he asks, indicating Kory.

"This is my, um--" I hesitate for only a moment, before continuing, "--my boyfriend, Kory. He's having a bit of a … uh, clothing emergency, I guess you could say."

Kory steps forward, his ears brushing against the ceiling as he does, and sticks out his paw, without a hint of modesty. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Higgins. Ash tells me you can work wonders with fabric and needles."

"Kory, yes," Mr. Higgins grabs Kory's paw and shakes it firmly. "I'm pretty sure I've heard of you. Unless there are any other nine foot tall red pandas hanging around the college?"

Grinning, Kory shakes his head. "Nope, not that I've noticed. And, believe me, we'd be pretty noticeable."

It takes a few minutes for Kory, Mr. Higgins, and I to decide what kind of clothes would work best: a simple navy button-up shirt with khaki pants, and a form-fitting t-shirt with shorts. The panther takes his measurements, after which we wait for about an hour as he works on the clothes, finally returning with one outfit ready to wear, which Kory slips on, and one outfit in a brown paper package for later. After paying for the order, we thank him and head out.

"So, now, hon," Kory says, smiling down at me, looking really nice (and a lot more presentable) in his new shirt and pants, "Is there anything else you want to do while we're down here?"

From when the day started till now, only a few hours have passed, less than what could be counted on one hand, and yet.. Kory has already grown to almost twice his size! Even though everyone seems to not care, and I have long since chosen not to think more on it with the slight (but ever-present) fear of going insane, I still can't help but to constantly stare where his head had formerly been to me. It's not my fault that this, for all intents and purposes, looks to Kory and the rest of the world around us to be directly at his crotch! Only Kory’s voice above makes me lose my confused expression and look up (and up) till I reach his grinning face.

“Aww, are you sad now that I got clothes to fit me?” I hear Kory giggle softly down to me, delightfully cheery and uncaring as ever, and my skin blushes to a bright red under my black and orange fur.

“I, umm.. I was just lost in thought. I’m sorry what did you say, dear?” I clear my throat and correct my posture slightly, stretching up to feel like less of a kid next to my big panda.

“Sure, that’s what I was getting from your stares too.” He mocks back at me. “I was asking you if you’d want to do anything else while we’re in town, cutie. You know those busses are awfully unpleasant to ride, and until my letter writing bears fruit for my own private seat, I’d really rather we make the best of our trips here. You know that!” He leans down over me and pokes my strange watch. “You said something about this watch making me large, right? You remember, in the park? Maybe we’d want to go have someone besides your remarkably talented boyfriend take a look at that.”

He actually remembers? I thought my ranting had seemed insane, even to me, and gone on deaf ears. Not that I knew Kory to at all disregard me or anything I say; actually quite the opposite! No matter the imposing size he has now, he still seems only to have eyes for me, and still is ever so sweet and caring as I remember him from the first day we met at the college, not more than a few months past.

No, maybe it doesn't seem so odd that he would care enough about my concerns to remember. After all, he has indicated that growing to his impressive size has even been astonishing to himself. Granted, to me, it's happened not in years, months, or even days - but in hours.

And I knew that he has always loved to tinker with mechanics, a skill he has shown me more than a few times. So why wouldn’t he be intrigued to follow my possibly derailed mind to find out more about a mysterious watch and its growing effects.

“Okay! I think I know a place that might offer us some assistance.” I smile up, grab Kory’s paw, and almost drag him along with me in the most classic ‘boy chasing the ice cream truck’ fashion, which earns me a small chuckle from above.

With my hasty steps and his impressively long stride, it takes no time to reach what on the outside appears to be nothing more than a worn down bookshop. Stepping inside, and still dragging Kory with me, I hear a loud bump against the doorframe. Fearing that he has bumped his head, I gasp and turn around. We both have to laugh as I see that he's certainly not bumped his HEAD against the door, but rather the door is filled from frame to frame with the neatly dressed form of my adorable red panda, the top of the door only coming up to the bottom of his chest!

Kory bends down low, and squeezes inside the small shop sideways, having to get down on all fours just to move about inside the cramped shop, pushing me back slightly as his body fills the space. I stare on in amazement at the display, still not used to Kory at this size, just as the red panda smiles widely and leans in towards me to kiss my muzzle lovingly. His wide tongue playfully rolls across my lips, making me kiss him back with equal love and passion, wrapping my arms around his neck, and scratching gently through his soft fur.

I hear a loud gasp behind us. “Holy chime and whistle!” I break the kiss instantly and flip around to face a dazed shopkeeper who has just walked in from the back of the shop.

“Oh, umm, sorry… Didn’t quite see you there…” I stammer, blushing slightly at the public displays.

Kory, however, just chuckles and sends his greeting from behind me. “Hey! My boyfriend found this watch the other day.” I swallow heavily, not upset to be recognized as this extremely handsome panda’s boyfriend, but still not overly confident. I begin to think this seems a little odd considering my species – here the red panda's confident and outgoing, while I, the big, strong tiger, suddenly has become all nervous and introverted. But perhaps that’s what's making me become attracted to him even more.

I step forward, with a large insisting paw at my back, and pull out the watch for the shopkeeper to look at. I know this shop well enough; I've been here several times in the last semester looking for various gadgets and gizmos that might make good “will you be my boyfriend” gifts for Kory, and while this shop seems to have nothing ordinary, it most certainly has EVERYTHING out of the ordinary.

The shopkeeper murmurs reflectively as he examins the strange markings on the watch. He flips it over several times and seems thorough in his search for clues as to why we have so suddenly burst into his shop, with what had looked like nothing more than the intent to make out.

He looks up at me and then over at Kory, who leans slightly to the side to follow the shopkeepers movements with a very professional discrimination. “Ah!” He finally breaks the silence, making both of us jump, causing Kory to bang his head against the dark wooden rafters above. “I think I’ve seen a piece like this before. It is a very rare item indeed…” He places the watch on the counter and hurries out back, rummaging noisily through boxes and shelves as Kory and I exchange nervous looks. “Aha! Here it is!” comes the muffled voice, before the strange man walks back out to us.

“Here is a book on items said to be built with supernatural powers. Novelty items of course...” He smiles up at me and dumps the heavy and worn-down book on the counter, flipping it to a page with what appears to be our exact watch. “It says here that this watch gives a loved one what he or she lacked most physically when the bond between you first was made, and does this through loving acts. And since the effect is physical, so must the act be!” His eyes dart between us knowingly, as if he's starting to realize just what we've been going through, before slamming the book shut. “It is said to have a way of controlling its effects as well. But of course, as I've said, this is a novelty item sold on the promise between lovers to bring them something magical. Nothing more. Although, it is quite rare to see these even in our time, so I suggest you cherish it.” He smiles at me and gives me the watch back.

I stare back up at Kory, still confused. Hmm, I think, to give my loved one what he mostly lacked physically when our bond first was made... Obviously, the panda had always small and slim. Well, THAT certainly has changed. I grin as I start to exit the shop with the red panda in the lead, struggling to exit through the door without causing any damage.

As we start to walk down the sidewalk, I continue my pondering. And the effect is carried out through physical acts of love… The kiss! I stop in my tracks, causing Kory to walk a few paces in front of me. When he notices that I'm no longer directly behind him, he stops and turns around, confirming what I thought I had seen out of the corner of my eyes and what's no longer a surprise. His clothes are tighter, a sliver of belly-fur now visible, and I'm now eye-level with his crotch. In short, he's grown again.

"What's the matter, hon?" Kory asks, still oblivious to the changes.

"Well," I start to explain, but then stop. What's the use in pointing this out over and over if Kory's never gonna notice? Not that I think he wouldn't believe me at face value, but hearing the same thing over and over again has to be irritating him a little, right? "Nothing," I finally say, starting to walk again.

But Kory places his hand on my shoulder and stops me. "No, it's not nothing, is it, Ash?" Looking up into his eyes, I see a smile on his face, but also a hint of concern forming in his eyes. "Is it happening again? Do I look bigger to you?"

I want to shrug it off and cover it up, but the firm commitment behind Kory's loving stare melts away any chance that I would lie to him. "…Yes," I finally answer.

"I figured as much, by the look in your eyes." He brings a paw to his muzzle, rubbing his chin. "And yet, I don't feel any bigger. I'm still Kory Ringerson, the twelve-foot-tall Red Panda from Longview."

"That's just it," I protest as I walk beside him. "A moment ago, you were nine-feet tall. Hell, this morning, you were my height, and before this whole thing started on Friday, you barely reached my chest."

"So you've said," Kory murmurs, mulling this over as a middle-aged ferret passes by without so much as a glance at the humongous panda. "But then why are you the only person to notice?"

"I'm not entirely sure," I admit. "It's almost as if the world is changing around us to conform with your height each time. All except for--"

"--my clothes!" Kory interjects, looking down at the new shirt and pants that were already getting too tight for his giant frame. I notice his eyes lighting up, gears turning inside his head. "Maybe you're on to something, Ash. But… I mean, the way I … the way I remember it, is that these clothes were already tight when I put them on."

"They weren't though!" I say excitedly, hoping some kind of breakthrough is happening. "I mean, that's why we went down to the tailor's in the first place! To get something to fit you."

Kory walks beside me silently for a moment. "So, what's the watch have to do with all this?"

"Well, the shopkeeper back there did say that the watch gives a loved one what he or she lacked most physically, through loving, physical acts. And," I pause a moment, gazing into Kory's curious eyes, "every time we've kissed, a little bit later you've grown."

"Hmmmm." Kory slowly begins to nod. "I think I have an idea, then, an experiment of sorts. One I think both of us will enjoy quite a bit." I notice a devilish yet adorable grin form on his face.

"What's that?"

"Well, the book said loving and physical acts, right? Not necessarily just kissing?" I nod, beginning to see where Kory's going, and I feel my arousal growing with each word. "Methinks it's time the two of us get to know each other a little more… intimately, if you know what I mean."

"I think I do." After only a moment's hesitation, I grab Kory's big hand and begin to run off in the direction of my house, which is by now only about a mile away. After a few blocks, Kory picks me up and carries me in his arms, able to move faster this way. And that doesn't bother me one bit.