I sat on the sofa next to Marissa, we'd run into her mom on the way up with the alcohol and my new gifts, but the exchange had been quick. She'd seemed apathetic to Marissa having people over, and let her know she'd be having dinner out tonight, so she shouldn't expect to eat with her. I had heard the entire thing from Marissa's waistband, her shirt pulled in front of me to hide me, and I had been on the edge of my seat the whole time, terrified Ms Lund would notice me.
Now though, it was almost time for the others to show up, and Marissa had already opened her first bottle of Soju, sipping it as her leg bounced, making the couch move slightly under me. I lay back and looked up at the ceiling. Marissa had said she'd focus the party on just hanging out, watching a movie or two in the theater, and drinking, so no punishments like last time, but... I was expected to bully Henri, and I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to do that.
"Hey, M?" I said, glancing over
"Yeah?" she said, putting her drink down
"You mentioned you'd coach me on how to... uh, boss Henri around?" I glanced at the door "We have a few minutes, and... I have no idea about how to do that kind of thing..."
She hummed thoughtfully "Well... you being her boss tonight is serving two purposes, the first is to make sure she stops seeing you as less than human, the second is to humiliate her."
"Why does me being her boss help her see me as a person?" I asked "I think I missed that part."
"Because if she's a person, and you're better than her- or, more important or something, then that means you must be human too, right?"
"...I don't follow exactly, but I think I understand the logic." I said "What kinds of things should I have her do, though?"
"Oh, like, dancing, barking, being a footrest, that kind of thing." Marissa said dismissively
"I don't know how I'd use her as a footrest if I'm being honest." I said "I can't thing of a single situation that would work in at this size."
"Oh yeah? Here, let me show you, it's simple..." Marissa said, scooting to the edge of the couch "You just put your feet on her like thiiis..."
She lifted her socked feet up and onto the couch, and I rolled out of the way, dashing to the other end of the couch from her before she could pin me.
"No examples, please." I said, smiling at her "I get the picture."
Marissa giggled and reached out, poking me with her toe "What's the matter? Don't like feet? They're clean, and fresh socks tooo~"
I shook my head, backing up "No, I really don't... I don't understand people who do, to be honest."
Marissa swung her legs off the couch and spun herself so her face was next to me now "Yeah, I don't get it either, but it's pretty fun to use them on people, stepping on them, making them kiss them, kicking..."
"I bet, but... could we maybe make a rule that you don't do that to me?" I asked "Like, when we're playing."
She frowned, but nodded "Yeah, I guess so. Anything else off limits?"
I thought about it "Well, I really don't want broken bones..."
She snorted and bapped me with a finger, on the head instead of the face "Yeah, no shit, dumbass, I meant like, stuff you don't want me to do."
"...suffocation wasn't fun, but... being in your mouth was, and I couldn't breathe then, so... I don't really know." I said thoughtfully "I guess I'll just have to see how stuff goes, and let you know what I liked?"
"That's totally fair." Marissa said "I'll try to get creative."
She grinned at me smugly "Still, you said you liked being in my mouth?"
I flushed, and nodded "Y-yeah, no, it was- I enjoyed that."
"I thought so, but... you should have said something sooner!~" Marissa said, using her best teasing voice
"W-why is that?" I asked, already knowing what was coming and bracing for it with anticipation
"Because if I had known, I'd have done this more..." She leaned forward, her mouth encircling me, her hot, cinnamon breath washing over me, feeling so, so good and warming me to my bone. Her teeth find the familiar spot on my ribs, digging into the still-bruised teethmarks from before, and her tongue flicked forward to lick my cheek. I shudder, I feel helpless, useful, powerful. I knew I was making her feel nice and in charge, and that made me feel nice. The pressure, the warmth, the smells of her saliva and toothpaste, the smooth wetness of her tongue on my neck, knowing I was hers, knowing she could flex and bite and end me, but she loved me, so she never would. I reach back with my arms to pull her lips closed around me, I wanted to be sealed in, to be-
The door opened with a bang and Marissa jerked up, me still in her mouth, and I screamed at the sudden movement. To her credit, she didn't bite down, but I was still laying ribs first on her bottom row of teeth, holding myself off her tongue with my hands.
"Heyy-ooo!" Quince yelled "We're here to partyyy- What the fuck?"
Marissa's hand closed around my waist and gently pulled me out of her mouth, and I took a deep breath and rubbed my ribs gingerly. It had been fun, but... I was frustrated that it ended so unsatisfactorily.
"Uh, was A-Amber in your mouth?..." Tracy asked, sounding grossed out. I twisted in Marissa's grip to see, and sure enough, she had a disgusted look on her face, opposing Quince's sly grin.
"I, uhh..." Marissa said, and I knew her face was bright red with shame.
"I'm sorry!" I yelled, thinking quickly "I won't try to get out of wearing it anymore, just please, don't do that again!"
Marissa blinked, and then re-applied her signature grin "Fuck yeah you'll wear it, and don't fucking forget it!"
She stood and brought me over to my house, setting me in front of my bathroom door. "Sorry, girls, I just got carried away punishing her when she started talking back, you know I'm a biter."
"That is so fun though!" Quince said "Gods, just fucking chomping on her? I'll have to remember that."
"It's so, so unsanitary..." Tracy said "And pretty dangerous too."
"Whatever, it worked." Marissa said, putting the clown costume from my wardrobe in my hands "She's wearing it now, and she'll think twice about giving me lip."
I stared at the costume. I'd done this to myself, but... it looked so, so stupid. The neck frill, the bobbles down the front, the vivid blue and yellows... and it was some kind of knock off silk, so it was super thin. I waved Marissa down to talk to her, holding up the costume. She bent over, listening as the other two set their bags down.
"I'll wear this, but it's thin as all get out, you'll need to remember to hold me often enough to keep me warm, got it?" I said quietly, knowing the others most likely couldn't hear me, but still being careful.
"Yeah, whatever, just get changed." she said, nodding.
"What was she saying? More lip?" Quince said, perking up
"Uh, no, it's a back zip, she wanted me to zip her up." Marissa said
"Oh, yeah..." Quince said "Tell her to hurry up, I wanna show you guys something!"
I stepped in the bathroom, quickly changing out of the fancy clothes I was wearing and slipping into the garish clown outfit. I stepped outside and let Marissa zip me up. She pursed her lips in a way that made it obvious she was holding back an "awww", and picked me up, moving over to the coffee table, sitting on the floor across from the couch where the other two were. She set me on the table, and I waved at Quince and Tracy, the big sleeves flapping as I did so. Tracy got a small smile on her face, and Quince's eyes widened.
"Ok, I can kinda see the appeal, seeing her like that..." Tracy said, looking at me like I was a cute cat
"Oh my ghaaads I wanna snuggle her..." Quince muttered "That's adorable..."
"She really didn't wanna wear it, but... I'm persuasive." Marissa bragged
"Ok, ok, ok, I got this though." Quince said "I can finally one up you, here, look at..." She dug in her bag and pulled out a small black rectangular plastic box, about 10 inches long and set it on the table
"...this!" she said, popping the front off.
From the box, a woman about 7 inches tall stumbled out, coughing and stumbling, gasping for air. She was slightly tan, almost twice as tall as me with sandy hair and a thin frame. She was older than us, in her 30s if I had to guess, and she was dressed in off white scrubs. I gasped, and ran over to her as she coughed and tried to breathe. That box was not an approved carrying container, I could tell that much, and she was having trouble catching her breath. I patted her on the back, and she took deep breaths, trying to calm down as the others talked over us.
"I picked her up this morning!" Quince said "Skipped class and everything to go get her. She was found a couple days ago, but apparently there was some debate about if she was really a class B or not."
"What?" Tracy asked "She... very obviously is."
"Well..." Marissa said "Only if she's less than 90% of her former height, she could have been short, so she would still be a full class A."
"Yup!" Quince said "They said she was literally 9.84% of her old size after all the tests and looking at records, another quarter inch and she'd still be human!"
"Holy shit, that's horrible..." Tracy said "That's- I can't imagine..."
"Yeah..." Marissa said, eyeing me as I hugged the crying woman "Hey, that box you had her in though, it's not safe, she looks pretty shook up. You really need a real container for her."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Quince said "I already had it, and the lid doesn't seal all the way, it's fine. I'll be getting her supplies and stuff tomorrow or Sunday or something."
"What's her name?" Marissa asked
"Uhhh, it's... damnit, hey, what was your name again?" Quince asked the woman.
She took a deep breath "It- I'm Kensey." she said standing up and finally looking around. I came up roughly to the bottom of her ribs, and I was surprised at how small that made me feel. I was used to being just under ankle high, but having someone who was effectively 9 feet tall compared to me made me feel even smaller...
"Yeah, Kensey." Quince said "I might change it though, I haven't decided."
"So, Kensey, tell me about yourself." Marissa said, looking at her cooly
She looked at me, bewildered and confused "I... uh... I don't... I'm just-"
She shook her hands, and bent down and looked at me "What's going on? Are we safe here?" she whispered, her eyes wide
"Uhh..." I whispered back, unsure how to answer that "We're at a party, with a bunch of rich girls who get what they want. Play along and you should be ok."
She stared at me for a couple seconds, then nodded, and straightened up looking back at the others.
"I'm 36, I have a job as an assistant manager at a dry goods distribution center, I like to read books about romance and fantasy, and I have three cats." She said, her voice wavering
"You had a job and cats." Quince said "You can't hold a job now, and your cats would eat you if they saw you."
"They... they tried..." Kensey said sadly, her eyes getting wet.
"I- I'm Amber!" I said, trying to distract her "I like to draw, I play video games, I was in college for a business degree so I could open a print-on-demand store for online artists, and I love watching old tv shows."
She looked down at me, her gaze slightly unfixed, and nodded "Uh, it's nice to meet you, Amber. Have you been... like this for long?"
"Well, a couple weeks, I guess." I said "About."
"Aww they're bonding..." Tracy whispered. I saw Quince shoot Marissa a smug look, but I didn't understand the context.
"Uh, is- is that your dollhouse?" Kensey asked, pointing to my house
"It's a regular house, actually, but yeah!" I said "Wanna get a closer look?"
I glanced over at Marissa, who looked up at Quince
"May I...?" she asked
"Oh yeah, I have some questions I need to ask you about concerning class Bs anyway." Quince said to Marissa proudly
Marissa lifted us up, one of us in each hand, and brought us over to the house. She gave me a quick squeeze and placed us in front of the kitchen area, giving me a small smile before she went back down to the coffee table.
"Can- can they hear us?" Kensey asked, looking at them, not going into the house
"If we talk low, they can't." I said "Our voices usually only carry about 4 feet. Yours might go a bit further though, so like I said, talk low."
She nodded and stepped up into my house, her head bent over by the ceiling. "So..." she said quietly "Please tell me there's something I'm missing, what is this?"
I glanced up at her, and frowned "What do you mean?"
"I mean.." she waved helplessly around her, ducking into my dining room and taking a seat "Am I really some college girl's pet now? How do I get my old life back?"
"Oh... Yeah, you're a pet now. Like, for life." I said sadly "Not legally, legally you're a ward or something, and Quince is your guardian, but... yeah, you're her pet until she gives you up or something."
"No, there- I have to have rights, plus I wasn't quite five ten like my driver's license said, I was rounding, I can appeal this, right?"
"Uhh... I can ask on AntMound?" I said "I haven't heard about that... You do have rights though, you have lots of them, no excessive contact, you have to be carried in approved containers, no physical abuse, no kisses or anything, lots of stuff."
"What's AntMound?" she asked "What- I was just roughly scanned and tested, held in a glass tank for three days, then given directly to that brat outside, without any explanation of anything..."
"That's pretty much how it goes..." I said "here, let's go upstairs, I'll show you my tablet."
We headed upstairs, her crawling through the staircase with a little difficulty, and sat on my couch, her taking up most of it and me on one end.
"Look, this is AntMound." I said, showing her the app "It's like, social media for us class Bs."
"Class fucking B..." Kensey muttered "I can't believe that I'm not even considered 'human' anymore."
"Well... That's a debate..." I said, waving my hand "Here, I know someone who will most likely know the answer to your question..."
I pulled the card Nada had given me out of the shelf under the tablet stand, and poked in the address on it. She should know, she seemed pretty well versed in this stuff...
'hey, its amberrrrr hiiii, got a friend who was tested and she ws like just under 10% but she said shes was actually shorter than her drivers licence and she wants to fight the class b lable, how does she do that?'
I pressed send and glanced over at Kensey "She'll reply soon, I bet. I met her in group. So, uh, anything you want to know about being a class B?"
She took a deep breath "How do you do it?"
I shook my head "Do what exactly?"
"I heard through the bag, your... owner... was biting you when we got in, that can't be safe, and you're just totally fine with it? Does she usually hurt you? How do you just deal with it? I swear, I'm on the verge of just throwing myself out your house onto the floor and being done with it and 'Quince' has only had me for less than half a day..."
"Oh..." I said "Uh, don't think too hard about the biting thing, it's- it's a game, I'm ok with it. But she does hurt me from time to time. I don't mind, if there's communication. We have an understanding, it's a type of playing, it's consensual."
"I-" she looked at me, her face wrinkling in disbelief as she got what I was implying "An understanding? No, I'm not- no, I don't do that stuff. That's horrible, it's not safe or even moral."
"Well... our relationship got a lot better once we started, I finally feel safe around her..." I said, slightly hurt and defensive. It wasn't that bad. I was consenting to it after all, and it was fun.
Kensey looked out at the girls and shuddered "No, I have, what, fifteen years on them? That won't work at all, that's not ok."
"I didn't say you should, I was just saying what worked for me, Quince is more likely to like, snuggle you and accidentally hurt you than be outright mean like Marissa."
"Well... I don't want snuggles..." she said "I'm not a touchy person."
"That sucks for you, because Quince very much wants to cuddle you." I said "Look, I went to high school with her, and I was in college with her when I was compressed. She is vicious and cruel, just because she thinks it's funny or it'll get her points with her friends. If you don't play along and let her play with you, she might start seeing you as a target rather than a toy."
Kensey looked horrified "And- no, I have to put up with this? I'm a full grown adult, I can't-"
"No, you're a class B." I said, cutting her off. "And... yeah. You think that's bad? Marissa bought me to be mean to me, not because she thinks it's funny, but because she craves the feeling of power and control."
"You- you said you had an understanding with her?" Kensey asked, looking hopeful "I could do what you did, how did you get her to stop hurting you without consent?"
"Well..." I wasn't about to out Marissa as queer to this random woman who could tell Quince, but I could give her tips "It turned out that Marissa has a soft side, a more human side than what she shows most people. Because I wasn't real to her in the same way, she opened up to me, and we built trust, and I became real again after we got close."
That wasn't really what happened, but... it was close enough.
"She didn't see you as real?..." she shook her head "This whole this is sickening... What's stopping Quince from just- I don't know, tossing me in a bag and forgetting about me all day?"
"It needs to be an approved container, for one." I said "It needs to be approved by the government as a suitable carrying case, or you need to explicitly consent to it. Other than that, nothing, really."
"So I'm fucked then?" she asked, waving her hands "I'm in hell, and the devil has a Chanel handbag and Balenciaga sneakers?"
"Well..." I felt helpless, I couldn't really give her much hope here... "...Yeah, I guess so."
She flopped back on the couch, making it rock back dangerously. I looked at her, trying to think of something to say, but... I couldn't come up with anything useful. Luckily, the tablet dinged, and I didn't have to.
"Oh, we got a reply!" I said, opening Nada's message and showing it to Kensey
'Hello, Amber! It is so good to hear from you, I trust you're doing well? I'm happy to hear you've made another class B friend, we need to stick together in these trying times. Please feel free to give her my contact information as well! Unfortunately due to the process, once you lose your status as a class A citizen, you can't get it back without a court order, and we as class Bs don't have the legal right to go to court ourselves, we need a liaison, usually the legal guardian. If your friend's guardian is willing to take the case to court, then she does have a shot at a re-evaluation, but if her guardian is anything like yours, I doubt that you would have much luck.'
"So... no, it's not an option..." Kensey said, her body collapsing "I- fuck, a quarter of an inch..."
"Hey, it's not too bad..." I said "If she talks to Marissa, she'll get to know all kinds of useful stuff about taking care of you, it might be ok."
"She already took a stupid class..." she murmured "And she still put me in that box..."
"...yeah..." I agreed "It's not looking good. I'll ask Marissa if you can come over though, like, regularly? Maybe get a break from it all."
"That'd be nice, thank you, Amber." Kensey said gently "So, you and Marissa, do you-"
A knock on the door to Marissa's room cut her off and she looked up, alarmed "Oh Jesus, more of them?" she hissed
"No no, this is... Well, she's my best friend, or was, but she's going through something." I said, standing and walking to the edge of the desk "If she can behave tonight, she's a great person. If not... Just be careful around her."
"That- no, that's not... What?" she said, looking from me to the door.
Marissa got up, and crossed over to the door, opening it up to show Henri, already in her maid costume. "Heyyyy Henri..." Marissa crooned "Ready to serve us?"
"I am ready to serve Amber." She said, looking around and seeing me on the desk "I am her maid after all."
"Wait, you're Amber's maid?" Tracy asked, confused
"Aw, I wanted to boss her around..." Quince said pouting
"Yeah, I figured 'what's more humiliating than being a pet? Having to do whatever a pet tells you to, obviously' so I made her Amber's maid instead." Marissa said, waving Henri in.
"Hey Henri..." I called out as she walked up to the desk, slowly.
"Nuh uh, what did we talk about?" Marissa said, wiggling her finger
"Ummm..." we hadn't talked about anything like that, what was she talking about? I took a wild guess "...I mean, hey, bitch."
Marissa grinned and clapped "There it is, ok, you kids have fun, I'm ordering pizza, any requests?"
"Can I just get cheese?" Tracy asked
"I want Hawaiian" Quince said
"Uh, ok, so one meat lover's, one cheese, one Hawaiian, got it." Marissa said, picking up the phone and stepping to the side "I'll let the chef know."
As she made the order and the other two girls talked with each other, Henri leaned in to look at me and Kensey "Did she get another one?" she asked "One was not enough!?"
"No, this is Kensey, she's... uhh, here with Quince." I explained, wording it in a way that shouldn't hurt Kensey's feelings
"Oh... That is not as bad as Marissa, but it is still rough..." Henri said. Marissa looked up from the phone and glared at her, giving her the middle finger as she kept ordering.
Henri ignored her looking me up and down "What are you wearing? It is cute, but..."
"Don't ask..." I said, shaking my head
"Well- if she is forcing you to wear something, it could be a fetish, and that would count as-"
"SO." I said, changing the subject "I guess I'm your boss tonight?"
"Yeah, what's that all about?" Kensey asked "This whole thing is... making me uncomfortable."
"It's an elaborate social game." I said "These girls treat their lives like a soap opera, we just need to play along with their drama, it's not that bad. Tonight's drama is me being in charge of Henri, because they think that's humiliating."
"What kinds of things will you want me to do...?" Henri said, her hand reaching out close to me, almost touching but not quite
"Oh, uh, I'll figure it out as I go." I said "I'll make up stuff."
"It has got to be believable you know." Henri said, her face flushing slightly "You will need to tell me to do things that... are a little embarrassing..."
I looked up at her sharply and remembered with slight panic that the girl in front of me was not only in love with me, but also a hopeless sub, and I had the leash in my hand tonight. This was kind of a problem, or it could be if I wasn't careful. I needed something to get her away, so I could collect my thoughts... I looked her over, she'd showered before she came, so her face was clean, I could use that...
"Ok, uh, well first off, I want you looking your best, go put on makeup for me, bitch!" I said loudly enough for the others to hear.
Henri flushed again, but stood and grabbed her bag, heading into Marissa's bathroom.
"Amber, I think this is... a kink thing..." Kensey whispered to me as she left "I think she wants this..."
"Yup." I said "I know, I'm... trying to figure out how ok I am with it right now."
"Damn, Amber, you really called her ugly and sent her off, huh?" Quince said, grinning at me from over on the couch "I'm impressed, Marissa is really rubbing off on you!"
"She's doing what with her!?" Tracy said, looking up from her phone in alarm
I gave Quince a thumbs up, and glanced over at Marissa as she hung up the phone and came back over to us.
"Alright, let's all go to the table now." she said, picking us both up and bringing us with her.
She set us down and Kensey dropped to her knees in a ball instantly.
"I don't think I can do this..." she said, shaking
"Do what?" I asked, confused
"Just- I got picked up in a split second and carried across a canyon, and dropped again, all with no warning or safety precautions..."
"Yeah, duh, you're a class B." Quince said "You gotta get used to it, baby."
"It's just how it goes." Marissa said, rolling her eyes "You can't freak out just from being picked up, you're literally doll sized, people pick up dolls."
"I'm not a DOLL!" yelled Kensey "I'm a full grown woman with needs and wants and hopes and dreams and..." she fell over, crying into her hands.
"Oh, that's... that's rough..." said Tracy sadly "I get it, I'm terrified of being one of those things, I understand her fear."
"Ugh..." Quince said "She's nowhere near as fun as Amber..."
She picked me up and swung me by the frilled neck of my clown costume "You're a regular team player, huh gay girl? You're always talking back, making jokes, you probably loooooove this, getting to be played with all the time, getting to see Marissa naked... I wish mine was gay..."
"Shut the fuck up..." Me and Marissa said at the same time
I looked at her, and she narrowed her eyes, reaching over and pulling me out of Quince's hand
"Look." she said, putting me on her shoulder "You need to be nice to yours or she'll always be a wet blanket. It's got nothing to do with if she's 'gay' or not. I'm just nice to Amber most of the time, I treat her... well enough, and I respect her, kinda. I absolutely don't make fun of her sexuality or keep her in a little box she can't move in or forget her name."
"Well..." Quince said "I just know that if she was into us, she'd be a lot happier about being here."
"That's not how that works." I pointed out "Being gay doesn't mean you're automatically into all girls or whatever."
"I think she's only into Marissa, Quince." Tracy said "I've never gotten gay vibes from her before you told me about her spying on Marissa."
"I wasn't spying!" I yelled, frustrated "I was watching my friend play tennis, she put me on the bench to watch her play tennis. I was doing what she asked!"
"But you are gay, right?" Tracy asked
"I'm... something, yeah, gay, a little, I guess..." I said, defeated. I hadn't even figured it all out for myself yet, and here they were giving me the third degree...
Kensey sat up and looked at Quince, sniffing back her tears "If I was gay, would you be nice to me?"
"Bitch I haven't been mean to you." Quince snapped
"You put her in a coffin, put the coffin buried under designer pajamas and swung her around, banging her against walls and throwing her on the floor." Marissa said "Mean isn't just the stuff you mean to do."
"I didn't bang her on walls..." Quince said, glaring at Marissa
"I did see you toss your bag on the floor though." Tracy pointed out "That's like, torture or something, all trapped and thrown around? I'd be upset too."
"Ok, gods, ugh fine." Quince said "I'll do whatever it is you're all telling me to do." she looked down at Kensey "And I don't care, maybe pretend to be gay or something, see if I like it."
Kensey looked up at me and back to her "I don't know how to 'act gay' without offending the gay people here..."
"Gay less-than-a-person, really." Tracy pointed out.
"No, she was right. Gay people." Henri said, sitting down at the table.
I looked at her from across Marissa's shoulder and waved. She was wearing a full face of makeup, and had worked hard to make the glossy lipstick give the appearance of slightly puckered lips, and her eyeliner was drawn to make her eyes look wider, with pink eyeshadow that made her pale blue eyes pop. She looked... better than she had on prom night, and that was saying something. Her eyes slid over to me, and she bowed slightly.
"Lady Amber, how may I serve you this evening?" she asked in a cool, rehearsed tone.
I felt a weird feeling inside, like I wanted to call it off, but... only because I was feeling guilty for how much I was anticipating it.
I lifted my head and called out in a clear voice "Henri, I believe our guests need refreshments?"
"Ooh, yeah, hang on..." Marissa drank the rest of her soju in a gulp "I'll have another one of these, the one with a watermelon on it this time."
I kicked her in the back, out of sight of the other girls. If she kept this pace up, she'd have me in her mouth again in no time, or start kissing me again like last sleepover. She ignored my kick, and patted me on the head, her smug smile spreading across her face.
"I'd like a tonic and vodka?" Tracy said "With a splash of lemon."
"Oh, do you have seltzer?" Quince asked "I'd love a pineapple one. In a fluted glass, of course."
"I have seltzer, yeah, but drink it out of the can, I'm not calling the kitchen again for a stupid glass." Marissa said shaking her head
"Uh, can I have... Would it be ok if I had some wine?" Kensey said from down on the table
"Awww drunk lil babies!" said Quince, kicking her feet "Amber, you get something too! It's legal if your guardian says it's ok!"
"No, no, uh, that's a bad idea Kensey." I called to her, sitting up crosslegged "I had to go to the hospital when I got vodka on myself, drinking alcohol would be a death sentence."
"I can't even drink?!" Kensey wailed, falling back over into a heap
"You had to what." Henri growled me, slamming the fresh soju on the table in front of Marissa and glaring
Oh, shit, we hadn't told her about that...
"It was- I just needed some lotion, it's fine..." I said "I'm right as rain now!"
"You spilled it all down your front, you soaked yourself, I need to see." Henri said, leaning in closer
"No, it was mostly just dry skin, really, I-"
"Amber." she hissed.
I looked around at the other girls, they were watching with interest, but not getting involved, and Marissa was still just sitting there, not doing anything helpful. I sighed and shimmied, pulling the zipper best I could and lowering the clown outfit so she could see my front. I was blazing with pink as she examined me closely, her eyes going over every inch of me.
"Well, I do not see any rashes or burns, I guess... Wait, are those teeth marks?!" She said, her voice pitching up at the end
I quickly put the clown outfit back on, struggling with the zipper "It's- we have fun here, you know?"
Henri stared at me, her mouth working open and closed slightly as she tried to think of what to say or how to explode.
I cleared my throat "Uh, you've got two more drinks on the way, right? Better get those..."
Her mouth snapped shut and she hissed out a breath "...Fine, but we are talking about this."
As she got up and went back to get the other drinks, Marissa looked down at me
"You always let the help talk to you like that?" she asked in a faux snooty voice
"It... raises morale." I said, matching her tone.
"Wow, I gotta say, I'm impressed Marissa." Tracy said "Usually you would have slapped her or gotten her mom taken off the PTA or something, what happened?"
"This is Amber's night to be the boss." Marissa said "If she wants Henri slapped, she's gotta do it herself."
"Can she even slap anyone?" Quince said "I doubt they could feel it."
"Come over here and let's find out." I taunted her.
She thought about it, then shrugged "Yeah, ok, whatever."
She slid off the couch, and walked over to Marissa on her knees, leaning in so her cheek was almost resting on Marissa's shoulder.
"Slap away, lil bitch." she said
"Ok, uhhh close your eyes?" I asked "I don't want to hit you in the eyeball or something."
She complied. I turned to Marissa, and made motions with my hand to her. She grinned, and reached up with her free hand, flicking Quince hard in the cheek with her middle finger.
"Ow! Fuck..." Quince rubbed her cheek and made her way back to the sofa "Ok, yeah I guess you can hit kinda hard..."
Tracy giggled to herself, but didn't say anything as Henri made her way over with the other drinks, and a small glass for herself. She sat down, and picked up her glass, raising it to her mouth to take a sip when there was a knock on the door.
"Oh, Henri, be a dear and get the pizza, would you?" I asked sweetly
She looked at me, her face unreadable, and stood up without a word, going to the door to fetch the pizza from Parker. She came back, setting two of the pizzas down and going back for the third. Kensey stood and backed up away from the piping hot dishes, looking at the food hungrily.
"Hey, Quince, did you bring food for Kensey?" I asked
She frowned and dug in her bag, pulling out a pouch of small green pellets "This is what they gave me when I bought her, I figured she could eat this?"
"Oh, ew." Marissa said, shaking her head "Come on, it's not ideal, but you can eat one of Amber's dinners tonight, Kensey."
"But..." Kensey said, looking between the pellets and the steaming hot pizza "Why can't I just eat pizza?"
"It could make you sick." I said "We can try a little bit, but we're supposed to eat compressed food."
"So... like, gerbil food?..." her voice wavered
"No, it's- well, maybe. Henri, move us back to my house, I want to show her the good stuff."
"Yes, Lady Amber." Henri said, picking us up and bringing us to the desk "Let me know when you wish to re-join the group."
She stiffly walked away, and I waved Kensey over to the fridge. "These are the meals I eat, they're 95% compression, so... they're not great for you, you need 90% compression. Here, pick one out, and I'll finish the other half of my burrito from breakfast."
"Fuck... I need special food?" she muttered "I... I wish I'd found out about this stuff before I got found by my landlord, I'd have just let my cats eat me..."
"Because of... food?" I asked putting mine in the microwave
"Because of a loss of rights, plus no drinking, no food, being treated like shit... I just... I don't think I can do this, I really don't..." she sat down with her back against the counters, her choice in her hand, a r'ce, ch'ckn, and p'ea dinner.
I took it from her and put it in the microwave after mine beeped and set it. I didn't really know what to say to her, yeah it sucked, but... there was nothing to do about it. We just... weren't people anymore. I could at least try and help one way though, I'd been mostly fine with the mandu, if I hadn't gorged myself I'd have absolutely been fine. I waved at the others, and Tracy noticed, pointing Henri my way. She stood quickly and rushed over.
"Yes Lady Amber?" she said, sounding almost excited
"Uh, I wanted you to get me and my friend here a small bit of pizza each. Just a scrap, of the cheese kind. I was fine after the mandu, kinda, so... I wanted to at least let her try a little."
Henri winced "There's compressed food for a reason, you cannot-"
"That's an order, Henri." I said firmly. Her face flushed, and her breath caught for a split second.
"...Of course, Lady Amber."
She came back a second later with two tiny cuts of pizza. She put them on the kitchen table, and I waved her away, putting my and Kensey's food on the table next to them. She watched for a second longer, then went back to sit by Marissa at the coffee table. Was I doing good? I think she was enjoying herself, it was so hard to tell though...
I looked down at Kensey "Hey, silverware is in the drawer by the dining room entrance or you can use the plastic one attached to the packaging, get some and come eat, ok? No sense in letting it get cold."
She did as I asked, and sat down across from me, eating small bites of her dinner and grimacing. It didn't look great, that's for sure, and it was one of the weirder ones I'd been avoiding... How do you make fake peas? I tried the pizza and moaned, it was perfect, the sweet, light sauce, the buttery undertone, the massive amount of cheese... That last one was a benefit of being small, I supposed.
I pointed at Kensey's pizza "You don't have to try it, but I'll have it if you don't."
She sighed and picked it up, taking a bite. Her eyes widened, and she nodded slowly
"Mm, you said we can still eat a little bit of regular food?" she asked
"Yeah, I ate a plate of mandu the size of my head and barely got sick at all." I said, taking another bite.
"That's... not so bad, then..." she said "I can live with that."
We ate in silence, enjoying the food, and thinking about the evening ahead of us. Things were going well I was feeling pretty good about the evening so far. It was a little tense, but I was feeling comfortable and relaxed, this was going well.
Fifteen minutes later, Kensey was bent over the toilet upstairs, losing her dinner. I, on the other hand, felt fine. Maybe not all class Bs can eat uncompressed foods after all...
~~~