You Know What To Do.

The words stretched across Carmen's silky smooth arch as she wiggled her toes inside her heels. The floor trembled and high above the chair creaked as his owner settled back down at her desk while the scent of her coffee tickled his nose far below. He rose to his feet and pressed his lips against the rich olive skin in front of him before he started to wipe away the barest bits of dust that clung to the black velvet.

Carmen giggled between bites of a muffin, though the tiny man at her feet was uncertain if it was from his actions or something up in the heavens that he was no longer privy to.

Not knowing would have bothered Scott once but now it was just a part of his tiny life.

After nearly five years, Scott found it almost impossible to imagine worrying about the nonsense that Carmen dealt with on a regular basis. He had memories of being a giant; working at an office, going on dates, worrying over bills and rent. They were all distant and hazy though, like a strangely vivid dream.

They weren't real in the same way that his life with Carmen was.

Scott knelt down in front of her foot and slipped his hands around her big toe. He rubbed the digit in smooth circles as he thought about the ups and downs he had observed from his place at her feet; jumping ship from her first big tech job to work at Taylor's start-up, the death of her father, her long relationship with Derek the Finance Guy that had ended when she found him cheating on her, and now her reestablishing herself as a confident woman who lived in a luxury condo and drove a cool car. The little man felt a strange sense of pride stir within him as he bent low and lapped away at the gunk that had collected between her big and second toes.

His mouth was quickly filled with the peculiar salty flavor that he had long ago come to associate with her. A taste that he loved more than almost anything.

The door to her office swung open, and Scott glanced over his shoulder to see a sparkly pair of heels that he knew belonged to Taylor Hart on the threshold, “Uh, Car...”

“Yes, Tay?” Carmen asked absentmindedly as Scott tenderly licked between her toes.

“Did you forget about the interview?”

The toes tensed around Scott and he let out a frightened yelp when they threatened to engulf his head. “Was that today?”

“It's supposed to be right now, yeah,” Taylor replied with a huff, “She'd be your intern-”

“I know,” the foot pulled back and a tremor ripped through the floor as Carmen rose to her feet, “It slipped my mind, Tay, I doubt they've even been waiting ten minutes.”

Scott watched Carmen's dark heels crash down in the distance as she walked out of her office with Taylor. The giantess sighed as the door swung shut, “Yes, but remember she's my sister's friend...”

The door shut and silence reigned as Scott laid out on the floor, stretching his limbs as he thought about how many interns he had seen Carmen interview over the years. The giantess wasn't allowed to ask if they were Immune, Scott had a dim recollection that that wasn't allowed though he was no longer certain if it was a law he knew from his old life or something Taylor had mentioned when her start-up was six people in a cramped space they pretended was better for productivity. Still, he knew that almost everyone they hired was Immune, it was obvious in the way that they carried themselves.

A hazy memory of his old life tickled in the back of Scott's mind, when he could actually look down at Taylor. Had her sister visited her at work once? The shrunken man found himself frowning as he tried to imagine the girl, because she was definitely a girl who was much younger than Taylor. It stuck out in his mind because even though they had clearly been sisters, Taylor's hair had been so much curlier and oily while her sister's had been straight with almost no sheen. Scott squirmed uncomfortably as he remembered the judgmental look on the girl's face and the way she had glared at him like he was some offensive little insect that she might squash. That had been one thing the two sisters had obviously shared; a mutual disapproval of anyone who wasn't Immune.

The door to the office swung open and Carmen's voice boomed out, “I love those boots.”

“Oh thanks,” the voice was feminine and strong, “I've had them since high school.”

Scott sat up and turned to see a pair of black boots with thick red soles enter the room, straps wrapped around them with code written across along with the word 'unhackable.' He caught sight of the tight black pants the giantess was wearing before his eyes were drawn to a contrasting patch on her trailing boot.

When the potential intern sat down across from Carmen, Scott could make out the humanoid shape of the patch. His owner chuckled warmly above, “I also love the shrinkee you have on them.”

The girl giggled, “Thanks, I've had it since high school too.”

The voices that boomed above were friendly and conversational but they quickly turned to little more than thunder in Scott's ears as his eyes ran over the shrunken girl lashed down to the giantess's boot. Her skin was pale but it had a warm ocher undertone to it and her body still retained feminine curves despite the way it had been carved into little more than hard muscle and bone by years of labor. Her face was expressionless, almost deadened, but as Scott took in her full lips and dark brown eyes he was hit by a thunderbolt of recognition.

His body flinched as his first few months as a shrinkee rushed back to the surface of his mind. It was as if Ethan was abusing him all over again while his girlfriend sat beside him, laughing the whole time.

Scott's heart pounded in his chest and his whole body shook. He wanted nothing more than to race over to Carmen's toes and cuddle against them while reminding himself that he was safe now. Yet, morbid curiosity sent him crawling forward until he could crane his neck back to stare up at the college girl who he knew, from the way the pair were laughing, was going to be Carmen's summer intern.

The black pants that rose out of the giantess's intimidating boots had a few extra cargo pockets that wouldn't be able to hold anything given the way the material was practically painted onto the girl's thin legs. She wore a dark blazer over a t-shirt promoting a hackjam from last year that she had presumably attended. A few chunky rings flashed along slender fingers that ended in nails with a dark purple shine.

Her lips were coated in a dark green, almost black, lipstick that was complimented by dark blush that highlighted the Asian girl's angular features. Though her face had matured and her inky tresses had been sheared into a tight bob since Scott had seen her walking down a sidewalk years earlier, the shrunken man still recognized her.

Grace.

The tiny man could still remember the delight in her friend's voice when she spotted him trying to drag Ava to safety. He also remembered the joy in her voice when she had recognized Ava on the ground between her feet while Scott tumbled down a hill and eventually found himself before Carmen. Over the years, he had wondered what had happened to Ava and asked himself if he should have tried harder to drag her to safety.

Staring at the listless girl hanging from her owner's boot, he knew that he should have.

Carmen had her faults but they were easy for Scott to overlook when he got to cuddle against her at the end of the day and lay beneath her stroking fingers as they watched television. Staring up at Ava, he knew that Grace showed her no such kindness.

The floor shook as Carmen pushed away from her desk, “So, would you like to meet your team?”

Grace's voice was excited and breathless as she rose to her feet, “That'd be amazing.”

The world turned into a blur for Ava as her owner started to walk, the chummy conversation above little more than basso white noise to her. She only knew that the interview was important to Grace because of how much she had to do to prepare her owner for the event; her boots had to be licked clean then polished, her nails needed to be perfectly buffed, not a single thread could be out of place on her outfit, and then Grace had put her in five different spots before she decided that her left boot was the perfect place for Ava to hang.

Over the past several years though, Ava had gotten used to Grace's exacting standards. She was Immune and she deserved to have only the best. Even if she was just lounging around her dorm room in sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, Ava knew that she needed to ensure that her mistress was content by rubbing her feet or feeding her almonds or plucking unsightly hairs from her perfect body. And if her mistress so decreed it, Ava would dive headfirst into her womanhood until Grace was satisfied.

She was living in Grace Park's World only because the giantess had a use for her.

Her mind drifted back to the shrunken man beneath the interviewer's desk and the strange sorrow in his eyes. She had seen that kind of look from other shrinkees before at Grace's college. It was a weird sort of pity they felt because their owners fed them bits of candy and cooed down at them while Grace simply snapped her fingers and glared at her. The first time she had seen a shrinkee being hand fed from their owner's palm while she hung from Grace's neck, she had felt a strange hollowness in her chest and a longing to be the grinning shrinkee nuzzling against their owner's fingers.

But Ava found that she preferred life under Grace's powerful foot.

There was no ambiguity or potential for confusion. She was Grace's shrinkee and Grace was her mistress. She existed to serve and what that meant was crystal clear to her. She didn't love her owner but she respected her and in some strange way, Ava realized that she admired Grace. The giantess was strong and smart but more importantly she was ambitious.

Ava had never had that sort of drive, even when she had been big, and she felt like that lack of ambition should have been a clue that she wasn't actually Immune like she had thought for so long. Shrinkees were just living in a world ruled by the Immune and they were never going to build the sorts of things that someone like Grace could.

A door swung open and Ava found herself staring at people's backs and immediately had to do a double take. High above, Grace chuckled and the giantess beside her smirked before she spoke, “So you'd be supervising our busy little bees here.”

The pair walked into the room and Ava finally comprehended what she was staring at; men and women who had shrunk down but were still a foot or taller working at makeshift desks and computers cobbled together with phones and specially made keyboards. Some of them glanced up at the pair but most simply cowered as the giant women walked through an office bullpen that occupied what was clearly intended to be a conference room. The desks were spaced out so there was just enough room for a giant to walk but not enough that a few of the shrinkees wouldn't feel a giant's foot brush against them.

A desk fit for a giant sat in the corner with a top-of-the-line computer on it and an expensive looking chair tucked against it. The interviewer brought Grace over to the full-sized couch that sat against the wall next to it and flopped down onto it with a grin. The world spun about as the giant girl settled down beside her and swung her left leg up so that Ava could see the vast room that her mistress now ruled.

“So, this isn't an internship where I'll be fetching coffee...” there was a hint of amusement in Grace's voice and Ava could feel the leather flex behind her as the giantess scrunched her toes inside the boot.

“I like coffee,” the other giantess thundered, “And I'd be delighted if you brought me some when we talk about how their projects are progressing.”

“And I'm... in charge of their projects?”

“Your job is to make sure they're staying on task and review what they're working on,” she explained, “You can see what they're doing and anything you don't understand you can ask them about and as our intern, it'd be their job to explain it until you do.” The giantess's laugh was warm and rich, “This is supposed to be a learning experience or whatever.”

Grace's foot bobbed back and forth, making Ava's stomach roll while the giantess simply watched the shrinkees toil away.

“So, what do you think?” The interviewer asked.

“I'd love it,” Grace replied and her foot stopped.

“Excellent, you can sit here and get comfortable while I go find out what paperwork you'll need to sign and stuff so you can start on Monday.” The woman rose up to her full height and walked through the bullpen, the desks of the shrunken workers rattling in her wake. She paused to grin down at them, “By the way, everyone, this is Grace Park, our newest intern.”

The giantess left and Ava watched as the collection of shrinkees glanced nervously up at Grace. They were all older than her, and several of them were clearly old enough to be her parents age. A few of them flushed with embarrassment as they processed the fact that some college aged girl was effectively their new boss.

Ava heard the soft digital clicks of Grace tapping away at her phone followed by a frustrated sigh. “Oh my God, I've had lipstick on my teeth this whole time?” A moment later fingers were digging against the straps holding Ava to her mistress's boot.

After years the shrunken girl still hadn't grown used to the strange vertigo that accompanied being lifted into the air. Her head lolled as she hung in front of Grace's teeth, the faintest splash of dark lipstick marring the otherwise pearly whites. Rubbing her tiny hands against the sharp saliva coated teeth, she couldn't help but think of the shrunken people she had seen giants toss into their maws at parties Grace went to.

A thump echoed in the distance from Grace stretching out her legs. Her booted feet loomed over the desk of a chubby man with wild graying hair who was probably only slightly taller than the giantess's feet were long. He said nothing and merely cowered in his chair as the giantess took a picture of the office space before setting Ava down and taking a selfie.

The shrunken girl sunk into the vast cushion of the couch while she watched her mistress caption her photos and post them. The giantess let out a contented sigh and leaned back into the couch before tossing her phone down beside Ava. Grace's hand splayed down around the shrunken girl and Ava immediately set to massaging her powerful fingers.

The screen lit up beside her as she worked, and Ava's eyes were drawn to the photo of the office, the angle making it look as if Grace were about to crush the nearest desk beneath her boot. Likes were already pouring in and Ava could see several of the giantess's high school friends had already commented. Rachel Kastner was 'so jelly', Penny had posted hearts-eye emojis, and Chloe had asked what her sister's company was like.

Ava's eyes drifted to the caption and couldn't help but admire her mistress even more.

A Good First Step.