Sugar awoke to a low buzzing sound, normally barely audible to most, but for the rabbit, it was annoying enough to rouse her from her slumber. Still clad in her lollipop-stamped PJs, with a few buttons undone to accommodate her chest, she unzipped the sleeping bag she was in groggily, but before she could so much as throw a hand out into the warm morning air, a pair of lavender paws touched down into the carpet in front of her face. Apparently, she wasn't the only one alerted to the buzz.
Gabby let out a yawn as soon as her toes touched carpet, stretching her arms and unintentionally dragging her big t-shirt up with them, then stood to her impressive 7-foot-6-inch height and gently strode to the source of the buzzing: her phone going off on her computer desk. ``Morning, Sugar,'' she said groggily before waving down to her mid-stride. She then cast a wave and a smile down at the residents of the mini city she kept in her room, who could no doubt feel the phone ringing, before finally picking up the device to answer it.
``Hello, this is Gabby...''
``What?''
``Oh goodness.... I hope he's alright.''
``I should stop by later.''
``Uh huh.''
``Uh huh.''
``That was today?''
``Alright, we'll be there shortly.''
``Yeah, I have a friend over. It's part of why I requested this week off. It won't be a problem if she helps, right?''
``Okay, see you soon.''
The rabbit sat up and leaned her back against the bed as Gabby hung up the phone. ``What was that about?''
``Well, that was my boss,'' said Gabby, setting the phone down. ``I think I told you I work in construction in one of my letters, right? Turns out the foreman for the project I would've been working on had I not taken time off got himself into a car accident last night.''
Sugar gasped. ``What?! Is he alright?''
``He's fine, thankfully. Nothing super serious but he's certainly in no condition to do his job for today. He couldn't have had worse timing...''
``What else is wrong...?'' Sugar asked, leaning forward and placing her elbows on her knees.
``Today was the day where we start building the building, basically. We get the beams and reinforced concrete going and we start putting it together from the ground up,'' she explained, with a hand on her hip.
``Sounds like something that's perfect for you,'' mused Sugar, listening intently.
``It is. In fact, the system kinda revolves around me,'' continued Gabby. ``It's almost like building model buildings, but with far more parts... This was something I was worried about happening... The higher-ups assured me that they'd source some heavy equipment to take my place, but...''
``But?''
``Apparently that fell through, too; the equipment needed wasn't available for today. I know the foreman's good on requesting that stuff in advance, so some other project must be tying things up.''
``So, you would've had to go in today even without the car accident,'' said Sugar flatly.
``Pretty much, yeah.''
Sugar finally crawled the rest of the way out of her sleeping bag and sat on her pillow, her paws resting on the fabric. ``So, where do I fit in? Do we not get to hang out today?''
Gabby turned to her friend with a smile. ``I pulled some strings and you'll be able to come and help me!''
``Wonderful...'' Sugar nearly spat out.
``Don't worry, Sugar! It'll be fine! The boss thinks you'll be as big as me!''
Sugar's eyes widened. ``So that means....''
Gabby nodded. ``Mmhmm~. You're going to see new heights today! C'mon, let's get dressed and ready! We'd be late enough as it is...''
The two girls quickly got dressed, treating the miniature city in the bedroom to quite a sight as it had never seen two enormous entities get ready for their day. Sugar debated just using the bathroom to change, but Gabby insisted that it would be alright. Sugar, not knowing what the day had in store for her, put back on her off-white skirt, and added black spats to it instead of the usual undergarments. She even opted to go barefoot. Gabby, meanwhile, put on a bright yellow t-shirt and a pair of specially-made denim jeans that tightly hugged her ample curves. She also put on a hard hat, having her horns navigate through the two gaping holes in the top of it before it finally settled atop her cranium. A few minutes later found the pair in Gabby's front yard, with the goodra gal sporting a backpack filled with the various tools and schematics for the construction project they were about to head to.
Gabby rejoined Sugar after locking the door to her house. ``Are you ready for this?'' she asked, with a bit of happiness in her voice despite her off time being cut into.
``Ready for what? Are we walking there?'' asked Sugar, glancing at the various vehicles traveling along the two-way street. ``Or do you have some other mode of transport I don't know about?''
The goodra gal giggled softly, but only now noticed Sugar's clothing. ``Uh, are you sure you don't want something more work friendly? We might be big soon, but the work's still dirty.''
``Nah. So long as I can pitch these in your washer when we get back, I'll be good.''
``Your letters made it sound like you liked getting your hands dirty. Er, hooves.'' Another giggle came from the dragon as she strode towards the street.
Sugar followed, playfully scowling back as part of her retort. ``Getting dirty on the move? Sure. Getting dirty at work? Nooooot so much.''
``I thought you worked at a bakery? I'd think getting dirty there would be a ton of fun!''
``It's all fun and games until you learn you're supposed to waste as little as possible.''
``Booooo.''
Sugar's stomach grumbled at the pair reached the sidewalk. ``Oh yeah, what are we gonna do for breakfast?''
``We'll have to stop at a place along the way,'' Gabby answered with a slight frown. ``I was really hoping to cook for you too. I was thinking pancakes and scrambled eggs...''
``O-oh. Uh...''
``Don't worry, I'll cover for you. I don't think exchange rates work very well between dimensions."
``Thanks, Gabby.''
``You're welcome!''
Sugar gave Gabby a warm smile, before looking at the street, and the surrounding neighborhood. It looked like a pretty modest suburb, and judging by the double yellow lines painted down the road's middle, this looked to be either a main road or the main road for the area. However, her face frowned into confusion as she noticed the cream-colored lines crisscrossing the road. She turned to the dragon. ``What's the deal with these lines? Y'know, the not-yellow ones.''
``Ah, I figured I was gonna have to explain this eventually,'' said Gabby. ``The city calls them `crossroads'.''
``Crossroads?''
``Mhmm, they're apparently made of super sturdy stuff. They can hold my weight after I grow.''
``That's fantastic!''
``Yes, it is, except for the part where this sturdy stuff is so expensive to make that only the widest and most vital roads have it, and thus have the marking. Any roads without them will just crumble when I set foot on them.''
``I see.''
While Sugar was trying to comprehend this new designation, Gabby was looking for a break in the traffic. When she found one, she stepped forward, out onto the street, much to the rabbit's horror when she finally looked up again from the marks in the pavement. ``Gabby!'' she cried out, but she kept walking out until she was centered on the double yellow line. The panicking rabbit looked back and forth, waiting for the inevitable oncoming car, but what she saw in either direction served to confuse her even more. There were cars, alright, but they were stopped, and a good 100 feet away on either side of the dragon in the street, who was waving her over, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. ``C'mon! We're gonna be even later!''
She tentatively started walking towards Gabby, until she was standing next to her friend, eliciting unseen gasps out of the drivers that could see the pair. ``Why did they stop...? Why aren't they, y'know?'' she asked, looking up.
``Because they know what's about to happen next~,'' responded the goodra gal. ``Just keep hanging on to me.''
Sugar nodded, reaching up to hold Gabby's hand like the confused child she currently was. After feeling the firm grip on her hand, Gabby concentrated, and before long, she started to expand outwards and upwards, taking the rabbit with her. While they were growing, she started explaining a couple of things. ``You might wanna get behind me, but don't let go. Soon this street will be too narrow for us to stand side-by-side.'' As Sugar moved behind, she continued, draping her tail over the rabbit's shoulder to keep them connected. ``Another thing about crossroads is that there are laws in place that go into effect when I'm present on one. For one, if anyone hits me, they are responsible for the damages. A similar thing works if I accidentally step on a car while walking down a crossroad. Since there are not a whole lot of crossroads in the city, I gain a sort of right-of-way when traveling down them.''
``So that's why they're not coming any closer? Because it'll cost them if they do?'' Sugar asked, watching their surroundings dwindle around them.
``Not quite, but close enough. I don't know if those rules extend to you, though, so please watch your step.''
Sugar nodded. The crossroad began noticeably bending under the weight of the two growing ladies, but was still holding firm. Finally, Gabby cut the growth, placing her at 90 feet tall, far taller than anything in the suburb. Sugar, meanwhile, stood at 62 feet, shorter than the goodra, but still imposingly tall. Both sets of paws spilled out beyond the road and partially into people's yards, and Sugar found herself still staying close to the dragon's generous backside, as the cars that were now behind her were getting a face full of paw and couldn't yet give her enough room to stand comfortably.
``The road feels so much narrower from up here,'' Sugar breathed, looking down. ``It's like walking a tightrope almost...''
``Yeah, just without the fear of falling. Just step where I do, one paw in front of the other. Everything's gonna be fine,'' Gabby replied, before setting off down the street, her paws landing with gentle thumps against the pavement.
Sugar was able to take up more of the road after Gabby's other paw got moving, but quickly hurried to set her own paws in motion to keep up. Her steps were noticeably rougher - she didn't have the most practice with being gentle, after all - but they weren't bad enough to cause any serious problems. Once the pair were on their way, the cars that were stopped beneath them finally were able to resume their travels to their destinations, although the ones following Sugar's steps decided to give her an extra berth.
``Just take it easy, Sugar. Everything will be alright,'' said Gabby, looking back and smiling warmly.
``Easy for you to say; you do this every day!'' Sugar fired back, timing her steps. Where Gabby's last paw left the pavement, Sugar's paw descended on it seconds later, forcing any cars they encountered to stay in place until all four paws had safely passed over them.
``Fair. You get used to it after a while. Oh, and we still have to get something to eat before we get on site.''
``Wha--?'' A grumble from Sugar's much bigger stomach affirmed the lack of food. ``Wouldn't that've been easier before we grew?''
``Mmm, not for the place I have in mind. They're right on the way and they're pretty good about taking care of me when I need food fast.''
``Alright... I trust you on this one.''
Gabby lived deeper in the suburb than Sugar realized; even at their impressive heights, it was still going to take a couple minutes for them to leave. As they walked, the goodra smiled and waved down to neighbors and other denizens that knew her well, asking them various questions about various things that must've been mentioned on previous encounters. Sugar waved as well, although she was more timid and reserved about it. Some of the conversations Gabby had while moving even pertained to the rabbit, which caught her off guard; apparently, she had told folks about her over the course of the last month. Guess that would explain why they weren't that surprised to see her.
The pair continued down the roadway and out of the suburb towards the next leg of their journey: Route 21. This modest, four-lane highway connected the suburb to the city, and since it wasn't considered `major,' there was no diamond interchange to contend with; merely a standard intersection. Even from afar, Sugar could see that the same X pattern was painted on both parts of Route 21 that led towards the city. The pavement leading away from the city didn't, and was of a lower quality, as county road maintenance began at that point. Another thing the rabbit noticed, was that traffic on both sides of this bustling thoroughfare was beginning to ease up and stop, long before the pair reached the crossing.
``Wait a minute,'' said Sugar, noticing the traffic headed into town in particular, ``even people from out of town know this stuff?''
``Yeah,'' came the simple reply, ``There are signs further up Route 21 that mention the crossroads laws.''
``Route 21?''
``The highway we're about to walk on next.''
``Oh.''
Gabby stood almost at the intersection. In fact, the toes of her forward paw were right behind the stop line as she patiently waited for the vehicles to sit still, holding the tightrope walker's pose near-perfectly. Sugar, meanwhile, was not used to holding such an awkward pose for any length of time, and was visibly wobbling, much to the worrying of the line of cars trailing behind her. She reached out and grabbed something for support, and that something happened to be the wide hips of her dragon companion, who giggled at her touch.
``Save the hands-on approach for the site, Sugar~,'' she said, teasingly.
``H-hey!''
``Relax, I'm joking! This is the first time I've had a traveling companion; I'm just trying to make the most of it! Are you doing okay back there?''
``Kinda,'' said Sugar. ``How are you able to stand like that for so long?''
``Years of practice,'' Gabby responded. ``I've had to hold plenty of weird poses at many sites. You get used to it. Ah! It's our turn now.''
She carefully stepped out onto the highway, beginning to stroll down the right two lanes of the divided highway. Sugar was eager to finally walk side-by-side, but she felt a tug on her arm. Looking up, she saw Gabby directing her to still follow behind her down the road. Her shoulders slumping, she reluctantly obeyed, falling in stride once more behind her taller friend, and making more mental comparisons of her own body to that of the goodra's. The cars started once more to flow naturally, and even Gabby's pace quickened with Route 21's increased speed limit. Sugar picked up on this and hastily tried to keep up, but Gabby's longer strides made the endeavor somewhat difficult.
``Soooo, I can understand not leaving the road earlier, since it was populated,'' said Sugar as their paws continued to thud against the reinforced pavement, ``but, why don't we walk along the side of this road here?''
``Well...'' Gabby started to reply, ``a while ago, I did. Back before they came up with this sturdier stuff. But, my paws ripping up the landscape wherever I stepped didn't look good, or bode well for tourism, I'm told.''
``It's for the preservation of nature, eh? I can get behind that, actually.''
Gabby pointed to the side of the road as they continued. Although hard to detect by the regular travelers, Sugar could easily see old imprints of the goodra's paws, now overgrown with grass and other foliage. ``Sure, they don't look so bad now,'' she said, ``but just imagine having to walk in the exact same place every morning and how horrible that pawprint looks after stepping in it a couple hundred times. My paws would be caked in mud before I even reached the city limits. It's like coming inside from the rain with mud on your shoes, but about 10 times worse.''
``How did you clean that off? Could you even clean that off?''
``A sit-down in the parking lot of a car wash.''
``I'm sure that didn't go well.''
``I mean, it worked pretty well, all things considered, but it was still a pretty big hassle, especially when there were actual cars to be washed. Suffice it to say, having this highway crossroaded solved a lot of problems.''
``I'd imagine.''
The city loomed in the distance as the pair rounded a bend in the road. The late-morning sun caught on several panes of glass adorning its tallest structures, of which there were plenty, in all types of designs and configurations. It wasn't too long before they entered the outskirts; the skyscrapers still quite a ways off as the area around their paws once again became populated. Now that they were within the city limits, the highway's intersections became a bit more complex. While one stepped over the overpasses with relative ease and precision, the other found that they had to raise their paws a bit higher to clear them. A prod from Gabby's tail distracted the rabbit from her concentration; she looked up to see her smiling and pointing down at a building they were approaching that would literally be within arm's reach of the pair soon.
``You don't mind donuts, right?'' Gabby asked.
``Don't mind?! Are you kidding?! But how are you going to - ''
``Leave that to me.''
The building in question was your typical donut shop, complete with the giant donut sign on top, but even this paled in comparison to the two girls now kneeling nearby. Sugar was in a vacant lot across the street waiting patiently; the lot of the shop was barely big enough to contain Gabby as is, especially with a group of cars already occupying parking spaces. The giant gal bent over and peered through a window, causing only a minor shock to the people inside.
``Heeeeyyyyyy~,'' she called in a gentle tone.
A gruff voice responded back, belonging to a man working his way to the front. He looked like he took donut making very seriously, and he had the gut to prove it. ``If it isn't my biggest customer, haha! Runnin' late for work again, are we?''
``Nah, not this time,'' replied Gabby with a grin. ``I got called into work on my day off. Can you believe that?''
``Considering what you've done around here? Yes, I can,'' the manager replied, getting a laugh out of the dining customers who had turned to look. ``What you're after is in the purple drums in the back, like usual.''
``Do you have enough for two?''
``Two?!''
``Yeah!'' Gabby pulled back from the window, revealing Sugar to the others. She instinctively waved, although she wasn't entirely sure what she was waving at. ``That's Sugar, my pen pal, and the reason I took a week off.''
``She looks about as odd as you do.''
Gabby rolled her eyes.
``But, if she has the same heart that you do, then that's good enough for me. You've been pretty timely lately, so there's about 4 drums worth back there. I just hope the early ones haven't gone bad by now, but I think your big ol' gullet can handle it.''
``That's not a fat joke is it?''
``Of course not!''
``Do I need to pay for these, or...?''
``No, lass; you're doing me a service. `S the least I can do for ya. Now take `em and get going before you're even later!''
``Yes sir!'' Gabby said with a giggle before raising up.
``And make sure you bring the drums back! They don't grow on trees, y'know.''
Seeing the goodra gal return to standing caused Sugar to return to her own paws. Gabby flagged her over while scanning the back of the shop. Finding a large blue tarp covering some odd shapes, she gently picked it up and moved it to the side, revealing 4 bright purple oil drums with the tops off, donuts of all assortments stuffed into each one. Smiling, she picked up two of the drums and handed them to Sugar, who now held one in each hand.
``So, what was that all about?'' she asked.
Gabby picked up her two and turned to face her. ``Ah, right, should probably explain that, too. Let's walk and talk and eat, shall we?'' She gestured back towards the highway and started walking in that direction, Sugar following shortly afterward. ``The guy I was talking to runs that donut shop back there,'' she started, easing down onto Route 21 once the cars had allotted her enough space. ``He's jovial and funny; I should introduce you sometime!'' She tilted back one of the drums, chomping on the donuts like one would chomp on tic-tacs, as Sugar stepped down onto the highway from the retaining wall that was more of a curb to the pair. ``He's also somewhat of a confection perfectionist, and insists on only selling the highest quality donuts to his customers.''
Sugar peered into the drum she was eating out of. ``It might be the added height talking, but these look fine to me! Taste great, too!''
``To us, sure, and everyone else would agree, but, like I said, confection perfectionist. He used to throw out the rejects before I came along.''
``And now he stores them in these drums in case you're running late?''
``Exactly. He always says that I don't need to pay him, but I'll send him a tip when we get back home. It's my way of supporting his business.''
``That's gonna be one hefty tip.''
``The job pays well enough.''
Sugar had already finished off an entire drum and started working on her second one as they entered heavier traffic and taller buildings. Whereas earlier they hardly reached Sugar's knees, here they were encroaching on her chest! Gabby was experiencing an entirely different problem as she continued eating her breakfast. Her wide hips were running out of navigational room as they proceeded. It seemed that only the access roads of Route 21 were keeping the buildings at bay.
A couple more minutes of walking, and Gabby slowed to a stop on the highway, glancing left. ``Only a few more blocks to go until we get on site, but this'll be the hardest part. Are you ready?'' she asked, looking back and down.
Sugar hastily downed the donuts in the remaining container before wiping her mouth with her arm. ``I suppose.'' She then looked at the purple drums still in her hands. ``What am I supposed to do with these?''
``Oh, I'll take them,'' Gabby said, taking them and placing them and her containers, one still nearly full of the sugary treats, into a small pocket on her backpack. She then stepped up, lifting a paw over the retaining wall and onto a waiting city street that bore the crossroad markings, using a building to brace herself. ``I'll be honest, Sugar. It's going to take a while for me to navigate the streets here, so please bear with me.'' Sugar nodded, and Gabby pulled herself the rest of the way up.
What awaited the pair after exiting the freeway, was pretty chaotic. An early lunch rush was in full swing, causing bumper-to-bumper traffic in the tight city streets. While Sugar was thin enough to navigate with little issues, Gabby most certainly was not. The goodra had to walk in an-almost sideways fashion just to make any progress forward. She couldn't walk it normally because her hips would brush up against the buildings on both sides of the street, and she couldn't walk fully sideways because her tail would do the same thing. This unfortunate solution made for an awkward journey, and even though the street they were on was 5 lanes of one-way travel, the traffic was so stop-and-go that the goodra found herself in challenging positions several times. She slowly proceeded forward, aiming for a section of the street up ahead that was completely void of traffic.
Finally, after an agonizing 10 minutes, they reached the empty stretch of road, and as Gabby took her time to step into the space and minorly stretch out, Sugar looked down and spotted the reason why. The road here was closed in two directions, and the closures extended around a multi-block perimeter. Glancing down and to the right, she could see that within this area was your typical construction area, with an on-site office trailer and bundles of various materials situated near a finished foundation. The area was also packed with dirt and other, smaller heavy equipment, but Gabby noticed the distinct lack of the heavy, heavy equipment - like a crane or two - that called her into work in the first place. ``Welcome back to the site,'' bellowed from somewhere, causing Sugar to panic and look for the source after freeing herself from the gridlock. Gabby however, knew where to look. Standing right outside the temporary office, in jeans, a dirty white t-shirt, an orange construction vest and a white hardhat, stood a rugged man holding a megaphone in one hand and a clipboard in the other.
``Good to see you, too,'' she replied with a slight smile.
The boss led the pair to a large, vacant section of the site, where Gabby set down her house-sized backpack and pulled a blueprint out, laying it out on the ground. The paper was so big by comparison, that a few of the large trucks had to park on the corners of it to keep it anchored in place. The boss stepped atop the paper, before turning to the giants who had crouched overhead.
``Sorry ta call ya in on yer day off, Gabs,'' the boss said through the megaphone. ``I know how much yer days off mean ta ya, but I've had my hands tied.''
``Heh. Gabs. That's a cute nickname.''
``Easy, Sugar.'' Gabby turned back to the boss. ``Oh, this is Sugar, my friend that I mentioned over the phone.''
Sugar waved and slightly smiled while the boss tipped his hardhat. ``Pleasure ta meet ya, miss.'' He went back to addressing Gabby. ``Well, I was worried we'd be all kinds of gummed up, but if we have both of ya workin', we'll be ahead of schedule of all things!''
``Oh yeah, what was going on with heavy equipment?'' she asked. ``Frank's usually really good about calling that stuff in ahead of time.''
``See, that's what I thought, too,'' replied the boss, thumbing through papers on his clipboard, ``and the paperwork's right here,'' he continued, stopping on a page. ``My only guess is that someone else pulled stronger strings than I could and overrode the order.''
Gabby rolled her eyes. ``Here's hoping the project that they went to instead was important. I don't remember seeing any of the gear on the way in... Did you see anything, Sugar?''
Sugar shook her head, her huge ears and fiery hair whipping about. ``Nope! Believe me, I was looking every which way, too.''
``We'll worry about that mess later,'' said the boss. ``For now, we've got work ta do.'' He was about to start walking across the map, but stopped mid stride. ``Ah, but there's one more thing we need ta address. You might be big, but ya still hafta have a hardhat ta be on site, miss Sugar. Ya might not need it, but dem's the rules, and I'd rather not risk ya gettin' hurt on my watch.''
``But how am I going to - ''
The boss held up a hand. ``No need. I had it taken care of.''
As if on cue, a fleet of flatbeds rolled into the site, pulling a large, dome-like something covered by a tarp. When they stopped, Gabby gently removed it, and she gasped, her jaw dropping. Under the tarp was another hardhat, but one that was so distinctively decorated that there was no debate on who it belonged to. The top half of the hat was lavender, and the bottom half was mauve, with a wavy line separating the two colors, and two green ovals crossing that line on the sides of the helmet.
``My hard hat!'' Gabby exclaimed, already starting the process of removing her current hard hat. ``I can't believe you found it! It looks good as new!''
``I can't believe ya lost it!'' the boss fired back. ``It's not exactly hard ta miss. Some of my boys came across it a couple days ago, and they cleaned it up for ya. We were gonna return it ta ya when ya came back, but...''
``That's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes,'' said Sugar, taking the yellow hard hat as Gabby put on her custom one. ``Hey, uh, a little help? I'm having a lot of trouble getting my ears through this.''
Gabby nodded, moving behind the bunny girl. One by one, she threaded the orange ears through the holes in the hat, while Sugar tried her hardest not to look as embarrassed as she felt.
The boss gave a thumbs up as Gabby returned to her spot. ``Now, we've got work ta do!'' The girls nodded, and he got down to it. The next few minutes were of the boss pacing across the map, explaining the general plan, with Gabby having to break down the more technical terms much to Sugar's relief. It was almost comical seeing the man jog across the huge blueprint, and Sugar did try her best not to laugh, but, to the boss' credit, it wasn't the first time he had to do this, so he was surprisingly fit for the task at hand.
Today's project was getting at least a start on an ambitious 20-story mostly-glass skyscraper, although the boss was shooting for getting the entire thing up by the end of the work day. The material slabs that would comprise the floors were already ready to go, and the foundation floor was already welded into place. The task for the girls was fairly simple. Gabby would pass up each floor and hold it in place for a large group of workers to affix in place. Then, when signaled, she would pass up the supports for the next floor to her team, setting them in place. Sugar, meanwhile, due to her hands not being part goo, would be working on the window panels of the floor below, passing them up to her own team one at a time to weld and bolt into place, aiding in supporting the floor above for Gabby and her team.
After the boss finished explaining their jobs, he hopped off of the giant blueprint, signaling for the trucks pinning it down to do the same. Then, Gabby took it, rolled it up with ease, and stuffed it back into her backpack leaning in the corner of the site. Then, they both stood up - Sugar with a bit more difficulty as she had fallen to her rear during the explanation - and took the couple of steps over to the finished foundation. The boss called his team in to brief them on the details they couldn't overhear, and after 5 minutes, the meeting was over, with some groups going to all corners of the site, while two groups stayed nears the girls' paws. Sugar's team was 10 men and women strong to Gabby's 20-person team, each one ready to fulfil their assigned role. The groups then broke off, and the girls glanced down at what was destined to be the building's first floor.
The floor was actually a vast, two-story lobby, with special supports and window panes, so as they started to work, the girls found themselves working in tandem from the get go. Gabby's team was already signaling her to drop in the special support columns, which were easy to spot from the nearby materials due to their height. She sighed contently, sitting down with a noticeable tremor and smiling down at her team as she reprised her role as a living crane. Next, she started grabbing the columns and placing them in pre-made holes in the floor, holding them in place with a finger, or one of her extendable horns, until all the necessary connections were made. Sugar was also getting flagged, and there were specific, delicate, and intricate panels for her to grab and move into place. Thankfully, her panels were numbered in a gaudy, obvious white on top, but this also meant that each panel had to be installed correctly and in order, so there was even less room for her to make mistakes. She was, of course, very panicky. How did it get okayed for her to mess with something so fragile? Eventually, with the consoling of the head of her team, Sugar fell into a rhythm and got all the panels installed.
``You alright over there, Sugar?'' asked Gabby from her seated position. There were less columns to install than windows, so her team was done first.
``Y-yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it now,'' Sugar replied, about 2/3 of the way done. ``These windows are beautiful...''
``Great! Now the tedious work begins.''
``Yeah, but...''
``Hmm?''
``Twenty stories is 200 feet up. How are we gonna finish up a building taller than we are?''
Gabby just winked at her.
Gabby started working on the second floor while Sugar finished working on the windows of the lobby floor, kicking off a repetitive routine that would last for at least the next few hours. Once the next floor was in place, Gabby would move her team up to the top of it, and hold it in place with her horns and hands afterwards, waiting for them to weld it to the supports. Next, she would pass up the supports for the floor above for them to be welded. Meanwhile, Sugar and her team would work on the floor below, with Sugar passing up each of the panes of the building to be affixed. Unlike the lobby windows, the order of these didn't matter, so they went up in short order. Sugar's team would then take the stairs to the next floor, where her bright smile would be waiting for them to repeat the process all over again. Sugar already found herself standing and awkwardly crouching around the building, and the two found themselves brushing up against each other several times over the course of the build.
By the time floor 5 went up, Gabby also had to start standing, making the area around the building wobbly and hazardous for those workers not assigned to the girls. By floor 7, Sugar had to stand on her tiptoes to pass up her windows. By floor 10, Gabby couldn't properly see her team, and wasn't about to blindly wave around huge concrete supports, so she asked for a break. Looking down, she saw that Sugar was falling behind due to how short she was by comparison. The bun gave her a pleading look in between placing the windows on floor 8. Seeing as he couldn't feel the ground shaking in the temporary office, the boss stepped out, armed with his megaphone.
``Ah, great progress, ladies! Is... there a problem?''
``Well, the building's taller than we are now,'' said Sugar.
``So I'll take it ya need time ta adjust?''
``Yeah!'' Gabby piped up. Sugar gave her an incredulous look.
``How much more are ya thinkin'?''
``Double? Maybe triple seeing how tall the building's supposed to be.''
``Hmm...'' The boss thought about it for a few seconds. ``I'll allow it. Just, mind the roads, lass. We both know they won't stand up ta yer weight afterwards.''
Sugar looked extremely confused, and rightfully so. Gabby put a hand on her shoulder, and kept it there. ``We will! Come on, Sugar, we're going up!''
``We are?''
Gabby nodded and started growing once more; Sugar only noticed that she was being dragged along too when she noticed they were rapidly rising past their handiwork. Space at the base was becoming more and more limited as the 4 paws expanded upward and outward. Sugar sidestepped to allow herself a little more room to grow, and visibly cringed when she felt how much further her paw sunk into the ground. It was very apparent that what was passing for gentle before, wasn't going to pass for it now.
After a little while, Gabby exhaled and cut off the growth, allowing herself and Sugar in particular to take in their new heights. Standing at 270 feet, the goodra gal was easily the tallest thing in the immediate area, and her paws took up nearly the entirety of the space between the temporary office and the building-in-progress. Floor 10, which was once level with her horns, was now level with her thighs, and while her team on the floor gawked at her towering form, they didn't seem too phased otherwise.
Off to the side, Sugar was really whipping her head back and forth looking at the city from her new vantage point. She was now more than twice Gabby's previous size at 186 feet, and although she was still smaller than the dragon, she was now much bigger than everything else, including the building materials. Speaking of, she sat down on the ground again near the rest of the windows, rattling them and the other materials even though she was gentle. She picked up one of them very, very carefully, and marveled at how much smaller they looked. She added a couple more to her hand, before quickly looking for her team within the building. Thanks to her new size, even while seated she was about as tall as the building currently was, so she'd have no difficulty handing off the windows to her team for at least the two floors that she was behind. It was just a matter of knowing her own strength.
Gabby stepped back and stood near the temporary office that now reached as high as her ankles, and watched Sugar work with her team, literally crawling around the building to pass up windows. She heard the sound of a megaphone turning on nearby.
``I don't think we'll ever get used ta ya doin' that.'' The boss had to somewhat shout through the device to be heard now.
``Why not?'' replied Gabby. ``It isn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last.'' She pointed towards the downtown area, where more than a few of the skyscrapers there dwarfed her. ``Remember when I had to go up to finish one of those?''
``Yeah. Sure, we lost some of the money ta repair the surroundin' roads, but the contract was worth it.''
``If you say so. My feet barely fit between the buildings...''
Sugar had progressed to floor 9 with her team while they talked.
``She seems really eager, huh?'' he added.
``I wouldn't say `eager'. From the sounds of what she's sent me, she's all about being fast. I think right now she's just making up for lost time.''
``She might just be visitin', but do ya think ya could convince her to move here? Work for me? Imagine all the projects we'd be able ta take on...''
``Y'know I can hear that, right?'' Sugar asked, still working on the 9th floor but turning her head when she could. ``I appreciate the offer, but I have family, friends, and a job back home.''
Gabby and the boss laughed, with the former taking a couple gentle-yet-booming steps towards the materials. ``Guess that answers that question, huh?''
``So it does!'' the boss responded. ``Now let's get this done!''
The girls were once again working in tandem, with Gabby having to crouch for the first few floors past 10 and Sugar being able to comfortably sit until about floor 13. By this point, Sugar had a handle on what she could and couldn't get away with in terms of the windows, and at one point, her team came up to the next floor to see her smiling playfully with her tongue stuck out and holding one. Gabby meanwhile was thankful for the moment where she'd be able to stand. Similar to Sugar, she could hold multiple of the support beams in her huge hands, but she still had to bend over to retrieve more, or the next floor for her team to weld. Every time she bent over, her team got a magnificent view of her chest, or, they would have, if she were wearing something more revealing.
Unfortunately, the overall progress was still limited by the welding speed of their teams, and it was crucial that everything was done right rather than fast, so it was still a couple more hours before the girls were just about done with the outside of the structure. By this time, the sun was beginning to set and the evening rush was underway, with various lights flickering on in the surrounding structures. In fact, a crowd had started to gather at the fringes of the site perimeter, getting as close as they legally could to watch the two enormous girls work on the structure in a strange yet effective harmony.
For the finale of the build, the girls were directed towards another corner of the site, where the boss had a couple teams working together on assembling something for a majority of their time there. That something, now fully assembled, was revealed to be a large, somewhat rounded reinforced concrete spire with intricate glass designs strung throughout it, the most notable of which were four vast stained glass works on the spire's sides. The girls looked at each other and nodded; this was going to be a team effort. They carefully stepped over to it after everyone else got clear, and hoisted it up. Due to their height difference and the height of the building, Sugar in particular was having a tough time of it. She had to hold the 30-foot spire at above eye level, meanwhile Gabby had to hunch over a little bit to assist. The crowd was watching them carefully maneuver over to the structure like one would watch a suspenseful scene in a film. A few even had popcorn!
Eventually, they were successful in placing the spire atop the building, causing a cheer to erupt from the onlookers as the teams - both Gabby's and Sugar's - got to work on attaching the final piece to the rest of the building, the sun reflecting beautifully off of the glass as it continued its journey towards the horizon. Sugar looked back from her team and only then noticed the crowd around them complete with various flashes from cameras of the sort.
``...Is it always this exciting when you work?'' she asked.
``Not usually,'' Gabby replied. ``Only when we have a fancy capstone like that one.''
``It is really pretty... but what is it even for?''
``Blueprints have the top floor slated as a rooftop park and/or garden.''
``Seems like an odd place for that but that's not my business. At least the view will be nice.''
``Well done, ladies!'' came the boss through his megaphone. The girls looked far down to see him standing in front of their paws.
``All in a day's work, boss!'' Gabby chirped.
``Literally,'' Sugar added.
The crowd continued to cheer and take pictures as Gabby and Sugar shrank back down to their previous heights. Since the necessary milestone for the day was achieved, it was officially quitting time, and all of the workers were lining up to clock out so they could head home. The boss flagged the girls down as the crowd and many of the workers began dispersing from the site.
``Ah, thank ya so much, ladies!'' He didn't need to shout through the megaphone anymore, but he was in a particularly good mood. ``We're officially ahead of schedule! I can call in the interior teams tomorrow, and we can make that beauty really shine!''
Sugar and Gabby glanced back from their crouching positions to the building they had just constructed. It was an impressive sight to be sure, another one of the tall skyscrapers of the inner city that were reflecting the last few rays of sunlight for the day. The boss continued.
``I once again apologize for ya havin' ta give up your day off ta do this, but I'm so so glad ya did!''
``I'll admit, it was pretty fun!'' said Sugar. ``Repetitive, but fun.''
``That's pretty much the job in general, Sugar,'' added Gabby with a slight giggle. ``It just usually doesn't go this fast.''
The boss took out a touch screen tablet and started pressing some stuff on it. A few seconds after he was done, a loud buzzing echoed through the air. It was coming from Gabby's jeans pocket, which had her phone in it. She pulled out the huge device and checked it, gasping when she saw the notification.
``What's up, Gabs?'' Sugar asked, looking over and up.
``...He just paid me for two days' work instead of one. Boss, I can't take this.''
``Ya can and I insist that ya do. It probably would've taken ya that long without yer friend there.''
``Thank you! I really appreciate it!''
``Don't mention it. Now, head on home, ladies. Ya earned the rest, and yer route back ain't exactly well lit!''
``Oh shoot, he's right. C'mon, Sugar; we've got to get going before it gets too dark to see!''
Gabby gave a wave to the boss, grabbed her backpack, and started making her way out of the site and towards the highway. Her face immediately fell when she realized that meant more navigation of hip-hugging buildings. Sugar stood in the site patiently, her paws near the boss, as she waited for Gabby to start making headway. When there finally was room, she gave her own happy wave to the boss before following the dragon though traffic.
Gabby and Sugar found themselves back on Route 21, already out of the city and about halfway home. On the way back, she had dropped off the purple drums containing their breakfast, but not before Sugar finished off the rest of hers in one gulp. With the sun fully below the horizon, most of their guidance came from the lights of the cars also traveling the route. The road itself was becoming harder and harder to see, and they had to rely on what little light could pass by their paws as they walked to make sure they didn't stray from the path.
``So, I guess that's roughly a typical workday for me, Sugar. What did you think?''
``Eh, work is work, but like I said back there, it was repetitive but fun. What I'm more surprised at is that they expect you to be this big or bigger.'' Sugar paused her speech, but not her movement. ``Wait. Why didn't we stay that size to walk back home?''
``If I get too heavy, this road will start breaking under my feet like every other road would. I can't say for certain at what size that would start happening, but I can say I don't want to risk it. There are also other factors in the city that limit me from getting too big anyway.''
``Like your hips?'' Sugar grinned.
Gabby sighed, but giggled softly. ``Yes, like my hips. Sometimes I forget how narrow those streets can get...''
She turned onto the street that had her house with Sugar following. Unlike the highway, the suburb was better lit, although the lampposts swayed under the power of the girls' steps as they passed by. Eventually, they got in front of the goodra's house, and Gabby pulled Sugar down the rest of the way with her to their normal heights.
``Well, that wasn't how I wanted our hang-out week to start,'' mused Gabby as they stepped out of the middle of the street.
Sugar put a hand on Gabby's side. It was the best she could do since the dragon's shoulder was way out of reach. ``Hey, don't worry about it. We still got to hang out, and I got to do something I haven't done before! I call that a win in my book.''
The pair headed up towards the front door. ``Good. I wasn't sure how big of a fan you'd be of working on your day off.''
``Normally I'd rather not, but today was a unique experience so I'll let it sli - '' a rumble from Sugar's stomach cut her off. ``Oogh... What's for dinner? We did only have those donuts.''
``I have a few things in mind...''
Gabby unlocked the door to her house and motioned for her guest to enter. Sugar bounded in, sighing in relief as the plush carpeting began working on her aching paws. The dragon giggled upon hearing this, stepping inside herself and closing the door to her house. This signaled the beginning of the end of an interesting, yet highly productive day, and while Gabby was still slightly apologetic for the shift in the day's plans, Sugar was pleasantly satisfied. She had gotten a glimpse into her friend's day-to-day life that answered more questions than a Q&A session ever would. As the two prepared to eat dinner and relax for the evening, they couldn't help but wonder if the week had any more curveballs planned for them. Of course, only time would tell what the next day would bring.
