Kyle sighed, looking up at the ceiling of the shrunken patient dormitory, itself a glorified terrarium. It was a massive open void to him, the tiny doll sized couch off in the distance across vast smooth plastic plain. Being in here was easier than being… outside, at this size. He still felt small, but he wasn’t the insignificant speck he was. It was an illusion of course, everything in here was only a few inches tall, including the giant woman he was laying on, but… it helped him cope.

He felt Samantha’s enormous chest rising and falling beneath him as he lay across her. Both of them were naked, there were no tiny clothes small enough for his ant sized form, and Samantha hadn’t bothered getting herself new ones from the small dresser near their bed yet.

A finger as thick as his torso came down, gently rubbing his hair, “you feeling better now?” Samantha asked quietly.

“Why did she do this?” he asked numbly, “I felt like we were all just starting to get along…”

“Same reason she does anything,” Samantha growled angrily, “to make us feel small and weak, to make herself feel big and powerful.” She reached for her chest, her breasts weren’t nearly as big as Carmen’s so while Kyle was able to rest between the two small hills, he wasn’t enveloped like he would have been. Her fingers curled around Kyle, lifting him like a small doll for Samantha to examine.

Kyle felt a little nervous being handled like this, but… it was Samantha, and she gave him a warm smile as she teasingly pinched his arm, raising it like she was adjusting an action figure. It was an odd sensation, being posed like this while his wife was in total control…

“Is that a little boner?” Samantha teased, tilting her palm and opening it slightly so she could see. She giggled, “Is that Carmen’s pheromones or are you just happy to see me?”

“Definitely you,” he breathed, his nervousness fading as he wondered what his wife would do, even at three inches tall she was a giant to him…

“It’s good to see she’s not the only girl that gets you going when she plays with you at doll size,” Samantha said with a grin.

He gulped, “H-Hey, Carmen doesn’t-“

“Please Kyle,” Samantha chuckled, rolling her eyes, “it happens to me too, she might be an evil bitch, but Carmen is…” she sighed, as if she was about to confess to some terrible crime, “Carmen is hot, let’s not kid ourselves, she was before she was a Valkyrie and she is now.”

The statement hung in the air, the awkward unspoken truth that neither of them had wanted to come to terms with.

“Yeah,” Kyle admitted with a sigh, “the really messed up thing is-“

“You get turned on when she pushes you around,” Samantha muttered, “yeah… same.” She rubbed her temples a moment, “clearly our youth with Carmen left us with some…”

“Complex emotions,” Kyle finished.

“Let’s call them that,” Samantha agreed, “for now…” she grinned, “if you’re up for it Kyle, maybe I can give you that giant girl fix?”

“You’re three inches tall Samantha,” Kyle teased.

“And you’re a speck, so it works,” she said, gripping him again as she sat up slightly. She let his feet dangle below the ring of her fingers around his chest, giggling as she shifted him back and forth, enjoying the helpless swaying motion of his legs. “I can definitely see what Carmen likes about this,” Samantha mused, “holding someone so small is interesting…”

She held him up, briefly licking her thumb and then bringing it back around to his crotch. He gasped, his tiny body going rigid as she slowly began to play with his erection. She bit her lip, enjoying how the slow circular motion of her thumb could cause him so much pleasure.

“Look at you go!” Samantha laughed, watching him desperately starting to grind his hips against the soft pad of her thumb. She leaned in for a better look, grinning widely as she watched her tiny husband roil with pleasure from the smallest motions of her thumb.

Kyle gasped, looking up to see Samantha’s grinning face become his entire world. Her warm breath billowed over his face like a humid fog, causing his hair to sway with each time she exhaled. Her own curly red hair hung around her face, framing her smile in a way that reminded him why he loved her.

“I’m going to-“ he warned.

“Just do it silly!” Samantha giggled, “you’re so small that you’re not going to cause a big mess no matter where it goes!”

Kyle blushed, a little embarrassed at being reminded of his size, but a second later he gritted his teeth as pleasure rocked his body and his hips bucked against Samantha’s thumb for a final wonderous few minutes. He collapsed back into the soft padding of her palm a moment later, panting.

“See?” Samantha said with a smug grin, wiggling her thumb at him and showing off the small glistening load, “no big deal at all… in fact-“ she lifted the thumb to her mouth, sucking it for half a second as she easily slurped the tiny mass up. She grinned and held her now clean thumb down to him, “You being tiny is kind of nice, easy cleanup…”

“I guess I finally convinced you to swallow,” he said with a stupid grin on his face.

Samantha smirked and shrugged, bending down a little and placing him on the bed between her legs, “enjoy it, because I still won’t do it at full size!” she bit her lip, watching his reaction as she bent her knees slightly, spreading her legs and letting one finger dip lower to begin lightly tracing around her entrance.

“S-Samantha?” Kyle asked, suddenly nervous.

“What, you got yours, now you’ve got to give me mine!” Samantha said, a broad grin stretching across her face as Kyle realized the implication.

Kyle looked between his wife’s legs, wide eyed. Samantha had always kept herself clean shaven down there, giving him a clear and unobstructed view when she used her fingers to part her lips, revealing a glistening pink tunnel that could easily swallow him up. Would easily swallow him up…

“Okay,” he breathed, forcing himself to walk across the bed, “L-Let’s do this!”

Samantha’s eyes went wide, “oh my god, Kyle, I was just kidding, you don’t have to go inside my-“

“I’ve come this far,” Kyle said with a defiant smile.

Samantha’s eyes went wide, “O-Okay,” she stammered, “do you want me to just-“

“Hold it open and maybe um… help me the rest of the way in when I get there,” Kyle said, forcing one foot in front of the other as he approached the giant form of his wife.

He felt his heart hammering as he made the first contact, the small feeling of his hand reaching up into Samantha causing a tremor through the bed as she shuddered with anticipation. He felt her fingers grip him again, forcing him up in a move that surprised him.

His head was inside her before he realized it, the glistening wetness quickly soaking his face and flattening his hair against his head as she pushed him inside, his shoulders, his torso, and even his legs disappearing in one slick fluid push.

“Oh wow,” Samantha breathed, gripping the blankets as her eyes threatened to roll back in her head, “K-Kyle be careful in the-“ she was cut off by a moan, the muscles inside of her constricting on her shrunken husband as his tiny hands found the most sensitive places inside her.

Kyle felt the walls of her womanhood squeeze around him, seeming to swallow him up as he struggled to breathe. He gritted his teeth and pressed against Samantha’s insides again, running his hands back and forth over the spot that had elicited such a strong reaction.

“K-KYLE!?” Samantha squealed, trembling as he brought her to a powerful orgasm. She made a pathetic mewling sound as her body went tense, finally collapsing, limp as the wave of bliss subsided. She blinked a few times, trying to make sense of things and remember where she was. Her eyes suddenly went wide as she remembered where Kyle was, the small tickling of his attempts to escape her bringing attention to his plight.

Kyle felt a pair of massive fingers pinch his ankle, and sighed with relief as he was pulled backwards into the light. The air hit his skin, and he shivered slightly as the sticky fluids coating him began to dry. Samantha had a somewhat amazed expression as she righted him, and he smiled down at her as she brought him back to her chest, laying his soaked form between her breasts again.

“We’re going to have to do that again,” Samantha said in a breathy voice.

Kyle smiled as he enjoyed the warmth from Samantha’s heaving chest. He glanced at the opaqued walls of their dormitory, knowing that with the press of a button they would be transparent again, revealing that they were tiny, on their own dresser, and of course Carmen would still be out there… for now though he could relax, the world was just him and Samantha.

…

Carmen paced the mansion’s master bedroom, occasionally glancing at the opaqued out grey glass of the dormitory on the dresser. She’d given the couple the night to themselves, even with Kyle at an extra small size they’d be completely safe inside of there. She scowled and looked at the clock, it was nearly noon, there was no way they were still sleeping, they were avoiding her.

I didn’t do anything that bad! She reasoned with herself, yeah, I made Kyle extra tiny, but that’s just… just messing around, he’s fine… isn’t he? They were always fine after everything I did!

Almost as if she was watching someone else do it on a faraway TV screen, Carmen marched up to the small glass box and flipped a switch on the side. The opaqued sides of the container instantly went clear, revealing a robed Samantha sitting casually on the small couch, a little speck of a thing that was Kyle sitting snugly in her lap.

The cold look Samantha gave her flared that same mix of shame and anger in Carmen, “hey!” she said, holding the intercom button on the side of the box down, “what gives? Why haven’t you two called me yet?”

“Because we didn’t want to speak to you,” Samantha said icily, “but since you’ve barged in anyway, fix Kyle!”

Carmen gritted her teeth, “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Are you?” Samantha scowled, placing Kyle on the floor of the container.

“I said I was, wasn’t I?” Carmen replied venomously.

Kyle felt a sense of nervousness come over him, his own wife was already a colossus, but looking at Carmen and the world beyond the tank again… he gulped, wishing Samantha would stop antagonizing her, but at the same time not sure he wanted to speak up and draw attention to himself.

Carmen glared down at them, “give me a second,” she said, breathing out as she focused herself. It was hard, it always was when she was upset about something. She gritted her teeth, her frustration rising as she tried to control the energy, to call it down on Kyle and restore his size, but…

Nothing...

“Well?” Samantha asked impatiently.

Kyle shifted, then shouted as loud as he could, “Come on Carmen, this isn’t funny anymore!”

Carmen heard his voice through the small intercom system, he sounded far away, and afraid.

Carmen gulped, trying her best to clear her mind, “I just need a minute!” she said, her mouth dry as she desperately willed Kyle to grow, but he seemed to defy her, remaining speck sized while she gazed helplessly.

“What is wrong with you?” Samantha asked, raising an eyebrow.

“T-There’s some receptor serum in the van,” Carmen said weakly, “I’ll just go get it, it’ll help regrow you guys-“

“That stuff that almost permanently shrank us?” Samantha asked angrily, “no way Carmen! Just focus up or something!”

“The regular stuff won’t permanently shrink you!” Carmen said through gritted teeth, “that was a vial that was tampered with-“

“I’m not taking any chances on being this size forever!” Kyle shouted as loud as he could.

“You two are being irrational,” Carmen growled, “I only need that crap because of you two any-“ She stopped herself just before she could finish it, but it was out, the damage was done. Samantha was looking at her curiously, even Kyle’s ant sized form seemed to be regarding her warily.

“Because of us?” Kyle shouted, “that doesn’t make any sense!”

“He’s right,” Samantha said, crossing her arms, “I don’t know how all of this Valkyrie stuff works, but you can’t possibly blame us because you can’t hack it with the rest of them!”

Carmen felt rage boiling inside her, and as she reached for the small portal on the side of the dormitory, she couldn’t help but grin as she saw Samantha’s cool vanish. She tapped a button, and it sprung open, giving her access to them.

“Carmen?” Samantha asked, bending over and scooping Kyle up as the giant hand stretched out for her. Samantha gave an adorable little squeak and turned to run just before the larger woman’s hand lashed out like a cobra, snatching her up.

“Keep a good grip on the ant,” Carmen said with a devious smile.

Samantha yelped as she was roughly drawn out of the glass box, and she hugged Kyle to her chest as Carmen’s vicelike fingers squeezed her body. The tiny woman and her tinier husband were brought up to Carmen’s face, it felt like they were beneath the gaze of some angry goddess as she regarded them, fire in her eyes.

“You two are everywhere, commercials, ads, the fucking gym I go to has your stupid Goblin app, you’ve got a billboard with your dorky little faces smiling down on my parking lot every day!” She blinked away a quick tear, “every day I get to see that the people who ruined my life got to go on and be rich and famous, people I thought were-“ she scowled, “it fucks with my head Sammy, and when I’m not in a good mental state it’s harder to do my thing, you might say you two came back around to torch my life again after you burned it down the first time!”

Kyle felt Samantha’s hands curl around him, seemingly protecting him from the angry storm above. He’d never felt so powerless, even when Carmen had bullied them in high school she’d always been a normal girl he could eventually get away from… now, seeing her like this, it was like the distilled essence of everything she’d ever been to him, a tormenting and all powerful monster bent on nothing but making him feel weak and pathetic.

“FUCK YOU!” Kyle shouted, his face going red.

His outburst barely reached Carmen’s ears, and she smirked, leaning in closer, “gonna have to speak up shrimp.”

The response just fueled his rage more, “Where the hell do you get off?” Kyle screamed at the top of his longs, “you were constantly treating us like dirt! Every time we saw you, we’d wonder if you were going to break something of ours, humiliate us in front of everyone! What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you came to us for help on that project? That we’d just roll over and give you what you wanted? I am not fucking sorry Carmen! And you know what? I’m glad I’m screwing up your backup career.”

Carmen was clearly fighting tears, and her mouth twitched with rage, “I was just having fun! I didn’t deserve what you did!” There was a hint of doubt in that statement, a weakness, a gap in the stormclouds, “I thought…” she sniffed, “I thought…” she couldn’t finish the sentence, her voice was trembling as she tried

Samantha had initially felt a wave of dread at Kyle’s outburst, but her own anger was returning, mixed with… pity?

“Carmen,” she said quietly, hugging Kyle close to her, “I don’t know what you thought, but you made us both nervous depressed wrecks for years, I don’t know if you made up something in your mind about how we were all friends or buddies or whatever, but we weren’t.” She sighed and looked at Carmen, “I’d like to say I’m sorry for what we did with that paper Carmen, but I’m not.”

The only sound in their master bedroom for a moment was the sound of Carmen’s sniffling as she tried to keep her emotions under control. Samantha and Kyle felt a shared sense of odd calm, reminiscent of a death row prisoner accepting their fate. Carmen’s fuse was lit, it was only a matter of time until-

“Fine,” Carmen sniffed, taking a deep breath and collecting herself, “fuck you both too then,” she said. She walked over to where her workout shoes had been haphazardly tossed as she’d gone into the shower and picked one of them up. “Kyle, you’re staying that size, hope you like the view from below.”

Kyle started, “Carmen,” he shouted, “you can’t-“

“I’m completely in charge of your treatment,” Carmen said with a wicked grin, “and I’ve decided that Kyle’s cell damage isn’t healing fast enough at three inches, so…” she shrugged, “say goodbye to mouse life and hello to bug life until we’re done!” She lowered Samantha down to the mouth of the shoe, the foul stench of Carmen’s sweat wafting up to meet them.

“You’ll get in trouble for this!” Samantha shouted, “I’ll tell Melinda, I’ll tell-“

“Sammy,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes, “I really don’t give a shit at this point.” Her powerful fingers easily stuffed the struggling mouse-girl into the dank cavern of her footwear. She giggled as she saw Samantha struggling to keep a grip on Kyle as she rocked the shoe, causing them both to tumble down into the toe.

Kyle fell free of her grip, screaming as he fell what felt like dozens of feet down to the filthy insole of the shoe. It didn’t hurt when he landed, but he got a mouthful of the foul funk that filled it, and he almost gagged as he tried to spit the flavor out.

Carmen squinted, just barely able to see the scene playing out for her shrunken captives, “Aww, Kyle, is the food in there not as good as it is in the nice little glass dorm?” she mocked, “too bad, I think that place is too good for you, I’ll be keeping you in here from now on.”

“You won’t get away with this!” Samantha shouted, “this isn’t high school anymore Carmen, you’re going to-“

“No Sammy, you’re right, this is way better than high school,” Carmen said, an eerie look coming over her face. The next part of what she was going to say erupted out of her, like someone else was saying it, “I should go get that receptor serum,” she said dreamily, “I can whip up a batch of the stuff for permanent shrinking, imagine you and Kyle being like this… forever.”

She regretted it already, and she saw the look of fear and horror pass over Samantha’s face, and the tiny form of Kyle looking up on his hands and knees like a pathetic faraway speck. A feeling like ice gripped her chest, and it was all she could do not to stammer that she’d been kidding, that she hadn’t meant to say that, but-

No I’m not apologizing to THESE TWO! They can feel scared and afraid for a bit, they have it coming.

“CARMEN!” Samantha shouted one final time as she saw the balled-up sock coming.

“Buh bye!” Carmen taunted, giving a final teasing little wave as she stuffed her dirty sock into the shoe’s opening, sealing the pair off from the world.

She heard the muffled little pleas for a moment, taking some pleasure in her moment of revenge, but the sadness and anger were quickly roiling back to the front of her mind. She sighed, looking at the shoe that held the pair that had occupied her thoughts for so long. Slowly she brought it back down to the floor, and gently scooted it under the bed with her foot, out of view.

Putting them out of sight did not take them out of mind, and Carmen sat on the bed, thinking, there had to have been some time we all had fun together, she insisted, at least one time where we all did something that they enjoyed too… she wracked her brain for any memory like that, any glimmer of hope that might prove to her that it hadn’t been so bad, that if they weren’t friends then at least they were something close, that she hadn’t been the monster they described.

She felt a tear roll down her cheek and a hollowness in her stomach as she came up empty.

…

Samantha tried to be careful how she moved, knowing that Kyle was somewhere at her feet. Even at three inches the interior of Carmen’s shoe was a cramped and claustrophobic space, with no light to help see she fumbled in the dark with her hands, searching for her husband. The worst part of it was the rising heat between her legs, and she cursed the effect of the Valkyrie pheromones, the ripe scent of Carmen’s dried sweat was turning her on even while it made her gag…

“I’m here!” Kyle shouted, and she felt her hand come into contact with his tiny body a second later. She sighed with relief and gripped him, flopping onto her back and treating the filthy insole as a bed while she lay in thought.

“So, what now?” she asked bitterly.

“We did manage to make Carmen cry, that’s kind of a win, right?” Kyle asked uncertainly.

“Yeah, and we won a trip to her shoe,” Samantha muttered, “all over a bunch of stupid stuff from high school…”

“I guess that’s on us for thinking Carmen could ever change,” Kyle said quietly. “ Do you think she is serious about that serum? The one to make us… like this, forever?”

“I don’t know,” Samantha muttered, “she definitely seems like she’s gone off the deep end and doesn’t care what’s going to happen to her after this… but that’s a way bigger step than just shoving us in her dirty shoes, like she’d definitely go to jail Valkyrie or not, unless…” Samantha swallowed nervously, “unless we weren’t around to say what happened.”

“I don’t think Carmen would go that far,” Kyle reasoned, more trying to convince himself than Samantha, “she saved our lives, didn’t she?”

“She used to beat the crap out of any other kids that messed with us too,” Samantha said, “that’s just how she thinks, we’re hers, of course she’d save our lives if someone else was trying to do something to us…” she sighed, “do you remember what she said she’d do Kyle, back when this whole shrinking thing was first going public?”

“She said she’d keep us,” Kyle muttered. He was quiet a moment, then sighed, “Okay, I can see her doing that… or trying anyway. What do we do?”

“I doubt she’s going to let us call for help,” Samantha said quietly, “but remember there are cops all around the property… we’ve just got to get outside and get their attention.” She smirked as she gently ran a finger through his hair again, “don’t worry, it’ll be like when we play MMOs, I’ll carry you.”

“Ha ha,” Kyle said, though he really was fighting a small laugh, “okay, here’s what you’re going to want to do, doors are right out, but if we can get down to the garage…”

…

Judy finished entering inventory at the clinic, checking the water and food levels in the provided patient dormitories via computer before logging off for the day. She looked up from the front desk to see Elaine, Carmen’s replacement Valkyrie, wave to her as she came in the door.

“Night Judy,” Elaine called, “I’ve got it from here!”

“Thanks,” Judy said with a smile, sitting up and stretching, eager for the weekend. Personally Judy found it easier to deal with Elaine than Carmen, she’d been a nurse for plenty of the enhanced women over the years since the program had begun, and she noticed they all had certain… quirks. Whatever Elaine’s were, she kept them under wraps better than Carmen did.

“Evening,” Juliet said, leaning against Judy’s car.

Judy started, “Uh… should you be here?” she whispered under her breath.

“That’s what I need to talk to you about,” Juliet said with a cold smile, “why don’t you come for a short drive with me?” She gestured to a large black Humvee that was idling a few spots away. Judy gulped, knowing that if she tried to run the towering amazon could easily catch her and bring her into the vehicle by force.

“Sure, a drive,” Judy muttered, following Juliet to the car. The vehicle shifted as Juliet stepped in and took a seat, the Valkyrie’s massive weight rocking the suspension slightly as she beckoned Judy in. A man she didn’t recognize was driving the vehicle, and he didn’t look back at her as she buckled in.

“W-Whatever is going on with Carmen I didn’t have anything to do with it!” Judy panicked, “Juliet you’ve got to believe me, if I’d known your people were going to be there I would have stopped her, I-“

“Relax Judy,” Juliet chuckled, “we’re not angry with you, you’ve been a very valuable asset to the organization.”

Judy calmed a little, gulping as the pheromones wafting off Juliet began to fill the vehicle’s cabin. She flushed, and Juliet seemed to recognize what was happening. With a smirk she cracked one of the windows as they drove, the effect subsided a little, but not much.

“It’s going to be a little harder to get you all the receptor serum you need,” Judy said eagerly, “not until Carmen gets back, she uses so much of the stuff that it’s easy to order extra and then “lose” it…”

“That’s done,” Juliet said, waving dismissively, “we won’t be able to use Carmen’s clinic as an easy source of receptor serum either way, Carmen’s extensive use of receptor serum and her… conduct, have put her far too much under the spotlights of Melinda and law enforcement. Even if Carmen herself actually is innocent, sooner or later someone will start probing her other staff, including little miss Judy.”

“S-So I’m out?” Judy asked hesitantly. She was half angry, half relieved, sliding receptor serum to Jormungand under the table had been a great extra source of income for her, but the danger had been starting to feel a little too close lately…

“No,” Juliet sighed, “this is always a tough conversation to have, but… we’re going to need you to do some jail time dear.”

“JAIL TIME!?” Judy exclaimed loud enough that the driver flinched.

Juliet on the other hand, was unfazed, “It won’t be so terrible,” Juliet said reassuringly, “you’ll have the finest in legal representation, with a plea bargain and your testimony you’ll probably get less than five years in a minimum security facility… and you will be compensated well for your time there. You’ll leave the prison system in a few years a wealthy woman.”

Judy gulped, “a-and if I-“

“Judy please,” Juliet chuckled, “you’re going to do it.”

Judy bit her lower lip, but she nodded, “so… you said something about testimony?”

“Melinda and the FBI want the Valkyrie running the Chicago branch of Jormungand,” Juliet explained, “so we’re going to give her up… well give Carmen up anyway.”

Judy blinked, realizing what she was getting at, “you want me to say Carmen was in on it… that she was the one leading Jormungand here?”

“The rest of us will simply go dark for a time,” Juliet said with a smile, “it’s funny, I almost recruited Carmen…”

“Why didn’t you?” Judy asked.

Juliet sighed and leaned back, “despite what she seems like at first, I just don’t think she’s cut out for our organization, let’s leave it at that. We have a few other pieces that need to be put into place before we can drop the hammer on this Judy, just continue your normal routine until I give you the signal that it’s time for your confession.”

…

Richard was waiting in Juliet’s apartment when she arrived, his car parked out in the street in broad view. The cold wind nipped at her ears as she stalked into her home, spotting him waiting at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee in hand. She wanted to slap him across the face when she entered it, but the way he recoiled from her furious gaze was good enough.

“What are you doing here Richard?” she asked angrily, “it is very important that we only meet at safe times and locations-“

“I lost the guy following me, we’re good!” Richard insisted.

Juliet sighed, making a mental note to check on that. The police had been observing Richard since the initial attempt on the Westwoods, as their business partner he was a fairly obvious suspect. Jormungand largely relied on assistance from friendly organized crime networks when it came to the police, and dirty federal agents and police could be arranged to allow meetings even under the eyes of the law, but not on a spur of the moment decision and not at her home!

“What is so important that you felt the need to put us both in this kind of danger?” she asked, walking over to the coffee pot and pouring herself a cup. She quickly took a sip, the warmth driving a little of the Chicago November out of her system.

“I feel like I’m entitled to some kind of answers,” Richard said, “how are things coming along? What are you going to do to get the heat off me when the next phase pops off?”

“We’re blowing up your car tomorrow morning,” Juliet said coldly, causing Richard to start.

“M-My-“

“Oh don’t whine to me,” Juliet snapped, “it needs to at least look like we’re trying to kill you, a few creepy letters alone won’t do it. The detonation will occur when you walk out onto the driveway, you’ll be startled but unharmed.” She grinned, “though you may want to remove any personal effects when you go home tonight.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, “okay…”

Juliet sighed, sitting down at the table, “Get over here.” Richard nervously set his coffee down and rounded the table, coming to face her. She snapped her fingers and pointed to her feet, “take my shoes off, since you insisted on coming here you may as well make yourself useful.”

Richard gulped and slowly fell to his knees, slipping the enormous set of heels off Juliet’s nylon clad feet. He didn’t need further instruction, setting the shoes aside and beginning to rub a pair of feet that dwarfed his own.

“Ah, that’s nice,” Juliet said, leaning back in the chair and smiling. She teasingly poked at his nose with the tip of her toe, enjoying the red look on his face as she flexed her toes through the nylon.

Richard blinked, seeing an odd stain had set in the sheer fabric, “you have a uh…” he gulped, the motion of his massaging fingers stopping as he realized the stain was a rusty brownish red… and it wasn’t the only one. He looked up at Juliet in horror, and she just smiled.

“Sorry Richard, I was wearing these for some work earlier, if you step on something that stains in nylons it’s really just best to get a new pair, I suppose…” She idly looked outside, enjoying how Richard hesitantly began rubbing her feet again without needing a prompt, the swirling grey clouds betrayed the hint of an early snow sometime soon.

“You really need to be more professional about this whole thing Richard,” she said calmly, “The World Serpent is coming soon to oversee the operation herself, she’s very excited about our future partnership.”

Richard froze, looking up at her, “T-The World Serpent?”

“Silly moniker, I know,” Juliet laughed, “but that’s what she’s called on this side of the Pacific, the Yakuza she likes to run with these days have their own nicknames for her.”

“I’ll see that I make a good first impression,” Richard said, gulping nervously.

“I’m glad you understand things,” Juliet laughed, pondering the drifting grey clouds outside her window, a winter storm was coming, she was sure of it.