He sat down at a nearby table and listened in on the conversation between Victoria and Patti, which was slowly changing into that of a mother/daughter talk. He was especially interested by the fact that the little girl was acting like an adult and that the grown woman was on her way to acting like a little girl.
As Victoria led Patti to a table, the confused woman mumbled "But I'm the mother."
"Don't be silly, dear," Victoria (who still looked like an 8-year old girl) said, sitting down at the table and crossing her short legs. "Now sit down and eat your food."
"But I'm not being silly," Patti said, shrilly. "I'm the mother. You're the child."
The more agitated Patti got, the more calm and composed Victoria seemed to get. That only made Patti more confused. Was Victoria getting...taller? A few moments ago, her feet hadn't touched the floor, and now... "Patricia Anne Lynch, I do not know what sort of game you are playing..."
The sound of her full name had an odd effect on Patti, it made her...afraid. She cringed under the stern look. "I'm a grownup. I work in an office, and stuff..." She began to mumble. Then, she suddenly jumped to her feet.
"What is it, sweetie?" Victoria said, rising, switching from stern parent mode to concerned parent mode.
Patti stared at her. They were the same height, but not for long, Victoria was still growing. Patti realized that Victoria wasn't growing as fast as she herself was shrinking. She turned and ran, terrified.
She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, and so she didn't see the stranger till she ran right into them.
There seemed to be a lot of that going around today.
