Every Thursday, like clockwork, Carmen went to Saturn's for karaoke.

The first time, Scott had expected her to pump him for more information on Taylor Hart or maybe another old coworker who might have been there. Instead, she had simply come home tipsy and giggling like it had been any other night out as opposed to the first step in her strange plan to get hired at his old company.

As week after week passed, he began to wonder if she had abandoned her plan and was simply going to the bar because she had fun there.

Then he awoke to a thunderous cackle echoing from the other side of the door.

Taylor Hart's cackle was a cruel icy thing that sent a shiver down his spine. Scott rarely heard her laugh at something because it was funny, when she did it was a soft chuckle that started with the faintest whuff of air from her nostrils. But she was always delighted when someone did something she considered to be stupid or pathetic or any number of things that ultimately made them less than her. And since she was an Immune engineer who developed enough integral systems at the company that she was essentially untouchable, Taylor felt a lot of people were beneath her.

The door crashed open and Carmen's voice filled the room, “-old him that just because he was shrinking, that didn't mean he was losing weight.”

The worn yellow-gray tread of Carmen's Doc Martens mashed down carpet fibers and light filled the world when she flicked a switch. She didn't even glance in Scott's direction as she crossed to her kitchen, the world trembling with her every step.

A black Reebok crashed down onto the carpet, flurries of snow melting and trickling down its sides. White socks rose out of the sneaker before they disappeared inside drab olive fabric, as Scott's neck craned back further and further, he realized that Taylor was wearing a jumpsuit with a black leather jacket over it that she quickly unzipped.

Her tightly curled oily black hair bounced across her shoulders while she shrugged the jacket off and shut the immense door. “No way, what did the little fucker do?” Taylor's plump pink lips glistened and like his owner, her dark brown eyes didn't even glance at the floor as she walked to the couch. She dropped her jacket onto a rarely used seat and then fell down onto the couch like she owned the place.

With her legs stretched out before her and her arms spread along the back of the couch and one of its armrests, Taylor looked like an immense and powerful goddess rather than the petite five foot two woman she actually was. The freckles that ran across the bridge of her prominent nose stood out against her pale milky skin but disappeared from view when she leaned her head back to look at Carmen.

Scott turned toward her as well, his eyes traveling from her worn boots up the galaxy leggings she wore for warmth beneath a baggy pair of black shorts, past a breezy black button up blouse and to the giantess's smiling face. Carmen handed the other woman a beer as she sat down on the opposite side of the couch, one of her booted feet crashing onto her coffee table, “Asked to speak with a manger.”

“No!” Taylor squealed as she took a pull from her beer.

“Yeah, so I walked around the counter, stood right in front of him and said I was the manager,” she giggled, “And I was so much bigger than him that there was no way he could see my name tag, which would have said I was just a cashier or team member or whatever the fuck they called it...”

“Oh man, how scared was he?”

“Oh my God, he was shaking at my feet, like, he actually fell over on his little ass.”

Scott huddled in the shadow of Carmen's sneakers, watching the two enormous women laugh atop the enormous couch. He had seen people who only shrank down to a foot or two try to live normal lives, it shouldn't have been impossible except that it left them at the mercy of everyone. Thinking about Ethan, Scott suddenly realized that he would have been prey for the boy whether he stood four inches or twenty-four inches tall.

“I kicked him with my greasy shoe and he scrambled out on his little hands and knees,” Carmen boomed, a self-satisfied smile on her face, “I still kinda regret not grabbing him.”

“Yeah, he probably would've been fun to break,” Taylor said with a wistful sigh before she sat up as if she was struck, “Wait, like, how did you not get fired for that? Weren't people still sorta pretending to give a shit back then?”

“Oh God, I probably would've been but the manager wasn't Immune,” Carmen replied, “And I knew I was by then, so like, when he called me into his little office to have a chat, I just sorta leaned against something and stared at him while he blathered on. I think at some point I started grinding my foot against the floor and that's probably when he realized that if he actually did anything about it and then shrunk at work, he wouldn't have a nice time as his nineteen year old employee's slave.”

“Good, so many asymptomatics walk around like they're people and it's like, no, you're just a shrinkee who happens to still be big.”

They both laughed and the sound sent him shuffling back behind Carmen's sneakers. He looked up at her TV stand and wondered if he could actually hide among the old dusty DVDs and blurays that crowded against an old Playstation 3.

“Speaking of shrinkees,” Carmen immediately made soft kissing noises.

The little man cringed and his face instantly flushed. Once he had admitted how much he preferred her to Ethan, she had started to summon him with cutesy little coos rather than a firm command. It was humiliating enough that she did it at all but he had never imagined she would do it in front of another giant.

He hesitated for a moment and the boot that was still sitting on the floor thumped once. The faintest tremor reached him and Scott found his tiny legs carrying him toward the enormous pair. Panic began to fill him as he wondered whether Taylor would recognize him or worse, how embarrassing it would be if she didn't.

“There's my wittle man,” Carmen cooed and he got only the briefest of glances at Taylor before his world was composed solely of Carmen's hand. Scott was skyrocketed up to her face and the wave of rum-soaked air that hit him instantly told him just how much fun the giantesses had had that night. “You should have come over and said hi to Tay...”

“I'm s-sorry,” Scott squirmed in Carmen's firm grip.

His stomach flipped around as he was swung about and dropped down onto the coffee table. The sole of Carmen's boot loomed to his right and the little man had barely gotten his footing before the wooden plateau violently shook beneath him. The soles of Taylor's Reeboks loomed to his left as the giantess casually crossed her feet at the ankle, the still damp leather squeaking as she rubbed them together.

“How about a proper apology, little man?” Taylor boomed.

Scott knew what she wanted and he didn't hesitate.

The soles before him were cold from the outside and the snow melting on them had already helped to clean them. However, he still could feel grit coating his lips and tongue while a sour earthy flavor embedded itself in the back of his throat. Above, he heard the faintest acknowledgment of how obedient and 'good' he was before the giants started to talk about other regulars they hung out with at Saturn's.

The conversation grew quieter as the alcohol clearly started to overtake the fun the two giant women had that evening. Their words slurred and the pauses between sentences went on for longer and longer until Taylor finally said, “It's... it's cool if I crash here, right?”

“Oh yeah, definitely...” Carmen's booming voice was interrupted by a yawn as she rose to her feet, “Let me get you a blanket and a pillow...”

“Thanks...” the huge sneakers in front of Scott lifted into the sky and he scrambled backwards as Taylor casually pushed them off of her feet. One crashed to the floor below while the other smacked against the coffee table on its way down, making his tiny world shake. Her toes wiggled in the thick clean white socks she was wearing and her cackle boomed out as she looked at him, “Aw, did zat scare you, little man?”

Scott kept his mouth shut and his little feet carried him back a few steps as Taylor's glazed over eyes watched him. Her tongue ran over her plump lips as she sat up, clearly preparing to lean forward and snatch him.

The thumping of Carmen's boots interrupted her though.

“Aw, thank you,” Taylor cooed. She fluffed out the hefty blanket and laid down on the couch, “Your little man is such a cutie.”

Carmen's hand descended and Scott yelped as she plucked him up between her thumb and forefinger. The world blurred and in the blink of an eye he was dangling before her enormous face. “Yeah,” liquor soaked breath washed over him, “I guess he sorta is...”

Scott was lowered down to dangle by her hips, and he did his best to latch on to her fingers while the two giantesses said good night. Everything shook as Carmen carried him back to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

The faintest sigh of relief escaped his lips when he realized he was safe from his former coworker. Then in three booming steps, he was suddenly over a drawer and the sight of underwear and socks filled him with fear, “Wait, Carmen, ple-”

“Nighty night, little dude,” her voice cut him off instantly.

She gently set him down on a vast pair of boy shorts before the world rumbled around him, her face stretching in a yawn while she cutely waved down at him. A moment later, he was sealed in darkness and the only sound he could hear was the powerful thumping of her footfalls as she moved around her bedroom.

The bed groaned in the distance but Scott's heart thumped hard in his chest.

He pulled his knees in close and shook his head, “It's different, she's just keeping me safe...”

The more Scott told himself that Carmen was different, the more he thought about his months under Ethan. He pulled his knees close to his chest and started to rock back and forth, the stretchy fabric of the boy shorts eerily similar to the giant's boxer-briefs. Somewhere in the back of his throat, Scott could almost taste the filthy teenaged tyrant's spunk.

With his whole body shaking, Scott scrambled across Carmen's underwear, desperate to find somewhere else to spend the night. His body slipped as his hand landed between two balled up socks and he tumbled down, suddenly trapped between a pair of thick athletic socks and something softer. He latched onto the soft orb that loomed over him and pressed his face into it.

The overwhelming scent of Carmen's laundry detergent filled his nose and his heart slowed ever so slightly. Scott held onto the sheer socks, nuzzling them as he desperately tried to calm himself down. “Carmen's different,” he muttered to himself before exhaustion finally took him.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee pulled him back to the waking world, and he blinked in surprise. After weeks with Carmen, he couldn't remember her ever actually making coffee at home and yet, that beautiful roasted scent was tickling his nostrils, energizing him in a way he hadn't felt for the better part of a year.

The faintest bit of morning light drifted in through the edges of the drawer and the sight made his heart rate instantly spike. The tremors of Carmen's approach only made him shake harder as she wrenched open the drawer.

“Good morning, master!” Scott said reflexively.

Carmen's bleary eyes blinked rapidly in confusion, before she simply shook her head, her damp hair slapping gently against her skin. The faintest smile was on her lips as she plucked up the boy shorts she had initially set Scott atop and slid them on.

The snap of the elastic waistband made the little man flinch, which drew her dark eyes back to him.

“Aw, are you cold in there, little guy?” She cooed, her fingers brushing against his back.

He leaned into the soft touch and her smile spread wider, “No, I'm... just, don't leave me in here, please...”

“Of course I'm not going to leave you in there,” Carmen chuckled, “You never even got to my boots last night and the kitchen floor's looking a little gross.”

“R-right...” Scott's shoulders slumped.

Her fingers poked the ball of sheer skin-colored fabric beside him, “Did you pick these out for me, little guy?”

Scott stared at the boulder of nylon that he had cuddled against the whole night.

“It's a little too cold out for flats,” she mused, plucking up the boulder before immediately dropping it, “Though I guess I could wear flats with these...” Her hand reached deeper into the dark cavern of her sock drawer and pulled out a pair of thick black socks with the faintest sparkling shimmer to them.

Her hand snatched him next and a second later he was cowering on the floor while Carmen moved around her small bedroom. Her hands smoothed out both her dark red blouse and then her cheap slacks before she slid her sparkly socked feet into a pair of shiny patent leather flats that Scott had never seen before. The black shoes squeaked and creaked as she wiggled her toes and flashed him a smile before stepping out of the room.

In the apartment beyond, he could hear Taylor's hungover groans between long slow slurps. Mugs clinked and the sound of coffee being poured drew Scott toward the door of Carmen's bedroom and he stared out to watch the two giantesses nurse their hangovers with coffee and pop-tarts.

After a few slow mechanical bites, Taylor's eyes finally went up and down Carmen's frame, “That's how you have to dress for work?”

Carmen sighed, “Yeah, it sucks, I feel like a tool.”

“You look like a lady cop on a TV show.”

“Ugh, that's even worse,” she said with the faintest laugh.

“We need to get you out of that shitshow,” Taylor squeezed Carmen's arm gently, “Helpdesk sucks hard enough without being forced to wear some kind of uniform or whatever.” She took another big gulp of coffee before she said, “Send me your resume, I get a fucking huge headhunting bonus. Like, I could literally recommend someone to be a janitor and get a sweet vacation out of it.”

Carmen smiled, “Well, I was going to say thank you, I can't believe you'd do that but if you're getting paid for it...”

They both laughed as they slurped down the last dregs of their coffee and walked to the door.

“I'm just letting you know that sure, we're friends and I want you to do better,” Taylor said as they wrenched the door open, “But yeah, after you get hired, I'll be out of the office for like a week cause I'll be some place that's not fucking freezing.”

The door crashed shut and the lock clicked into place.

Scott sat at the threshold of Carmen's bedroom for a long time, struggling to comprehend how her ridiculous scheme had actually worked. He played over the last few weeks in his head once again, unable to reconcile the fact that Carmen was clearly an awkward and arrogant person with the fact that she had apparently been smooth enough to literally stalk one of his old coworkers and become their friend.

It was as he told himself that Taylor Hart was one of the worst people he had worked with, whose off-hand comments about shrinkees and asymptomatic people constantly skirted the line of a hostile work environment that the company made him paper over time and time again, that it hit him.

Taylor preferred to work with other Immune people. Every team she had worked on throughout her career at the company was littered with her Immune referrals. She and Carmen agreed that companies should want to invest in the Immune, regardless of their skill, because they wouldn't go anywhere.

Worse, Scott realized that he had known exactly what he was doing when he gave Carmen her name.

His empty stomach rolled as he wondered what kind of person that made him. That he would literally help prop up someone unqualified just because she was Immune. That he would help her with some stupid scheme to get everything she thought she was entitled to.

Scott's tiny body shivered as a random draft washed over him.

Wrapping his arms around his tiny body, Scott stood up and stared at the cavernous but shitty apartment. “I'm just as bad as she is...” he muttered to himself, “I did this for me too...”

That thought rattled around in the back of his head as he spent the rest of the day puttering around Carmen's apartment. Looking at the worn sole and scuffed up toes of her boots, walking across the matted down old carpet, and cleaning floors beneath kitchen cabinets that needed to be at least realigned, if not replaced. The chilly air made him shudder every so often, a constant reminder that the heating ducts in the building were truly terrible.

Helping Carmen meant he was really helping himself.

The door crashed open as he pushed the last scrap of a swiffer pad beside Carmen's towering trash can. A soft pleasant humming echoed across the heavens and the world shook from her approaching footfalls. Her shiny flats clapped loudly against the tile floor and Carmen smiled the instant that she caught sight of him.

“Taylor says I'm definitely going to get an interview,” she beamed with her hands on her hips.

“That's gre-”

Her footfalls knocked him prone, which made it easier for her to scoop him up in one fluid gesture. Scott shouted as he was ripped into the sky and immediately coated in saliva as she kissed him. “You are such a good little shrinkee,” she said, her lips smacking against him again and again while her voice boomed in his ears, “So good, yes you are, such a good little man.”

Every kiss made him flinch and cough, her spit washing over him and making him gag. His ears were ringing and the world was spinning, leaving him dazed as her body seemed to race by.

Her voice was low and husky in his ears, “Good little shrinkees deserve a nice reward.”

Scott's limbs flailed as he was dragged up and down the front of her slacks, the heat of her sex almost overwhelming despite the fabric between them. Above, a thin belt jingled before a button popped and then her hand flew past while a zipper roared. Scott found himself dangling before her tight underwear, a damp patch already spreading across the leaf print that covered her boy shorts.

There was no taunting or teasing.

One moment, Scott was staring at her underwear and the next he was dangling before womanhood. A rich field of dark hair filled her crotch and he only caught the barest hint of pink pussy lips before he was flying forward.

He was plowed face first in between her meaty lips and her juices instantly replaced the saliva that was clinging to him. Carmen's thunderous moan was muffled by the squelching of her expanding and contracting vaginal walls.

Scott tried to scream but before he could even gag, the muscles on either side of him clenched down. Air was forced from his lungs and as fluid started to enter, he was ripped back out into the open. “Car-” He couldn't even finish screaming her name before he was shoved back in then out again then back in.

As his eyes stung and he sputtered for air, the only thing that seemed to matter in the world was Carmen's pleasure.