The thick scents of exotic alcohols wafted through the air of the hotel bar. It was half-past sundown, and a steady stream of patrons were trickling into the room from the day’s various outings. Lumine, who had decided to have a shorter day, was already sitting in the corner, drinking something fruity with ice. She kept to herself, content to listen in on the gossip of the other customers for a moment, before switching the focus of her attention. It was a good way to touch up on localisms and cultural information. She took another sip, letting the cool liquid swirl in her mouth a moment before swallowing. As she lowered her glass, she noticed by the entryway a certain someone strolling into the bar.

Citlali’s long pink hair ruffled slightly as she investigated the inside of the bar. Spying the blond traveler in the corner, she assumed a look of grace and pride, as she strode over. Her casual, near-free step was replaced with one of highest feigned dignity.  Inside: “Gah!” she panicked, “I didn’t think I was going to run into anyone I knew. I thought I could get away for a moment. It’s okay. Act naturally. Act naturally.” She gave a half wave with a soft smile as she reached the table Lumine was sitting at.

“Heya, Citlali,” the blonde said, smiling. “Here for a drink?”

“No!” she retorted, guiltily. “I was uhhh. Here to meet someone on business. Yes. Very important business.” She pretended to spy around, as if looking for someone. The forced act made it abundantly clear that Citlali was lying. 

Lumine, wise enough to pick up on it, decided to tease the girl by playing along. “Really? Who was it you were looking for. I’ve been in here a while so I might have seen them come in.” Far better at keeping her cards to her chest, the adventurer’s face betrayed no sign of falsehood, only a genuine desire to aid her friend's “very important” business.

Citlali hadn’t planned for this. She fumbled out a new excuse. “Ah. Yes. Well….” A cough. “You probably don’t know them. Errr.” A second cough. “Her. you probably don’t know her.” 

“Uh huh. Well, would you like to sit down for now, and if you see them, you can go about your business.”

The pink haired woman, believing she had been successful in convincing the blonde, resumed her haughty sort of air. “Yes. Well. I suppose I could sit and chat while I wait.” She took her seat across the table, “So… how have you been?” and made an attempt at small talk.

One hour and several drinks later, Citlali had thoroughly drunk her inhibitions away. A thin blush spanned much of her lower face, and competed to be the most obvious sign of inebriation with hazy, unfocused eyes and slurred speech. “...and those brats just don’t understand how much I sacrifice for them. It’s always ‘old, mean, granny *hic* Itzali getting mad when we come to her with our problems!’ Well maybe they should think about the consequences of their actions before they *hic* galavant around getting into trouble and making me worry. The nerve of this generation sometimes, I swear.” 

Lumine was unable to tell if Citlali was complaining to her specifically, or just voicing random thoughts out loud. Regardless, it was clear the woman was in a rather perturbed mood, and was best not to be tested. The blonde gave a nod of agreement. 

Citlali, having forgotten that Lumine had been there at all, suddenly snapped her attention onto the traveller. “And then you come in here when I’m trying to de-stress. Do you know how hard I have it with back pain and running around left and right keeping *hic* all the children in check? Do you?” Pink hair seemed to rise like vipers as the woman stood up and shoved a judgemental finger at her bar-mate.

“Uhhhh…” Lumine couldn’t figure out how she was supposed to answer. “No?”

“No! So you’re disagreeing with me. Just crazy old granny that no one has to listen to. Is that what you think? Well this old woman’s got some *hic* tricks up her sleeve to put disrespectful kids like you in your place.” She snapped her fingers.

Lumine was stunned by an all-consuming flash of light. Wind rushed past her ears, as if she was soaring through the air. Her body felt hot and cold. There was a loud pop. The flash of light subsided, replaced with a throbbing headache. She tried on instinct to hold her head in her hands, to rub the soreness away. Her arms, it seemed, were pinned to her sides. In fact, her whole body seemed stuck. A soft pressure encompassed her. As more senses returned, she realized she was trapped in a warm blackness. The walls of whatever prison she was trapped in were soft to the touch, with a bumpy texture. Muted sounds echoed through her ears from beyond.  She noticed… everything suddenly tilted. The world spun forward. Unable to raise her arms, the side of Lumine’s head was pressed to the wall turned floor. Without warning, light flooded her vision. Whatever bound her arms released. She blinked as her eyes adapted to the light. 

Before her, spanning almost the entire width of her vision, was soft pink twisted into a semi-sadistic smile. Lumine tumbled over herself backwards, surprise and primal fear consuming her. She scrambled away as fast as she could. Her back was to a wall, in a shadow. As she craned her head up, the looming, impossibly large face of Citlali rolled into view. Two gigantic azure blue eyes locked onto her, full of power, confidence, and a desire for domination. Lumine realized, with horror, that she was literally in the palm of Citlali’s hand. 

The giantess giggled watching the miniature blonde scramble beneath her. “What's *hic* the matter? Granny isn’t going to hurt you. Just teaching a bad little girl a lesson.” As she spoke, Lumine got to gaze into the shadowed cavern of the woman’s maw. Light flashed across saliva coated white teeth. Hot, humid breath smelling of alcohol washed over her. The fumes filled the shrunken girl’s nose, penetrating deep into her lungs. If it was possible to get drunk off an alcoholic’s air, this was the single easiest way to do it. 

Citlali raised her free hand, casting a shadow over the plain of her palm. That five-headed monster hovered for a moment before it began its gradual descent towards the blonde. For Lumine, it looked as if the sky was falling. The light of the bar that shone overhead had been completely eclipsed. She had nowhere to go, open and exposed, backed against the wall of the giantess’s slender cupped fingers. The digits overhead bent down, encroaching upon Lumine’s increasingly tragic space. She could see nothing but the imposing hand above. Softly, the tip of Citlali’s index finger landed. It absorbed Lumine’s entire torso, pressed her back. A fleck of dirt from the underside of the giantess’s nail came loose and dropped onto the blonde’s face. The tiny girl spat dirt. Instinct overtook her. Her elbows pressed into the soft, squishy flesh of the palm below, desperate to get leverage. Insignificant fingers buried into the whirling grooves of Citlali’s fingerprint. Lumine pushed. Pushed with all her might to break free. The massive digit spun, taking its tiny victim with it. The traveler’s arms twisted and came loose as she skidded clockwise. Head and legs bumping over the shallow ditches of Citlali’s palm. She was being gently ground against the soft flesh, powerless to resist the colossal woman’s might. The friction led to heat. While imperceptible to the mystic above the back of Lumine’s dress started to dampen. A thin layer of sweat and oil sprung from the palm beneath her. The ordeal was devastating to Lumine’s stamina. Her heart pumped hard, trying to fight or flee, and while the pressure pushing her down was not overwhelming, being flung around like a toy was exhausting and dizzying. 

The torment stopped as suddenly as it began. Lumine was disoriented, unsure of anything other than the digit pinning her down. A voice, Citlali’s, boomed around her. The tone was one of mockery and authority, but the words were gone, lost in the tiny girl’s scrambled head. The spinning, wobbling world lurched forward, then back. Each time jerking less and less. Lumine managed to regain her focus as a scowl covered the giantess’s face. “Still not *hic* listening to me? Guess you need further discipline.” 

The hand Lumine was on collapsed curled around her. Giant probing fingers manipulated her body forward and up. She was rolled over like a toy, eventually pinched between index finger and thumb. Lumine watched Citlali’s face pass by sideways over the edge of the thumb, those deep blue eyes following the path as the world whizzed by. Citlali’s other arm rose up straight. A slightly-tanned tower that reached the heavens. 

The heat and thick scent of damp, salty air reached the tiny girl’s nose before she could even see the giantess’s armpit. Lumine was inexorably pressed towards the triangular fold of soft, shaved skin. Citlali’s middle finger pressed in, completely pinning the shrunken girl. The blond sputtered against the thickening air. Warmth filled her lungs. The thump made contact with her destination, before skillfully sliding away. Lumine’s body filled the gap, her face pressed into the gentle bumps of Citlali’s armpit.  

The fingers at her back pressed in, ramping up the pressure as the soft skin folded around the shrunken girl. The deeper she sunk into the miasma, the more intense it got. Her eyes burned. It was impossible to avoid the overwhelming taste dashing across her mouth as she gasped desperate breaths against the giantess. The enormous woman giggled, a sound that rippled through her body into the shrunken girl. 

“You can start licking whenever you want.” The rippling words were delivered sweetly, as if they were an offering to someone that had begged desperately for the opportunity. The reality that lay hidden behind the tone was not lost on the traveler. It was a command. Lumine hesitated. The last remnants of her dignity screamed at her not to submit. That taking such a step would be becoming a plaything for the drunken woman.

The pressure on her back mounted. Her dress was now soaked through with Citlali’s hot sweat. Her messed up hair hung in tangled clumps. 

The faint hint of natural oils did little to mask the dominant taste of warm, salty water that splashed across Lumine’s tongue when she took her first lick. It rolled across Citlali’s flawlessly smooth skin, picking up the pre-formed droplets of sweat that her tiny body could attend to. The second lick came faster than the first. The third was faster than the second. Liquid pooled in Lumine’s mouth. With no alternative, she swallowed. Tears began to stream down her stinging eyes. All sense of pride and value washed away as she caressed a small part of the titanic woman’s armpit with her tongue. She was so distracted by the task set for her, that she was late in noticing the shifting folds of skin around her. Without warning, Lumine was plunged into darkness. What minute remnants of fresh air that could reach her vanished in an instant. The fingers holding her in place pulled away, as Lumine became trapped beneath Citlali’s now closed arm. 

The reduction in pressure gave Lumine an unexpected freedom of movement. With difficulty, she could maneuver within the increasingly hot, humid prison. The newfound freedom came with a desperate urge to escape. But her senses were dulling in the thick, hot air. She couldn’t tell which way was up. Instead, she pushed randomly, fighting for movement in any direction it came to her. Steam clouded her mind, but she struggled forward, whichever way that was. 

Citlati giggled. The miniscule girl’s futile squirming was a level of pathetic that fit her now-diminutive stature. A wonderful idea crossed her mind. A mocking smile crept across her lips.

Lumine felt her body temperature suddenly spike. Her muscles contracted, and seemed to paralyze themselves. She couldn’t begin to breathe, her chest was on fire. The dark, hot world faded from existence.

A blast of cold air woke Lumine with a start. She was tumbling through the air, spinning wildly every which way. The adventurer spread her arms in an attempt to slow her fall, or get some stability. She managed to twist herself into a starfish position just in time to hit the ground.

Everything was sore. The floor was unstable, but at least she was alive. Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet, rubbed her aching head. She was inside a shallow trench. She looked up. Four monolithic fingers rose above her like skyscrapers. She had to roll her head back to take in their full glory, all horrifically far away. She looked down, felt the instability and warmth of the floor beneath her. She was waist deep in the whorls of Citlali’s palm print. The expanse of wavy hills stretching criss-cross in all directions. 

She slowly turned around. The imposing figure of the titaness spanned the horizon and pierced the sky. Lumine craned her neck backwards and was still unable to capture the sheer totality of the woman that seemed to blanket half of all existence. She stumbled backwards over the hall of skin, collapsed half-bent onto her back into the one behind her. Citlali was looking down at her, dangling ropes of hair swinging randomly across the span of Lumine’s sight. The top of her head overreached the sand-sized girl’s position. Ocean eyes pierced her. Her head completely eclipsed the distant light that acted as the sun. The floor accelerated upwards towards the imposing face. Wind pressure from the incredible speed pushed Lumine into the small crevice she was bent in. Soon, her vision was dominated by a single azure eye. The gargantuan woman blinked. The innocuous act sending waves of animalistic horror through the further-shrunken subject.

“Yes,” the word slammed into Lumine like a hammer. “That’s a much cuter size for my good little grandchild. Maybe you should stay like this so you’ll always remember who’s in charge. Now…” As her words trailed off, she began to lower her hand. Lumine felt near-weightlessness as her miniscule body attempted to keep up with the falling platform. Citlali’s face crept into view, a dominant smile stretched across her lips. Lumine was lowered further still, Citlali hill of a chest came into sight. Her torso blocked half the world. Down and down, past her navel, until finally settling just above the enormous woman’s lap. Her left leg shifted, it’s monumental size moving with a fluidity that seemed impossible. It buckled up into the sky, then bent away. Lumine was left staring at the great wall that was the dirty underside of Citlali’s left foot. Her deep arch stretched onwards towards city-block sized toes. The whole surface was red and brown with the pressure of being walked on, shimming beads of sweat like rivers crossed every which way, especially around where the strap of Citlali’s sandal passed between her big and index toe. 

Lumine’s position was moved forwards towards the five wriggling enormous digits, the gaps between them giving distant hints at a world out of reach for the speck of a traveler. The hand she was on began to rotate. Lumine scrambled backwards, attempting to stay atop the enormous plain of Citlali’s palm. The effort was futile, she began to slip, then to tumble, then to free fall through the air. She landed on the inside of Citlali’s index toe, the looming mass of the major digit dominating the sky above her. She was immediately pressed with a mix of heat, grime, and sweat from the skin below her. The thick air instantly filled her lungs. Had she been at the size she was originally shrunk, it may have been more tolerable than the armpit, but at barely the size of sand, Lumine had to compete for space with droplets of still forming sweat and flakes of dirt that stuck to the gigantic woman. Citlali shifted her body, the minor adjustments sending shockwaves through the adventurer. She was forced to press into the skin beneath her, desperately clinging to the digit for life, lest she fall and be lost. It occurred to her, in that moment, that she was totally and completely dependent upon the woman that had shrunk her. One errant, inconsequential move could leave Lumine stranded on the ground, or crushed between buildings of soft flesh. 

The giantess slipping on her sandal reinforced the feeling earlier. The thick, twisted leather that comprised the sandal’s strap ripped past Lumine in an instant. The miniscule shift of the toe she was attached to, combined with the sudden pressure of wind that accompanied the sandal, pulled Lumine away and into the air. For a moment, she was a discarded piece of dirt adrift in the gap between toes. She started falling, the flat brown wall of Citlali’s sandal racing past her with increasing speed. She tumbled past two more toes before slamming into Citlali’s pinky, moments away from hitting the bar-bench and being forgotten. 

There was barely a moment for Lumine to breathe before Citlali’s foot twisted. Lumine, still dazed from her fall, wasn’t able to react adequately, and she slipped off Citlali’s toe onto the sandal’s flat surface. Finally on level ground, she took a moment to catch her breath. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She rolled onto her back and lay prone, staring upwards through the gap of Citlali’s toes. Not five seconds passed when the giantess wiggled her massive digits to ensure their position on her shoe. Lumine was caught between one of the movements, picked up inside the twisting ridges of Citlali’s toeprint. The digit slammed back down into its rightful place in the sandal, trapping the tiny traveller in the miniscule gap beneath. She was now locked away from the outside world, and stuck beneath the ends of a mountainous woman, too small to even be crushed. The heat, humidity, and exhaustion had drained the last of her resources. 

“You’re going to stay down there until I feel you’ve learned your lesson.” Citlali’s muffled voice seemed to come from every direction, filling Lumine’s entire world. “Be thankful that my body will keep you warm and hydrated. You can lick to your heart’s content.”

Lumine’s will had long passed from her. Citlali was the world. Citlali kept her safe. Graciously, she licked a droplet of sweat. 

Citlali woke up feeling terribly sick. Her head was on fire, and she had to throw up. She was still in her day clothes, and felt hot and sticky everywhere. She couldn’t remember anything from last night. Clearly she had drunk too much. Hopefully, she thought to herself, she didn’t do anything embarrassing. Suddenly, she snapped to alert. She felt a presence nearby. Impossibly close. She scrambled around, trying to get its direction. Somewhere below her? She leaned down definitely closer. Something in her subconscious told her to look at her foot. Closer still. Her toe. That was it. She pulled her foot to her face. Peered close. There, trapped on the bottom of her toe, was a little blonde, white speck. The giantess’s face flushed crimson. There was no way she would be able to live this down.