As the days passed, so did any semblance of Becky and Dan's former relationship. She never lost her smile or her cheerful disposition, but he could sense that he was losing his girlfriend in some strange way. His mind was wandering crazily wondering what it was she had been looking up for the past few days on her computer...something having to do with feet...which was majorly stressing him out. It was clear to him now, ever since he shrank, that she seemed to have some kind of strange favoring of feet...hers in particular. Despite this fact, she was far less...insensitive to Dan's situation when it came to exposing him to them; at least in the way she had that one day when her big toe decided to play doctor.

Still though, there were several occasions where she would place her feet rather close to his body when sitting on the couch or whatnot. She wouldn't normally put her feet right in his face when he was normal sized, so why was she doing it now that he was small? He was racking his brain trying to decipher her actions. She even tried convincing him to paint her toenails for her. She said that since he was so tiny, he could probably paint the cutest designs on them. Was she just disregarding his comfort and pride? Was it entirely unintentional? Either way...it wasn't a good thing for Dan. He thought it strange that he would consider the somewhat limited contact with his girlfriend's feet to be a pleasant, yet slightly out of the ordinary thing...but then again, nothing in his life was normal at the moment.

In the passing days and weeks, Becky and Dan stumbled upon a startling realization: after his shrinking, it became apparent to them that he, for whatever reason, didn't have to “use the bathroom” nearly as often as a full sized person; only once every two weeks or so. Additionally, he really didn't have to eat hardly anything for energy. They found this out when Becky went to the gym, showered at Brittany's, and ended up hanging out and staying for the weekend. She had forgotten about him entirely and was expecting the worst when she got home, but, to her surprise, Dan was totally fine. He felt hungry, but he wasn't weakened at all. They considered his new changes strange, but, considering the fact that he shrank for seemingly no reason, they weren't in any position to question these additional aspects.

The weeks seemed to blend together but one specific day, 5 weeks after Becky found Dan in her slipper, things changed forever. Becky came home from the gym one night to find Dan in the box she placed him in prior to leaving. After all this time, she still felt it necessary to remove his ability to reign free across their house while she was gone.

“HEY HONEY, I'M BACK.”

“How was the gym?”

“OH GOD...BRITTANY AND I SPENT 45 MINUTES ON THE TREADMILL AT..LIKE..THE TOP SPEED! I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT WITH THOSE GIANT LEGS OF HERS!”

Dan didn't know how to respond to her statement and, as this happened often, he just remained quiet.

“I MEAN, WE BOTH KNOW SHE'S NOT FAT. I MEAN, SHE'S IN EXCELLENT SHAPE. SHE'S JUST GOT SUCH A BIG BUTT, DOESN'T SHE?”

Dan knew that this was a question he should never, under any circumstance, answer. Becky was aware of his fondness for large butts, and he wouldn't have dared answer her even if he was his normal size.

“I'M JUST PLAYING, HONEY! ANYWAY...WE'VE GOT SOME BUSINESS TO DISCUSS...”

Becky was still bubbly and seemingly light-hearted so Dan wondered what it was she was going to discuss with him.

“NOW, I WANT YOU TO JUST LISTEN, HONEY...OK? YOU'RE GOING TO WANT TO INTERJECT IN THE CONVERSATION...BUT JUST LET ME FINISH BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING..OK?”

“...”

Dan didn't want to agree to this..but he knew he had to.

“Ok...”

“ALRIGHT THEN...” Becky proceeded, “I KNOW YOU'VE CAUGHT A FEW GLANCES OF THIS ONE WEBSITE I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS...AND I'M SURE YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.”

Becky took a seat on the couch and Dan leaned forward, very interested in what she would say next.

“...WELL, I'LL TELL YOU, SWEETY. THERE WAS THIS WOMAN WHO STARTED A WEBSITE ON A VERY INTERESTING IDEA. SEE, SHE SUSPECTED HER HUSBAND OF CHEATING ON HER SO SHE INVESTIGATED AND FOUND THAT HE, IN FACT, WAS.”

“Honey...there is NO way I cou--”

Becky slammed her hand on the table, completely straight faced and Dan's eyes widened.

“I SAID DON'T INTERRUPT ME...ANYWAY, SHE FOUND OUT HE WAS CHEATING. NOW, SHE COULD HAVE JUST LEFT HIM, BUT SHE LOVED HIM VERY MUCH AND DIDN'T WANT THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO END...SO SHE DID SOMETHING THAT I'M SURE YOU WILL THINK IS RATHER STRANGE. SHE DIDN'T GO INTO DETAIL ABOUT WHY SHE DID IT...I THINK IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH PHEROMONES...BUT ANYWAY, EACH NIGHT WHEN THE TWO WENT OFF TO BED, SHE STAYED UP UNTIL HE WAS ASLEEP. AFTER AN HOUR OR SO, WHEN HE WAS FAST ASLEEP, SHE WOULD PLACE HER SOCKS AND SOMETIMES EVEN HER BARE FEET OVER HIS FACE FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME. SHE DID THIS FOR A FEW WEEKS AND, EVENTUALLY, SHE FOUND OUT THAT HE BROKE OFF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MISTRESS.  SHE CALLED IT ‘SCENT REPROGRAMMING’.”

Dan REALLY didn't like where this “conversation” was going, but he had no choice but to sit there and listen.

“THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS BETTER THAN IT HAD BEEN BEFORE. HE WAS MORE ATTENTIVE AND TREATED HER WAY BETTER, LIKE A PRINCESS EVEN. SHE CONTINUED TO EXPOSE HIM TO THE SCENT OF HER FEET AND THINGS JUST CONTINUED TO GET BETTER.”

Dan was beginning to feel that familiar feeling of fear creeping up inside of him.

“AGAIN, HELL IF I KNOW HOW SHE DECIDED ON THE IDEA! BUT IT SEEMED TO WORK WONDERS FOR HER. BUT ANYWAY, THAT IS WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT ONLINE. I'VE BEEN READING HER STORY AND, I HAVE TO TELL YOU, LITTLE DANNY...”

In the middle of speech, Becky leaned forward and grasped her tiny boyfriend around the waist, stood up, and began walking into her room.

“...I LOVE YOU. SO, SO MUCH. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU. AND I KNOW YOU LOVE ME. BUT, CONSIDERING HOW SMALL YOU ARE...I NEED YOU TO LOVE ME MORE...MORE THAN SOMEONE AT A NORMAL SIZE COULD LOVE SOMEONE... AND I HAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE SAFE. YOU'RE MY RESPONSIBILITY NOW. BUT THE PROBLEM I'M HAVING IS I WORRY ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME. I WORRY THAT YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST ACT THE WAY YOU USED TO...WHEN YOU AND I WERE THE SAME SIZE. WELL, I KNOW, FOR A FACT, THAT YOU CAN'T. YOU HAVE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF...AND I FEAR THAT, ONE DAY, YOUR PRIDE IS GOING TO GET IN THE WAY AND YOU'RE GOING TO GET HURT..OR WORSE!”

Dan's heart was beating faster than it ever had in his life as she got into her bedroom and sat down on what was once their bed.

“I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LIKE WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN BUT YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME, HONEY. THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. I KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU.”

Becky began to take her running sneakers and socks off and Dan, seeing this, began to beg...he knew exactly what she planned to do.

“Honey, no! Please! Don't do this! I'm going to grow back. It's just going to take time!” Dan was begging her, tears streaming from his eyes but Becky, not showing any emotion aside from a very slight and ambiguous pleasure, wasn't budging.

“HONEY, IT'S BEEN FIVE WEEKS. WE DON'T KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENED..BUT WE HAVE TO BE REALISTS HERE. WE HAVE NO REASON TO THINK THINGS ARE EVER GOING TO GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY WERE.”

Becky was cold, and Dan hated her for being so blunt, but part of him knew this to be true.

“THIS IS THE WAY IT HAS TO BE, DAN. IF YOU SPEND A FEW DAYS SURROUNDED BY MY SCENT, THEN MAYBE YOU'LL START TO ACCEPT YOUR NEW POSITION. I KNOW THIS SOUNDS CRAZY TO YOU, AND IT MAY NOT MAKE SENSE TO YOU...BUT JUST KNOW IT MAKES SENSE TO ME..AND, SINCE I'M TAKING CARE OF YOU, THAT'S REALLY ALL THAT MATTERS, RIGHT?”

Tears were streaming down his face as Becky lifted her tiny Dan up to her face. She observed his tears and slightly chuckled.

“OH DAN! IT'S NOT GOING TO BE THAT BAD IN THERE! I JUST NEED YOU TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH MY SCENT SO YOU CAN COME TO UNDERSTAND--”

“Understand what?!”, Dan interrupted. Becky paused.

“...OUR NEW RELATIONSHIP.”

“Yeah, what is that?”

“YOU'RE MY RESPONSIBILITY NOW, HONEY. I'M GOING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE TAKING CARE OF YOU EASIER...AND IF I CAN CHANGE THE WAY YOUR MIND WORKS...CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK OF ME...AND ELIMINATE YOUR SENSE OF PRIDE WITH THE SCENT OF MY FEET, THEN THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M GOING TO DO.”

“You can't brainwash me with your feet! This is crazy, Becky!”

“I HOPE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND, HONEY. I REALLY DO. AND, YOU KNOW WHAT, I REALLY THINK YOU WILL. I LOVE YOU DAN, MORE THAN ANYTHING.

"What about what I have to say?!  You said you'd give me a chance to talk when you were done!"

"I KNOW, HONEY.  BUT IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHAT YOU SAY.  YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CHANGE MY MIND.  BESIDES, IT'S GETTING LATE AND I HAVE TO GO TO BED."

Dan screamed as Becky dropped him into the opening of her right sock. He landed with a light thud at the toe section. Becky peeked in and looked him in the eyes once more before pairing her right sock to her left to ensure he couldn't escape. Then, she stuffed the paired socks deep into her right sneaker and then gently placed them on her dark closet floor. She hoped against hope that the Dan she would later pull from her shoe would be a changed Dan. A Dan that appreciated the things she did for him. A Dan that understood that there were certain things that he just couldn’t do anymore. Dare she even think that maybe he could come to worship her? She felt somewhat guilty for thinking this, but she couldn't deny how splendid things would be if this were the case.

After shutting her closet door, leaving Dan entirely alone in the dark surrounded by the scent of her feet, she climbed under her giant, thick comforter and closed her eyes. She wiggled her toes for a moment and chuckled. “JEEZ”, she thought, “HE CAN'T SEE ANYTHING..HE PROBABLY CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING...ALL HE CAN DO IS SMELL ME..SMELL MY FEET.” She wondered if his mind was already beginning to warp. She expected the process to work much faster since he was actually encased in her footwear but she wasn't sure. The last thing she thought of before drifting off into slumber was what her tiny boyfriend was thinking within her sock. Was he afraid? Was he scared? Was he beginning to love her more than he ever could when he was big? Becky let out a large sigh, smiled, and dreamed of her little boy.

~